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 cc:::X£^F-^i4ErR S 
 
 OF 
 
 SHAHCOOLEN, 
 
 A 
 
 HWDU PHILOSOPHER, 
 
 RESIDING IN 
 
 PHILADELPHIA I 
 
 TO HIS FRIEND 
 
 EL HASSAN, 
 
 AN INHABITANT OF 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 BOSTON, 
 PRINTED BY RUSSELL AND CUTLER. 
 (proprietors of the work.) 
 
 1802. 
 
mfL 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HON. 3lolnt aRutnci? ^Damsf, esc^ire, 
 
 WHOSE 
 
 ATTAINMENTS AS A SCHOLAR. 
 
 AND 
 
 INTELLIGENCE AS A STATESMAN AND CIVILIAN, 
 
 HAVE 
 
 DESERVEDLY RANKED HIM AMONG THE 
 
 FIRST POLITICAL 
 
 AND 
 
 LITERARY CHARACTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 AMERICA ; 
 
 rnis VOLUME^ 
 
 CONTAINING PURE MORALS^ CORRECT POLITICS, 
 AND ELEGANT LITERATUREy 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY 
 
 iDetJicateo, 
 
 As a Teftimony of the Admiration and Efteem of his 
 Obedient Servants, 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT OF THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
 THE Letters, which compofe this Volume, were origin- 
 ally publifhcd in the New- York " Commercial Advertifer ;" 
 and appear to have been the leifure-hour lucubrations of fome 
 ingenious correfpondent of that well edited paper. A few of 
 the firft numbers, having been republiflied in this place, feveral 
 literary Genflemen fuggefted to the Editors the propriety of 
 coUedling and publifliing in a volume this valuable fpecimen of 
 American Literature. With this view, they addreffed a let- 
 ter to the anonymous author of the Letters of Shahcoolen, 
 requefting his permiflion for their publication. To this, with 
 diffidence, he confented, and immediately forwarded, after a 
 hafty revifion, a regular file of all, that at prefent he intended 
 to publifh. Of their literary excellence, the public may now 
 form an opinion. Tt is therefore unneceflary to enter on 
 a critical difcuffion of their merits. The fentiments how- 
 ever, which they inculcate, both moral and political, are cer- 
 tainly of the pureft tendency ; and are calculated to corredb 
 the philofophical reveries of the prefent day, and to difplay 
 to pofterity fome of the leading traits in the manners and prin- 
 ciples of the Eighteenth Century. In the character of a Na- 
 tive of Hindujiariy it was neceffary to adopt the Eaftern man- 
 ner of compofition. Comparing them with the few fpecimens 
 of Oriental Literature, we have feen, the Author has been 
 happy in his imitation. Theftyle of thofe Eaftcrn writers may 
 appear too florid and glowing to a correcSledtafte of more north- 
 ern climes. Enjoying a milder atmofphere, xhtiv feelings and 
 imaginations are more warm and vivid, their language and 
 mode of expreffion will of courfebemore brilliant, and be or- 
 namented with a greater variety of metaphorical allulion. The 
 Author of thefe letters, however, has preferved the leading 
 features of their ftyle, without following them in their excur- 
 fions of wild limilitude and extravagant hyperbole. This man- 
 ner of writing has already been fuccefsfully attempted by the 
 mofl diftinguiflied among the Englijh, German, and French 
 writers, and thofe who have read, and admired the tJitizen of 
 the IVorld, or the Perfian Letters , will not be difpleafed with 
 thofe of Shahcoolen. 
 
 THE Author, although he has for the prefent fufpended 
 his literary lucubrations, pofTefled of health and lei- 
 fure, will probably again, refume his fpeculations and fulfill the 
 promifes already made in fome of thefe letters ; and the 
 Editors may poffibly have it in their power to prefent the 
 public with a fecond volume. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Letters which are prefented to the publick, 
 in this little Volume, were never defigned, by the 
 writer, for any other than a newfpaper exidence. 
 
 IT was the- ;fore expefted, that they would flide 
 into oblivion, along with the other ephemeral produc- 
 tions, which conftantly iffue from the preffes of our 
 Country. 
 
 FULLY impreffed with tbis idea, the author gave 
 way to that eafy negligence, which Is admiffibJe in fu- 
 gitive pieces, but oughL never to be indulged by a 
 writer, who prefents himfelf ac ^he bar of Criticifm>. 
 and challenges the applaufe of poflerity. 
 
 FINDING that a plan was already matured, at Bojf- 
 ton, to give tkefe letters the more durable form of a 
 Volume, the autlior has corre^led fuch errors as pre- 
 fented themfelves upon a fecond perufal ; and fince 
 he could not prevent the intended publication, he 
 has attempted to fave the Criticks as much trouble 
 as pofllble. 
 
 STILL he is fenfible, that imperfe(fl health, nume- 
 rous avocations, and a hafty review, may have left 
 many errors undetedled. 
 
 FOR thefe, his only apology is, that the trifling 
 produdlons which compofe this little book, would 
 never have claimed a place upon the Bookfeller's 
 ftielf, had not the fentiments of the publifhers been 
 more favorable to them, than his own. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter Pack 
 
 I. GENERAL account of the new Phllofophy - - 13 
 
 II. Mary Woolstonecraft. - ------ ai 
 
 III. Mary Woolstonecraft. ------- aj 
 
 IV. PraAical Influence of her writings upon the wo- 
 
 men of the United States. ----- 39 
 
 V. State of the female fex in the United States. - 49 
 
 VI. State of American Poetry — American Poets, ex- 
 tracts from their writings. ------ 63 
 
 VII. Scenes of nature in America ; calculated to excite 
 poetical enrhufiafm ; comparifon of them 
 with thofe of Hinduftan ------- 80 
 
 VIII. Seled:ions from Hindu Poetry ; remarks. - - 91 
 
 IX. Poetry of the fcriptures ; Solomon's Song*; Re- 
 femblante between it and the Gitogavinda of 
 Jayadeva. -----------^8 
 
 X. Solomon's Song confidered as a Poem; Selec- 
 
 tions from it. - --------- 106 
 
 XI. Attachment of the writer to Poetry ; — Selec- 
 
 tions from the Gitagovinda. - - - - - 114 
 
 XII. SeleiStions from the Gitagovinda continued. - - ia6 
 
 XIII. Dialogue with a modern Philofopher. - - - - 138 
 
 XIV. Dialogue with a modern Phiiofepher continued. -14^ 
 
.J^- 
 
}imtt ^im- 
 
 DEARLY BELOVED EL HJSSAN, 
 
 1 HOU knoweft how, breakins" 
 
 o 
 
 through that cuftom of my country, which 
 confines the Hindu* to his native foil, 
 and yielding to my ruling paffion, the 
 love of knowledge, I left the delightful 
 fields of Agra, where fragrance floats in 
 every breeze, and beauty glows in every 
 profped, and fleered my courfe to the 
 Britifti Ifles. — Thou knoweft, how I ex- 
 plored every European region, from rocky 
 and inhofpitable Norway, to the luxu- 
 riant plains of Sicily ; noting in my pro- 
 grefs, the various fhades of character and 
 manners, and tranfmitting thee, from 
 time to time, the flory of my travels. 
 
 * There Is no inconfiftency in the fuppofitlon that a //>«- 
 du Phlcfopher has left his country for a feafon. If is indeed 
 the policy of the Hindu religion, government and manners, 
 to bind the people to their country ; but a man of an en- 
 lightened and enterprifing mind may eafilv be fuppofcd to 
 break through fuch a cuftom in purfuit of knowledge. 
 
«4 LETTERS OF 
 
 PURSUING ftill the favourite objeft of 
 my life, I am now fixed for a feafon, in 
 this great city, the emporium of this 
 weftern world. 
 
 THOU remembereft that I told thee 
 of a new fed'of Philofophers, lately arifen 
 in Europe, who profefs to teach mankind, 
 in a mode entirely new, the way to vir- 
 tue, and to happinefs. The eftablifhed 
 laws, religion, manners and maxims of 
 their country they condemn ; and teach, 
 that man, by nature perfed, needs but 
 to follow nature's impulfe ; and his own 
 energies will carry him to virtue and to 
 glory. 
 
 THIS new Philofophy has fpread, in a 
 greater or lefs degree, over the whole of 
 civilized Europe, and it is inculcated., and 
 believed by multitudes in America. 
 
 TO a Hindu, who has been taught 
 from his cradle, to believe implicitly the 
 holy Bramins, to copy the manners of 
 his anceftors, and to venerate the religion 
 of the great Brumma, fuch dodrines ap* 
 pear impious and horrible. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 15 
 
 BUT thou mufl not think, that I am 
 in a country like Hinduftan. 
 
 HERE the God of the land, whom they 
 call Jehovah ; his fon and the partner of 
 his throne, Jesus Christ, ^6^' Saviour ; 
 and a third perfon of the Godhead, the 
 Sanctifier ; thus refernblinj'" the three 
 great emanations of the divine Brurnma, 
 are every day infulted and blafphemed. — 
 Their holy Veda and Shahstah, denom- 
 inated the Bible, are not only oppofed 
 by argument, but made the fubjecl of 
 {landing ridicule ; they are quoted and al- 
 luded to, in the expreffton of their moft 
 lewd and profane conceptions ; and^many, 
 afFeding a peculiar brilliancy of wit, re- 
 peat, with the moft blafphemous levity, 
 fuch paffages of thefe facred books, as ap- 
 pear, even to my mind, replete with ho- 
 ly grandeur. 
 
 THE Bramins or Priefts, whom we in 
 Hinduftan venerate and love, w^hofe per- 
 fons and employment we believe too fa- 
 cred to be made the"^ theme of familiar 
 difcourfe, are here loaded with obloquy 
 
i6 LETTERS OF 
 
 and contempt, charged with fuch nefa- 
 rious defigns, as are imputed by us, only 
 to the defpifed vagabonds of the Cast 
 of HarrL 
 
 THE pagodas or temples, in which we 
 place the image of the great Briinwia^ of 
 Vavafwata^ of M'ahadeva^ and of the other 
 Gods, into which we never enter with- 
 out ablution, and from which we never 
 depart without proftrate devotion, are 
 here thrown open upon common and pro- 
 fane occaiions. In them they ailemble 
 to debate concerning their public affairs ; 
 to eled their Rajahs and Sultans ; and 
 fometimes, to exhibit a ftrange kind of 
 performance, called a comedy or tragedy, 
 in which the fcenes of real life are pro- 
 fefledly exhibited, perfons and manners 
 are ridiculed, blood is flied, and war 
 waged in jeft. 
 
 -• 
 
 iHou knovvcll that a Hindu never 
 
 fpeaks of his Sulta.n, but with the moll: 
 reverential refpecl ; his character he al- 
 ways defends ; his mandates he ever o- 
 beys 5 and his death he lincerely de- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 17 
 
 plores. The Sultan is confidered, by the 
 Hindu, as the head, the prince and the fa- 
 ther of his people ; and to enable him to 
 promote his people's welfare, their lives, 
 their talents and their fortunes are placed 
 entirely at his difpofal. His glory is their 
 glory, and his profperity their happinefs. 
 
 BUT in this country the Sultan is the 
 fervant of the people. By them, his mer- 
 its are freely difculTed, his failings mag- 
 nified, and his virtues diminilhed ; he is 
 the jeft of every vulgar tongue ; his mea- 
 fures are examined, cenfured and oppofed ; 
 and, as he is indebted to the people for 
 his elevation, fo he depends upon them 
 for the exiftence of his dignity ; and there- 
 fore, defcends from his precarious throne, 
 whenever his fovereigns^ the people^ fee fit 
 to direct. 
 
 .1 AM told that the ftate of things which 
 I have defer ibed, is imputed in part, to 
 the influence of the new philofophy. 
 is the fpirit of this philofophy to reduce 
 all things to one common level ; to pull 
 down the Gods from their thrones, and 
 
 B2 
 
1 8 LETTERS OF 
 
 to trample the kings of the earth in the 
 duft. It interferes in every concern of 
 public, and of private life ; and aims at 
 a total change in every department of 
 fociety. 
 
 A sYsTtM of philofophy fo fmgular^ 
 and which has already produced very ex- 
 tenfive and fatal effecls, cannot be unin- 
 terefting to a philofopher. 
 
 I SHALL therefore, my dear El Haffan, 
 endeavour to trace the operations of this 
 new philofophy, upon the affairs of this 
 weflern world; andfhall not fail to com- 
 municate my difcoveries, connected with 
 fuch other interefting remarks, as have 
 probably never reached the walls of Del- 
 hi, nor employed before, the contera- 
 plations of a Hi?idu Philofopher, 
 
 THOU, w4io inhabit eft a country, whole 
 laws, cuftoms and ideas, are immutably 
 fixed, wilt learn with aftonilhment, that 
 no cuftom is here fo facred, and no doc- 
 trine fo venerable, as to be fecure againft 
 the innovations of the new philofophy. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN 19 
 
 For a number of years it has filled the 
 fined countries of Europe with defolation 
 and carnage j and thofe regions ; which it 
 has not ravaged, have been rent afunder 
 by factions ; every man has taken his 
 fide, and, not unfrequently, members of 
 the fame family, and partners of the fame 
 houfe, are feen in oppofite ranks. 
 
 THE latter part of this defcription is ap- 
 plicable to America. Even here, the mofl 
 difi:ant regions of the empire, although 
 equally remote from each other, as the 
 mountains of Kuttner from the mouths 
 of the Ganges^ are hailing, with the moft 
 extravagant exultation, the firfl: dawn- 
 ings of the new illumination. 
 
 THE new philofophy is the ruling top- 
 ic of difcufilon ; it is perpetually contef- 
 ted and advocated, by the learned and 
 the great ; while the loweft claffes of fo- 
 ciety, of the fame degree as thofe in Hin- 
 duftan of the calls of Sudder and Harris 
 implicitly believe the dogmas, which they 
 are taught. 
 
 NOT the mufic of Nared, fliould he 
 
20 LETTERS Oh' 
 
 tune to fweeteft harmony his heavenly 
 lyre, nor the melodious numbers of the 
 fifters GopiA, fmging, by moon-light, in 
 the fragrant groves of the facred moun- 
 tain Goverdhan^ v^ould be able to allure a 
 inodem Pbilofofher from thefe bewildering 
 fpeculations. May the almighty Brum- 
 ma illuminate the mind of my dear El 
 Haffan, and prefer ve him till he fhall again 
 I'eceive the embraces of his faithful 
 
 SHAHCOOLEN. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ai 
 
 ^letter ^econD- 
 
 BELOFED EL HASSANy 
 
 jl ALSE philofophy, ftriving to im- 
 prefs upon mankind the convidion, that 
 it foars above common pleafures, and 
 common ideas, has ever afFe^ied to defpife 
 and to degrade that fex, which the great 
 Brum MA has given us to alleviate, by 
 their delightful tendernefs, all the pains, 
 and to animate all the joys of this life. 
 Knowing, as thou doft, my warm partial- 
 ity for this lovlieft, beft part of creation, 
 thou canft not be furprifed, that in all 
 the countries through which I have paff- 
 ed, their happinefs has been among the 
 earliefl fubjefls of my inveftigation. 
 
 KNOW then, that a total renovation of 
 the female character, and a deftination in 
 fociety, totally new, is one grand object 
 contemplated by that new philofophy, of 
 which, in my laft epiftle, I gave fome 
 fmall account. 
 
%Z LETTERS OF 
 
 MARY Woolftonecraft, a female phi- 
 lofopher of the new fchool^ has written, 
 within thefe few years paft, a book, which 
 flie named " A vindication of the Rights of 
 Woman ;'* compofed, for the exprefs pur- 
 pofe of roufing her fex from their inglo- 
 rious repofe, and of ftimulating them to 
 a vigorous exertion of their native ener- 
 gies. 
 
 SHE difcards all that fexual tendernefs, 
 delicacy and modefty, which conftitute 
 the female lovelinefs ; boldly pronounces 
 them equal to the rougher fex in every 
 thing but bodily ftrength ; and even im- 
 putes their deficiency, in .this particular, 
 principally to a falfely refined education. 
 She afferts that a hufband is a paltry bau- 
 ble, compared with the attainments of rea- 
 fon ; that the female ihould be fubjecl, or 
 fuperior to the male, juft in proportion 
 to thofe attainments ; and that the want 
 of them conftitutes the only obligation 
 for the fubmifilon of the wife to the huf. 
 band. This female philofopher indig- 
 nantly rejects the idea of a fex in the foul, 
 pronouncing, the fenfibility, timidity and 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. aj 
 
 tendernefs of women, to be merely arti- 
 ficial refinements of character, introdu- 
 ced and fofi:ered by men, to render fen- 
 fual pleafure more voluptuous. She in- 
 deed profeiTes a high regard for challity ; 
 but unfortunately the practice of her life 
 was at war with her precepts. She ad- 
 mitted oYit fenthnental lover after another, 
 to the full fruition of her charms, and 
 proved the atia'mments of reafon^ to be, in 
 her view, fources of pleafure, far inferi- 
 or, in value, to the pleafures of fenfe. 
 
 IN fliort, polluted as flie was by the 
 loft crime of woman, Mary ftepped forth 
 as the champion and reformer of her fex ; 
 ftie wifhed to ftrip them of every thing 
 feminine, and to afiimilate them, as fail 
 as poffible, to the mafculine character. 
 
 o, MY dear El Haffan, how oppofite her 
 views to every thing, which we deem love- 
 ly in the fex ! O, lovely Alagra, the 
 brighteft gem that fparkles on the beau- 
 teous plains of Agimere, how would 
 thy virgin foul fhrink back at the con- 
 templation of a female foul unfesed a 
 man in female form ! 
 
LETTERS OF 
 
 A COMPLETE exhibition of the regen- 
 erating fyflem of this female lunatic, 
 would fatigue thy patience, and occupy 
 too large a portion of thefe epiftles. 
 
 so fingular, however, is her fyftem 
 and fo directly oppofed to the received 
 opinions of mankind, that I cannot re- 
 frain from tracing an imperfect outline. 
 Not fatisiied with mafculine ideas, and 
 mafculine habits, Mary Wolftonecraft 
 wiflied, as the confummation of female 
 independence, to introduce the fex into 
 the Camp, the Roflrum and the Cabinet ; 
 and although flie does not recommend a 
 total dereliction of the hoiifehold good^ ftill 
 file would not cramp the female energies 
 by an occupation fo much beneath their 
 dignity, except fo far, as flern necelTity 
 commands. 
 
 SHE ferioufly advocates the right of 
 female reprefentaliion — for in this coun- 
 try, and in fome parts of Europe, the 
 right of reprefentation, which in an epif- 
 tle from England, I have already explain- 
 ed, is fully eftabliflied. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. aj 
 
 SUPPOSE, my dear friend, that a band 
 of female reprefentatives, beautiful as the 
 thirty Raginis,* who, crowned with 
 flowery wreaths, dance to the mufe of 
 Naked, among the fpicy groves of Mal- 
 DoovAN, fliould mix with a Legillative 
 band ; would not the cares of Legiflation 
 be excluded by the witchcraft of love ! 
 The charms of the fair Orator would 
 plead more powerfully than her tongue, 
 and gallantry would induce compliance, 
 where reafon would have ftimulated to 
 ftrenuous oppoiition. 
 
