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scarcely get a single individual to sympathise with the feelings of indignation which I endeavoured to express ;-on the contrary, flogging seemed to be in in their eyes a right merry sort of proceeding; and Ensign Northington, with the stereotyped marks of his "Homo," was quoted and cheered by those on the opposite side of the question; as if a good story were a sufficient answer to a solid argument.

It is really edifying, after witnessing their own practices, to hear the English scoff at the obliquities of other nations, and put themselves forward as the leaders and enlighteners of Christendom. The fact is, there is no country where improvement wins its way with slower progress against the inveterate opposition of ignorance and prejudice. They seem yet to be scarcely convinced, in spite of the example of other nations, that the discipline of an army can be maintained without the constant flaying alive of a certain portion of the soldiers, "pour encourager les autres." It is but the other day that they ventured to repeal the established law which subjected woMEN (horresco referens) to be nakedly and publicly whipped in the open market-place by the common executioner. Whatever progress they have made in civilization and improvement, is due to the persevering efforts of enterprising individuals, who have pursued their object through all obstacles with enthusiastic and unabating ardour. And yet how often have the benevolent designs of such men been defeated! Mr. Grattan devoted the latter alf of his life to the emancipation of the Catholics from the oppression of a set of statutes, than which, without

going so far as my own country for an object of comparison, nothing more illiberal and intolerant can be found in any code in Europe ;-and he devoted his life in vain. Almost all that Sir Samuel Romilly was allowed to effect in the amelioration of the criminal law, was the alteration of the sentence for high treason; and even this solitary victory was not achieved without a hard contest. There were found, even in the walls of the House of Commons, persons to speak and vote for the retention of the established usage, though the barbarous indecency of the sentence (which would scarcely be believed by those who have not turned to the State Trials) is such as a nation of savages might well be ashamed to execute. Nay, at last, when the alteration could no longer be entirely resisted, the opposing party contrived, in the very moment of triumph, to throw in "some changes of vexation, that it might lose some colour;" so that, though the " bloody bones" part of the ceremony was abolished, the "raw head" was, by their efforts, retained. Mr. Wilberforce enjoys the rare good fortune of living to witness the success of his efforts against the slave-trade ; but before the English indulge in such bitter vituperations against us for sanctioning the use of negro slaves, a practice which we do not attempt to defend, but seek only to excuse on the plea of "res dura et regni novitas,”—let them remember the relentless opposition which was made in their own parliament to its abolition in their colonies, and let them not forget til how very late in the day the same practice existed even in their own island.

(Blackwood's Magazine.)

THE COT IN THE GLEN.

OH! 'tis not the star of the evening o'ertopping
With fairy bright radiance the dim azure hill,
The green forests far up the wide valley sloping,
The gleam of the lake, or the sound of the rill,.
That tempt me at twilight to wander thus lonely,
So far from the din and bustle of men;
A magic, a magic, that charms for me only,
Surrounds with its halo yon cot in the glen!

How sweet, far remote from all tumult and danger,
It were, in this valley to pass the long year,
In friendship and peace lift the latch to the stranger,

And chase off the anguish of pale sorrow's tear!
To roam out at morn, when the young sun is shining,
When birds are awake, and flocks bleat in the pen;
And to catch his last beams, with my loved one reclining
In the bower, by the side of yon cot in the glen.

Oh! Mary, thou know'st not how often a pleasure

In crowds thy soft image hath given to my heart! Like the spirit that wanders beside buried treasure, My steps ever lead to the spot where thou art : Oh! soon may the day come-if come it will ever!The brightest and best in futurity's ken, When fate may ordain us no longer to sever, Sweet girl of my heart, from the cot in the glen!

THE CORONATION.

