The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-03-26
=, A LAUGHIN PHILOSOPHER.

os'iAiuCi holiCh. l Vol. Ihliade
/ phla. Lea & Blanchard.
\ The spirit, drollery, good-nature
satire, and really sensible suggestion!
Which gave such acharn to the asa,
ngs and Doings'' Of the Clockmakell
will be found in the volume now be
fore us.
sLife in Steamer crowded wit
some one hundred and thirty passer
gers, heterogeneous in tastes, pursuits
and character shut up together for tw
or three weeks-and under circun
stances when, in spite of all art or Ell
tort, the real nature shows itself
Presents,necessarily, points ofview an,
incident. which a keen observer an,
humorous narrator could not fail t,
mould into an attractive volume. No
Is 1t tor mere attraction that these pa
ges are serviceable. On the contrar,
there are hints and suggestions scat
tered throughout the letters that til,
directors of Atlantic steamboats, ough
wisely to profit by.
The work is dedicated to Lord John
Russell, as the Colonial Minister, ane
the dedication is made the medium o
intoxicating, playfully, but not the les.
vigorously, the impolicy, of the moth
er-country, which permits Colonia
merit and services to pass unnoticec
and unrewarded; while all the honor
and emolument of Colonial Govern
ment are lavished upon the more ia
vored children of the family at home
The author, we may mention, though
perhaps the fact is sufficiently notori
Gus. is Judge HAL1BuRToN of Nova
Scotia, and hence the explanation Of
this sort of preface.
There is also whimsical and wit
ty preface, accounting, or rather not
accounting, for the authors supposed
possession of the Mailbag of the Great
Western-of which the secret is only
to be learned, as he says, by ''asking
Spring Rice.'' :
Of this functionary, whose name is
familiar enough here, we have this
amusing account:
!s'To the American reader. it NAV
be not altogether unnecessary to state
that Spring Rice like many other
words and terms, has different mean
ing on different sides of the Atlantic.
In America, it signifies small grain,
raised in low land, amid much irriga-
ton; in Ireland, small man, reared
IN Doggy land, amid great irritation;
and the name Of Paddy is common
to both. In the former country, it
assumes the shape of 'arrack LIQUOR
IN the latter 'arrack' rent. In both
there is an adhesiveness that is vaIua-
BILE, and they are priced on, that ac-
count by aclass of persons called Ca
binet mixers"
The first letter in the series, under
the title Of an Actress is a pleasant
burlesque of Fanny KemHe's Journal.
We give this extract:
'sCame on board a crowd
"a mob-how ! hate them-descend-
ed in Observation-Disclosures Heavens!
into the saloon! -rlust we carry
with US the very phraseology of the
house! Shall Drurypersecute me here!
Shall the vision of the theatre be al
ways present! Oh spare me; Isee the
spectres of the real saloon of that vile
house rise up before me--the gentle
men blackguards-the lady courtezans.
| rushed into my cabin, cotfeed, VIM
ed, and went to bed sobbing.
ss22d. Bedded all day that
word saloon has haunted me ever since
rose in the evening-petti-
coated, shawled, and gloved, and went
and took a last look on dear old Eng
land, the land Of sthe brave and free
oh that word last-the last look,
last sigh, last farewell, how it sinks
into the heart, how it speaks of death
of disembodied spirits-of the yawning
grave. 1t lets down the strings; It
untunes the mind: | was mourning
over it to my brother, ! was compar-
ing notes with him, getting at his SEN
sations on that dreadful word last;
when that odious American broke in,
unasked, with his ssentiment'-'Yes,
female,' said he, beast that he is, why
did he not say she one at once? 1t is
more animal-like, more beautiful, even
than his EXPRESSION Yes, female, l
say damn the last too, as the shoema-
ker did when he tried to straighten
himself up, afterhaving worked upon
it all day. | thought Of dear Lord B.;
how he would have expired. exhaled,
evaporated, at such an illustration, and
then | sighed that I had seen him too
for the last time.
sse4th. Furious gales--the spirit Of
the great deep is unclaimed, and is
raging in furious strides over the
world of waters. The mountains rise
up to impede him, and the valleys
yawn at his feet to receive him. The
ocean heaves beneath his footsteps,
and the clouds fly in terror from his
presence; the lightning CLEANS with
demoniac flashes to illnmine his terri.
BILE visage, and the thunder is the into.
nation OF his voice. Sheeted, blank.
eted. and quilted. remain enveloped