A plume waved o'er the noble brow-the brow was fixed and white

He met at last his father's eyes-but in them was no

sight!

Up from the ground he sprang and gazed-but who could paint that gaze?

They hushed their very hearts that saw its horror and

amaze

They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood,

For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.

"Father!" at length he murmured low-and wept like childhood then

Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!

He thought on all his glorious hopes, and all his young

renown

He flung his falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down.

Then covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow,

"No more, there is no more," he said, "to lift the sword for now

My king is false, my hope betrayed, my father-oh! the worth,

The glory, and the loveliness are passed away from

earth.

I thought to stand where banners waved, my sire, beside

thee yet

I would that there our kindred blood on Spain's free soil had met

Thou wouldst have known my spirit then-for thee my fields were won,

And thou hast perished in thy chains, as though thou hadst no son!"

Then starting from the ground once more, he seized the monarch's rein,

Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier

And with a fierce o'ermastering grasp the rearing warhorse led,

And sternly set them face to face-the king before the dead

"Came I not forth upon thy pledge, my father's hand to kiss?

-Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me what

is this?

The voice, the glance, the heart I sought-give answer where are they?

If thou wouldst clear thy perjured soul, send life through this cold clay.

"Into these glassy eyes put light-be still! keep down thine ire

Bid these white lips a blessing speak-this earth is not my sire

Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed

Thou canst not?-and a king!-his dust be mountains on thy head!"

He loosed the steed, his slack hand fell-upon the silent

face

He cast one long, deep troubled look, then turned from that sad place

His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain

His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain.

XXIV.

Patriotic Exhortation.*-REV. R. HALL.

THE inundation of lawless power, after covering the rest of Europe, threatens England; and we are most exactly, most critically placed in the only aperture, where

*From a Sermon delivered before the volunteers of Bristol, when an invasion of England from France was anticipated.

it can be successfully repelled, in the Thermopyla of the universe.

As far as the interests of freedom are concerned, the most important by far of sublunary interests, you, my countrymen, stand in the capacity of the federal representatives of the human race: for with you it is to deter mine, (under God) in what condition the latest posterity shall be born; their fortunes are entrusted to your care, and on your conduct at this moment depend the colour and complexion of their destiny. If liberty, after being extinguished on the continent, is suffered to expire here, where is it ever to emerge in the midst of that thick night that will invest it?

It remains with you, then, to decide, whether that freedom, at whose voice the kingdoms of Europe awoke from the sleep of ages, to run a career of virtuous emulation in every thing great and good; the freedom which dispelled the mists of superstition, and invited the nations to behold their God; whose magic touch kindled the rays of genius, the enthusiasm of poetry and the flame of eloquence; the freedom which poured into our lap opulence and arts, and embellished life with innumerable institutions, till it became a theatre of wonders: it is for you to decide whether this freedom shall yet survive, or perish for ever.

But you have decided. With such a trust, every thought of what is afflicting in warfare, every apprehension of danger must vanish, and you are impatient to mingle in the battle of the civilized world.

Go then, ye defenders of your country, accompanied with every auspicious omen; advance with alacrity into the field, where God himself musters the hosts of war. Religion is too much interested in your success, not to lend you her aid; she will shed over your enterprise her selectest influence.

While you are engaged in the field, many will repair to the closet, many to the sanctuary; the faithful of every name will employ that prayer which has power with God; the feeble hands which are unequal to any other weapon, will grasp the sword of the Spirit: and from myriads of humble, contrite hearts, the voice of intercession, supplication and weeping will mingle in its ascent to heaven with the shouts of battle and the shock of arms.

My brethren, I cannot but imagine that the virtuous heroes, legislators and patriots of every age and country are bending from their elevated seats to witness this contest, incapable, till it be brought to a favourable issue, of enjoying their eternal repose.

Enjoy that repose, illustrious immortals; your mantle fell when you ascended; and thousands, inflamed with your spirit, and impatient to tread in your steps, are ready to swear by Him that sitteth on the throne and liveth for ever and ever, that they will protect freedom in her last asylum, and never desert that cause which you sustained by your labours and cemented with your blood.

XXV.

Moral Desolation.-N. E. REVIEW.

WAR may stride over the land with the crushing step of a giant. Pestilence may steal over it like an invisible curse-reaching its victims silently and unseen-unpeopling here a village and there a city, until every dwel ling is a sepulchre. Famine may brood over it with a long and weary visitation, until the sky itself is brazen, and the beautiful greenness gives place to a parched desert-a wide waste of unproductive desolation. But these are only physical evils. The wild flower will bloom in peace on the field of battle and above the crushed skeleton. The destroying angel of the pestilence will retire when his errand is done, and the nation will again breathe freely. And the barrenness of famine will cease at last-the cloud will be prodigal of its hoarded rain-and the wilderness will blossom.

But for moral desolation there is no reviving spring. Let the moral and republican principles of our country be abandoned-our representatives bow in unconditional obsequiousness to individual dictation-let impudence and intrigue and corruption triumph over honesty and intellect, and our liberties and strength will depart for ever. Of these there can be no resuscitation. The "abomination of desolation" will be fixed and perpetual; and as the mighty fabric of our glory totters into ruins, the nations of the earth will mock us in our overthrow,

like the powers of darkness, when the throned one of Babylon became even as themselves—and the "glory of the Chaldee's excellency” had gone down.

XXVI.

On the Transportation and Distribution of the Mail on Sunday.*-R. M. JOHNSON.

FROM the earliest period of time, religious teachers have attained great ascendency over the minds of the people; and in every nation, ancient or modern, whether Pagan, Mohammedan or Christian, have succeeded in the incorporation of their religious tenets with the political institutions of their country. The Persian idols, the German oracles, the Roman auguries, and the modern priesthood of Europe, have all, in their turn, been the subjects of popular adulation, and the agents of political deception. Religious zeal enlists the strongest prejudices of the human mind; and, when misdirected, excites the worst passions of our nature, under the delusive pretext of doing God service. Nothing so infuriates the heart to deeds of rapine and blood; nothing is so incessant in its toils; so persevering in its determinations; so appalling in its course; or so dangerous in its consequences. The equality of rights secured by the constitution, may bid defiance to mere political tyrants; but the robe of sanctity too often glitters to deceive. The constitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred as that of the Christian; and gives no more authority to adopt a measure affecting the conscience of a solitary individual, than that of a whole community. If congress shall declare the first day of the week holy, it will not convince the Jew nor the Sabbatarian. It will dissatisfy both, and consequently convince neither. Human power

*From the celebrated report of the Post office Committee of the House of Representatives in Congress, (of which Colonel Johnson was chairman) on the petitions and remonstrances of numerous individuals, who were adverse to the transportation and opening of the mail on Sunday. Made 5th of May, 1830.