The river, glancing in the pale moon's rays,
Give deep remembrance of youth's fiery days.

Years have rolled on, with still and rapid flow,
Since o'er these hills, burst forth the voice of wo.

'Twas in the quiet of a summer's eve,
When soft waves rippled, with a gentle heaye,
O'er the far bosom of the yellow beech,
There rose a murmur in the sport of each,
As the light breeze its tender wing would dip,
To catch the freshness of the lily's lip;
So soft they whispered, in their purple tide,
The birchen bark scarce swayed its painted side.

That day was glorious in its parting hour;
For gladness breathed from rustling leaf and flower.
The sun-set hues-a bright and glittering crowd- -
In pomp were gathered, on the amber cloud.
Yet, with its glory, and its splendour, rife,
It was the darkest of an old man's life.

Swift! from the oak wood, burst a fearful train,
With glancing arms, and foamy bit and rein.
Their whirling sabres gave a deadly glare,
In the dim shadows of the evening air.
Beings of wrath of stern and sullen eye-

Of swarthy cheek, that kindled fearfully.

Ah! years have vanished,--still those eyes' dark gleams Haunt me at noontide, and in midnight dreams!

They swept the Indian from his sunny land;
They slew the hunter with the blood-red hand.
Of all the race that roused the cougar here,
Whose painted shafts out-sped the wild, red deer;
Whose sandalled feet were wont these hills to press,
Daring the tiger in his wilderness,--

I only breathe,--a lone, way-faring one!

Whose life-tide ebbs, and soon will cease to run.

LESSON XXVIII.

Character of Samuel Adams.-TUDOR.

HE combined in a remarkable manner, all the animosities, and all the firmness, that could qualify a man to be the assertor of the rights of the people. Had he lived in a country, or an epoch, when abuses of power were to be resisted, he would have been one of the reformers. He would have suffered excommunication, rather than have bowed to papal infallibility, or paid the tribute to St. Peter; he would have gone to the stake, rather than submit to the prelatic ordinances of Laud; he would have mounted the scaffold, sooner than pay a shilling of illegal ship money; he would have fled to a desert, rather than endure the profligate tyranny of a Stuart. He was proscribed, and would sooner have been condemned as a traitor, than assent to an illegal tax, if it had been only a six penny stamp, or an insignificant duty on tea; and there appeared to be no species of corruption, by which this inflexibility could have been destroyed.

The motives, by which he was actuated, were not a sudden ebullition of temper, nor a transient impulse of resentment, but they were deliberate, methodical and unyielding. There was no pause, no hesitation, no despondency; every day, and every hour, was employed in some contribution toward the main design, if not in action, in writing; if not with the pen, in conversation; if not in talking, in meditation. The means he advised, were persuasion, petition, remonstrance, resolutions, and when all failed, defiance and extermination, sooner than submission. His measures for redress, were all legitimate, and where the extremity of the case, as in the destruction of the tea, absolutely required an irregularity, a vigour, beyond the law, he was desirous that it might be redeemed by the discipline, good order, and scrupulous integrity, with which it should be effected.

With this unrelenting and austere spirit, there was nothing ferocious, or gloomy, or arrogant in his demeanour. His aspect was mild, dignified and gentlemanly. In his own state, or in the congress of the union, he was always the advocate of the strongest measures, and in the darkest hour, he never wavered or desponded. He engaged in the cause with all the zeal of a reformer, the confidence of an enthusiast, and the cheerfulness of a voluntary martyr. It was not by brilliancy of talents, or profoundness of learning, that he rendered such

essential service to the cause of the revolution, but by his resolute decision, his unceasing watchfulness, and his heroick perseverance. In addition to these qualities, his efforts were consecrated by his entire superiority to pecuniary considerations; he, like most of his colleagues, proved the nobleness of the cause, by the virtue of his conduct and Samuel Adams, after being so many years in the publick service, and having filled so many eminent stations, must have been buried at the publick expense, if the afflicting death of an only son had not remedied this honourable poverty.

LESSON XXIX.

Dialogue between Major Lincoln, Captain McFuse, and Mr. Sage, concerning the state of affairs, shortly before the battle of Lexington.-COOPER.

McFuse. What may be your opinion of these doings, as you call them, Mr. Sage? You, who are a man of observation, should understand your countrymen, will they fight? Sage. A rat will fight if the cats pen him.

