THE

ANALECTIC MAGAZINE.

(NEW SERIES.)

COMPRISING ORIGINAL REVIEWS, BIOGRAPHY, ANALYTICAL ABSTRACTS OF NEW PUBLICATIONS, TRANSLATIONS FROM FRENCH JOURNALS, AND SELECTIONS FROM THE MOST ESTEEMED BRITISH REVIEWS.

VOL. I. NO. VI. JUNE, 1820.

PHILADELPHIA:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JAMES MAXWELL,

S. E. CORNER OF WALNUT AND FOURTH STREETS.

THE

ANALECTIC MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1820.

ART. I. An account of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, D. D. L. L. D., late President of Princeton College.

SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH, late President of Princeton College, was born on the sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord 1750, at Pequea in the township of Salisbury and county of Lancaster, in the then colony and at present, state of Pennsylvania. His father, the Rev. Robert Smith, an emigrant from Ireland, was a celebrated preacher and eminent divine of the Presbyterian church, and for many years superintended a respectable academy, established by himself, and under his care many pious and worthy clergymen of that church were reared-His mother, was Elizabeth Blair, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Blair, and sister of those distinguished divines Samuel and John Blair, than whom the church has seldom possessed a more judicious and profound Theologian than the former, and a more fervent and successful Minister of the Gospel than the latter. He was initiated into the elements of his own language by his mother, who was a woman of an excellent native understanding, adorned with the softest and most pleasing manners-His parents, being encouraged by the prompt parts and virtuous dispositions of their son; which began very early to display themselves, determined that no exertions should be wanted

to the assiduous cultivation of them; and that he should enjoy all the advantages of a liberal education, which his country at that time afforded.—At the age of six or seven he commenced the study of the learned languages in his father's academy, which besides a general superintendence by his father, was entrusted to the care of instructors who had come out from Ireland, and brought with them those rigid notions of scholastic discipline, and that minute accuracy in the system of teaching, which were prevalent in their native country. It was the custom of this school, to require the pupils, not merely to dip into the Latin and Greek classics, or pass in rapid transition from one to another, by which means a very superficial knowledge of any is obtained, but when once they had commenced an author, to read carefully and attentively the entire work. Besides this laudable and beneficial custom, the scholars of this academy, were stimu lated to exertion by being brought into frequent competition, and by having conferred upon the successful candidates for distinction, such honours as were calculated to awake their boyish emulation, and to quicken their diligence and attention. Latin was the habitual language of the school, and after the pupils had passed through a few of the elementary works, as the Colloquies of Corderius and the fables of Æsop, any error which they committed in grammatical propriety, either in addressing the teacher or in speaking with one another, was punishable as a fault. One literary exercise in the school was contested with more than ordinary emulation. When any class had advanced in its course beyond the Metamorphoses of Ovid and the Bucolics of Virgil, the members of it were permitted to enter into voluntary competitions for preeminence. On alternate Saturdays eight or ten of the better scholars from different classes, were allowed to try their skill in the languages in the presence of the principal teacher. Each competitor was suffered to select a sentence within a certain compass, of one or two hundred lines, con

sisting of not more than six or seven hexameter verses. On this selected portion, he was the sole examiner, and was permitted to inquire about every thing with which he could make himself acquainted, by the most diligent previous investigation; such as, the grammatical construction of the sentences, the derivation of words, their composition, relations and quantity, the history or mythology referred to in the passage, the beauty and pertinence of the figures and allusions, together with the taste and delicacy of sentiment displayed by the poet. After the whole contest, which usually lasted several hours, was concluded, rewards were bestowed by the master upon those who discovered the greatest address and ingenuity in conducting it. Competitions of this nature with his school-fellows, were all that diversified the early life of Mr. Smith, and on these occasions, he is said to have discovered remarkable adroitness and intelligence for a lad of his age, generally surpassing those who were much older than himself; although, as Dr. Johnson is reported to have had a Hector, who, in this kind of academical warfare, rivalled and vanquished him; so our scholar found in a young man by the name of Dunlap, a formidable competitor, who often wrested from him the palm of victory.

At this early age Mr. Smith not only discovered that the sentiments of religion had taken deep root in his heart, by publicly joining the communion of the Presbyterian church, but evinced a strong predilection for that sacred profession, which he afterwards adopted, and in which he so eminently excelled.

Taking little pleasure and aspiring to no distinction in the gymnastic exercises and sports of his school-fellows, he was remarked even at this early period to be prone to soberness and reflection. At church he was unusually attentive to the services and the sermon, and at his return home would give his father an accurate account not only of the text and the general distribution of the parts, but oftentimes of the most