can conceive of fuch a being. A'veil, 'the attempt; but then I saw the great, : And road you will take.' I fat down; her, and may a fecond daughter increase daughter was befide me: ny cloaths touched hers, and a fudden tremor feized me. A fubtle flame ran through my veins; my fenfes were agitated, my thoughts confufed; affected both with joy and anxiety, I first felt that pleafure is compatible with diftrefs. My furprise prevented me from speaking. The old woman obferved my embarraffinent, and faid, The torrent that frightened you is dangerous only to old men; our youths fwim across it, fome of them carrying, at the fame time, bafkets with their provifions. They oppose ⚫ undauntedly the rapid current, and always overcome it. I would, however, be to blame, fhould I conceal' from you that I have often been alarmed. When my fon plunged into its foaming waters, the motion of my heart grew quick, it became difficult, it ceafed; my knees failed me, and I fell into the "arms of my daughter. Her attentions recalled me to life; I might have feen Loutfeun ftruggling fuccetsfully against the ftream; but I was not perfectly reftored to myself, till I faw him on the oppofite fhore, ftretching out his arms towards me. Before that time I did not think there had been any danger in your felicity! But pardon my curiofity, perhaps a lon-in-law contributes-perhaps be too is chofen to---" The young girl lifted her hand to her eyes, already too well hid by her veil. Ah! what would not i have given for the privilege of con templating in that moment her confulion and her charms. Her mot er replied with a fevere look, The task which Nature has impofed on Thekintfe is farcely begun icarcely has the fifteen times feen the tree which is confecrated to Foe, lofe and refume its foliage. She has duties to perform, and fervices to 'pay me and the must pay her debt of duty to her own mother, before the can afpire at the honour of becoming one herself. This prudent answer made me lefs uneafy. Stani, faid the, a few minutes afterwards, partake with us our evening repat. You are now the gueft ' of this houte, an object facred for Nac theu and Thekintle, as they ought to be for you. Lift your veil, faid ine, to her daughter, fear nothing, you are in the prefence of your mother. Bring the difles and the tea; place on our board the fruits of the feafon, and let us offer liberally the gifts which Nature bellows on us with prodigality. At thefe thefe words I fell at her feet to pay the tribute of gratitude; by procuring me the fight I fo much defired, the did more for my happiness than the great Emperor of China could have done in the inidft of his palace. Reprefent to yourfelf the fun at the moment of his rifing, when he burfts through a thick cloud, fuch to my enchanted eyes appeared the daughter of Nactheu, Under what gilded cieling is fo much beauty to be found? What palace ever received a happier mortal than Stani was at that moment? Seated oppofite to her, I know not what I failor did in my tranfport of joy; I fhall not relate what I felt, for I cannot; but I enjoyed fome hours of unfpeakable felicity. I informed them of my birth, my flender fortune, my intention of vifiting China, of Inftructing myfelf in the arts of the country, and of tranfporting them to my own. But how changed were now my designs! How did I wish never to be feparated from her who was to be the only object of my love to my life's end! Nactheu read my thoughts, and her prudence led her to combat them: fhe advised me to follow my firft refolutions, and my departure was fixed for the next morning I threw myself on the matts that were prepared for ine in the chamber of Loutfeun. I flept but little; I rose before the fun; and, as I was about to quit the cottage, and was invoking the benediction of the gods upon it, the good old woman had opened the door, and was ftanding with a veffel full of a red liquor in her hands; the filed on me, and I perceived that she had overheard my prayers. I 'Take this cordial, fald fhe; where there is ftrength there is courage. drank with a heart full of hope and of gratitude, Go, my fon; (how grateful was that name to my ears), profecute your journey; may Heaven guide your fteps and accomplish your wines. I will not receive you at your return with in'difference.' I withed alfo to learn. That knowledge I knew I could make fubfervient to my happineis, by employing it only to ren der myself more dear to Thekintfe, more eftimable in the fight of her mother, and more useful to both. If they