A PSALM OF THE UNION.

And do my best to cure you up
If 'twouldn't create surprise.

It's a world of trouble we tarry in,
But, Elder, don't despair;

That you may soon be movin' again
Is constantly my prayer.

Both sick and well, you may depend
You'll never be forgot

By your faithful and affectionate friend,
PRICILLA POOL BEDOTT.

1

A PSALM OF THE UNION.

HARPERS'

GoD of the Free! upon thy breath
Our flag is for the Right unrolled;
Still broad and brave as when its stars
First crowned the hallowed time of old:
For Honor still its folds shall fly,

For Duty still their glories burn,
Where Truth, Religion, Freedom guard
The patriot's sword and martyr's urn.
Then shout beside thine oak, O North!

O South! wave answer with thy palm;
And in our Union's heritage

Together lift the Nation's psalm!

129

MONTHLY, December, 1861.

How glorious is our mission here!
Heirs of a virgin world are we;
The chartered lords whose lightnings tame
The rocky mount and roaring sea:
We march, and Nature's giants own
The fetters of our mighty cars;
We look, and lo! a continent

Is crouched beneath the Stripes and Stars!
Then shout beside thine oak, O North!

O South! wave answer with thy palm;

And in our Union's heritage
Together lift the Nation's psalm;

No tyrant's impious step is ours;
No lust of power on nations rolled :
Our Flag-for friends a starry sky,

For foes a tempest every fold!
Oh! thus we'll keep our nation's life.

Nor fear the bolt by despots hurled :
The blood of all the world is here,

And they who strike us, strike the world.
Then shout beside thine oak, O North!

O South! wave answer with thy palm:
And in our Union's heritage

Together lift the Nation's psalm!

God of the Free! our Nation bless
In its strong manhood as its birth;
And make its life a Star of Hope

For all the struggling of the Earth:
Thou gav'st the glorious Past to us;

Oh! let our Present burn as bright,
And o'er the mighty Future cast

Truth's, Honor's, Freedom's holy light!
Then shout beside thine oak, O North!

O South! wave answer with thy palm;
And in our Union's heritage

Together lift the Nation's psalm!

CHARGE OF A DUTCH MAGISTRATE.

DE man he killed vasn't killed at all, as vas broved; he is in ter chail, at Morristown, for sheep stealing. Put dat ish no matter; te law says vare ter is a doubt you give him to der brisoner; put here ish no doubt, so, you see, ter brisoner ish guilty. I dinks, derefore, Mr. Foreman, he petter pe hung next Fourth of July.

BINGEN ON THE RHINE.

MRS. CAROLINE NORTON.

A SOLDIER of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,
There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's

tears;

But a comrade stood beside him, while his life-blood ebbed away,
And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say:
The dying soldier faltered, and he took that comrade's hand,
And he said, “I never more shall see my own, my native land:
Take a message, and a token, to some distant friends of mine,
For I was born at Bingen,-at Bingen on the Rhine.

"Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around,

To hear my mournful story, in the pleasant vineyard ground,
That we fought the battle bravely, and when the day was done,
Full many a corse lay ghastly pale, beneath the setting sun;
And, 'mid the dead and dying, were some grown old in wars,—
The death-wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars;
And some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline,—
And one had come from Bingen,-fair Bingen on the Rhine.

"Tell my mother, that her other son shall comfort her old age; For I was still a truant bird, that thought his home a cage. For my father was a soldier, and even as a child

My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild ; And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard,

I let them take whate'er they would,-but kept my father's sword; And with boyish love I hung it where the bright light used to shine, On the cottage wall at Bingen,-calm Bingen on the Rhine.

“Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head, When the troops come marching home again, with glad and gallant tread,

BINGEN ON THE RHINE.

133

But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye,
For her brother was a soldier, too, and not afraid to die;
And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in my name,
To listen to him kindly, without regret or shame,

And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and mine),

For the honor of old Bingen,-dear Bingen on the Rhine.

"There's another-not a sister; in the happy days gone by; You'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye; Too innocent for coquetry,-too fond for idle scorning,-

O, friend! I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest

mourning!

Tell her the last night of my life (for ere the moon be risen,
My body will be out of pain, my soul be out of prison),—
I dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yellow sunlight shine
On the vine-clad hills of Bingen,-fair Bingen on the Rhine.

"I saw the blue Rhine sweep along,—I heard, or seemed to hear, The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear; And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill,

The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still; And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we passed with friendly talk, Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk! And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly in mine,

But we'll meet no more at Bingen,-loved Bingen on the Rhine."

་ ་ ་

His trembling voice grew faint and hoarse,-his grasp was childish weak,

His eyes put on a dying look,-he sighed and ceased to speak; His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled,— The soldier of the Legion in a foreign land is dead!

And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked down On the red sand of the battle-field, with bloody corses strewn ; Yes, calmly on that dreadful scene her pale light seemed to shine, As it shone on distant Bingen,-fair Bingen on the Rhine.