When Jove resolved to send a curse,
And all the woes of life rehearse,-
Not plague, not famine, but much worse, -

He cursed us with a Congress.

Then peace forsook this hapless shore;
Then cannons blazed with horrid roar;
We hear of blood, death, wounds and gore,

The offspring of the Congress.

Imperial Rome from scoundrels rose;
Her grandeur's hailed in verse and prose;
Venice the dregs of sea compose;

So sprung the mighty Congress.

When insects vile emerge to light
They take their short inglorious flight,
Then sink again to native night:

An emblem of the Congress.

With freemen's rights they wanton play;
At their command, we fast and pray;
With worthless paper they us pay;

A fine device of Congress.

With poverty and dire distress,
With standing armies us oppress;
Whole troops to Pluto swiftly press,

As victims to the Congress.

Time-serving priests to zealots preach,
Who king and parliament impeach;
Seditious lessons to us teach

At the command of Congress.

The world's amazed to see the pest
The tranquil land with wars infest;
Britannia puts them to the test,

And tries the strength of Congress,

O goddess, hear our hearty prayers!
Confound the villains by the ears ;
Disperse the plebeians-try the peers,

And execute the Congress.

See, see, our hope begins to dawn;
Bold Carleton scours the northern lawn;
The song of faction sigh forlorn;

Dejected is the Congress.

[The Surgeon's record of the Cruise of the “ Fair American,” Captain Laniel Haw

thorne, Commander. 1777.]
THE
HE twenty-second of August,

Before the close of day,
All hands on board of our privateer,

We got her under weigh;
We kept the Eastern shore along,

For forty leagues or more,
Then our departure took for sea,

From the isle of Mauhegan shore.

Bold Hawthorne was commander,

A man of real worth,
Old England's cruel tyranny

Induced him to go forth;
She, with relentless fury,

Was plundering all our coast,
And thought, because her strength was great,

Our glorious cause was lost.

Yet boast not, haughty Britons,

Of power and dignity,
By land thy conquering armies,

Thy matchless strength at sea; Since taught by numerous instances

Americans can fight,
With valor can equip their stand,

Your armies put to flight.

Now farewell to fair America,

Farewell our friends and wives; We trust in Heaven's peculiar care,

For to protect their lives; To prosper our intended cruise

Upon the raging main, And to preserve our dearest friends

Till we return again.

The wind it being leading,

It bore us on our way, As far unto the southward

As the Gulf of Florida; Where we fell in with a British ship,

Bound homeward from the main; We gave her two bow-chasers,

And she returned the same.

We hauled up our courses,

And so prepared for fight;
The contest held four glasses,

Until the dusk of night;
Then having sprung our main-mast,

And had so large a sea,
We dropped astern and left our chase

Till the returning day.

Next morn we fished our main-mast,

The ship still being nigh, All hands made for engaging

Our chance once more to try; But wind and sea being boisterous

Our cannon would not bear, We thought it quite imprudent

And so we left her there.

We cruised to the eastward,

Near the coast of Portugal, In longitude of twenty-seven

We saw a lofty sail;

Lindley Murray.

Born in Swetara, Penn., 1745. Dies near York, England, 1826.

THE HAPPY AND VIRTUOUS MORAVIANS.

[Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lindley Murray. 1827.] ERCEIVING that neither the springs, nor the situation, produced

any beneficial effects, and travelling being one of the means for the recovery of health, which had been recommended to me, we left the mountains, and bent our course toward Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, a healthful and pleasant town about fifty miles from Philadelphia. Thisis a settlement of the Moravians. The situation of the place, its refreshing and salutary air, joined to the character of its inhabitants, made a cheering impression upon us; and we took up our quarters at the inn with pleasure, and with the hope of advantage.

There was here much to occupy the mind, and to gratify curiosity. The different houses appropriated to the single brethren, the single sisters, and the widows, with the various economy of the society, were subjects of an interesting nature. The spirit of moderation, the government of the passions, and the tranquillity and happiness, which appeared to pervade every part of this retired settlement, made on our minds a strong and pleasing impression. We several times visited the different departments; and, at our inn, received occasionally the visits of a number of their most respectable members. They were very communicative, and attended, with liberality and good-humor, to the ideas which we suggested, for the improvement of particular parts of their “economy. Among other observations, we took occasion to inquire, whether the practice of the elders and elderesses in selecting a partner for a young man who wished to marry, was not sometimes attended with serious inconveniences. But they seemed to have no doubt that this regulation produced more happy marriages than would be effected by leaving the parties to choose for themselves. A lively and sensible person, with whose conversation we were particularly pleased, took occasion to give us his own experience on the subject

. He expressed himself to the fol

. lowing effect: “When I wished to change my situation in life, I applied to one of our elders and communicated the matter to him. He asked me whether I had any particular young woman in view. I replied in the negative; and that I wished my superiors to choose for me. Pleased with my answer, and the confidence reposed in them, he assured me that the greatest care should be taken, to select for me a partner who should be, in every respect, proper for me. The elders and elderesses consulted