ken to you, but one moment, I would myself her tears. Leave, Abenhamet,' said she have taken this dagger and have said-Let leave this terrible place; forget not the us die together-open first this heart where promise you have made me, and seek not our oaths are so deeply graved and then that my heart should uselessly disclose what free yourself afterwards from the infamy my duty prohibits. Look! do you recognize they are preparing for you! But before this rose-bush? Here, each evening ZoraiBoabdil!-between the tyrant and your da weeps.'

scaffold the barbarian had already pro- "As she spoke these words, she thought nounced the order to bring your head; and she heard a noise in the rose-bush; she arose a slave was already on the way. Ah! Aben-in fear-desired Abenhamet to leave, and at hamet, what I did you would have done in the same time retired with rapid step to her my place. One word only remains for me apartment, where seated at her balcony she to say. Honor forbids me to see you; hon-could see by the light of the moon the garor alone remains to me, and I do not wish den of the Generalife; she trembled and to fail in it. Honor commands me, not to listened with breathless attention. The silove you, but God has denied me this strength. [lence, which every where reigned, calmed If you renounce life, if you dare make an her agitation; she fixed her eyes upon the attempt upon an existence which has cost beloved rose-bush, which she distinguished me so dear, I swear by yourself, by my from afar and then abandoned herself to sad father, that this hand, which was promised thoughts.

you, shall punish my coward heart for its "The noise she had heard betokened the mournful sacrifice, which your cruelty would misfortunes which were to follow. While render useless and which was but a perfidy, the imprudent Abencerrage had forgotten at since it does not preserve the life of my the feet of Zoraida the perils which surLover.' Zoraida returned to him the dag-rounded him, four Zegris passing through ger. Abenhamet without courage to take it, the garden, recognized the voice of Abengazed upon her for a moment and then threw hamet; they stopped, concealed themselves himself at her feet. 'Angel of Heaven,' behind the rosh-bush, and through its folisaid he, how great is your power over me! age beheld the object of their hatred, whose One only word from your lips, one look, destruction they had sworn, kneeling at the the sound of your voice, destroys all my feet of the Queen-at the feet of the wife designs and changes in a moment my settled of Boabdil. Surprised, but rejoiced at seeresolutions. I will live then, since you wish ing him in this posture, they resolved upon it-this I promise you; I will suffer my mis- a most atrocious crime and repaired straightery, since your supreme will commands me way to the Monarch. King of Granada,' to be unhappy. Abenhamet will not again said Morfarix,-' pardon your loyal vassals, see you. Ah! I know you, I love you too who have come before you to afflict your well, to hope or desire to see you; but at heart, since on the information they bring least pity my grief; for the last time, I im- depend your crown, your life and your honor. plore you, tell me, tell me Zoraida, deign to The Abencerrages have conspired against tell me only that Abenhamet is yet dear to you and Abenhamet recalled by them from you; that he will always dwell in your heart, exile, has already had an interview with his that neither time nor absence will ever ef- companions-we ourselves have seen him, face that first and that sweet sentiment, but this moment, in the Generalife, at the which in other times possessed your soul. feet of your criminal wife, holding the dagIf I can again hear this avowal from your ger, with which to pierce the heart of his lips, I promise to live-yes, I swear to you, King.' Boabdil was like one struck with a to take care of my life. I will not then des- thunderbolt- but surprise soon gave place to pise it, nor regard it, with loathing. The headlong anger. They all shall die,' excertainty that I am beloved will appease my claimed he, not one of that detested tribe desperation.' Abenhamet ceased, siezed shall escape and my unfaithful wife shall die Zoraida's hand with ardor and instantly upon their expiring bodies.' Avenge yourdropped it. She turned her face to hide self,' answered Morfarix, but prudense is

