pretensions to liberality, would refuse an appropriate reward even to him

qui

Servavit trepidam, flagranti ex æde, Minervam."

But it is not true, that these British authors sought "to monopolize," in any sense, "the publication here, as well as in England, of all English works." On the contrary, they were content with the provisions of Mr. Clay's bill, reported at the former session, restricting the protection which it secures, to works published after its passage. This bill was the principal matter referred to Mr. Ruggles' committee, and against its passage the remonstrance of the American publishers was expressly directed. These facts all appear upon the face of the report, as well as that "these British authors" are not the only persons, nor the only authors, who petition congress on the subject. The committee themselves tell us, that "among the memorials referred to them, are three, bearing the signatures of a number of highly respectable literary gentlemen-citizens of the United States asking for the extension of copyright to foreign authors, on the ground of justice to them, and of the benefit which would thereby accrue to American authors." And what adds resistless force to their application, is, that the original exclusion of foreigners from the full benefit of copyright, was avowedly intended for the encouragement of our own writers. Unfortunately, this is not a solitary instance in which, in the usual precipitancy of congressional proceedings, an inadvertent departure from the true principles of political economy, or a careless indifference to the beneficent intentions of the constitution, has led to error in our legislation, — else it would seem inexplicable that neither the congress which first adopted the restriction, nor the one which renewed it, should not have foreseen, that instead of encouraging American authors, it would inure to the sole advantage of those American publishers, who draw their support from the appropriation of foreign talent to their own use; and that so long as they are permitted to import works from abroad and republish them here, free from the burden of remuneration to their authors, they will rarely be disposed to purchase the productions of their own countrymen.* Else, too, it would ap

*We take pleasure in acknowledging that there are some signal exceptions to this practice, among our most respectable and intelligent publishers- who are not only distinguished for their liberal dealing with native authors, but from a sense of justice, have united in the effort to remove the existing restriction upon the rights of foreigners.

pear more strange, that a statesman, of the penetration and sagacity of Mr. Clay, when he perceived both the injustice and impolicy of the existing discriminations, should not have considered whether these questions of justice and policy had been left open by the framers of the constitution, to the discretion of the legislature which they created; or whether they had not been deliberately settled by that instrument to which congress owes not only all its authority, but its very existence.

Having thus disposed of the objections against the removal of this invidious distinction - drawn from considerations of policy and expediency-we might pursue our advantage, by an affirmative demonstration of both. But we have already exceeded our proper limits, and should probably exhaust the patience of our readers, were we to engage in any such work of supererogation. We confess, moreover, an anxiety that this great question should be decided, as we hope and trust it will be, upon the ground of the constitution not from any distrust of the independent argument in support of the policy and expediency of the much less from mere pride of opinion, - but that the right in controversy may be established, upon the same permanent basis with the inviolability of contracts, and other rights springing from moral obligation, or political justice, as a fundamental principle of our national compact, and thus take its rank among those provisions, which constitute the chief glory of the federal government, and afford the surest pledges of its stability.

measure

ART. II.-1. Eulogy on Nathaniel Bowditch, LL. D., President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; including an analysis of his scientific publications. Delivered before the Academy, May 29, 1838. By JOHN PICKERING, Corresponding Secretary of the Academy. Boston: 1838. pp. 101. 8vo.

2. An Eulogy on the Life and Character of Nathaniel Bowditch, LL. D. F. R. S., delivered at the request of the Corporation of the city of Salem, May 24, 1838. By DANIEL APPLETON WHITE. Salem: 1838. pp. 72, 8vo.

3. The Varieties of Human Greatness. A Discourse on the Life and Character of the Hon. Nathaniel Bowditch, LL. D. F. R. S., delivered in the church on Church green, March 25, 1838. By ALEXANDER YOUNG. Boston: 1838. pp. 119. 8vo.

UNUSED to great men, a new country is prone to boast the superiority of her first distinguished sons, and to gaze with an admiration, almost too ardent, upon the brilliancy of their genius. Too ignorant to perceive the folly of our pretensions, we are easily flattered into the belief, that wisdom and knowledge, disgusted with the ostentatious condescension of patronising princes, and the servile cringing of patronised scholars, have fled for ever to the land of equal rights; and that the midday splendor of the science of the old world is even now surpassed by its first dawnings upon the western continent. We look up to our maker of an almanac, the mere observer of a few latitudes and longitudes, as to a high astronomer; we admire the child, who exhibits a wonderful instinct at numerical computation, as a powerful mathematician; we erect a monument to the author of an arithmetic, as one who has opened a new avenue to science; and even the altar of true glory has suffered from the excessive zeal of our injudicious homage. It is thus that his eulogist did not hesitate to regard Rittenhouse as the rival of Leibnitz and Newton, while that of Franklin, with a still more ambitious aim, ranked him higher than either Newton or Lycurgus; and neither the happy selection by the American academy of Mr. Pickering, nor that of Judge White, by his native city, to pay the last sad honors to his memory, nor his own incontestible, unpretending pre-eminence, have saved Dr. Bowditch from the fate which he evidently foresaw, and endeavored

to avert, by the destruction of every document which he deemed of trivial interest.

