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I LOVE to rise at dawn of day,

And in the woodlands wild to stray, And musing linger there ;--

To ramble thro' the verdant fields,
And taste the sweets that nature yields,”,
And snuff the morning air.

I love to hear the warbling songs
That issue from the feather'd

throngs,

And fields and forests fill :---
To watch their motions as they fly,
And skim the earth, or scale the sky ;---
Or drink the murm'ring rill;---

I love to view the cattle play
(As grateful for returning day)

And gambol o'er the mead ;---
To see the dew-drop on the spray,
(Glist'ning before the rising ray)
Its brilliant lustre spread :--
I love to see the country's wealth:---
---But more than all I love my Health,
Sweet maid of graceful mien ;---
And wheresoe'er her smiles prevail,
On mountain tops, or in the vale,
There will I still be seen;

Yes, dearest maid, thy blessings fair,
Come, wafted on the morning air,

And glisten in the dew ;--

Thou bidd'st flocks, birds, and woods impart
Their various charms to please my heart,
Since thee in all I view ;---

Depriv'd of thee, these pleasures fail,
Nor charms the mountain, or the vale,
Or dew-drops on the spray ;---
The sun would dart its rays in vain ;---
Nor feather'd warblers ease my pain,

Or soothe the ling'ring day ;---
Then, Goddess, come, be still my guide,
O'er all my fleeting hours preside,

And in my walks attend;

At morning's dawn, beside the rill,
Or in the grove, I'll woo thee still,
My first, my only friend.

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But thro' the tempest gleams that stately

tow'r

A giant height,on which the Sun-beams show'r
Their undiminish'd glories. NELSON's name
Is on the pillar.---Thus the stormy hour,
The clouds of battle,shew'd his spirit's flame
Brighter and broader.---Thus shall blaze
the Hero's fame.

From the Literary Gazette, Aug. 1818.

"THROUGH!"

A Seal having the device of an arrow piercing a cloud cut upon it, with the motto Through,' occasioned the following lines from the pen of the German poet and soldier Korner.

Linder, wreathed in mist,

majesty,
Black frowning clouds appear,
Spread o'er the dusky sky,
Forth rushing from their womb,
The tooth-edged flames are seep,
And fireballs fiercely dart,

While thunder rolls between.
Thousands with fearful hearts
Their supplications raise,
O spare my quiet vale,
God of eternal days!
The world beside o'erwhelm,

66

All else in nature blot, But save my fields in peace,

My children and my cot!" Yes, prostrate at your prayers, Cowards, in dust remain,--He who in thunder moves

Shall crush you on the plain !--Thus bells amid the storm To prayers the tremblers call, And to the turret draw The bright electric ball. Not such alone are placed In fell Destruction's sight--A glittering pompous train* I see in armour bright; Of danger consciousless, They silent steal along Toward the lightnings creep,

That grow each flash more strong.
Why slow and tedious creep?
Haste! deeds of speed employ,
These, powerful, trembling not,
The Hydra shall destroy.
Will armour save alone?
It may divert a blow,
But it attracts the flash

That threats to lay you low.
Rouse from your lethargy!
Amid the battle's heat
A glorious victory

Your efforts will await.
Mark you yon arrow swift,

Through the dense cloud it flies, The bow's whole strength demands To speed it t'wards the skies.

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* Supposed to refer to saure of the Prussian soldiery.

VOL. 4.]

"Through"---it is flown---it sails

In sunbeams all serene,

In azure fields of air

Beyond this stormy scene!

Our watchword and our sign,

Original Poetry.

Made tigers waltz, and breath'd soft airs
To dying swans and dancing bears:
But bland in pow'r, the "heav'nly maid"
Gives to her noblest rival aid :---
Expell'd from rout, "at home," and ball,

"Through,' brothers, “Through,' shall be Permitted scarce a morning call,

To lead us from the field,

By death to victory!

