Liberty advocate. [volume] (Liberty, Miss.) 1835-1866, 1839-02-28
MIsCELLA NEOUs
From The Louisville LiterGry NeWs.Lettsr.
THE DEsTINIEs OF
AMERICAN LITERATURE.
"set free the mind of man from slayish awe,
IAh.nL Lcnls Anin W M L. IL " La "

remain our philosophers and historians, our
and bardsl Are the high.
priests ofS Science and the Arts ever TO minister
nt our affairs, arrayed in the vestments Of for
eign cline, and uttering the idom of another
people? Are the sons OF our own fair land new
er 10 arise, TO consecrate the fame Of her pas,
achievings, or grave in song upon the roll OF
prophecy her coming glory? May II be, thai
some future Harold, on Il pilgrimage OF poetry
shall come over the seas 10 roam oar sublime
g. romantic scenery, and, for Il first, denea'e
its features for the admiration OF coming time
England has exalted our name through the
lips OF her Chatham aud her Burke. France
may hand down our country's fame 10 other
generations in the volumes oil a Davlla: Gene
va may give US De LoIme, and classic Italy u
mother Bot a. second Byron may arise, and,
wandering over this fair LAND OF The bill and
the lake." may tune his Tyre upon the shores
OF our lar Western rivers, or sweep It's wild
chords TO The dash of our CaturacIs. All thu
r,1v be: hut the time is not distant, when the
fee children Of America shall LhemieiueS be-
come The chroncIerS OF her lame, and the her.
aids of her destiny. With the lamencd GrImkr
whose sentiments we but echo, we believe II
a mind 10 comprehend The present, or an aag
inalion to outline the dim visions of Iu'url,y, Il
b. convinced Of this. Whoever regards his
country with PATRIOTS faith can pierce The
miSls Oft vista of coming years, views TINS
prospcc, brgn'cuing on his intellectual VISION
aud he who shall cross but the second century
Of our national existence shall realize lis con
summation!
Such is our palon--Such is our belle!
Upon what are they based? The durability oil
an edfce is e"el predicaled upon the character
OF its basis and as thai they may be, we infer
the eXCeliency oil the superstructure. The
foundation Of American Literature has beer
laid deep and broad--deeper and broader, thar
that Of any other people, whose annals have
come down to US. With other nations, chance
has been the master-mason in planting the cor
ner stone of their Temple of Scirnce--lorlui |
tous circumstances have united to rear upon il
the upcrstruclure--the lapse of lime has ce
mented the discordant eements--and the edge
IF ne sword has famed like that of Eden'S an.
pei around, as its guardian from destruction |
The monarch on his throne, the monk in his |
c II, or the philosopher, the patriot, the phiIan-
throphSt, beaming out al long intervals, like
beacon-lights in the gloomy lapse of ages, may
have possessed minds to appreciate the value OF
earning, and have labored with zeal worthy
IF the cause they advocated to rear up lis
iroopng standard in their native lands; per.
chance to this cause, rs 10 his religion, may
have been consecrated the crusaders lance; but
these apostles Of Literature have advanced /
single handed to the work their efforts, how
ever vigorous, have been unseconded by the
great mass OF population, and their enterprise
has been signulized only by failure: or like 9th
err apostles they have cemented the articles of
their creed with their blood, and left it as the
platform upon which others should build.
With American literature it has not been
'hus. The extraordinary spectacle has been wit
messed oil an entire nation arising in It's power
and unanlmlty OF purpose, as one man, TO plant
The foundations Of the sanctuary acknowledge.
And these foundations are reared upon basis
such as nation never had before. The entire
mass OF British literature is ours. 1t is the
toll Of ages, and it is literature more accom-
olished in taste, more beautiful in outline, more
sublime in genius, than that in any other Ian
guage Of the Eastern hemisphere "The pat.
rlmony of the old world is the heritage of the |
new" and 10 this may we add, that as we com.
nence our national existence with an area rter.
ritory broader than that with which other en-
pres close their career, so in literature, begin |
ming where other nations end, the cap-s,one OF
their attainment is but the cornerstone OF ours
With classic antiquity as a basis, the literary
temple Of modern Europe is far more beautiful
IN perfection than the pcrystile OF Greece; and
who shall say that the edihce we rear, shall
not equally surpass that Of the world beyond
the waters9
Agan-the free institutions scattered over
our land, the spirit OF investigation. of emuIa-
ton, and Of enterprise which has gone forth
among our people, and more than all, the sys-
TEN Of Republicanism under which we live
tend TO advance the cause Of literature. Where
is II that we discover the most distinguished
exceIlencles Of variety, originality, and beauty
In letters, whether we regard The history o
modern times or the records of antiquity? Are
they not most conspicuous among those nations
distinguished for freedom oithUught and encr-
gy Of action? where emulation and natura
pride, activity and enterprise have burned the
brightest? where liberty in all its forms ofpro
tesant beauty has Aourished, unshackeIed by
the letters Of supcrStitious despolism? where
genius has walked forth through land smiling
with plenty, unparalleled by the pesiIeniiaI
damps ofinquisitoriaI dungeons, unterrifod BY
the horror Of an Auto de fe2 In fine, do we
not ever observe an e'egunt and useful Iitera
lure springing forth with growth the most
exuberani, where popular institutions and pop.
liar forms o. government have most extensive.
y prevailed? On the contrary, when aud
where have despotism and superstition been
he parents of any offspring but degradation