ORIGINAL POETRY. For the Emerald. FABLE....20. THE MINISTERIAL FOX. How can our moralists declare, With insolent, disdainful air; That heedless men to ruin run; That times are worse, the state undone; That vile degeneracy reigns, And not one virtue now remains; Too harsh, ye moralizing herd, Things ar'nt so bad, upon my word. For oft when studying human ways, Some things I find provoking praise, E'en now a virtue I can name, Of high import-What is it?-SHAME. Shame, which exposes evil deeds; Shame, which for virtue intercedes ; Shame, the unalter'd friend of truth; That bites proud Roguery in his youth; Shame, that on him, who early seeks, Dishonor, spreads upon his cheeks A crimson die, which seems to say, Repentance may be had to day. Now if the matter rested here How uniform would life appear, Its conduct, end, and aim inspected, And bright'ning daily, self-corrected. But selfish, mercenary arts, We hush compunction's mental storm, As merchants, to avoid the claw Should Pluto's dear disciple find, They smile should he attempt to prove. Passion repuls'd, unlucky love. Of all the woes of human life, Preserve me from domestic strife, When neither side their faults will own, AndShame presides in Reason's throne. The wife (alas! how shall I tell, Can rage in heav'nly bosoms dwell?) Condemns her spouse. For what, I pray? -For her unprosp'rous luck at play. The husband vents his wrath on wives, The certain bane of peaceful lives: Would you the secret cause inquire, Some miss, perhaps, has rais'd his ire. 'Tis thus the modest world proceeds, We hide the name of evil deeds, Shame renders us extremely nice, For every man disowns his vice. Sages there are, who never steal, From members of the Commonweal, Yet grow important, rich and great, By filling offices of state. Sages, heaven shield us from their aid, Who turn all politics to trade, Yet when discover'd, can exclaim, How difficult the road of fame, Pleasure and pride are lov'd they know, But patriotisin-ah! how low! Would you possess sweet peace of mind, Be truth on every deed enjoin'd— Would you a future sigh evade, In time forbear the smuggling trade. Soon as the sorrowing tiding's spread, That spake the mighty lion dead, Th' ambitious of the bestial nation, Crowded to Court, to seek the station. The Fox, by fraud and party heat, Opprest, plebeian beasts complain'd The crew contentedly appear, Deceiv'd with arts from year to year. Meantime, the ministerial thief. His dinner long, his labor brief, Behold the people still turmoil, And fatten'd on a nation's toil. No ear attentive to their cries, Enraged at length the mob arise, But in his former shuffling strain The beast of power began again : Should I, on whom suspicious hate Must not be told on all occasions. One charge, applied in poet's pensions, Would never coalesce at all, The prating culprit being heard, FOR THE EMERALD. Mr. Editor. The following Elegiac lines, occasioned by the death of a young lady at Exeter, N. H. were addressed to a friend in the country, to whom the author was in the habit of writing in a much less serious strain; which will account for, and explain the introduc Our thoughtless hours, no more of mirth will sing, But rudely moves the melancholy string, When gaiety herself drops many a tear. 'Tis true I've laugh'd, when Della Crus can swains In the wild fervor of elegiac strains. But judge not hence that nothing can beguile A tender thought, nor think me less sincere, Because the eye, where now you see a tear, Can sometimes beam the radiance of smile. Far from this spot be every sound of mirth But hark! a solemn silence now prevails, Far bence the giddy raptures of The new made grave has caught their the gay," For now, the memory of departed worth Demands a thought; a tributary lay. This twilight stillness, this sequester'd grove, Suits with my sorrow; dimly I dis cern The grave with faded turf; here let turn. A suffering maid in death has found relief; We sigh, and think of hours when we were glad, For there's a pleasure in the sigh of grief, When peace is in the bosom of the In the delightful circle where she mov'd, And all the friends of virtue were her Eliza sure was form'd all hearts to gain, vain but 'tis now in roving eyes, Unfinish'd they dismiss the merry tale, She on her lover's arın reclines, and sighs. And then a tender look, that seems to --say, "Yes, dear Eliza, we have bid adieu, Once you, like us, had health, and could be gay i Alas! how shortly must we be like Leila, with too successful art, S. S. Has spread for me the cruel snare, And now, when she has caught my heart, She laughs and leaves it to despair. Thus the poor sparrow pants for breath, Held captive by a playful boy, And while it drinks the draught of death, joy The thoughtless child looks on with Ah! were its fluttering pinions free, Soon would it bid its chains adieu; Or did the child its sufferings see, He'd pity and relieve them too. Jack keeps his secrets well, or I'm de ceived: For nothing he can say will be believed. When the sun of cheerfulness shall have exhaled the tear, we hope to be again delighted with its music. Emerald. Boston, Mass.) Published ''* BY BELCHER & ARMSTRONG, No. 70, State Street. SEMPER REFULGET. No. 21. Boston, Saturday, September 20, 1806. ORIGINAL PAPERS. FOR THE EMERALD. THE WANDERER, TO THE WANDERER. It probably will not be doubted, that the ghosts which appear in many of the plays of Shakespeare, are essential, both as regards forwarding the several fables and inculcating special truths, and as