 IN the Cabinet, their fway would be 
 ilill more complete. Smiles, tears and 
 fighs would decide the fate of nations ; 
 and beauty would direcl the march.of ar- 
 mies on the frontiers, and the courfe of 
 navies upon the ocean. 
 
 IT is true that in defenfive war onlj^ 
 Mifs Woolftonecraft indulges the idea, 
 which even Jhe allows to be an enthufi- 
 aftic one, of feeing the exploits of ancient 
 
 * Female Paflions. 
 
 c 
 
26 . I-ETILRS Of 
 
 heroines renewed, and.tlie deadly weapon 
 direcled by the hand of Beauty. 
 
 THIS idea of hers is undoubtedly a 
 moft ingenious one. At the fight of a 
 band of heroines, beautiful as the morn- 
 ing, marching forward to the combat, 
 what warrior's fword would not drop 
 from his hand ? — what foldier would not 
 furrender himfelf a prifoner ! 
 
 HAD the God Rama, when he led 
 forth his army of Apes, and fpread def- 
 trucllon among his enemies,only exchang- 
 ed his apes for beautiful virgins, his vic- 
 tory would have been lefs bloody, and 
 his conquelL more complete. 
 
 AS a neccilary preparative for the fup- 
 port of bodily fatigue, the female philof- 
 opher recommends an early initiation 
 of females into the athletic fports, and 
 g^annailic exerclfes of boys and young 
 men. 
 
 SHE would have them run, leap, box, 
 wreftle, fence and fight, that the united 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 27 
 
 exertion of bodily and mental energy 
 may produce, by myfterious cooperation ^ 
 that amazing force of character, of which 
 fhe fuppofes her fex to be capable. 
 
 SHE even recommends that thefe fports 
 fliould be mutually ihared between girls 
 and boys, that the diftindion of fex may 
 remain concealed, until the phyfical pro- 
 grefs of the body, calling into operation 
 the latent paflions, fliall difcovcr the won- 
 derful fecret. 
 
 THIS ftrange philofopher, my dear El 
 HaiTan, has detained me, by the novelty 
 of her doctrines, longi-er than I intended. 
 Perhaps in fome future communication, 
 I may notice fome of her remaining ten- 
 ets ; and I intend particularly to delineate 
 the practical influence, v/hich they have 
 already acquired over the female fex in 
 this country. 
 
 KEEP this philofophy a profound fe- 
 cret from the fair daughters of Hinduf- 
 rtan, for, thou canft not divine what in- 
 
a8 
 
 LETTERS OF 
 
 fiuence its novelty, and the idea of inde- 
 pendence on man may have over the 
 heart even of the modeft, unaffuming 
 Hindu. 
 
 SALUTATION to the great Ganesa. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ?9 
 
 ^letter 2D!)iro. 
 
 DEAR EL HASSAN, FRIEND OF MY HEART, 
 
 1 HAVE not yet detailed all the par- 
 adoxes of the female philofopher, to whofe 
 acquaintance I have lately introduced 
 thee. 
 
 I HAVE before faid that fhe ridicules 
 the idea of female modefty. To prove 
 that her energies are not cramped by fo 
 embarraffing a reftraint, (lie writes with 
 the moft difguiling coarfenefs, upon fub- 
 jecls, which are ftudioufly excluded from 
 mod eft focieties, and refer ved by com- 
 mon confent, for the inveftigation of men 
 of fcience. 
 
 SHE even informs the world, that fhe 
 has been prefent at anatomical, chirurg- 
 ical and obftetrick lectures, converfations 
 and experiments, where the various parts 
 of the human body have been diffecled, 
 ;and their nfes defcanted upon j and ail 
 
 C2 
 
30 LETTERS OF 
 
 this flie has witneiTed, without a bluQi, 
 and without a painful emotion. She does 
 not doubt, that every female may, in the 
 fame manner, free herfelf from the fac- 
 titious weaknefs of education, and ac- 
 quire that hardihood of character, which 
 fhall forever free her from the unphilofo- 
 phical habit of blufhing. 
 
 WITH the utmoft indifference, flie en- 
 ters upon a difquifition concerning the 
 caufes of the greater number of women 
 than of men in Africa, calmly afcribing 
 the fa6l to polygamy, which, ilie fays, 
 enervates the phyfical energies of the men, 
 and thereby incapacitates them from be- 
 coming the fathers of fo many fons^ as 
 they otherwife would ; for, ftie alTumes 
 it as a principle, that the fex of an anir 
 mal is determined, by the predominant 
 energj of one parent over that of the other, 
 7iatiire deligliting, univerfally, to produce 
 
 its own image. 
 
 POLYGAMY, thus, according to^ her 
 theory, wherever it is already ellablifhed, 
 produces an excefs of women ^ and each 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. jx 
 
 individual woman demanding the gallan- 
 tries of the men, polygamy is neceffarily 
 continued. 
 
 SUCH are the fubjecls, and fuch is the 
 method of treating them, recommended 
 by the new philofophy to its female dif- 
 ciples. 
 
 MISS Woolftonecraft is extremely anx- 
 ious to eftablifti the idea, that feduced 
 and dilhonored females are ftill entitled 
 to the regard of fociety, efpecially if they 
 continue " faithful to the father of their 
 children^^ whether that father is a huf- 
 band, or merely a gallant. In other 
 words, ihe would efteem a kept mijirefsy 
 (fuch as flie was herfelf ) entitled to equal 
 refpecl and attention as the faithful wife. 
 
 IT requires no great acutenefs to dif- 
 cern the reafon why Mary labored to ef- 
 tablifti this doftrine. She was herfelf a 
 levod woman ; and unlefs lewd women could 
 be made refpeclable, flie was confcious 
 that flie muft alfo yield to that infamy, 
 which well regulated focieties univerfally 
 throw upon female impurity. After be^ 
 
34 LETTERS OF 
 
 ing engaged in feveral open and fhameful 
 amours, particularly with a Mr. hnlay^ 
 an American gentleman, and Mr. Fufeliy 
 an Italian, Mifs Wooljlone crafty toward the 
 clofe of her life, married one William 
 Godwin, having previoully cohabited 
 with him feveral months. This man has 
 written her hiftory, in which, fo far from 
 expreffing any remorfe on account of his 
 connedion with fo abandoned a woman, 
 he celebrates, in ftrains of philofophical 
 eulogium, the purity of her mind, and 
 the ardor of her affedions. Her amours 
 he calls affairs of the hearty and her gal- 
 lants fenfimental lovers, 
 
 THIS Godwin, you muft know, is 
 one of the new philofophers. Of him, 
 and his works I may poffibly, hereafter, 
 take fome notice, as he has diftinguifhed 
 himfelf above his fellows for the fyftemat- 
 kal abfurdity, and extravagant folly of his 
 wTitings. For the prefent, the anecdote 
 above mentioned may ferve to give fome 
 idea of his charader, as well as of that of 
 modern reforming philofophers generally* 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 33 
 
 ONE trait in the charafter of Mary 
 WooHlonecraft I cannot omit. 
 
 ALTHOUGH flie profeffcs fome general 
 regard for religion and an over ruling 
 power, ftill fhe difclaims the moft effen- 
 tial parts of the religion of her country, 
 and leaves us entirely in doubt whether 
 flie had any fyftem of belief or not. 
 
 I HAVE already informed thee, my 
 dear El Haflan, that the people of this 
 country have a book iimilar to our Veda 
 and Shahjiahy which they call the Bible. 
 This book contains an account of .the 
 creation of all things ; of the production 
 of one human pair, from whom defcend- 
 cd all the inhabitants of the earth ; of the 
 deftrui^ion of all creatures by a great del- 
 uge, excepting one good man and his 
 family, and a few animals of every kind, 
 who were faved in the ark. 
 
 THIS account the female philofopher 
 treats with contempt ; flie calls it a poeti- 
 cal Jlory^ and evidently allows it no au- 
 thenticity. 
 
i4 LETTERS OF 
 
 AND yet, thou knoweft,that ourhcYCL. 
 books contain an account fimilar in moft 
 refpecls, although fhaded with an allego- 
 rical meaning. One good man is repre- 
 fented as having been faved from the 
 flood, with feven other perfons, corref- 
 ponding with the number mentioned in 
 the Bible. Our books relate, alfo, that 
 the gods churned the immenfe ocean with 
 the mountain Mandar, and raifed from 
 the bottom, by the force of fermentation, 
 all things which had been overwhelmed 
 by the deluge. 
 
 THE Bible relates that the waters re- 
 tired by degrees, and thus produced, 
 though in a different way, the fame effect. 
 
 THE idea of future retribution, in 
 another flate of being, Mifs Woolflone- 
 craft ridicules, treating it as a notion too 
 flavifh for the belief of a philofopher. 
 
 THIS is another idea which thou know- 
 eft that our /acred books exprefsly recog- 
 nize, and forcibly inculcate. Every faith- 
 ful Hindu believes, that after death, fome 
 fouls will be fent down to the infernal 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 35 
 
 pits, there 'to fpend a dreadful exiftence, 
 among frightful ferpents, and all the hor- 
 rible tortures of the damned. The infer- 
 nal deities Seva and Cali, who delight 
 in the inflidlion of mifery, prefide over 
 thefe dreadful regions. 
 
 TO other fouls, thou knoweft, that the 
 God SatycWrata will fhew the road 
 to inexpreliible blifs. To the vulgar, 
 whofe minds are incapable of the fublime 
 pleafures of exalted intelledual enjoy- 
 ments, the happy regions are defcribed, 
 by our facred books, as being the abode 
 of the moft exquiiite fenfual delight. 
 
 THERE, perpetual fpring, crowne^ 
 with fruits and flowers and everlalling 
 verdure, dances round the year ; " the 
 precious Mujk Deer^^ fport in the Sandal 
 Groves, while the immortal inhabitants 
 repofe on the fpreading down of the Lotos ^ 
 
 or dance, in fairy ringlets, to the mufic 
 of Naked. 
 
 BUT to thee, my dear El HaiTan, who 
 haft a mind enlarged by philofophy, and 
 
36 LETTERS OF 
 
 refined from the groflhefs of fenfuality, 
 thefe enjoyments appear trivial. Thou, 
 with me, wilt rather place thy future en- 
 joyments, in thofe exalted pleafures of 
 the underfhanding, and thofe ftrong and 
 refined afFedions of the heart, which our 
 philofophers, of the Vedanta fchool, fo elo- 
 quently defcribe. 
 
 ANOTHER clafs of fouls, thou knoweft 
 will be compelled to endure the fervitude 
 of tranfmigration ; inhabiting the bodies 
 of animals polTeffing characlers fimilar to 
 thofe, by which they themfelves, while in 
 life, were diftinguiflied. Thus, thou per- 
 ceiveft that the idea of future retribution 
 is one, whofe propriety and truth, both 
 our education and reafon ilrongly enforce. 
 Still, it is defpifed and contemptuoully 
 rejedbed by this female philofopher. 
 
 ACCUSTOMED as thou haft been, from 
 thy youth, to venerate the precepts of the 
 aged, and to honor the dictates of thy 
 parents, thou wilt be ihocked, that a phi- 
 lofopher fliould prefume to impeach the 
 propriety of thofe fentiments. But ma- 
 RY, flrenuoufly argues, that no more re- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ^7 
 
 fpecb fliould be paid to the opinions 
 of a parent, than to thofe of any other 
 rational being. 
 
 THAT any one fiiould be fubjecced to 
 the control of another, either in his opin- 
 ions or conduct, merely becaufe chance 
 has made that being his parent, Ihe de- 
 clares to be highly abfurd. Thou may^il 
 be able to judge, how far this new phi- 
 lofophy conduced to the happinefs of the 
 female philofopher, when thou art inform- 
 ed, that flie attempted to deftroy her 
 own life. Repeatedly did flie feek the* 
 oblivion of death, by throwing herfelf 
 into the Thames ; and as often was flie ref- 
 cued from a watery grave. 
 
 THUS, my dear El Ilaflan, have I ex- 
 plained to thee, rather more copioufly, 
 than I intended, the leading features of 
 this new fyftem of female philofophy. 
 
 SUCH extravagant and impious fpecu- 
 
 lations could proceed only from a phren- 
 
 fied and extravagant mind. Accordingly, 
 
 the ftyle, in which they are written, is 
 
 D 
 
38 LETTERS OF 
 
 obfcure, rhapfodical, and often wholly 
 unintelligible. The figures are ufually 
 daubed with extravagant coloring j fha- 
 dows and fubftances are joined j " he- 
 goats and foxes are yoked together ;" 
 and a man of a correct mind, and a digni- 
 fied tafte, will be fliocked wTth rhetorical 
 abfurdities in every page. 
 
 " SALUTATION to the great Ganefa." 
 May the Almighty Brumma enlighten 
 our minds with true philofophy, and pre- 
 ferve us from philofophical madnefs. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 39 
 
 ^letter i?ourt!). 
 
 DEARLY BELOFED EL HASSAN, 
 
 1 HE author of The Rights of Woman 
 has not been alone in the great work of 
 corrupting her fex. She has been aided 
 by the whole band of modern philofo- 
 phers ; operating, it is true, according to 
 the particular fyftem, which each propo- 
 fed to himfelf ; but generally, the obj eel 
 and the eflfeci: have been the fame. 
 
 THE influence of the new philofophy 
 upon the female fex, has been more ex- 
 tenfive, and more viliblc, in France, than 
 in any other country. It is one capital 
 objecl of this philofophy, to decry the in^ 
 ftitution of marriage. Accordingly, in 
 France, this inftitution has been render- 
 ed almoft ufelefs by the facility, with 
 which divorces are obtained. 
 
 THE theatre, the ftyle of drefs, the na- 
 tional tafte, and in Ihort, the whole con- 
 
40 LETTERS OF 
 
 flitutlon of foclety,in that country, have 
 tended diredly, to cherifli a fpirit of refin- 
 ed voluptuoufnefs ; refined^ I mean, as to 
 the variety of the modes in which it feeks 
 gratification, but rampant and uncontrola- 
 ble in the fpirits, which ftimulates it to ac- 
 tion. Of courfe, chaftity has there be- 
 come a very uncommon and unfafhiona- 
 ble virtue ; and many a fair lady may be 
 found, who is neither maid^ ividow^ nor 
 luife. 
 
 THE new philofophy, as yet, has ac- 
 quired, comparatively, only a limited in- 
 fluence over the females of America. — 
 But, it has acquired an influence already 
 too great, to efcape the notice of a real phi- 
 lofopher. 
 
 THE females of Hinduftan, thou know- 
 eft, are taught, that modefty is the bright- 
 eft ornament of female \Trtue ; and that 
 concealment heightens tlie empire of beau- 
 ty. Hence, they ftudioufly veil thofe 
 charms, whofe expofure, indeed, fwells 
 the veins of the beholders with a torrent 
 of lawlefs paffion ; but foon produces fa- 
 tiety, indifference and difguft. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 41 
 
 NOT all the wanton motions, the laf- 
 civious geftures, and the rich perfumes of 
 our dancing girls ^ whom the laws of Hin- 
 duftan allow to proftitute their perfons, 
 to fecure the chaftity of the virtuous part 
 of the fex, can prevent difguft from fill- 
 ing the breafls of the beholders. 
 
 BUT, in America, although the women 
 are beautiful as the fun, with complex- 
 ions refembling the firH bluflies of the 
 morning, and perfons graceful as the poe- 
 tical fillers, who wander in the fpicy 
 groves of Math'ura, ftill, the new phi- 
 lofophy has induced them, in many in- 
 ftances, to expofe their perfons in fuch ^ 
 manner, as to excite pafHon, but to extin- 
 guifh refped. 
 
 THE flyle of drefs, by which this expo- 
 fure is efFeded, was firfl introduced by 
 the theatres. 
 
 FREQUENTLY, whcH attending the 
 theatre in this metropolis, I have feen the 
 mofl beautiful adlreffes exhibit their per- 
 fons, in robes of lawn, fo tranfparent, and 
 
 yet, fo adhefive, as to difcover every la- 
 D 2 
 
AZ LETTERS OF 
 
 tent proportion and beauty. In the 
 robes of the other fex alfo, they expofe 
 their delicate limbs, and vainly emulate 
 the firm flep, and manly port, which na- 
 ture has denied them. 
 
 FROM the ftage this tafte has defcend- 
 ed into private life. 
 
 OFTEN, when reclining on a fofa, by 
 the fide of a fair Jmerlcan, I have thought, 
 that her white boforn, fcarcely veiled at 
 all from my fight, and her finely propor- 
 tioned limbs, which the extreme thin- 
 nefs and narrownefs of her apparel ren- 
 dered quite evident to the eye, would 
 have excited impure emotions in any 
 heart, lefs fubjecl to reafon, than that of 
 A Hindu philofopher. 
 
 WHEN I have flopped in my walks, as 
 I often do, at fome public corner, the con- 
 fined motion of the limbs, in robes fcarce- 
 ly eighteen inches in breadth, has enabled 
 me to compare with great accuracy, the 
 delicate proportions and graceful move- 
 ments of the fprlghtly fair ones, who wan- 
 der forth into the ftreetsof this metropolif'* 
 
^HAHCOOLEN 43 
 
 AT firft, 1 fuppofed thefe females to be 
 of the fame clafs with the dancing girls of 
 Hinduftan, and, of courfe, concluded, 
 that the ft ate of fociety in America, where 
 fo many females appeared in the drefs of 
 courtezans, muft be extremely depraved. 
 But I have fince difcovered, that this drefs 
 is afTumed by ladies of pure reputation, 
 and unqueftionable virtue. 
 
 THIS, my dear El Haflan, may be call- 
 ed the heroifm of female chaftity : For 
 what lady of reputation, who is not a he- 
 roine in virtue, would dare to hang out 
 to public view, the iniignia of meretri- 
 cious indulgence ? No conclufion muft be 
 drawn from thefe facls, that there are in 
 this country, no ladies oieafy virtue. Ma- 
 ny fuch there are \ but they cannot be dif- 
 tinguiftied in the great cities, hj their drefs y 
 from ladies of character. 
 
 ANOTHER efFecl of the new philofo- 
 phy, probably imputable, in a great de- 
 gree, to the influence of IVIifs Woolftone- 
 craft's doctrines, n>uft not be paffcd over 
 in filcnce. 
 
'44 LETTERS OF 
 
 THE people of every country have 
 their own peculiar modes of profanenefs 
 in difcourfe. By profanenefs, I intend a 
 contempt of facred things ; and, in thi^ 
 fenfe, every people, of whatever religion, 
 may be profane. 
 
 BUT by the univerfal confent of man- 
 kin^, this vice is efteemed peculiarly vul- 
 gar, and wholly without apology. 
 
 IN women we always expe^ delicacy, 
 and tendernefs, and of courfe, reverence 
 for the Gods. Whenever any of the grofs 
 vices of men are found in women, they 
 are, therefore, peculiarly difgufting. — 
 What then, O El Haffan, who haft ever 
 been accuftomed to hear the women of 
 Hinduftan, utter the awful names of Brum- 
 MA and Seraswaty, with uplifted eyes, 
 and features folemnized by devotion ; — 
 what will be thy aftonifliment to hear, 
 that the females of this country profane, 
 with the moft flippant levity, the name of 
 their God, ridicule his attributes and his 
 worihip, and diftribute curfes as the com- 
 mon compliments of an evening. Yet, 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 45 
 
 thefe things 1 have often witneffed in this 
 metropolis. Not unfrequently, have I 
 heard a fair one, who feemed to have 
 been born for tendernefs and love, curfe 
 her fate at the card table, damn the foul 
 of her partner for his inattention to the 
 game, fwear that this was the moft un- 
 lucky incident of her life, and grace eve- 
 ry exclamation, by an impious appeal to 
 her GOD. 
 
