SLAVERY. "I would not have a slave to till my ground, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth We have no slaves at home-then why abroad? Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs They touch our country, and their shackles 4 fall." COWPER. (1) Sinews-muscles.—(2) Ferried-crossed over by means of a vessel.-(3) Emancipate-free, no longer slaves.-(4) Shackleschains, bonds. It is a right glorious fact that 'Slaves cannot breathe in England.' We have no slaves to tarnish the glory of merry England! We live in a land where all are free!-free to act, free to live, free to think, with enlightened justice, and pure laws. Let us be thankful to the great Jehovah that our land is so signally blessed! but alas! across the Atlantic, in some parts of America, slavery exists,―men are bought and sold like cattle, and the poor African there endures bitter and horrible oppression. To those who would like to learn what slavery means, let them read a remarkable book, entitled 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' BIRDS OF PASSAGE. Birds, joyous birds of the wandering wing! "We have swept o'er cities in song renown'd,— Silent they lie with the deserts around! We have cross'd proud rivers, whose tide hath roll'd, And each worn wing hath regain'd its home, And what have ye found in the monarch's dome, 2 (1) Nile-This is a celebrated river, as the reader no doubt will recollect, whose yearly overflowing renders Egypt an extremely fertile country. The Hippopotamus frequents the banks of this river, and a specimen (the first live one ever brought to this country) came from thence, which is now exhibited in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park. The length of the course of the Nile is upwards of 2000 miles. (2) Dome-building, a royal residence.-(3) Pall-a covering for the dead. Oh! joyous birds, it hath still been so ; But the huts of the hamlet lie still and deep, "A change we have found there-and many a change! Faces, and footsteps, and all things strange! Gone are the heads of the silvery hair, And the young that were have a brow of care, And the place is hush'd 4 where the children playedNought (5) looks the same save the nest we made." Sad is your tale of the beautiful earth, Birds that o'ersweep it, in power and mirth! MRS. HEMANS. (4) Hushed-silent, noiseless.-(5) Nought-nothing. Birds of Passage are those birds which migrate, that is, which leave our country at a certain season of the year for a warmer or a colder clime. The Swallow, Cuckoo, Nightingale, Redstart, Blackcap and many other birds leave us ere the winter commences, and guided by the instinct given them by their Creator, seek some other land where nature will smile upon them with her summer beauty; -on the return of spring, say about April, they will visit old England again, and delight us with their pleasant music. Again, there are birds which come to us in the winter time, leaving us again on the approach of spring, such as the Fieldfare, Redwing, Snipe, Wild-duck, Widgeon and many others which delight in the cold, frost and snow; and not like the former birds in sunny weather, green foliage, and blue skies. E THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, We buried him darkly, at dead of night, No useless coffin enclosed his breast, Not in sheet, nor in shroud (4) we wound him; With his martial (5) cloak around him. Few and short were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow; But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead, We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, And smoothed down his lonely pillow, The foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, And we far away on the billow. Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him; But little he'll reck, (6) if they let him sleep on, (1) Corse-corpse.-(2) Ramparts-the walls which surround fortified places.—(3) Sods-turfs, pieces of earth.-(4) Shroud— dress of the dead.-(5) Martial-soldierly.—(6) Reck—care.— But half of our heavy task was done, And we heard the distant and random (7) gun, Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory (9) We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, WOLFE. (7) Random-that by chance, without aim.—(8) Foe-enemy. (9) Gory-bloody. Sir John Moore, the subject of these universally admired verses, was killed at the battle of Corunna, an engagement between the French and English, when the losses of the latter were very considerable, consisting of 5000 horses, and 5 or 6000 men, besides its magazines, &c. The Historian says 'that however calamitous this expedition proved, yet it was of advantage to the cause it was intended to support, as it drew Buonaparte from the south, which at that time lay entirely open to his enterprises, and afforded time to the Spaniards to recover in some degree from the terrors of their enemy.' The body of the brave Sir John Moore was hastily interred on the ramparts of Corunna, where a monument was afterwards raised to his memory. THE PATRIOT. Breathes there the man with soul so dead, "This is my own-my native land?” (1) Strand-shore. |