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necessary to secure vengeance. If you to them the crime of which they were ac manifest your resentment, all Granada will cused, without answering their questions, take arms; the friends of the Abencerrages without announcing their approaching death, will defend them. Follow the counsel which | off flew their heads into the waters of that my zeal dictates;-order the guards to ar- fountain which has become so noted for this rest Abenhamet in the Generalife; in the butchery. My tongue refuses to finish this meantime, issue a secret command to each frightful recital; my limbs shake with hor of the Abencerrages separately to repair to ror at the remembrance of these crimes. the Alhambra, and as they enter, let them Great God, to what excesses Kings are led be executed on the spot.' Boabdil adopted by unbridled anger and bad advice. Boabthis horrible advice; the guards were or- dil, sir, Boabdil, the son of my virtuous dered to search the garden, and the King's father, caused to be assassinated before his messenger delivered to the Abencerrages own eyes thirty-six young heroes-the hope the order to repair to the palace. The Ze- and the pride of Granada, who had often gris also were summoned, who came armed; shed their blood in defence of the Capital, soldiers were placed at the gates of the Gen- for no greater crime than being the companeralife and executioners were stationed, with ions of Abenhamet. drawn swords, in the Court of Lions to await 'On that disastrous night, this illustrious Abenhamet and his companions. The un-family would have perished utterly, but for happy Abenhamet thinking more of Zoraida a child reared by the kindness of Yezid. than himself, had fled weeping into the sha- This child attended his lord to the palace. dy groves when the satellites of the King Taking advantage of the darkness and condiscovered and seized him. In vain he at- fusion he followed Yezid even to the Court tempted to defend himself. He was loaded of Lions. He had scarcely seen the blood with chains and brought before the Mon- with which it was inundated, before he witarch. Traitor, said Boabdil, whose an- nessed the death of his lord. He was renger almost choked his utterance, on this spot dered speechless by terror-retreated preyou shall expiate your detestable treachery cipitately-fancied he was pursued and at and odious love. The infamous Zoraida last took refuge among a troop of Abencershall follow you. Your desire to be united rages, who were on their way to the palace shall soon be accomplished; in the next in obedience to the orders of the King. Do world you may judge if I know how to chas- not approach, do not approach, companions tise perfidy.' Tyrant!' responded the Ab- of Yezid,' said he-they have killed Yeencerrage, 'death is the only favor I desire zid, my lord, my kind master, before my own from you. Drink my blood-gratify your eyes. I am covered with his blood. The ferocious eyes with a spectacle worthy of King, the Zegris, his executioners await you your black heart. But Zoraida is innocent at the fountain-more than thirty are alI swear it before Heaven, before that God ready dead at their feet-approach not, into whose presence I am now going, never good Abencerrages-they have killed Yezid has the chaste ***** he had not finished my master.' when his head fell beneath the sabre and thrice bounded upon the marble, murmuring the name of Zoraida."

"The Abencerrages surprised interrogated this faithful witness. By his cries, by his tears they discovered the treason. They immedi Gonsalvo at these words uttered a groan ately ran to inform their brothers of the plot of horror. "Ah!" resumed the princess, "this who were on their way to the palace from death was but the prelude to the fury of Bo- every direction; they went back, armed abdil. Scarcely had Abenhamet expired, themselves and returned torch-in-hand to when the Abencerrages unsuspecting, ar- reduce the Alhambra to ashes.

rived from different quarters and were intro- "The first entrances were forced-the duced one after another into the fatal Court guards were slain. Like furious tigers robbed of Lions; the moment they entered they of their young the Abencerrages rushed into were seized and borne forcibly to the ala- the fatal Court. What a spectacle! baster fountain. There without mentioning thirty-six of their tribe lay dead on the mar

MY NATIVE HOME.

BY THE REV. WILLIAM LOVE.

I.

Though the ties which once bound me to thee are un-
And the friends, whom I loved so, are scattered and gone,
done,
Those brave sons of Erin, whose courage defied
The storm of Glenallah, or Swilly's dark tide,
Thou home of my childhood, so lovely to me!
Let fancy but place me one moment in thee,

II.

ble floor; the King, the Zegris, surrounded
by executioners were still demanding more
victims-the heads of their unfortunate com-
panions were piled up in the fountain, whose
waters were agitated by waves of foam and
blood. Immoveable from horror the Aben-Oh! come like a dream to me, dearly loved home,
cerrages gazed at each other for a moment, Were it only a dream, O, hasten and come!
and then with a sudden shout made a rush
towards Boabdil. The Zegris placed them-
selves in front of the Monarch. Superior
in number, equal in valor, the Zegris slew
and were slain. The alarm spread through
the City; the Gomeles, friends of the Ze-
gris, summoned the people in defence of the
King, Thirty thousand armed Moors re-
paired to the palace. They saw their Mon-
arch attacked by this formidable family;
they were ignorant of his crime, and willing
to defend him, united with the Zegris. The
unfortunate Abencerrages were unable to
sustain themselves against so many assail-
ants. Spite of their deeds, of their valor,
after a long combat they were forced to leave
the palace. Covered with wounds, weak-
ened by loss of blood, pursued by the vic-
tors whose numbers continually increased,
they were driven beyond the city. Detest-
ing the ungrateful country which thus treat-
ed its defenders, they withdrew from its
walls and swore never to return.

"Thus we lost that valiant tribe; thus on
that disastrous night Granada in dishonoring
herself, perhaps prepared the way for her
fall. But the relentless Boabdil thought only
of vengeance. His wife yet lived-his wife
was yet to experience his fury. My strength
fails
I cannot continue this horrible re-
cital and I will leave you to repose the few
hours which yet remain of the day."

me,

Zulema ceased, and spite of the entreaties of Gonsalvo, she deferred until the morrow the narration of the misfortunes of the Queen when she thus resumed.

