we may ascribe the design of his "Wanderer." The object of this poem was to illustrate a wild idea which he then entertained, that genius was totally incompatible with prudence, and that superior abilities would form an ample apology for extravagance and irregularity. The good sense of riper years taught him the fallacy of this sentiment, and its pernicious effect on society. On his return to civi lized life, he not only discontinued the poem, but endeavoured to atone for his weakness, by destroying most of the fruits of it. Some of the disjecta membra of this literary Quixote, which was to wage war with polished manners and sober reason, are preserved in this collection, because they are evidently descriptive of his own life and opinions. Two of the extracts will be found to be of a different metre from the rest, as, in the structure of his poem, he proposed to interrupt the recitation of blank verse occasionally by smaller pieces in rhyme. This is an innovation on the dignity of blank verse, for which he is not without respectable authority to justify him, and perhaps most readers of this species of poetry will agree with him, that the mind may sometimes be pleased by the ease and gaiety of a measure less stately and arduous. His memory being unusually retentive, he frequently repeated other parts of this poem to his biographer; but some are forgotten, and others it is deemed proper to suppress. Those which are preserved afford a sufficient specimen of his plan, and they contain no sentiment in hostility with the lessons of prudence.

upon

the scenes and manners

It is pleasant to dwell of youth; and therefore those, for whom this memoir is chiefly intended, will not be displeased if we return to his college life.

When no adventure offered itself, of the kind which has been described, and his usual associates had deserted him, to contend in the exploits of strength, dexterity or speed, which had no allurements for him, he was employed in devouring some favourite author or meditating some new scheme of rural pleasure. He was fond of writing, and generally was ambitious to be well prepared with the stated compositions which were required by the discipline of the school. Every Saturday the pupils were to present essays on some subject which had been previously selected. On those occasions Shaw excelled, whenever he chose to exert his abilities. But sometimes he was not in the humour to compose, and at others he would be busily engaged in other pursuits, until the last minute barely allowed him time to pen a few hasty lines. His negligence or indolence did not escape the eye of the president, Mr. M'Dowell, to whose character, as a teacher and a man, the reverence and affection with which his memory is cherished by his former pupils, bear a testimony which is alike honourable to all parties.*

* In a spirit of hostility to learning and learned institutions, and contemptible and false economy which hoards money at any price, the funds of St. John's college were taken from it by a late legislature and added to the coffers of a treasury already overflowing. But the celebrity of Mr. M'Dowell soon procured him another situation. By the trustees of the University of Pennsyl

The talents of Shaw had not escaped the discernment of his preceptor, and he discovered at the first glance when he had not done justice to himself. His "Poetical Description of Spring" was produced on such an occasion as an atonement for one of these acts of negligence. He went to college in the morning without any essay. Spring was the subject allotted to their pens; but spring had not entered into his head. He had neither perused Thomson nor studied nature. Tearing a blank leaf from one of his school books, he hastily filled it up with some crude thoughts. When the paper was presented to Mr. M'Dowell he gave it one of those significant looks which was well understood by every delinquent. He refused to read it, but ordered the author to prepare another by the ensuing Saturday in addition to the regular task. His feelings were no doubt roused by this rebuke, and his wounded pride was afterwards solaced by the manner in which his "Description" was heard. It was received with complacency by the president, and, after a few friendly cautions to beware of the muses, much commended.

The salutary lessons of the preceptor were not lost

vania he was offered the chair of provost, which had been left vacant by the death of Dr. John Ewing. It is not unworthy of remark that both these gentlemen were obliged to leave a state, for the same cause, upon which their talents and piety would have reflected so much honour. There is an economy which enriches and dignifies a state, and another which impoverishes and degrades it. The substantial wealth and power of a country consist in the virtue and talents of its members.

upon the pupil. Notwithstanding his ardent attachment to poetry, it did not withdraw his mind from more substantial and serious pursuits. "I recollect," says one of his classmates, to whom I have acknowledged my obligations, "that his advantages in this respect were most beneficially used both for himself and his associates on the following occasion."

"While we were yet boys, a pupil of the William and Mary college in Virginia came to St. John's. He possessed talents and sprightliness, and a great fondness and facility for disputation. His mind unhappily had been poisoned by the doctrines of Godwin and other infidel writers, and he had no little zeal and a considerable dexterity in making converts. After his examination, he was placed in Shaw's class, and he immediately began to teach his accomplishments, particularly those of chewing tobacco and vending Paine's Age of Reason, to his new companions. They were certainly in some danger and would have been utterly unable to answer the objections of a much less formidable opponent; as they knew little of christianity but what they had imbibed in the nursery: its peculiar doctrines, and the evidences of its truth, formed no part of our system of education. My alma mater will excuse this reproach.

"In the disputes which arose, Shaw always took a distinguished part and stood forward as the advocate of sound principles. He had, manifestly, on every occasion, the best of the engagement, and induced, perhaps, a little, by our prejudices, we unani

mously sided with him and voted down Godwin and Tom Paine. We did not, to be sure, give either side a fair hearing; not feeling a sufficient interest in the question. We were repeatedly challenged to read these books, but we had something more engaging for our leisure hours, and felt also, probably, some apprehension as to the impression which they might make.

"Shaw, however, offered to read Paine, and there was something like a general consent that he should do So, and decide upon it. I remember very well feeling an anxiety to know how he would determine, and I do believe that he would have made infidels of most of us, if he had determined in favour of the book. But he pronounced against it, and avowed his conviction in the truth of the bible to be unshaken. In a conversation afterwards with him on the subject, he told me that some of the objections had given him some trouble to investigate and refute, that the work was plausibly written, and he thought I might as well not read it."

With this anecdote so honourable to the good sense, the sound principles and the perspicacious judgment of our youthful reasoner, we may conclude the history of his collegiate life. It required no common powers to escape the subtle snares and the artful sophisms of this monster of iniquity and cunning. His pernicious profligacy at one time infected many of the students of Princeton college, but the trustees have wisely made the important doctrines of christianity a part of the regular studies of the classes in