Notice of Sketches of Naval Life. 321 
fore the plehutte that our authors could be found only 
here and 
Rari nantes in gurgite vasto. 
The« country is so eminently free, that its more active and 
intelligent spirits turn remy es every way, in pursuit of 
ealth has hitherto had the ascendant, 
but honor sounds her trumpet loud, and the number of those 
who enlist under her banner, is constantly i increasing. The 
do not all take the political field; the many will continue bd 
throng there, but literature and science have 
votaries ; and if their honors are not so easily obtained, they 
are more enviable and durable. The man who has written 
va book; will be remembered and revered, when the 
vulgar ib ets of courts and cabinets have passed into oblivion. 
mental character of this country will take its hue, in a de- 
, from our institutions: the people, supreme in our laws 
aad policy, will cause their sway to be felt, at least as far as is 
roper, in our intellectual productions. Attractive, readable, 
and above all, practical books, whose useful tendency is im- 
mediately perceived, will continue to acquire the public favor. 
Antiquities we have few ee, extensive ov the Euro- 
literature.* *" But, the materials which we have, we are tf. 
ing to good account ; — in no form perhaps more interest- 
ing than in that of trave 
We are a nation of croton: Our people are not onl 
intelligent but inquisitive ; fond of looking into the concerns 
of other countries; pleased with useful matter, done up in 
an attractive form, and as we are a young peOb its making 
the experiment of a new kind of government, and therefore 
capable of profiting by the errors of others, we have in our 
hands the means of establishing or destroying our own insti- 
tutions; The writings of intelligent travellers, Seine = 
us, other systems in operation : other c ustoms Orpam 
or ite Naa the species ; other preps in the full tide ‘ot 
55 bhess sae neppared is a late exception, equally honorable to the author 
and his coun’ 
Von. XVI. —No. 2. . 4A 
