ART. III: The Missionary; a Poem. N Boards. Murray. 1813. Crown 8vo. s. 6d. OVEL and supremely attractive to the epic muse as is the scene beyond the Atlantic wave, it may at first be a matter of wonder that she has been so tardy in making it the theatre of enterprize. Our recent intercourse with Spain, however, and our generous and magnanimous exertions for her deliverance, have brought her literature into a kind of fashion among us, and led to a more intimate acquaintance with those of her historians and poets who have recorded or sung her exploits in the southern world. Of all the provinces of this vast continent, that of Chili, the scene of the poem before us, stands unrivalled for the picturesque beauty and grandeur of its landscape; and the author, having made himself well acquainted with his subject, has by appropriate descriptions transported us to the flowery glens and stupendous mountains of Spanish America. He states, in a short preface, that the tale, to which he has given the title of the Missionary, is founded on a fact men'tioned in all the histories of that country, and is made the subject of a poem by Alonzo d'Ercilla y Cuniga, a Spanish poet; viz.That, at the battle of Arauco in Chili, the Spaniards, under Valdivia, were destroyed by the Indians, and the victory gained in consequence of the treachery of Valdivia's page, a native of Chili, who, in the most critical moment of the engagement, turned against his master, animated his countrymen, and became afterwards the most renowned leader of the Indians against the invaders of their country.' It is added, The same histories relate, that at this battle, Valdivia, and an old priest, his confessor, who was present, were the only persons taken alive.'-Garcilasso, from whom all other accounts are borrowed, briefly says, "The governor Pedro de Valdivia, and a priest that was with him, they took alive and tied them to trees until they had dispatched all the rest, that they might, in cool blood, consider with what death they should punish them." The priest mentioned in this extract is the Missionary (Anselmo) of the poem before us; who, having been sent from Spain to the New World, occupied a hermitage in Chili, at the period at which the adventures recorded took place, and who plays a conspicuous part in the drama. By him an old Indian warrior's lost son, Lautaro, now Valdivia's attendant, had been educated, and introduced to the Christian faith, after having been taken by the Spaniards in early youth. With a description of a beautiful valley at the foot of the Andes, the residence of the old warrior, father of Lautaro, the the poem opens; and, from this specimen of the author's powers, the reader will anticipate the entertainment which is in reserve : Beneath aërial cliffs, and glittering snows, And Chillan trail'd its smoke, and smould'ring fires. A glen beneath,-a lonely spot of rest,- In such a spot, by frozen summits bound, Check'ring, with partial shade, the beams of noon, The chrysomela is a beautiful insect, of which the young women of Chili make necklaces.' + Birds of Chili, remarkable for the melody, richness, and compass of their notes.' The thenca (turdus Thenca) is considered by Molina as a variety of the Virginian thrush, (turdus Poliglottus,) called the Four-hundred-tongues, from the variety of its notes. Every warrior of Chili, according to Molina, has his attendant "nymph" or fairy,-the belief of which is nearly similar to the popular and poetical idea of those beings in Europe.-Meulen is the benevolent spirit.' Here, * Here, its gay net-work and fantastic twine, There, through the trunks, with moss and lichens white, And, 'mid the cedar's darksome boughs, illumes, So smiles the scene;-but can its smiles impart These rocks, these woods, these shades, dost thou behold? "Perhaps, beyond those summits, far away, Thine eyes yet view the living light of day; With wasted eye gaze on the orient beam, Or weep upon thy father's distant grave."" As he is relating his grief, a scout of war appears to inform him of the resolution of the warriors to assemble, and to in * A most beautiful climbing plant. The vine is of the size of pack-thread: it climbs on the trees without attaching itself to them: when it reaches the top, it descends perpendicularly; and as it continues to grow, it extends itself from tree to tree, until it offers to the eye a confused tissue, exhibiting some resemblance to the rigging of a ship.-Molina.' vite him to meet the other chiefs at a sacrifice. On this sum mons, the old warrior calls together his tribe, and addresses the Setting Sun. The scene then shifts to the Spanish camp, where Lautaro, the lost son of the old warrior, is introduced; who, with the missionary, attends Valdivia in the expedition to Chili, his native country, supposing his father to have been killed. The first canto includes one day and part of a night; the second continues through the night and the following day, the scene being still at the Spanish camp. Here Valdivia is offended by an answer of Lautaro to a question respecting the character of his countrymen; and Lautaro, being commanded to retire, repairs to the old missionary for consolation. Ansel- . mo's hermitage and character form a striking portion of this beautiful poem: Lautaro turn'd, scarce heeding, from the view, Fronting the ocean, but beyond the ken Upon its roof of reeds appear'd a cross, The clust'ring copu weav'd its trellis gay: Two mossy pines, high bending, interwove On which the sweetest light of summer shone, "To count, with passing shade, the hours, That, one by one, came forth, and died, Its pensive moral to thy heart!" Just heard to trickle through a covert near, And soothing, with perpetual lapse, the ear, A fount, like rain-drops, filter'd through the stone,— And, gem-like, hovering o'er the violets blue, Bb The The humming-bird, here, its unceasing song That seem'd, as sunk to rest the noon-tide blast, Here, every human sorrow hush'd to rest, Now, all his features lit, he rais'd his look, • When the trump echoed to the quiet spot, "Whence comes my son ?" with kind complacent look He ask'd, and clos'd again the emboss'd book. "I come to thee for peace!" the youth replied: "Seek peace," the Father cried, " with God above : Come, and thy wayward thoughts let me reprove."' In canto three, which occupies the evening of the same day, the missionary tells his affecting story; and we are introduced in the fourth canto to the assembly of Indian chiefs round the fire of sacrifice, (as summoned in the first canto,) where the different warriors express their determinations to extirpate the Spaniards or perish in the attempt. The whole of this scene is well sustained. As they are sacrificing a Spanish prisoner, two warriors appear, bringing in a white woman and child saved from a wreck on the shore; who are committed to the care of |