hurried him onward to the gate, where his esquires and his horses were waiting for him.

Sir Stephen reached the camp, burning with indignation against Phirouz, who he did not doubt was the contriver of this attempt against his life; and resolved to go the next day into Antioch, and fetch the Lady Violetta away in spite of the Armenian.

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The morrow, however, brought other employment for him. A messenger had arrived the day before, with information that a splendid present of a silk tent, from one of the friendly Saracen potentates to Godfrey of Boulogne, the Christian leader, was on its way, and a guard had been ordered out to meet it. This duty fell upon Sir Stephen; but, as there was not the slightest probability that the truce could be broken, no thought of danger occurred to him, and he prepared to set out, postponing till the next day, but not therefore relaxing in his intention of punishing the treachery of Phirouz. had proceeded about half a league on his way to the point, at which he was to await the arrival of the Saracens, when, as he was riding slowly behind his troop, who were just entering a defile, his attention was arrested by something falling on his casque. He looked up, and saw upon one of the branches of a tree, which overhung the road, the dwarf who had saved him on the preceding evening from assassination. There was an expression of alarm and anxiety in his countenance as he threw down, upon the knight's saddle bow, a rose branch, from which the leaves had all been plucked, with a sprig of aconite twisted round it. Sir Stephen had lived long enough in the East to know that this was a signal of some danger at hand: he looked again, but the dwarf had disappeared. He had fifteen chosen men of his own troop with him, and he cared little for any danger he was likely to meet with; but even the caution which the dwarf's threat had at first inspired him with, was wholly removed, when he reached the appointed spot without accident. He halted his men, and awaited the coming of the Saracens. The sun was almost intolerably scorching, and the tired soldiers had dismounted and unbuckled their armour, and were talking be. side the fountain. On a sudden a noise was heard, and, before half of them could leap on their horses, they were attacked by a large body of Saracens, issuing from the wood

at their backs. The Christians made such defence as they could, but it was in vain if they had been prepared, they must have fallen under the onset of such numbers as now. attacked them. Sir Stephen had dismounted, but had not divested himself of his armour. He performed prodigies of valour, and many of the Saracens fell beneath his ponderous mace. At length a bolt struck him, and he fell. The fight was immediately at an end; the Christians, such of them as could, took to instant flight; and the Saracens drew off without plundering the slain, as was their usual practice.

An hour had elapsed since the fight, and the Saracens had disappeared from the field, when the dwarf appeared, searching anxiously among the slain. At length he found the body of Sir Stephen, and having, with great difficulty, disencum bered it of the crowd of corses around, he drew it out to another part of the plain, and placed it at the foot of a tree. He ascertained that life was not extinct, and proceeded to staunch the wounds, and to pour down the Crusader's throat a balsam which he drew from his vest. At length his cares were rewarded, and the knight opened his eyes. The dwarf made a sign to him to be silent; and, placing him in as convenient a posture as was possible, he hastened across the plain.

The Lady Violetta knew Phirouz, who never forgave any one who thwarted his plans, and was convinced that he had resolved upon the king's death. The poor dumb creature, whom she had made use of to protect her lover from the attack of the assassin, had also enabled her to learn the nature of Phirouz' other plan. He had procured, by means of intrigue, that Sir Stephen should be sent to meet the escort, which he had made it believed would arrive a day earlier than he knew it could be at the appointed spot; and had planned the attack upon him by a band of Saracens whom he held in pay. The attempt of the dwarf to apprise him is already known. When the Lady Violetta heard that Sir Stephen was gone forth, she knew there was little chance of his escaping the plot that had been laid for him; and she preferred any danger to remaining longer under the controul of Phirouz. It was not difficult to persuade Blanche to accompany her, and, conducted by the dwarf, they reachedo a chapel in "the neighbourhood of the fatal spot. Here the

dwarf left them, until he had found Sir Stephen; and, as soon as he had restored him to consciousness, he ran back to apprize them of his success, and seek the necessary succour.

With anxious and trembling steps the Lady Violetta burried to the spot which the dwarf had pointed out, where a scene of horror and carnage met her eyes. At any other time such a sight would have made her blood curdle; but such was now her eagerness to find Sir Stephen, that she scarcely observed it. Seated on the grass, and his back supported by the trunk of a tree, the exhausted Crusader reclined. His eyes were closed, and his relaxed limbs gave him all the appearance of being dead. In his right hand he held the minature which Violetta had sent him; and this proof of his affection, in the very moment of death, excited a violent passion of grief in the lady. Her feelings overpowered her, and she sank into Blanche's arms. Soon, however, recovering herself, she knelt by the side of the wounded knight, and watched, with the deepest anxiety, his slow and painful breathing, not daring to utter a word, which might rouse him, and perhaps add to the exhaustion under which he was suffering.

