than to believe, that lightning could be brought harmless at the feet of a Franklin-that a lamp could be so constructed by means of a covering of wire gauze, as to give the miner light, while working among gases as inflammable as gunpowder, or that men could ascend in the air, by means of a linen bag filled with hot air. In our country, where the arts languish for want of encouragement, the least mark of ingenuity should be noticed with respect, that all may have an ambition to excel in those, which have, and may, confer such lasting benefits on the world.

V. MR. BENNETT'S PETITION TO CONGRESS.

MR EDITOR,

[City Gazette. Charleston.]

THE application of Mr. Bennett to Congress, for an exclusive privilege to fly through the air, is so inconsistent with the immemorial freedom of that element, which, above all others, we should carefully preserve from a monopoly, that though far from wishing to cramp the wings of Genius, I cannot but hope the petition will not be granted that Congress should, at any rate, act with caution upon the subject, will, I think, be admitted, when it is considered, that if the Art of Flying can indeed be perfected, such airy speculations as those of Messrs. Bennett and Lee, will become very common, and attract numerous other enterprizing spirits; in which event, a thriving source of revenue might be opened to the government, by granting out the immense tracts of æther spread over the Union, now lying idle, and abandoned to the birds, applying to the sales the same principles observed in the disposal of our Western Territories. It might be well to attend to this hint, as I fear, without some such assistance from above, we have very little chance of ever being extricated from the various financial embarrassments which our blessed system of borrowing and banking has brought upon us. While our resources in land are daily diminishing, the atmosphere constitutes a vast and untouched fund, which may be rendered highly available and useful, and would cer

more

tainly form a very appropriate support for a Republican Government, as it would tend to bring it into a direct literal dependence upon the breath of the people. It should further be borne in mind, that the object of Mr. Bennet is immediately at variance with the long established privileges of a worthy and active class of individuals: I mean our seamen, dancing-masters, and adopted French citizens, who spend a large portion of their lives at a considerable elevation above the surface, but whose rights are not the less to be respected on that account, by their more terrestrial brethren. Some late writer has computed that a Frenchman passes the greater part of the time between the Heavens and the Earth; and though it may be somewhat exaggerated, it cannot be considered very erroneous. By the way, it is truly extraordinary, when we recollect the known volatility of their temperament, that our friends the French should not have taken the lead in volitation, and been the first revivers of the Dædalean art. Should Mr. Bennett come into conflict with any of the above descriptions of persons, it is impossible to conceive of any end to the contest, as it would doubtless be carried on as long as the parties remained above ground, and there would be no chance of its ceasing until after they had returned to their mother earth.

It may be well for Mr. Bennett to bear in mind, that the officers of our navy and army have been very successful of late in teaching our enemies the art of flying, and, I make no doubt, stand ready to repeat their lessons, whenever the occasion may call for it: any interference with them, therefore, in their peculiar vocation, is a matter of delicacy, and ought to be avoided. It yet must be confessed, that the confining the right Mr. Bennett contends for to a single individual, would in some views be desirable, for it would certainly be no small inconvenience, and nothing less than a public evil, to have flights of projectors coming upon us, and the air darkened by speculators, who would enjoy a manifest advantage over every pedestrian competitor, and be enabled to look down all opposition, and pounce and prey upon the community at will.

I cannot but suspect that Mr. Bennett must be something of a poet, from his aiming at so exclusive a pretension over all who would mount as high as himself, and from the disposition he shows, like many others of the poetic tribe, to soar on borrowed plumes, and pinions not given him by nature. I hope, however, that he will not be allowed to take the air exactly in the style he proposes, and thus render it indeed a chartered libertine ;" but that Congress will forthwith compel him to make an experiment before them, and put him to flight with the least possible delay.

VI. THE FLYING MAN.

[Courier. Charleston.]

ALTHOUGH few would acquiesce in the proposition of Lord Bolingbroke, that it would be better to be a brute, having four legs and a long tail, and to be guided and governed by unerring instinct, than to have two legs and no tail, and to be called a man, and liable to error; yet, there are none, perhaps, who have not at some time or another coveted the wings of a bird; of such a bird, that is, as no militia-man should dare to shoot on a holiday, nor scullion decapitate on the eve of a festival. To fly from the crimes, the follies, the cares, the grossness, and the frivolities of this world; to escape from its humid and noxious vapours; to fly to the objects of our love; to ascend into the atmosphere of Heaven; to mingle with the stars in the zodiac, and track immortal spirits in their homes! What beautiful facilities of happiness might we thus enjoy.

