1850.]

An American Academy of Art.

223

hundred and seventy millions; making, for both, over five hundred millions of dollars. Might not this vast sum, (or at least a portion of it,) have been better expended? If this nation can thus appropriate hundreds of millions, could it not easily do more for the elevation and refinement of the public mind? Some twenty or thirty millions are expended by our government every year, which might be put to wiser purposes. We would have this devoted to objects of learning and beneficence, to the promotion of peace and industry, of talent and genius, and among these objects we would have an Academy of Art to be in some measure commensurate with the wisdom and generosity of a great people.

There are indications of talent among us springing up on every side, manifestations of genuine power which have a peculiar claim for encouragement, and we have a country the variety and beauty of which present the widest field for study. There is American scenery to be depicted, American character to be portrayed, American history to be embodied. Why should not our native energies be called forth, and these natural and inexhaustible resources be developed? It seems to be the very purpose of God, that each people should have some distinctive characteristic; why should not this nation, gathering wisdom from all lands, rise to a greatness equalled only by its advantages? Let our own rocks and rivers, our wooded glens and mountains, our ocean and our coast, be reflected from the canvas, and let the genius of our country breathe its own life into the imperishable marble.

Something has, indeed, already been accomplished, but we stand, as yet, only upon the threshold of the great temple. What has hitherto been achieved is but a faint shadow, compared with what remains to be done. We know of no reason whatever why as mighty spirits may not yet live as have ever existed; why there may not be minds here that shall attain to the splendor of Rubens, and the grace of Raphael,- that like Claude shall pour the hue of sunset and of dawn over the dewy landscape, and call forth shapes of grandeur even with a power like that of Angelo. Not reproducing the forms of the past, but embodying the spiritual ideas of the present, and catching inspiration at the thought of a more glorious future.

R. C. W.

ART. III.-POETRY.

A SABBATH-MORNING PSALM.

GOD! on this lovely Sabbath morn,
I, with Thy world, again am born!
Raised up from slumber's breathing death,
I feel Thy blissful, heavenly breath
Flow round me in the vital air,

Thy breath, my Father, everywhere.
Again Thy sun smiles forth,-again
Thou liftest on the earth and men
The light of Thy benignant face.
Thy finger and Thy form I trace,
O God of Light and Life and Love,
In lines of grace, below, above;
In clouds, suspended by thy hand,
In waves that curl along the sand, –
Where sunbeams glance or shadows sweep
Across the field or o'er the deep.
Mysterious One! the kindling sight
Awakes me to a loftier light,

The Sun of Righteousness, that brings

Heaven's healing breeze upon its wings.
Though nature tells of winter near,

No winter of the heart I fear.

Though fields grow brown, and bleak, and bare,

Beneath the cold and cheerless air,

And earth turn stiff, and inland streams

Smile cold like stone at noon's cold beams;

I look far out upon the sea,

The waves, unfrozen, sparkle free:

I lift my eyes, and lo! on high
Spring sparkles in the pure, blue sky.
O for a tongue Thy name to praise,
Beginning, Blessing, of my days!
Who to Thy thankless child hast given
Such glimpses of the spirit's heaven,
Of that unfading summer-shore,
Where pure love's flowers can die no more;
Where night is not, wherein the ray
Of every star is endless day!

DECEMBER, 1849.

SUNS, as they roll flaming in splendor,
Publish to suns the praise of the Lord;
Heavens with heavens, in majesty tender,
Praising Jehovah, sublimely accord.
Praise to Jehovah, endlessly hymning,
Sweeps the high chorus from star to star;
Worlds without number, in beauty swimming,
Thrill to His glory from near and far.

SINGLE VOICES.

With praise to God let earth resound, -
Earth, too, is His and His alone;
From pole to pole, the wide world round,
Yield Him a temple and a throne !
The little Samoyed be telling

His praises to the icy shore;

On balmy gales of Sheba swelling,
The thanks of Bedouin bosoms soar!

