5. In a short time, the whole man is changed, and every object of his former delight relinquished. No more he enjoys the tranquil scene: it has become flat and insipid to his taste. His books are abandoned. His retort and crucible are thrown aside. His shrubbery blooms and breathes its fragrance upon the air in vain-he likes it not. His car no longer drinks the rich melody of music: it longs for the trumpet's clangor, and the cannon's roar. Even the prattle of his babes, once so sweet, no longer affects him; and the angel smile of his wife, which hitherto touched his bosom with ecstasy so unspeakable, is now unfelt and unseen. Greater objects have taken possession of his soul. His imagination has been dazzled by visions of diadems, and stars, and garters, and titles of nobility. He has been taught to burn with restless emulation at the names of great heroes and conquerors, of Cromwell,' and Cæsar, and Bonaparte. enchanted island is destined soon to relapse into a wilderness; and, in a few months, we find the tender and beautiful partner of his bosom, whom he lately "permitted not the winds of" summer "to visit too roughly," we find her shivering, at midnight, on the wintry banks of the Ohio, and mingling her tears with the torrents that froze as they fell.

His

6. Yet this unfortunate man, thus deluded from his interest and his happiness-thus seduced from the paths of innocence and peace-thus confounded in the toils which were deliberately spread for him, and overwhelmed by the mastering spirit and genius of another, this man, thus ruined and undone, and made to play a subordinate part in this grand drama of guilt and treason-this man is to be called the principal offender; while he, by whom he was thus plunged in misery, is comparatively innocent, a mere ac'cessory! Is this reason? Is it law? Is it humanity? Sir, neither the human heart nor the human understanding will bear a perversion so monstrous and absurd; sɔ shocking to the soul; so revolting to reason! WILLIAM W.RT. WILLIAM WIRT, an able American lawyer and miscellaneous writer, was boru in Bladensburg, Maryland, November 8th, 1772. He was a private tutor al

OLIVER CROMWELL, a great warrior and statesman, Lord Protector of England, was born on the 25th of April, 1599, and died on the 3d of September, 1659 —2 CÆSAR, see p. 209, note 4.- BONAPARTE, see p. 205, Lote 1.

fifteen; studied law; was admitted to the bar, in his twentieth year; removed to Richmond, Virginia, where he met with eminent success in his profession, and became chancellor and district-attorney. In 1817, in the presidency of MONROE, he became Attorney-general of the United States, an office which he held for twelve years. His defence of BLENNERHASSETT, in the famous trial of AARON BURR for treason, in 1807, from which the above extract is taken, won for him a great reputation for fervid eloquence. On his retirement from oflice, in 1829, he took up his permanent residence at Baltimore, where he became actively engaged in the practice of the law. He was the author of the “ Old Bachelor," "The British Spy," "Life of Patrick Henry," &c. He died Febru ary 18th, 1834.

1.

0

134. BATTLE OF WARSAW.

SACRED truth! thy triumph ceased awhile,
And hope, thy sister, ceased with thee to smile
When leagued oppression pour'd to northern wars
Iler whisker'd pandoors, and her fierce hussars,
Waved her dread standard to the breeze of morn,
Peal'd her loud drum, and twang'd her trumpet horn!
Tumultuous horror brooded o'er her van,
Presaging wrath to Poland and to man.

2. Warsaw's last champion from her height survey'd,
Wide o'er the fields, a waste of ruin laid;

O Heaven! he cried, my bleeding country save!
Is there no hand on high to shield the brave?
Yet, though destruction sweep these lovely plains,
Rise, fellow-men! our country yet remains!
By that dread name, we wave the sword on high,
And swear for her to live, with her to die!
3. He said, and on the rampart heights array'd
His trusty warriors-few, but undismay'd;
Firin-paced and slow, a horrid front they form,
Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm;
Low, murmuring sounds along their banners fly,
Revenge or death!-the watchword and reply:
Then peal'd the notes omnipotent to charm,
And the loud tocsin toll'd their last alarm.

4. In vain, alas! in vain, ye gallant few!
From rank to rank your volley'd thunder flew:
Oh, bloodiest picture in the "book of time !"

Sarmatia' fell, unwept, without a crime!
Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,
Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe!
Dropp'd from her nerveless grasp the shatter'd spear,
Closed her bright eye, and curb'd her high carcer:
Hope, for a season, băde the world farewell,
And Freedom shriek'd as Kosciusko fell!