Leave earth to vulgar souls, Heroes must look on high; No clods encumber them, Their path is on the sky!

They head the burning clouds,

The lightnings blaze below--

Above---their laurels grow!

"Through!" lies their lovely land--

From the European Magazine.

C. R.

THE PROGRESS OF MUSIC. [By the author of "Legends of Lampidosa, &c."]

Ν

IN ancient Taste was young,

The dulcet Virginal she strung,

When stiff in carkanet and caul,
The spinster of the good old hail,
In pagan shapes erected high
The outworks of the vast goose-pye,
While chines of ox and flanks of deer
Smoked her carousing Sire to cheer;
Then in her lattic'd bow'r content,
O'er lawn or tapestry she bent,

Or stroll'd through alleys straight and dim,
'Midst shaven yews and statues grim;
And if no giant folio told

Of dwarfs and dames and barons old,
The soft low-whisp'ring virginal
Came last her drowsy eve to lull.

In coif and bib the grandam yet
Remembers her long-lost Spinnet,
Where first in hoop and flounce array'd,
Thrice ruffled sleeve and bright brocade,
Erect she sat,---'till bows and smiles
Repaid the wonderous gavot's toils,
While fresh in pompadour and love,
Lac'd hat, wir'd coat, and gold fring'd glove,
Her squire, with strange delight amaz'd,
Alike her tune and tent-stitch prais'd.

Rejected Harpsichord !---with thee
I celebrate my jubilee ;
Full fifty years thy sturdy frame
Has been in heart and speech the same:
Concise and sharp, but bold and clear
As ancient wit and speech sincere,
Bland emblem too of joy and grief,
As keen, as varied, and as brief!
How many tears in childhood shed
Have fall'n forgotten on thy head!
How oft returning Pleasure's ray
Those April drops exhal'd away!
True type of time !---of joys or cares
Thy polish'd brow no record bears;
Yet thou art lov'd, for thou alone
Art here when youth and math are gone;
And tho' ungrateful Fashio's doom
Consigns thee to a garret's gloom,

Like me, with worn-out tongue aad quill---
Rare servant!--thou shalt serve me still:
Thy coat the poet's hearth shall cheer,
And deck his solitary bier.

Now Taste is older, and the reign
Of mighty Music comes again,
As when in bold Arion's day

She taught strange fish a roundelay...

To Music's feast, with joyful hums, The exile Conversation comes; When gas and ladies' eyes illume The glories of the Concert-room--

* * *

*

* * *

*

"Tis done---the final crash astounds---
The thund'ring orchestra resounds,
Triumphant Music rends the spheres,
And conquers all but tongues and ears.
In Education's vast Bazaars,
What harps, pianos, and guitars,
Crowd the gay booths by Fashion made
The trinket-shops of every trade!
Imperial on the motley mound

87

Of toys and tools, sits Music crown'd,
Midst cobbling, chalking, hydrostatics,
Pas-seuls, poetics, and pneumatics,
From card-racks, oyster-shells, and awls,
The nymphs of Fashion's school she calls,
Such nymphs as once on Thracian ground
Whirl'd frighted Orpheus round and round,
Then langh'd to see the minstrel stare,
Who ne'er before saw Wallzing there,

Still triumph, Music !---still renew
Thy ancient spells and empire due;
Teach brutes the graces, and create
A soul in things inanimate.

As sprigs and stones and wood-nymphs danc'd
When Orpheus with his lute advanc'd,
Now senseless stones in quiet leave,
But nobler miracles achieve :

Bid waltzing nymphs stand still, and then
Change bowing sprigs to Englishmen.

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Where grass should form a verdant seat,
And field flowers bloom their scented pride.
The Abbey---where the armour'd hall

Should own the painted windows light; The oak-grown walk where rooks should call, Returning from their evening fight.

