characters. The tailor that could shape a coat to fit his shoulders, never yet handled shears; and he would have been as ill at ease in a pair of fashionable pantaloons, as if they had been lined with chestnut-burrs. He was generally above the medium height, with a very decided stoop, as if in the habit of carrying burthens: and a long, high nose, with light blue eyes, and coarse, uneven hair, of a faded weather-stain color, gave his face the expres sion answering to this lathy outline. Though never very slender, he was always thin: as if he had been flattened out in a rolling-mill; and rotundity of corporation was a mode of development not at all characteristic. His complexion was seldom florid, and not often decidedly pale; a sort of sallow discoloration was its prevailing hue, like that which marks the countenance of a consumer of "coarse" whiskey and strong tobacco. But these failings were not the cause of his cadaverous look-for a faithful representative of the class held them both in commendable abhorrence-they were not the vices of his nature. There was a subdivision of the class, a secondary type, not so often observed, but common enough to entitle it to a brief notice. He was, generally, short, squat, and thick-the latitude bearing a better proportion to the longitude than in his lank brother-but never approaching anything like roundness. With this attractive figure he had a complexion of decidedly bilious darkness, and what is commonly called a dish-face." His nose was depressed between the eyes, an arrangement which dragged the point upward in the most cruel manner, but gave it an expression equally ludicrous and impertinent. A pair of small, round, black eyes, encompassed-like two little feudal fortresses, each by its moat-with a circle of yellowish white, peered out from under brows like battlements. Coarse, black hair, always cut short, and standing erect, so as to present something the appearance of a chevaux de frise, protected a hard, round head--a shape most appropriate to his lineage-while, with equal propriety, ears of corresponding magnitude stood boldly forth to assert their claim to notice. Both these types were distinguished for large feet, which no boot could enclose, and hands broad beyond the compass of any glove. Neither was ever known to get drunk, to grow fat, to engage in a game of chauce, or to lose his appetite: it became the teacher of "ingenuous youth" to preserve an exemplary bearing before those whom he was endeavoring to benefit; while respectable "appearances," and proper appreciation of the good things of life, were the alpha and omega of his system of morality. J. M. LEGARÉ, A POET of South Carolina, and a resident, we believe, of Charleston, and a relative of the late Hugh S. Legaré, is the author of a volume, Orta-Undis and Other Poems, published in 1848. They are marked by their delicacy of sentiment and a certain scholastic refinement. AMY. This is the pathway where she walked, The sunshine gladly stole between A brook ran murmuring beneath And there her robe of spotless white, The coy sweetbriers half detained But now her little feet are still, The path still winds, the brook descends, In all that forest sear. AUGUSTUS JULIAN REQUIER Was born at Charleston, South Carolina, May 27. 1825. He was educated in that city, and having selected the law as his profession, was called to Aflegen the bar in 1844. From a very early age Mr. Requier was a regular contributor to the newspapers and periodicals, and in his seventeenth year pullished The Spanish Exile, a play in blank verse, which was acted with success. A year or two after he published The Old Sanctuary, a romance, the scene of which is laid in Carolina before the Revolution. He soon after removed to Marion, South Carolina, where, during the leisure intervals which occur in the life of a country barrister, many of his more mature and elaborate pieces in prose and verse were composed. These have never been collected in book form. The most prominent of them are "The Phantasmagoria," Marco Bozzaris," a tragedy; "The Dial Plate,” "Treasure Trove," ," "To Mary on Earth," "The Thornless Rose," "The Charm," "The Image,” "The Blackbeard," "The three Misses Grimball,” a sketch; the Farewell Address to the Palmetto Regiment, delivered at the Charleston Theatre by Mrs. Mowatt, and mentioned in her "Autobiography;" the "Welcome" to the same regiment on its return from Mexico, and an "Ode to Shakespeare." Mr. Requier subsequently removed to Mobile, Alabama, where he now resides. Since 1850 he has ceased to write, being altogether engrossed by his professional pursuits, to which he is entirely devoted, and in which he has attained distinction. He is at present Attorney of the United States for the southern district of Alabama, having been appointed to that office by Mr. Pierce in 1853. ODE