part of the day, and in the fullest exposure to the sun. It is found in mossy bogs, and on the borders of ponds and rivulets in moorland districts. To the Round-leaved Sundew. "By the lone fountain's secret bed, « Wouldst thou that thy lot were given, mind, again, alive to the visitings of the spirit of beauty that goes glimpsing over the earth, can never be at a loss for joy as long as the daisies dance in the sunshine. Gentle reader! perhaps you never saw a daisy dance? Then are you much to be pitied. They go dancing up hill and down brae, in no regular figure, but overspreading the whole green floor in one indistinguishable gallopade. The sunbeams in which they swim along, settle; and lo! in an instant all the dancers are motionless on their seats. They seem absolutely rooted to the groundand all their faces covered with blushes. But here is a cowslip, and we absolutely smell the sweetscented pale yellow blossom. But listen to a little lay in honor of the flower. The Cowslip. "Yes! like the blossoms of the waste sweetener. " 'Mid scatter'd foliage, pale and sere, The tribute of its golden bloom. In chill December's stormy hours, "Unfolding to the breeze of May, Are glittering here in morning dew; In one full chorus swell the breeze. But nature needs no tide's return Where never-failing waters rise.” But let us now pensively turn over the leaves of the "Sacred Melodies." Some of them are truly beautiful-and will bear to be read after the hymns of James Montgomery, of Heber, or of Keeble. Oh! that people who take pen in hand would but write from the heart! All men, women, and children, have hearts-and we would fain believe not bad hearts eithernay, good hearts,-till the Prince of the Air, feeling himself called on by thoughts, by incipient sinners. unexpressed, alights before them unseen, "And then a wicked whisper turns Then the corrupt become stupidand great prosers. Poetry breathes not, brightens not for such; yet once there was music in their souls, and in dim memory of the past they become versifiers - poetasters, and without meaning to be impious, they tag-rag-and-bobtail the very verses of the Bible. But a truly pious man or woman always writes well on sacred subjects, for they always write from the heart song the heart of a Christian justifieth itself before men and angels. Samuel Miller Waring was a pious man. Had he not been so, never could he have written the following lines: "Thou, dear enthusiast, sayest, None can like nature preach; That waved o'er Plato's dream. "Then leave these vales below thee; "Where earthquakes mutter deadly, Bow, tremble, and adore him; and in "Yet see, through clouds storm-broken, The dove-borne olive bough! Take thou, and bind that token Around thine awe-struck brow. Then where his bow he spreadeth, Behold him dark no more; Him, who the wild waves treadeth, Seek now on yon green shore. "Around his footsteps springing, What wreaths embalm the air! While hills break forth in singing, Go, trace those footsteps there : When morn's first beam from slumbers Awakes the dewy flowers; Or with that bird whose numbers Charm starry midnight hours. "To Him let rapture wing thee, From heights where eagles dwell; Or let the glad bee bring thee Home to her thymy cell. Where'er thou wilt, observe him In things that fairest shine; Then, joyful, fly to serve him, For He-that God-is thine." the There is something profound in pathos of the lines addressed "To the Magdalen." "Yes, weep, O woman frail and fair; Amid that bright up-braided hair Though tears that fall so fast Can ne'er efface the past. "Though other drops, whose power divine Can wash thy stains away, Must plead e'en more than tears like thine; More holy still than they. "Had He who pardons bid thee bring That word had ne'er unseal'd the spring Those tears his love to buy, That fills thy streaming eye. "Ah 'twas not Sinai's flash that taught "Pour then thine odors-pour, and see, The vase of clay that holds for thee "More fragrant unction on that brow "O wondrous !-pour a heaven of tears: How dark that record torn appears, "Never blood of the vanquish'd imbrued it : There is victory dwells in the banner From the groves where sages have trod, Oh give us the banner!-the banner! Proud spirits their missiles are throwing :- The banner !—oh bring forth the banner! As of warblers when dawning is bright; And hark! lo, the night-bird is screaming, As he flies from the banner of light. 'Tis holiness beams from the banner : It breathes round the banner of light. season stealing into existence, not transitory, since it lives in many gentle hearts, breathing its balm in quiet homes, like that of the favorite flowers that bloom in their parlor windows-even like the everblossoming rose that often sheds its beauty unheeded, but every now and then, both in gloom and sunshine, suddenly attracts the eyes of the inmates, and often wakes a silent blessing, almost a prayer. Such poems as these, of which the world takes little or no heed, are felt peculiarly to belong to those who have been so fortunate-so happy-as to meet with them by accident perhaps, or to have received them from the hand of some chance-acquaintance, who, after the pleasant gift, is thenceforth considered to be a "Harl it not where the trampler hath found it: friend. Albums might be reposito Serene to the breeze be it given; This sure is the banner of heaven!' Peter Weeping. "O strong in purpose-frail in power, Bold to the challenged bolts of heaven! Still rest upon that brow divine? E'en now-without a look from Thee!" It is delightful to know that much poetry such as this is almost every ries for such productions. By the Angel Help. "This rare tablet doth include Past midnight this poor maid hath spun, That round her everywhere are flying; To its leaves and root infuse we "Tis a type, and 'tis a pledge, Of a crowning privilege. This maid must keep her precious dower; Live a sainted maid, or die "Oh! rare Charles Lamb!" THE EVE OF SAINT SIMON, IN COLOMBIA. THE town of Achaquas, situated on the banks of the river Apure, derives some importance from the fact that it has ever been the habitual and favorite residence of "El Gefe de los Llañeros." Here the ferocious Paez has erected a house, which, by the bare-legged natives, may be deemed a specimen of architectural magnificence, as compared with the mud-built hovels that compose the residue of the town; with the exception, however, of the church and "Caza del Cura," which entirely occupy one side of a large though irregular square. "La Grande Plaza," as it is called, was, during the revolutionary struggle, the