Daily gazette and comet., 1860-11-28

express bis incredulity either be-
fore or after the narrative. and Of
ten in the midst Of it. Il is q mat
ter of conscience with him TO do so.
One other criterion must be al
lowed us. Mr.. Whittier has read
too much He talks too learnedly
about the "Ahriman of the Parsee.
the Pluto of the Roman mythology
the Devil of the Jew and the Chris
tian, the Shtan of the Mussulman,
the Machinito Of the Indian :" and
quotes some black letter mystic or
modern poet on every page. There
is nothing in his treatment Of the
subject that requires such an array
of authorities, nor any such depth
in the well Of his philosophy, that
we can descend into it only by q
flight of steps. constructed out of
oldIfolio volumes.
But, how much easier il is to
censure than to praise, even where
the merits greatly outweigh the de-
fects ! We conclude, with the
frank admission that we like the
book, aud look upon il as no un-
worthy contribution from a poet to
that species of literature which on
ly poet should meddle with. We
hope TO see more OF him, in this. or
some other coDgenial sphere
There are many legends still to be
gathered. especially along the sea-
board of New England-aud those
too, We think, more original, and
more susceptible of poetic illustra-
tion, than these rural supersititions.
The FCGIrrvE SLAVE LAw.-The
Constitution Of the United States gives,
and was intended by its founders to
give to the owners of slaves, q COM
plete right to their property, into
whatever State Of the Union il might
escape. Its explicit language Is:
!. No person held TO service or Ia
Dor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another. shall,
in consequence Of any law or regula-
tion therein, be discharged from such
service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom
such service or labor may be due.
II is the clear duty of the Republi.
can patty to prevent all attempts,
whether by State Legislature or 9TH
erwise, to thwart and defeat this pro-
vision of the Constitution. II the
party thinks that the South has given
provocations which justify this mode
Of retaliation, it may be correct as 10
the reality Of the provocstions, but it
certainly errs as to their affor1ing a
justification for the violation Of any
part of the constitution.-.N. y.
World, Republican.
DR. JoHNsoN.-I hold old John
son (and shall we not pardon James
Boswell some errors for embalmine
him for us p to be the great support
er Of the British monarcy and church
during the last age-better than whole
benches Of bishops. better than Pitts,
North, and the great Burke himself.
Johnson bad the ear Of the nation; bis
immense authority reconciled it to
loyalty, and shamed it out ofirreligion.
When George the III talked with
him, ana the people heard the great
authors good opinion Of the sovereign,
whole generations rallied 10 the king.
Johnson was revered as sort of oracle;
aud the oracle declared for the church
and king. What humanity the old
man had ! He was q kindly partak-
er Of all honest pleasures; fierce foe
to all sin, but gentle enemy to all
sinners. What, boys are you for a
frolic 7" he cries, when Topbam Beau
clerc comes and wakes him up at
midnight +; '1'm with you" And
away he goes, tumbles on with his
bomely old clothes, and trundles
through Covsnt Garden with the
young fellows. When he used to
frequent Garrick's theatre, and had
''tbe liberty Of the scenes" he says,
"All the actresses knew me, and drop
ped me courtesy as they passed to
the stage" That would make pref
ty picture; it is pretty picture in my
mind, Of youth, folly, gayety, tender
ly surveyed by VISIONS merciful, pure
eyes Wackeray.
GA country apothecary, not
little distinguished for his impudence,