TO SHAKESPEARE. He went forth into Nature and he sung, Her first-born of imperial sway-the lord Of sea and continent and clime and tongue; He went forth into Nature and he sung, By an o'erwhelming brilliance which appals- That leads the star-crowned Night adown the mountain way! These were his themes and more-no little bird Lit in the April forest but he drew Bard, priest, evangelist! from nature's cells The potent ring of her profoundest spells, They people earth and sea and air, Called into being everywhere In kingly court and savage lair, Prince, Peasant, Priest, and Sage and Peer, When moonlight marries with the grove, To breathe or love or hate or fear; And with most unexampled wile, Or blot it in a tear. Hark! a horn, That with repeated winding shakes, O'er hill and glen and far responsive lakes, Now, on the mimic scene, The simplest of all simple pairs That ever drew from laughter tears, And her companion like the flower, But comes anon, with halting step and pause, A miserable man! Revolving in each lengthened breath he draws, Secluded, silent, solitary, still, Lone in the vale and last upon the hill, Himself the shade of an o'ershadowing dream; Blighting the rose With his imaginary woes, And weaving bird and tree and fruit and flower The beauteous skies grow pale, Like Jacques-her lonely, melancholy man! In tipsy merriment that swells He comes with great sunshiny face He comes! of wit the soul and pith, Custodian and lessor. Room for him! Sir John Falstaff with Lo! on a blasted heath, The threatening darkness underneath, The spell works, and behold; A blackbird's note hath drilled the air Over the howling seas God! what a piercing shriek was there, Full of starch decorum: A wise man this Cousin Shallow, A third is timid, slight, and tender, Like images that haunt the shade, Or sunset on the snow. Then, then, at length, the crowning glory comes, Loud trumpets speak unto the sky, and drums Unroll the military chain! From pole to pole, Greet wide the wonder of the poet's soul: And posture rapt in high, prophetic gloom- Bright shall thine altars be, First of the holy minstrel band, And vocal as the sea! Thy name is writ Where stars are lit, And thine immortal shade, 'Mid archangelic clouds displayed Sees the inseparable Nine And Nature at its feet. PAUL H. HAYNE Is a son of Lieut. Hayne of the United States Navy, and nephew of Robert G. Hayne of senatorial celebrity. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1831, and has been a frequent contributor to many of the southern magazines, more particularly the Southern Literary Messenger. He was editor of the Charleston Literary Gazette, and is now connected with the editorial department of the Evening News, a daily journal also published in Charleston. His poems, collected in a volume in 1855, are spirited, and he has cultivated the music of verse with effect. His longest poem is entitled The Temptation of Venus, a Monkish Legend. BONNET. The passionate Summer's dead; the sky's aglow To celebrate the Summer's past renown; A PORTRAIT. I. The laughing Hours before her feet, And the voices in her soul are sweet, As music's mellowed closes, All hopes and passions heavenly-born, IL. As o'er her cheek of delicate dyes, With rainbow fancies laden, III. She is a being born to raise Those undefiled emotions, In her, we see renewed, and bright, IV. Why in a life of mortal cares, Appear these heavenly faces, Why on the verge of darkened years, These amaranthine graces! "Tis but to cheer the soul that faints, With pure and blest evangels, To prove if Heaven is rich with Saints, That earth may have her Angels. V. Enough! 'tis not for me to pray HAMILTON COLLEGE, NEW YORK. THE founding of Hamilton College is due to the far-seeing generosity of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who labored more than forty years as a missionary among the Oneida Indians. Mr. Kirkland was born in Norwich, Connecticut. December 1, 1744, and was graduated from Nasau Hall in 1765. He was the father of three sons and three daughters. The eldest daughter, who was married to John H. Lothrop, Esq., uf Utica, is the mother of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, D.D., of Boston, whose recently published life of his grandfather is embraced in Sparks's Library of American Biography. The youngest daughter, Eliza, was married in 1818 tc the Rev. Edward Robinson, D.D., now a professor in the Union Theological Seminary of New York. One of his sons, Dr. John Thornton Kirkland, was elected in 1810 to the Presidency of Harvard College. He and his brother, George Whitfield, were twins, and were born at General Herkimer's, on the Mohawk, while their mother was journeying on horseback from Oneida to Connecticut. Her return to Oneida was greeted by the Indians with great rejoicing. They adopted the boys into their tribe, calling