Joseph Dennie, an ardent Anglophile who detested democracy, was a leading literary figure during the latter half of the eighteenth century, which has been described as the "Dark Ages of American Journalism," and the ensuing first decade of the nineteenth century. He founded and edited the Port Folio, which was considered the finest magazine in America during his editorship. It was also the only early American magazine to survive for a considerable length of time. Politically Dennie was such a reactionary that one historian has described him as a monarchist. He strongly supported the Federalists and bitterly opposed Thomas Jefferson and his administration. Dennie was more accomplished as an essayist than as a political commentator, and he was sometimes compared with England's Joseph Addison. A frail, sickly individual who died relatively young, Dennie is best remembered for his literary criticism and his "Lay Preacher" essays.

Born 30 August 1768, Dennie...