The Indian, where Niagara thunders,
To Thee, in wild delight, exclaim,
And in the seven-fold rainbow's wonders
Show to his little one Thy name!
And, ere revenge the sod hath wet,
Bury the hatchet in the sand,
Share with his foe the calumet,

And slake his thirst with friendly hand.

God's sun shines free in heaven above,

Towards all His mild moon nightly yearns;
O, then, that love might answer love,
Where'er a man with man sojourns!
Father, to Thee, with every morrow,
Be opened every human breast;
Each share his neighbour's joy and sorrow,
And love be each one's constant guest.

Father of lights, whole nations groping
Thou seest in midnight shades profound,

And us, who in Thy light are hoping,
The clouds of evil days surround.
Lord, in this night of desolation,

My harp shall be attuned to Thee;
Thou didst the day's, the night's, duration,
Before the birth of sun, decree.

The naked hill with flowers adorning,
I see a sudden verdure spring;
I see a fair and glorious morning
Abroad its golden pinions fling.
Like doves, when wild the tempest lowers,
Who flee before Jehovah's hand.
Hail, Israel, in thy goodly bowers,
Welcome to Jacob's promised land!

I see the fiery pillar blazing,

Where the cloud-column long since sank;
The ransomed tribes their Lord are praising,
All nations join their God to thank.
Morn meeteth eve with tender greeting,-
Night shares with noon its secret bliss,
And righteousness and mercy, meeting,
Seal their long union with a kiss.

CHORUS.

From heights and from depths all creatures, adoring,
Sing to Jehovah with solemn accord;
Strong as an eagle, heavenward soaring,

Rises the anthem of praise to the Lord.

Angels, descending, mingle with mortals;

Love's breath unsealeth, like blossoms, the tombs ;

Heaven above flings open its portals;

Earth, a new Eden, eternally blooms.

A GAZELLE.

FROM THE GERMAN OF RÜCKERT.

I SAW a strong-winged eagle up at the sun's face stare, And, in the shadow cooing, of turtle-doves a pair.

I saw the East come driving his cloud-flocks up the sky, And lambkins on the meadow circling the shepherd there. I heard the stars all asking, O, when shall we arise? And the germs in all the kernels, O long night, faster fare!

1850.] Brownson's Argument for the Roman Church. 227

I saw a blade at morning bloom, and decay ere night, And cedars of ten centuries defy the wintry air.

I saw the ocean's billows, like kings, all crowned with foam, Bow at the rock's high altar like lowly great in prayer. I saw a droplet sparkle, a jewel, in the sun,

That dreaded not the danger of burning in the glare.

I saw men swarm in millions to build them house and town, And crawling ant-tribes rearing their hills with toil and care. I saw the war-steed trampling whole cities in the dust, Till, red with blood, his hoofs were as morning's rosy air. I saw the winter weaving a robe of fleecy white For earth, when spring had left it all naked, cold, and bare. I heard the shuttle whirring that spins the veil of suns, And saw a caterpillar weaving his tomb of hair.

I saw both great and little, and found the little great, For I saw, in God's creation, God's likeness everywhere!

C. T. B.

1

ART. IV. ORESTES A. BROWNSON'S ARGUMENT FOR THE ROMAN CHURCH.*

We intend to speak in this present article of Mr. Brownson, and of his argument for the Roman Church. Mr. Brownson is an active thinker, an energetic writer, and a man who has assumed an important position in American literature by years of steady labor. He has devoted himself during that time to the highest questions of philosophy, ethics, and theology, and has treated none of these subjects in a superficial or commonplace way. He has also belonged for a time, after a fashion of his own, to our communion. He has repeatedly created sensations by his ultraism on several subjects, and he finally astonished our community by going over from extreme Neology and Transcendentalism to Romanism of the most Ultramontane kind. Since then, he has occasionally addressed some arguments to his old friends, in behalf of his new Church. He has sometimes referred to our own periodical; and in April, 1845, addressed us, in a somewhat elaborate argument, inviting us to become

Brownson's Quarterly Review. January, 1844, to January, 1850. Boston: Published by Benjamin H. Greene.