The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-11-02
From the Nep York American.
REHABILITATION SKETCHES.
NO. VII.

Il McTU-EOtUCLCT EHfOt, tue = 1OFH- lIutD-
/ Rhymer"-.Joseph Six buckingham.
From London down TO Sheffield. Yes, dorm
10 Sheffield. When you come 10 England, you
must take heed Of your ups and doiens. En-
route to Sheffield, turned aside to spend a
leisure day or two in Derby shire-famous, the
ocean over, foi its charming mountain and val
ley scenery. As climbed its heights and
wallzed with its buxom breezes, and leaped into
| It's valleys to battle in their sweet beauties, my
blood gaioped with nimber impulse, carrying
fresh life through every fibre and tinging my
cheek with healthier glow. Derbyshire IS the
cornucopia Of Nature and Art. Go you and
| revel among It's teeming wonders and delights.
My heart staid there week after left. Pro-
sale description would be damning with faint
praise
This region surely is not ef'earh
Was il not drolt fom Heaven2
Go, see II.
Hark-away for Matlock station, to catch the
cars for Sheffield Here we are at the depot
" How long ere the train going up will arrive z"
IAN hour sir" "Shall | have time TO climb
that hill, and get glimpse Of the surrol nding
country2" "Oh yes, sir" Up / bound
Fifteen minutes, hard toing brought me to an
anchor on a rock far below the summit cast
my eye London-wards and 10, the cars darling
like mad land serpent DER plain and through
hill towards the depot. hurried down and
gushing perspiration from my forehead, and i'm
patiently stammered out, "Do you call this an
hour2" You said you wished to take the up
train" So | did--ap 70 Sheffield" All
that is dom. BY up, we always mean tordrds
London, sir"
This adventure furnished me with key
which has since unlocked hundreds of engmas
in English society. "By up we always mean
towards London, sir" Philosophy can read
the history of Great Britain in this single line.
LONDON, the seat Of Royalty, Rank, Power, Wealth
and Fashion, is UP. To Jew, the phrase sup TO
Jerusalem" was full OF meaning. The idea
which it imbodied was the keystone Of the Old
Dispensation. The highborn Englishman,
when inhallng the air which sweeps the cloud
capt summit of Snowden or the Scotchman,
with his Highland foot pressing the blooming
heather on the brow Of Ben Lomond, will OBJ
sequiously look sup to London"
"And crook the pregnant hinges Of the knee,
That thrift may follow fawning.
Up TO London, and down from London,
terms of universal application throughout the
Kingdom.
At Sheffield, our mutual friend, S., introduced
me to JAMES MONTGOMERY. On one of those
lofty hills which sentinel the town and start up
from its dense sea of waving smoke, like island
knobs lifting their heads above the ocean stands
the house where this excellent man resides. Our
cards, sent in by servant, brought him TO the
door, where he gave US such right hearty wei
come as made me feel quite at home ere was
seated in his drawing-room. Though nearly
seventy anxious years rest on his shoulders, his
form is still erect, and his manners exhibit
bland commingling Of the sprightliness of youth
with the dignity OF age. His emphatic style of
conversation-the angles Of whose abrupt and
nervous transitions reflect the unquenchable fire
of his grey eye-reminded me OF John Quincy
A l,, a., - az lf th.h and
the tones Of the voice helped to paint to Mem
ory's eye the sage of Quincy while talking Of
the Author of the World before the hood-for
they are very like. In his youth, twice did the
cold walls OF a prison teach this fearless writer
that that liberty of the press which Britain now
so amply enjoys, was, like faith, but the sub
stance Of things hoped for and the evidence of
things not seen" When abiding to his dis
graceful Punishment to York Castle, his free
Scotch blood grew warm, and he finished ra-
cy sketch Of the present RIGHTEOUSNESS OF the
press, as compared to past days, with the quaint
remark-"An editor may steal horse with more
impunity now, than he could look over hedge
them
The storm has passed away, and the early
champion of freedom enjoys serene old age
He has outlived the enmty Of his prosecutors.
aud now fills AIN envable place in their atfec
tons. The Government which tramped on
ii ",
in his declining path. The pension that sup
ports his aged steps was worthlly bestowed by
Sir Robert Peel.
Though his thin, snowy locks give Montgom-
cry venerable appearance, his poetic eye Is not
dimmed, nor is his natural force abated. de
circumscribes his literary labors, only that he
may devote more time to works of charity and
benevolence. AS he babe me an affecuonate
farewell, could but ask myself 9 Where are
~ h,rI ~ lI,la Of Rn-
gers, Campbell, Wordsworth Moore, Southey,
when their hands chill in death ~ Echo an
swered, Where." How hard it is, dear c., to
realize that these names, the familiar compan-
ions Of our youth, are the synonymes OF three
score years and ten The grey hairs of two
or three of these favorite sons Of Song, have
made me feel sad. hen enwrapt by their i'm
mortal verse, had never suspected they were
growing old. And though have recently stood by
cannot even dream that they are dead. If these
are dead, and those must die, then indeed is
man shadow and life dream.
Leaving the door Of Montgomery chow swiftly
the two hours glided away y knocked al that OF
his neighbor Ebtnezer Elliott, the author of the
Corn Law Rhymes The transition could
scarcely have been greater. | had just parted
with an educated, refined gentleman, of polished
manners and exqusitely neat personal appear
ance, and now found myself confronted with
stout, robust, rough man, whose blunt address and
slovenly attire made me almost shrink from the
proflered grasp of hand that had penned some of
the best Rhymes in the English language. But
the good nalured walk in, walk in of the burly
poet, who stood on the threshold i'll his stocking
feet holding pair Of coarse shoes in his hand,
summoned up my democratic blood, and.assured
me was welcome. The first glance at Mr.. Ell
iott's head reminded me Of the appearance Of
General jackson, when we saw him at Wash
ington some fifteen years ago. The same bold,
frank, UNI Glazing expression which marks the
front of the hero Of the Hermitage, animates
the countenance of the anti Corn Law Rhymer.