respects the particular interest of the scene. The appearance of Hamlet's father," come from the grave” to “unfold a tale," which fixes the No argument seems so suddenly wavering thoughts of the young to check the admirers of Shakes-Prince, and induces him to adopt a new course of conduct, is in truth the main hinge on which the play of Hamlet turns. And the apparition of Julius Cæsar which appears to Brutus, is not without its purpose. He says to him, SIR, peare in the flights of their panegyrics, than that derived from his violations of probability in introducing imaginary beings; ghosts, witches, aëriel spirits and monsters into his dramas. That he can be absolutely defended for these deviations from strict reason and fact, it is difficult to determine; but at all events it is evident, admitting his conduct in this respect to be faulty, that there are reasons which will serve to extenuate the evil, and show that his friends even on this account, have no cause to doubt his superior excellence. The supreme ascendency of his abilities overcomes his defects, and he lulls our senses, though our judgment may be alarmed. He shall meet him at Philippi. He keeps his word, he does meet him there; he meets Brutus from whom of all men he should least have expected such treachery as he had evinced. He meets him in the field, disheartens him and finally triumphs over him. Here Shakespeare forcibly exemplifies the doctrine of even handed justice, on this bank and shoal of time; and he who was assassinated, becomes himself the destroyer of the assassins. But it has been asserted, that In examining his faults, our con- whatever success the author may siderations are naturally divided into have had, in the use he has made of two heads. In respect to his in-spectres, yet that they could be extroduction of ghosts or disembodied spirits; and in respect to the instrumentality of witches and other supernatural agents, in the plots of his dramas. X cluded from appearing in the plays where they are introduced, without prejudice to the effect of them. That is, if the auditor were to believe the performer saw the ghost; being a mere phantom of his brain, then the interest of the scene would be equally as well preserved as though it actually made its appearance upon the stage. In Drurylane theatre it is said, the ghost of Banquo does not appear to the audience; but is left intirely to the imagination. That Shakespeare intended the substantial ghost there cannot be a doubt: but whether or not his intention should be altered, and the spectre exist only in the minds of the audience, are questions not so easily settled. have read the play, would experi ence in being unable to know whether the representation were of a ghost or real man, vanishes on the same principle. Besides an additional answer to this argument is, that it is easy to give the ghost a look different from its former self, by a little care and attention, The author is not responsible for defect of execution in the actor. Those who favor the real appearance of these personages, contend it is impossible for an actor to indicate to the audience that he sees, and is in the presence of, a ghost by It is thought an absurdity by the mere expressions of countesome, that the spirit of Banquonance; in truth the audience would should enter a room filled with com- be at a loss to comprehend his conpany in form and substance as he tortions. Or supposing them to lived, and yet be visible to only one understand the cause of his appreperson in it. And, besides, entering hensions, each person would form in this habit and under this form, his own notions of the thing, which those who have not read the play would necessarily differ from each may naturally suppose he was not other; consequently the effect in fact killed; or being left for dead could not be so equal and universal, he had recovered from his wounds as when there was an apparent obin a miraculous manner. ject of dread which each person These objections however, are viewed with similar abhorrence. It founded upon the supposition that seems necessary then, that an obvi-, the auditor conceives the exhibitions ous form should be represented in of the stage to be real events: order to communicate to the audiwhich never is the case. He tors the business of the scene. knows very well he beholds a stage, Should you therefore prevent the and observes his old acquaintance ghost of Banquo from appearing, performing upon it. It is always you should on the same principles necessary in such cases, to stretch debar the admission of all other the belief beyond the bounds of ghosts of Shakespeare; which in probability; how else could we con- several of his plays would comsider, the aside speeches, to be un-pletely destroy their interest. heard by either of the persons on the stage; how else could we imagine a canvas wood, to be real trecs, qr a piece of silk scratched upon to be true rain. By the same extention of belief, we may easily Suppose the company cannot see the ghost of Banquo; but that it is visible only to Macbeth. The objection implied by the difficulty those of the auditors, who may not However our great poet may be condemned for his introducing ghosts into his plays, his abilities in the conduct of them shine with conspicuous lustre.. The love of the marvellous, was the prevailing passion in England after the crusades, the rules of the ancients were known to few; Shakespeare therefore had on one hand every thing to induce him to introduce the ghosts, and on |