receive me at my return, said I to myself, I will make their cottage inore ftable and more com. modious; I will beautify and adorn it: the fterile clay fhall, by my induftry, bes come an even path on which my beloved fhall fet her foot with fecurity. On cups of a dazzling whiteness, I will fix with varnish, the moft brilliant colours: and enamelled flowers, fresh and blooming as her lips, fhall feem to kifs them as the drinks. My thoughts, being thus continually occupied about her, I collected the feeds that were deftined for the gardens of the Emperor. I wil fow them, faid I, on the borders of her rice fields; there she will enjoy a filutary fhade, fhe will have the choiceft flowers to adorn her, and shall pluck the most delicate fruits. With fuch reveries I beguiled the tedious days of abfence; but they pafs away like the moft fortunate; they are equally loft in the ftream of time; and make a great part, alas! of that existence which they have rendered unhappy. The period was now come, when, according to my agreement with Nactheu, I had purposed to return. Informed of what it was ufeful for me to know, the only inftruction I coveted, I fet out on the road by which I had come. In pro portion, as I approached the happy dwel ling, I felt myself agitated with greater emotion and with lefs confidence. The joy that fwelled my heart at my depar ture, began to diffipate at every step. Alas, faid I, if the happiness that I fondly hope I am on the point of obtaining fhould efcape me! that powerful caufe of my emulation and courage will, perhaps, become a fource of diftrefs and defpair. Muft every thing that exifts be for ever fubject to change? Like the waves of the fea, the heavens and the rolling fpheres, this earth, and the beings that are born and die on its furface, are never at reft. What have I not to dread from the deftroying hand of time and the inconftancy of fate? Thefe thoughts, with the recollection of what I had been taught, by the bonzes, of the unftable foundation on which all fublunary joys are reared, occupied, and difturbed my foul. Because I was in love, and fubject to the fears and anxieties which attend that paffion. I gave way to my gloomy Nnz prefages. I departed. I paffed the torrent, carfying with me the image of Thekintfe, and a grateful fenfe of the goodnets of her mother. I traverfed all China: Iob ferved the innumerable people it fofters in its bofon; an ancient people, celebrated for fcience, for indultry, and piety. From its learned men I acquired leffons of practical wisdom, which procure a man eftimation, and make him happy. The knowledge that increafes his ftrength, his power, and his pleafures, and which, by awakening or roufing his paffions, augments his inquietudes and his pains, prefages. I imagined that the fair Thekinti had loft all her charms Sorrow, faid I, or fome wafting difeafe has withered her bloom-death, perhaps may have defolated her fair form-perhaps her brother may have perifhed in the tor rent-or, may it not be the death of her mother that thus o'erwhelms my fpirits! I continued, however, to advance: and, after fifteen days of painful travel, I the fecond time difcovered Pekin. I redoubled my fteps, I haftened over fields and through woods; I afcended a little hill, and difcerned the dwelling of her I loved at the fight of it all my difmal apprehenfions fled away, like the darknels of night at the approach of the fun. I reached the dreaded torrent, but, what was my furprife, when a fingle, but folid arch, from one bank to the other, truck my fight? I viewed with admiration and gratitude this inftance of beneficence. Receive my thanks, thou who haft crec ted this monument, that kindly hortens my way to the object of my wifhes, may thy life be happy and long! While I was thus expreffing my gratitude, I had reached the other fide, and already thought heard the foft voice of my beloved mistress, and faw her fair form blufhing for joy at my return. Animated with the idea, Iran, I flew, I reached the cottage, and entered.faw Nactheu feated on a matt, with a handkerchief at her eyes, her head leaning on her arm in the attitude of profound grief.—Alas! my mother! I cried, You are alone! The kintfe-fhe is not here to wipe away your tears! O Gods, Gods! Is it for her you shed them ?'