The river, lost among the trees;

The torrent rushing down the steep;
Groves, where the Summer's sighing breeze
In moonlight night might tempt to sleep.
There, through the lawny path I'd rove,
Pausing to catch the vista's gleam,
Led by the valued youth I love,

Or watch the sun's expiring beam.
Oft on his arm I'd range the wood;
Or lonely in the park I'd read ;
Or frequent seek the shaded flock;
Rousing the young deer with my tread.
And as the moon, in Autumn's night,
Silvered the fallen leaves, and cast
Along our path a track of light,

We'd roam, nor fear the bowling blast.
The leafless trees---the thick strewn path---
May call unchecked the thinking sigh;
And the loud wind's destructive wrath
May warn us that we both must die!
But, then !---the rolling orb above,

And starry concave, would proclaim That other worlds should see our love, And sanctify the glorious flame !

88

Intelligence: Literary and Philosophical.

[VOL. 4

INTELLIGENCE.

NEW THEORY RESPECTING THE INTERIOR OF

M

THE EARTH!!

R. Steinhauser, in Halle, has informed the world, through the medium of the Literary Gazette (of Halle,)that our Globe is a hollow ball, the interior of which perhaps contains a little Solar System. From a long series of observations on the variations of the Magnetic Needle, it seems to him to follow incontrovertibly, that at the depth of 170 (German, about 765 English) miles, a body revolves round the centre of the earth, from West to East, but very slowly, as it takes 440 years to accomplish one revolution. This body is endued with a very strong magnetic power, and is the cause of the variations of the Magnetic Needle. The calculations of M. Steinhauser, are stated to be perfectly consonant to experience; and he foretold, in 1805, that the Needle would first become stationary, and then, about the present time, return towards the East, which has in fact happened. Hitherto, navigators have merely judged impirically, from the variation of the Needle, whether they have been driven by currents too far to the East or the West: but in future they will observe the position of the subterraneous body, called Pluto, and thereby determine their position with as much certainty as by the most celestial phenomena!

A letter from Copenhagen communicates the following details, upon the breaking up of the ice on the coast of Greenland:

"Four hundred and fifty square miles of ice have recently detached itself from the eastern coast of Greenland and the neighbouring regions of the Pole. It was this mass which, during 400 years, had rendered that province at first difficult of access, and afterwards inaccessible, so as even to cause its existence to be doubted. Since 1786 the reports of the whalers have invariably referred to some changes, more or less consid erable, in the seas of the North Pole; but at the present time, so much ice has detached itself, and such extensive canals are open amidst what remains, that they can penetrate, without obstruction, as far as the 83d degree. All the seas of the North abound with these floating masses, which are driven to more temperate climates. A packet from Halifax fell in with one of these islands in a more southeru latitude than the situation of London; it appeared about half a mile in circumference, and its elevation above the water was estimated at 200 feet. This breaking up of the Polar ice coincides with the continual tempest from the South-east, accompanied with heats, rains, storms, and a very electrical state of the atmosphere: circumstances which, during three years, have caused us to experience in Denmark hot winters and cold humid summers.---On the 25th of May there fell at Copenhagen five showersof hail, to each of which succeeded a dead calm.

Public curiosity has recently been much excited by the appearance and performances of two human salamanders, who, in the days of superstition, could, by resisting the last act of an Auto da fe, have been considered as saints or demons. We allude to a Spanish female, named Signora Giradelli, who has been exhibiting her powers at Edinburgh; and Ivan Ivanitz Chabert, a Russian, who has been displaying similar qualifications in the English metropolis. All the stories of St. John escaping from the cauldron of boiling oil, of Queen Emma walking bare-foot over the red hot plough-share, and of the Hindoos walking into nine inclosures with fiery balls of iron in their naked hands, now lose the impression which they were wont to produce, and almost sink into trifles, compared with the exploits of those incombustible persons. (See our 36th No.)

The White Matter voided by snakes is almost entirely pure Uric Acid. (Dr. John Davy.) There is a longitudinal fissure in the poison teeth of serpents, which is not perceptible in those of a harmless kind.

