CORRECTION OF AN ERROR.

Sir,

To the Editor of the Panoplist.

I WAS pleased with your review of Barlow's Columbiad, as containing maty just strictures on the false sentiment and false taste of that work. In this country, where every man is supposed to be at liberty to think what he pleases, and utter what he thinks, it is not strange that men should be found willing to write error or nonsense, so long as what they write may be published and sold, without any responsibility at the tribunal of criticism. Perhaps it is a natural consequence of our habits as a people, that we all know, or at least profess to know, a little of every thing. Not a few, therefore, suppose that they know a little more than others, concerning some favorite subject; and that they are fairly called to communicate that knowledge to the public. If our literary reputation were to be estimated by the number, and not by the quality of the books we produce, we should have no reason to be anxious for the result. Our use of authorship does not extend to such voluminous works as those of Erasmus or Lord Hale. Indeed an American folio would be almost as great a curiosity, as an American ship of the line. But our shelves are loaded with pamphlets, concerning many of which, we hesitate whether to send them to the binder, or consign them to the rubbish of the closet.

Truly, Mr. Editor, we need a respectable terary censorship

over the press. Nothing short of this can save us from being inundated with trash, from the vanity, the cupidity, or the wantonness of writers and booksellers. If this subject were duly considered, wise men certainly would not complain of well written reviews, in our periodical publications. Many of your readers, I am sure, wish to have this department of the Panoplist made an object of increasing attention; and to see it regularly filled with the labors of sound and enlightened criticism.

But the principal object of this communication is to recal your attention to a passage in the review of the Columbiad, on the 86th page of your number for Feb. last. After some general remarks on Mr. Barlow's version of the psalms omitted by Dr. Watts, the reviewer says:

"His edition of the psalms was at one time quite popular, and contains some happy efforts of poetry. His 137th, which it is strange that Dr. Watts should have omitted, as it is justly pronounced by Chat

eaubriand to be the "finest of ali canticles on the love of country," begins as follows:

"Along the banks were Babel's current

flows

Our captive bands in deep despondence stray'd,

While Zion's fall in sad remembrance rose,

Her friends, her children mingled with the dead.

"The tuneless harp, that once with joy we strung,

When praise employ'd and mirth inspir'd the lay,

In mournful silence on the willows hung; And growing grief prolong'd the tedious day."

These stanzas are worthy of particular praise. It is a sorrowful reflection, that

talents which might have been a credit to any good cause, and any country, should have been utterly perverted and abused; and that a man, born and educated under favorable circumstances, where the true God is known, the Bible is understood, and pure worship offered, should have a postatized from the religion which he once preached, and plunged into the gulf of Atheism."

It has always seemed strange to me that this 137th psalm, which is indeed one of the most melting strains of poetry that can be found in any language, should have been overlooked by the ethereal spirit of Watts. The version of it in Barlow's

collection doubtless possesses. all the merit which the reviewer ascribes to it; but none of that merit belongs to Barlow. The writer of that beautiful psalm was Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, late of Hartford, Con. and the origi. nal manuscript is now in the possession of his family. This mistake, though really of small importance, it seems but a piece of literary justice to correct. N. S. O.

YALE COLLEGE BENEVOLENT

SOCIETY.

THIS Society was formed in July, 1813. The annual meeting is on the day before Commencement, when an oration and a poem will be delivered The Society consists, at present, principally of students; though a few generous subscribers from abroad have joined it, or sent their dona tions. It has already afforded assistance to a number of worthy young men, and promises great usefulness. It receives donations in books, particularly in those classical books which every student must possess; and in this manner is enabled to lessen the expenses of education to indigent students very considerably. These

books can be lent in such a manner, as that one complete set will accommodate several persons; at the same time. We shall gladly take some future occasion to urge this subject upon the opulent, partic.

ularly upon the Alumni of the College. The designs of the Society will be clearly seen by the following

CONSTITUTIon.

