Or fateful hymn of those prophetic maids,

Fair cities, gallant mansions, castles old, That callid on Hertha in deep forest glades ; And forests, where beside his leafy hold Or minstrel lay, that cheer'd the baron's feast; The sullen boar hath heard the distant horn, Or rhyme of city pomp, of monk and priest, And whets his tusks against the gnarled thorn; Judge, mayor, and many a guild in long array, Palladian palace with its storied halls ; To high-church pacing on the great saint's day, Fountains, where love lies listening to their falls; And many a verse which to myself I sang, Gardens, where Aings the bridge its airy span, That woke the tear, yet stole away the pang,

And nature makes her happy home with man; Of hopes which in lamenting I renew'd.

Where many a gorgeous flower is duly fed And last, a matron now, of sober mien,

With its own rill, on its own spangled bed, Yet radiant still and with no earthly sheen, And wreathes the marble urn, or leans its head, Whom as a faëry child my childhood woo'd A mimic mourner, that with veil withdrawn E’en in my dawn of thought-Philosophy. Weeps liquid gems, the presents of the dawn, Though then unconscious of herself, pardie, Thine all delights, and every muse is thine: She bore no other name than poesy ;

And more than all, th' embrace and intertwine And, like a gift from heaven, in lifesul glee, Of all with all in gay and twinkling dance ! That had but newly left a mother's knee,

'Mid gods of Greece and warriors of romance, Prattled and play'd with bird, and flower, and stone, See ! Boccace sits, unfolding on his knees As with elfin playfellows well known,

The new-found roll of old Mæonides ;* And life reveal'd to innocence alone.

But from his mantle's fold, and near the heart,

Peers Ovid's Holy Book of Love's sweet smart It Thanks, gentle artist! now I can descry

O all-enjoying and all-blending sage, Thy fair creation with a mastering eye,

Long be it mine to con thy mazy page, And all awake! And now in fix'd gaze stand, Where, half-conceal'd, the eye of fancy views Now wander through the Eden of thy hand; Fauns, nymphs, and winged saints, all gracious to Praise the green arches, on the fountain clear

thy muse! See fragment shadows of the crossing deer, And with that serviceable nymph I stoop,

Still in thy garden let me watch their pranks,

And see in Dian's vest between the ranks
The crystal from its restless pool to scoop.
I see no longer! I myself am there,

Of the trim vines, some maid that half believes

The vestal fires, of which her lover grieves, Sit on the ground-sward, and the banquet share. 'Tis I, that sweep that lute's love-echoing strings, With that sly satyr peering through the leaves ! And gaze upon the maid, who gazing sings:

* Boccaccio claimed for himself the glory of having first Or pause and listen to the tinkling bells

introduced the works of Homer to his country. From the high tower, and think that there she

+ I know few more striking or more interesting proofs dwells.

of the overwhelming influence which the study of the With old Boccaccio's soul I stand possest,

Greek and Roman classics exercised on the judgments, And breathe an air like life, that swells my chest.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

JAMES MONTGOMERY was born in Irvine, Ayr- | by the upright and unimpeachable tenor of his life shire, in 1771. His parents belonged to the church even more than by his writings—the persuasive of the United Brethren, commonly called Mora- and convincing advocate of religion. In his pervians,-a sect by no means numerous in England, sonal appearance, Montgomery is rather below than and still more limited in Scotland. Having pre- above the middle stature: his countenance is viously sojourned for a short time at a village in the peculiarly bland and tranquil; and but for the Irish county of Antrim, they placed the future poet occasional sparklings of a clear gray eye, it could at the school of their society at Fulnick, near Leeds, scarcely be described as expressive. and embarked for the West Indies as missionaries Very early in life, Montgomery published i among the negro slaves. They were the victims of volume of poems. They were not, it would appeis, their zeal and humanity; the husband died in Bar- favourably received by the public; and he writes, badoes, and the wife in Tobago.

