neath a rock-but to stand erect, stiff as a poker, without even winking, and allow himself to be shot at, was quite another affair. He had, almost necessarily, imbibed the idea that any stratagem was fair against an enemy; but he chose an injudicious occasion for the practice of his theory. He was not, like Bacon, Milton, Columbus, and some other worthies, one step in advance of his age; and our modern duellists, who have the advantage of studying at their leissure the improved and important code of honor in all its polite and particular requirements, should be very lenient in condemning his ignorant interpretation of the said honor, which was to take care of himself. In obedience to this law of self-preservation, he hesitated not to take advantage of the interval of counting; and to fire his pistol aimed directly at Frank's face, hurl the weapon at him, and sink nearly flat on the ground, was the work of a moment! Frank was holding his pistol aimed at Andrew's knee, for it was not his intention to take his life-at the moment, he felt his antagonist's ball graze his temple; he fired -Andrew was then sinking to the earth--and the ball that ought to have shattered his knee, entered his shoulder and lodged against the collar bone. The report of fire arms brought a number of men to the spot; Andrew was borne off, lamenting loudly his fate, and Frank, without any complaint, submitted to be taken into custody. But on the trial, so many extenuating circumstances appeared in his favor, he had behaved, on the whole, honorable and bravely, and Andrew had shown himself such an arrant kǹave, to say nothing of his cowardice, that Frank was acquitted. As every one thought the duel had originated in Frank's partiality for Miss Eleanor Bliss, he felt himself that she might have the same expectations; so to keep up the reputation of an honorable man he immediately offered her his hand. He certainly liked her, but it is doubtful whether he would ever have married her, had he not been involved in the quarrel on her account, because his marriage also involved the necessity of remaining in Virginia, as neither he or his wife possessed the means of living in London. But they married, he turned planter, and soon began to acquire property--and moreover had the satisfaction of knowing they were at the head of the ton in the new world. Poor Andrew never could regain his credit, notwithstand ing he urged as an excuse for his ungallant conduct, that he was taken so unawares by the challenge," he did not know what he did." All was vain; he was a standing jest, and to console or revenge himself, he turned woman-hater. Poor Andrew! The termination of that first duel at the South was so different from the first one fought at the North, where the combattants were both of low degree, and both sentenced to a ludicrous and degrading punishment, that we may reasonably conclude much of the difference of opinion, between the two sections of our country, respecting the necessity and the honor of deciding quarrels by the single combat, must have originated in those early impressions and prejudices. There are no two states in our Union that exhibit so many points of resemblance as Virginia and Massachusetts. Not that on the "map of the world, the situations, look you, are both alike,"it is in their histories that the coincidence exists; and we need not, with the ingenuity of Fluellen, refer to the rivers and state there are "salmon in both" to make out the comparison between them. In the earliest notices of the two colonies, it might be remarked that they both bore the same name; but then we must confess that the term "North Virginia" included all New-England, so we will only refer to the circumstance that both Virginia and Massachusetts were alike eulogised by that remarkable man, Capt. John Smith, as being the most" delectable countries" ever seen on this lower world. Then the two colonies were first settled by English emigrants only, their lawgivers were equally strict in enforcing uniformity of religious worship, and though not of the same ceremonial, they united in persecuting the Quakers-they cheated the Indians out of their lands because they were not civilized, and then exterminated them from the face of the earth, because they would not be christianized. To mention circumstances more honorable to human nature-the inhabitants of both sections have been equally noted for their devotion to Freedom, for the jealousy with which they have watched every infringement of their rights, and the spirit with which they have resisted the encroachments of arbitrary power. These two colonies simultaneously took the lead in the war of our Independence. The master spirits that directed the movements of that great event, were men of Virginia and Massachusetts. The first tragic scene of that immortal drama was performed in the one State, the closing scene in the other; and for half a century the first office in the government of the Union, has been held by natives of those two States only. Yet the people, in their habits, manners and peculiar modes of feeling and reasoning on many important subjects are not