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and after the priestess had bathed in the renowned | exactly, what it should be. The author thus Castalian spring, she ascended the tripod, and states his plan in the Preface.

breathed in the noxious air from beneath. When she inhaled unusual quantities, she was often seized with violent paroxysms; and once her symptoms were so terrible, that the affrighted priests ran out of the temple, and left her alone, as they supposed to expire. When she was in these fits, she uttered strange and incoherent speeches, which the priests pretended to interpret, and which the people were credulous enough to believe proceeded from the god himself. All who came to consult the oracle, brought rich presents. In process of time, the wealth of the priests was immense, the temple magnificent beyond description. It was crowded with marble and brazen statues, paintings, gold, and precious stones. So numerous were the images, that when Nero removed five hundred statues of brass, the loss was too small to be noticed. There are still some remains of this celebrated place. The steps by which the priestess descended to the Castalian fountain, are still distinctly visible. Dodona is principally famous for being the most ancient oracle. It was consecrated to Jupiter; and, according to the fables of those times, it was founded by a dove. Two black doves took their flight from Thebes in Egypt; one of which flew to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the other to the temple of Jupiter at Dodona, in Thessaly or Epirus. In a human voice, they informed the inhabitants that Jupiter had consecrated the ground, and would from thenceforth utter oracles there. These oracles were sometimes supposed to proceed from the doves, and sometimes from the oaks and statues in the neighbourhood; but in all probability it was the artifice of the priests, who concealed themselves behind the trees, and thus deceived the superstitious multitude. Another famous oracle was at the cave of Trophonius. Noises and voices were said to be heard in this cave; and those who entered to ascertain their fortune, always came out pale, frightened, and melancholy. This effect was likewise probably produced by some powerful vapour in the cave, unwholesome for the human lungs.

Lucy. Have oracles ceased in all parts of the

world?

Aunt. I believe they are now entirely extinct. Many impositions of the priests were discovered, credulity. Nations which are enlightened by Chris tianity, not only perceive the impossibility of discovering future events in this manner, but they are likewise convinced how very useless such knowledge would prove; since our Merciful Father provides for nations and men in a way that must tend to the

and the Greeks at last became ashamed of their

eventual good of both.

"Tis education forms the common mind,

Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclin'd.' The above couplet has been frequently quoted, and if the sentiment it inculcates be admitted as true, we need never expect the agricultural to become a reading community, particularly as it respects subjects relating to their occupation, until the study of agriculture, in some shape or form, shall be introduced into our common schools, and the minds of youth shall there first be inclin'd to agricultural inquiries and pursuits. And, indeed, why should not this be done? There is time enough for it in every school; for as youth must be allowed time and provided with books for learning to read, by making these inquiries the subjects of their read ing lessons, the two operations of learning to read, and learning to think on these subjects, may be prosecuted and go on together, without any additional expense, either of TIME or MONEY.

Such is the plan here contemplated. The Agricultural Reader' is designed to be used as a reading book. Copious explanations of terms, fundamental principles of agriculture, examples of good and bad husbandry, domestic economy, industry, neatness, order, temperance and frugality, are subjects embraced within its pages-subjects, which, in one way or another, 'come home to every man's business and bosom,' and in which it cannot be a matter of indifference, that youth should be well instructed, before entering on the theatre of active life, whatever may be the parts there assigned them respectively to act. Much of the matter and the manner are such as is believed will engage their attention, affording at the same time many fine exercises for reading as respects cadence, emphasis, modulation, and inflections of the voice. Every thing otherwise pertinent to the subject is studiously avoided, which would be improper to be read by either sex in school.

The book commences with explanations of agricultural terms, which are designed to be thoroughly learned. These will make our scholars in the country familiar with the common technical language in works of science relative to most subjects connected with their occupation. Every thing which will tend to render intercourse easy between the literary and scientific, and the labouring class of the community, is of very great value; and we think it too plain to need proof or explanation, that the plan of Dr Adams will tend to that object. The The Agricultural Reader, designed for the author is true to the new principle, that Use of Schools. By Daniel Adams, M. D. scholars should be made to understand every Boston. 1824. 12mo. pp. 264. thing thoroughly as they proceed. To effect DR ADAMS has already acquired considera- this, he has a method of interrogating, of ble reputation by his Arithmetic and Geog-which we believe he is the inventor. We raphy. We are highly gratified by discovering, from the work before us, that the spirit of the age in which we live is taking full possession of his mind, and that he has selected an important means for aiding in the good cause of a reformation in our system of education. The improvements which have been made, and are making, in favour of the Pestalozzian or analytical mode of instruction, will, we think, make his former publications less valuable to him; but we are not willing to doubt that he is suffi-lowing notes, pages 27, 28. ciently disinterested to sustain cheerfully any loss to which such improvements may subject him, or that he will receive an ample compensation in the sale of his Agricultural

Reader.

