Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1852-12-20
d lrIron rnE wHEE1rso rNTELLIaENoER.l

mendatioR other than such as its petusal must COM
mand from every reader. 5000. r..-..t. .......,
sys5 iriEvoR THE WHEELING rsTELLIuENoEn.l 'o-'i I
saI AM RRIcAN LITHRATURH!h.
-ILAn civilized nations have made great exertious
tsone ertOd Of their history to discover the origin
.Of their Literature, aad have Teiotced at every
successful choCt 10 trace up, and open the foun-
4iihs tom which the streams of knowledge have
issued to gladden. successive generations, together
with many matters OF well authenticated facts,
there has been much Il the fable, and conjecture
co-mingled- ts.As.-'' t--' ' l'''.'
,eFhe Gurthest EAST, the birthplace of science and
Ilstters, has been overriding with clouds for thirty
Lrenturies, and If for moment the eye Of genius
mas attempted 10 pierce them, it succeeded for a
InomentonIy, and the splendid vision it unfolded,
WIZ soon cpueped again with thicker mantle.
lin an sgss too, there has been disposition TO
know much of fOTmer timesi the persons, man
,peFy minds, and modes of thinking of those for
.rnetdass arc sought after by us, and no subject
41eJiphts as more, than history of their inteec-
tddl treasures. fiil s -' .'a- '"'
bn Even Greece, so dear to US by many sweet asSo-
sottNIous would loose half admiration and rev.
areuee, were we to separate from tFe fearless I'M
4suoIerable spirits of Marathon and Themopyls,
writings of a Socrates, and the eloquence which
even now falls from the mute lips of DemoSthenes
And If thereis any thing which can administer
pure delight, or elicit warmest gratitude, 1t Is
when we turn the historic page and tracefn eve
~ line, the invaluable legacy which expiring
Greece haSleft to posterity. But when we have
contemplated the encouragement and priRcely
iouironage which Grecian Literature received and
Pom
Hand to our frugal treasury, and the'cautiOn
with which:t is dispensed to our modest fortunes
and the thrift with which they boarded; to our
.scantyl,abie libraries, andthe plain brick Walls
s.rithin " hieh they are deposited; we are apt to
form gloomy of the advancement OF our own
budding Literature. We have, however, no reason
% fear. Like our country which sprang as it were,
fsomths depths.of the oceau, where she had been
buried forageas ,our literature will raisesublmely'
md after The lance If centuries will stand forthin
wonder to man. But this is hereafter to be accom-
iplishs for as yet no Homer or Virgil. Shakespeare
sor Milton has appeared nnrivaled in song, above
our literary horizon. Time has not inscribed upon
the sepulc4Te of the dend, any nobler names in
stloqueaee than DenoSthenese or Cicero. The
stream Of acentury hasusWept by the works Of
Locke and Newton, yet they still stand alone I'M
uALAlHAIAIaA4IAS
repeat it, we have 40 reassn to blush at whatiw
are, and what we have BEEN e DE- .I.-: a9EE.i
What are our aitsinments in literature, in com
paEison with other nations ofour own ageaI Have
we not fine scholars, accomplished dlvines, and
,skinful physiciansl Have we not lawyers who
might excite generous rivalry in Westminster Hal1
Have we not Statesmen who would stand
side by side with those ofthe old world in fore
sight in political wisdom, in effective debate1-
Have We not historians who have told with fidelity
and force, of our deeds and our sufenngsl Have
we not mathematieians, who may claim kindred
with; the distinguished Of EuTopeH Have we not
criticsand poets, whose compositions add lustIe to
,the,ageR Yea theEe ares such among u.s. But
they stand as light-bouSesaloug the coast of our
literature. shining with cheering brightness, it Is
tue, utlike f'angePs yiEitSs few and far between,
Here and there ClaXa Calhoun or Webster,
has sprung into life, and stands forth bright and
Ginning example of what American genius may be-
come under proper cultivation Of the intellectnf
hsEehildren.ls ilagi. lis 1lfs 'adu 90! Ec4asi
p,toRt heNouth of America, then, devolves the en-
lpbipg,yet dfieult task Of uplifting heritott that
.loltg station which nature aud natures God have
reserved for her; for ler alone, In that high Eor
nance, il romance itber in-which the great minds
of antiquity sketehed ne fatuEeS'6f ages to come,
thsN Sictured tor theuoslE sEegion beyond the
ocean, land nfeopal5lll4 and happy mems The
urimitive poets behed in 1.-THE Islands % blest
The sage of1he Academy lseea ithel ost Atian-
tis, and evenfhe Steiner spirit fSenioa could dis
CEN faisefAUoae Of hhinaiily ID 5ions then
I'D EsoSt: ~ e here i ne "a they pic
flra % thsgsslyss Ip l4eh gl9gigg aeelsEI; hare
he tspd "fgRilg VIII Filk M hgaegEsps md sPy,