The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-05-25
CORRESPONDENCE.
New YoaK. Nav 2I 1890.


crepl into my last letter. The Hon. IN. IT, Morris,
the Recorder Of The city, Is not son Of the late
GorerneIr Morris His family and connexions are,
however, highly respectable and influential per-
eeiye mat very severe structure the writings Of
Mr.. Pau'ding has been widely circulated, and that
you, IN common with others, have copied the ari-
Gle. With the administration OF the Navy Depart
ment under his direction, you are Of course better
acquainted than myself and have no disposition to
be the apologist Of Official delinquency either In high
or low places But with his literary reputation il Is
Otherwise. have beer. for many years a reader of
his works, and could were accessory pile Pelion
upon Ossa OF quotations. to exhibit the injustice Of
the criticism alluded TO-
As satirist, Mr.. Paudng has long justly held
the first rank among our native authors, and al
though passages from his works may be selected
which lack that excessive refinement OF thought and
language, which are demanded by the fas,idious
taste OF portion OF the reading community, yet IL
this be error Mr. Pauding errs in common with
some OF the most eminent, racy and vigorous writer's
In the language, whose fame will be perpetu ted
with the epochs In which they figured. Mr.. p. ex-
GELS also in the descriptive, and there are passages
in his Dutchman's Fireside, which, for beauty Of
language, graphic inning Of natural objects. blend
ed with touching moral illusions, and skillul gIoup
ing of accessories unsurpassed by any writer Of
The day.
Ishall never forget an incident which occurred to
myself while travelling In stage coach in the in
terror Of the State while youth, with which Mr..
Paulding's writings were connected Two English
gentlemen were seated at my side whose structures
on the morals, manners and talents Of our country
men were particularly severe and unjust-in short,
- al. -. ~lnr. AHnr
tineau or T rollope, or their predecessors.
Having recently perussd Mr.. Pauldins's " .Joha
Bull in America" | modestly furnished an addition
to their stock Of historical anecdotes illustrative Of
the barblrism and rudeness of the Yankee nation,
selected from ths pages Of John Bull.
AT first the twin-traveers swallowed the descrip-
tions with avidity, but my relating the method Of
"thro,ciag an IaGia into the pot ofboiiing pater,"
the rsibe faculties Of the American portion of The
passengers could no longer be controlled, and my
chap-fallen admirers finding how they had been
played upon, drew themselves within their shell in
disnifed reserve. From that time to The present,
have peruset Mr.. Paulding's works, and feel con-
strained to advance the opinion that American lie-
nature is indebted to him TO greater extent than any
living writer, Washington Irving excepted.
Our excellent friend is welcome to advance
and defend his opinions. In this case. we
are sorry to say, we cannot entirely agree
with him. Paulding has merit, undoubtedly,
as satirist and fanciful prose writer. But
he has belonged to coterie, whose practice
has been good deal after the French adage,
Null n'aura de l,esprit
Hors nous ct nos amis.
and who have derived much of their notoriety
from regular system Of mutual putting, which
is carried to a considerable extent in the New
York community. He has written fifteen
volumes Of light reading. We have not time
TO discuss their merits. Some Of Miss Sedg-
wick's volumes suit our taste better than any
that We have read Of Paulding's, and we are
disposed to think that she has written better
than Paulding can write. Charles Brockden
Brown, We should judge, had more genius.
In richness and power Of language, has Pauld-
ing written any thing to compare with " Vie
land :" We should think Nathaniel H. Car.
ter, in many respects, superior to Paulding.
We should think American literature was not
less indebted TO Cooper, j. G. Adams, Eve
rett, Charming, Writ, to say nothing Of Smms,
Bird, or the poets Halleck, Bryant, Sprague,
Sigourney, &c. On the score OF usefulness,
in the field Of American letters, we think we
might mention almost dozen writer's, who
will have higher claim upon the respect and
attention Of pos.erity, than Mr.. Paulding has
right to claim from his own generation. How
ever, we have not time to do either Of the par
ties justice.
AS to the critique referred to, our cores.
pondent will please to recollect that, although
we copied it, and stated that it very nearly
accorded with our own opinions Of Mr.. Pauld-
ings works, still we thought it "rather too
summary; not, perhaps, sufficiently conclu-
siue in tho proofs to satisfy Mr.. Paulding's
admirers, and himself, probably, of the justice
of the condemnation ED. MAD.
The old CONSTITUTION frigate has left us. It is said
hat cd ty 80