It appears also that Mr. Poole contrived to enliven the barren paths of Law and Legislation by an occasional intercourse with the Muses. We find among his papers two Poems—one is brief, of an amatory character, and addressed to Chloe—that much besonnetted name. The other, containing about one hundred and ninety lines is thus entitled
The Expedition oe'r the mountain's:
Being Mr. Blackmore's Latin Poem, entitled,
Expeditio Ultra-Montana:
Rendered into English verse and inscribed
To the Honourable the Governour. (A. O. Spotswood.)
The "Expedition &c" is remarkable for three things—its antiquity (Virginian antiquity)—its mediocrity—and for one or two lines in which (singularly enough) direct reference is made to the discovery of a gold region in Virginia. The lines run thus—
| Here taught to dig by his auspicious hand, They prov'd the growing Pregnance of the land; For, being search'd, the fertile earth gave signs That her womb teem'd with gold and silver mines. This ground, if faithful, may in time outdo The soils of Mexico, and of fam'd Peru. |
Gentlemen,—In accepting, with the profoundest sense of my own unworthiness, the station you have been pleased to confer upon me, my mind very naturally reverts to the distinguished individual who has heretofore presided over your deliberations, and has added to the interest of your proceedings by the lustre of his own reputation, and the mild dignity of his exalted character. Since the days of General Washington, no man has lived more beloved and respected, or died more universally regretted, than the late venerable Chief Justice. Throughout this widely extended republic, our fellow citizens have vied in the distinguished honors which have been paid to his memory. Those honors have not been confined to the state which gave him birth, to the city in which he dwelt, to the supreme tribunal of his native state, which owes so much of its former reputation to the efficient aid he brought to their deliberations in the flower of his age. They have not been confined to any political party, or denied by those who have honestly and widely differed from him in their views of the construction of the great charter of our government. No, gentlemen, his character and life have been the themes of universal eulogy. The meditations of the wise have dwelt upon his virtues, and the lips of the eloquent have poured forth his praises throughout the Union. It is right that it should be so. As Chief Justice of the United States, his fame was the common property of that Union, which he so truly loved, and which he so long and so faithfully has served. For five and thirty years he presided over the first judicial tribunal of the United States; a tribunal which he elevated by his dignity, which he illustrated by his abilities, and instructed by his wisdom; a tribunal which was not only enlightened by the splendor of his meridian greatness, but was illumined by the last rays of his departing genius, and beheld with admiration its broad and spotless disc as it descended to the horizon. Even the hand of time seems to have dealt gently with his noble mind; and, like Mansfield and Pendleton, he too sunk into the grave full indeed of years as well as honors, but with unfading powers: thus affording another illustrious instance of the preservation of the undying intellect amid the ruins of a decaying frame.
| Orbis illabetur ævo, vires hominumque tabescent, Mens sola cælestis in œvum intacta manebit. |
But, gentlemen, it has been the good fortune of some among us to have known our venerated countryman, not only in the elevated station to which his abilities had exalted him, but also in the not less interesting relations of private life.
| Seen him we have, and in the happier hour, Of social ease but ill exchanged for power; |
And in that delightful intercourse who has not remarked how beautifully the amiable urbanity and simplicity of his manners, commingled with the unpretending dignity which was inseparable from the elevation of his character and his station? Who has not witnessed the purity of his feelings, the warmth of his benevolence, and the fervor of his zeal, in lending the support and countenance of his great name and influence to every enterprise which was calculated to promote the public good; to every scheme which promised to assist the march of intellect; to every association which had for its object the advancement of his countrymen in wisdom and virtue, and to every plan which philanthropy could plausibly suggest, for the amelioration of the condition of the humblest of our species? His heart and his hand were equally open, and his purse and his services were always freely commanded where they were called for by any object of public utility or private beneficence. It is not then surprising, gentlemen, that such a man should have been found at the head of this Society; that you should have selected him to grace your laudable enterprise, or that he should have lent his ready aid to an institution, which, however humble in its beginnings, gives the promise of important aid to the knowledge and literature of our country. But it is a matter of the most painful regret, that the light of his countenance will shine no more upon us here, and that the influence of his counsels and the inspiration of his wisdom are withdrawn from us forever. Those cannot be replaced; and we may say of him as was said of the great father of his country more than forty years ago,
| Successors we may find, but tell us where, Of all thy virtues we shall find the heir. |