the disappointment of his premature poetical hopes After remaining two years at Fulnick, and, like brought with it a blight which his mind has pere other men of genius, disappointing the expectations recovered. “For many years," he adds, “I was of his friends as a student," from very indolence,” as mute as a moulting bird ; and when the power he was placed by them in a retail shop at Mirfield of song returned, it was without the energy, selfnear Wakefield. This ungenial employment he confidence, and freedom which happier minstrels considered himself-not being under indentures, among my contemporaries have manifested." The at liberty to relinquish at the end of two years, Wanderer of Switzerland was published in 1806; with a view to try his fortune in the great world. the West Indies, in 1810; the World before the After spending other two years at a village near Flood, in 1813; Greenland in 1819; the Pelican Rotherham, and a few months with a bookseller in Island, in 1827: he has since contented himself London, he engaged as an assistant with Mr. with the production of occasional verses. Joseph Gales of Sheffield, who, published a news- Those who can distinguish the fine gold from the paper ;--to the management of which, in 1794, he “ sounding brass” of poetry, must place the narke succeeded. This, though conducted with compara- of James Montgomery high in the list of British tive moderation, exposed him to much enmity-prets; and those who consider that the chiefest rather inherited from his predecessor than actually duty of such is to promote the cause of religion, incurred by himself. The liberty of the press in virtue, and humanity, must acknowledge in him those days was, like faith," the substance of things one of their most zealous and efficient advocates, hoped for ;” a sentence of condemnation, or even a He does not, indeed, often aim at bolder flights of word of reproach, against men in “high places,” imagination ; but if he seldom rises above, he never was punished as libellous. Montgomery did not sinks beneath, the object of which he desires the indeed share the fate of some of his stern sectarian attainment. If he rarely startles us, he still more forefathers; but in lieu of maiming and pillory, rarely leaves us dissatisfied; he does not attempt he had to endure fine and imprisonment. Within that to which his powers are unequal, and thereeighteen months, and when he had scarcely arrived | fore is at all times successful. To the general at manhood, his exertions in the cause of rational reader, it will seem as if the early bias of his mind freedom had twice consigned him to a jail. During and his first associations had tinged—we may not the thirty years that followed, however, he was say tainted—the source from whence he drew his permitted to publish his opinions, without being inspirations, and that his poems are « sicklied o'er" the object of open persecutions. Wearied out, at with peculiar impressions and opinions which fail length, he relinquished his newspaper, in 1825. to excite the sympathy of the great mass of marRecently one of the government grants to British kind. We should, however, recollect, that, although worthies has been conferred upon him; and-it he has chiefly addressed himself to those who think must be recorded to his honour-by Sir Robert Peel. with him, his popularity is by no means confined The poet continues to resida in Sheffield,

-to them; but that those who read poetry for the esteemed, admired, and beloved : a man of purer delight it affords them, and without any reference mind, or more unsuspected integrity, never existed. to his leading design, acknowledge his merit, and He is an honour to the profession of letters; and contribute to his fame.

572

WANDERER.

“ By a hundred winters piled,

When the glaciers,* dark with death,
Hang o'er precipices wild,

Hang-suspended by a breath:
“If a pulse but throb alarm,

Headlong down the steeps they fall ;
For a pulse will break the charm,-

Bounding, bursting, burying all.
“ Struck with horror stiff and pale,

When the chaos breaks on high,
All that view it from the vale,

All that hear it coming, die:-
“ In a day and hour accurst,

O’er the wretched land of Tell,
Thus the Gallic ruin burst,

Thus the Gallic glacier fell !”

SHEPHERD.
“ Hush that melancholy strain ;

Wipe those unavailing tears.