We have not much to say about this book, except that it appears to be nearly, if not

were not aware that the interrogative sys-
tem originated with him, nor that it had
been in use only twenty-three years; and
we want more evidence of the fact. We
will not search for many examples of works
constructed on this principle previous to
that period, but mention the one that we
first think of the Assembly's Catechism.
Others, in the baser sciences, might be
mentioned. To explain Dr Adams' method,
which we think very good, we copy the fol-

The definition of words is an exercise too much
neglected in our schools. To render this exercise
practicable and easy both for the Teacher and the
Pupil, certain words to be defined are designated by
a character (d) placed immediately BEFORE them;
and definitions of the words so designated are given
in a GLOSSARY at the end of the Book, where they
are to be studied by the pupil.

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Questions and Answers. The Interrogative System' of teaching has now become very general in almost every branch of school education. Its introduction may be traced to the Scholar's Arithmetic,' in 1801. Some improvement in this system has been attempted by the Author in the Reading part of his School Geography, which is introduced here, where, instead of printing the question at length, which necessarily swells the book, a character (q) is introduced, intimating both to the Teacher and the Pupil, that a question is required, and this character is invariably placed BEFORE the word or words intended to ask the question, and to which the answer, FOUND BY READING THE SEN TENCE, is to be a direct reply. For example, take the first sentence; the character is placed before the words 'first employment;' the question then is, What was the first employment of the earliest inhabitants of the world? The answer, from reading the sentence, is evident―The cultivation of the earth.'

Where the construction of the sentence suggests no particular form in which to put the question, it may be, What is said of, &c.; as for instance in the fourth paragraph, when the character is placed before the words 'commerce and manufactures,' the question may be, What is said of commerce and manufactures?

Let the class be directed to meditate answers to the questions to be asked on those subjects or words before which the character is placed. After reading, let those questions and the words also to be defined, be put by the Teacher, and answered by the class, in rotation. These exercises, it is believed, will be found both profitable and entertaining.

We have only one suggestion to make as to improvements. The work would be more useful and interesting, if it contained more of the natural history of animals and vegetables. When the present edition has been sold, the reputation of the work will doubtless make it safe to increase its size considerably, by adding the most interesting facts respecting the uses, to which the various animals and vegetables referred to, are applied in different countries.

This work will doubtless be followed by a Mechanic's Reader, a Merchant's Reader, and some others, according to the same principle. We shall be glad to see them, and we hope our bookmakers will suffer no delay in producing them. The public mind is prepared for such improvements, and the labour of making them will be well re

warded.

An Easy Introduction to the Study of Geography, on an Improved Plan; compiled for the use of Schools, with a view to render the acquisition of Geographical Science easy and pleasant to the Student. Accompanied by an improved Atlas; exhibiting the Elevation of Mountains, Length of Rivers, and Population of Cities, from the best authorities. By Thomas T. Smiley, Teacher. Second edition, improved. Philadelphia. 1824. 18mo. pp. 243.

WE think this book too small; it is well to introduce learners to the study of all sciences, by elementary works, but it is possible to make these elements of knowledge too simple. In the present case, the most general facts respecting all the countries in the world are very briefly stated; but we think the statements so much compressed,