George La-go-neosta, and John Ali-gan-o-wis-ka, which means fair-face. Mr. Kirkland died of pleurisy, February 28, 1808. He was buried in Clinton, in a private inclosure, near his house. Here on one side rest the remains of his second wife and youngest daughter; on the other side, those of the celebrated Skenandoa. The ownership of the Kirkland mansion has passed out of the family. At the last Annual Meeting of the trustees of the institution which he founded, they voted to remove the coffins from these grounds to the College Cemetery, and to erect over them an appropriate monument. It was through the influence of Mr. Kirkland that the "Hamilton Oneida Academy was incorporated in 1793. In the same year he conveyed to its trustees several hundred acres of land. In the preamble to the title-deed, he states that the gift is made "for the support of an Academy in the town of Whitestown, county of Herkimer, contiguous to the Oneida Nation of Indians, for the mutual benefit of the young and flourishing settlements in said county, and the various tribes of confederated Indians, earnestly wishing that the institution may grow and flourish; that the advantages of it may be extensive and lasting; and that, under the smiles of the Lord of wisdom and goodness, it may prove an eminent means of diffusing useful knowledge, enlarging the bounds of human happiness, aiding the reign of virtue, and the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer." Among the teachers of the academy was Dr. James Murdock, now a resident of New Haven, and translator of Mosheim's "Historical Commentaries on the State of Christianity." The academy lived eighteen years, and was largely patronized. At length its guardians were pressed with a demand from the surrounding community for a higher institution. The charter for Hamilton College was obtained in 1812, and Dr. AZEL BACKUS of Bethlem, Connecticut, was elected its first President. He was born near Norwich, Connecticut, October 13, 1765. In early life his companions were rude, if not dissolute; and his youth was marked with great looseness of opinion on matters of religion. He was graduated from Yale College in 1787. After leaving college he was associated for a time with his class-mate, John H. Lothrop, Esq., in the management of a grammar-school at Weathersfield, Connecticut. He was licensed to preach in 1789, and soon after succeeded Dr. Bellamy as pastor of the church in Bethlem, Connecticut. Dr. Backus died December 9, 1816, of typhus fever. One of his children, Mary Ann, was the first wife of the Hon. Gerrit Smith of Peterton; another, the Hon. F. F. Backus, is a distinguished physician in Rochester, New York. A volume of Dr. Backus's sermons was published after his death, with a brief sketch of his life. His biography yet remains to be written in a manner worthy of the part which he sustained in caring for the first wants of a college which has since identified itself with the educational interests of Central New York. A careful memoir, written somewhat after the manner of Xenophon's Memorabilia or Boswell's Johnson, would be welcomed by many readers. In his intercourse with students, Dr. Backus combined affectionate severity with a seasoning of manly eccentricity. The proverb, "who makes a jest makes an enemy," was reversed in his experience. He was out-spoken and fond of a joke. When speaking of that which he disapproved, his thoughts naturally clothed themselves in the language of ridicule. He was quick and pungent at repartee, as is shown by the following anecdote, which is only one out of many which might be given. Ďuring the administration of Jefferson, Dr. Backus preached a Thanksgiving Sermon at Bethlem, in which his abhorrence of the political views of the day was expressed with characteristic freedom and severity. For thus daring to speak the truth, he incurred a civil prosecution, and was summoned by the sheriff to go with him to Hartford, there to await his trial. As a matter of grace, the reverend prisoner was allowed to ride in his own conveyance, while the officer followed behind. The parson's horse happened to be one of the fastest. He picked over the miles with a rapidity that astonished the sheriff, while it kept him at a respectable distance in the rear. At length, with much ado, the latter managed to bring himself within tongue-shot; and leaning forward, exclaimed, "Why, Doctor Backus, you ride as if the very devil were after you!" "And so he is!" replied the doctor, without turning his head. The second President of Hamilton College was Dr. HENRY DAVIS, an alumnus of Yale College, who had been a tutor at Williams and Yale, a Professor of Greek at Union, and President of Middlebury. His administration covered a period of sixteen years, during which the College fluctuated between the extremes of prosperity and