WANDERER,

“Stranger-friend, the tears that flow

Down the channels of this cheek,
Tell a mystery of wo

Which no human tongue can speak. “ Not the pangs of hope deferr'd'

My tormented bosom tear:
On the tomb of hope interr'd

Scowls the spectre of despair.
“ Where the Alpine summits rise,

Height o'er height stupendous hurl'd;
Like the pillars of the skies,

Like the ramparts of the world: “Born in freedom's eagle nest,

Rock'd by whirlwinds in their rage,
Nursed at freedom's stormy breast,

Lived my sires from age to age.
High o'er Underwalden's vale,

Where the forest fronts the morn;
Whence the boundless eye might sai]

O’er a sea of mountains borne ;
“ There my little native cot

Peep'd upon my father's farm :-
0! it was a happy spot,

Rich in every rural charm!
“ There, my life, a silent stream,

Glid along, yet seem'd at rest;
Lovely as an infant's dream

On the waking mother's breast.
« Till the storm that wreck'd the world,

In its horrible career,
Into hopeless ruin hurl'd

All this aching heart held dear.
“ On the princely towers of Berne

Fell the Gallic thunder-stroke;
To the lake of poor Lucerne,

All submitted to the yoke.
“Reding then his standard raised,

Drew his sword on Brunnen's plain ;*
But in vain his banner blazed,

Reding drew his sword in vain.
'“Where our conquering fathers died,

Where their awful bones repose,
Thrice the battle's fate he tried,

Thrice o’erthrew his country's foes.
“ Happy then were those who fell

Fighting on their father's graves !
Wretched those who lived to tell

Treason made the victors slaves !

“Nay-I must, I will complain ;

'Tis the privilege of years:
“ 'Tis the privilege of wo

Thus her anguish to impart:
And the tears that freely flow
Ease the agonizing heart.”

SHEPHERD.
“ Yet suspend thy griefs a while ;

See the plenteous table crown'd;
And my wife's endearing smile

Beams a rosy welcome round.
“ Cheese, from mountain dairies prest,

Wholesome herbs, nutritious roots,
Honey, from the wild-bee's nest,

Cheering wine and ripen'd fruits :
“ These, with soul-sustaining bread,

My paternal fields afford :-
On such fare our fathers fed ;

Holy pilgrim! bless the board,”

PART II.

After supper, the Wanderer, at the desire of his host,

relates the sorrows and sufferings of his country during the invasion and conquest of it by the French, in connexion with his own story.

SHEPHERD.

* Brunnen, at the foot of the mountains, on the borders “ WANDERER! bow'd with griefs and years,

of the Lake of Uri, where the first Swiss patriots, Walter

Furst of Uri, Werner Stauffacher of Schwitz, and Arnold Wanderer, with the cheek so pale,

of Melchtal in Underwalden, conspired against the ty. O give language to those tears !

ranny of Austria in 1307, again in 1798, became the seat Tell their melancholy tale.”

of the diet of these three forest cantons.

† On the plains of Morgarthen, where the Swiss gained

their first decisive victory over the force of Austria, and * More properly the avalanches; immense accumula- thereby secured the independence of their country ; Aloys lions of ice and snow, balanced on the verge of the moun. Reding, at the head of the troops of the little cantons, Uri, tains in such gubile suspense, that, in the opinion of the Schwilz, and Underwalden, repeateilly repulsed the natives, the tread of the traveller may bring them down invading army of France. in destruction upon him. The glaciers are more perma- # By the resistance of these small cantons, the French nent masses of ice, and formed rather in the valleys than General Schawenbourg was compelled to respect their on the summits of the Alps.

independence, and gave them a solemn pledge to that

rless eye,

“ Thus my country's life retired,

“Quickly from our hastening foes,
Slowly driven from part to part;

Albert's active care removed,
Underwalden last expired,

Far amidst th' eternal snows,
Underwalden was the heart.*

Those who loved us,-those beloved.*
I “ In the valley of their birth,

“ Then our cottage we forsook ;
Where our guardian mountains stand;

Yet as down the steeps we passid,
In the eye of heaven and earth,

Many an agonizing look
Met the warriors of our land.