I HAVE seen the Coronation, and never did I witness a sight so magnificent-so august-so sublime. If ever the exclamation of "hæc olim meminisse juvabit" can be applicable, it must be to a spectacle like this, which, by eclipsing the future as well as the past, has condensed the wonders of a whole life in one absorbing moment, and given me reason to be thankful that my existence was made contemporaneous with such a surpassing display of glory and splendour. So far from seeking to aggrandise what I have seen, even if that were possible, by any inflation of language, I have purposely abstained, during several days, from any attempt at description, in order that some portion of my enthusiasm might be suffered to evaporate; and yet even now, I feel the necessity of perpetually keeping my pen below the level of my feelings, lest I should be suspected of intemperate exaggeration. In all sincerity of heart I may say, that I unaffectedly pity those who, from any inexcuseable considerations of interest, or the more justifiable causes of compulsory absence, have been debarred from sharing the intense gratification which I have experienced. Exhibitions of this nature are rare, and a concurrence of circumstances united to give interest and magnificence to the present, which may never be again combined. The previous night, by its serene splendour, seemed anxious to do honour to the approaching gorgeousOne would have thought that it

ness.

was a court-day in heaven, and that all its nobility were present, sparkling in their stars, and coronets and girdles of light; while imagination easily converted the milky way into a cluster of radiant courtiers gathering around the throne from which their splendours were derived. Morning began to dawn with a calm loveliness, which rather confirmed than dissipated these floating delusions of the mind. From the gallery where I had procured a seat I saw the stars gradually "gin to pale their ineffectual fires," until none remained visible but Dian's crescent, slowly changing its hue from gold to silver, and the sparkling son of Jupiter and Aurora, Lucifer, who, by his reluctant twinklings, seemed struggling for a little longer existence, that he might catch one glimpse of the approaching magnificence. Already were the eastern skies steeped in a faint grey light, interspersed with streaks of pale green, while fresh flushes of a rosier hue came every moment flooding up from beneath the horizon, and a breeze, sent forward as the herald of the sun, presently wafted around me such a gush of crimson radiance, that I felt (to use the only poetical expression of Sternhold and Hopkins as if the morning" on the wings of winds came flying all abroad." Behold, I exclaimed,

"the jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountains' top ;"

and I was endeavouring to recollect Tasso's beautiful description of sunrise, when the increasing charms of the

day-break compelled me to concentrate all my faculties in the contemplation of the scene with which I was surrounded.

The gallery where I had taken my station was a terrace which overhangs the Lake of Chède, opposite to Mont Blanc; and he who from this point has seen the sun rise, and shower its glories upon the romantic and stupendous wonders with which he is encompassed, will not marvel that I shrink from the hopeless attempt of its description. It is a spectacle to be felt, not painted. Amid the solitude of those gigantic and sublime regions there is something peculiarly impressive in witnessing the magnificence of Nature, as she silently performs her unerring evolutions; and the heart of man, feeling itself in the immediate presence of omnipotence, turns with instinctive reverence to its Creator. But let me resume my narrative of the Coronation-not of a poor fleeting mortal like ourselves, but of that glorious King coeval with the world, and to endure till the great globe itself shall crumble and dissolve; of that truly legitimate Sovereign, who alone can plead divine right for his enthronement, since the Almighty has planted his feet deep in the bowels of the earth, and lifted his head above the clouds ;of that Monarch of the mountains, who indeed deserves the appellation of Majesty-Mont Blanc. If I cannot say, in newspaper phraseology, that the morning was ushered in with the ring ing of bells, I may affirm, that ten thousand were waving to and fro in the breezes of Heaven, for the lilies of the Valley, and the hyacinths, and the bluebells, and the wild flowers, were all nodding their down-looking cups at the earth; and who shall say that they were not melodious with a music inaudible to human ears, although fraught with harmonious vibrations for the innumerable insects who were recreating themselves beneath their pendent belfries? No daughter of earth, however fair or noble, would have been presumptuous enough to aspire to the honour of strewing flowers on this august occasion, for a heavenly florist had fashioned them with his hand, and per