278

that the pupil must commit almost the whole medalling, be-ribboning, and be-starring the citizen of Boston, "Where, sir, is the poof the book to memory, or he can profit Duke of Wellington and all his quality, or lice? Every thing here is regular and orlittle by it. The study of geography gen- going out of the body with loyal transport, derly; but how is it effected, and where are erally interests the young, if the facts to as he escorted his most condescending maj-the officers?" We are a wary and calculatbe learned and remembered are not stated esty, George the Fourth, to the various ing people, no way given to holidays, jubiin too naked and abstract a manner; and cities of his empire, he neglected no oppor lees, or uproar of any kind. Our young an elementary work in this science may tunity of sneering at our forgetfulness of and men sometimes play at ball, it is true, on avoid this fault without exceeding its prop-ingratitude to those illustrious men, who had fast days, and shoot turkies on Thanksgiv er compass. We are no advocates for those in times of peril, directed the counsels, or ings, let off a few squibs on the occasion of works which are intended to cheat children fought the battles of this republic. But be- a governor's election, and burn a tar-barrel into learning; but the knowledge present- ing tired at last of vapouring in his holiday- or two in honour of the Fourth of July ; but, ed to them may, and should be so presented suit, and settled quietly down to business, in general, these things are done in a disas to induce and encourage them to seek, on a sudden he is aroused by the echo of a creet and orderly manner; and it is the by study, for further knowledge. As this nation's shout of welcome to one of its ear-opinion of some of the elders among us, that is intended to be a purely elementary book, liest and dearest friends. Mr Bull puts his the spirit with which they are conducted, as Mr Smiley has done wisely in omitting those pen behind his ear, looks forth from his well as the enjoyment which they afford, is astronomical notices which are usually pre- counting-room, beholds processions, triumph-gradually diminishing. It is fair, therefore, fixed to Geographies; children may begin al arches, and illuminations, and hears ora- to presume, that the feeling is deep and to learn geography at an age, at which it tions and addresses. He sees a whole peo- strong, which has aroused such a people, is impossible for them to have acquired that ple crowding to welcome and honour a man, and excited them to unite, as it were, with knowledge, without which they cannot to whom no welcome can be too hearty, and one heart and one voice, in the most, we comprehend the relation between this sci- hardly any honour too great; and what says had nearly said extravagant, demonstrations ence and astronomy and geometry. Ques- he to all this? Why, truly, he says it is demo- of gratitude and joy. We rejoice that we tions are attached to the description of each cratic twaddling. Really, cousin Bull, you live in these days; we rejoice for the honcountry and state, and they are divided in- are hard to suit, and it is seriously to be our of our nation; we rejoice for the honour to two classes, viz. those which may be an- feared, that we shall scarcely ever be hon- of human nature. Let those who can neither swered from the book, and those which com- oured with your approbation, since we have understand nor appreciate the benefits of pel the learner to search the maps; this so few legitimate objects of glorification. our revolution, or the services of La Fayette, arrangement is not perfectly new, but it is We have no heroes of Waterloo, no dukes look askance at our enthusiasm, and insinua very good one. Throughout the book, the or duchesses, and, save the mark, no George ate that we are thankful for small mercies. mountains, rivers, and cities are divided the Fourth to reign over us; and as for our We will endeavour to set a just value upon into six classes, according to the height of Presidents, no reasonable person can expect the former, and by every possible method to the first, the length of the second, and the ten millions of people to go mad once in four cherish and proclaim our gratitude for the population of the third; and this classifica- years. In the mean time, whatever our latter. We have other reasons for being tion is carried into the maps by figures, crusty relation may think or say, and prob- gratified by this general display of national from 1 to 6, attached to each mountain, ably in this matter, as in some others, his enthusiasm. It has added strength to the stream, and city. We believe this plan to bark is worse than his bite, we have every ties that bind our union together. A party be original with Mr Smiley, and it does him reason to be gratified by the reception which of individuals, whom, perhaps, accident has credit. There is one fault in some parts of General La Fayette has met with in this associated on some occasion of happinesɛ, this book, which a little care might have country. We had heard of the selfishness who have visited together some delightprevented, and may still avoid, if it reaches and cold-heartedness of mankind, and read of ful spot, or passed together some delighta third edition. Some of the statements the ingratitude of republics, till we trembled ful hours, when the cares, the selfishness, cannot be understood without an advance- for the event of the visit of this benefactor and uncharitableness of the world were ment in knowledge for which this book is to our land. Our alarm has as yet proved cast behind them and forgotten, and none not at all calculated. For example, on groundless. He has been received, as one but joyous or kind feelings permitted to page 20, it is said, "On the 20th of March whom the people delighted to honour. The appear, will always to a certain degree and 23d of September the days and nights shouts of welcome have resounded from connect these feelings with the presence are equal in all parts of the world, because Maine to Georgia, and from the shores of or memory of their companions. We reat those times the sun passes the equator." the Atlantic to the valley of the Mississippi. gard the friends of our youth with sentiA child who could perfectly understand The cynic may tell us, that the mob will al- ments, which no after ones can share ; what is meant by the sun's passing the ways shout on any argument. But in these other friends may be more learned, more equator, and how this circumstance causes United States, we reply, and we have British sensible, more estimable, even more amiaan equal alternation of day and night, could authority for the assertion, mobs are rarely ble; but they want the charm which the certainly find many books upon geography seen. These are the peccant humours, that associations of youthful hope and joy alone better suited to him than this. There are infest the bodies politic of the old world. can bestow; we may admire, esteem, and not many faults of this kind, but there This republic threw them off with the mon- love the latter, but the presence of the forwould be none, if the author were sufficient- archical regime, which engendered them. mer lifts the load of years from our shoully impressed with the importance of mak- The passions of our citizens are continually ders-gives to the mind the feelings of aniing a school-book perfectly intelligible to exhaled through the newspapers, or the mation, which belonged to other days, and courts of law; their actions are sober and that renovation, which the elixir of Paradeliberate. A foreigner who should peruse celsus, had it been real, could never have the alarms and denunciations of the periodi- imparted. Something of the same kind hapconclude that we were on the verge of they rejoice together, they will love each cal press, which precede an election, might pens with the individuals of a nation. When anarchy and ruin. election itself, and he will be astonished to merit, they will be proud of each other. To Let him attend the other; when they unite in paying honour to find so little bustle or disorder; and as he a nation, spread over such an extent of tersees successive groups of voters quietly drop-ritory, whose component parts are so variping their suffrages into a box, and then going about their usual business, will wonder what magic has stilled the tumult, which he had expected to witness, and perhaps inquire, as an English traveller once did of a

those for whom it is intended.

