now for Portugal." Unless an Omar should rise in the cycle of biography and bibliography, there is no hope of prevalence for the small library plan. Lastly, there is the way of not reading at all. This is really a Gordian settlement of the difficulty. A man needs to be a good scholar to venture it; otherwise people will think him a dunce. Blind men are very good at this me. thod, as well as numerous emigrants who do not know letters; also those horse-and-dog men whom we see laboring over our meadows in shooting-jackets, agricultural clergymen, nursing fathers in physic, and lawyers who read no. thing that is not in red tape. Good Mr. Editor, before I take the total abstinence pledge, let me make an exception in favor of the Daily. CESARIENSIS. COLONEL WILLIAM CABELL. [Observing that several letters of Richard Henry Lee, and other distinguished men of the Revolution, were addressed to this gentleman, we applied to a friend and correspondent of ours for a brief sketch of his Life and Character, which he has, very obligingly, furnished us in the following notice.] Col. Wm. Cabell, the Elder, of Amherst, was born in May, 1727-30, and died in the Spring of 1798. He was, in many respects, a remarkable man; but rather distinguished for wisdom in council, and courage and energy in action, than for excellence in speech or writing. When a young man, I believe he served in some of the frontier or Indian wars. He was frequently a Burgess in the old Colonial Assembly, and was conspicuous in all the early movements which led to Independence. On the expiration of the old Government, and while a member of the Convention of 1775, he was, in July of that year, appointed a member of the Committee of Safety on whom devolved the powers of Government before the formation of the first Convention, and was reappointed to the same office in December following. He was of great influence through this whole region of country, in which he lived, and together with his brother, (Nicholas,) did much to arouse and sustain the spirit of the people through the long and trying season which followed. His own public spirit never waned or flickered, but was kept in constant brightness to the last. Col. C. was, for many years, the presiding magistrate of Amherst county, which then included Nelson, and, as I have been told, nothing could exceed the dignity, and impartiality, and diligence with which he discharged the duties of his office. Of fine person, commanding presence and carriage, his manners were those of the Gentleman of the Old School in Virginia, which united affability with dignity, and a refinement which proceeded from self-respect and the virtues of the heart, rather than the more external and pretending graces by which those have been too often substituted in these latter times. In a word, he was, I suppose, a favorable specimen of the race of Cavaliers, as they have been termed, who contributed so much to the formation of that part of the Virginia character on which her sons now look back with most complacency. The sphere in which his activity was chiefly expended was less conspicuous than that of many of his compatriots, and, of consequence, his has been rather a provincial reputation; but it was believed by those who knew him, that his force of character and other qualities were such as would have commanded respect, if not success, in whatever theatre they might have been called into requisition. Col. C. left four sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Col. Samuel J. Cabell, served with eredit in the Revolutionary war, and represented this district in Congress, from 1795 to 1803-The second, Landon C. was never in public life, but was a man of brilliant talents, and large and varied attainments.-The third, Col. Wm. C., Jun., succeeded to the family residence of Union Hill. His daughters were the late Mrs. Legrand, of Charlotte, of pious memory,-Mrs. Rives (wife of the late Robert Rives, Sen'r, of this county,) since deceased; and Mrs. B., who is still living. Nelson County. N. F. C. KENNEDY'S LIFE OF WIRT. Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt, Attorney General of the United States. By John P. Kennedy. In two volumes. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. We have read this work with more pleasure than we can easily express. We shall not of course attempt to utter it all at once. Still less shall we undertake (after the manner of critics,) to analyze our satisfaction, and resolve it into all the various elements that may have united to compose it. We will only divide it, rather roughly, into two partsone for the author and the other for his snbject;-though we shall have to assign much the largest half to the latter. Mr. Kennedy, however, we are sure, will not object to this partition, especially as it is somewhat proportioned to their respective shares of the letter-press. For his part of the performance, we think that Mr. K. has discharged his difficult task with great skill and taste. His exhibitions, indeed, of the conduct and character of Mr. Wirt, are finely and beautifully done, and such as raise both at once in our esteem. His sketches, too, of other persons, incidentally introduced, are worthy of almost equal praise. At the same time, the notices which he has given us of passing events connected with the life of Mr. W., are very acceptable, and serve to refresh our recollections of them, in the most agreeable manner. We may add, that the language is always pure and elegant, and the expression of his own candid and liberal spirit, every where breathing in it, adds a last and finishing grace to his style. After all, however, the highest charm of the work will be found in Mr. Wirt's letters. These are truly excellent,fresh, racy, salient, and always gushing, as it were, from the very fountain of the heart. We have enjoyed them of course highly, and feel that we can hardly praise them too much, so vividly do they recall their most amiable writer to our remembrance. We are disposed, indeed, to think them by far the best of all his writings, and fairly worth all his British Spies and Old Bachelors together. truth, we think they deserve to rank with the very best compositions of the kind in our language-with those of Cow In per, Gray, Walpole, and Byron for instance, and we should even prefer them ourselves to those of any of these gifted men, as they are written with at least as great freedom and ease, and reveal a far more genial and good-humored character and disposition than any one of these celebrated writers had to display. With this appreciation of the merits of this work, we are sorry to find any fault with it; but we regret to remark, that from some cause or other, Mr. K. has not, we think, exhibited the religious character of Mr. Wirtmore particularly as it was in his old age-in quite all its proper relief. There is one letter at least that we happen to know of, written by the deceased to his friend Dr. Rice, and published in the memoir of this eminent divine, which is more distinct and satisfactory on this point than any that Mr. K. has given us, and which ought not to have been omitted. The very interesting account, too, which was given of Mr. W., by his pastor, Dr. Nevins,-published in his "Practical Thoughts"-ought by all means to have been inserted. These deficiencies, however, can be easily supplied in another edition. We shall recur to this work again. DABNEY'S ADDRESS. Address "On the Value of Writing," Delivered before the Society of Alumni of the University of Virginia, at their Annual Meeting, June 29th, 1849. By George E. Dabney. Charlottesville; O. S. Allen & Co. This is a sensible and interesting essay upon an important subject; and will be read, as we understand it was heard, with happy effect. We agree of course entirely with Professor D., that the art of writing is a highly useful and ornamental one, and ought to be far more cultivated amongst us than it has ever been. We cannot quite so readily agree with him, however, in his efforts to magnify its merits, as he appears disposed to do, above those of speech itself. In our opinion-and we have the highest authority for it—the tongue is "the glory" of our frame; and we cannot consent to transfer any part of its proper praise to the pen. But both are no doubt instruments of great power, and there is no need whatever to disparage either of them in order to extol the other. They are not rival powers, but friendly and conspiring ones. Conjurant amice. They have the same office, and the same objectthough they pursue their ends by somewhat different means. And they may mutually assist each other. The pen may aid the tongue to improve its speech, so far at least as to make its language more accurate and refined; (though this may not always increase its power with the people,) and to diffuse its impressions abroad, by the help of the press. And on the other hand, the tongue may return the compliment, and assist the pen to enliven its polished periods with colloquial ease. Let our youth, then, we would say, cultivate both arts together, and labor to unite them both, as they have been united in fact, by a Cicero, a Bolingbroke, and a Burke; and, more recently, by the able speaker, and elegant writer, the accomplished and fascinating Macaulay. THE MOUNTAIN PASS. Since the ark rested on the mountain brow, The mountains been salvation for the free, When the clouds came, and winds beat vehemently, Look round on rocky pass and mountain dell; |