 ALTHOUGH truc to the holy religion of 
 the Bramins, and unfeduced by the fyf- 
 tems of other countries, I could not hear 
 this impiety without horror. My blood 
 chilled^ and I involuntarily indulged the 
 idea, that the creature, whom I had feen, 
 fo fair, fo delicate, and lovely, was but a 
 fiend, difguifed in a female form, to give 
 to vice the borrowed charms of beauty, 
 and to enable it to Ileal imperceptibly up- 
 on hearts, which would have recoiled, had 
 it approached in its own native defor- 
 mity. 
 
 I AM told, that this vice exifted before 
 the origin of the new philofophy \ but that 
 
46 LETTERS OF, 
 
 this philofophy has given it a moft alarm- 
 ing and extenfive increafe. 
 
 WITHOUT any reference to its horrid 
 impiety, did the fair creatures, who ufe 
 fuch language, only know how com- 
 pletely it ftrips them of every feminine 
 charm, and how odious it makes them 
 appear in the eyes of thofe, whom they 
 are moft anxious to pleafe, they would 
 furely abandon a practice, which in 7nen 
 is ofFenfive, but in woman is difguftingly 
 fliocking. Indeed, what can be more un- 
 natural,than that a beautiful virgin jQiould 
 utter a ligh and a curfe in the fame 
 breath ? Surely, a man of modefty and 
 virtue, will turn with averlion from fo un- 
 natural a being. 
 
 IT is a remarkable fad, that this prac- 
 tice has acquired the moft extenfive fway 
 in the moft genteel and poliilied circles ; 
 while in thofe, which are equally removed 
 from meannefs and pride, it hardly has 
 an exiftence. 
 
 THE athletic exercifes, which the fe- 
 male philofopher fo cogently recom- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 47 
 
 mends, have been adopted, in America, 
 only in a partial degree. 
 
 I HAVE indeed heard of a great Nabob 
 in this country, who has educated his 
 daughter to leap a fence without bringing 
 her clothes into contad, to vault from 
 the ground into the faddle, and even to 
 manage a mettlefome horfe, while {land- 
 ing upon one foot, on his back. 
 
 A LADY, alfo, at Salem^ a town far to 
 the north-eaft, in a Soubah or Diftrid, 
 called Maffachufetts, initiates young vir- 
 gins, into the invigorating exercife of ikat- 
 ing ; an amufement, which, in an epiftle 
 from Holland, I have already explained. 
 One would fuppofe, that the narrow ap- 
 parel of fafliionable females, would great- 
 ly impede the exertions of the fair one's 
 energies^ in this moft ilippery diverlion ; 
 and fliould ftie fall headlong, (an accident 
 which often occurs to boys,) who can di- 
 vine the confequences, which might en- 
 fue? 
 
 6, EL HASSAN, my friend ! how would 
 it afFed thy heart and mind, to fee thefe 
 
\t LETTERS 05 
 
 unnatural practices introduced among the 
 daughters of Hinduflan ? Still may they 
 remain modeft, timid and feminine, and 
 may no cold-hearted, ferocious philofo- 
 pher attempt to fubftitute that mafculine 
 robuflnefs of characfter, which Mary Wol- 
 ilonecraft inculcates, in the place of that 
 ^delightful tendernefs, which adorns" eVery 
 female adion, which enlivens profperity, 
 and fmooths the pillow of grief. 
 
 m 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 49 
 
 ^letter ^ift^- 
 
 DEARLY BELOVED EL HASSAN, 
 
 Immense oceans roll a wafte of wa- 
 ter, and unexplored continents ftretch 
 their regions between Shahcoolen and 
 thofe he loves. 
 
 HOW often does my heart figh for the 
 fhady bowers of Agra, my dear native 
 land ; how do I dwell upon thofe happy 
 days, when in company with thee, I wan- 
 dered in the flowery vale of Cafhmere ; — 
 walked by moon-light upon the banks of 
 the ancient Indus ; watched the revolu- 
 tions of the bear, and the fetting of Orion, 
 from the top of Mat'hura ; vifited the 
 venerable abodes of the Bramins, upon 
 the borders of the facred Ganges; or plun- 
 ged my limbs in its purifying waves ? In 
 fearch of knowledge, to which my life 
 has been devoted, we then explored the 
 immenfe regions of Hinduftan, and fur- 
 veyed the inhabitants of Ceylon, breath- 
 E 
 
50 LETTERS OF 
 
 ing aromatic gales, and the wretched out- 
 call, who gathers gems in the mines of 
 Golconda. 
 
 TO a real philofopher, man is the moft 
 interefting fubjecl of contemplation. — 
 Majeftic mountains, magnificent rivers, 
 flowery vallies, and boundlefs landfcapes, 
 occur in every country, and are prefent- 
 ed to every eye. 
 
 EVEN thofc regions, where cold and 
 darknefs, in one uncealing night, ufurp 
 the empire of half the year ; and where, 
 during that period, the eye furveys noth- 
 ing but one boundlefs wafte of fnow ; ftill 
 enjoy an equal period of day ; when the 
 fun docs not fet, verdure fprings upon the 
 hills, animals fport upon the plains, and 
 birds flutter through the air. 
 
 THEx, perhaps, the Creenlander, be- 
 holding his fields, lately buried in fnoWj 
 but now verdant and beautiful, feels no 
 lefs delight than the native of Orixa, 
 who reclines beneath bowers, that are al- 
 li^Mys green, and iiftens to the bubbling of 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. S'^ 
 
 flreams that are never arrefted by froft y 
 and while contemplating his mountains, 
 whofe fides are verdant, but whofe tops 
 are covered with everlafting fnow, or fur- 
 veying thofe huge drifts of ice^ which, 
 v/hile they lift their fparkling turrets to 
 the fun, are driven by impetuous billows 
 upon the rocks, which lie concealed in the* 
 ocean, perhaps he enjoys a degree of plea- 
 fure, which may compenfate for the v/ant 
 of vallies fmiling with the Lotcs^ and hills 
 fhaded by the Vine. 
 
 BUT my dear El Haffan, although my 
 fenfes are perpetually alive to tlie charm- 
 ing variety of natural fcenes, which the 
 face of the earth every where exhibits ; 
 Hill, MAN is my objecl, for I my/elf zm a 
 Man. 
 
 MY three laft epiftles were employed 
 in delineating the doctrines of the new 
 female philofophy, and their influence up- 
 on the female charader in America. The 
 remainder of this epiille I fliall devote to 
 an exhibition of the exifting charader and 
 purfuits of the female fex in this country, 
 
Si LETTERS OF 
 
 diftributing them, as far as poffible, into 
 general claffes. 
 
 THOSE, whom native depravity, or the 
 arts of fedudion, have expofed to the de- 
 gradation of mercenary intercourfe, are 
 comparatively few ; but ftill they are fo 
 numerous, efpecially in the great towns, 
 as frequently to excite both pity and dif- 
 guft. 
 
 IT is certainly a jull law, although it 
 is a fevere one, which virtuous focieties 
 univerfally have eftablilhed, that a fingle 
 error in the great article of female purity, 
 fhould brand its unfortunate fubjecl with 
 a degree of infamy, which no lapfe of 
 time, and no future courfe of virtue, can 
 entirely obliterate. 
 
 BUT it is much to be regretted, that 
 legiflators and patriots have not eftabliih- 
 ed fome fchool of reformation, w^here 
 thefe unfortunate beings may take refuge 
 from guilt, difeafe, and infamy, and by a 
 courfe of fober induilry, and of regulai: 
 conduct:, procure an honeft fupport, 
 make fome advances toward a recovery 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 53 
 
 of reputation, and fome progrefs in real 
 virtue. But, in moft countries, they are 
 fhunned and abandoned by all, except 
 thofe, whom guilty paffions ftimulate to 
 feek out the abodes of infamy and wretch- 
 ednefs. To the honor of this metropolis, 
 however, be it recorded, that an inftitu- 
 tion, founded upon the moft benevolent 
 principles, has been lately eftabUfhed for 
 the purpofe fpecified above, 
 
 AFTER we have excluded the infamous 
 and abandoned, the women of this coun- 
 try may be diftributed, with tolerable cor- 
 rednefs, into three defcriptions. 
 
 THERE is a clafs, whom both nature 
 and education have deftined to move in 
 the humbleft walks of life. They are ig- 
 norant, patient, and laborious ; common- 
 ly faithful to their families ; they wear 
 out life in hard labour for their fupport. 
 Their time is divided between flavifli fer- 
 vitude, and iluggilh repofe ; and the only 
 recreation, which they enjoy, is an occali- 
 onal viiit to the neighboring women of 
 the fame degree, when their vanity is gra* 
 ^7. 
 
J 4 LETTERS OF 
 
 tified by a dlfplay of their befl apparcV 
 a little iiohea reci'eates the fpirits, and the 
 village ftories employ the tongue. On 
 Sunday, alfo, the day of worlhip, they 
 fometimes appear at church, where, as it 
 ufually happens to ladies of fuperlor rank, 
 nothing, apparently, engages their atten- 
 tion lefs, than the exercifes of the day. 
 Upon the whole, this clafs of women are 
 confined to a fphere of life, where little 
 can be enjoyed, though much muft be en- 
 dured. 
 
 OF the two other claffes, the ladies of 
 quality^ in every thing, but the degree of 
 happinefs, which they enjoy, form the per- 
 fect contrail to tjie one lafl defcribed. 
 
 WITH them pleafure ccnftitutes the 
 great bufinefs of life. Their time is divi- 
 ded between the tranfports of diffipation, 
 and the liftleffiiefs of ennii}. When even- 
 ing arrives, the fair creature rolls in the 
 gilded chariot to the play houfc. There the 
 fplendor of the lights, of the fcenery, and 
 the company, wath the ftrains of the mu- 
 lic,, and the tones, drefs and acdon of the 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. sf 
 
 players, lay hold on her fenfes, warm her 
 imagination to rhapfody^ and produce a. 
 temporary imprelllon, that flie is tranf- 
 ported to a new and more exalted ftate of 
 things, where grief is defpair, and love is 
 extacy. She mourns for poor Monimia, 
 weeps for haplefs De/demona, and glows 
 with rage at the black crimes of Mil- 
 wood. 
 
 ALTHOUGH grofs indcHcacy, both in 
 drefs and language, appear upon the ftage, 
 ftill the fair one joins the rank applaufc, 
 and aids the guilty triumph. In the in- 
 tervals of the play, perhaps flie ogles at 
 fome favorite beau, peeps through the 
 lattice of her fan, while flie feems to hide 
 her face, or whifpers fome romantic fen- 
 timent to the belle, who fits next to her- 
 
 AFTER the*«play flie returns home, fick 
 of the dull fcenes of real life, longs to be- 
 come the heroine of fome adventure, and 
 the favorite of fome gallant knight. She 
 flumbers on a bed of down, and beneath 
 a canopy of lilk, till the fun has travelled 
 halfway from the dawn to the meridian. 
 
56 LETTERS OF 
 
 Then, languid and pale, through exceffive 
 indulgence, flie redeems time enough 
 from fleep to drefs for the evening. 
 
 THE circus, perhaps, opens its doors, 
 and the delicate creature, who would have 
 flirieked at a fpider, and fwooned at a 
 moufe, flies with alacrity to fee feats of 
 dangerous adivity, and perilous hcwrfe- 
 manfliip. 
 
 THE circus, my dear El Haflan, is a 
 place where men, who have been trained 
 to the bufinefs, mount horfes of great ac- 
 tivity, which are driven round upon half 
 fpeed within the circular building, where 
 the fpe6lators are feated. While the horfes 
 are in full motion, the riders vault from 
 the ground into the faddle, and back to 
 the ground again ; ftand upon one foot, 
 on the horfe, with the toes of the other 
 foot in the mouth ; — fuftain a boy ered 
 upon the flioulder ; and perform a thou- 
 fand other feats, the fight of which, to a 
 man of humanity, is painful in the e:^- 
 treme. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. S7 
 
 THOU wilt afk, what there Is in this 
 amufement, which can intereft a rational 
 mind ? I have often afked the queftion 
 too ; but have been told, that I had mis- 
 taken the object of the amufement ; for, 
 it was invented for the entertainment of 
 ladies of quality, 
 
 THOU wilt hardly credit the idea, that 
 ladies fliould be entertained by an amufe- 
 ment, which is both diftrefling and ind6^ 
 cent ; for as well might the women of 
 Hinduftan refort to the vallies of Bahar, 
 to fee the unwieldy movements of the 
 elephants, which are tamed for war. 
 
 BUT I have learned from an accurate 
 furvey of human life, that there is no 
 amufement, however foreign from the 
 delicacy of the fex, and no drefs, howe- 
 ver indecent, which the tyranny of fafh- 
 ion will not impofe upon ladies of quality^ 
 in countries, which have not, like Hin- 
 duftan, wifely regulated the contour of a 
 garment, and the diverfions of an evening. 
 
 IF both the circus and the theatre are 
 clofed, perhaps the fair lady, when the 
 
j8 - LETTERS OF 
 
 firfl: fliades of night darken the vallies, re- 
 forts to a gay circle, fips hyfon, nibbles 
 half a bifcuit, and relates the perils Ihe 
 encountered in paffing the dark paflage at 
 the laft play, where the courage of Sir 
 Chrijlopher Lovelace, faved her from the 
 lofs of her flipper. . 
 
 THE piano or harpficord beguiles the 
 firfl moments of the evening, but pre- 
 fently, the card-tables are difplayed, and 
 every eye is fixed, and every mind is in- 
 tent upon the progrefs of the game. The 
 iBckle goddefs, fortune, flutters from fide 
 to fide, and feems in doubt where to refl:, 
 till at length flie fettles upon the breaft of 
 fome fair gamefter. 
 
 IT would be difgufting to defcribe all 
 the four looks, the heart-burnings, and 
 genteel curfes, which occur on both fides 
 of the gam.e, before the clock ftrikes three^ 
 and the harbinger of day, founds his fiiriil 
 clarion at the approach of light, 
 
 THEN, thefe ladies of quality, with ja- 
 ded fpirits, and diftempered minds, retire 
 to feverifii dreams, and broken flumbers. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 59 
 
 NOW and then, an idle hour is fpent in 
 poring over the page of fome glowing 
 novel, or extravagant romance ; an air- 
 ing is taken in a coach with clofed win- 
 dows ; a morning call is made, or a gild- 
 ed fan cheapened. 
 
 THE ball alfo difplays its dazzling 
 fplendors, where elegance, mufic, and lux- 
 ury, reign within, w^hile winter rages 
 without. Here, the fair one, in all the 
 pomp of drefs, floats down the dance ; — 
 while' the fop, a gilded /^z/^^f?, flutters by 
 her fide. 
 
 THUS, with thefe ladies, life is one 
 fcene of varying diflipation, with fuch in- 
 terruptions only, as nature imperioufly 
 demands, to reftore her exhaulled pow- 
 ers. All the endearing charities of mo- 
 ther, After, wife, are fwallowed up in one 
 wide gulf of diflipation ; and the mand, 
 barren of ufeful information, and the 
 heart, deftitute of pradlical virtue, fall a 
 prey to defpair, whenever flcknefs feizes 
 on the conftitution, or old age deilroys 
 its youthful powers. 
 
Co LETTERS OF 
 
 o, MY dear El Haffan, wouldfl thou fe- 
 led fuch an one for the vnfe of thy bo- 
 fom, or the mother of thy children ? — 
 Would her fmiles thrill thy heart with 
 joy ? Would her tendernefs cheer thy 
 fick bed, or her endearing converfe be- 
 guile thy midnight hours ? 
 
 BUT the other and remaining clafs of 
 American women, is of a character en- 
 tirely different from either of thofe, which 
 I have defcribed. They are placed above 
 the miferies and meannefs of poverty ; 
 and below the vices and vanity of wealth. 
 
 EARLY imbued with virtue and mo- 
 deflry, they are rational, domeftic, and 
 induftrious. Their life is divided be- 
 tween ufeful employme^^t, cheerful foci- 
 ety, and virtuous and moderate amufe- 
 ments. Rarely at the theatre and alTem- 
 bly room, and ?i€ver at the circus and card- 
 table, their pleafures give a zeft to life, 
 and render welcome the return of the 
 fire-fide happinefs, and the family focietv. 
 Bufinefs is with them the pleafure, not 
 pleafure the buiinefs, of life. They rife to 
 breathe the fweet incenfe of the m.orning, 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ii 
 
 which the joyful earth offers to its great 
 Creator ; they liften to the matin fong of 
 the lark, while flie mounts into the clouds 
 that are gilded with the firft effufions of 
 light. 
 
 THE volumes which contain the pre- 
 cepts of religion and morals ; thofe which 
 unfold the fprings of human adion, and 
 delineate the thoufand fliades of human 
 character j the clear page of hiftory ; the 
 books of the fine arts, and the treafures 
 of poetical lore, all lie open to their peru- 
 fal, and occupy a portion of each paffing 
 day. 
 
 THE domeftic offices, and the houfhold 
 good, are not forgotten. Confcious that 
 the family is the great fcenc of female ac- 
 tion, and of female pleafure, here they 
 concentrate their moft ferious thoughts^ 
 and make their moft ferious exertions. 
 
 DESPISING, alike, that contemptible 
 fervility, which would afcribe to them the 
 perfeclions of angels, and offer them the 
 adoration of Gods ; and that unnatural 
 fyftem of falfe philofophy, which would 
 F 
 
^ LETTERS OF 
 
 harden them into mafculine beings, too 
 proud to be women, too weak to be men, 
 they cultivate the feminine virtues, fweet- 
 en every a6lion by tendernefs, and grace 
 every fentiment by love. O, my dear El 
 Haffan, wouldft thou not feled: fuch an 
 one for the wife of thy bofom, and the 
 mother of thy children ? Would not her 
 fmiles thrill thy heart with joy ? Would 
 not her tendernefs cheer thy fick bed, and 
 her endearing converfe beguile thy mid- 
 night hours ? Salutation to Gane&» 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 63 
 
 DEARLY BELOp-kt> El BA^SAIf^ 
 
 1 HE Poetry of a country is among 
 the laft fubjects, which a traveller is able 
 to inveftigate. 
 
 A PERFECT knowledge of the language, 
 not only in its radical powers, but in all 
 its delicate beauties, and namelefs varie- 
 ties of iignification, and a complete ac- 
 quaintance with the geography, hiflory, 
 literature, employment and genius of the 
 nation, are indifpenfably neceflary to one, 
 who would fully under ftand and highly 
 relifli the Poetry of the country which he 
 vifits. 
 
 THE literature of Great Britain and 
 of Engliih America, is enjoyed in com- 
 mon by both countries. Both have the 
 fame language ; and fo great a fimilarity 
 exifts between their laws, inilitutions, 
 ftat£ of fociety, and national purfuits, 
 
64 LETTERS OF 
 
 that the literary productions of the one 
 nation are perfectly underftood and relifli- 
 cd by the other. 
 
 * BUT as Englifli America was planted 
 by Great-Britain, the latter is advanced 
 far beyond the former in every depart- 
 of literature. 
 