fumed them with his breath, and Flora scattered them spontaneously from her lap as she walked along the valleys. By the same mighty hand was performed the ceremony of the anointing; and as I saw the dews of heaven glittering in the dawning light, while they fell upon the head of the mountain, I exclaimed, "Here, indeed, is a monarch who may, without impiety, be termed the Lord's anointed." Bursting forth from a pavilion of crimson and gold clouds, the sun now threw his full effulgence upon the lofty forehead of Mont Blanc; and the Glaciers, and the rocks of red porphyry and granite, and the valley of Chamouni, and that sea of diamonds, the Mer de Glace, gradually became clothed in gorgeous robes of light. As I contemplated the sea-green pyramids of ice that surrounded Mont Blanc, each, as it became tipped with sun-light, appearing to put on its coronet of sparkling silver, methought there never had been so grand a potentate, encircled with such splendid nobility and courtiers. Nor did the great Hall in which they were assembled appear unworthy of its tenants; for as it had not been built by hands, so neither was it limited by human powers, possessing only the walls of the horizon for its boundaries, and having for its roof the azure vault of heaven, painted with vari-coloured clouds, and illuminated by the glorious and flaming sun. From the tops of the surrounding heights, various stripes of purple clouds, laced with light, assumed the appearance of flags and banners floating in the air in honour of the joyous day; but my attention was more particularly directed to two hovering masses of darker hue, which majestically descending from heaven towards the summit of Mont Blanc, at length deposited their burthen upon its head in the form of a crown of snow, which an electric flash instantly lighted up with intolerable splendour, while a loud peal of thunder gave notice to all the world that the ceremony of Coronation had been accomplished. Alps and Apennines "rebellow'd to the roar;" every mountain opening its deep-toned throat, and shouting out the joyful intelligence to its neighbour, until after

countless hollow and more hollow reverberations, the sound died away in the distance of immeasurable space. Nor was the banquet wanting to complete this august festival, for as my eye roamed over the fertile plains and valleys commanded by the eminence on which I stood, I found that He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills had covered them with corn, and fruits, and wine, and oil, and honey, spreading out a perpetually renewed feast for whole nations, diffusing, at the same time, odours and perfumes on every side, and recreating the ears of the guests with the mingled harmony of piping-birds, melodious winds, rustling woods, the gushing of cascades, and the tinkling of innumerable rills.Again I turned my looks towards Mont Blanc, and lo! a huge avalanche, detaching itself from its summit, came thundering down into the valley below, making earth shake with the concussion. "Behold," I exclaimed, "He who overthroweth the horse and his rider, hath sent his Champion to challenge all the world ;" and at this moment a smaller portion, which had broken away from the falling mass, came leaping towards me, and shivered itself into a cloud of snow beneath, as if the tremendous Champion had thrown down his gauntlet at my feet. Overcome with awe and wonder, I shrunk into myself, and as the rocks, and caverns, and mountains round echoed to the roar of the falling avalanche, methought they hailed the Coronation of their monarch, and shouting with a thousand voices, made the whole welkin ring to their acclamations of Mont Blanc! Mont Blanc! Mont Blanc !

Since witnessing this most impressive scene, I have read an account of the Coronation of "an island-monarch throned in the west," with all its circumstantial detail of Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Knights in their ermine robes, Kings at Arms, and Heralds in their gewgaw coats, and Bishops in the pomp of pontificals, with the parade of gold spurs, ewers, maces, swords, sceptres, crowns, balls, and crosses; but when I compared it with the stupendous exhihition of nature which I had so lately beheld, the whole sunk into insignificance; nor could I suppress a smile of pity as I shared the feeling with which Xerxes contemplated his mighty armament, and reflected that, in a few fleeting years, the whole of all this human pride, with the soldiers and horses that paraded around it, and the multitude that huzzaed without, would be converted into dust; the haughtiest of the nobles lying an outstretched corpse in a dark and silent vault, with nothing of his earthly splendour left but the empty trappings and escutcheons which, in mockery of the lofty titles with which it is inscribed, will hang mouldering upon his coffin. The ceremony will not, however, have been unavailing, if it shall have awakened reflections of this nature in the minds of those who contributed to it, and have impressed upon their hearts the truth of Shirley's noble lines, in the contention of Ajax and Ulysses :—

"The glories of our earthly state

Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate,
Death lays his icy hand on kings :—
Sceptre and crown

Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.”