End of Book Third.

On the dark rugged cliff where the king-fishers rest,
On the peak where the eagle would dare build his nest.
'Mid the hurricane's roar and the wail of the deep;
Or, absorbed in the tempest, I gaze on the spray,
Which the wings of its fury fast hurries away;
Or, again with its thunder-crash falls on the sea,
By the home of my childhood, so lovely to me.

In fancy's fond dream I sink sweetly to sleep,

III.

The harp and the lute may delight the fond swain.
On the green inossy banks where the violet grows,
The lovers enraptured may sweetly repose;
And the stream which so soothingly ripples along,
May mingle its softness with pastoral song;
These also are found in perfection with thee,
Thou home of my childhood, so lovely to ms.

Whose soul is endeared to a delicate strai.;

IV.

when it whistles in madness through valley and glen;
But give me Nockahlah's fierce tempest again,
Or, let me but stand on the rock in mid air,
'Twixt earth, sea and sky, all its madness to share,
As they burst on thy shores, as they ring through thy

And list to the pipes of the winds and the waves,

caves;

Oh! such is the music of Nature and thee,
Thou home of my childhood, so lovely to me.

V.

How enchanted I gazed, when the wind piping loud.
Seemed to hang every wave, on a slippery cloud;
And the white-crested billows. were curled upon high,
And filled with their thunders the storm-frightened sky;
Then midst smoke, foam and fury from heaven they dash,
And earth, reeling, quivers and shakes with the crash;
Yet their foaming and roaring were musie for thee,
Thou home of my childhood, so lovely to me.

VI.

But no more shall I gaze on thy surf-beaten shore;
Thy rocks, hills and valleys I'll never see more ;
And the FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH, who were valued and
tried,

Among the bitter varieties of sorrow, forming the inheritance of the human kind, there are few more humiliating, more fitted to cleave into the inmost soul, than a discovery of the unworthiness of those we love; of a breach of confidence in that heart wherein we have de- Who sung in thy tempests, and danced on thy tide, posited the whole treasure of our affections. There is a Are scattered as chaff with the breath of the world, degree of self abasement connected with the disappoint- Or, their sails before Death's ruder tempest are furled; ment, which recoils with double force on our perceptions; Yet, I, DEAR RAMELTON, will still dream of thee, the sharpness of the pain admits of no mitigation.Anon. Thou home of my childhood, so lovely to me.

A NIGHT IN A HAUNTED HOUSE.

was a sort of humorist in his way, and no loubt had his own reasons for the choice. Perhaps he was ambitious to cover the barren hill with groves and gardens, and make the lesert heath blossom like the rose. If such was his plan, however, the fates were against it; for whether the strange sights and sounds hat gave the house its evil reputation made t an unpleasant residence to him, or whatever else was the cause, it is certain he abandoned

had been made.

Within a stone's throw of the line of the Richmond and Petersburg rail-road, and no more than half a mile from James river, stand the blackened and roofless walls of a large brick building. Its position on a naked and barren hill renders it visible in some direction: for several miles; and from various parts of Richmond, especially from the southern it before any sort of out-of-door improvement windows of the Capitol, it still forms a conspicuous object in the distant landscape. I After his departure, the place fell from. the reader is not a resident of that vicinity. time to time to various tenants, who were but has passed along the rail-road between attracted by the low rate of rent. None. Richmond and Petersburg, before the fire oc- however, remained long; for it was remarked curred by which the wood work of the build- that misfortune seemed to brood over the ing was a few months since destroyed, he house; that sickness and death were alarmmay have been struck by the lone and deso-ingly frequent within its walls; and that late appearance of the house, and been led whether its stately halls and pannelled chamto make some inquiry respecting it: and iibers were haunted by preternatural visitants his question was asked of one in any degree or not, they certainly were singularly often familiar with neighborhood traditions, he the scenes of the heaviest afflictions that was informed, among other particulars, that human life is heir to. the place had long had the reputation of be ing haunted.