 WERE I to attempt a complete account 
 of Englifh literature, embracing the learn- 
 ing of both countries, I fhould indeed en- 
 ter a moft cxteniive field. 
 
 EVEN Englifli Poetry alone would af- 
 ford a very copious fource of entertain- 
 ment ; for the Englifh poets are very nu- 
 merous, and fome of their productions 
 would net fuSer by a comparilbn with 
 thofe of any age or country. 
 
 THE names of Milton , Dry den, Shakef- 
 fear and Pope will be revered, fo long as 
 their productions furvive the ravages of 
 time. 
 
 BUT at prefent, I intend to confine 
 »ny remarks principally to theflate of po- 
 etry in America* 
 
 I 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 65 
 
 TWO centuries ago, Englifh America 
 was peopled by a favage race of men, in- 
 tirely deftitute of learning, arts and laws. 
 Within two hundred years, it has been 
 populated by emigrants from various Eu- 
 ropean countries, but principally from 
 Great Britain. 
 
 IN that fliort period, they have in- 
 creafed to more than 5,000,000 ; have 
 built numberlefs cities, towns and villa- 
 ges ; reduced to cultivation a country of 
 immenfe extent ; eflabliflied a commerce 
 with every part of the globe, and accu- 
 mulated wealth, and advanced in the arts, 
 to a degree, which no human^mind could 
 have foreieen. 
 
 NOR has their literature been entirely 
 neglected. Very refpectable proofs of 
 American erudition and talents in many 
 departments of fcience can be produced. 
 
 BUT thou knoweft, beloved El HaiTan, 
 that we mufl not look for great efforts in 
 fcience, and high attainments in arts in 
 a young country. Such efforts, and fuch 
 
6d LEITERS OF 
 
 :utainnicrts, are exhibited only in a ma- 
 ture ftate of fociety, where great weaUh 
 and undivided leifure afford the means of 
 purfuing, and cherilh a difpofition to rel- 
 ifli the moft refined fpeculations of fcience, 
 and the moft elegant produ6lions of tafte. 
 
 WE might therefore have reafonably 
 fuppofed, what I have found to be the 
 tacl, that the literature of this country 
 is ftill in its infancy. In fome future epif- 
 tie I may fuggeft farther remarks upon 
 American literature ; but I will now re- 
 turn from this cxcuriion to the confider- 
 ation of the ftate of poetry in Englifli 
 America. 
 
 THE poetical produ^ions of this coun- 
 try are not numerous ; thofe I mean 
 >vhich are of confiderable length, and 
 are calculated to endure to future gene- 
 rations. 
 
 AMONG the principal are the Conqueft 
 of Canaan, an epic poem, by Dwight ; 
 the Vifion of Columbus, by Barlow ; and 
 M'Fingal, a burlefque epic poem, by 
 Trumbull 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. . 67 
 
 THE Conqueft of Canaan, was written 
 while the author was very young. It ri- 
 fes in many inftances to high fublimity, 
 and not a few pafTages might be feleded 
 of peculiar poetical beauty and refined 
 Jiendernefs. It is remarkable that no paf- 
 fage can be pointed out, which would 
 give offence to the ftricleft morality; and 
 its love fcenes are diftinguifhed by a free- 
 dom from every degree of licentioufnefs. 
 But the poem labors under a difadvan- 
 tage from its being written in rhyme. 
 This evidently fubjedls the poet to much 
 reftraint. His mind appears to have been 
 ardent and vigorous, and his imagina- 
 tion fublime ; but his conceptions are 
 cramped by his poetical fetters, and not 
 unfrequently labor in confequence of the 
 poverty of language. 
 
 HIS rhyme alfo, from the length of the 
 poem, produces an uniformity, which is 
 fometimes unpieafant.— I will not enter 
 into a minute criticifm upon this Poem, 
 but content myfelf with producing a An- 
 gle palTagc, which will give fome idea of 
 
68 LETTERS OF 
 
 the author's manner of writing. — He is 
 defcribing the precurfors of the final dif- 
 folution of the world. 
 
 " Mid thefe dire fcenes, more awful fcenes fliall rlfe^ 
 Sad nations quake, and trembling feize the fkies. 
 From the dark tomb fliall fearful lights afcend ; 
 And fullen founds the fleeping manfion rend ; 
 Pale ghofts with terror break the dreamer's charm, 
 And death-like cries the liftening worW alarm. 
 Then midnight pangs fliall tofs the cleaving plains ; 
 Fell famine wanton o'er unburied trains ; 
 From crumbling mountains baleful flames afpire 
 Realms fink in floods, and towns diflblve in fire ; 
 In every blaft the fpotted plague be driven, 
 And angry meteors blaze athwart the heaven. 
 Clouds of dark blood fliall blot the fun's broad light, 
 Spread round th' immenfe,and fliroud the world In night. 
 With pale and dreadful ray the cold moOn gleam ; 
 The dim lone flars diffufe an anguifli'd beam ; 
 Storms rock the ikics ; afflidbed ocean roar, 
 And fangyine billows die the fliuddering fliorc." &c. 
 
 THE author of the Conqueft of Ca- 
 fiaan, has written feveral other poems. I 
 could with pleafure copy many parts of 
 them, which in my view are highly excel- 
 lent ; but the limits of this epiftle will 
 not permit me to extract very copioufly, 
 Take the following beautiful introduc- 
 tion to " Greenfield Hill," as a fpeci- 
 men of the author's talents in blank verfe. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN 4^ 
 
 « From Southern ifles, on winds of gemlefl wing. 
 Sprinkled with morning dew, and rob'd in green, 
 Life in her eye, and mullc. in her voice ; 
 Lo, Spring returns, and wakes the world to joy I 
 Forth creep the frailing herbs ; expand the flowers, 
 New-loos'd, and burfting from their icy bonds. 
 The dreams frefli warble, and thro every mead 
 Convey reviving verdure ; every bough. 
 Full blown and lovely, teems with fweets and fongs. 
 And hills and plains, and paflures feel the prime.** 
 
 A SHORT poem, called Columbia, by 
 the fame author, poffeffes great merit ; 
 alfo, a fatirical piece in verfe, lafhing the 
 critics, who, as the poet conceived, had 
 treated his works too feverely. Another 
 fatirical poem, the Triumph of Infidelity^ is 
 uniformly afcribed to the fame writer, 
 though never acknowledged by him, in 
 which, under fictitious names, he chaftifes 
 feveral great perfonages, diftinguifhed by 
 their impiety and their vices. 
 
 THIS author has publiihed more poet- 
 ry than any other American, (except, per- 
 haps Frenau, a poet remarkable only for 
 the quantity of verfe which he has writ- 
 ten), and although his countrymen are 
 now divided in fentiment, as to the de- 
 gree of fame, to which he is entitled, it is 
 
JO LETTERS OP 
 
 probable that pofterity will judge of his 
 works with that impartiality, which is 
 frequently denied to a living author, but 
 exercifed towards him when he is lleep- 
 ing in the duft, and is equally deaf to the 
 praifes of his friends and the reproaches 
 of his enemies. 
 
 THE Vifion of Columbus flows in eafy 
 verfe, generally correft and poliftied, but 
 fometimes mutilating the fentiment for 
 the fake of the rhyme. 
 
 ALTHOUGH Barlow^ does not exhibit 
 the ftrength and fublimity of Dwight, he 
 certainly poiTefles very handfome poeti- 
 cal talents. His tafte is elegant, and ne- 
 ver leads him into bombaft or frigidity. 
 If his poetry does not rife fo high, it never 
 finks fo low as that of fome good writers. 
 
 THE following is felecled from the 
 defcription of a ftorm on the high moun- 
 tains called the Andes : — 
 
 " While, far beneath, the fky-borne waters ridCi 
 0*er the dark deep, and up the mountain's fide; 
 The lightening's glancing wings, in fury curl'd. 
 Bend their long forky terrors o'er the world ; 
 Torrents, and broken crags, and floods of rain 
 
SHAHCOOLEK. 72 
 
 From fleep to fteep roll down their force amain, 
 
 In dreadful catarads ; the crafliing found 
 
 Fills the wide heavens, and rocks the mouldering ground. 
 
 The blafts, unburden 'd, take their upward courfe 
 
 And, o'er the mountain's top, refume their force : 
 
 Swift thro the long white ridges from the north, 
 
 The rapid whirlwinds lead their terrors forth ; 
 
 High rolls the ftorm, the circling furgcs rife, 
 
 And wild gyrations wheel the hovering ikies : 
 
 Vafl hills of fnow, in fweeping columns driven 
 
 Deluge the air, and cloud the face of heaven ; 
 
 Floods burfl: their chains, the rocks forget their place, 
 
 And the firm mountain trembles to its bafe." 
 
 BARLOW has publiflied feveral fmaller 
 poems. 
 
 HIS "Confpiracy of Kings" is energetic 
 and glowing, but inftead of riling to that 
 dignity, which its title promifes, it burfts 
 forth into enthuiiaftic afpirations after vi- 
 fionary liberty, and expires in philofophi- 
 cal raptures of univerfal benevolence, and 
 mad execrations upon crowned heads. 
 
 AS the writer, who has refided in 
 France for feveral years paft, has become 
 a difciple of the new philofophy, and ab- 
 jured the religion, of which he was once 
 2ifrieji^ perhaps fome degree of the odium, 
 
i% LETTERS OF 
 
 which is heaped upon his character, is 
 attached by his countrs'men to his poeti- 
 cal productions. 
 
 IT is therefore probable that, at fome 
 future period, his merits, as a poet, \%'ill 
 bemore juftly appreciated, than at prefent. 
 
 THE Mock Epic Poem entitled IM'Fin- 
 gal, is a high inftance of keen \^*it, fevere 
 iatire, and poetical beauty. 
 
 THE author poffeffes a mind original- 
 ly ingenious, acute and brilliant ; he has 
 drawn in to his aid the ftores of Grecian 
 and Roman learning ; he is perfectly at 
 home, when upon claffical ground, and al- 
 ludes with the moft happy familiarity to 
 the higheft monuments of poetical genius. 
 
 IT is impoilible to perufe a fmgle page 
 of his admirable production without de- 
 light. The lines which open the fourth 
 Canto I have felected, to afford thee a mo- 
 ment's pleafure. 
 
 " Now night came down, and rofe fml foon 
 That patronefs of rogues, the moon ; 
 Beneath whofe kind protefring ray 
 Wolves, brute and human, prowl for prey. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 73 
 
 The honeft world all fnor'd in chorus, 
 
 While owls and ghofts and thieves and tories, 
 
 Whom erft the mid-day fun had aw'd, 
 
 Crept from their lurking holes abroad. 
 
 On cautious hinges, flow and ftiller 
 
 Wide op'd the great M'FingaPs cellar, 
 
 Where fhut from prying eyes in clufter, 
 
 The tory Pandemonium mufter. 
 
 Their chiefs all fitting round defcried are, 
 
 On kegs of ale and feats of cyder ; 
 
 When firft M'Fingal, dimly feen, 
 
 Rofe folemn from the tuniip bin. 
 
 Nor yet his form had ^v holly lod 
 
 The original brightnefs, it could boafl, 
 
 Nor lefs appear*d than Juflice Quorum, 
 
 In feather'd majefty before 'em." 
 
 THE defcription of MTingal's tarring 
 and feathering is fo humorous, that I can- 
 not forbear extradling it. . • • 
 
 *' Forthwith the croud proceed to deck, 
 
 With halterM noofe M'Fingai's neck, 
 
 While he, in peril of his foul. 
 
 Stood tied half-hanging to the pole ; 
 
 Then lifting high the pond'rous jar, 
 
 Pour'd o'er his head the fmokins: tar : 
 * * * * * ° ..ii 
 
 . His flowing v/ig, as next the brim, 
 
 Firft met and drank the fable ftream 5 
 
 A down his vifage flern and grave, 
 
 Roli'd and adhered the vifcid wave ; 
 
 G 
 
74 LETTEkS OF 
 
 With arms depending as he ftood, 
 
 Each cuff capacious holds the flood ; 
 
 From nofe and chin's remoteft end, 
 
 The tarry icicles depend ; 
 
 Till all o'erfpread with colors gay 
 
 He glittered to the weftern ray, 
 
 Like fleet-bound trees in wintry ikies. 
 
 Or Lapland idol carv'd in ice. 
 
 And now the feather-bag difplay'd, 
 
 Is wav'd in triumph o'er his head, 
 
 And fpreads him o'er with feathers miffive 
 
 And down upon the tar adhefive." 
 
 AGAIN, the defcription of the procef- 
 fion : 
 
 "Then on the two- wheeled car of flate, 
 
 They rais'd our grand Triumvirate. 
 ***** 
 
 With like devotion all the choir 
 
 Paraded round our feather'd 'fquire ; 
 
 In front the martial mufic comes 
 
 Of horns and fiddles, fifes and drums, 
 
 Widi jingling found of carriage bells. 
 
 And treble creek of rufted wheels ; 
 
 Behind, the crowd in lengthen' d row 
 
 With grave procefllon clos'd the fliow.'* &C. 
 
 INDEED, to do juftice to this Poem, I 
 ihould be obli2:ed to tranfcribe the whole. 
 No Poem of American compofition has 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 75 
 
 gained equal celebrity, and commanded 
 in an equal degree, the admiration both 
 of Europeans and Americans. 
 
 HUMPHREYS alfo has gained coniider- 
 able reputation as a poet ; but his produc- 
 tions have been ftiort and occaiional. 
 Some of his beft pieces were written amidft 
 the tumult of a camp, and cannot, there- 
 fore, be expeded to exhibit the accuracy 
 of a clofeted ftudent. Although fome- 
 times incorred, he exhibits undeniable 
 proof of poetical genius. He was at once 
 a foldier, a poet, and a gentleman. 
 
 THE following is an extracl from his 
 elegy on the burning of a town by the 
 Britifli troops. It was written on the 
 fpot, foon after the event. 
 
 " Ye fmoklng ruins, marks of hofllle ire, 
 Ye afhes warm, which drink the te-irs that flew ;. 
 Ye defolated plains my voice infpire, 
 And give foft mufic to the fong of woe. 
 
 Howpleafant Fairfield, on th' enraptur'd fight, 
 Rofe thy tall fpires, and op'd thy fecial halls ; 
 Ho"w oft, my bofom beat with pure delight, 
 At yonder fpot where ftand the daiken'd walls. 
 
74 liTTERS OF 
 
 Bot tbcre the voice cf mirth refouiids no more, 
 A Glent fzdnds thro* the ftrect prevails : 
 The dtHaiit main alone is hcai>d to tost. 
 And hoDow chimnies hcin with fuUen gales. 
 
 SaTe where fcorth'dElms th' untimely foliage ihcd, 
 ^Which mfifing hovers round the faded green ; 
 Save where at twilight penfive mourners tread 
 Jifid recent graves o'er defolation^s fcene." 
 
 TKz foMT poets whom I have mention- 
 ed are fdli in the vis^or of life. The three 
 laft are natives of a finall province, lying 
 to the North, called Connectiait ; and all 
 of them were educated at the fame fchool, 
 and were mutuall^i companions and 
 friends. 
 
 HOPKivsoNis a pcet of great brillian- 
 cy, elegance and v.it. His produffions 
 however are Ihort and occafional. Du- 
 ring the laft war, which has exifted in 
 this coimtry, a plan was devifed by the 
 Americans, to blow up the Britifh fleets, 
 by means of gowder kegs. The coniler- 
 nation, fpread aniong the Bridih, by feme 
 cf thefe kegs floating down the Delaware, 
 among their fldpinng, is moft humoroully 
 defcribed bvHoPKixsoN, in ** The Battle 
 
i 
 
 t 
 
 SHAHCOOLEN. 77 
 
 of the Kegs." It would be doing the po- 
 et injuftice to extract any part of it, with- 
 out giving the whole. 
 
 IT will be admired, fo long as a taftc 
 for wit fliall exifl in the world. 
 
 LiviNGSTOxN', as being one of the firft, 
 by whom elegant verfe was written in 
 America, deferves to be mentioned. 
 
 HE difcovers genius, tafte, and univer- 
 fally juft fentiments. 
 
 A POEM, called the Power of Genius^ has 
 lately appeared in this metropolis ; it is 
 of unequal merit in its different parts, 
 and has hardly pafTed the public fcrutiny 
 in fuch a manner, as to gain a decided 
 character. I hefitate not however to fay 
 that the writer is a poet, and a man of 
 genius. 
 
 HE is not always perfectly correct in 
 the ufe of figures, but his Poem certainly 
 pofifefTes much merit. 
 
 TAKE the following lines as an exam- 
 ple. The poet is eulogifing the moll dif- 
 
 G2 
 
7? LETTERS OF 
 
 tinguifhed bards of ancicHt and modern 
 times. 
 
 «« Amidft his native wilds and mlfty plains 
 
 Sublimeft Oflian pours his wizard drains, 
 
 The voice of old revifits his dark dream, 
 
 On his fad foul the deeds of warriors beam ; 
 
 Alone he fits upon the diftant hill, 
 
 Beneath him falls the melancholy rill. 
 
 His harp lies by him on the ruftling grafs, 
 
 The deer before him thro the thickets pafs ; 
 
 No hunter winds his flow and fuUen horn, 
 
 No whiftling cowherd meets the breath of mom ; 
 
 O'er the Hill heath the meteors dart their light 
 
 And round him fweep the mournful blafts of night. 
 
 O voice of Cora, bard of other times. 
 
 May thy bold fpirit viiit thefe dull climes ; 
 
 May the brave chieftans of thy rugged plains 
 
 Remember Ollian, and revere his (trains. 
 
 THESE are the moil diflingulflied 
 American poets. Many fhort and occa- 
 fional productions have fallen in my way, 
 and fome of them poffefs a high degree 
 of merit ; but as they are generally com- 
 mitted to pamphlets and news papers, 
 they hardly furvive the revolutions of a 
 year. A poem of this kind, however, in- 
 tituled the Frefent State of Literature^ pof- 
 feffes uncommon merit, and the doling 
 lines of it, fnall alfo cioie this epiftie^ 
 
SHAHCOOLEN- 79 
 
 " And O, fweet Poefy ! tJiou nymph forlorn^ 
 Cold, and unheeded, as the wintry thorn ; 
 Still may thy voice be heard, where Ganges flows. 
 Or winter fits, girt with eternal fnows ; 
 No venal fpot upon thy robe be feen ; 
 No luftful paflion wanton in thy mein ; 
 Still may'ft thou lead with thy enchanting ftrain, 
 The mimic arts, light dancing in tliy train ; 
 Fair virtue hail thee with a fifter's eye ; 
 Love own thy power, and pity learn to figh. 
 May facred truth, from thy rich wardrobe drefs'd, 
 Come fmiling forth, of every charm poiTefs'd, 
 And faith and piety, upborne by thee. 
 From earth afcend and bend th' adoring knee." 
 
 THOU, my dear El Haffan, wilt per- 
 ceive with pleafure, the allufion which this 
 writer makes to our beloved country. 
 To me it was grateful as the fragrance of 
 the morning to the early traveller. 
 
8o« . LETTIRS OF 
 
 irrtn ^rtatt^- 
 
 DE.JMIT EllcriD II EJIIJyf 
 
 Knowing thy attaclmient to the 
 Mufical Krishen, and the nine tuneful 
 G0PIA5 his attendants ; and remembering 
 how thy foul ufed to glow with celeftiil 
 fire, and thy tongue to roll in harmoni- 
 ous periods, I enlarged my laft epifde by 
 feveral extracts from the volumes of 
 American Poetry. 
 
