The Rhode Island Republican

POETRY.

For the Rhode-Island Republican.

A PANEGYRICAL ADDRESS
To that Prodigy in Literature, William
Jones, Esq. Governour, Captain-General
and Commander in Chief of the State of
Rhode-Island, &c. &c.
Occasioned by
his "very masterly letter" of April 9th,
1810—a chef d'oeuvre in epistolary Com-
position.

BY PETER TINDERHORN, ESQ.

THOU mighty man of erudition,
Who soar'st beyond all competition,
Like eagles when, with raptur'd gaze,
They hover toward the solar blaze,
Permit a Bard, on knees before thee,
To sing, in humble strains, thy glory
Though heroes, legislators, sages,
Phenomena of different ages,
In honour's temple are instated,
Or to empyreal skies translated,
Yet these, when with thine Excellency
Compar'd, appear of small degree,
E'en like a herd of Lilliputians
Scampering at Gulliver's intrusions.
Thy vivid genius brightly beaming,
Like primal light through chaos gleaming,
O'er man sheds lustre in a hurry,
And ignorance puts in a sad flurry.
In thy huge noddle is concentred
All science that the world e'er enter'd
From Hermes Trismegistus down
To the illustrious Nico Brown:
Whence "to assist our hopes and fears,"
It whizzing comes about our ears,
Like gallant Rogers' whistling bullets,
That bor'd the British pirates' gullets,
And taught the slaves of tyranny,
That freeman's tars will use the sea.
But what must raise the utmost wonder,
And make the sons of lore knock under,
Is that thou gain'dst thy information,
Without the aid of cogitation.
Thy walk no Lyceum did direct, nor
Hast thou heard Professor's lecture;
Intensity of midnight study
Ne'er made encephalon seem muddy.
By what blest power was then refin'd
Thy wondrous, energetic mind?
Must our credulity be greeted
With age of miracles repeated?
Is thy intelligence innate,
In utero stamp'd in thy pate?
O have the rites of ars notoria,
In mystic forms, been play'd before thee?
But from whatever source was pour'd
The learning in thy cranium stor'd,
It lifts thee high above all mortals,
And bears thee fairly through fame's portals,
Thine eloquence the senses charms,
The soul enthral, the bosom warms,
Like old Timotheus' varied strain
That turn'd the "god-like" victor's brain!
"Roll'd on thy tongue our language mends,"
Its force exalts, its bounds extends,
Crows, parrots, magpies round thee flutter
To learn new terms and sounds to utter.
When thou assum'st thy magic pen,
Thou soar'st beyond all human ken;
The greatest writers, in amaze,
At distance stand and wistful gaze,
And wish a genial ray of thine,
"Might through their darkening fortunes shine,"
But wish in vain; for thee and Brown,
Are wove the laurels of renown,
Which round your brows luxuriant flourish,
As dunghills thriftless weeds best nourish.
Each line shines so intensely bright,
That it confounds our mental sight,
So much, that none can comprehend
The meaning that thou dost intend.
Beneath the power of thy dictation,
Letters assume new combination;
Syntax is to new forms subjected,
While all the learned stand corrected.
But had I e'en the voice of Stentor,
And fifty throats, I dare not venture
One half thy merits to declare,
At which all nature seems to stare.
Then, while thy flight outstrips Pegasus,
The tow'ring far above Parnassus,
Let me stop short my salutation,
And muse in silent admiration,
Like Randolph when he quench'd his fire
With Chatham's talismanic name.
* Vice; an elegant and appropriate manner in
which this celebrated character abbreviates the pre-
nominal part of his appellation. No person must,
therefore, be so presumptuous as to rank him among
that class of unfortunate citizens who cannot cor-
rectly spell their own names. Even such an idea
would be more than presumptuous. It would be pro-
fanity. What dare to think so meanly of the First
Senator in the Legislature of Rhode-Island, especi-
ally when invested with that high and responsible of-
fice by the learned federalists alone!! Oh horrid
horrid! Banish, gentle reader, banish such an im-
pious thought forever from thy mind.

Ars notoria— "pretended manner of acquiring
sciences by infusion, without any other applica-
tion than a little fasting, and performing a few cere-
monies."

See Dryden's Alexander's Feast.

§ The three species of the feathered race most
noted for a facility of imitating the human language.

New method of orthography.

Like Randolph, &c. This eccentric, vapour-
ing, supercilious, egotistic, hair-brained politician,
while displaying his singular powers of eloquence
on the floor of Congress, (Dec. 16,) having an occa-
sion to mention the name of Chatham, he suddenly
uttered the peroration of his harangue in the fol-
lowing pathetic words: "My heart is full; I can
say no more; the name of that matchless orator and
statesman has filled me with unspeakable feelings."