evert in affection to their homes, or to the
society from which they have been snatched,--whether they look forward
with hope or fear, or are incapable of looking forward at all,--it will
appear whether the justice and benevolence of the community have secured
the commonest blessings of moral life to these its lowest members, or
whether they have been utterly crushed by the selfishness of the society
into which they were born. To have criminals at all may in time come to
be a disgrace to a community; meantime, their number and quality are an
evidence as to its prevalent moral notions, which the intelligent
observer will not disregard.

* * * * *

[H]"The SONGS of every nation must always be the most familiar and truly
popular part of its poetry. They are uniformly the first fruits of the
fancy and feeling of rude societies; and, even in the most civilized
times, are _the only_ poetry of the great body of the people. Their
influence, therefore, upon the character of a country has been
universally felt and acknowledged. Among rude tribes, it is evident that
their songs must, at first, take their tone from the prevailing
character of the people. But, even among them, it is to be observed
that, though generally expressive of the fiercest passions, they yet
represent them with some tincture of generosity and good feeling, and
may be regarded as the first lessons and memorials of savage virtue. An
Indian warrior, at the stake of torture, exults, in wild numbers, over
the enemies who have fallen by his tomahawk, and rejoices in the
anticipated vengeance of his tribe. But it is chiefly by giving
expression to the loftiest sentiments of invincible courage and
fortitude, that he seeks to support himself in the midst of his
torments. 'I am brave and intrepid!' he exclaims,--'I do not fear death
nor any kind of torture! He who fears them is a coward--he is less than
a woman. Death is nothing to him who has courage!' As it is thus the
very best parts of their actual character that are dwelt upon even in
the barbarous songs of savages, these songs must contribute essentially
to the progress of refinement, by fostering and cherishing every germ of
good feeling that is successively developed during the advancement of
society. When selfishness begins to give way to generosity,--when mere
animal courage is in some degree ennobled by feelings of patriotic
self-devotion,--and, above all, when sensual appetit