5. The sun went down, nor ceased the carnage there,
Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air!
On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow,
His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below;
The storm prevails, the rampart yields away,
Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay!
Hark! as the smoldering piles with thunder fall,
A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call:
Earth shook-red meteors flash'd along the sky,
And conscious nature shudder'd at the cry.

CAMPBELL

135. SCENE-HAMLET AND HIS MOTHER.'

Hamlet. Now, mother, what's the matter?

Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.

'Sarmatia, the classical name of Poland. For many centuries Poland existed as an independent and powerful State, but having fallen a prey to internal dissensions, it was violently seized by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and divided between them. The first partition took place in 1772, a second in 1793, and a third in 1795. The Poles have made several attempts to recover their liberty, the last of which was in 1830.-THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO, a noble Pole, was born in 1756. When young, he served the United States in their war of independence against England, where he rose to the rank of general. He returned to Poland, and signalized himself at the head of one of her armies in 1792 and 1793; and when the Poles rose against their oppressors in 1794, he was made their generalissimo, and their dictator. He was wounded and taken prisoner by the Russians at the fatal battle of Maciovice, October 1st, 1794, and the complete downfall of his country soon followed. He closed his unstained and noble life in Switzerland, in 1817.-'See Biographical Sketch, p. 137.- The father of HAMLET was king of Denmark, and was murdered by his own brother, who, within a short time after the murder, married Hamlet's mother. The ghost of Hamlet's father

Hamlet. Mother, you have my father much offended.
Queen. Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue
Hamlet. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet?

Hamlet.

Queen. Have you forgot me?
Hamlet.

What's the matter now?

No, by the rood,' not so:

You are the queen; your husband's brother's wife;
And-would it were not so!-you are my mother.

Queen. Nay, then I'll set those to you that can speak. Hamlet. Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge You go not till I set you up a glass

Where you may see the inmost part of you.

Queen. What wilt thou do?-thou wilt not murder me? Hamlet. Leave wringing of your hands: peace; sit you down,

And let me wring your heart: for so I shall,

If it be made of penetrable stuff;

If damned custom have not brazed it so,

That it is proof and bulwark against sense.

Queen. What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue In noise so rude against me?

Hamlet.
Such an act,
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty;
Calls virtue, hypocrite; takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love,
And sets a blister there; makes marriage vows
As false as dicer's oath! Oh, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul; and sweet religion makes

A rhapsody of words. Heaven's face doth glow;
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,

had, in a previous scene, informed his son of his uncle's guilt, and exhorted him to avenge the murder. Hamlet, doubtful of the relation of the ghost, and fearful that it might be only the tale of a wicked spirit, laid a plot to convince himself of his uncle's participation in the murder; and the scene here given occurs after the successful issue of the plot, and he becomes fully convinced that his uncle was the murderer of his father.- Rood, the cross, or an image of Christ on the cross, with the Virgin Mary and a saint, or St. John, on each side of it.

With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.

Queen.

Ah me! what act,

That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
Hamlet. Look here, upon this picture, and on this;'
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See what a grace was seated on this brow:
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove3 himself;
An eye like Mars,' to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury,
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination, and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man.

This was your husband.-Look you, now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,

Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You can not call it love, for at your age
The heyday in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment; and what judgment.
Would step from this to this?

Queen.

Oh, speak no more! Thou turn'st mine eyes into my věry soul;

And there I see such black and grained spots,

As will not leave their tinct. Oh, speak to me no more!
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;

No more, sweet Hamlet!

1The two pictures were the likeness of his father, worn by Hamlet, and the likeness of his uncle, worn by Hamlet's mother.- HYPERION was the father of Aurora, and the Sun and Moon; or, as Shakspeare represents, this is a name of APOLLO, the god of day, who was distinguished for his beauty. Jove, see p. 337, note 4.- MARS, an ancient Roman god, who, at an early period, was identified with the Greek ARES, or the god delighting in bloody war. Next to JUPITER, MARS enjoyed the highest honors at Rome.-- MERCURY, in mythology, the messenger and interpreter of the gods, and the god of eloquence and of commerce, called HERMES by the Greeks - Tinct (tingkt), spot; stain; color.