“
times of Greece and Rome. It would have been recieved in England in the days of Hampden & Sydney with more favor than at this
time. It marks a high and independant mind in the author, one capable of rising above the partialities of country, to have
seen in the adversary cause that of justice and freedom, and to have estimated fairly the motives and actions of those engaged
in it’s support . . . as you have been the channel of my recieving this mark of attention from m
(
~
r)
Northmore, I must pray you to be that of conveying to him my thanks, and an assurance of the high sense I have of the merit
of his work and of it’s tendency to cherish the noblest virtues of the human character . . .
”
The various mentions with merit and approbation are as follows:
Line 208 (page 13):
| Nor let from your harpyian fangs escape |
| The prudent Laurens, (who hath won the heart |
| Of sage De Castries,) nor that Jefferson, |
| In whom I see a more than common foe; |
Line 309 (page 24):
| . . . e’en Washington calls out |
| For aid on Jefferson . . . |
The footnote to this passage is a quotation from Marshall’s
Life of Washington:
310.
For aid on Jefferson:--Washington in one of his letters writes thus; “Where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their
country? Let this voice, my dear sir, call upon you, Jefferson, and others.”
Life of W., iv. 58. See 324.
Line 286 (page 135):
| Here stop, my Muse! to observe yon generous youth, |
| Whose downy cheeks the bloom of health adorns; |
| Whose virtuous mind, with genuine glory fir’d, |
| Streams from his swollen eyes. See where he stands |
| Close by his country’s guardian. Noble youth! |
| Thou too shalt be Columbia’s future joy; |
| Her glory, and her pride; Yes! Jefferson! |
| The cause of freedom, and the cause of man, |
| Shall not to thy protection trust in vain; |
| Thou too shalt be another Washington. |
The note to line 292,
Yes! Jefferson! is also taken from the
Life of Washington: 292.
Jefferson!--The high respect in which Washington held this enlightened friend of the human race, may be gathered from his having placed
him at the head of the department of foreign affairs. And when we add that his country has thought him qualified to fill that
chair, which was once occupied by Washington himself, all further commendation would be useless. See
Life of W., v. 244.
417-8.
Thomas Northmore, 1766-1851, English miscellaneous writer. A second edition of this poem was published in Baltimore in the same year.
[4303]
43
Dwight’s Conquest of Canaan.
12
mo.
1815 Catalogue, page 135, no. 12, as above.
DWIGHT,
Timothy.
The Conquest of Canäan; a Poem, in Eleven Books. By Timothy Dwight . . .
Hartford: Printed by
Elisha Babcock,
m,dcc,lxxxv
. [1785.]
PS739 .C7 1785
First Edition. 12mo. 156 leaves.
Sabin 21548.
Evans 18996.
Dexter III, page 326, no. 6.
Wegelin 128.
Howard, page 416.
Trumbull 631.
Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817, Congregational divine, was President of Yale College from 1795 to 1817.
The Conquest of Canaan is dedicated to George Washington from Greenfield, in Connecticut, March 1, 1785. The poem is preceded by an explanatory
preface beginning:
As this poem is the first of its kind, which has been published in this country, the writer begs leave to introduce it with
several observations, which that circumstance alone may perhaps render necessary . . .
[4304]