Art. I. The Society shall be styled THE YALE COLLEGE BE NEVOLENT SOCIETY; and its ob ject shall be to assist indigent young men, of good talents, and unblemished moral character, in obtaining an education at this College.

Art. II. Any person may be. come a member of the Society, by paying the sum of two dollars; and may continue a member by paying one dollar annually. And any person may become a mem ber for life, by paying, at any one time, thirty dollars; or, within the space of four years, forty dollars.

Art. III. The officers of the

Society shall be a President, Vice President, and Committee, from the Senior Class; and a Secretary from the Junior Class: all of whom shall be appointed by ballot at each annual meeting.

Art. IV. The Committee shall, with the consent of the President of the College, and the Professors of Mathematics, Languages, and Chemistry, appropriate all monies belonging to the Society.

Art. V. One half of the money annually contributed shall be appropriated to form a permanent fund; the interest of which, and that only, shall be annually ex. pended. This fund shall be placed in the hands of the Presi dent and Fellows of Yale College, who shall keep and manage the same, in such a manner as they, or their Treasurer, may think most advantageous to the Society.

Art. VI. All persons making donations to the Society shall have the privilege of addig their money to, the permanent

fund, of placing it exclusively in the hands of the President and Professors or of appropriating it exclusively to the education of young men intended for the ministry.

Art, VII. Such person or persons, as may subscribe one hundred dollars annually, shall have the privilege of designating the person, who shall receive his or their donation: provided the person so designated shall possess the qualifications required by the Constitution.

Art. VIII. No person shall receive assistance from the So. ciety, unless he produce suffi cient testimony of a good moral character and respectable talents;

nor till he shall have been a member of College at least one term.

ON THE VIOLATION OF THE SABBATH BY PERSONS OF RANK AND INFLUENCE.

WE have been high'y pleased with an article in the Christian Observer for September last, on the violation of the Sabbath; and have determined to present our readers with the whole of it. The dignity, the independence, the boldness, exhibited by the Editor of that excellent publication in admitting a piece, which reprehends, in decided but delicate terms, the conduct of the Prince Regent, the acting chief magistrate of the British Empire, and the source of political honor, are worthy of admiration. It would be a shame to us, if, in this republican country, and in New England, where the Sabbath is much more generally observed than in Great Britain, we should be afraid to mention the delin quencies of our rulers on the same sub ject. In imitation of the Christian ObServer we take this opportunity to state, that judges of the highest courts in New England have been known to travel on the Sabbath, without any plea of neces sity whatever; and that instances of sach travelling have multiplied of láte. It is perfectly evident, that a judge should VOL. X.

not travel on the Sabbath, unless in a case of extreme necessity; and he should then take special care to apologize for his conduct, and to state the necessity with such particularity and coticern, as to counteract the pernicious tendency of his example. ED.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer,

I BELIEVE that not only all serious Christians, but all good citi zens, are agreed as to the im portance of maintaining, in the minds of the great body of the people, a respect for the institu tion of the Christian Sabbath, The Christian, indeed, values it chiefly on account of the spiritu al benefits with which its due, observance is fraught. But even, its civil and political advantages are by no means of trivial mo ment; and they ought to secure, on the part of our magistracy, and of all the friends of good or der, the tribute at least of their external respect to so beneficial an appointment. The temporal sanctions by which our forefathers have protected the sacredness of the Sabbath from secular occupation, is sufficient evidence of their sentiments on this point. The law of the land requires that its repose should not be unneces sarily disturbed; and were it on ly for the sake of the general principle of cherishing a rever, ence for the laws in the minds of the community at large, I should have hoped that our senato) S,, our judges, and our governors, would themselves have scrupu lously abstained from any open infraction of them.

