Count Egmont rode with a small body of horse to attempt to rally them, but in vain; the left wing was irreparably lost. He succeeded, nevertheless, in restoring something like order to the centre, which returned to its former situation.

In the mean time, Von Schomberg, with the German auxiliaries, was equally fortunate on their left; but in that point the victory was better contested, for mercenaries and allies never fight with the ardour of natives; so that it was not until after some hard fighting that the right wing followed the example of their companions, and fled. At this instant a small party of horsemen rushed from the enemy's ranks, and made directly for the place where the white plumes of Henry of Navarre rendered him conspicuous to both armies. Count Egmont, who commanded the party, was struck from his horse by one of the body guard of the King, five or six of whom were standing round him at the time the attack was made; two of the horsemen had already fallen by the hand of Henry, when a knight in black armour, and his vizor closely fastened down, rode up to him, and raising an immense battle-axe, in another instant would have felled the King from his horse, had not his arm been disabled by a blow from Eustace, who, while returning from the pursuit of the fugitives, had seen the design of Count Egmont, and, leaving his troop, had ridden up just in time, as we have described, to save the life of his sovereign, before he could repeat the blow. A pistol-shot from behind terminated the existence of the traitor: he leaped upon his saddle,his sword fell from his grasp, and he rolled headlong to the ground. One of the soldiers dismounted, and raising up the vizor of the corpse, disclosed the ghastly countenance of Francois D'Evreux, pale and haggard, yet displaying a ferocity and craft which even the cold hand of death could not remove.

(To be continued.)

LAMENT OF A MARBLE CHIMNEY PIECE.

Alas! to what degeneration

The world has come! And what a nation

Of pigmies, in my present station,

Round me I mark!

How different from that noble age
Not treated of in History's page,
Concerning which each learned sage
Is in the dark.

Never did I imagine then,

That I should see these creatures-men,

Or that I should begin to pen

My woes in rhyme!

No, little in my youth I thought,

(Though now by sad experience taught)
To what a state I should be brought

In future time!

Miss Lætitia Sparkins had just arrived at that age which entitled her to those privileges which are generally allowed to that race of beings commonly styled "old maids," although to call her by that title in her own hearing, would have been one of the greatest insults to which you could have subjected her, since she often declared, when in the company of others, that she was still in the prime of life, and would never be any younger,-a declaration which, when we remember that she was just forty-four, and was every day becoming one day older, we should all of us be inclined to believe. Like all other old maids, whenever she took any thing into her head, she never allowed

her mind to rest until she had gained her point, or met with some obstacle which made her think it would be better left alone.

At the period of her life to which I intend to allude, she had for a long time been attending the meetings of a sect which called themselves Methodists, that she might profit by the wonderful powers of oratory possessed by a new preacher, who rejoiced in the name of the Rev. Augustus Hoax. Nothing more was known of this illustrious personage, than that he had lately joined this sect, and from his clever address had been appointed president of a society formed by themselves, for the suppression of the slave trade in the West Indies. It is not to be wondered at, then, that our heroine, after hearing his wonderful powers of persuasion, should have been induced to put down her name as a subscriber to the society. She accordingly enrolled herself as a member, and for a week after, nothing was to be heard but harangues in its favor. She went about, teazing every one she knew, to join the society,-distributed tracts in its favor, and wound up the whole by declaring that no one could ever prosper so long as a single slave existed in the West Indies.

Not finding her own powers of oratory to be sufficiently strong in arousing her neighbours from what she was pleased to term their sluggish inactivity," she engaged the above reverend gentleman to come and assist her in her praiseworthy undertakings. After a few days he arrived, and the old lady was all bustle and activity; in fact she exerted herself to such a degree, that many began to think that she possibly might be what she represented herself-a young woman. All her former energies were aroused two-fold. Accompanied by her assistant, she travelled in every direction, distributing papers with drawings of the cat-o'-nine-tails under every shape and form, which, she declared, were correct representations of the different kinds of torture inflicted on the Negroes by their tyrannical masters; and proved, to all who had the patience to listen, that every drop of rum or lump of sugar which they consumed, caused a corresponding number of stripes to the back of the poor Negro.

This line of conduct had the desired effect; subscribers poured in from all quarters, all the rum and sugar in the surrounding district was thrown away, and from the quantity of spirit which was washed down the brooks, and the unusual movements observed among the fishes, the slave mania seemed to have inspired the finny tribe. Even Miss Lætitia finished her evening meal without the accustomed teaspoonful of et cetera in each cup.