 TO thee, my friend, who art both a 
 philofopher and a poet, it cannot fail of 
 affording delight, to know how a people, 
 who are feparated from Hinduftan by one 
 half the globe, espreis the emotions of 
 paflion, and the flights of fancy. 
 
 BUT American poetry is as different 
 from that of Hinduftan, as the American 
 himfelf is different from the Hindu. The 
 poetry of every nation is charaderiftical 
 of itfelf, and if all hiftorical records were 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ?j 
 
 deftroyed, and the poetry of every coun- 
 try preferved, it would not be difficult, 
 from that fource alone, to difcover nati- 
 onal characters. 
 
 AS in my laft epiftle, I mentioned the 
 principal American poems, thou wilt per- 
 ceive, that only a fmall fliare of attention 
 has yet been paid to the cultivation of po- 
 etry, in America. This does not arife 
 from a deficiency of poetical talents, but 
 from the flate of fociety. For I have con- 
 verfed with many Americans, whofe fouls 
 were elevated by the pureft poetical fire 5 
 whofe minds were familiar with every 
 dreadful, and every pleafing fcene ; who 
 had been accuftomed to contemplate, eve- 
 ry thing which is " awfully vaft, or ele- 
 gantly little ;" and to v^^hom nature had 
 opened her moft copious ftores of lan- 
 guage. 
 
 I AM told, alfo, that their fchools and 
 colleges, frequently exhibit very hand- 
 fome proofs of poetical talents, which cul- 
 tivation and leifure would probably ripen 
 into the regular poetical charafter. But 
 
Zz LETTERS OF 
 
 every man is here a man of bufinefs. S<> 
 "Vmiverfally is this true, that no American 
 poet, by profejjion^ can be found in the lift 
 of their literary men. All thofe, who have 
 made any figure in poetry, have been men 
 of bufmefs, who amufed their leifure 
 hours with the charms of verfe. 
 
 NOR does the public tafte encourage 
 the cultivation of poetry. Party-fpiritj 
 and the luft of gain, rule the American 
 nation with fuch undivided fway, as to 
 engrofs every paflion, and inlift every pro- 
 peniity. The meaneft man is a politician 
 equally with the greateft, and feels as if 
 *' the weight of mightieft monarchies,'* 
 were to be fuftained upon his fhoulders. 
 
 AT fome future period, when the ftate 
 of fociety fliall be fo much matured, as to 
 afford literary men the means of undivid- 
 ed leifure ; and when a literary tafte in 
 the nation, fliall in fome degree control 
 the prefent ruling paflions, it is probable, 
 that poetry will be fo far cultivated and 
 encouraged in America, that the fame of 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. S3 
 
 American Poets will be equally great, and 
 their names equally refpedable, with thofe 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 THE natives of England, and of 
 Englifti America, excel the Hindus in 
 ftrength, and clearnefs of reafoning. They 
 are more addicted to logical and mathe- 
 matical inquiries ; and in thefe, the En- 
 glifli have acquired an unrivalled celeb- 
 rity, and the Americans are making very 
 handfome improvements. Indeed, the firft 
 poets, both of England and America, are 
 more diftinguiflied for ftrength and fubli- 
 mity, than thofe of Hinduftan ; but they 
 ^re greatly inferior in that delicious lux- 
 uriance of imagination, and playful ele- 
 gance of ftyle, for which the Perfian and 
 Hindu poets are fo remarkable. 
 
 INDEED, my dear El Haffan, when I 
 indulge myfelf, as I frequently do, in pe- 
 rufing the volumes of Hindu and Perfian 
 poetry, which I have feleded as the com- 
 panions of my travels, and the amufe- 
 tnent of my penfive hours, I lofe myfelf 
 in an ideal prefence in my own dear na- 
 
84 LETTERS OF 
 
 live land : I fufFer myfelf to be deluded 
 into a conviclion, that I am wandering in 
 a fragrant grove, on the banks of the holy- 
 Ganges, marking the refleclion of the 
 moon-beams from its dimply waves, and 
 liflening to the fongs of the night-loving 
 birds, that fing from the fruit-dropping 
 trees, and render vocal every fpray. Then 
 I ftart from my dream, the charming al- 
 lufion is diffipated, and I call my eyes 
 around upon the land of ftrangers. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the fcenes of nature in 
 America, are lefs luxuriant, and the gild- 
 ing of beauty is lefs fplendid, than in Hin- 
 duftan, ftill nature has here exerted her 
 higheft creative powers in the production 
 of every thing, which is marked by amaz- 
 ing grandeur, and awful fublimity. 
 
 THE rivers^ majeftic in their origin, 
 fwell and expand in their progrefs, till 
 embracing a thoufand tributary ftreams, 
 their breadth foon mocks the ken of hu- 
 man eye. Rolling on to the ocean, they 
 viiit a hundred climes ; they behold the 
 painted favage, in his bark canoe, Ikim- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 85 
 
 ming the furface with incredible velocity, 
 and bear upon their bofoms the weight of 
 navies. Some range to the North, and 
 feek an outlet beneath the polar ficies ; 
 where the empire oi frojl yields, reluct- 
 antly, to the fummer funs ; and w^here 
 the moft powerful torrents are arrelled in 
 their channels, and chained fail to the 
 rocks. Others flow to the South, till, 
 confined by banks, that are covered, 
 through the whole year, with fruits and 
 flowers, they are loft in oceans, that fpar- 
 kle to the vertical fun, and roll beneath 
 the burning line. 
 
 THE mountains^ alfo, flretch, in con- 
 nected ridges, through immenfe regionvS, 
 and hide their craggy tops in the clouds 
 of Heaven, Their fuinmits are gilded 
 with fun-beams, w^hile their middle regi- 
 ons are involved in florms and darknefs. 
 
 IMP4ENSE lakes ^ or inland feas, connecl- 
 ed by flraits, border the w^hole of the nor- 
 thern frontier of the United States, and 
 conned, in commercial relations, coun- 
 ti .es, which are as remote from each other, 
 H 
 
H LETTERS OF 
 
 as the Barumpooter from the Indus. Be* 
 tween two of thefe lakes, the catarad of 
 Niagara tumbles, headlong, from the 
 clouds ; a white column of 170 feet in 
 height, hangs fufpended in the air ; the 
 fpray rifes, and exhibits the rainbow in 
 all its beauty ; while the thundering of 
 the torrent drowns every other noife, and 
 is heard in diftant regions. 
 
 LANDSCAPES, of bouudlefs extent, and 
 infinite variety, are prefented on every 
 fide. From the top of a mountain, in this 
 country, I have frequently viewed the 
 furrounding fcenes, and felt the poetical 
 ardor kindle within me at the profpecl. 
 With one glance, the eye will often fur- 
 vey extenfive and luxuriant plains, cov- 
 ered with cattle, and rich in verdure ; ri- 
 vers flowing with a fmooth and undif- 
 turbed furface, or roaring over rugged 
 bottoms ; hills crowned w^ith orchards, 
 and Hoping their green fides to the fun ; 
 valleys fmiling with m.eadows and flow- 
 ers, and fliaded by groves ; fliips winding 
 up the inland waters, and breaking from 
 among the hills ; towns, villages and 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 87 
 
 feamkts, indicative of rational life ; and 
 the immenfe ocean, loft at a diftance be- 
 neath the incumbent Iky. 
 
 THESE fcenes, my dear friend, it is 
 true, are not peculiar to America. They 
 are prefented in every country, but on a 
 fmaller fcale. Here nature feems to have 
 gloried in her might, and to have put 
 forth the higheft efforts of creative ener- 
 gy. Such fcenes are calculated to feize 
 the imagination, and hurry it into poeti- 
 cal enthuilafm. This efte<fl 1 have fre- 
 quently witneifed, as produced upon Ame- 
 rican minds. Their poets frequently cele- 
 brate their rivers, mountains, cataracts 
 and plains ; and there is no room to 
 doubt, that at fome future period, the 
 Am^erican Farnajfus^ Goverdhan^ Illijpus 
 2LXi(l Ganges^ will be equally confecrated in 
 poetical ftory, as thofe famous mountains 
 and rivers. 
 
 INDEED there is no deficiency of poet- 
 tical talents in the nation at large, and the 
 whole natural fcenery of the country, 
 tends to fill the mind with grand and fub- 
 
«S LETTERS OF 
 
 lime conceptions, and in no fmall degree 
 with fenfations of beauty. 
 
 BUT fenfations of exquifite beauty, arc 
 excited more powerfully in the country, 
 which thou, my dear El HalTan, inhabit- 
 ed, and which I ftill delight to call my 
 own, than in this, or perhaps in any other. 
 I v>^ould not fuggeft, that Hinduftan is 
 deficient in fcenes of grandeur and fubli- 
 mity. 
 
 OUR Ganges, Indus, and Barumpooter, 
 traverfe immenfe regions, and refrelh the 
 ocean with an unbounded profulion of 
 water : Our Goverdhan lifts its top to 
 the clouds, and the mountains of Kutt- 
 ner and Gauts, overlook kingdoms, and 
 feparate nations. Our landfcapes, are ex- 
 tenlive, various and beautiful ; and the 
 ocean appears to us, alfo, unmeafured and 
 unconfined. 
 
 BUT exquiiite beauty, rather than 
 amazing grandeur, is the diilinguifhing 
 mark of the fcenes of Hinduftan. Where, 
 in America, fhali we look for the Lotos, 
 that fplendid and elegant flower ) where 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. ?9 
 
 for the Betel^ the Sajidal Groves^ and the 
 precious " fiiujk deer ?'' Where fliall we 
 find bowers equally fragrant ? — Vallies 
 equally verdant and vocal, and trees that 
 diftill balfamic Q-ums ? In what American 
 clime do the birds tune their throats to 
 equal melody, and exhibit a plumage 
 equally fplendid, and fhapes and motions 
 equally graceful ? What American ima- 
 gination has reprefented the God of Love, 
 like the Hindu Cama^ " with a bow of fu- 
 gar-cane or flowers, with a firing of bees 
 and five arrow^s, each pointed with an In- 
 dian bloifom of a heating quality ?"— 
 Where, in America, can we find efforts of 
 imagination equally fplendid and beauti- 
 ful, and flores of language equally copi- 
 ous ? 
 
 IN fhort, the Englifh and Americans 
 excel the Hindus in reafon and taile j but 
 the Hindus leave them far behind in 
 flights of imagination, and beauty of ex- 
 preflion. The Hindus, giving way to 
 their native difpofitions, fometimes in- 
 dulge an exuberance of imagination, and 
 a fplendor of expreffion, too great to en- 
 
 H 2 
 
90 
 
 LETTERS or 
 
 dure the fcrutiny of cool reafon, and cor- 
 redi: tafte. How happy would that poet 
 be, who Ihould combine the imagination 
 and copioufnefs of the Hindu, wir.h the 
 fublimity and correclnefs of the Ameri- 
 can ! 
 
 >i 
 
$HAHCOOLEN pt 
 
 lUccer Cig^ti. 
 
 BELOF'ED EL HjSSSANj 
 
 XjLAVING devoted my two laft epif- 
 ties, to a confideration of American poe- 
 try, I cannot relift the impulfe, which I 
 feel, to exhibit fome fpecimens from the 
 volumes of Hindu poetry ; that by a com- 
 parifon thou mayeft be able to judge of 
 the propriety of the fentiments, which I 
 have exhibited upon this fubjed. 
 
 THE following addrefs to the Goddefs 
 Seraswaty, the patronefs of imagina- 
 tion, and invention, of harmony and elo- 
 quence, and the wife of the God Brum- 
 MA, abounds with beautiful imagery, and 
 cxquifite harmony of numbers. 
 
 " Sweet grace of Brumma's bed ! 
 Thou, when thy glorious Lord 
 Bade airy nothing breathe and blefs his power, 
 Sat'ft with illumined head, 
 And in fublime accord |F' 
 
9» LETTERS OF 
 
 Seven fprlghtly notes to hail the aufplclous hour, 
 Led'il from their fecret bower. 
 
 They drank the air ; they came 
 With many a fparkhng glance, 
 And knit the mazy dance, 
 Like yon bright orbs, that girdthe folar flame, 
 Kow parted, now combined, 
 Clear, as thy fpeech, and various, as thy mind. 
 
 Young paffions at the found 
 In fhadowy forms arofe 
 O'er hearts, yet uncreated, fure to reign ; 
 Joy, that o'erleaps all bounds. 
 Grief, that in filence grows, 
 Hope, that with honey blends the cup of pain, 
 Pale fear, and ftern difdain, 
 Grim v/rath's avenging hand, 
 Love nurfed in dimple fmooth, 
 That every pang can footh. 
 
 Thee, her great parent, owns 
 All-ruling eloquence ; 
 
 That, like full Ganga, pours her dream divine. 
 Alarming States and Thrones ; 
 To fix the flying fenfe 
 
 Of words, thy daughters, by the varied line> 
 (Stupendous art !) was thine ; 
 Thine with the pointed reed. 
 To give primeval truth 
 Th' unfading bloom of youth, 
 And paint on deathlefs leaves high virtue's meed 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 93 
 
 Fair fcience, Heaven-born child, 
 
 And playful fancy on thy bofom fmilcd. 
 
 Who bids the fretted vene 
 Start from his deep repofe, 
 And wakes to melody the quivering frame ? 
 What youth, with godlike mein, 
 O'er his bright fhoulder throws [flame. 
 
 The verdant gourd, that fwells with ftruggling 
 Naredi immortal name ! 
 He, like his potent fire, 
 Creative fpreads around 
 The mighty world of found. 
 And calls from fpeaking wood etherial fire ; 
 While to th' accordant firings [fings. 
 
 Of boundlefs heavens and heavenly deeds he 
 
 But look ! the jocund hours 
 A lovelier fcene difplay, 
 Young Hindol fportive in his golden fwing, 
 High canopied with flowers. 
 While Ragnies ever gay 
 Tofs the light cordage, and in cadence fing 
 The fweet return of fpring.*' 
 
 THE perfonification of the " feven 
 fprightly notes," in the firft verfe, is bold, 
 piccurefque and novel. " They drank the 
 air," is extremely exprellive of the influ- 
 ence, which mufical inflruments, when 
 played, have upon the furrounding atmof- 
 phere. The introdudion of thefe airy 
 
f 4 LETTERS OF 
 
 beings, into " the mazy dance,*' and the 
 comparifon of them with " yon bright 
 orbs, that gird the folar flame," is a very 
 Jiappy mode of defcribing the apparent 
 intricacy, but perfect harmony and regu- 
 larity of fine mufic. The power, which 
 mufic has to excite every paffion, is fine- 
 ly defcribed in the third verfe, where the 
 " young palTions" are reprefented, as 
 ftarting into being " at the found." Their 
 perpetual empire " o'er hearts yet uncre- 
 ated," is elegantly told in a fingle line. — 
 What can be more concife, and yet more 
 glowing, than the defcription of the paf- 
 fions ? 
 
 "Hope that with honey blends the cup of pain:" 
 ** Love nurfed in' dimple fmooth, 
 " That every pang can footh." 
 
 THE comparifon of eloquence : 
 
 « That, like full Ganga, pours her ftream divlne4 
 ** Alarming ftates and thrones," 
 
 IS in the higheft degree noble and digni- 
 fied. 
 
 The Invention of Letters is finely def- 
 cribed in the fourth verfe. The fifth ex- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 95 
 
 hibits, with all the charms of varied num- 
 bers and appropriate imagery, the pow- 
 ers of Nared, in inllrumental and vocal 
 mufic. 
 
 " He like his potent fire 
 " Creative, fpreads around 
 " The mighty world of found, 
 " And calls from fpeaking wood etherlal fire ;" 
 
 THE laft verfe is animated with th^ 
 higheft powers of perfonification. Th6 
 Ragnies^ or female paflions, are reprefent- 
 ed with great propriety, as being " ever 
 gay," and iinging in cadence the fweet 
 return of fpring." 
 
 THE hymn, a part of which I am now 
 about to tranfcribe, addrelTed to Narayna, 
 or the fpirit of God, unites Afiatic beauty 
 with European fublimity. 
 
 " Spirit of fpirits, who through every part 
 Of fpace expanded, and of endlefs time, 
 Beyond the reach of lab'ring thought fublimc, 
 Badft uproar into beauteous order ftart. 
 Before Heaven was, thou art. 
 
 Ere fpheres beneath us roU'd, or fpheres above, 
 Ere earth in firmamental aether hung, 
 Thou fat'ft alone, till thro' thy myftic lore 
 
f6 LETTERS OF 
 
 Things uncxifting to exiftence fprung 
 And grateful defcant fung. 
 
 Omnlfcient fpirit, whofe all-ruling power 
 Bids from each fenfe bright emanations beam, 
 Glows in the rainbow, fparkles in tlie ftream, 
 Smiles in the bud, and gliftens in the flower, 
 That crowns each vernal bower. 
 Sighs in the gale, and warbles in the throat 
 Of every bird, that hails the bloomy fpring. 
 Or tells his love in many a liquid note, 
 Whilft envious artift touch the rival firing. 
 Till rocks and forefts ring ; 
 
 Breathes in rich fragrance from the Sandal grove. 
 Or where the precious Mufk Deer playful rove, 
 In dulcet juice, from clufl'ring fruit diftills. 
 And burns falubrious in the tafteful clove : 
 
 Soft banks and verduous hills 
 
 Thy prefent influence fills ; 
 In air, in floods, in caverns, hills and plains. 
 Thy will infpirits all, thy fovereign Mava reigns. 
 
 Blue chryftal vault and elemental fires. 
 That in the ^therial fluid blaze, and breathe ; 
 Thou tofling main, whofe fnaky branches wreathe 
 This penfile oib, with intertwifling gyres ; 
 Mountains, whofe lofty fpires, 
 Prefumptuous, rear their fummits to the fkies. 
 And blend their em'rald hue with fapphire light, 
 Smooth meads and lawns, that glow with vary- 
 
 [ing dyes 
 
 Of dew-befpangled leaves and bloiToms bright, 
 
&HAHCOOLEN. 97 
 
 Hence ! vanlfh from my fight 
 Delufive pidures ! unfubflantial fhows ! 
 My foul abforbM, one only being knows, 
 Of all perceptions one abundant fource, 
 Whence every obje(5t, every moment flows : 
 Suns hence derive their force, 
 Hence planets learn their courfe ; 
 But funs and fading worlds I view no more ; 
 God only I perceive ; God only I adore. 
 
 TO point out all the beauties of the 
 poem, from which thefe ftanzas are ex- 
 traded, it would be neceflary to defcant 
 upon every line 5 for very rarely, I be- 
 lieve, has it been exceeded, either in glow- 
 ing and exceffive beauty, or amazing fu- 
 blimity. Thou feeft, my dear El HaiTan, 
 that the fpirit of Hindu poetry, has not 
 ceafed to animate the breaft of thy moil 
 faithful friends 
 
93 LETTERS OF 
 
 SELOFED EL HASSAN, 
 
 
 1 HE attention, which I have lately 
 paid to the fubjecl of Hindu and Ameri- 
 can poetry, infenfibly led me to a perufal 
 of the /acred books of this country, which 
 I had often heard commended, as contain- 
 ing the firft inftances of poetical grandeur 
 and beauty. My labor has met its com- 
 plete reward, in the pleafure which I have 
 experienced from the difcovery of feveral 
 complete books of poetry in thefe facred 
 writings, and of numerous palTages, fcat- 
 tered up and down, among profaic per- 
 formances, which, from this very circum.- 
 flance, fliine with peculiar beauty and 
 fplendor. 
 