Memoirs of General La Fayette.
Account of his Visit to America, and of
With an
his Reception by the People of the United
States; from his Arrival, August 15th, to
the Celebration at Yorktown, October 19th,
1824. Boston. 1824. 12mo. pp. 264.
WHEN Our loving and well-beloved cousin,
on the other side of the water, was filling
up patriotic subscriptions and building mon-
uments, with all his might, to the praise and
glory of the conquerors of Napoleon, be-

ous, and whose sectional interests and feelings so often conflicting, as our own, every moment which consigns these differences to temporary forgetfulness is a precious one; and La Fayette has added one more to the

long list of his benefactions to our country, by giving us an opportunity to feel and act like Americans. The sons of the Pilgrims, the descendants of the broad-brimmed generation of Penn, or the broad-hosed burghers of New Amsterdam, the sailor and the backwoodsman, the hunter of the prairie, and the chaser "of the gigantic game on the coasts of Brazil," have forgotten every thing on this glorious occasion, but that they belonged to the same great and happy nation, and that one of the last survivors of those who had made them such a nation, was before them. We have arisen as one man, and stood firm and united, and the friends and enemies of our confederacy may alike be taught by our conduct, that occasion alone is wanting to call forth the same spirit of union, whether it be needed to welcome a benefactor or trample on an assailant.

times will do his character that justice which | groundless, and that the republic is safe. the times themselves have too frequently de- We have yet among its guardians a few, nied; and we, who “from our loop-holes of whose judgment the spirit of liberality could retreat" beyond the ocean, have seen the not bias, nor the blaze of merit blind; they stir of the great Babel," in which he has knew, that although General La Fayette been involved, can understand and pay the had lavished his fortune in the service of tribute of admiration to a character, such this country, the gift was a free one, and as the world has not often seen. From that no country is bound to return what the account of La Fayette by Madame de was bestowed without stipulation or expectStael, quoted in these Memoirs, after recom- ation; they abhorred the idea of tendering mending the whole of it to the perusal of pitiful trash, to one who has shown that the our readers, we extract the concluding re- only objects of value in his eyes, were the marks. rights of mankind. They knew, that he Since the departure of M. de La Fayette for had long since become a citizen of these America, now forty years ago, we cannot quote a States, and they conceived him to be fully single action or a single word of his, which was entitled, with the citizen soldiers of his not direct and consistent. Personal interest never time, to the valuable privilege of serving blended itself in the least with his public conduct: his country without reward. They had seen success would have displayed such sentiments to advantage; but they claim the attention of the his- the petition of the veteran officers of our torian in spite of circumstances, and in spite of revolution lying on the table of congress, In order to appreciate justly the moral faults, which may serve as a handle to his oppo-year after year, and session after session, grandeur of the character of La Fayette, nents. till the dwindling list of its subscribers was and the merits of his claim to the gratitude Besides the claim of General La Fayette at last hidden under piles of road bills and and admiration of the people of these United to all the honour which it is in the power of draughts of canals; plans of fertile townStates, it is necessary to be acquainted with the American people to bestow, he had anoth- ships, manufacturing memorials, modificathe history of his eventful life, from the er upon that treasury, which, once so low as tions of tariffs, and maps of the interior of moment when he engaged in our service, to need the assistance of a private individ- the earth; and they beheld it in imaginaat the age of nineteen, to the present time; ual, is now, as we are annually informed by tion disinterred, and the spirit again hauntand in the volume which is the subject of our chief magistrate, beginning to overflowing the splendid hall, which they had hoped this article, we find this faithfully and very with accumulating millions. Such a claim was laid forever; they beheld the whiteagreeably related. We do not intend to could not be considered without alarm by the haired remnants of the last century creepgive any particular analysis of it, as we ex- friends of that economy, which has ever been ing out once more from their retreat, and pect that it will be in the hands of all our the distinguishing characteristic of our gov- heard again the appalling sounds of deprereaders, quite as soon as this article. They ernment, gaining the hearts of the careful ciated currency, funded debt, bounty lands, will learn from the details of the life of La men of these realms, and extorting the reluc- and five years' commutation. They felt Fayette, to admire the singular consistency tant admiration of Europe. They had reas- likewise on this occasion, what every true of his character. His speeches and writings, on to regard with anxiety the session of a patriot must feel, that the security of our as well as his actions, in every period of it, a congress, so lately collected from the union is debate; and that our liberties can evince the same enthusiastic and inflexible crowds that hailed the arrival of this illus- never be impaired till our representatives regard to civil liberty and the unalienable trious person, their ears yet tingling with shall cease to talk. Their hands and their rights of mankind, and the same undeviat- the sounds of rapturous welcome; and their voices therefore were uplifted against reing opposition to any government which had hearts yet warm with the remembrance of funding; what they could not prevent, they not this for its object. In the war waged the dinners they had eaten to his honor. at least delayed, and history will forever by these Colonies, in support of these prin- It was to be feared that they would forget, preserve the names of those, who retained ciples, he lavished his fortune, and risked to a man, that tender regard to the people's their coolness amid the enthusiasm of a nahis life, with a spirit belonging rather to the money, which we cannot sufficiently praise, tion, and reasoned when others only felt. age of chivalry than any more modern pe- and vote by acclamation the payment of the riod. In his own country he soon after ap- the only part of our debt, which can ever be peared among the leaders of a revolution, liquidated; and that some furious member, Escalala: an American Tale. By Samuel which professed to have the establishment in a paroxysm of frantic liberality, would B. Beach. Utica. 1824. 12mo. pp. 109. of the same principles for its object; but empty the treasury with a motion, and re- THIS poem exhibits some talents, but does when his companions and countrymen be- duce it again to that state from which La not exhibit them to advantage;-the imagegan to carry the work of demolition beyond Fayette had formerly rescued it. It was ry is occasionally quite good, and the verthe limits which necessity and justice marked to be feared, that no civil courage, how-sification is often excellent, but there are out, La Fayette was no longer with them. ever tried, could resist the impulse of that His uniform adherence to these principles moment; and no soul could be so independent have procured him the hatred alike of the of circumstances, as to be untouched by such rulers and reformers of the old world; the as those, no heart so firm as not to be despots immured him in their dungeons, softened; no voice so loud as to make its and the demagogues denounced his name, prudential accents heard amid the uproar of confiscated his estates, and threatened his gratitude. That even be, that old man vigilife; amid the fierce struggles and corrupt lant, from whose "wakeful custody, the intrigues of Europe, his opinions and actions guarded gold" of these United States has so have been unintelligible anomalies; and seldom passed without opposition, would rehow could those of a disciple of Washing-lax his diligence, and swell the vote of his ton be otherwise; contending steadily and undauntedly for the cause of reason, right, and justice, he has been almost uniformly in the ranks of the weaker party. His zeal and activity have been a perpetual terror to the usurpers of unlawful power, and his example a perpetual rebuke to the unprincipled aspirants after it; but the history of these