But men do not deserve wings. Poor, sordid, groveling creatures, they come out of the earth, and their affections are bent on the earth-and they sink into the earth; and not one half of them dream of the beautiful canopy which is over their heads, and the unseen spirits which observe them from above. It is related of a miser, that he made an essay to fly, but as his gold was happiness with him, and he was nothing without his gold, his pockets were too ponderous for his flight, and he fell amid the shouts of contempt, into the mire to which

he belonged. So fares it always with avarice, whose machinations are odious, whose acquisitions are base, and whose triumphs are contemptible.

Intellect and innocence are the wings of life; love is the breeze which impels them; joy is the atmosphere through which they pass, and happiness is the haven to which they fly. The quenchless happiness of the soul is the sweet society of perfect and beautiful forms in the radiant realms of light, on the crystal floors of Heaven.

Birds are the choristers of the skies, and are allowed to approach them to make music for the angels-for birds are innocent. But man, whose privilege it is to look above, must remain below, and aspire not beyond it. You may attribute to physical causes, if you please, the inability of man to fly; but much of it may be inferred from debasement and servility of soul and of spirit. They would not fly if they could.

To stand on the invisible air, is to have a light heart, and a buoyant spirit, and elastic feet. The experiment to fly, could not, perhaps, be made with fairer chances of success, than by a young, pure maid, with the plumes of innocence, on the unruffled pinions of hope and of joy, in the balmy morning of life--the zephyrs flowing through her ringlets, and sweetly kissing her cheeks; her glowing heart exulting in the sunbeams, and her sorrow less eye fixed on heaven,-warbling the notes of gladness, angels would gather her to the society of the blessed, but she would not return any more upon the earth.

VIII. LAWYERS AND MINISTERS.

[From the same.]

CARE is very unequally distributed in this world. Some people skate over life with beautiful rapidity, and find no pause in pleasure. The path of others is irksome, rough, rugged, and precipitous. Now, although it is a part of our creed, that every man may be happy who chooses to be so, yet are there certainly greater facilities of happiness in some tracks, than in others--something more genial in the moral climate, to the growth of joy.

It is well, however, that this is not generally understood; otherwise we should behold a monopoly of pursuit, and all mankind, instead of being physicians, lawyers, &c. would inevitably be-clergymen.

The clergy have the easiest time of any people on this earth-perhaps it is because they deserve it. A clergyman enjoys a prescriptive respect and esteem, being ranked, by common consent, as high as a lady, and above a man. He has the charge of souls, which are not tangible, and have no rough edges, nor corners, nor acute angles, to annoy and afflict sensibility. The comforts of this world are accorded to him with cheerfulness. The merchant presents him a quarter-cask of Madeira-the planter a barrel of rice-the ladies send him sweetmeats, and all the baby-clothes of his children are made in advance, by the courteous labour of his youthful parishoners. A few hours toil produces his weekly discourse, which he delivers to hearers who believe all that he says, and never think of denying it if they do not. He is associated with happiness by those whom he marries, with wisdom by those whom he instructs, with hope by those whom he consoles, and with blessings by them all. Now can there be a more envied situation, a more smooth and unembarrassed journey, than this? Compared with the poor unfortunate lawyer, the clergyman travels on a railway, and the lawyer in a crazy waggon, struggling through mud and water, over a road abounding with ditches.

The lawyer incurs a prescriptive distrust. His gown is associated in the mind, not with the idea of purity and innocence, but of cunning and concealment. His client regrets that he has occasion to employ him, and struggles to get rid of him as early as possible. He is not like a clergyman, who, acting by himself, cannot well differ from himself-nor like physicians, who meet only" to consult and to agree, but like a gladiator, or, rather, like a game-cock, trained for perpetual war, and brought out of obscurity, only for a public contest. Much as he may love music, he must be always in discord; much as he may covet peace, he must never cease disputing. It there be only one side, he must make two out of it;