—Ifunk down with apprehenfion, and embraced her kaces. She remained filent, and her tears redoubled; but her dreadful filence confirmed me in my fad thoughts. She is gone, I cried,—I fhall never fee her more- and feil upon the earth overwhelmed in forrow My diftrefs made the good Natheu forget her own grief. With an altered voice fhe called her daughter. At the dear name I revived. Happy mother! I exclaimed, Thekintfe is here, and you are in tears?' Thoughtless man, faid fhe, is my daughter the only object of my affection? Was I a mother but once?' Alas! Loutfeun?'- Yes, the dire torrent buries in its bed the body of my fon; to add to my mifery, I have not been able to procure for it the peace of the grave.'O my mother! I replied, let not vain regret increase your forrows. Man never wants a grave, i avances towards it from cottage, from a palace, on the day ap'pointed by the Gods. What does it 'fignify to the immorta foui, whether its frail covering be diffipated ke duft in the air, b xpofed on the top of a "bare rock, be in the bottom of the fea, or be buried in the bowels of the "earth? Wherever thy fon's may reft, his piety to the Gods and his mother, his worth and benevolence, will make peace hover around the place: he is now happier than you are. My tears flow- ́ ed apace, and I wiped hers away. Thekintfe appeared. An inexpreffiole tranfport took poffeffion of all my fenfes; my heart beat quick, I could not speak. I took the basket of fruits she had just been gathering, and ventured to prefs her hand. I was permitted to partake with them their simple meal; I remarked, that the eyes of the mother dwelt on us with complacency, and that the ftrove to conceal her forrows, but, after dinner, when her daughter had left us, the no longer endeavoured to constrain herself. Stani, faid fhe, the Pekin merchants returned to me and fulfilled their engagements; with the gold they brought me I caufed that immenfe and fuperb 'ftructure, that useful bridge, the prefervative of many a future life, to be built over the precipice in which my fon was inguiphed. I confider it as his tomb, an honourable maufoleum dedi'cated to his manes.'-"What, said I, was it thy beneficent hand that threw before the fteps of the traveller that propitious bridge? I paffed it with joy, and bleffed thee a thousand times.— That kind, that precious monument will atteft from age to age thy benevolence to inankind, thy generous fenfibility Young man, faid fhe, Fhave already received my reward. I was at firft inconfoleable. I faid in the bitternefs of my grief, Let us not fuffer that the arrow which hath pierced my heart should ever wound another. Let me prevent a beloved fon from perishing like mine, and the foul of another equally affectionate from feeling the anguifh I now feel. I bestowed all I poffeffed, whole crops, my golden rings, the finery of my daughter, who has no need of ornaments, to clofe the abyss that had proved fatal to him. My hand placed the firft ftone, my eyes faw the • last one laid, and a beam of joy pene'trated my heart.' 6 my ་ I often go to weep on that tomb. My tears at firft mix with the torrent; • bus → but they gradually abate, and the fight of the good I have done, more powerful than the counfels of reafon, or even than the careffes of my child, fometimes confole me for him I have loft." But I will not here repeat any more of the fame benevolent fentiments which the then uttered; they would appear long to the happy and the frivolous, who wish only for amufement; while they would but afflict those who, like the tender and fenfible Nactheu, have, like her, to lament an object tenderly beloved. Alas! in How many hearts fhould not awaken the remembrance of forrow! They who in this changeful world have not had torn from them a father, a lover, a husband; they who have never grafped the cold and heavy hand of an expiring friend, who have never kissed the damps of death from the lips of a beloved child-they may think themselves happy-they have not yet known affliction. I ventured to fav to Natheu; Heaven does not will that you should re⚫ main inconfoleable; it fends you another fon.