alike, and it would involve quite a curious philosophical investigation to trace how the circumstances of climate, soil, and other natural, and even accidental causes have modified or changed the temperament and pursuits of the people of these two Commonwealths. The first adventurers to Virginia were speculators. To gain gold was their object; they thought little of cultivating the earth, of founding a nation, and owing their prosperity to steady industry. But, fortunately, they discovered no mines, and after their first disappointment had subsided, and the fertility of the soil had been ascertained, they quietly betook themselves to planting and other rural pursuits, that have silently, but surely been sources of wealth; though now it must be acknowledged this is nominal, rather than real, consisting, as it mostly does in slaves whose labors do little more than support themselves. It will be found generally, that those who accumulate their property directly from the profits of the soil, are rarely engrossed by that anxiety to be rich which leads men to disgrace themselves by petty tricks, by what is called meanness and artifice. The first settlers of the Massachusetts, on the other hand, were self-denying men, who seemed to have thrown all worldly considerations to the winds. They came not to gather gold, but with the expectation of enduring labors and hardships for the mighty privilege of being free in spirit, and preparing a government where their posterity might enjoy religion unmolested. But the rough and sterile country yielded them such a scanty supply, that they were compelled to engage in the fisheries; commerce followed, and as a foil to its real benefits, which are many, it has introduced a thirst for gain, an ardor for speculation, an avarice which would be more excusable in the children of gold-finders than the descendants of the puritans. There seems to be no period of youth in the history of Massachusetts. The colony, in the beginning, may be liken ed to a very respectable, serious, heavenly-minded old gentleman who has daily in his thoughts the intention of making his will--then he appears sufficiently renovated by the climate to attend to worldly calculations, but yet he never indulges in the merriment and fanciful sallies of that age, "When the fresh blood grows lively and returns, "Brisk as the April buds in primrose season." No he is cool, calculating, disciplined, brave; a downright energetic, sensible, middle-aged person, presenting, in his career, many good subjects for odes, orations, essays on morals and politics, and such like sublime, serious, and severe literature; but very few and meagre materials for the writers of amusing fiction. Virginia has a far more ample field for the novelist. There was the juvenile recklessness, the rash extravagance, the dreaming of gold, in the spirit of prodigal youth, to spend it. Then there was the diversity of character among the settlers-and the savages! Smith, adventurous, unconquerable, courteous, the perfect mirror of knighthood. Powhattan, wily and vindictive as Hannibal, ambitious and brave as Cæsar-ferocious and generous, tender and terrible-a savage in situation-a Sovereign in spirit. There too is Pocahontas-but to what earthly imagining shall she be likened? She has no parallel in history, neither has fiction, as yet, portrayed a feminine being like her. The novelist who could give her semblance in all its angelic benignity and purity to the world, would be immortalized as a popular writer. It will probably be attempted hereafter, by some bold pen, when writers of genius among us are rewarded adequately for their labors. THE following poems were sent us lately by persons, who, we have reason to think, are totally unacquainted with each other. The coincidence of selecting the same passage for the motto of each strain, we considered sufficiently curious to entitle them both to insertion in our work. Of their respective merits, the public must judge. To the poem of the lady we shall, in courtesy, give the precedence--the preference is left to the decision of others. THE ALPINE HORN. "When the last rays of the sun gild the summit of the Alps, the shepherd who inhabits the highest peak of those mountains, takes his horn and cries with a loud voice, "Praised be the Lord." As soon as the neighboring shepherds hear him, they leave their huts and repeat these words."—ATHENEUM FOR JAN. 1st, 1829. SOUND-Sound the Alpine Horn!— And may each note on echo borne Sound, sound the Alpine Horn, and with one chord, Thou on the highest peak, And may thy heart ne'er fail! Raise, raise thy voice, the wild, sweet strain prolong, Mother! with babe so fair, So cradled in thy breast; Child! in "wild beauty" drest! All,-when the trump from the high crag is heard, Oh, sweet to all that song, Without one tongue to mock ;" And when at sunset loudly swelled "the voice," And sweet to all comes rest, After the silent prayer, For in the home they're blest, They feel that "God is there!" How sweet their sleep-who know in "mount or field," Cottage or cavern, God is still their shield! Glen Creran, 1st month, '29. ANNE. |