fellows, heedless of the twinges of prudence,
and careless of coming regrets. With such
fears, did the unbending patriot-economists of
our land await the doings of the great council
of the nation; and accordingly, no sooner had
the logocracy assembled, than rumours of re-
muneration began to issue from the capitol.
The event has proved that our alarms were

many unpardonable offences against good taste, both as it respects thought and expression, and the story is exceedingly defective.

It must be known to most of our readers, that numerous mounds and barrows exist in the interior of North America, the origin of which is wholly unknown. There they are, but none living can say what hand built them or how many ages have rolled over them,-for what uses they once served, or what deeds or names they were intended to record. The Indians who are around them, know as little about them as we. Before our fathers came here, all knowledge, all tradition of their beginning was lost, and the shadow of their memory had faded away. Mr Beach thinks that every one may solve a mystery so deep as

280

this, just as he pleases;-in this he may be right; but he also appears to think that it is impossible for the story of a poem to oppose obvious probabilities too violently ;—and in this he is clearly wrong. It is said by, or for some Norwegian historian, that Naddohr, a petty chief of that kingdom, flying from Harold Honfager, who had subdued him and his brethren, discovered and colonized Greenland; and in one of his voyages to that country, was supposed to have perished by shipwreck. Our author rescues him from a fate so undesirable, places him near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, and permits him to found a colony there, which, under the ninth "of Naddohr's royal pedigree," amounted to six hundred thousand souls. Scania is the name of this singular nation, and Gondibert is their king. The poem is introduced by some lines about America and Americans, which are pretty good and nothing more. In the first canto we are told that

Gondibert, in pride of place,
Stern king of Scania's powerful race,
Summoned his nobles, near and far,
To grace the pomp of sylvan war.

Three days, his royal will decreed
To urge the chase with hound and steed;
And on the fourth, the gathered spoil
Of all their sport and all their toil,
In one vast quarry to array
And thence, with pious care, convey,
Of every kind, the fairest nine
And offer them at Odin's shrine.-
'Twas an old custom, which his sire
Who fled, long since, from Harold's ire,
Had brought from Norway, o'er the sea,
And he observed it, annually.

For Scania's sons-though fabling pride
Their lineage to the gods allied-
Were the descendants of the crew
Of shipwrecked outlaws, bold but few,
Who, led by Naddohr, left the coast
Of Norway, and by tempests tossed,
On Nova Scotia's savage strand,
With nought but life, came late to land.