Indeed, its situation alone might well raise evil surmises in minds of a superstitious turn. No other house stood near it; no pale or hedge enclosed it; no tree or shrub or flower grew in its vicinity; nothing but the bare and sterile heath, over which a few consumptive cows and lean broken-down horses turned out to die, wandered about in quest of such subsistence as the place afforded. Its unsheltered site exposed it to every wind that blows, especially to the north wind, which, sweeping across the river from the hills on the Richmond side, raved and roared about the old mansion in such a way as to put timorous misgivings into the heart of any chance tenant who happened to occupy it. If he was right who said that superstition

It is now many years since I paid the cld house a visit. My curiosity was excited by the current tales in regard to it; for I always had rather a taste for superstitious marvels. I found it a large and stately building, finished within in the old aristocratic style of Virginia; though its fine mahogany pannelling had been soiled and defaced in many places by the carelessness of tenants, who had of late always been persone in humble life. At the time of my visit, it had been but a few weeks abandoned, and several pieces of furniture of small value were still left in some of the rooms. In one of the principal chambers I observed an old black-walnut cup-board, which may have been used as a wardrobe, a stick-backed chair without the top-board, and a black hair sofa, on which lay a single ragged cushica covered with the same material. On seeing the old sofa the thought occurred to me that as the weather was warm and no covering required, it might be made a tolerable couc for the night, if I had courage enough to dospise the popular stories about the place, and It was built by a man of wealth and stand- defy the powers of evil that were supposed ing in the days of our grandfathers. Why to hold their revels there. The thought I he selected so singular a site, I have never confess was a little startling; but I consid been able to learn. But the old gentleman ered myself quite a philosopher for my years

Can yells of demons in the zephyr hear," then certainly superstition might have heard a whole legion of demons yelling in the winds that bowled round the old haunted

house.

then about 19,) and was vain enough to moon shining through the casements shewed think such idle superstitions as shook the me the staircase leading to the room I had souls of the weak and credulous were far selected, and I commenced ascending. Every below that serene region in which my thoughts step resounded through the great empty were accustomed to soar. house with a prolonged reverberation that In short, I resolved to pass the night in was almost appalling. But I kept steadily the haunted house, and thus put to proof my on, partly groping and partly guided by the courage and philosophy. Accordingly I re-moonlight, till I stood safe in my destined turned to Richmond; and after nightfall. apartment. I lost no time in lighting the having wrapped up a candle in a newspaper, candle by means of a match, and then looked and put a book and match-box in one coat carefully round to see that no lurking thing pocket, and a loaded pistol in the other, set of evil lay hidden in any of the recesses. forth without communicating my purpose to All was empty and still, and no enemy any one. It may raise a smile to think I near. I next cast about for some sort of should arm myself against ghosts with a candlestick; and finding no better substipocket pistol, and I might have been puzzled tute, trimmed to a sharp point one of the to give a reason for the precaution; but sticks of the broken chair, and impaling the felt that my courage could somehow be firmer, candle firmly upon it, placed it convenientand less liable to surprise by any sudden as-ly near the end of the sofa. I then reclined sault, if I had such a staunch and trusty sup-upon the sofa; propping up my head with porter at hand in case of need.

the cushion, which I first carefully covered It was a clear, moonlight night in midsum- with my handkerchief, as I much misdoubted mer, and the walk, though long, was not un- the heads that had been pillowed there bepleasant. The lonely old building looked fore mine. Finally, I drew the book from particularly grim by moonlight, and I felt an my pocket; and resolving to give imaginaneasy misgiving as I approached it. But Ition the least possible leisure for idle vagahad gone too far to think of retreating. Ancies, tried to immerse all my thoughts in old white horse that in the moon's uncertain reading. ight had a pale and ghostly appearance. The volume I had brought was Pliny's stood a few rods from the front porch. I Epistles. I had some recollection of a story walked up to him in order to be quite sure old by him about a haunted house, in which that he was a veritable thing of earth; for a sage old Greek had ventured to pass the had no wish to be assailed by a doubt from night; and fancying a resemblance between this quarter in the midst of such a mental him and myself in more points than one, I rontlict as I might have to pass through be-had a curiosity to learn the issue of his adfore the night should be over. He made no venture. The letter I was in search of was movement to avoid me, but gazed mourn- soon found; but I quickly began to suspect fully at me with his large hollow eyes, as I that the choice of that story for my evenpatted his shoulder and addressed him in ing's entertainment was not very judicious, ome kind sympathizing words. He seemed, and that the disparity between the force of I thought, to be worn out with years and will and reason shown by the old philosoprivation, and evidently not destined to a pher, and that I could call up at need, was much longer sojourn in this world of sorrow.somewhat broader than I had imagined. He turned his head and looked wistfully after The story is indeed a striking one, and imme when I left him; but I could do nothing|pressively told. I shuddered as I read, lest to lighten his grief, and therefore endeavoured a spcctre like that described, of the old to dismiss his case from my thoughts. man, squalid and emaciated, with his long The front door was open, just as I had left neglected beard, and clanking his iron fetit in the morning. I paused on the threshold ters as he walked, should visit me in my an instant, and then bracing my nerves with lonely room. Several times I almost started a long, deep breath, entered and stood a few at what seemed the sound of human footfeet within the hall. All seemed deserted, steps in the adjoining apartment. I listened and still as a churchyard at midnight. The attentively, and thought the noises, though