Time rolled on, and our heroine began to tire of a thing which had now lost its novelty and the Rev. Augustus saw that unless he could find out something fresh to engage her attention, it was more than probable that she would strike her name off the list. Accordingly, the next morning, just as she had finished her first cup of coffee, (which from the pleasing expression of countenance she assumed on the occasion, he plainly perceived was different to the delicious cordial she formerly mixed under that name,) he proposed that she should

engage as her servant a Negro who he said had lately been saved from a wreck, and was now left in a foreign land, trusting to public charity for his support. This was no sooner mentioned than it was settled. All her former energies were again roused, remote ideas of knotted scourges and conversion to Christianity flashed across her mind, and she finally determined that this poor sufferer should be immediately sent for.

In a few days he was safely domiciled in the house of his generous mistress. After having recounted the various sufferings he had undergone, he exhibited several marks which he said had been inflicted by his tyrannical masters, but which appeared much more like the brands which are often put on notorious scamps while in gaol. However, be that as it may, Miss Lætitia determined that as long as she had any power, no more marks of any sort should be inflicted on this poor unoffending creature.

The news soon spread through the neighbourhood, that a real slave had arrived. Numbers flocked from every quarter to see him, and hear his melancholy tale; every one's heart seemed opened, and the Negro's fortune made. The public curiosity at length subsided; the old lady had time to instruct her pupil in the different points in which he was most deficient; and the Rev. Augustus, having seen every thing put in a right course, took an affectionate leave of his kind hostess and her sable charge.

Some months had now passed, and the time had arrived for the old lady to pay into the hands of the treasurer, the different sums she had received from the subscribers in her neighbourhood, when, upon examining her desk in which she kept her money and other valuables, she found it entirely emptied of its contents. This excited her sus picions to look still farther, when she found that her silver sugar basins, spirit stands, and several other things which, since her entering the society, she had not used, and consequently never missed, were now gone. Her horror at discovering her loss was so great, that she nearly fainted, when a loud knock at the door brought her to herself, and immediately a constable walked in, informing her that a man had been taken up while offering for pawn several articles of plate marked with her initials, and that she must start immediately for the police office to identify them. She accordingly set off, and on being admitted, judge of her surprise at seeing the Rev. Augustus Hoax, charged with the robbery of Miss Lætitia Sparkins. As the articles were taken on him, no defence could be made in his favour, and he was accordingly committed to take his trial, together with the Negro, who was found to have been still more deeply implicated.

At the following Assizes, the judge was heard to pass sentence of transportation on two persons, for robbing Miss Lætitia Sparkins; these were no other than the Rev. Augustus Hoax and the poor unoffending Negro.

The next day our heroine was sent for by the prisoners, when a con

fession was made, from which it appeared that the Rev. Augustus had before been sentenced to transportation, but that, having effected his escape, he had taken upon himself the garb of a Methodist, as one in which he was least likely to be discovered, and in which he could still carry on his former practices and with less risk. He further stated, that on seeing such a good object of plunder in the person of Miss Lætitia, he had sent for this Negro, who had formerly aided him in a plan of the same sort, to come and take the character of a slave; and that during the whole time of their stay in her house, they had conjointly robbed her of every thing they could carry off.

Miss Lætitia was overjoyed at the recovery of her property; but from that moment she vowed eternal enmity against the whole tribe of Negroes and Methodists, and to this day has never been seen lending her assistance to either. She has resumed her old habit of mixing the sugar and " et ceteras" with her tea, still declaring that she is in the prime of life, and proving to all that have the patience to listen to her, how mistaken the poet was when he wrote

"Skins may differ, but affection
"Dwells in white and black the same."

ENIGMA.

Of old, to Priam's ancient race

A friend, e'en now I hold a place

In England, where (though free) you'll find
I'm often watched, and close confined.
No monster I, yet pray beware,
And when you use me, use with care.
Physicians sage oft by my power
The suffering sick to health restore;
By the vain breath of party blown,
All various principles I own;
To please my imperious master's will,
I'm Tory, Whig, or Radical;

And not confined on earth to move,

Quick I revolve in realms above!

Reader, I bid you now farewell,
Hoping that you my name can tell.

THE ESSAYIST. No. 5.

ON THE INFLUENCES OF TIME, CLIMATE, AND LANGUAGE ON

POETRY IN GENERAL.

POETICAL genius is the offspring of every climate and of every age, though not in an equal or similar degree. There are many shades of difference between the rude war-song of the Norwegian soldier and the