the whole celestial concave was filled with the inflowing tides of the morning light, which came pouring down from above in one great ocean of radiance, till, at length, as we reached the Blue Hills, a flash of purple fire blazed out from above the horizon, and turned the dewy teardrops of flower and leaf into rubies and diamonds. 7. I do not wonder at the superstition of the ancient Magians, who, in the morning of the world, went up to the hill-tops of Central Asia, and, ignorant of the true God, adored the most glorious work of his hand. But I am filled with amazement, when I am told that in this enlightened age, and, in the heart of the Christian world, there are persons who can witness this daily manifestation of the power and wisdom of the Creator, and yet say in their hearts, "There is no God." Edward Everett. CXXXII. - THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE. THE morning dawned full darkly, the rain came flashing down, And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt lit up the gloomy town: The thunder crashed across the heaven, the fatal hour was come, Yet aye broke in, with muffled beat, the 'larum of the drum. There was madness on the earth below and anger in the sky, And young and old, and rich and poor, came, forth to see him die. 2. Ah God! that ghastly gibbet! how dismal 'tis to see The great, tall, spectral skeleton, the ladder, and the tree! Hark! Hark! it is the clash of arms, the bells begin to He is coming! he is coming! God's mercy on his soul! One last long peal of thunder the clouds are cleared away, And the glorious sun once more looks down amidst the dazzling day. 3. He is coming! he is coming! Like a bridegroom from his room, Came the hero from his prison to the scaffold and the doom. There was glory on his forehead, there was lustre in his eye, And he never walked to battle more proudly, than to die : There was color in his visage, though the cheeks of all were wan, And they marveled as they saw him pass, that great and goodly man! 4. A beam of light fell o'er him, like a glory round the shriven, And he climbed the lofty ladder, as it were the path to Heaven. Then came a flash from out the cloud, and a stunning thunder roll, And no man dared to look aloft, for fear was on every soul. There was another heavy sound, a hush, and then, a groan; And darkness swept across the sky, - the work of death was done! W. E. AYTOUN. CXXXIII. ENNOBLING RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REVOLUTION. IT T has been usual, on occasions like the present, to give a history of the wrongs endured by our fathers; but we have prouder and more ennobling recollections connected with our Revolution. They are to be found in the spirit displayed by our fathers, when all their petitions had been slighted, their remonstrances despised, and their appeals to the generous sympathies of their brethren utterly disregarded. 2. Yes, my friends, theirs was that pure and holy spirit of devoted patriotism which never quailed beneath oppression, which braved all dangers, trampled upon difficulties, and, in "the times which tried men's souls," taught them to be faithful to their principles, and to their country, true; and which induced them in the very spirit of that Brutus whose mantle has fallen, in our own day, upon the shoulders of one so well able to wear it, to swear on the altar of liberty to give themselves up wholly to their country. 3. There is one characteristic, however, of the American Revolution, which, constituting as it does its living principle, its proud distinction, and its crowning glory, cannot be passed over in silence. It is this, that our Revolution had its origin, not so much in the weight of actual oppression, as in the great principle, the sacred duty of resistance to the exercise of unauthorized power. 4. Other nations have been driven to rebellion by the iron hand of despotism, the insupportable weight of oppression, which, leaving men nothing worth living for, has taken away the fear of death itself, and caused them to rush upon the spears of their enemies, or to break their chains upon the heads of their oppressors; but it was a tax of threepence a pound upon tea, imposed without right, which was considered by our ancestors as a burden too grievous to be borne. And why? Because they were men" who felt oppression's lightest finger as a mountain weight;" and, in the fine language of that just and beautiful tribute paid to their character by one "whose praises will wear well," they "judged of the grievance, by the badness of the principle; they augured misgovernment at a distance, and snuffed the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze, because they were men. who, in the darkest hour, could say to their oppressors, • We have counted the cost, and find nothing so deplorable as voluntary slavery;' and who were ready to ex claim with the orator of Virginia, 'Give me liberty or give me death! 5. Theirs was the same spirit which inspired the immortal Hampden to resist, at the peril of his life, the imposition of ship-money; not because, as remarked by Burke, "the payment of twenty shillings would have ruined his fortune, but because the payment of half twenty shillings, or the principle on which it was demanded, would have made him a slave." 6. It was the spirit of liberty which still abides on the earth, and whose home is in the bosoms of the brave ; which, but yesterday, in "beautiful France," restored their violated charter; which, even now, burns brightly on the towers of Belgium, and has rescued Poland from the tyrant's grasp; making their sons—aye, and their daughters, too the wonder and the admiration of the world, -the pride and glory of the human race! CXXXIV.. Robert Y. Hayne. THANATOPSIS. [Thanatopsis is composed of two Greek words, thanatos, meaning death, and opsis, a view. The word, therefore, signifies a view of death, or "reflections on death."] 2. 10 him who, in the love of nature, holds то Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 3. Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, To nature's teaching, while, from all around, "Yet a few days, and thee The all-beholding sun shall see no more, In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 4. 5. Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again; To mix forever with the elements, To be a brother to th' insensible rock And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain "The oak Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold. Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish "The hills, Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun; the vales, Stretching in pensive quietness between ; The venerable woods; rivers that move In majesty, and the complaining brooks That make the meadows green; and, poured round all, Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste, |
