point to the writings of Dr
Channing for an illustration of our meaning. They have to us an air of
formality, a slight dash of pedantry. We seem to hear the echo, though
it has grown faint, of the Johnsonian rhythm. They are often not
ineloquent, but the eloquence seems to have passed under the hands of
the composition-master. The clever classical romance, called "The
Letters from Palmyra," has the same studied air. It is here, indeed,
more suited to the subject, for every writer, when treating of a
classical era, appears by a sort of intuitive propriety to recognise
the necessity of purifying to the utmost his own style.

In some of Mr Hawthorne's papers we are reminded, and by no means
disagreeably, of the manner of Steele and Addison. "The Intelligence
Office" presents, in some parts, a very pleasing imitation of this
style. This central intelligence office is one open to all mankind to
make and record their various applications. The first person who
enters inquires for "a place," and when questioned what sort of place
he is seeking, very naively answers, "I want my place!--my own
place!--my true place in the world!--my thing to do!" The application
is entered, but very slender hope is given that he who is running
about the world in search of his place, will ever find it.

"The next that entered was a man beyond the middle age, bearing
the look of one who knew the world and his own course in it. He
had just alighted from a handsome private carriage, which had
orders to wait in the street while its owner transacted his
business. This person came up to the desk with a quick determined
step, and looked the Intelligencer in the face with a resolute
eye, though at the same time some secret trouble gleamed from it.

"'I have an estate to dispose of,' said he with a brevity that
seemed characteristic.

"'Describe it,' said the Intelligencer.

"The applicant proceeded to give the boundaries of his property,
its nature, comprising tillage, pasture, woodland, and pleasure
ground, in ample circuit; together with a mansion-house replete
with gorgeous furniture and all the luxurious artifices that
combined to render it a residence where life might flow onward in
a stream of golden days.

"'I am a man of strong will,' said he in conclusion, 'and at my
first setting out in life as a poor unfriended youth, I resolved
to make myself the possessor of su