McF. But do the Americans conceive themselves to be penned ?

Sage. Why, that is pretty much as people think, captain; the country was in a great toss, about the stamps and the tea; but I always said, such folks as didn't give their notesof-hand, and had no great relish for any thing more than country food, wouldn't find themselves cramped by the laws, after all.

McF. Then you see no great oppression in being asked to pay your bit of a tax, master Sage, to maintain such a worthy fellow as myself, in a decent equipage, to fight your battles.

Sage. Why, as to that, captain, I suppose we can do pretty much the whole of our fighting, when occasion calls; though I don't think there is much stomach for such doings among the people, without need.

McF. But, what do you think the Committee of Safety, and your Sons of Liberty, as they call themselves, really mean by their parades of minute men, their gathering of provisions, carrying off the cannon, and such other formidable and appalling preparations--ha! honest Seth? Do they

think to frighten British soldiers with the roll of a drum, or are they amusing themselves, like boys in the holy-days, with playing war?

Sage. I should conclude that the people are pretty much engaged, and in earnest.

McF. To do what? To forge their own chains, that we may fetter them, in truth.

Sage. Why, seeing that they have burnt the Stamps, and thrown the tea into the harbour, and since that, have taken the management into their own hands, I should rather conclude that they have pretty much determined to do what they think best.

Lincoln. (laughing,) You appear not to come to conclusions with our host, captain McFuse, notwithstanding so much is determined. Is it well understood, Mr. Sage, that large reinforcements are coming to the colonies, and to Boston, in particular?

Sage. Why, yes; it seems to be pretty generally contemplated on.

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Lin. And what is the result of these contemplations ?

Sage. Why, as the country is considerably engaged in the business, there are some, who think if the ministers don't open the Port, that it will be done, without much further words, by the people.

Lin. Do you know, that such an attempt would lead directly to a civil war ?

Sage. I suppose it safe to calculate that such doings would bring on disturbances.

Lin. And you speak of it, Sir, as a thing, not to be deprecated, or averted by every possible means in the power of the nation.

Sage. If the Port is opened, and the right to tax given up, I can find a man in Boston who'll engage to let them draw all the blood, that will be spilt, from his own veins, for nothing.

LESSON XXX.

Affair of Lexington and Concord.-E. EVERETT.

[A CONSIDERABLE quantity of military stores having been deposited at Concord, an inland town, about eighteen miles

from Boston, general Gage purposed to destroy them. For the execution of this design, he, on the night preceding the nineteenth of April, detached Lieutenant Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, with eight hundred grenadiers and Light Infantry; who, at eleven o'clock, embarked in boats at the bottom of the common in Boston, crossed the river Charles, and, landing at Phipps' farm in Cambridge, commenced a silent and expeditious march for Concord.

Although several British officers, who dined at Cambridge the preceding day, had taken the precaution to disperse themselves along the road leading to Concord, to intercept any expresses, that might be sent from Boston, to alarm the country; yet messengers, who had been sent from town for that purpose, had eluded the British patrols, and given an alarm, which was rapidly spread by church bells, signal guns, and vollies.-HOLMES.].

The march of the British, was so cautious, that they remained undiscovered till within a mile and a half of Lexington meeting house, and time was scarce left for the last messenger to return with the tidings of their approach.

The new alarm was now given; the bell rings, alarm guns are fired, the drum beats to arms. Some of the militia had gone home, when dismissed; but the greater part were in the neighbouring houses, and instantly obeyed the summons. Sixty or seventy appeared on the green and were drawn up in double ranks. At this moment the British column of eight hundred gleaming bayonets appears, headed by their mounted commanders, their banners flying and drums beating a charge. To engage them with a handful of militia of course was madness,-to fly at the sight of them, they disdained. The British troops rush furiously on; their commanders, with mingled threats and execrations, bid the Americans lay down their arms and disperse, and their own troops to fire.

A moment's delay, as of compunction, follows. The order with vehement imprecations is repeated, and they fire. No one falls, and the band of self-devoted heroes, most of whom had never seen such a body of troops before, stand firm in the front of an army, outnumbering them ten to one. Another volley succeeds; the killed and wounded drop, and it was not till they had returned the fire of the overwhelming force, that the militia were driven from the field. A scattered fire now succeeded on both sides while the Americans remained in sight; and the British troops were then drawn up on the green, to fire a volley and give a shout in honour of the victory.

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