Jenks' Portland Gazette

Miscellany.
FOR THE PORTLAND GAZETTE
THE PILGRIM.-No.I.
As a stranger, give him welcome.
Amid the avocations of business, the
pursuits of pleasure, or the contentions of
politics, which usually engage the minds
of individuals of both sexes, can a pilgrim
expect to attract the attention of either
male, or female. to listen to his "travels
history," or peruse his observations on
men, manners, and common occurrences.
Conscious of his feeble powers, and wanting
to prevent the sneer of those, more intimate
with the world, who may say, tho
he has travelled much, he has seen little.
the pilgrim acknowledges, that his most
valuable companion has been his book,
and that "first and chiefest" he has
sought
"Him that yon soars on golden wing,
Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne,
The cherub, contemplation."
He cannot therefore, as the pupil of experience,
who by his knowledge of the
follies, the vices, and the misery of the
world, not unfrequently becomes a misanthropist,
pretend to describe with accuracy
those scenes of depravity, which, from
the youth of this country, and the industry
of its inhabitants, he hopes, are equally
unknown to his readers. It certainly
may be as advantageous to discover how
good man can be, as to show how bad
he has been : for an ingenuous mind will
be more incited to the path of glory by
knowing how few have succeeded, than
by hearing how many have been disgraced
by miscarriage.
The advantages, enjoyed by a periodical
writer, arise chiefly from his secrecy
Enveloped in a friendly cloud, like that
which his "goddess mother" spread round
her Aeneas. he beholds the actions of others
in the security of solitude. Praise
from his pen is considered, as the blessing
that bestows it, is praise
even more, than if it were known. Experience
has also shown that the slightest
disapprobation is equally effective. The
Spectator, with whom every succeeding
essayist has wished, and often wished in
vain, to claim kindred, produced wonderful
changes on the petticoats and patches
of his day, and in the more dignified
numbers on criticism and morality, his
sentiments were esteemed, and his injunctions
obeyed.
The pilgrim descends not to flattery to
procure admirers. He claims not the
countenance of the rich, or the applause
of the poor; neither the patronage
of the men, nor the smiles of the
softer sex; for when they are deserved.
they will be afforded. If his design
be approved, he is pledged to continue :
and if he be neglected, he will own that
others have discovered what he did not
perceive in himself. Yet is he not indifferent
to the sentiments of his readers,
and candidly confesses that the continuance
of the pilgrim depends on his reception.
A German journalist states, that the last
Book Fair at Leipsic was rather dull-Divinity
went off heavily--Metaphysics sold
for waste paper, but Novels and Plays,
highly tinctured with madness, were all
the rage.-Lond. pa.
I