 A SHORT paftoral Poem, intituled "The 
 Song of Solomon," w^hich, in its literal 
 fenfe is a celebration of mutual love ; a 
 reciprocal and highly elegant defcription 
 of the graces and beauties of the lovers 5 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 99 
 
 and a rich poetical painting of the pafto- 
 ral fcenes, in which their loves are to be 
 enjoyed. Confidered in its literal mean- 
 ing, it is a moll elegant and charming paf- 
 toral. It has all the fmiplicity of nature, 
 bold in language and fentiment. The 
 perfons of the lovers are beautiful, grace- 
 ful and elegant, as they came from the 
 hand of nature, without the decorations 
 of fplendid ornament, or the blandifti- 
 ments of artificial manners. Their fenti- 
 ments are natural, glowing and tender ; 
 and their mutual afFed:ion and afpirations 
 after each other's fociety, are warm and 
 impaflioned in the highefl degree. The 
 fcenery is rich, brilliant and poetical. 
 The objecls mentioned are thofe, which 
 charm every eye, and footh every heart. 
 The delicacies and beauties of nature are 
 brought into one view, v/hich, prefents 
 whatever can delight the fenfe, and charm 
 the foul. The flyle is fimple, but harmo- 
 nious and elegant. With all thefe advan- 
 tages, it cannot fail to intereil a; lover of 
 nature, of whatever religion or country. 
 
loo LETTERS OF 
 
 BUT thefe advantages are in the view 
 of the Chriftians the leaft, which it has to 
 boaft. Their moft learned and pious 
 Brahmins agree in opinion, that this beau- 
 tiful poem is merely a figurative expref- 
 fion of the reciprocal love of Jesus Christ 
 and his Church ; and as fuch they read 
 it with the moll devout fentiments, while 
 the profane confider it, as being the effu- 
 fion of the uxorious and poetical mind of 
 Solomon, which delighted in the contem- 
 plation of love and poetry. 
 
 I CONFESS I am of opinion, that the 
 literal meaning is not the true one. If it 
 was really the daughter of love and poet- 
 ry, why has it found a place in a collec- 
 tion of writings, whofe principal obje^l 
 appears to be the fubjugation of every 
 natural propenlity, to the dominion of 
 the foul ? Thou, my friend, who had 
 often perufed the pages of Hindu and 
 Perfian poetry, knoweft, that many of the 
 moft important do6t;rines of the religions 
 of Perfia and Hinduftan are conveyed in 
 poetical numbers, and in a figurative 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. lor 
 
 ftyle. The literal meaning often appears 
 voluptuous, but the myftical is holy and 
 elevated. 
 
 ALL the charms of fociety, of love, and 
 X)f wine, are drawn in to aflift the fervor 
 of religious affections ; and while the im- 
 agination of a voluptuary would revel in 
 intelleclual luxury, the religious mind 
 foars on the -wings of rapture to the great 
 Firft Caufe. 
 
 BUT which ever opinion may be cor- 
 rect, with refpecl to the Song of Solomon, 
 I was inftantly ftruck by the limilarity of 
 the defign, to that of the Gitagovinda of 
 our charming lyric poem Jayadeva, 
 
 THIS, thou wilt remember, is a paftor- 
 al drama, drawn from the tenth book of 
 the Bhagavet, in which are celebrated the 
 loves of Chrishna (called alfo by feve- 
 ral other names) and Radha ; or, as our 
 Brahmins interpret it, " the reciprocal at^ 
 traction betv/een the divine goodnefs 
 and the human foul.'* Thou, my dear 
 El Haffan, haft been prefent with me at 
 Calinga, the reputed native place of Jay^ 
 
 I 2 
 
loa LETTIRS 07 
 
 adeva ; where the people " celebrate in 
 honour of him an annual jubilee, palling 
 a v/hole night in reprefenting his drama, 
 and in finging his beautiful fongs." 
 
 THERE we have heard the mellifluous 
 numbers of this delightful poet ; while the 
 moon has liftened in the heavens, and the 
 fongfters of night have fung refponfively 
 from the groves. The poetical painting 
 of the Gitagovinda is rich and fplendid. 
 The colors are glowing, yet tempered 
 with that mild radiance, which foothes, and 
 relieves, w^hile it delights the eye. The 
 descriptions are particular, and therefore 
 precife. The tree, the flower, and the 
 rivulet, Hand forth to the eye ; every ob- 
 je(^ is painted in its own appropriate col- 
 ors ; there is no unmeaning rhapfody and 
 obfcure daubing; but every part is perfecl 
 in itfelf, and maintains a jufl relation to 
 the whole. The characters, particularly 
 the two principal ones, viz. Chrishna 
 and Radh.a, although fmgular, and out of 
 life (as indeed that of Criflma ought to 
 be, fince he is reprefented, as^ a God) 
 
SHAHCOOI.EN, k05 
 
 are conliftent with themfelves, and carry 
 fuch marks of identity, that th-ey are 
 inilantly known, wherever they occur. 
 
 THERE is one remarkable difference be- 
 tween the Hindu and American tafte. 
 The Hindus " have no idea, that any 
 thing, which is natural, can be offenfively 
 obfcene," Hence the images, ftatues and 
 paintings of Hinduftan, exhibit the hu- 
 man perfon without referve. Thofe parts, 
 which modefty, or guilt, induces all civili- 
 zed, and mofl barbarous nations, to con- 
 ceal, are by them expofed, in their monu- 
 ments of fculpture and painting, with no 
 more fcruple, than the hands, the arms, 
 and the face, 
 
 THIS practice, which may be indicative 
 of great purity, or excellive corruption, 
 originates from a fet of feelings and ideas, 
 which exert a kindred influence over eve- 
 ry thing, which the Hindu fays, or does. 
 Hence, in our poetry, there is often found 
 a luxuriancy of defcription, which, to na- 
 tions who have been accuilomed to a dif- 
 
JP4 lj:tteti.s of 
 
 ferent courfe of thinking upon thefe ob- 
 jeds, appears extremely wanton and vo- 
 luptuous. 
 
 THE Gitagovinda of Jayadeva falls un- 
 der this imputation, in a certain degree; 
 although thofe inflances, in which it would 
 be cenfured by the American tafte, are 
 probably lefs cenfurable, than the greater 
 number of parallel inflances from other 
 Hindu and Perfian poets. In order, my 
 dear El Haflan, that thou mayeft be able 
 to form a comparifon between the famous 
 Gitagovinda and the Song of Solomon, I 
 fliall, in a future epiftle, extract fome paf- 
 
 fages from each ; that by feeing fpecimens 
 of both thefe favorite poems together, 
 thou mayeft be able to form a parallel or 
 a contraft, between them. But I muft be 
 allowed to extract more or lefs copioufly, 
 as the feelings of the moment may dic- 
 tate ; for, upon poetical fubjefls, I often 
 throw the reins upon the neck of fancy, 
 and fuifer myfelf to be hurried, wherever 
 it leads. Reafon however is always at 
 hand to curb the excefTes of paffion, and 
 
SftAHCOOLEN. 
 
 toi 
 
 the wanderings of imagination. With 
 unceafing afFedion, I am, my dear El 
 Haffan, thy faithful Friend. 
 
 m 
 
lo* LETTERS OF 
 
 Jletter Xmt^- 
 
 PRAISE TO GANESA, 
 
 BELOVED EL HASSAN, 
 
 May the Goddefs Serafwaty^ the 
 patroncfs of imagination and invention, 
 of harmony and eloquence ; may the mu- 
 lical Krijhen^ with the nine tuneful Gopia ; 
 may the quiver-bearing God Cama^ with 
 the beautiful Ragnies ; may all the pow- 
 ers of love and poetry, and may the im- 
 mortal B rum MAhimfelf,fecond, with their 
 moft aufpicious influences, our humble 
 attempts to compare the literature and 
 poetry of diftant and diffimilar countries. 
 
 I REMARKED in my laft epiflle, that 
 both the Gitagovinda and Solomon's 
 Song, have, in all probability, a myftical 
 meaning. This opinion I flill believe to be 
 corre<5l; but with this myftical meaning, 
 thou wilt perceive, my dear friend, that 
 I have at prefent no concern. My objeti; 
 is to glance at the two works in the char- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. lo? 
 
 after of poems. As fuch I fhall confider 
 them, and leave the myftical meaning to 
 be explained and enforced by the holy 
 Brahmins, to whom this office belongSi.^ 
 
 THERE is certainly no impropriety in 
 thus confidering them ; for the poetical 
 garb, in which the writers have thought 
 proper to convey their fentiments, may 
 form, with the higheft propriety, a fub- 
 jed of critical eulogium, v/hatever recon- 
 dite meaning may lie concealed beneath 
 fo fafcinating an exterior. 
 
 THE following verfes are in my opin- 
 ion highly beautiful. They are taken from 
 the 2d Chapter of Solomon's Song : — 
 " I am the rofe of Sharon, and the lilly of 
 the valley. As the lilly among thorns, 
 fo is my love among the daughters. As 
 the apple tree among the trees of the 
 wood, fo is my beloved among the fons. 
 I fat ^down under his fhadow with great 
 delight ; and his fruit was fweet to my 
 tafte. He brought me to the banqueting 
 houfe, and his banner over me v/as love* 
 Stay me with flaggons, comfort we with 
 
Io8 LEITERS or 
 
 apples ; for I am lick of love. His left 
 hand is under my head, and his right 
 hand doth embrace me." 
 
 ^ THE following verfes are diftinguiflied 
 by a lingular animation of fentiment, and 
 melody of numbers ; 
 
 " THE voice of my beloved ! behold 
 he Cometh, leaping upon the mountains, 
 Ikipping upon the hills. My beloved 
 fpake, and faid unto me, rife up, my love, 
 my fair one, and come away." 
 
 WHAT can be more beautiful, than the 
 lines which follow ? — " For lo, the win- 
 ter is paft, the rain is over and gone ; the 
 flowers appear on the earth ; the time of 
 thehnging cf birds is come ; and the voice 
 of the turtle is heard in our land ; until 
 the day break, and the fhadows flee away, 
 turn my beloved, and be thou like a roe 
 or a young hart upon the mountains of 
 Bether." The mutual eulogium, which 
 follows, is in the higheft degree rich and 
 glowing : 
 
5HAHC00LEN. 109 
 
 " BEHOLD thou art fair, my love ! Be- 
 hold thou art fair ! Thou haft dove's eyes 
 within thy locks. Thy lips are, like a 
 thread of fcarlet, and thy fpeech is come- 
 ly. Thy two breafts are, like two young 
 roes, that are twins, which feed among 
 the lillies. Until the day break and the 
 fliadows flee away, I will get me to the 
 mountain of Myrrh, and to the hill of 
 Frankincenfe. Thou art all fair my love ; 
 there is not fpot in thee. Come with me 
 from Lebanon, my fpoufe, with me from 
 Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, 
 from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from 
 the lion's dens, from the mountains of 
 the Leopards. 
 
 " THOU haft ravifhed my heart, my 
 fifter, my fpoufe ; thou haft raviftied my 
 heart with one of thine eyes. Thy lips, 
 O my fpoufe, drop, as the honeycomb. 
 Honey and milk are under thy tongue ; 
 and the fmell of thy garments is like the 
 fmell of Lebanon. 
 
 " AWAKE, O north wind, and come 
 
 thou fouth J blow upon my garden, that 
 K 
 
it© LETTERS OF 
 
 the fpices thereof may flow out. Let 
 my beloved come into his garden, and eat 
 his pleafant fruits." 
 
 THE reply is not lefs tender, ardent 
 and poetical. " I am come into my gar- 
 den, my lifter, my fpoufe. I have gath- 
 ered my myrrh with my fpices ; I have 
 eaten my honeycomb with my honey ; 
 I have drank my wine with my milk* 
 Eat, O friends ; drink, yea, drink abun- 
 dantly, O my beloved." 
 
 " MY beloved is white and ruddy, the 
 chiefeft among ten thoufand. His head 
 /V, as the moft fine gold ; his locks are 
 bulhy, ^«^ black, as a raven. His eyes^r^, 
 as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, 
 walhed with milk, and fitly fet. His 
 cheeks are^ as a bed of fpices, as fweet 
 flowers ; his lips like lillies dropping 
 fweet- fmelling myrrh. His hands are^ as 
 gold rings fet with the bery ; his belly 
 is bright ivory overlaid with fapphires. 
 His legs are^ as pillars of marble fet upon 
 fockets of fine gold. His countenance is^ 
 as Lebanon, excellent, as the cedars. His 
 
SHAHGOOLEN, xu 
 
 mouth is moftfweet ; yea, he isaltogeth=^ 
 er lovely. This is my beloved, and is my 
 friend, O daughters of Jef ufalem*'* 
 
 THE prevailing charaderlftlcs of this 
 Poem are delicacy, tichnefs and beauty ; 
 but the following paffages partake in no 
 fmall degree of grandeur : 
 
 " THOU art beautiful, O my love, as 
 Tirzah ; comely, as Jerufalem 5 terrible, 
 as an army with banners. 
 
 " WHO is {he, that looketh forth, as the 
 morning ; fair, as the moon, clear, as the 
 fun, and terrible, as an army with banners." 
 
 AGAIN the Poem .returns to its ufual 
 beauty and elegance. 
 
 " HOW beautiful are thy feet with flioes, 
 O Princes' daughters ! Thy two breafts 
 are, like two young roes, that are twins. 
 Thine head upon thee is Uke Carmel, and 
 the hair of thine head like purple ; the 
 king is held in the galleries. Hc>w fair 
 and how pleafant art thou, O love, for de- 
 lights ! This thy ftature is, like to a palm 
 
iia LETTERS OF 
 
 tree, and thy breaft to clufters of grapes. 
 I faid, I will go up to the palm tree ; I will 
 take hold of the boughs thereof. Now al- 
 fo thy breafts fhall be, as clufters of the 
 vine, and the fmell of thy nofe, like ap- 
 ples \ and the roof of thy mouth, like the 
 beft wine, for my beloved, that goeth 
 down fweetly, caufing the lips of thofe, 
 that are aileep to fpeak. Let us get up 
 early to the vineyards ; let us fee if the 
 vine flourilli, whether the tender grape 
 appear, and the pomegranates put forth ; 
 for there will I give thee my loves. 
 The mandrakes give a fmell, and at 
 our gates are all manner of pleafant 
 fruits^ new and old, which I have laid 
 np for thee, O my beloved." 
 
 THESE, my dear El Haffan, are fome 
 fpecimens of this beautiful Poem. I could 
 not have tranfcribed any part, which is 
 not fraught with peculiar beauty. In- 
 deed, if 1 had gratified my own incli- 
 nation, I fhould have tranfcribed the 
 whole. In my next epiftle, I Ihall pro- 
 duce fome fpecimens of the Gitago- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 
 
 "3 
 
 vinda, which I fear will fufFer by the 
 comparifon. In the eftimation of its 
 merits, the peculiarities of the Hindu 
 tafte fliould be kept conftantly in view. 
 
 Ka 
 
it 4 LETTERS OF 
 
 ^w 
 
 %tttn Cletjcntli. 
 
 SALUTATION TO GANESA, 
 BELOFED EL HASSAN, FRIEND OF MY HEART, 
 
 xIlS the pilgrim, who having traver- 
 fed immenfe defarts, where no verdure 
 fprings to cheer the eye, and not a flow- 
 er perfumes the fcorching winds ; arriving 
 at length in fome green vale, where ri- 
 vulets are enamelled with banks of flow- 
 ers, trees drop balfamic gums, birds 
 fmg in the thickets, and fragrance floats 
 in the wind, fl;ops a while ; and, enchant- 
 ed by fuch various beauty, lingers till 
 evening ; fo I, having arrived in the Ely- 
 flan regions of poetry and imagination, 
 not content to flay an hour, and then de- 
 part, fl;ill love to ramble into every grove, 
 and to trace the beauties of every prof- 
 peft. 
 
 AS my lafl: contained fome of the ma- 
 ny beauties of Solomon's Song, it now 
 remains to exhibit fome fpecimens of the 
 
SHAHCOOLEN 115 
 
 Gitagovinda. Thou, my friend, wilt re- 
 member, that the fubjed of this Poem is 
 the loves of Radha and Chrishna. 
 Chrifhna is called through the poem by 
 feveral other names, as Herl, Madhwva^ 
 the vanquiflier of the demon Ceft^ the 
 deftroyer of Can/a, &c. 
 
 THE introdudory lines of the Poem 
 inform the reader of the fubjecl."'^ 
 
 " THE firmament is obfcured by 
 clouds ; the woodlands are black with 
 Ta?nala trees. That youth, who roves in 
 
 * The Jiory of the following poem is limply this. Chrish- 
 na or " the divine goodnefs," having defcended from heaven, 
 wanders about in the foreft, at the twilight, waiting for Rad- 
 ha or " the human foul, to come forth 'voluntarily, and folicit 
 him to enter her cottage, and fhare its hofpitahty. 
 
 Radha delaying to go forth, Chriflina, offended, betakes 
 himfelf to thofe, who are more anxious for his prefence. 
 
 Radha, alarmed and almoft in defpair, feeks the offended 
 God a long time in the foreft. She feeks him long in vain ; 
 but at length is admitted to his embraces ; although this is 
 the confummation of her wifhes,ftill fhe exhibits the coynefs 
 and reludlancc of beauty refolving to fubxnit, yet loth to 
 yield its independence. 
 
 The ardor of Chrifhna reprefents the ready difpofition of 
 the " divine goodnefs" to be reconciled to " the human foul." 
 
 The " officious friend" of Radha, probably reprefents the 
 combined force of an awakened confcience, and an alarmed 
 imagination. 
 
 It is necefTary to remember that both Chrifhna and Rad- 
 ha are called frequently by other names ; but they are ealily 
 diflinguifhed by their a^^iom and fcntimcms. 
 
Ii6 LETTERS OF 
 
 the foreft will be fearful in the gloom of 
 night. Go my daughter, bring the wan- 
 derer home to my ruftic manfion. Such 
 was the command of Nanda, the fortu- 
 nate herdfman ; and hence arofe the love 
 ef Radha and Madhava, who fported 
 on the banks of Yamana, or haftened ea- 
 gerly to the fecret bower." 
 
 OBEDIENT to the command of her fa- 
 ther, Radha goes out into the foreft in 
 
 fearch of Crishna. The poem then pro- 
 ceeds. 
 
