other coincidences which seem to have linked their destinies togetherafter having lived so long together, the objects of their country's joint veneration-after having been spared to witness the great triumph of their toils at home-and looked together from Pisgah's top, on the sublime effect of that grand impulse which they had given to the same glorious cause throughout the world, should, on this fiftieth anniversary of the day on which they had ushered that cause into light, be both caught up to Heaven, together, in the midst of their raptures! Is there a being of heart so obdurate and sceptical, as not to feel the hand and hear the voice of Heaven in this wonderful dispensation? And may we not, with reverence, interpret its language? Is it not this? "These are my beloved servants, in whom I am well pleased. They have finished the work for which I sent them into the world; and are now called to their reward. Go ye, and do likewise!" BURR AND BLENNERHASSETT. [Argument in the Trial of Aaron Burr. U. S. Circuit Court, Richmond, Va. 1807.] WE HO is Blennerhassett? A native of Ireland, a man of letters, who fled from the storms of his own country to find quiet in ours. His history shows that war is not the natural element of his mind. If it had been, he never would have exchanged Ireland for America. So far is an army from furnishing the society natural and proper to Mr. Blennerhassett's character, that on his arrival in America, he retired even from the population of the Atlantic States, and sought quiet and solitude in the bosom of our western forests. But he carried with him taste and science and wealth; and lo, the desert smiled! Possessing himself of a beautiful island in the Ohio, he rears upon it a palace, and decorates it with every romantic embellishment of fancy. A shrubbery that Shenstone might have envied, blooms around him. Music that might have charmed Calypso and her nymphs is his. An extensive library spreads its treasures before him. A philosophical apparatus offers to him all the secrets and mysteries of nature. Peace, tranquillity and innocence shed their mingled delights around him. And to crown the enchantment of the scene, a wife, who is said to be lovely even beyond her sex, and graced with every accomplishment that can render it irresistible, had blessed him with her love, and made him the father of several children. The evidence would convince you that this is but a faint picture of the real life. In the midst of all this peace, this innocent simplicity and this tranquillity, this feast of the mind, this pure banquet of the heart, the destroyer comes; he comes to change this paradise into a hell. Yet the flowers do not wither at his approach. No monitory shuddering through the bosom of their unfortunate possessor warns him of the ruin that is coming upon him. A stranger presents himself. Introduced to their civilities by the high rank which he had lately held in his country, he soon finds his way to their hearts by the dignity and elegance of his demeanor, the light and beauty of his conversation, and the seductive and fascinating power of his address. The conquest was not difficult. Innocence is ever simple and credulous. Conscious of no design itself, it suspects none in others. It wears no guard before its breast. Every door, and portal, and avenue of the heart is thrown open, and all who choose it enter. Such was the state of Eden when the serpent entered its bowers. The prisoner, in a more engaging form, winding himself into the open and unpractised heart of the unfortunate Blennerhassett, found but little difficulty in changing the native character of that heart. and the objects of its affection. By degrees he infuses into it the poison of his own ambition. He breathes into it the fire of his own courage; a daring and desperate thirst for glory; an ardor panting for great enterprises, for all the storm and bustle and hurricane of life. In a short time the whole man is changed, and every object of his former delight is relinquished. No more he enjoys the tranquil scene; it has become flat and insipid to his taste. His books are abandoned. His retort and crucible are thrown aside. His shrubbery blooms and breathes its fragrance upon the air in vain; he likes it not. His ear no longer drinks the rich melody of music; it longs for the trumpet's clangor and the cannon's Even the prattle of his babes, once so sweet, no longer affects him; and the angel smile of his wife, which hitherto touched his bosom. with ecstasy so unspeakable, is now unseen and unfelt. Greater objects. have taken possession of his soul. His imagination has been dazzled by visions of diadems, of stars, and garters, and titles of nobility. He has been taught to burn with restless emulation at the names of great heroes and conquerors. His enchanted island is destined soon to relapse into a wilderness; and in a few months we find the beautiful and tender partner of his bosom, whom he lately "permitted not the winds of "summer "to visit too roughly," we find her shivering at midnight, on the wintry banks of the Ohio, and mingling her tears with the torrents that froze as they fell. Yet this unfortunate man, thus deluded from his interest and his happiness, thus seduced from the paths of innocence and peace, thus confounded in the toils that were deliberately spread for him, and overwhelmed by the mastering spirit and genius of another-this man, thus ruined and undone, and made to play a subordinate part in this grand drama of guilt and treason, this man is to be called the principal offender, while he, by whom he was thus plunged in misery, is comparatively roar. innocent, a mere accessary! Is this reason? Is it law? Is it humanity? Sir, neither the human heart nor the human understanding will bear a perversion so monstrous and absurd! so shocking to the soul! so revolting to reason! Let Aaron Burr, then, not shrink from the high destination which he has courted, and having already ruined Blennerhassett in fortune, character and happiness, for ever, let him not attempt to finish the tragedy by thrusting that ill-fated man between himself and punishment. THE LAWYER'S "TWELVE GOOD RULES." [Letter to Francis W. Gilmer, 1815.