-Reject not the stranger who feeks to comfort you, the heart that loves you. Dry your tears, nature and the Gods forbid you to indulge eternal grief."I expected her anfwer with inquietude. Her eyes were fixed on me, and the wifhed to read my inmoft foul. You have feen the flowers when they are a prey to the winds; their tender ftalks bend this way and that, are now raifed ad now depressed; iuch was the image of this tender mother's thoughts. Remove me, faid I, from the fight of your charming daughter, and 1 fwear by Fohe, by yourfelf, whom I refpect as much as him, that I will not appear before her till you give me permiffion. In the mean tim, lead me to the fields that were cultivated by ⚫ her brother. I fhall fo ftrive to make ་ then exceed their former fertility, that when you walk in the mid of abundance you may fay,I have ftill a fon.' A beam of joy hot acrofs the fadnefs of her countenance; "Stani, fhe faid, the gentleness of your demeanour at first prepoffeffed me in your favour; your behaviour and good fenfe have gained my esteem; remain with us. My • daughter, innocent as the child that hath not yet left its nurfe's arms, is unconscious of the fentiment that inclines her towards you. Do not anticipate the information of nature. Learn to expect your happiness with patience, its value will be enhanced by delay Prudence forbids me to truft my daughter with one I have fo lately known; with one whofe labours for the comfortable fubfiftence of a family are ftill to begin. Endeavour then to acquire a property in our valley. Our hills are covered with trees; let them fall by the ftroke of your axe; conftruct your cottage in the neighbourhood of ours; and the inftruments of hufbandry, fo fuccefsfully made use of by Loutfeun, shall be committed to you. The earth, naturally fertile, offers you its treasures, and on."-The arrival of her daughter interrupted her. Thekintfe held in her arms a lamb that fhe had taken from its mother; a smile fat on her mouth which glowed like the bud of the rose when it opens in the morning dew. "See, said she, the sweet creature, it is newly dropt, and I love it already; feel how foft it is! Ah, 'fhould I prefer it to its mother that knows my voice and follows me every where! no, no---I will not---I hear • her bleatings-- I will run and reftore it ⚫ to her." "Happy age! faid Nactheu with a figh, happy age! that can be pleafed and delighted with the birth of a lamb ! How easily docs it find joy! • Stani, my heart has loft the relish of it ⚫ for ever." To relieve the defpondency of her thoughts, I led her out to follow her daughter, and we defcended into the valley together. There a feat of verdant turf, at the foot of a wild olive-tree, formed an agreeable contraft with the dark colour of its leaves. The fhade, and the folitude of this rural spot, were congenial with the tender ideas that occupied our minds. 6 'Let us fit down here, faid I, and enjoy the last rays of the fun. Charming Thekintfe, your mother has adopted 'me for her fon, and you are now there'fore my fifter. I will not henceforth call you by any other name, and you fall call me brother, and love me as fuch. Her looks were expreffive of nothing but furprife. What! I cried,' Will you not anfwer me? You cannot perhaps love a second brother !' She was ftill filent; the looked at her mother, and seemed to wait for her permiffion to love me. Good Nathcu, you gave her that permiffion, the warrant, and feal of my felicity! You preffed our hands, you gave us your bleffing, and invoked the bleffing of Heaven on our heads! What shall I fay more. You know that I love, I love, and that I am beloved-it is e nough. My fair companion has fworn to obey, and her eyes tell me that the has fworn without constraint. Thus my cup is full, my fate is fixed, my adventures are concluded. Deftined to be her husband, I am studying to deserve her. I will beautify her rural cot, I will en compafs it with flowers; I will load her table with the choiceft fruits. My cares fhall foften the forrows of her mother. E will guard them, I will provide for them both, and they fhall be happy. I enjoy already the felicity that awaits me. ACHMET TO SELIM, OR THE DYING NEGRO. POETRY. By T. HALL; Author of Senfibility, A Poem, &c. NCE more, my Selim, Achmet, greet Oing, fends His parting bleffing to his abfent friends; Once more enraptur'd views yon azureíky, And, firmly fix'd, refolves at last to die; Exulting pants for yon empurpled fhore, Where fcorpion whips, and white men plague no more; Where bloom ananas in eternal prime, And flowers unfading all their fwects entwine Where zephyrs, gentle as the dyin gale That floats at ev'ning o'er the parched vale, Where mufic, fweeter than the woodlark's fong, In heav'nly transport charm the lift'ning throng; Thither I fly for fuccour and repose, embrace: Their fhips full freighted, ftraight the fwelling fail, Expanding opes to catch each tranfient gale, Whilst undistinguish'd in one common lot, I bore the rankling poison in my breast; To soften anguish or affuage my pain; way The dire abode where mis'ry loves to dwell, That calls me fainting to my task of woe, cry, |