Long was their wandering; but at last,
Through many a wild and trackless waste,
By Mississippi's hoary flood

The homeless, houseless wanderers stood;
And found them there a place of rest
Richer than Araby the Blest.

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The deep, embowering woods, around,
With vines and mantling ivy crowned,
And thousand flowers, of varied hue,
Fresh from their birth and moist with dew,
Shed fragrance-rich as poets sing
Elysian gales were wont to fling
Round those blest souls, by Minos given
On earth, an antepast of heaven;
Seemed, that of nature's birth, the fairest,
Of nature's boons, the richest, rarest,
Some fairy hand had culled, with care,
Spell-bound them all, and placed them there.

And there, the wanderers stayed their feet
And wept, like infancy, to meet
Unlooked, unhoped for, term so fair
To all their toil and all their care.
And there a rustic vill they reared,
Gathered wild maize, the forest cleared;
And-but that memory's busy finger,
Unbid, would still delight to stray
From present bliss, to point and linger
O'er friends, home, kindred, far away-
Not Eden's tenants, ere their shame
And guilt, by the Destroyer, came,

Tasted life's joys with richer zest,
Were more contented, or more blest.

In peace they dwelt; the Indian, wild,
Bland nature's free but simple child,
Beheld, with terror and surprise,
Their race increase, their cities rise,
And hid him in some wildwood glen ;
Deeming the gods had left the skies
To tabernacle there, like men.

Accordingly the king and his nobles
feasted and hunted after the fashion, which
their ancestors had brought from Norway,
and during the festival the "scalds" "in-
voked the muse, the rites to aid;"—that is
to say, one of the bards relates an anecdote
of the witch of Hesleggen, and another
tells a pleasant tale of diablerie concern-
ing the Ocean Queen. In the second can-
to the hunt begins; they ride on gallant
steeds very furiously, and go through woods
where they had never been before, and
kill a great deal of game. We would re-
mark, that the dogs and horses used upon
this occasion, demonstrate the care with
which Naddohr provided himself with ade-
quate means for the maintenance of ancient
customs, or perhaps we may rather infer,
that valuable breeds of these animals were
once indigenous to this continent, but are
now well nigh extinct. After they have
hunted awhile, they stop to rest and make
merry;-in furtherance of which pleasant
object, Ruric, the king's son and heir ap-
parent, relates a most melancholy dream,
which

-checked their mirth, and sunk their tone
Of laughter, loud, and noisy glee,
To whispered sigh and stifled moan
Of ill suppressed anxiety.

But the next day they hunt again, and
Ruric's dream is accomplished.

It chanced, on that autumnal morn,
When first the blast of bugle-horn,
O'er those wild shores and forests deep,
Woke Echo from her lonely sleep;
That joying in the angler's sport,
Young ESCALALA left the court
Of her stern sire; and choosing twain,
The loveliest, from her female train-
Reta, gay, nimble-footed maid,
And fawn-eyed, bashful Arzilade-
With them along the southern strand
Of Wabash-guiding the light wand
Which anglers use with skilful hand—
She strayed; and from the limpid flood
Gaily decoyed its finny brood.

That Indian maid-than whom the sun
Ne'er looked upon a lovelier one,
Among the dark brunettes that rove
In Otaheite's isle of love -
Was the beloved o'er all the rest,
Of the fair progeny which blessed
Great Warredondo, Chief and boast
Of the Algonquin's war-like host.

What though the blush with deeper hue
Flushed her young charms? it woke as true
To sensibility; its glow

Came with as warm, as ready flow,
As though its conscious mantlings played
O'er the pale form of couvent maid-
What though impartial nature chose
No lilies, mingled with the rose,
To form the dusky tints, which lent
Her visage their dark garnishment?
Through her swart cheek and eloquent cyes,
Her soul, unclouded by the guise
Of that slight drapery, beamed as bright
As the wild flash of magic light
Which evening throws o'er arctic skies.

And soul of more elastic power-
More bland, more bright, in blissful hour,
More stern, relentless, undisinayed,
When danger roused or passion swayed-
Ne'er found in male or female breast,
Since time began, congenial rest.
Though in her form you might not trace
The nice proportion, or the grace,
Which shone in love's all-beauteous queen,
When erst by Trojan Paris seen;
Yet such-so vigorous, yet so free-
Such beauty twined with majesty,
Were chaste Diana's; when she came
To Tempe's vale, with quivered reed,
Bent bow, and hounds of heavenly breed,
To rouse the sylvan game.

Far from her wonted haunts, the maid,
Intent upon her sport, had strayed,
And wearied, turned to trace again
Her homeward course across the plain;
Just as the din, so wild and drear,
Of that gay hun-from bound and horn,
On Echo's thousand voices borne-
Burst on her unaccustomed ear.

Ruric carries off Escalala, and in the next canto, Reta relates the circumstance to Warredondo.

