Critical Notices [pp. 582-600]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
department embraced by this comprehensive term? Our
national honor and glory which, be it remembered,'are
to be "transmitted as well as enjoyed," are involved. In
building up the fabric of our commercial prosperity, let
us not filch the corner stone. Let it not be said of us,
in future ages, that we ingloriously availed ourselves of
a stock of scientific knowledge, to which we had not
contributed our quota-that we shunned as a people to
put our shoulder to the wheel-that we reaped uhere
we had never sown. It is not to be controverted that
such has been hitherto the case. We have followed in
the rear of discovery, when a sense of our moral and political responsibili.y;shQuld have impelled us in its van.
Mr. Reynolds, in a letter to which we have already referred, deprecates this servile dependence upon foreign
research in the following nervous and emphatic language.
The commercial nations of the earth have done much
and much remains to be acconmplished. We stand a
solitary instance among those who are considered commercial, as never having put forth a particle of strength
or expended a dollar of our money, to add to the accumulated stock of commercial and geographical knowledge,
except in partially exploring our own territory.
When our naval commanders and hardy tars have
achieved a victory on the deep, they have to seek our
harbors, and conduct their prizes into port by tables and
charts furnished perhaps by the very people whom they
have vanquished.
Is it honorable in the United States to use, forever
the knowledge furnished by others, to teach us how to
shun a rock, escape a shoal, or find a harbor; and add
nothing to the great mass of information that previous
ages and other nations have brought to our hands. * *
The exports, and, more emphatically, the imports
of the United States, her receipts and expenditures, are
written on every pillar erected by commerce on every
sea and in every clime; but the amount of her subscription stock to erect those pillars and for the advancement
of knowledge is no where to be found.
* * * * *
Have we not then reached a degree ofmental strength,
which will enable us to find our way about the globe
without leading-strings? Are we forever to take the
highway others have laid out for us, and fixed with
mile-stones and guide boards? No: a time of enterprise
and adventure must be at hand, it is already here; and
its march is onward, as certain as a star approaches its
zenith.
It is delightful to find that such independent statements and opinions as the above, have been approved,
and acted upon by Congress, and that our President
with a wisdom and promptitude which do him honor,
is superintending and facilitating the execution of legislative design. We extract the following announcement
from the Washington Globe.
Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean
and South Seas.-We learn that the President has given
orders to have the exploring vessels fitted out, with the
least possible delay. The appropriation made byCongress was ample to ensure all the great objects contemplated by the expedition, and the Executive is
determined that nothing shall be wanting to rentider the
expedition in every respect worthy the character and
great commercial resources of the coitntry.
The frigate Macedonian, now undergoing thorough
repairs at Norfolk, two brigs of two hundred tons each
one or more tenders, and a store ship of competent dimensions, is, we understand, the force agreed upon, and
to be put in a state of immediate preparation.
Captain Thomas A. C. Jones, an officer possessing
many high qualities for such a service, has been appoint
ed to the command; and officers for the other vessels
will be immediately selected.
The Macedonian has been chosen instead of a sloop
of war, on account of the increased accommodations she
will afibord the scientific corps, a department the President has determined shall be complete in its organization, including the ablest men that can be piocured, so
that nothing within the whole range of every depaitnmet-it of natural history and philosophy shall be onitted.
Not only on this account has the frigate been selected,
but also for the purpose of a more extended protection
of out whalemen and traders; and to impress on the
minds of the natives a just conception of our character,
power, and policy. The firequent disturbances and massacres commritted on our seamen by the natives inhabitirig the islands in those distant seas, make this measure
the dictate of humanity.
We understand also, that to J. N. Reynolds, Esq. the
President has given the appointment of Corresponding
Secretary to the expedition. Between this gentleman
anrid Captain Jones there is the most friendly feeling and
harmony of action. The cordiality they entertain for
each other, we trust will be felt by all, whether citizen
or officer, who shall be so fortunate as to be connected
with the expedition.
Thus it will be seen, steps are being taken to remove
the reproach of our country alluded to by Mr. Reynolds,
and that that gentleman has been appointed to the highest
civil situation in the expedition; a station whiclh we
know him to be exceedingly well qualified to fill. The
liberality of the appropriation for the enterprise, the
strong interest taken by our energetic chief magistrate
in its organization, the experience and intelligence of
the distinguished commander at its head, all promise
well for its successful termination. Our most cordial
good wishes will accompany the adventure, and we
trust that it will prove the germ of a spirit of scientific
ambition, which, fostered by legislative patronage and
protection, shall build up for us a name in nautical discovery commensurate with our moral, political, and commercial positionI among the nations of the earth.
ELKSWATAWA.
Elkswatawa; or the Prophet of the West., Tale of the
Frontier. Newt York: Harper and Brothers.
This novel is written by Mr. James S. French, of
Jerusalem, Virginia-the author, we believe, of "Eccenitricities of David Crockett," a book of which we know
nothing beyond the fact of its publication. The plot
of Elkswatatva is nearly as follows. About the period
when rumors were abroad in our frontier settlements,
and elsewhere, of contemplated hostilities by the Indians under Tecumseh, one Mr. Richard Rolfe, "a
high-toned and chivalrous Virginian," is a resident
of Petersburg. He is left an orphan in early lifeis educated under the guidance of an uncle, completes a course of studies at William and Mary, and
finally practises law. His uncle now dying, he is left
pennyless; and his want of perseverance precludes any
hope of professional advancement. In this dilemma lie
falls in love. The young lady is "a gentle, quiet, little
creature," has hazel eyes, auburn air, and "the loveliest
face my eyes ever beheld." Moreover, she is "intellectual without being too miuch book-learned, kind without
seeming to intend it, and artless without affectation."
"Not a dog" says Mr. French, "but read her countenance aright, and would follow her until he obtained
his dinner." Besides all this, she has some little pro VoL. II.-75
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