ferred to as the first bookkeeper in the Bank of New York.[2]

In the preface to his published poems, after the diffident manner of the
time, Low says: "Many of the pieces were written at a very early age, and
most of them under singular disadvantages; among which, application to
public business, for many years past, was not the least; not only because
it allowed little leisure for literary pursuits, but because it is of a
nature peculiarly inimical to the cultivation of poetic talent. For his own
amusement and improvement he has written--at the request of his friends he
publishes."

We know that he was a writer of odes, exhibiting some grace in his handling
of this poetic form. He is also credited with having written a long poem
entitled "Winter Displayed," in 1794. In 1800, two volumes of poems
appeared in New York, and among the subscribers listed were John Jacob
Astor, William Dunlap, Philip Hone, Dr. Peter Irving, and members of the
Beekman and Schermerhorn families.[3] Examining the contents of these
volumes, one discovers that Samuel Low, in a social and fraternal way, must
have been a very active member of New York society. On January 8, 1800, his
"Ode on the Death of Washington" was recited by Hodgkinson at the New York
Theatre.

At St. Paul's Church, and at Trinity Church, his anthems and odes were ever
to the fore. He must have been a member of the Tammany Society, or
Columbian Order, because a "Hymn to Liberty" was penned by him, and sung in
church on the anniversary of that organization, May 12, 1790.

His Masonic interests are indicated throughout the volume by poems written
especially for such orders as the Holland Lodge, and the Washington Chapter
of Royal Arch Masons. He was also asked to write an epitaph on John
Frederick Roorbach.

His interest in politics may likewise be seen in several poems written
about the Constitution of the United States; while his literary taste may
be measured by his tribute to Kotzebue, the "second Shakespeare," in which
occur the lines:

"_The purest, sweetest among modern bards
Who tread the difficult dramatic path._"

Except for this, as one of the biographical sources says, nothing is known
of Low's history, "and he is only saved from absolute oblivion by his two
small volumes of poems."

Yet "The Politician Out-witted" has historical value, and, in its dialogue,
exhibits how well Low had studied the artificial comedy of Sheridan. The
construction of t