Homeward o'er the hills we cast.
« Like their sires in olden time,

“Now we reach'd the nether glen,
Armid they met in stern debate;

Where in arms our brethren lay;
While in every breast sublime

Thrice five hundred fearless men,
Glow'd the spirit of the state.

Men of adamant were they!
“ Gallia's menace fired their blood :

“Nature's bulwarks, built by time, With one heart and voice they rose;

'Gainst eternity to stand,
Hand in hand the heroes stood,

Mountains, terribly sublime,
And defied their faithless foes.

Girt the camp on either hand.
“ Then to heaven, in calm despair,
As they turn'd the

“ Dim behind, the valley brake

Into rocks that fled from view;
By their country's wrongs they sware
With their country's rights to die.

Fair in front the gleaming lake

Roll'd its waters bright and blue.
“ Albert from the council came

“ Midst the hamlets of the dale,
(My poor daughter was his wife;
All the valley loved his name;

Stantz,t with simple grandeur crown'd,
Albert was my staff of life.)

Seem'd the mother of the vale,

With her children scatter'd round.
“ From the council field he came :
All his noble visage burn'd;

“ Midst the ruins of the dale
At his look I caught the flame ;

Now she bows her hoary head,
At his voice my youth return'd.

Like the widow of the vale
« Fire from heaven my heart renew'd,

Weeping o'er her children dead.
Vigour beat through every vein ;

“ Happier then had been her fate,
All the powers, that age had hew'd,

Ere she fell by such a fne,
Started into strength again.

Had an earthquake sunk her state,
“ Sudden from my couch I sprang,

Or ihe lightning laid her low !"
Every limb to lise restored;

SHEPHERD.
With the bound my cottage rang,

“ By the lightning's deadly flash
As I snatch'd my fathers' sword.

Would her foes had been consumed !
“ This the weapon they did wield

Or amidst the earthquake's crash
On Morgarthen's dreadful day;

Suddenly, alive, entomb’d!
And through Sempach’st iron field
This the ploughshare of their way.

“ Why did justice not prevail ?”.
“ Then, my spouse! in vain thy fears

WANDERER,
Strove my fury to restrain;

“ Ah! it was not thus to be !"
O my daughter! all thy tears,
All thy children's, were in vain.

“ Man of grief! pursue thy tale
purport; but no sooner had they disarmed, on the faith of To the death of liberty.”
this engagement, than the enemy came suddenly upon
them with an immense force; and with threats of exter-
mination compelled them to take the civic oath to the
new constitution, imposed upon all Switzerland.

PART III. The inhabitants of the lower valley of Underwalden alone resisted the French message, which required sub- | The Wanderer continues his narrative, and describes the mission to the new constitution, and the immediate sur.

battle and massacre of Underwalden. render, alive or dead, of nine of their leaders. When the

WANDERER. demand, accompanied by a menace of destruction, was read in the assembly of the district, all the men of the « FROM the valley we descried, valley, fifteen hundred in number, look up arms, and As the Gauls approach'd our shores, devoted themselves to perish in the ruins of their country.

Keels that darken'd all the tide, 7 At the ballle of Sempach, the Austrians presented so impenetrable a front with their projected spears, that the

Tempesting the lake with oars. Swiss were repeatedly compelled to retire from the allack, till a native of Underwalden,named Arnold de Winkelried, * Many of the Underwalders, on the approach of the commending his family to his countrymen, sprung upon French army, removed their families and cattle among the enemy, and burying as many of their spears as he the higher Alps; and themselves returned to join their could grasp in his body, made a breach in their line; the brethren, who had encamped in their native valley, on the Swiss rushed in, and routed the Austrians with a terrible borders of the lake, and awaited the attack of the enemy. slaughter.

+ The capital of Underwalden.

SHEPHERD.