-Kennedy's "Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt." Revised Edition. 1849.] PERCEIVE that you are going to work, pell-mell, nec mora, nec requies-that's your sort-give it to them thicker and faster! stars. Nunc dextra ingeminans citus, nunc ille sinistra. It is this glow and enthusiasm of enterprise that is to carry you to the But then bear in mind, that it is a long journey to the stars, and that they are not to be reached per saltum. "Perseverando vinces" ought to be your motto-and you should write it in the first page of every book in your library. Ours is not a profession, in which a man gets along by a hop, step, and a jump. It is the steady march of a heavy armed legionary soldier. This armor you have yet, in a great measure, to gain; to learn how to put it on; to wear it without fatigue; to fight in it with ease, and use every piece of it to the best advantage. I am against your extending your practice, therefore, to too many courts, in the beginning. I would not wish you to plunge into an extensive practice at once. will break up your reading, and prevent you from preparing properly for that higher theatre which you ought always to keep intently in your mind's eye. It For two or three years, you must read, sir-read-read-delve-meditate-study-and make the whole mine of the law your own. For two or three years, I had much rather that your appearances should be rare and splendid, than frequent, light and vapid, like those of the young country practitioners about you. Let me use the privilege of my age and experience to give you a few hints, which, now that you are beginning the practice, you may find not useless. 1. Adopt a system of life, as to business and exercise; and never de viate from it, except so far as you may be occasionally forced by imperious and uncontrollable circumstances. 2. Live in your office; i. e., be always seen in it except at the hours of eating or exercise. 3. Answer all letters as soon as they are received; you know not how many heartaches it may save you. Then fold neatly, endorse neatly, and file away neatly, alphabetically, and by the year, all the letters so received. Let your letters on business be short, and keep copies of them. 4. Put every law paper in its place, as soon as received; and let no scrap of paper be seen lying for a moment, on your writing chair or tables. This will strike the eye of every man of business who enters. 5. Keep regular accounts of every cent of income and expenditure, and file your receipts neatly, alphabetically, and by the month, or at least by the year. 6. Be patient with your foolish clients, and hear all their tedious circumlocution and repetitions with calm and kind attention; cross-examine and sift them, till you know all the strength and weakness of their cause, and take notes of it at once whenever you can do so. 7. File your bills in Chancery at the moment of ordering the suit, and while your client is yet with you to correct your statement of his case; also prepare every declaration the moment the suit is ordered, and have it ready to file. 8. Cultivate a simple style of speaking, so as to be able to inject the strongest thought into the weakest capacity. You will never be a good jury lawyer without this faculty. 9. Never attempt to be grand and magnificent before common tribunals;—and the most you will address are common. The neglect of this principle of common-sense has ruined with all men of sense. science, to yourself, and to that The mean and envious world 10. Keep your Latin and Greek, and very small circle which they may suit. will never forgive you your knowledge, if you make it too public. It will require the most unceasing urbanity and habitual gentleness of manners, almost to humility, to make your superior attainments tolerable to your associates. 11. Enter with warmth and kindness into the interesting concerns of others--whether you care much for them or not;-not with the condescension of a superior, but with the tenderness and simplicity of an equal. It is this benevolent trait which makes and such universal favorites-and, more than anything else, has smoothed my own path of life, and strewed it with flowers. 12. Be never flurried in speaking, but learn to assume the exterior of composure and self-collectedness, whatever riot and confusion may be within; speak slowly, firmly, distinctly, and mark your periods by proper pauses, and a steady, significant look :-"Trick!" True, but a good trick, and a sensible trick. You talk of complimenting your adversaries. Take care of your manner of doing this. Let it be humble and sincere, and not as if you thought it was in your power to give them importance by your fiat. You see how natural it is for old men to preach, and how much easier to preach than to practise. Yet you must not slight my sermons, for I wish you to be much greater than I ever was or can hope to be. Our friend Carr will tell you that my maxims are all sound. Practise them, and I will warrant your success. Margaretta . Faugeres. BORN in Tomhanick, near Albany, N. Y., 1771. DIED in New York, N. Y., 1801. TO THE MOON. [From her Writings, appended to the Posthumous Works of her Mother, Mrs. Ann Eliza Bleecker. 1793.] HILE wandering through the dark blue vault of heaven, Thy trackless steps pursue their silent way, And from among the starry host of even Thou shed'st o'er slumbering earth a milder day; With raptured eyes, O changeful nymph of night! Great was the hand that formed thy round, O Moon! And rule old Ocean's solemn swell; Great was the Power, that filled with radiant light Those worlds unnumbered which from pole to pole Hang out their golden lamps to deck thy flight, |