THE HARP. A TALE.

THE secretary Sellner had begun to taste the first spring of happiness with his youthful bride. Their union was not founded on that vague and evanescent passion which often lives and dies almost in the same moment sympathy and esteem formed the basis

BY C. T. KORNER.*

of their attachment. Time and experience, without diminishing the ardour, had confirmed the permanence, of their mutual sentiments. It was long since they discovered that they were formed for each other, but want of fortune imposed the necessity of a tedious proba

Addressed to such as believe in the agency of Spirits.

tion; till Sellner, by obtaining the pateat for a place, found himself in possession of an easy competence, and on the following Sunday brought home in triumph his long-betrothed bride. A succession of ceremonious visits for some weeks engrossed many of those hours that the young couple would have devoted to each other. But no sooner was this onerous duty fulfilled, than they eagerly escaped from the intrusion of society to their delicious solitude; and the fine summer evenings were but too short for plans and anticipations of future felicity. Sellner's flute and Josephine's harp filled up the intervals of conversation, and with their harmonious unison seemed to sound the prelude to many succeeding years of bliss and concord. One evening when Josephine had played longer than usual, she suddenly complained of head-ache: she had, in reality, risen with this symptom of indisposition, but concealed it from her anxious husband; naturally susceptible of nerVous complaints, the attention which she had lent to music, and the emotions it excited in her delicate frame, had increased a slight indisposition to fever, and she was now evidently ill. A physician was called in, who so little anticipated danger that he promised a cure on the morrow. But after a night spent in delirium, her disorder was pronounced a nervous fever, which completely baffled the efforts of medical skill, and on the ninth day was confessed mortal. Josephine herself was perfectly sensible of her approaching dissolution, and with mild resignation submitted to her fate.

Addressing her husband, for the last time, she exclaimed:" My dear Edward, Heaven can witness it is with unutterable regret that I depart from this fair world, where I have found with thee a state of supreme felicity; but though I am no longer permitted to live in those arms, doubt not that thy faithful Josephine shall still hover round thee, and as a guardian-angel encircle thee till we meet again." She had scarcely uttered these words when she sunk on her pillow, and soon fell into a K ATHENEUM VOL. 10.

slumber, from which she awoke no more; and when the clock was striking nine, it was observed that she had breathed her last. The agonies of. Sellner may be more easily conceived than described: during some days it appeared doubtful whether he would survive; and when, after a confinement of some weeks, he was at length permitted to leave his chamber, the powers of youth seemed paralysed, his limbs were enfeebled, his frame emaciated, and he sunk into a state of stupor, from which he was only to be roused by the bitterness of grief, To this poignant anguish succeeded a fixed melancholy; a deep sorrow consecrated the memory of his beloved: her apartment remained precisely in the state in which it had been left previous to her death; -on the work-table lay her unfinished task; the harp stood in its accustomed nook, untouched and silent; every night Sellner went in a sort of pilgrimage to the sanctuary of his love, and taking his flute, breathed forth, in deep plaintive tones, his fervent aspirations for the cherished shade. He was thus standing in Josephine's apartment, lost in thought, when a broad gleam of moonlight fell on the open window, and from the neighbouring tower the watchman proclaimed the ninth hour; at this moment, as if touched by some invisible spirit, the harp was heard to respond to his flute in perfect unison. Thunderstruck at this prodigy, Sellner suspended his flute, and the harp became silent; he then began, with deep emotion, Josephine's favourite air, when the harp resumed its melodious vibrations, thrilling with ecstasy. At this confirmation of his hopes he sunk on the ground, no longer doubting the presence of the beloved spirit; and whilst he opened his arms to clasp her to his breast, he seemed to drink in the breath of spring, and a pale glimmering light fitted before his. eyes. "I know thee, blessed spirit," exclaimed the bewildered Sellner, "thou didst promise to hover round my steps, to encircle ine with thy immortal love.. Thou hast redeemed thy word; it is thy breath that glows on my lipa)

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