Canton herald. (Canton, Miss.) 1837-1839, 1838-08-01


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the wttti AZ sell might ihe native
hbofeines " le wilderness te fe.
p0athed l0f their ignorance " classic
antiquities TIE courts Of Europe
bad ample opportunity 20 CongfcRale
around them, nll that was profound in
philosophy OF sublime IN poetry, they.
we'd with each other IN The arts Of Gle
ounce, continued emulation struck out
new lights g illuminate The path
which led 70 excellence. But these i'm.
progemcnls were not the work Of o
day--ihcr philosophical fabric wasnot
rcuredin moment. II requredthe long
and laborious toll Of ages TO erect those
monuments Of art and 10 achieve those
intellectual triuniphs which they boast
and pldce in sneering contrast to the
jmbecic attempt Of their western Off
spring. Even then those yaunted
blessings were confined 70 the circle
of the privileged, the great mass Of
the people were shut without the pale
of science, and left to tester in the
depth Of ignorance and bigotry. But
there is another view Of this case so
obvious that it would strike the vision
OF any who are not blind with preju
dice. The English, who most gene
rally sheer at the scantiness Of Ameri-
can literature, forget that their lltera-
turc is ours. If their descendants,
whohave hither emigrated, wouldhave
had right TO claim 1t if they had there
renamed. Does their removal change
the business Of the clailnsl Their lam
guages, their philosophers, their poets,
their statesmen, their orators are ours.
The form Of government has changed
different political principles have OBJ.
tanned but the advance in the science
Of mind and knowledge apart mnstre-
main unalterably the same. Are tie
British colonies in India DISTINGUISHED
!. oi their rights in the commonwealth
OF letters because they have changed
their homer Have they not as legiti-
mate q claim'to the names OF Shaks-
peare andSpencer,a and Lockand Bacon
as those who llnger near their tombsl
So far as literature is concerned what
differs ours from their conditions But
not to rest content with what may
seem anothers right. Itremains for
usto rear a temple to earning the oase
OF which shall be as broad, the columns
aslolty, the entablature as perfect and
the cupola as high as any which our
transatlantic brethren have to BOAST,
The clustered halls Of superstition are
surely not the congenial home of sci
encel Is not the land where free in.
quiry is untettered by legal rcstric.
tons the proper place Of all that is
beautiful in art land admirable in men.
tai excclencel Literature is perhaps
more dosideratum with the people o
this country than science. To tina
study they are perhaps better adapted
and will certainly find greater scope
for moral and mental elevation in il
development than in an effort to fur
ther extend their powers over physl
cel nature. Exclusive attention {
the latter has tendency to reduce a
Knowledge to system OF heanles
utilitarianism, aud to end in the dcs
tructiou of every noble and gene
RUS principle. Classical literatm
cn never afford an Improbable stud
to free people. It contains all tn
knowledge whicllwe have Of the onl
people OF antiquity who in feeling an
habit resemble our own, and besides
gives life to the spirit of criticism. ]!
noranceis the fast friend of despotisn