It chanced that Teondetha, to whom Escalala, just before she went a fishing, had promised to be married the next day,-was with Warredondo at the moment of Reta's arrival, and immediately summoned his friends and followers to go with him in pursuit of Ruric, who in the mean time was riding slowly home without any apprehension of injury or danger.

While thus along their dusky way Sauntered the chiefs, in loose arraySudden as bursts from cloud-wrapt skies The bolt of death

Was heard such hissing, in the air,

As though ten thousand snakes were there,
With brandished tongues and fiery eyes
And poisonous breath.

"Twas loud and sharp, like wintry blast;
But with such volleying speed it passed,
That scarce the startled ear believed
Its impulse; each uncertain knight
Deemed it some viewless insect-flight
Which, with its hum, his sense deceived.
Again it hissed-again-again!
And Ruric's steed, with sudden bound,
Plunged violently, as from pain
Inflicted by some deadly wound;
And Albert, from his lofty horse,
Fell head-long down, a breathless corse.
Then, well those gallant chieftains knew
The shrill, familiar sound;

It was no insect hum, that threw
Such fearful warnings round;

But arrow-flights, from twanging bows,

Of vigorous, but secret, foes.

"Halt!-form!" the word was passed, obeyed; Soon was such active band arrayed,

And flashing bright, each battle-blade

Leaped lightly from its sheath;

Each dexter arm was quickly bared,
Each throbbing heart beat high, prepared
For victory or death.

"Now comrades, on the covert foe!
Stern be the dint and sure the blow
Which makes such dark assassins know
A Scanian warrior's energy"-
Scarce from the prince the mandate fell
When, from the shrubbery, rose a yell
As wild, as though the fiends of hell
Were howling there, in agony :
And from the thicket burst, amain,
Brave Teondetha and his train.

Ruric was overpowered and nearly slain, when Aldobrand, whom his father had sent to meet him, attacked and slew Teondetha. Then Warredondo sends to Gondibert to

demand Escalala, and Ruric will not let her
go, and the Algonquins make war upon the
Scanians; and, in a furious battle, one hun-
dred thousand Indians defeat, with terrible
slaughter, sixty thousand Scanians. The
battle rages loud and long; and both parties
are very near beating several times, before
it is finished. It begins in this wise.

A short but fearful pause,
Of hesitation, hope and dread,
Succeeds-as to the burnished head
His shaft each bowman draws:

Hushed is the clarion's breath,

Fiercely and fast, from wing to wing,
On helm and mail their war-clubs ring;
And the living keep their stainless fame,
And the dying earn a deathless name:
But o'er their shattered ranks, the fray
Spreads carnage, doubt, and disarray;
They droop; they falter-and they flee!
"Huzza!-pursue the victory!"

From the farthest verge of their flying host-
Now hope is abandoned and order lost-
And their bravest have joined in the mingling rout.
One might well despair of the Indian
cause, after all this; and doubtless the Sca-

And the drum's long peal, and the shout of death, nians would have conquered, and might

And silence, almost palpable,

Sheds o'er each host so deep and full
Her noiseless spell, that the pained ear
Seems as if never more to hear.

Thus-ere the yawning earthquake burst
To whelm proud Lisbon in the dust,
And o'er her fall the billows rushed-
The very elements seemed hushed:
And thus-on Afric's deserts vast,
Where darts the dark Sirocco's blast
Its poison upon beast and man
Through all the shuddering caravan;
Ere sweeps the death-wind's fated sound,
A horrid stillness breathes around.

The word is given!-

Hiss the barbed shafts, the bowstrings twang,
And dinted shields and bucklers clang,
And rings and rives the tempered mail,
As pours the arrow-shower like hail,
And- echoing up to heaven,-
Withering, and wild, and shrill, and fell,
Bursts far and wide the savage yell;
Thrilling upon the wildered ear
In tones as dissonant and drear;
As when the winds and surges roar
On chafed Superior's cliff-bound shore.
Nor shrink the Scanians; fast and free,
From all their fearless archery,
With errless aim and hurtling might
Wings back the viewless arrow-flight-
Impetuous as the flashing levin

By which the thunder stroke is driven,
And ceaseless as the changeful motion
Of warring waves on the troubled ocean:
And their answering shouts, that defy the strife,
And the sharp, shrill notes of the martial fife,
And the sighs and the groans of the wounded
and dying,

Dashed to the earth, in their heart's-blood lying, And the bugle's trill, and the drum's loud rattle, Float, mingle, and swell, o'er the raging battle. Warredondo leads a chosen band through an unguarded pass in hopes to surprise the Scanians; but he is met by Gondibert with his reserve, defeated, and slain.

"Now, forth! and on the wakened foe,
Ere he recover from the blow !".
Thus utters Ruric: o'er the fosse,
Spanned by the light but firm pontoon,
Dash, fearlessly, the glittering horse,
The heavier phalanx follows soon;
And, like the earthquake's fated gush,
Their deep, united masses rush

Upon the foe; whose frowning columns,
In huge and dense and darkening volumes,
Stand to receive them, as fixed and undaunted
As the earth, on whose bosom their banners
are planted.