A very short time had elapsed before the dwarf returned. He had met upon the road some of Sir Stephen's troop, whom the news had reached, and who had come out to rescue their master's body; for of saving his life they had no hope. A litter was quickly formed, and the knight was borne back to his quarters. The Lady Violetta, overcoming the timidity of her temper, demanded an interview with Godfrey of Bou logne, to whom she related her disastrous history, and who immediately granted her his protection. The knight's wounds were not dangerous, and he was soon able to claim his bride. The marriage festival was celebrated with great pomp, in the presence of the assembled army; when, just as Sir Stephen was leading his bride from the altar, a blow was struck at him by an unknown man, who had mingled with the soldiers, and who had thus approached very near. But for the dwarf the blow would have taken place; but he, catching the fellow's arm with one hand, held him by the throat with the other, until he was secured by the soldiers. He confessed that Phirouz was his employer; and added, that he had sworn the death of Sir Stephen. This vow was ill kept, for

in the course of the following week an attack was made on Antioch; Sir Stephen's soldiers remembering their master's obligations to Phirouz, directed their assault to the quarter in which he commanded; and he was soon found and slain. Sir Stephen, tired of the crusade, carried his bride home to his domain, in the fruitful province of Burgundy; where he lived for the rest of his days as happily, and as quietly, as the feudal institutions would permit.

THE DUTCH MAIDEN.

FROM THE DUTCH OF JOHN VAN HEEMSKERK.

Ah, lovely maiden! why so long
Unkindly hast thou spurn'd my love?
When shall my true, my mournful song,
So oft repeated, pity move?

Seest thou yon glorious Rhine that flows,
Careering proudly, glittering bright?
No wave that in the sunshine glows,

Once pass'd, again shall cheer my sight.

Ah! so, believe me, life must fly:

Ah! so, believe me, beauty fade;
Nor wealth, couldst thou rich hoards supply,
Time's rapid footstep o'er has stay'd.

Thy buoyant life, thy beauty, then,
Enjoy while they are surely thine ;
Wait not to call them back again,
Or o'er neglected hours repine.

Now, all around, love's purple light

Its bless'd enchantment strives to throw;
Oh! would'st thou linger till the night
Of death has shrouded all below.

TRAITS OF FEMALE CHARACTER;
Exemplified in Sketches of celebrated Women.

No. V.-CHARLOTTE CORDAY.

Had Charlotte Corday lived in the days of the Greek or Roman republics, the action which has given celebrity to her name would have elevated her memory to the highest rank of civic virtue. The Christian moralist judges of such deeds by a different standard. The meek spirit of the Saviour's religion raises its voice against murder of every denomination, leaving to Divine Providence the infliction of its will upon men like Marat, whom, for wise and inscrutable purposes, it sends, from time to time, as scourges upon the earth. In the present instance, Charlotte Corday anticipated the course of nature but a few weeks, perhaps only a few days; for Marat, when she killed him, was already stricken with mortal disease. Fully admitting, as I sincerely do, the Christian precept in its most comprehensive sense, I am bound to say, nevertheless, that Charlotte Corday's error arose from the noblest and most exalted feelings of the human heart; that she deliberately sacrificed her life to the purest love of her country, unsullied by private feelings of any kind : and that having expiated her error by a public execution, the motive by which she was actuated, and the lofty heroism she displayed, entitle her to the admiration of posterity.

Marie Adelaide Charlotte, daughter of Jean François Corday d'Armans, and Charlotte Godier, his wife, was born in 1768, at St. Saturnin, near Seez, in Normandy. Her family belonged to the Norman nobility, of which it was not one of the least ancient, and she was descended, on the female side, from the great Corneille. She was educated at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen, and from her earliest youth evinced superior intellectual endowments.

From a peculiar bent of mind very uncommon in females, especially at that period, Charlotte Corday devoted herself to the study of politics and the theory of government. Strongly tinctured with the philosophy of the last century, and deeply read in ancient history, she had formed notions of pure republicanism which she hoped to see realized in her own country. A friend at first to the revolution, she exulted