These reflections, Sir, were suggested to me last Sunday, at a large county town where I had circumstance that on that day the rested during a journey, by the Prince Regent and his suite

40

passed through the town in one direction, and a judge of the circuit in another, both travelling rapidly, and communicating of course abundant activity to all the inns and stable-yards where they had occasion to stop. But this was not the only evil. The public curiosity was naturally awake to see the Prince Regent. The consequence was, that instead of the crowded church, or the quiet family party, all was bustle, and confusion, and clamor. The streets through which he had to pass were filled with spectators, and the grave aspect of the Sabbath was changed for the levity and frivolity of a fair or a race course. Surely the advisers of his Royal Highness are to blame, when they induce him thus to weaken the obligations of religion, and of the laws by which religion is fenced, by journeys on the Sunday, for which, in his case at least, no plea even of expediency, much less of necessity, can be advanccd. The judge, however, I think still more to blame, as he must have acted from his own mere motion, and without the intervention of any adviser; and as his experience on the circuits must have taught him, in innumerable instances, how much of the crime which it falls to his lot to

punish, had originated in those violations of the sanctity of the Sabbath which his example has tended to encourage.

Should this paper meet the eye of the judge to whom I allude, or of any other judges, I trust it will not be without its use in inducing them to avoid similar occasions of offence.

C.

ED.

REPORT

We find a law passed March 8th, 1792, and another passed March 11th, 1797, the provis. ions of which extend not only to all the evils mentioned in the petitions, but to all such as are in any other way known to us to exist, in regard to the outward observance of the Sabbath. The provisions of these two laws we think are sufficient to accom plish the end proposed, if they were faithfully and discreetly executed.

The preamble to the first law is solemn, clear and impressive. It states the design and use of the Lord's Day in a manner well calculated to excite in the minds of the people, and of the officers named

in the laws, a just sense of their responsibility and duty, and to stimulate them to corresponding efforts. The specifications and encreased penalties, which follow, appear not to us to require any further additions from the Legislature, until it shall appear from a fair experiment in executing the laws, that the evils are not removed.

But while we thus report, that no further legal provisions are required from this honorable body, we are still impressed with a deep sense of the extent and importance of the evil complained of, both by the clergy and the people, and are earnestly desirous to give all the aid in our power to the execution of the laws, by our renewed sanction, and the full expression of our sentiments and feelings.

We believe, that an enlightened, uniform and pious obseryance of the Lord's Day, in attending public and private instruction and worship ourselves, and in refraining from all actions and practices which may dis turb the worship and instruction of others, is a duty solemnly binding upon the conscience of every individual. We believe that without the appointment and continuance of the Lord's Day, public instruction and worship would soon languish, and perhaps entirely cease: that private worship and the best virtues of social life would share the same fate: that the Scriptures, containing the records, the principles, the duties, and the hopes of our religion, would soon pass from the recollection of multitudes of our citizens who now regard them, and never become known to the great body of the rising generation: that the pow

erful and happy influence which they now exert upon public sentiment and morals would be seen no longer: that the safety of the state, the moral and religious improvement of the peo ple, the personal security and happiness of all, are intimately, if not inseparably connected with the uniform and conscientious observance of the Lord's Day, and its various institutions and services; and that we are all bound to make every just and proper effort to secure the execution of the laws, which have been already made upon this important and interesting subject.

However wisely and skilfully laws may be framed, they must greatly depend upon the public sentiment and virtue, and especially in all measures of a moral and religious character, for their final and complete success We trust the public sentiment and virtue in this Com monwealth are sufficiently elevated and powerful to secure the execution of just laws for the observance of the Sabbath, when once the public mind shall be properly and simultaneously directed to this object, and to the reasons which enforce it.

We therefore recommend the following measure to be adopted by the Legislature:

That this Report be printed, and a copy sent to each minister of every denomination in the Commonwealth.

That each minister be requested to read in his pulpit, on the Sabbath, the existing laws, for the due observance of the Lord's Day, and to address the people on the subject; pointing out as fully and explicitly as the occasion and the circumstances of his people may require, ac