Dire is the crash of their meeting bands,
Wild the din of their shivering brands;
More dire and more wild are the shout and the
cry

Of the victors, who triumph, the vanquished,
who die ;

And fearfully strewn is the gore-drenched plain
With the weltering wounded and tombless slain.
Sternly the allies withstand
The death-shock of the Scanian band;

have flourished to this day, to our no small
annoyance, but for one remarkable circum-
stance, to wit, that Escalala, having escaped
from prison, ran about until she found a
MAMMOTH, mounted upon him, and came to
succour the Algonquins and avenge her

father's death.

Vigorous, active, dauntless, free,
Sheathed in burnished panoply,
And armed and girded for the slaughter,
Like Juno's flower-begotten daughter;
On a mammoth's giant might,
Rushing through the failing fight,
Like Hope descending on Despair,
ESCALALA'S self is there.

The lady and the beast do wonders; the
Scanians are beginning to fly, and are only
sustained by the strength and fiery courage
of Ruric. At length Escalala espies him,
and a terrible combat ensues, which we
must give in the words of our author.

But the havoc of his brand
The injured maid descries;
And for vengeance, through the band,
Impatiently she flies.

Stern and implacable as fate,

And flushed with hope, and armed with hate,
Beneath her mammoth's rushing weight

The solid earth appears to tremble;
And her flashing eyes resemble
Some fiery and malignant star
Glancing o'er the troubled war.

Not unobserved of Ruric, came
That eye of fire, that heart of flame;
Nor from the combat turns aside,
In fear or scorn, his arm of pride;
Nor waits he till the foe draws near;
But spurs his steed to full career-
With shield advanced, and dancing crest,
And visor closed, and lance in rest,
And soul as haughty, stern, and free,
As that which nerves his enemy.
Mid-way, in their sounding course,
They meet; and Ruric's gasping horse-
Encountered by the swerveless force
Of the huge mammoth-from the shock
Recoils, as from the ocean-rock
The rushing wave; and on the plain
Sinks, shuddering-ne'er to rise again:
And hapless Ruric, swift and far
As peasant might can pitch the bar,
Is head-long hurled-like meteor driven
Downward, from the cope of heaven.
Dizzy he rises; his palsied hand
Feebly gropes for his useless brand:
But ere from its sheath he has freed the blade,
On him rushes the vengeful maid,
And her war club's weight, like the levin-burst,
Dashes him down to his kindred dust;
Through helm and scull and gushing brain
It sinks and Ruric's with the slain.
Gondibert dies when he sees his son die:
no quarter is given to his troops, who are
pursued and slaughtered day after day, un-
til the nation is extirpated, and all their

works and monuments left nameless and storyless.

We hope that Mr Beach is young, and that, before he writes again, he will subject his mind to profitable discipline, and enIdeavour to amend his taste. No one can read his poem without acknowledging that he has talents of a highly respectable character, to say no more, and regretting that they are not used to better purpose.

MISCELLANY.

EDGEWORTH'S WORKS.

MISS EDGEWORTH and her admirers cannot complain that her works have received less attention than they merit. They pos

sess no excellence, which has not been critically examined, and liberally applauded. Their faults have been faithfully exposed, but generally treated with tenderness; and she has had every inducement and every assistance to render her works faultless, which could be afforded by the most enlightened community in the world. She has not been wholly unmindful of these advantages and facilities, and in many respects, she has fully rewarded the confidence and liberality of her readers. In all that relates to the merely literary character of her works, she has made improvement; and, in her later, works, the morality is more refined, and she less frequently introduces descriptions of immoral actions without distinguishing them with marks of disapprobation. She has, however, rigidly adhered to her original plan of inculcating morality separate from religion,-of teaching how to live well in the present world without any reference to the world to come. This indignity against revelation has called forth numerous remonstrances from her christian readers; and it can have given little satisfaction, to receive equivocal assertions in favour of her own and her father's faith. The public required them to show their faith in their works; they have not done it, and their excuses have been incompetent and frivolous.

The works of Miss Edgeworth are so extensively read, and their influence is so great, that their moral character deserves more attention from our journals than it has received. I would suggest some considerations applicable to this subject; and shall illustrate my remarks by references to her "Practical Education." But I must first be allowed to quote the following highly judicious and eloquent remarks respecting the moral character of her works generally, from the Inaugural Address of the

late Professor Frisbie.

"Miss Edgeworth has so cautiously combined the features of her characters, that the predominant expression is ever what it should be; she has shown us, not vices ennobled by virtues, but virtues degraded by their union with vices. The success of this lady has been great, but had she availed herself more of the motives and senti

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