theatre of many sanguinary scenes. Hither were the prisoners of Paez and his followers led, and, under the scowling brow of the chief, inhumanly massacred; and although in just retaliation, perhaps, of Spanish cruelty, yet the refined barbarity with which these reprisals were conducted baffles description, and would indeed be deemed apocryphal by all save those who had the misfortune to witness them. Here, too, would Paez occasionally indulge his faithful adherents with the gratifying spectacle of a bull-fight, and the exhibition of his own wonderful prowess. On these occasions the chieftain would appear dressed in his native garb. The large white calçonzillos," or drawers, loose at the knee, and not extending below it-a check shirt, open at the neck, and confined at the waist with a red or blue scarf, worn like our military sashes, and which supported the "cuchillo," or large knife, the ne or ver-failing appendage of a "Llanero"-the "sombrero de pallo," immense-rimmed straw hat, with a white feather, the party emblemand the massive silver spurs, attached to the naked heel by thongs cut from a bullock's hide-complete this singular but picturesque costume.* Thus accoutred, and mounted on one of his best-trained horses, would Paez seek an encounter with the fiercest bull that could be procured, his surprising agility and consummate skill in horsemanship enabling him to avoid the incessant attacks of the furious animal, whom he goads into unbounded rage, by turns pursuing and pursued, till at length, tired of the sport, he seizes the beast by the tail, and, with Herculean strength, throws it upon its back; then leaping from the saddle, (amid the cheering acclamations of the spectators,) with his "cuchillo " puts a speedy termination to its sufferings and life together. and cock-fighting, a sport of which Paez is an enthusiastic admirer, (having an immense number of these birds in constant training,) are the principal amusements, and tend to feed the bloodthirsty propensities of this lawless militia during the temporary suspensions of their predatory warfare. I here apply the term (( militia," such being, correctly speaking, the collective appellation, and attributes, of those more immediately under Paez's command. body of three hundred men, half of whom have the rank of officers, and form a separate corps, bearing the denomination of "Los bravos de la guardia de honore," are in con This A * On duty, or on the march, a blanket of different colors (red or blue, being, however, the most prevalent), with a hole cut in the centre to admit the head, is usually worn, and forms a striking and not ungraceful upper garment. +"El Gefe de los Llaneros,"-Chief of the inhabitants of the Plains. "Caza del cura," -Curate's house. "La Grande Plaza,"-Great square. "Calconzillos,"-Short, loose stant attendance on the person of the chief; and the gallant achievements which he has performed at their head, as also the individual feats of intrepidity displayed by this small band, (however well they may be attested,) would, to the generality of readers, appear incredible. In the event of any sudden emergency, an intended attack upon the enemy, or the necessity of acting upon the defensive, (by the by, a rare occurrence with Paez,) he could, at a very short notice, assemble three thousand men, who, from the facility which the plains afford him of procuring horses, form one of the most formidable and efficient cavalry forces ever embodied. Each man, whilst engaged even in the culture of his small plantation of Indian corn and sugar-cane, keeps his docile charger ready for instant action; and those who might neglect this precautionary measure - so astonishing is the power which the Llañero has obtained by practice in the manege-would, in the short space of an hour or two, be enabled to tame the unruly spirit of the wildest stallion, and render him fully adequate to all the purposes of guerilla service. Paez himself has a reserve of five hundred horses, which follow in the rear of all his expeditions, as a remount to himself and staff; and so jealous is he of his right of exclusive possession, that he has been known to refuse Bolivar (the then supreme chief of Venezuela) a single horse for his personal accommodation ! In addition to the amusements already described as forming the principal recreation of the motley inhabitants of the town and vicinity of Achaquas, each leisure moment was devoted to gambling; and so addicted were all classes to this vicious enjoyment, that tables were to be seen by day and night at the corners of the different streets, round which stood mixed groups of officers and privates, and even women, all engaged in sacrificing to the blind goddess, amid the blasphemous curses of those whom Fortune betrayed. Paez himself, perambulating the town, would frequently mingle with one or other of these parties, and, by his presence, sanction a vice, the demoralizing effects of which eventually produced the most pernicious consequences, and which proved, indeed, the primary cause of the melancholy catastrophe which it will shortly be my painful task to record. Ere I pursue the thread of my narration, however, it may prove agreeable to my reader to learn something of the personal appearance, character, and acquirements, of a chief whose present station, as head of the Venezuelan confederacy, and opposition to the misnamed "Washington of Colombia," renders an object of public interest. José Antonio Paez is of robust though diminutive stature his shoulders, of extraordinary breadth, support a short neck of unusual thickness (not unlike that of the enraged bull he delights in combating), and which probably occasions those fits which any strong excitement is sure to produce. This neck, in its turn, sustains a head of disproportionate dimensions, in which small dark eyes of uncommon brilliance light up a countenance where cunning seems the predominant expression: but cruelty lies concealed in his heart. Like the tiger crouching to spring on its prey, Paez is to be most dreaded when he evinces least anger. His features afford no intimation to the victim whose doom he meditates; and many a Spanish prisoner, lulled into fancied security by his smile, has found it but the harbinger to death. Brave even to temerity-if the savage ferocity of a wild beast may be termed courage-he dreads no foe, and will rush, unattended, into the midst of drawers. "Cuchillo,"-Large knife. "Llanero,"-Man of the plains. "Sombrero de pallo,"-Straw hat. "Los bravos de la guardia de honore,"-The "bravos" of the guard of honor. |