The deeper shades of ev'ning come not after,
As they are wont, but day is lengthened out
Most strangely.

Thane. See'st thou those paly streams of shiv'ring light So widely spread along the northern sky?

They to the twilight grey that brightness lend
At which thou wonderest. Look up, I pray thee!
Her. What may it mean? it is a beauteous light.
Tha. In truth, I know not. Many a time have I
On hill and heath beheld the changeful face
Of awful night; I've seen the moving stars
Shoot rapidly athwart the sombre sky,
Red fiery meteors in the welkin blaze,
And sheeted lightnings gleam, but ne'er before
Saw I a sight like this. It is belike
Some sign portentous of our coming fate;
Had we not better pause, and con a while
This daring scene, ere yet it be too late?

Her. No, by this brave man's sword! not for an hour Will I the glorious vengeful deed delay,

Though heaven's high dome were flaming o'er my head,
And earth beneath me shook. If it be aught
Portentous, it must come from higher powers;
For demons ride but on the lower clouds,
Or raise their whirlwinds in the nether air.
Every good spirit still must favour those
Who war on virtue's side: therefore, I say,
Let us march boldly to the glorious work :
It is a sign fortelling Ethwald's fall.

Now for our valiant friends; they must be near.

SECTION XLVI.

SIR ANTHONY ABSOLUTE-CAPT. ABSOLute.
R. B. Sheridan.

Capt. Absolute. SIR, I am delighted to see you here, and looking so well! your sudden arrival at Bath made me apprehensive for your health.

Sir Anthony. Very apprehensive, I dare say, Jack. What, you are recruiting here, hey?

Capt. A. Yes, Sir, I am on duty.

Sir A. Well, Jack, I am glad to see you, though I did

not expect it for I was going to write to you on a little matter of business. Jack, I have been considering that I grow old and infirm, and shall not probably trouble you long.

Capt. A. Pardon me, Sir, I never saw you look more strong and hearty, and I pray fervently that you may continue so.

Sir A. I hope your prayers may be heard with all my heart. Well then, Jack, I have been considering that I am so strong and hearty, I may continue to plague you a long time. Now, Jack, I am sensible that the income of your commission, and what I have hitherto allowed you, is but a small pittance for a lad of your spirit.

Capt. A. Sir, you are very good.

Sir A. And it is my wish, while yet I live, to have my boy make some figure in the world. I have resolved, there

fore, to fix you at once in a noble independence.

Capt. A. Sir, your kindness overpowers me.

Yet,

Sir, I presume you would not wish me to quit the army? Oh! that shall be as your wife chooses.

Sir A.

Capt. A. My wife, Sir?

Sir A.

Capt A.
Sir A.

Capt. A.

Ay, ay, settle that between you.

A wife, Sir, did you say?

Ay, a wife: why, did not I mention her before?
Not a word of her, Sir.

Sir A. Odd so; I mustn't forget her, though. Yes, Jack, the independence I was talking of is by a marriage; the fortune is saddled with a wife: but I suppose that makes no difference?

Capt A. Sir, Sir! you amaze me!

Sir A.

Why, what the deuce's the matter with the fool? just now you were all gratitude and duty.

Capt. A. I was, Sir; you talked to me of independence and a fortune, but not a word of a wife.

Sir A. Why, what difference does that make? Odds life, sir! if you have the estate, you must take it with the live stock on it, as it stands.

Capt. A. Pray, Sir, who is the lady?

Sir A. What's that to you, sir? come, give me your promise to love, and to marry her directly.

Capt. A. Sure, sir, that is not very reasonable, to summon my affections for a lady I know nothing of!

Sir A. I am sure, sir, 'tis more unreasonable in you to object to a lady you know nothing of,

Capt. A. You must excuse me, sir, if I tell you, once for all, that in this point I cannot obey you.

Sir A. Harkye, Jack;-I have heard you for some time with patience-I have been cool,-quite cool; but take care; you know I am compliance itself, when I am not thwarted; no one more easily led, when I have my own way; but don't put me in a frenzy.

Capt. A. Sir, I must repeat it; in this I cannot obey you.

Sir A. Now, hang me, if ever I call you Jack again while I live!

Capt. A. Nay, sir, but hear me.

Sir A. Sir, I wont hear a word, not a word! not one word! so give me your promise by a nod, and I'll tell you what, Jack-I mean, you dog-if you don't, by

Capt. A. What, sir, promise to link myself to some mass of ugliness; to

Sir A. Zounds! sirrah! the lady shall be as ugly as I choose she shall have a hump on each shoulder; she shall be as crooked as the crescent; her one eye shall roll like the bull's in Cox's museum; she shall have a skin like a mummy, and the beard of a Jew-She shall be all this, sirrah! yet I'll make you ogle her all day, and sit up all night, to write sonnets on her beauty.

Capt. A. This is reason and moderation, indeed!

Sir A. None of your sneering, puppy! no grinning, jackanapes!

Capt. A. Indeed, sir, I never was in a worse humour for mirth in my life.

Sir A. 'Tis false, sir; I know you are laughing in your sleeve; I know you'll grin when I am gone, sirrah!

Capt. A. Sir, I hope I know my duty better.

Sir A. None of your passion, sir! none of your violence, if you please; it wont do with me, I promise you. Capt A. Indeed, sir, I never was cooler in my life. Sir A. "Tis a confounded lie! I know you are in a passion in your heart; I know you are, you hypocritical young dog; but it wont do.

Capt. A. Nay, sir, upon my word

Sir A. So you will fly out! can't you be cool, like me? what good can passion do? passion is of no service, you impudent, insolent, overbearing reprobate! there, you sneer again! don't provoke me! but you rely upon the mildness of my temper, you do, you dog! you play upon the meekness of my disposition! yet, take care; the patience of a

saint may be overcome at last! but mark! I give you six hours and a half to consider of this: if you then agree, without any condition to do every thing on earth that I 'choose, why-confound you! I may in time forgive you. If not, zounds! don't enter the same hemisphere with me! don't dare to breathe the same air, or use the same light with me; but get an atmosphere and a sun of your own : I'll strip you of your commission: I'll lodge a five-and-threepence in the hands of trustees, and you shall live on the interest. I'll disown you, I'll disinherit you! and hang me! if ever I call you Jack again! [Exit. Capt. A. Mild, gentle, considerate father! I kiss your hands.

SECTION XLVII.

EXTRACT FROM MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH IN REPLY TO

MR. HAYNE.

dissent

MR. PRESIDENT, I have thus stated the reasons of my to the doctrines which have been advanced and maintained. I am conscious of having detained you, and the Senate, much too long. I was drawn into the debate, with no previous deliberation such as is suited to the discussion of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of which my heart is full, and I have not been willing to suppress the utterance of its spontaneous sentiments.

I cannot, even now, persuade myself to relinquish it, without expressing, once more, my deep conviction, that since it respects nothing less than the union of the states, it is of most vital and essential importance to the public happiness. I profess, sir, in my career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the prosperity and honour of the whole country, and the preservation of our federal union. It is to that union we owe our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity abroad. It is to that union that we are chiefly indebted for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That union we reached, only by the discipline of our virtues, in the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great interests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness of life. Every year of

its duration has teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings; and although our territory has stretched out, wider and wider, and our population spread farther and farther, they have not outran its protection, or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious fountain of national, social, personal happiness. I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty, when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this government, whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed. While the union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonoured fragments of a once glorious union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerant; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honoured throughout the earth, and still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured-bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as— -What is all this worth? Nor those other words of delusion and folly-Liberty first, and Union afterwards-but every where, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart-Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable !

M