It is not long since it was a fashion among our fair sex to make their own shoes, but the rage seems to have gone by, notwithstanding the acknowledged quality of the ladies to stick to the last. Instead of cobbling, bookbinding has now its votaries. Three lessons make a proficient, and the teacher says it is a most useful, amusing, and elegant employ

ment.

AtGreenhill,parish of Ruthwell,died in his 76th year, Andrew Rome. This old man, with his brother, who still survives, and is about ten years older, was among the last of a daring and enterprising race of smugglers, who carried on an extensive contraband trade in Annandale, before the exclusive privileges of the Isle of Man were bought up and regulated by government. He was a native of the border parish of Dornock, but for the last forty or fifty years resided in the parish of Ruthwell, where he rented a farm under the Earl of Mansfield. The character of this old smuggler was strongly marked with the peculiar features of his illicit occupation, and would have formed a fine subject for the graphic pen of the author of "Guy Mannering."

NEW WORKS.

Biographical Conversations on the most eminent Voyagers of different Nations, from Columbus to Cooke; by the Rev. W. Bingley.

Translations from Camoens, and other poets: with original poetry; by the author of "Modern Greece," and the "Restoration of the Works of Art to Italy." 8vo. 4s.

Dr. Andrew Duncan will soon publish an Account of the Life, Writings, and Character, of the late Dr. Alex. Monro.

An Account of the Small-Pox, as it appeared after Vaccination, will shortly appear, by Alexander Monro, M. D. professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh; including, among many cases, three which occurred in the author's own family.

"Some of the floating islands conveyed forests and trunks of trees. We notice this last fact principally for the satisfaction of Sir Charles Morgan, so well known to the geologists, who attribute to phenomena of literary world by his appendices to Lady this sort the blocks of foreign granite found Morgan's work on France, has put to press in the chain of the Jura mountains, and con- his Sketches of the Philosophy of Life. veyed at the epoch when our highest mountails were covered with water."--Gent. Mag.

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COL. JOHNSON'S JOURNEY OVERLAND FROM INDIA TO ENGLAND IN 1817. 4TO. WITH PLATES.

A NY prefatory remarks would only taking up on his way a little child to

"Near the door of the women's apartment stands the priest in his robes. He reads prayers for fifteen minutes over the child, which,laid on bedding, is held by the godfather. (There is no godmother, even at the christening of a girl,

detain our readers from the enter- adjust the equilibrium. From the sight tainment which this Journey offers, and of an Arab bagpiper, Colonel Johnson as our opinion of its agreeable qualities supports the hypothesis, that this instrumay be gathered from the extracts as we ment originated in the East, and found proceed, we shall not stop for even one its way to the Highlands of Scotland introductory observation. Colonel through the channels of Greece and Johnson, accompanied by Captain Sal- Rome. There are some Armenian ter, having determined to return to Eng- families of great wealth in Bushire. A land by an overland route, instead of a christening at one of their principal sea voyage, left Bombay for Bushire in merchants is thus described :— the Gulf of Persia, in a large merchant vessel, about the middle of the month of February 1817. They touched at Muscat, where immense multitudes of a small fish, like Sardinias, are caught by throwing a net over the spot where they are observed," and as soon as sufficient the wife of the godfather being considtime has elapsed for the net to descend ered as holding that distinction,) The below the shoal of fish, one of the fish- godfather repeats many short sentences, ers, nearly naked, dives to the bottom dictated by the priest, as the name of of the net, which he collects together in the child, his promises as sponsor, &c. his arms. He then pulls a string con- 2dly. The child is removed into the nected with the net, which is gently women's apartment, the door is shut, drawn up, the diver ascending with it." and a prayer is read by the priest outThese divers remain from seventy to a side, holding the handle of the lock: bundred seconds under water. the door is then opened, and the priest, At Bushire, the Arabs are a strong, his assistant, a clerk, and the godfather, thickset, and muscular race. One par- enter; a large basin is placed at the taticular man carried upon his back a full ble, with four candles round it; in a pipe of Madeira; and, at another time, niche above the table is a golden cruci700 lb. of rice, in bags, for two miles, fix, studded with seven large precions M ATHENEUM. Vol. 4.

