FOR THE PORT FOLIO. THE ADVERSARIA; OR, EVENING RECREATIONS-No. VI. To read what books and see what friends I please. POPE. LOCAL ATTACHMENT THERE is a silent chronicle of past hours in the inanimate things, amidst which they have been spent, that gives us back the affections, the regrets of our former days, that returns their joys without tumult, their griefs without poignancy: and produces equally from both, a pensive pleasure, which men, who have retired from the world, or whom particular circumstances have somewhat estranged from it, will be peculiarly fond of indulging. There is a certain attachment to place and things, by which the town, the house, the room, in which we live have a powerful influence over us. He must be a very dull or a very dissipated man, who, after a month's absence, can open his own door without emotion, even although there be no friend or relation to welcome his return. It has been observed, that this attachment to inanimate objects discovering itself in a sort of silent converse with an old accustomed chair, or any other piece of furniture is characteristically British: but the Sirmio of Catullus seems to prove that the old Romans had hearts to feel the same domestic sympathies. Catullus saw, once more, the lucid tide, Around the green banks of his Sirmio roll, Amid his oliv'd island to repose! "Here on my old couch," the master cry'd, "Shall I dismiss a train of wakeful woes; "Here, in delicious sleep, my heavy eye lids close." - FRENCH GALLANTRY, In the fair and courteous days of France, when a gay and half romantic gallantry was the universal taste of the young and the old, the lofty and the humble, Madame la Mareschal de Mirefioix, already in the winter of her days, but with more wit and warmth of imagination than most of the youngest and gayest ladies of the court, sent to her old admirer M. le duc de Nivernois, a lock of her gray hair, accompanied by some very elegant verses, descriptive of the regard she felt for him, which age could neither extinguish nor diminish. The duke's reply is one of the sweetest specimens of tenderness and gayety, that I ever remember to have met with. Quoi! vous parlez de cheveux blancs! Laissons, laissons courir le tems: Que nous importe son ravage? Pour moi, Themire, je le sens, Si je n'avois que dix-huit ans, Je pouvois aimer plus long tems Mais non pas aimer d'avantage. For the consolation of those mere English ladies, who like M. M. de Mirepoix, are growing gray, and to assure them that the aged themselves, though not likely to make new conquests, have, at least, the power of retaining the admirers of their youth, I venture to insert this rude copy of a beautiful original. Talk not of snowy locks-have done; Time runs the same and let him run, To us what boots the tyrant's rage? The Graces are of every age, To thee, Themira, when I bow, And more in years approve thee, POLITICAL SARCASMS. In the British house of commons, the opposition argued that the expedition to the Scheldt was impolitic and disgraceful; but the conclusion upon which they insisted was, that therefore the ministry ought to be displaced, and they themselves be appointed to succeed them; and they who agreed with them most entirely on the first part of the proposition, would have regarded the second as a worse evil than the expedition itself. The temper and views with which this party called for a vote of censure, were exposed by Mr. Stephen in a singularly felicitous allusion. The public, he said, were led to expect a redress of grievances and a punishment of delinquents; but the gentlemen on the opposition bench had the more substantial game in view, of obtaining possession of the government; and this was the true cause of their impatience. They reminded him of the squire of the valorous knight of La Mancha. The knight, like the people of England in this case, was intent on generous purposes, though with mistaken views; but Sancho had always his eye to the main chance; and as soon as an adventure was achieved by his master, he conceived, like these right honourable gentlemen, that his own end was attained; and said, "I do beseech you, sir, give me immediately that same government." CRITICISM. "And on your eye-lids crown the god of sleep."-Shakspeare, Hen. IV. Mr. Malone says this is a strange image; but I believe it will be deemed more strange that he and Mr. Steevens should either be slow to perceive or to admit the justness of Dr. Warburton's applause of it; "sleep crowned on his eye-lids," is sleep seated there in the supremacy of delight." Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness; Making such difference between sleep and wake, As is the difference betwixt day and night. Mr. Sheridan seems to have thought of this passage when he was writing the Duenna, and has sweely improved it: Tell me, my lute, can thy fond strain So gently speak thy master's pain; So softly breathe, so humbly sigh, That though my sleeping love may know Who sings, who sighs below, Her rosy slumbers shall not fly. MUSIC. Every being presently discovers those faculties with which nature has endowed it. The least elevation or depression of voice must have, necessarily, made the first race of men perceive that their organs were capable of producing other sounds than those of speech, and that singing was as natural to them as speaking. A little more experience must have shown them, that metals and all other bodies, when struck, and disposed in a certain manner, produced also sounds. Lastly, it must have required some considerable time to discover that the intestines, when dried and properly prepared, were also sonorous. The present musical instruments, have, therefore, been successively invented. And who knows how many others may hereafter be produced! The tones that are drawn from china, glass, wood, and even straw, were almost unknown till the present age. Most of the pleasurable diversons have a tendency, when pursued with ardour, not only to relax but to enervate the mind, They indispose for manly virtue, and introduce a tenderness ill suited to encounter the usual asperities of life. But the study of music, while it sweetly sooths the sense of hearing, touches the soul, and elevates and refines its nature. Conducted by philosophy, it is able to inspire the noblest thoughts, to urge the most animated action, to calm the ruffled spirits, and to eradicate every malignant propensity. THE GREEKS. The salubrity of their climate, by its effects upon the ima gination, marked their character with enthusiasm and sensibility. Liberty exalted their minds. The equality of their citizens made them set a high value upon the opinion of each other; and, as each individual might aspire after the highest offices of the state, this flattered their self-love, and made them entertain a favourable opinion of themselves. The public games and exercises brought them frequently together, and made them well acquainted with each other's characters. The great number of petty states excited a spirit of emulation in each. In a word, great interests and victories gave them those elevated sentiments which aspire after renown. Upon returning from the combat, in which thousands of Persians were defeated by a handful of freemen, was there a Greek whose soul did not feel itself exalted and warmed with the love of glory. Add to all this, the particular institutions of each city; the public festivals, the funeral games, the assemblies of all the states, the races and combats on the banks of the Alpheus; the prizes bestowed upon superior strength, address, talents, and genius; kings mingling with the combatants; heralds proclaiming the victory; fathers embracing their victorious sons with transports of joy; and the country which gave birth to such citizens distinguished by peculiar honours. Such was the ardent sensibility of the Greeks for glory; and this principle was cultivated with great care by the several states. No rewards were bestowed that could debase the soul or give it a narrow and contracted turn. Talents and virtues were never so far degraded as to be rewarded with gold; glory, and not interest was the universal pursuit. Crowns, inscriptions, vases, statues; these were the rewards of superior merit; these produced heroes. In Greece, which way soever the eye was directed, it beheld monuments of glory. The streets, the temples, the galleries, the porticos, conveyed useful instructions to every citizen, and were schools for public virtue. In such a country, therefore, it is not surprising that panegyrics were common. The Greeks, like the Egyptians, had funeral eulogiums, but they applied them in a different manner. In Egypt, where policy and religion were closely connected, the principal view was to promote and encourage morality among all ranks of people: in Greece, which was composed of free and warlike republics, their chief study was to exalt the soul and inspire it with a contempt of danger and death. Accordingly, funeral culogiums were only granted in the name of the state, to those who lost their lives in its service. If we consider the various pursuits in which men are engaged; state how the most active are employed; and sum up their different merits, this conclusion may be made: that, take them in general, they are seldom so much, and never so nobly and innocently employed, as the man who passes his life in literary ease, and is by the world called idle. Trade debases the mind. Its only recommendation is, that it furnishes the means of subsis |