398 Nations lately become Literary. 



in a former chapter, and some references made to 

 their respective merits.'' None of them, indeed* 

 can boast of having attained that elaborate polish, 

 and that exquisite felicity of manner which dis- 

 tinguish the first class of English historians. But 

 the most of them are respectable writers ; and 

 several have acquitted themselves in a manner 

 which does credit to their taste in composition, as 

 well as to their fidelity in collecting and commu- 

 nicating information/ 



The respectable Poets of America are not nume- 

 rous. The most conspicuous of these were noticed 

 in a preceding division of this work/ It is not 

 necessary here to repeat their names, or to attempt 

 a comparative estimate of their merits. Their 

 number is gradually increasing; 1 * and when that 

 leisure and encouragement shall be afforded to 

 men of genius in this country, which are enjoyed 

 in many parts of Europe, we may expect to pro- 

 duce Poets, who shall vie with the most celebrated 

 of the old world. 



But in no respect does the literary enterprize of 

 America appear more conspicuous than in the ra- 

 pid increase of the number and circulation of News- 

 papers, within the last thirty years. The ratio and 

 amount of this increase were stated in another 



r See page 140, &c. of the present volume. 



* Histories of different American States have been promised by several 

 ■writers. The public, particularly, look forward with high expectation 

 to the appearance of The History of North-Carolina, which has been for 

 some time prepared by Dr. Hugh Williamson, whose talents and learn- 

 ing are a pledge that it will prove an interesting and instructive work. 



t See pages 230 and 231 of this volume. 



i) Since the close of the eighteenth century*, another writer has appeared, 

 who, if we may judge by his first production, is destined to hold a high 

 place in the catalogue of native Poets of America. This writer is the Rev. 

 John B. Linn, D.D. of Philadelphia, whose Powers of Genius, a didactic 

 and descriptive Poem, published in 1801, displays imagination, taste, a.nd 

 reading. This Poem was so favourably received, that a second edition 

 v/as called for in less than a year, into which the Author has introduced 

 large and valuable improvements. 



