University of Virginia Library

Since I wrote you last, I have made an
agreeable visit to my good friend, Sylvia Star.
After rambling in the fields and gardens till we
were fatigued, we went into her brother's library.
He was in a studious attitude, but gave us a polite
reception. We are come to solicit a portion
of your repast, Amintor, said I. Be so kind as
to furnish us with some instructive page, which
combines entertainment and utility; and while it
informs the mind, delights the imagination. I
am not happy enough to know your taste respecting
books, said he; and, therefore, may not make
a proper selection. Here, however, is an author
highly spoken of by a lady, who has lately added
to the number of literary publications; handing
me Sterne's Sentimental Journey. I closed and
returned the book. You have indeed mistaken
my taste, said I. Wit, blended with indelicacy,
never meets my approbation. While the fancy
is allured, and the passions awakened, by this pathetic
humourist, the foundations of virtue are
insidiously undermined, and modest dignity insensibly
betrayed. Well, said he, similing, perhaps
you are seriously inclined. If so, this volume of
sermons may possibly please you. Still less, rejoined

I. The serious mind must turn with disgust
from the levity which pervades these discourses,
and from the indecent flow of mirth and
humour, which converts even the sacred writings,
and the most solemn subjects of religion,
into frolic and buffoonery. Since such is your
opinion of this celebrated writer, said he, I will
not insult your feelings by offering you his Tristram
Shandy. But here is another wit, famous
for his “purity.” Yes, said I, if obscene and vulgar
ideas, if ill-natured remarks and filthy allusions
be purity, Swift undoubtedly bears the palm
from all his contemporaries. As far as grammatical
correctness and simplicity of language can
deserve the epithet, his advocates may enjoy their
sentiments unmolested; but, in any other sense
of the word, he has certainly no claim to “purity.”
I conceive his works, notwithstanding, to be
much less pernicious in their tendency, than
those of Sterne. They are not so enchanting in
their nature, nor so subtle in their effects. In the
one, the noxious insinuations of licentious wit
are concealed under the artful blandishments of
sympathetic sensibility; while we at once recoil
from the rude affault which is made upon our
delicacy, by the roughness and vulgarity of the
other.

Choose then, said Amintor, for yourself. I
availed myself of his offer, and soon fixed my
eyes upon Doctor Belknap's History of New-Hampshire,

and American Biography; both of
which I have since read with the greatest satisfaction.

By this judicious and impartial historian, we
are led, from its first settlement, to trace the
progress of the infant colony. We accompany
its inhabitants in their enterprizes, their dangers,
their toils, and their successes. We take an interest
in their prosperity; and we tremble at the
dreadful outrages of the barbarous foe. Our imagination
is again recalled to the gradual advance
of population and agriculture. We behold the
wilderness blooming as the rose, and the haunts
of savage beasts, and more savage men, converted
into fruitful fields and pleasant habitations.
The arts and sciences flourish; peace and harmony
are restored; and we are astonished at
the amazing contrast, produced in little more
than a single century!

When we turn to the American Biography,
gratitude glows in our bosoms towards those intrepid
and active adventurers, who traversed a
trackless ocean, explored an unknown region,
and laid the foundation of empire and independence
in this western hemisphere. The undaunted
resolution, and cool, determined wisdom of
Columbus, fill us with profound admiration. We
are constrained to pay a tribute of just applause
to the generosity of a female mind, exemplified
in Isabella, who, to surmount every obstacle, no

bly consented to sacrifice even her personal ornaments
to the success of this glorious expedition.

The daring spirit of Captain Smith, and the
prudence, policy, and magnanimity of his conduct
to the treacherous natives, and to his equally
treacherous and ungrateful countrymen, exhibit
an example of patriotism and moderation,
which at once commands our applause, and interests
our feelings. While we tremble and recoil
at his dreadful situation, when bending his
neck to receive the murderous stroke of death,
the native virtues of our sex suddenly reanimate
our frame; and, with sensations of rapture, we
behold compassion, benevolence, and humanity
triumphant even in a savage breast; and conspicuously
displayed in the conduct of the amiable,
though uncivilized Pocahontas! Nor are
the other characters in this work uninteresting:
and I am happy to find that the same masterly
pen is still industriously employed for the public
good;[5] and that a second volume of American
Biography is now in the press.

In reviewing this letter, I am astonished at my
own presumption, in undertaking to play the
critic. My imagination has outstripped my
judgment; but I will arrest its career, and subscribe
myself most affectionately your's.