90

Singular Customs at Bushire.

{VOL. 4 stones, and there is a long glass vessel book in contact with the mother's head; with sanctified oil. The priest prays when it is finished, the godfather bows over the basin; then the assistant puts to the company, and retires with the water into, first hot, then cold, bishop and priests to another suite of as required; he next immerses the cru- apartments on the side of the house apcifix in the basin of water, praying all propriated to the males, where a breakthe while, and his assistant responding. fast table is laid out for a numerous asThe godfather during this time holds sembly."

the child flat on the bedding below him: Such is a rich Armenian baptism, of a little of the sanctified oil is then added the ceremonies at which we do not redrop by drop to the water, during which member to have read any account beprocess, the priest and his assistant fore. The ladies are not beautiful, chant, the crucifix being previously re- though they have fine black eyes, eyemoved from the water. 3dly. The brows, and hair; but habitual seclusion child, entirely naked, is taken up and renders them pale, and their very early put into the basin by the priest, who marriages prematurely old. with his hands laves every part of the On the road from Bushire to Shiraz, infant's body; it is then taken out and there are prodigious numbers of beggars wrapped up. The priest pronounces in a state of the utmost destitution and the baptismal name and some prayers, wretchedness. The way is also infested which the godfather repeats after him, by robbers, hut our countrymen passed and takes up the glass of oil, praying in safety. While at Kauzeroon, about all the while; then bringing it near the half way, they of course visited the celechild, he dips his thumb in the vessel, brated Shapour; but as this place and rubs oil first on the child's forehead, is so well described by M. Morier then behind each ear, subsequently on (whose second* Journey is, we observe, the chin, the eyes, mouth, and nose; with much satisfaction, just published, then the breasts, the hands, the back, and will speedily claim our attention) the abdomen, and the top of each foot, we shall very briefly dismiss the chief praying the whole time, and the points relatiug to it in Colonel Johnson's clerk responding. 4thly. The child be- narrative. Having with incredible faing dressed by the nurse in rich clothes, tigue attained the summit of the mounis given to the godfather, when the bish- tain which overhangs the valley where op comes in, invested in embroidered the sculptures are, he entered the cave robes and a black silk hood over his and examined the fallen statue. It is head, and attended by two or three of white lime-stone, as hard and compriests. The bishop places himself at the pact as marble: its extreme length from head of a procession formed of priests, 16 to 20 feet. From the plate, it seems two by two, followed by the officiating a curiously executed work, of an armpriest, next to whom is the godfather ed, bearded Jupiter-like giant, with a bearing the child; they pass in this order to the public apartment, where the females in their best dresses are assem. bled, sitting along three sides of the room on cushions placed near the walls. The mother, who is veiled, sits apart on cushions, as in state, on the other side. When the bishop enters the room, the ladies all rise and remain standing. The godfather places the child in the lap of the mother, who remains veiled as beThe account of the first journey thro' Persia, of fore. The bishop takes the book and this accomplished gentleman, published in 1812, is reads a short prayer, to which responses one of the most interesting books of travels we ever are given by the other priests. During read, and from the little we have had time to peruse this concluding part of the ceremony, the officiating priest holds a prayer- him

sort of mural crown upon his head. About 400 feet within this stupendous and terribly sublime cavern is a tank of water, surrounded by grotesque formations of stalactites shooting upwards from the base and downwards from the roof.

Shiraz did not strike our travellers, as they approached to it through the barren

of the second, it seems to merit equal praise.-Ed.
+ Mentioned by M. Morier but not examined by

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