 *' radha fought him long in vain, 
 and her thoughts were confounded by the 
 fever of deiire. She roved in the vernal 
 morning among the twining Vafantis^ cov- 
 ered with foft bloffoms ; when a damfel 
 thus addreffed her with youthful hilarity. 
 " The gale, that has wantoned round the 
 beautiful clove plants, breathes now from 
 the hills of Maylaya, The Tamala^ with 
 leaves dark and odorous, claims a tribute 
 from the mulk, which it vanquiflies. See 
 the bunches of Patali flowers filled with 
 bees, like the quiver of Smara^ full of 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 117 
 
 fliafts ; while the J?nra tree, with bloom- 
 ing treffes, is embraced by the gay creeper 
 Jti?7iuda,2ind the blue ftreams of Tamuna^^ 
 wind round the groves of Vrindavan* In 
 this charming feafon^ which gives pain iofep- 
 crated lovers^ young Heri /ports and dances 
 with a company of damfels*^ 
 
 THE jealous Radha gave no anfwer ; 
 and foon after, her officious friend, per- 
 ceiving the foe of Mura in the for eft, ea- 
 ger for the rapturous embraces of the 
 herdfmen's daughters, with whom he was 
 dancing, thus again addreffed his forgot- 
 ten miftrefs. 
 
 " WITH a frarland of wild flowers, de- 
 fcending even to the yellow mantle, that 
 girds his azure limbs, diftinguilhed by 
 fmiUng cheeks and by ear-rings, that 
 fparkle, as he plays, Heri exults in the af- 
 femhly of amorous damfels. One of them 
 preffes him with her fwelling breaft ; while 
 fhe warbles with exquiiite melody. A- 
 nother, afFecled by a glance from his eye, 
 ftands meditating on the lotos of his face. 
 A third, on pretence of whifpering a fe- 
 cret in his ear, approaches his temples 
 
 * An Indian river. 
 
jiS LETTERS OF 
 
 and kiffes them with ardor. One feizes 
 his mantle, and draws him towards her, 
 pointing to the bower on the banks of 
 Tamiina; where elegant Vanjulas interweave 
 their branches. He applauds another, 
 who dances in the fportive circle ; whilfl 
 her bracelets ring, as fhe beats time with 
 her palms. Now he carefles one, and kif- 
 fes another, fmiling on a third with com^ 
 placency ) and now he chafes her, whofe 
 beauty has moft allured him. Thus the 
 wanton Heri frolicks, in the feafon of 
 fweets, among the maids of Vraja^ who 
 rufh to his embraces, as if he were plea- 
 fure itfelf, aifuming a human form ; and 
 <^ne of them, under a Dretext nf hvmn- 
 ing his divine perfetlions, whifpers in his 
 ears " thy lips, my beloved, are nectar." 
 
 '^ RADHA remains in the foreft ; but 
 refenting the promifcuous palTion of He- 
 ri, retires to a bower of twining plants ; 
 and there falling languid on the ground, 
 fhe thus addreifes her female companion.'^ 
 
 HERE follows a charming ftrain of 
 love, refentment and forgivenefs, which 
 
SKAHCOOLEN 119 
 
 the poet puts into the mouth of Radha. 
 The following are among the fineft paffa- 
 ges. 
 
 " THOUGH he take recreation in my ab- 
 fence ^ and fmile on all around him; yet my 
 foul remembers him^ whofe locks are deck- 
 ed with the plumes of peacocks, refplen- 
 dent with many colored moons ; and 
 whofe mantle gleams with a dark blue 
 cloud, illumined with rainbows. Bring 
 
 him, who formerly flept on my bofom, to 
 recline with me on a green bed of leaves 
 juft gathered ; while his lip flieds dew, 
 and my arms enfold him. Bring him, 
 who formerly drew me by the locks to 
 his embrace, to repofe with me ; whofe 
 feet tinkle, as they move, with rings of 
 gold and of gems ; whofe loofened zone 
 founds, as it falls ; and whofe limbs are 
 flender and flexible, as the creeping plant. 
 Soft is the gale, which breathes over yon 
 dear pool, and expands the cluttering 
 bloffoms of the voluble Afoea, Soft, yet 
 grievous to me, is the abfence of the foe 
 of Madhu. Delightful are the flowers of 
 
J20 LETTERS OF 
 
 Amra trees, on the mountain top ; while 
 the murmuring bees purfuc their volup- 
 tuous toil. Delightful, yet afflid:ing to 
 me, O friend, is the abfence of the youth- 
 ful Cefava:' 
 
 REMORSE, in the mean time,feizes the 
 breaft of Crishna, whom the poet here 
 calls " the deftroyer of Cansa.'* He 
 leaves the wanton fhepherdefTes, begins a 
 fruitlefs fearch for Radha ; and feating 
 himfelf in a bower, pours forth his lamen- 
 tations. 
 
 " SHE is departed. She faw me, no 
 doubt, furrounded by the wanton fliep- . 
 herdeffes. Woe is me ! Jhe feels afenfe of in- 
 jured honor ^ and is departed in wrath, I 
 feem to behold her face, with eye brows ^ 
 contrading themfelves through her juft 
 refentment. It refembles a frefli lotos, 
 over which two black bees are fluttering. 
 Grant me but a fight of thee, O lovely 
 Radha, for my pafllon torments me. 
 I am not the terrible Makes a. A garland 
 of water-lillies, with fubtil threads, decks 
 my fhoulders j not ferpents with twiO"' 
 
SMAHCOOLfiN. izi 
 
 folds ; the blue petals of the lotos glitter 
 on my neck ; not the azure gleam of 
 poifon. Powdered fandal wood is fprink- 
 led on my limbs ; not pale afhes. O God 
 of Love, wound me not again ; hold not 
 in thy hand that fliaft, armed with an 
 ^mra flower ! My heart is already pier- 
 ced by arrows from Radha's eyes, black 
 and keen, as thofe of an antelope. Her 
 eyes are full of fliafts ; her eye-brows are 
 bows. I meditate on her dehghtful em- 
 brace, on the ravifliing glances darted 
 from her eye, on the fragrant lotos of 
 her mouth, on her neclar-dropping fpeech, 
 on her lips, ruddy, as the berries of the 
 BiMBA. Yet even my fixed meditation, 
 on fuch an affemblage of charms, increaf- 
 es, inftead of alleviating the miferies of 
 fcparation.'* 
 
 THE female friend of Radha prefents 
 herfelf before Crishna, and relates in 
 charming flrains the deftruclion of her 
 friend. I felecl only 4 few pafTages. 
 
 " SHE declares the gale of Malaya to 
 be venom, and the fandal trees, through 
 L 
 
laa LETTERS OF 
 
 which It has breathed, to have been the 
 haunt of ferpents. Thus, O MadhafAj 
 is jhe afflided in thy abfence with the pain^ 
 which love's dart has occajtoned ; her foul 
 is fixed on thee. Her face is Hke a watcr- 
 iilly, veiled in the dew of tears ; and her 
 eyes appear like moons eclipfed. Herfelf 
 (alas ! through thy abfence) is become a 
 timid roe ; and love is the tiger, who 
 fprings on her, like Tama^ the genius of 
 death. Her fighs form a breeze long ex- 
 tended; and burn her, like the flame, which 
 reduced Candarpa to aflies. She throws 
 around her eyes, like blue water-lillies 
 with broken ftalks, dropping lucid ftreams. 
 Even her bed of tender leaves appears, in 
 her fight, like a kindled fire. The palm 
 of her hand fupports her aching temple, 
 motionlefs, as the crefcent riling at eve.'* 
 
 CRisHNA then replies to the maid. 
 ^' Here have I chofen my abode ; go 
 quickly to Badha ; foothe her with my 
 meffage, and conduct her hither." 
 
 SHE haftens back and addreffes her 
 companion in the following very beauti- 
 ful flrains. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 17,3 
 
 *' WHILST a fweet breeze from the hills 
 of Malaya^ comes wafting on his plumes 
 the young god of defire ; while many a 
 flower points his extended petals to pierce 
 the bofom of feparated lovers, the deity, 
 tr owned with fylvan bloffoms^ laments, 
 friend, in thy abfence. Even the dewy rays 
 of the moon burn him. When the bees 
 murmer foftly, he covers his ears. He 
 quits his radiant place for the wild forefts ; 
 where he finks on a bed of cold clay, and 
 frequently mutters thy name. Having 
 bound his locks with for ejl flowers, he hajiens 
 to your arbor ; where afoft gale breathes over 
 the banks of Tamuna, With a mind lan- 
 guid, as a drooping wing, feeble as a trem- 
 bling leaf, he doubtfully expecls thy ap- 
 proach ; and timidly looks on the path, 
 which thou muft tread. O friend, haftily 
 caft over thee thy azure mantle, and run 
 to the gloomy bower. The reward oF 
 thy fpeed, O thou, who fparkleil, like 
 lightning, will be to fhine on the blue 
 bofom of MuR ARi ; which refembles a ver- 
 nal cloud, decked with a firing of pearls, 
 like a flock of white water-birds flutter- 
 
124 LETTERS OF 
 
 ing in the air. The bright beamed God 
 finks in the weft. The blacknefs of the 
 night is increafed; and the pafiionate im- 
 ?2:ination of Govinda has acquired addi- 
 tiv.. 1 gloom. Seize the moment of de- 
 light in the place of afiignation with the 
 fon of Devage." 
 
 BUT the maid, perceiving that Radha 
 could not move from the place through 
 cxceflive debility, haftens back, and def- 
 cribes to Cbjshna the fituation of his be- 
 loved. 
 
 '• SHr. mourns^ fo'VereigJi cf the ivorld^ 
 in her verdant h'jxver. She repeats again 
 and again the name of He ri ; and catcli- 
 in2: r.t a dark blue cloud, ftrivcs to em- 
 brace it ; faying, " it is my beloved, who 
 approaches."' If a leaf but quiver, flie 
 fuppofes tliee arrived. She fpreads her 
 couch. She forms in Iier mind a hundred 
 modes of delight. Yet if thou come not 
 to the bower, flie muft die this night 
 through excefiive anguifli. By this time 
 the moon fpread a net of beams over the 
 groves of Yrindavan ; and looked, like a 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 125 
 
 drop of liquid fandal on the face of the 
 £ky ; which fmiled like a beautiful damfel; 
 while its orb with many fpots betrayed, 
 as it were, a confcioufnefs of guilt, in 
 having often attended amorous maids to 
 the lofs of their family honor. The moon, 
 with a black fawn couched on its dilk, 
 advanced in its nightly courfe ; but Mad- 
 HAFA had not yet advanced to the bower 
 of Radha^ who thus bewailed his delay, 
 with notes of varied lamentation." 
 
 THE remainder of the Gitagovinda 
 muft be deferred to the next epiftle of 
 thy friend. 
 
 L2 
 
io LiriLRs or 
 
 better Sujdfii). 
 
 BELOVED EL HASSANy 
 
 1 HAVE not yet done with the Gita- 
 govinda of Jayadeva, Having dipped into 
 this elegant Poem, I am not willing to 
 leave it, until I have taken a glance at all 
 its principal beauties. Thou wilt remem- 
 ber, that we left Radha about to bewail 
 the delay of Chrishna. Among other 
 pathetic fentiments, fhe utters the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 " THE appointed moment is come; 
 but Heri, alas! comes not to the grove. 
 The coolnefs of this vernal night gives 
 me pain inftead of refreihment. Some 
 happier damfel enjoys my beloved ; whilll 
 I, alas ! am looking at the gems of my 
 bracelets, which are blackened by the 
 flames of my paffion." 
 
 SEEING her damfel return w^lthout 
 CHR I SHN A;, her jealoufy rifes to phrenzy j 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. i%i 
 
 and the poet makes her behold, in ima- 
 gination, her lover in the arm9»of a rival. 
 
 '• YES, in habiliments becoming the 
 war of love, and with treffes, waving like 
 flowery banners, a damfeU Jnore alluring 
 than Radha, enjoys the conqueror ^ m adhu. 
 Her form is transfigured by the touch of 
 her divine lover. Her garland quivers 
 over her fwelling bofom. Her face, like 
 the moon, is graced with clouds of dark 
 hair, and trembles w^hile fhe quaffs the 
 neclareous dew of his lips ; ihe floats on 
 the waves of defire ; and clofes her eyes, 
 dazzled with the blaze of approaching 
 Cama. See how he kifles the lip of my 
 rival, and imprints on her forehead an or- 
 nament of pure mulk, black as the young 
 antelope on the lunar orb ! Now, like the 
 hufband of reti, he fixes white bloflbms 
 on her dark locks, where they gleam like 
 flafhes of lightning among the curled 
 clouds. On her breads, like two firma- 
 ments, he places a ftring of gems, like a 
 radiant confiellation. Mark, how my 
 foul, attraded by his irrefiftible charms, 
 
i«« LETTERS OF 
 
 burfts from its mortal frame, and ruflies 
 to mix with its beloved." 
 
 " PIERCED by the arrows of love, fhe 
 paffed the night in the agonies of defpair ; 
 and at early dawn thus rebuked her lov- 
 er, whom ihe faw laying proftrate before 
 her, and imploring her forgivenefs. 
 
 " ALAS ! alas ! go Madhava ; depart^ 
 Cefavi ; /peak not the language of guile ; 
 follow her^ lotos-eyed God, follow her^ who 
 difpels thy careJ** 
 
 HAVING thus inveighed againft her 
 beloved, fhe fat, overwhelmed in grief, 
 and filently meditated on his charms ;— 
 when the damfel foftly addreffed her : 
 
 " HE is gone. The light air has waft- 
 ed him away. Continue not, refentful wo- 
 man, thy indignation againfi the beautiful 
 Madhava. Why fhouldeft thou render 
 vain thofe round fmooth vafes, ample and 
 ripe as the fruit of yon Tala tree ? How 
 often have I faid, forfake not the bloom- 
 ing Hm.^'' 
 
SHAHCOOL£N. 129 
 
 CHRISHNA5 after a fliort abfence, re- 
 turns, and by his eloquence, his fervor 
 and praife, entirely appeafes the anger of 
 Radha, Among other impaffioned fen- 
 timents, he fays : 
 
 " THY lips are a Bandhujiva flower ; 
 the luftre of the Madhuca beams on thy 
 cheek ; thine eyes out-fliine the blue Li?- 
 tos ; thy nofe is a bud of the Tila ; the 
 Cunda bloiTom yields to thy teeth : Thus 
 the fiower-fhafted God, borrows from 
 thee the points of his darts, and fub- 
 dues the univerfe. Surely thou defcend- 
 edii: from Heaven, O, ilender damfel, at- 
 tended by a company of youthful goddefs- 
 es ; and all their beauties are collected in 
 thee/' 
 
 " HE fpake ; and feeing her appeafed 
 by his homage, flew to his bower, clad in 
 a gay mantle. The night now veiled all 
 vifible objects \ and the damfel thus ex- 
 horted Radha^ while flie decked her with 
 beaming ornaments. 
 
 " Follow ^gentle Radhica^ follow the foe of 
 Madhu, His difcourfe was elegantly com- 
 
X3» LETTERS OF 
 
 pofed of foft phrafes ; he proftrated him- 
 felf at thy feet ; and he now haftens to 
 his delightful couch, by yon grove of 
 branching Vanjulas, The night now dreff- 
 es in habiliments fit for fecrecy, the many 
 damfels, who haften to their places of af- 
 iignation ; fhe fets off with blacknefs their 
 beautiful eyes ; fixes dark Tamala leaves 
 behind their ears ; decks their locks with 
 the deep azure of water- lillies, and fprin- 
 kles muik on their panting bofoms. The 
 nocturnal fky, black as the touchftone, 
 tries now the gold of their affeclion, and 
 is marked with rich lines from the flafli- 
 es of their beauty, in which they furpafs 
 the brightell CaJh?niriansJ^ 
 
 "RADHA,thus incited,tripped through 
 the foreft ; but fhame overpowered her,. 
 when by the light of innumerable gems, 
 on the arms, the feet, and the neck of her 
 beloved, fhe faw him at the door of his 
 flowery maniion. Then her damfel again 
 addrelTed her with ardent exultation : 
 
 " ENTER, fweet Radha^ the bower of 
 Heri : Seek delight, O thou, whofe bo- 
 
ftHAHCOOLEN. 131 
 
 fom laughs with the foretafte of happi- 
 nefs. Enter, fweet Radha^ the bower, 
 graced with a bed of Afoca leaves : Seek 
 delight, O thou, whofe garland leaps 
 with joy upon thy breaft. Enter, fweet 
 Radha^ the bower illumined with gay 
 blolToms : Seek delight, O thou, whofe 
 limbs far excel them in foftnefs. Enter, 
 O Radha^ the bower made cool and fra- 
 grant, by gales from the woods of Ma- 
 laya : Seek delight, O thou, whofe amo- 
 rous lays are fofter than breezes. Enter, 
 O Radha, the bower fpread with leaves 
 of twining creepers : Seek deliglit, O 
 thou, whofe arms have been long inflexi- 
 ble. Enter, O, Radha^ the bower which 
 refounds w*ith the murmur of honey-mak- 
 ing bees : Seek delight, O thou, whofe 
 embrace yields more exquifite fweetnefs." 
 
 " SHE ended ; and Radha^ with timid 
 joy, darting her eyes on Govinda^ while 
 fhe mufically founded the rings of her an- 
 kles, and the bells of her zone, entered 
 the myftic bower of her only beloved. — 
 There Jhe beheld her Madhava^ who delight- 
 ed in her alone ; who fo long hadftghedfor 
 
I3» LETTERS OF 
 
 her embrace ; and whofe eyes then gleamed 
 with excejjive rapture* His heart was agi- 
 tated by her fight, as the waves of the 
 deep are affected by the lunar orb. His 
 azure breafl glittered with pearls of un- 
 blemiilied luftre, like the full bed of the 
 Cercelean Tamuna^ interfperfed with curls 
 of white foam. From his graceful waift, 
 flowed a pale yellow robe, which refem- 
 bled the golden duft of the water-lilly, 
 fcattered over its blue petals. His pafli- 
 on was inflamed by the glances of her 
 eyes, which played like a pair of water- 
 birds, with azure plumage, that fport near 
 a full-blown Lotos^ on a pool, in the fea- 
 fon of dew. Bright ear-rings, like two 
 funs, difplayed, in full expanfion, the 
 flowers of his cheeks and lips, which glif- 
 tened with the liquid radiance of fmiles. 
 His locks, interwoven with bloffoms, 
 were like a cloud variegated with moon- 
 beams ; and on his forehead, fhone a cir- 
 cle of odorous oil, cxtrafled from the 
 fandal of Malaya^ like the moon jufl ap- 
 pearing on the dulky horizon ; while his 
 body feemed in a flame, from the blaze 
 of unnumbered gems. Tears of tranf- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 133 
 
 port guflied in a ftream, from the eyes of 
 Radha^ and their watry glances beamed 
 on her beft beloved. Even fhame, which 
 before had taken its abode in their dark^ 
 pupils, was itfelf afhamed, and' departed, 
 v/hen the fawn • eyed i?^7<3^/:?^, gazed on the 
 brightened face of Chrijhna^ while {he paf- 
 fed by the foft edge of his couch, and the 
 bevy of his attendant nymphs, pretending 
 to ftrike the gnats from their cheeks, in 
 order to conceal their fmiles, warily re- 
 tired from his bower." 
 
 " GOviNDA, feeing his beloved cheer- 
 ful and ferene, her lips fparkling vddi 
 fmiles, and her eye fpeaking deiire, thus 
 eagerly addreffed her, while flie careleflly 
 reclined on the leafy bed, ftrewn with loft 
 bloifoms. 
 
