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man may justly aspire to such a title. It may, nevertheless, perish in an hour, by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE. Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray them.

Conclusion of his Exposition of the Constitution.

WASHINGTON IRVING.

"What! Irving! thrice welcome, warm heart and fine brain!
You bring back the happiest spirit from Spain,
And the gravest sweet humor that ever was there
Since Cervantes met death in his gentle despair.
Nay, don't be embarrass'd, nor look so beseeching,
I sha'n't run directly against my own preaching,

And, having just laugh'd at their Raphaels and Dantes,

Go to setting you up beside matchless Cervantes;
But allow me to speak what I honestly feel;-

To a true poet-heart add the fun of Dick Steele,
Throw in all of Addison minus the chill,

With the whole of that partnership's stock and good will,

Mix well, and, while stirring, hum o'er, as a spell,

The fine old English gentleman;'-simmer it well:

Sweeten just to your own private liking, then strain,

That only the finest and clearest remain:

Let it stand out of doors till a soul it receives

From the warm lazy sun loitering down through green leaves;
And you'll find a choice nature, not wholly deserving

A name either English or Yankee-just Irving."

James Russell Lowell's Fable for the Critics.

THIS most justly celebrated and widely-known of all American prose-writers was born in the city of New York, on the 3d of April, 1783. After receiving an ordinary school-education, he commenced, at the age of sixteen, the study of the law. In 1804, in consequence of ill health, he sailed for Bordeaux, and thence roamed over the most beautiful portions of Southern Europe, visited Switzerland, sojourned in Paris, passed through Holland to England, and returned home in 1806 and again resumed the study of the law. He was admitted to the bar in November of that year, but never practised. Shortly after, he joined Mr. Paulding in writing Salmagundi, the first number of which appeared in 1807. It was a miscellany full of humor and fun, which captivated the town, and decided the fortunes of the authors. In December of the following year, he published The History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker,-a most original and humorous work; and, a few years after, he edited the "Analectic Magazine." In the autumn of 1814, he joined the military staff of the Governor of New York, as aidde-camp, and secretary, with the title of colonel. At the close of the war, he embarked for Liverpool, with a view of making a second tour of Europe; but, financial troubles intervening, and the remarkable success which attended his literary enterprises being an encouragement to pursue a vocation which necessity, no less than taste, now urged him to follow, he embarked in the career of author

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