The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-06-19

Ills elnef urothers, (tor he was the younBess
SOM being compelled to 20 out into the world
to seek their fortunes, he was left without asso-
cates at home, reading such books as he could
borrow and laying the foundation of future use
fulness under kind mothers influence Ii has
been said, and his writings justify the SUPPOSE
ton, that the early education of Mr. pauIding
was liberal and unrestfaued This is mistake
All the education he ever received at school was
in log cabin some two miles from home, the
circumstances of his family not justiIying his
being sent off to academies And the purse of
his future career may be very much al ributed
to this fact, what he read he read carefully, and
that of works worth reading, and much Of his.
time was given up to mediation aud digesting
what he had found in his books. He Was forced
early to depend upon his own resources OF mind
and body, b. which all the latent virtues of the
man were developed, and forces the remark that
howe. er we may be disposed TO encourage
schools and colleges and the education of you h,
which none can repudiate, yet the fact must be
admitted from the test of experience, that many,
if not majority of the most brill ant intellecls
of our day are those who had to struggle in
poverty and without the means of education in
the beginning of life.
In this manner passed on, 10 somewhat list
less and dreary solitude, the boyhood life of Mr.
Paudng. But an al-wise Providence, in which
very much trust, was shaping the course of
things, which more or less in all cases with men
of genius, forms turning point on which their
future will depend For somewhere about this
time sister of Mr.. Paulding was married to
Mr.. William Irving, eldest brother to Washing
ton Irving which produced boyish acqusint-
ance between these youths, and which ripening
into solid .,iendship has continued to the pre-
sent time.
At length, through the assistance of his elder
brother, he WAS placed in the situation of pub.
lie Office in the city Of New York. where pass
ing through the trials of young countryman
suddenly entered into city life, he was in time
initiated with his young friend Irving into a cir
-cle, composed OF young men, many of whom
have since contributed not little to the literary
fame and mental renown of our country. II
was thea in their dawniDg manhood, that Paul
ding and Irving, in conjunction, published 'sSal
Magundi," periodical, humorously exposing
the foes and fobIes of the fashionable world.
This was probably the first publication of the
kind in this con try, and was the debut in
az horship of both of those gentlemen, who
have become since so celebrated for their wri-
tings. Since that Mr.. Paulding has written and
published, besides articles for Reviews and other
Periodicals, some twenty-five volumes; vet
strange to say those works are but little read
or known in the South, whilst the shelves of
our book merchants are crowded with himsy
Northern books, made to order, scarcely one of
which you can open, without being insuIted by
gratlitous attack upon the institution of slav-
cry. Now be it known, that james K Paudipo
was one of the first men in this country or any
other, who had the boIdness and honesty to
publish book in defence of our slave institu
ton, and dared to write that it was no sin to
own slaves as property, aud that it was not for
hidden by the Christian scriptures. This may
be a reason why his works are. not popular in
Old England or New England, but surely it
should n be a reason why they are not to be
reed by ne Southern youth, nor found on the
shelves of Southern library. We should
scorn to regulate our taste in literature any
more than in politics, by any standard foreign
to our own borders and min zeal to our interests
and safely II is not in our province or time,
nor are we sufficiently informed, from causes
already indicated, to present n critical notice of
the works of Mr.. Paulding. 1t, however, may
be safely said, that for morality elegance of
diclion, good taste, good sense and purity of
style, and orthodox political principles, they not
only commend themselves to us, but should fill
the most conspicuous place in every library.
The political career of Mr.. Paulding is founded
on his literary labors. During the late war with
England, in reply to an offensive article in the
London Quarterly Reuiew, Mr. Paulding wrote
and published, "1rhe diverting history of John
Bull and Brother Jonathan" The lay of the
Scottish Fiddle" and "The United States and
England" These spirited publications brought
him into the notice of President Madison who
was his friend forever afterwards. The reader
will excuse me for only briefly referring % much
of his career which is well known to the world,
but if time and space were allowed. woald be Of
exciting interest AT the lose of the war, on
the institution of a board ofnavy commissioners,
Mr.. Paudng was appointed its secretary, post
which ne held until he resigned to occupy that
of navy agent Of the port of New York This
office he held upwards of twelve years under
different party ahministla atoms, when upon the
election Of Mr.. Van Buren, to the Presidency, he
was placed at the head of the Navy Department
where he fulfilled the duties of that high station
until the eld of that administration This was
the close of h- public life, and although he had
held public offices for nearly quarter of a cen
tnry and some of them of very high grade, YET
it is fact to be noticed as worthy of all praise
he never solicited one of those appointments by
himselfor through his friends How few are
there who can say this, now or hereafter at our
great federal head of spoils and corruption
Retiring, as have said, after this he has lived
for the last ten years at pleasant country
mansion, on part of the old grant, on the east
bank of the Hudson, half way between New
York and Albany. His family consists of his
bachelor brother who is retired merchant, his
eldest son and son's wife and children, with
whom, blessed with competency, reasonable
health, and quiet conscience, he enjoys in re.
pose the fruits OLA well spent l;fe.
Mr.. Paulding is of silent, contemplative.
disposition, and with modest, retiring, unobtru
sive manners, speaking more with the pen than
the tongue" On reading any of bis writings,
one feels at once, that he is tastng of a stream
whose fountain head is pure and salubrious. In
his ordinary style and miscellaneous productions.
as chaste. as modest as delicate as a woman. vet
no American writer has defended and still N,
tends the cause of truth, justice, and constitu
tional liberty with more zeal and unflinchinr
courage than J. X. pauding. 1t is remarkable
fact that his first political writings and which
gained him the friendship of Mr.. Madison, were
IN defence OF republicanism and Southern prin-
ciples, and the last efforts of hs retired old age,