 " Set the lotos of thy foot on this 
 azure bofom ; and let this couch be vic- 
 torious over all, w^ho rebel againft love. 
 Speak, but one gentle word ; bid neftar 
 drop from the bright moon of thy mouth. 
 O ! fufFer me to quaff the liquid bhfs of 
 thofe lips ; reftore v.ith their water of life 
 M 
 
134 LETTERS GF 
 
 thy flave, who has long been lifelefs ; 
 whom the fire of reparation has confum- 
 ed. O ! let affli£lion ceafe ; and let ec- 
 flacy drown the remembrance of pad for- 
 
 row." 
 
 " IN thE morning fhe rofe, difarrayed ; 
 and her eyes betrayed a night without 
 flumber ; when the yellow robed god, 
 who gazed on her with tranfport, thus 
 meditated on her charms in his heavenly 
 mind.'' 
 
 " THOUGH her locks be difFufed at ran- 
 dom, though the luftre of her lips be fad- 
 ed, though her garland and zone be fal- 
 len from their enchanting ftations, and 
 thou2:h fhe hide their places w^ith her 
 hands, looking toward me with baihful 
 filence ; yet, even thus difarranged, fiie 
 fills me with extatic delight." 
 
 " BUT Radha^ preparing to array her- 
 felf, before the company of nymphs could 
 fee her confufion, fpake thus with exul- 
 tation to her obfequious lover. 
 
 " PEACE, O fon of Tadhu^ with fin- 
 gers cooler, than fandal wood, place a cir- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 135 
 
 clet of muik on this breaft. Place, my dar- 
 ling, the gloffy powder, which would 
 make the blackeft bee envious, on this 
 eye, whofe glances are keener than ar- 
 rows, darted by the hufband of Reti, — 
 Now replace, O tender hearted, the loofe 
 ornaments of my vefture ; and refix the 
 golden bells of my girdle on their deftin- 
 ed fladon, which refembles thofe hills, 
 where the God with five fhafts, who def- 
 troyed Samb^r^ keeps his elephant ready 
 for battle." " While flie fpakc, the heart 
 of Tadha-va triumphed ; and, obeying her 
 fportful behefts, he placed mulky fpots on 
 her bofom and forehead,, dyed her tem- 
 ples with radiant hues, embellifhed her 
 eyes with additional blacknefs, decked her 
 braided hair and her neck with frefli gar- 
 lands ; and tied on her wriils the loofened 
 bracelets, on her ankles the beamy rings, 
 and around her v/aift the zone of bells, 
 that founded with ravifhing melody.'^ 
 
 " WHATEVER is delightful in the 
 modes of mufic, whatever is divine in me- 
 ditations on Vijhnu^ whatever is exquiiite 
 in the fweet art of love, whatever is grace- 
 
i3'j LETTERS OF 
 
 ful in the fine ftrains of poetry , all that^ 
 let the happy and the wife learn from the 
 fongs of Jayadeva^ whofe foul is united 
 with the foot of Narayan.'' 
 
 TH'JS, my dear friend, thou haft be- 
 fore thee fome of the moft ftriking beau- 
 ties of Solomon* s Song^ and of the Gitagovin- 
 da. The latter is decked with all the ex- 
 quifite beauty, and dazzling fplendor of 
 Indian painting ; VvTitten in a country, 
 where fcenes of beauty are more vivid 
 and luxuriant than in any other; and 
 wrought up by the fineft efforts of Hindu 
 imagination. But it is not furprifing, that 
 its beauties fhould now and then become 
 too intenfe, for the taftc of a more north- 
 ern clime. But it muft always command 
 the admiration of every lover of nature ; 
 whether he drew his firft breath on the 
 banks of the Ganges^ or the Hudfon, It 
 muft be confeiled, that the beauties of the 
 Song of Solomon, if they are not equally 
 glowing, are more chafte, both in morals 
 and tafte, than thofe of the latter. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 
 
 137 
 
 THAT the great Brwnma^ by the deli- 
 cious ftrains of poetry, contained in the 
 Gitagovinda, may allure our minds to a 
 contemplation of " the reciprocal attrac- 
 tion betv/een the Divine Goodnefs and 
 the Human Soul," is the ardent \vifti of 
 thy anoft faithful friend. 
 
 M2 
 
138 LETTERS OF 
 
 
 BELOrED EL HASSANy 
 
 Thanks to the Goddefs Sera/waty, 
 thy friend ftill lives, to bbferve the man- 
 ners, and inveftigatethe ideas of nations 
 remote from his beloved Hinduftan. In 
 fome of my former letters, I have deline- 
 ated fome features of the modern philof- 
 ophy. I met yeflerday with a philofopher 
 of this fchool, whofe fentiments were en- 
 tirely novel to me. He was a grave man 
 about forty years old, affected the char- 
 acter of a philofopher, and talked much 
 in abflract and undefined language. 
 
 I MET him w^alking alone upon the 
 banks of the Schuylkill. His appear- 
 ance attracted my attention ; and finding 
 him courteous in his manners, I requefi:ed 
 the pleafure of his fociety in a walk to 
 and fro along the banks of the river. 
 
 HE opened his remarks by an elabor- 
 ate euioeium upon the progrefs of repub- 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 139 
 
 licanlfm ; which word, as I afterwards 
 found, means modern philofoph^, " Thrones 
 (faid he) are tottering ; kings tremble at 
 the progrefs of liberty \ nobles and priefts 
 are confpiring, but in vain, to prop the 
 altar and the throne. They muft and they 
 will fall, never to rife again. 
 
 " REPUBLICANISM has made a glorious 
 progrefs in America. A philofopher and 
 philanthropift is in the chair of fupreme 
 magiftracy, and the minions of monarchy 
 and ariftocracy are ikulking into private 
 life. 
 
 *' BUT what (continued he) fignifies this, 
 fo long as a diftempered and unnatural 
 ftate of civilization, continues to corrupt 
 the original innocence, and cramp the na- 
 tive freedom of man ? I figh for the prim- 
 itive ftate of natui*e, and confidently truft, 
 that this century will fee it reflored. The 
 earth, the great parent of man, beaft, 
 fowl and herb, has been wickedly appro- 
 priated to the ufe of individuals. Inftead 
 of ranging at large over the ample face of 
 nature, I am now forbidden to enter my 
 
140 LETTERS OF 
 
 neighbor's field, left I Ihould tread down 
 his grafs. I am confined by fences to a 
 narrow road, and compelled to travel in 
 a prefcribed track.'' 
 
 SIP., (rejoined I) do you not travel 
 with infinitely more eafe in an eftablifhed 
 road, ufually the fhorteft diftance between 
 the places, which it conne<^s, than you 
 would over mountains and crags, and 
 through moraffes, deferts and defiles ? 
 And does not the earth, when inclofed 
 and cultivated, produce an hundred times 
 more food, than when overrun by beafts 
 of the foreft, and covered with heath and 
 jungle ? Does not a cultivated country 
 alfo exhibit to the eye a landfcape, beyond 
 comparifon more beautiful, than the bar- 
 ren wildernefs of nature ? 
 
 " BUT, (faid the Philofopher,) this is no 
 compenfation for the lofs of my liberty ; 
 the liberty of rambling juft where wild 
 unheeding fancy leads. 
 
 " HOW opprefilve is the whole fyftem of 
 laws, by which this arbitrary affumption 
 of property is defended. Why Ihould 
 
SH.\HCOOLEN. lAt 
 
 my neighbor ride an elegant Englifh 
 courfer, breathing fire from his noftrils^ 
 and fhaking the earth with his tread v 
 while I, a better man than he, becaufe a 
 greater Philofop her, muft travel on foot ? 
 and fhould I take his horfe for my own 
 ufe, I muft fwing on the gallows, or toil 
 in the mines. 
 
 " KINGS, nobles and priefts, con* 
 :^iring againft the liberty of man, have 
 enacled fyftems of laws, on purpofe 
 to entangle the unwary. There is no 
 crime, where there is no law. A pure 
 ftate of nature, where man is innocent, 
 does not know a crime ; becaufe crimes 
 have never been here created by the in- 
 llltution of laws. What, but a diftem- 
 pe red civilization, has rendered it crimi- 
 nal to obey the dictates of nature in pro- 
 inifcuous concubinage ? Why iliould I be 
 confined to one woman, while the whole 
 animal world befide, obey the impulfe of 
 pafiion, and feek gratification, wherever it 
 m.ay be found ? Why fliould I be compel- 
 led to fupport and educate thofe beings, 
 whom my phyfical energies, operating ac» 
 
14* LETTERS Of 
 
 cording to the eftablilhed laws of nature, 
 without the afliftance of mind, have pro- 
 duced ? I am no more accountable for 
 their exiflence, than the mountain for 
 the cedar, which it bears, or the ftream 
 for the wheel, which it turns. As there- 
 fore the cedar is cut down, and the moun- 
 tain does not mourn ; the wheel is re- 
 moved, but the ftream ftill continues to 
 flow ; fo thofe beings may be born, grow 
 up, and die without any claim to my 
 afliftance, and with no title \o my love, 
 or my grief.*' 
 
 MR. Philofopher, rejoined I, your doc- 
 trines are new, and I muft therefore be 
 indulged my doubts ; as no one can at 
 once eradicate eftablifhed prejudices, or 
 banilh old modes of thinking. 
 
 IF your neighbor's fuperior induftry, 
 or good fortune, enables him to ride an 
 Englifli courfer, while your indolence, or 
 untoward fate, obliges you to walk, why 
 fliould not laws be made to fecure to him 
 the fruit of his induftry, and the gifts of 
 fortune ? Your invedives againft- kings, 
 
SHAHGOOLEN 143 
 
 priefls and nobles are unfounded. Have 
 crimes been lefs frequent in republics 
 than in monarchies ? Let Rome, Athens, 
 Carthage, Venice and modern France, an- 
 fwer the queftion. 
 
 YOUR affertion, that where there is no 
 law, there is no crime, is falfe. Do not 
 murders, maimings, and rapes, occur 
 more frequently in the ilate of fociety, 
 which is called ihtjiate of nature-^ than in 
 any other ? And do they ceafe to be 
 crimes, becaufe not forbidden by poiitive 
 laws ? 
 
 I AM aftonifhed, that a Philofopher 
 fliould be willing, at a iingle flroke, to de- 
 ftroy nearly all the virtue, and the happi- 
 nefs of life. For why fliould one man 
 be permitted the ufe of an hundred wo- 
 men, when one will anfwer all the pur- 
 pofes of his exiflence? Abolifli the infli- 
 tution of marriage, and where would be 
 that focial virtiae, that mild, but conftant 
 philanthrophy, which fprings from the 
 moil: delightful of all connexions, the 
 union of congenial fouls? 
 
Z44 LETTERS OF 
 
 •** Where heart meets heart, reciprocally foft, 
 Each others pillow to repole divine.'* 
 
 WHAT would remain in its ftead, but 
 brutal luft, emaciating the body, and cox- 
 -Tupting the mind ? 
 
 IN the iharp conteft for the fineft 
 women, for women would then become 
 an article of luxury, what contentions, 
 what public murders, what private aiiaf- 
 inations would enfue ! How wretched 
 miift the women themfelves be, thrown 
 from paramour to paramour, without a 
 dwelling, and without a protedor ! How 
 would their hearts fink in that moft try- 
 ing hour, when about to give life to a ra- 
 tional being, their own hangs fufpended 
 on a thread ! 
 
 BUT how, Mr. Philofopher, can you 
 fay, that you are not obliged to afford 
 protection and fupport to the being whom 
 you have begotten? The mountain, it is 
 true, produces the cedar, and the dream 
 turns the wheel, according to the eftab- 
 liflied laws of vegetation and motion ; for 
 in them refides no volition. But you are 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 145 
 
 a rational being, and in yielding to the 
 impulfe of nature, are able to forefee the 
 confequence of your agency. Who fliall 
 maintain the helplefs little ftranger, if you 
 do not ? Call upon the wide world, and 
 unrecognized by him, who gave it being, 
 the infant mull perifli, unlefs fuftained by 
 the hand of maternal care, or by the vol- 
 untary attentions of ftrangers, 
 
 THEPhilofopherpaufed, and ftroking 
 his beard, as if preparing for another dif- 
 play of his powers, proceeded to con- 
 demn civilized life, and to eulogize the 
 ftate of nature. But the fequel of our 
 converfation muft be deferred, till the 
 next epiftlq of thy friend. 
 
 N. 
 
'46 LETTERS OF 
 
 ^Letter: ifourtr mtf). 
 
 DE^mir BELOFED EL HASSAN, 
 
 1 HE Philofopher proceeded. — "The 
 reftraints of marriage are intolerable. 
 The focial affedions, of which you fpeak, 
 are narrow and felfifh. How much more 
 worthy of a philofopher is that expanded 
 philanthropy, which embraces, within the 
 wide circle of its love, the Greenlander, 
 half buried in his fnows, and the naked 
 favage, panting at the line ? Low, deba- 
 fed fouls, corrupted by civilization, may 
 feek for objeds of charity in the high- 
 ways and cottages ; but let me tell you, 
 fuch beings can never become Philofophers, 
 Philofopical philanthropy extends its af- 
 fe<5lions even to other planets, and to 
 other fyftems ; and confiders the whole 
 univerfe, as one great republic." 
 
 HERE the Philofopher, affuming a loft- 
 ier ftep, looked me full in the face, while 
 his countenance expreffed fupreme fatif- 
 faftion. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 147 
 
 WHAT good, Mr. Philofopher, (faid I) 
 will your philanthropy do to the inhabi- 
 tants of diftant fyilems, which the mod 
 rapid comet can hardly reach in his ama- 
 zing revolution of a thoufand years ? 
 What inhabitant of Herfchel^ a planet, 
 which our finefl telefcopes can hardly ren- 
 der vifible, will ever know of the exigence 
 of the Philadelphia Philofopher ? What 
 Greenlander^ or native of Borneo^ will ever 
 hear one of your philanthropic iighs, or 
 liflen, as I do, to the eloquence of your 
 tongue ? Indesd, fir, we muft feek objects 
 of charity within our reach. We mull 
 relieve the unfortunate mendicant in the 
 llreets, and cheer the wretched inhabitants 
 of the hut of poverty. Let Karnfchatka 
 and Caffraria relieve the diftrclTes of their 
 own inhabitants ; and let us cherifh the 
 country, which gave us birth, and do good 
 to the little circle around us. 
 
 "your mind(replied the Philofopher,) 
 is not fufficiently enlightened to feel the 
 fublimity of my do6lrines. I therefore 
 pardon your prejudices, while I ftrive to 
 remove them. It is this diftempered flate 
 
I4« LETTERS 01^' 
 
 of civilization, which has given you thefe 
 falfe conceptions. Could you only fee a 
 fociety of men in the fimple ftate of na- 
 ture, you v^ould be proud to throw off 
 your falfe refinements, and refort to the 
 amiable fociety of uncorrupted men." 
 
 IN the farther India, Mr. Philofopher, 
 (faid 1) on the borders of the kingdom of 
 Pegu^ I have feen a race of men, almoft in 
 that amiable flate of nature, the contem- 
 plation of which produces fuch raptures 
 in your mind ; entirely naked, even in 
 tiiofe parts which nature bids us conceal ; 
 deftitute of homes and habitations ; al- 
 moft without language ; ignorant of ag- 
 riculture, and fubfifting upon berries, and 
 the flefli of animals torn raw from their 
 bones, and quivering between their teeth 
 as they devour it ; without property, 
 without laws, and without decency ; fav- 
 age to ftrangers, and brutal to each other* 
 Is this, Mr. Philofopher, the boafted ftate 
 of nature, which you wifh to fee reftored ? 
 
 IN a journey which I have made, lince 
 I have been in your country, to explore 
 the fliores of the great lakes, and to view 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 149 
 
 the falls of Niagara^ I have had fome op- 
 portunities of feeing the favage nations 
 of this continent. From books I have 
 learnt thofe particulars, which my own 
 obfervation did not fupply ; and what a 
 picture do I contemplate ? In the winter 
 they fhivcr round a wigwam fire, the 
 cold wind whiftling through the frequent 
 openings, and the fnow burying them, as 
 they lie wrapped in their furs. 
 
 IN the fummer they bafk in the fun, 
 till hunger drives them to the chafe. 
 Then gorged witli flelh, and furfeited with 
 blood, they fleep again, till hunger fends 
 them anew to the mountains and deferts. 
 
 THEIR women are made beafls of bur- 
 den and flaves of brutal pleafures ; while 
 their haughty mafters deny them, even the 
 poffibility of partaking upon equal terms 
 in the joy^ of that fenfual paradife, which 
 they antidpate beyond the grave. 
 
 WAk is the great ruling paffion, which 
 calls into adion all the energies of the 
 American favage* Intrepid, ferocious and 
 
150 LETTERS OF 
 
 invincible in combat, he never leaves the 
 field without victory. The battle com- 
 monly proves fatal to the greater number 
 of both fides, and to the whole of the 
 vanquiihed party. Few are taken prifon- 
 ers ; and thofe who are, receive a fate infi- 
 nitely worfe, than immediate death. 
 
 PERHAPS a folitary prifoner or two, 
 whom the caprice or pity of their mailers 
 refer ves for the fervice of the wigwam, 
 efcape the torture. But he, who is 
 doomed to honor the God of War , is tied 
 naked to a Itake, A How fire is kindled 
 around him, which fcorches without con- 
 fuming. The flefh is lacerated ; burning 
 coals are thrown into the open wounds ; 
 the finews are rent afunder, and the flefli 
 torn off, broiled and devoured, before the 
 indignant warrior. At length, when his 
 fufFerings are almoft paft endurance, he 
 is loofed from the fi:ake, that he may re- 
 cover his fpirits a little, and afford his tor- 
 menters a further diverfion. His heart 
 remains unfubdued, till death, his beft 
 friend, releafes the foul from its mangled 
 habitation. 
 
SHAHCOOLEN. 151 
 
 THIS, Mr. Philofopher, is but a faint 
 outline of that glorious flate of nature, to 
 which you would bring back the human 
 race. Should I fill up the pidure, it 
 would grow blacker and blacker, till not 
 an agreeable fliade would be left to cheer 
 the eye. 
 
 " BUT (replied the Philofopher) will 
 you make no account of the racks and the 
 gibbets, the pillories, the prifons and the 
 whipping-pofls of civil fociety ? "Will 
 yov. not notice the tyranny of priefts, 
 who would blind our eyes, that they may 
 filch our purfes, and put hooks in our 
 nofes ? 
 
 " COURTS of juflice, laws and magif- 
 trates, encroaching on our natural liber- 
 ty, "compel us to pay our debts, to curb 
 our paflions, and refpecl the created 
 rights of our neighbors. I am tired of 
 thefe eternal reflraints. I figh for the 
 liberty of doing, what I pleafe, the glori- 
 ous liberty of nature. 
 
 "but the ^RA is now dawning in 
 America, when civil government fliall 
 
15* SHAHCOOLEN 
 
 either be completely aboliflied, or fo foft- 
 ened and accommodated to the primeval 
 innocence of man, as to be no longer a 
 burden. Religion, that tool of ftatefmen, 
 and idol of fools, with its minifters, its 
 temples, and its votaries, fliall be fwept 
 into oblivion. 
 
 " MARRIAGE fliall bc aboUflicd, and a 
 community of women, of property and 
 rights, fliall crown the triumph of philof- 
 ophy, and of republicanifm." 
 
 A STORM, which had been rifing in the 
 wefl:, now began to puur down floods of 
 rain; and we parted, with a mutual prom- 
 ife of meeting again. 
 
i»