been the result; and now this almost invulnerable point and key to New Orleans is clear of an enemy, it is to be hoped the government will hold it by a strong military force.-From an American Newspaper. In Noble's continuation of Granger's Biographical Dictionary, there is a singular passage in his account of archbishop Blackbourne, and as in some measure connected with the profession of the hero of the foregoing poem, I cannot resist the temptation of extracting it. "There is something mysterious in the history and cha"racter of Dr. Blackbourne. The former is but imperfectly "known; and report has even asserted he was a buccaneer: "and that one of his brethren in that profession having asked, " on his arrival in England, what had become of his old chum, "Blackbourne, was answered, he is archbishop of York. We 66 are informed, that Blackbourne was installed sub-dean of "Exeter, in 1694, which office he resigned in 1702; but after "his successor, Lewis Barnet's death, in 1704, he regained "it. In the following year he became dean; and, in 1714, "held with it the archdeanery of Cornwall. He was con"secrated bishop of Exeter, February 24, 1716; and trans"lated to York, November 28, 1724, as a reward, according "to court scandal, for uniting George I. to the Duchess of "Munster. This, however, appears to have been an un"founded calumny. As archbishop he behaved with great "prudence, and was equally respectable as the guardian of "the revenues of the see. Rumour whispered he retained "the vices of his youth, and that a passion for the fair sex "formed an item in the list of his weaknesses; but so far "from being convicted by seventy witnesses, he does not In short, 66 appear to have been directly criminated by one. "I look upon these aspersions as the effects of mere malice. "How is it possible a buccaneer should have been so good 66 a scholar as Blackbourne certainly was? he who had so "perfect a knowledge of the classics, (particularly of the "Greek tragedians,) as to be able to read them with the same ease as he could Shakespeare, must have taken great pains to acquire the learned languages; and have had both "leisure and good masters. But he was undoubtedly edu"cated at Christ-church College, Oxford. He is allowed to "have been a pleasant man: this, however, was turned against him, by its being said, he gained more hearts ، than souls.' '' 66 "The only voice that could soothe the passions of the "savage (Alphonso 3d) was that of an amiable and virtuous "wife, the sole object of his love; the voice of Donna Isa“ bella, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and the grand"daughter of Philip 2d, King of Spain.-Her dying words "sunk deep into his memory; his fierce spirit melted into "tears; and after the last embrace, Alphonso retired into "his chamber to bewail his irreparable loss, and to meditate 66 on the vanity of human life.”—Miscellaneous Works of Gibbon, New Edition, 8vo. vol. 3, page 473. POEMS. To a Lady weeping. WEEP, daughter of a royal line, Ah, happy! if each tear of thine Weep-for thy tears are Virtue's tears- March, 1812. From the Turkish. 1. THE chain I gave was fair to view, And ill deserved the fate it found. 2. These gifts were charm'd by secret spell And they have done their duty well, Alas! they could not teach thee thine. 3. That chain was firm in every link, But not to bear a stranger's touch; The lute was sweet-till thou could'st think In other hands its notes were such. |