We do not wish to call in question the claims advanced by Mr. Young, in behalf of the clergy, who, as a body, are entitled to high respect and gratitude; but it might have been as well had he left them to be asserted by others. We venture, however, to express our deep and sincere regret, that in his discourse, particularly in the detail of unimportant anecdote, there is much so strikingly at variance with the singular modesty and unaffected simplicity of the father of American mathematics. To those less familiar with Dr. Bowditch's hatred of ostentation, and with his uncompromising sincerity and frankness, the discord, in this respect, between the character and the discourse may be less harshly grating.

We cannot, however, deny Mr. Young the merit of having portrayed most of the prominent characteristics of Dr. Bowditch's heart and manners with much vigor and fidelity, and of having painted him, in many scenes, to the very life. His unsullied purity, rigid integrity, childlike transparency of heart, and ardent impetuosity, are glowingly described; as also the fireside of the philosopher, where his bright spirit overflowed in the gayety of conversation; and nothing could be truer or more vivid, than the portrait of the astronomer in his library.

"You might have visited him in that library, from one year's end to another, and yet, if you or some other visiter did not introduce the subject, I venture to say that not one word on mathematics would cross his lips. He had no pedantry of any kind. Never did I meet with a scientific man so entirely devoid of all cant and pretension. In conversation he had the simplicity and playfulness and unaffected manners of a child. His own remarks 'seemed rather to escape from his mind than to be produced by it.' laughed heartily, and rubbed his hands, and jumped up, when an observation was made that greatly pleased him, because it was natural for him so to do, and he had never been schooled into the conventual proprieties of artificial life, nor been accustomed to conceal or stifle any of the innocent impulses of his nature."

68

He

Who that once enjoyed the privilege of visiting him in that library can ever forget the scene? Methinks I see him now, in my mind's eye, the venerable man, sitting there close by his old-fashioned blazing wood fire, bending over his favorite little desk, looking like one of the old philosophers, with his silvery hair, and noble forehead, and beaming eye, and benign countenance; whilst all around him are ranged the depositories of the wisdom and science of departed sages and philosophers, who seem to look down upon

him benignantly from their quiet places, and spontaneously and silently to give forth to him their instructions."-Young's Discourse, pp. 78-80.

Neither can we object to Mr. Young that he is not warmed by his subject; his fault is, rather, that being overheated, he is often hurried by his zeal into an extravagance of admiration, indiscreet even in an eulogist. In a far chaster and purer flow of eloquence, Judge White has accomplished the object of presenting "a just image of Bowditch's genius and virtues," and "of illustrating the excellence of his life and character, and the transcendant beauty of his example." He has adhered strictly to the truth in every statement; has never violated good taste in the enthusiasm of his praise; and has not shrunk from the exhibition of Bowditch's almost only fault, a fault common to him, in a degree, with Newton and with Leibnitz, but has boldly traced it to its source in the most elevated regions of the soul. After quoting the remarks of some friends, Judge White thus proceeds:

"The testimony of these disinterested witnesses, not partial friends, accords with the general impression of Dr. Bowditch, wherever his character was understood. He had no moral obliquities whatever. All who knew him would as soon have thought of the sun's turning back in its course, as of his deviating from the straight line of integrity and truth. His ardor and quickness of feeling and utterance, seem to have been the source of all his faults, and these, as already remarked, would assume different appearances to different persons. Irritable, imperious, imprudent, — are the harshest terms that have reached my ears as applied to him. Such an application of these terms opens the way for an illustration of some of the finest and noblest traits of his altogether noble character.

"A late venerable lady, as remarkable for her sagacity as for her love of goodness, after her first interview with Dr. Bowditch, observed, "I admire that man, for he is a live man." This simple and casual remark affords a key for unfolding much of his character. He was truly a live man in his whole nature and constitution, in his mind, conscience, soul, and body. Life was in his every thought, feeling, and action. There was nothing dormant or sluggish about him. Quickness and activity marked the operation of all his principles, and the exercise of all his faculties, affections, and sensibilities. So rapid were his thoughts on all subjects, that his judgment would often appear intuitive to those who could not follow his mind in its logical process, or perceive the steps to its conclusions. The less candid would, of