depression. Af In the years 1829 and 1830, no students were graduated. This was owing to a long and bitter quarrel between Dr. Davis and a portion of the trustees, growing out of a case of discipline. ter his resignation of the presidency in 1833, Dr. Davis published a thick pamplilet entitled, "A Narrative of the Embarrassments and Decline of Hamilton College." This, with one or two occasional discourses, is all that went from his hand to the printer's. Dr. Davis was distinguished for his strength of humor, his gravity of manners, unyielding integrity, and strong attachment to the pupils whom he had instructed. March 7, 1852, at the age of eighty-two. He died The third President was Dr. SERENO EDWARDS DWIGHT, a son of Timothy Dwight. He was elected in 1833 and resigned in 1835. The great historical fact of his presidency was a successful effort to raise by subscription fifty thousand dollars, for increasing the productive funds of the college. Dr. Dwight was fitted by nature and Hamilton College. acquired gifts for the triumphs of pulpit oratory. The failure of his health at first made him fitful in the happy use of his talents, and finally forced him to give up addressing public bodies or discharging public duties. He died recently, November 30, 1850. The last fifteen years of his life were saddened by his infirmity, and passed in close retirement. The fourth president was Dr. JOSEPH PENNEY, a native of Ireland, and educated at one of its higher institutions. The reputation for learning, piety, and executive talent which he had won by his labors in the ministry at Rochester, New York, and Northampton, Massachusetts, led the friends of Hamilton to think that he was the man to preside successfully over its affairs. The fact that he was unacquainted with the internal peculiarities of an American College caused him to make some mistakes, disquieting to himself and the institution. He chose to resign in 1839. Dr. Penney still lives; broken in health, yet enjoying the unabated esteem of his friends. His publications are somewhat numerous, yet mostly of a transient form and character. The fifth President, Dr. SIMEON NORTH, is a native of Berlin, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College, of the class of 1825. He served his Alma Mater two years as a tutor, and in 1829 was elected to the chair of Ancient Languages in Hamilton College. When he went to Clinton, the embarrassments of the institution were such as to threaten its life. The war between Dr. Davis and the trustees was raging fiercely. There were but nine students in all the classes. The treasury was empty. Debt and dissension covered the future with gloomy clouds. The Faculty now consisted of the President, Prof. James Hadley, Prof. John H. Lothrop, Prof. North, and Tutor E. D. Maltbie. They engaged zealously and unitedly in efforts to revive the institution, and to regain for it the public confidence. They were successful. In 1833, when Dr. Davis resigned, the graduating class numbered twenty. In 1839, Dr. North was elected to the Presidency, as the successor of Dr. Penney, an office which he still holds. The friends and pupils of President North have frequently expressed their appreciation of his public efforts, by requesting permission to publish them. If his published discourses and addresses were collected, they would form a large volume. The most important of these are a series of Baccalaureate Sermons; discourses preached at the funerals of Professor Catlin, Treasurer Dwight, and President Davis; an Inaugural Discourse, a sermon before the Oneida County Bible Society, and an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa of Yale College. To Hamilton College is conceded a high rank in the culture of natural and effective elocution. Much credit is due, in this respect, to the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Mandeville, who filled the chair of Rhetoric and Oratory eight years, commencing in 1841. His class-book entitled "The Elements of Reading and Oratory," first published in 1845, is now widely used in colleges, academies, and high-schools. Dr. Mandeville's system of speaking is still taught at Hamilton, with some decided improvements by Professor A. J. Upson. Hamilton College has not been forgotten by men of liberality and large means. The Hon. Wm. Hale Maynard, a graduate of Williams College, and a gifted lawyer, who died of the cholera in 1832, bequeathed to the college the bulk of his estate, amounting to twenty thousand dollars, for the founding of a Law Department. Prof. John H. Lothrop, now Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, was the first occupant of this chair. It is now worthily filled by Prof. Theodore W. Dwight, whose able instructions in legal science attract students from remote sections of the country. The college confers the degree |