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Mr. Addison says of the thought in the last | boast at the beginning, and not only fought as stanza, that “it was never touched by any other poet, and is such an one as would have shined in Homer or Virgil." The remainder of the ballad is mostly taken up with an enumeration of the nobles and knights slain on either side: but there are two or three particulars worth notice. The impetuous Witherington made good his Old Version.

long as he could stand, but afterwards. In the old ballad, his obstinate valor is described in appropriate terms: but, in the late version, the language partakes so much of the ludicrous, that Addison feared to expose it to the "little buffoons," who would not "take its beauty"—

"For Wethanyngton my harte was wo,
That ever he slayne shulde be;

For when both his leggis104 wear hewyne105 in to,
Yet he knyled 106 and fought on his kne."107

Later Version.

"For Witherington, needs must I wayle
As one in doleful dumpes ;*
For when his legs were smitten off,
He fought upon his stumpes."

The poet, obviously an Englishman, has not | the author has overshot his mark, and placed the failed to glorify his countrymen. They go into the battle with fifteen hundred men: the Scots with two thousand. Fifty-three Englishmen survive the fight, and only fifty-five of the Scots. But in one point of contrast, it seems to us, that Old Version.

conduct of the Scottish king in a far more attractive light, than the behavior of King Harry the Fourth." We allude to the speeches of the two monarchs, on receipt of the fatal tidings—

Word ys commen to Edden-burrowe,

To Jamy the Scottishe kyng,

That doughati Duglas, lyff tenant of the Merches,
He lay slean Chyviot within.

His hands dyd he weal and wryng,

He sayd-"Alas! and woe ys me! Soeb another captayne Skotland within," He saydy-feth shuld never be."

Word is commyn to lovly Londone,

Till the fourth Harry our kyng,

That lord Persè, leyff-tenants of the Merchis,
He lay slayne Chyviat within.

"God have merci on his soll," sayd king Harry, "Good lord, yf thy will it be!

I have a hundrith captayns in Ynglande," he sayd,

"As good as ever was hee:

But, Persè, and I brook my lyffe,

Thy deth well quyte shall be."

Later Version.

The news was brought to Edden-borrow
Where Scotland's king did raigne,
That brave Erle Douglas suddenlye
Was with an arrow slayne.

"O, heavy newes," king James did say,
"Scottland may witness bee,

I have not any captaine more
Of such account as hee."

Lyke tydings to King Henry came,
Within as short a space,

That Percy of Northumberland

Was slaine in Chevy-Chese:

"Now, God be with him," said our king,
"Sith it will noe better be;

I trust I have, within my realme,

Five hundred as good as hee;

Yet shall not Scotts, nor Scotland say,

But I will vengeance take;

I'll be revenged on them all,

For brave Erle Percye's sake."

• It is the writer, who wails "in doleful dumpes"-i. e. laments with deep grief.

VOL. XV-46

The lamentation of King James is a natural and affecting tribute to the memory of his best and bravest subject, thus suddenly cut off in the midst of his usefulness. The false and vainglorious boast of the English king, and his assumed indifference to the loss of Percy, betray far more of unfeeling arrogance, than of the kingly magnanimity which the poet intended. It is not, however, wholly out of character.

We fear that we have trespassed already too much upon the pages of the present number, to be indulged in making further extracts from the "Reliques." Perhaps we may crave admission

for them hereafter.

Yet go-ah go! those pleading eyes,

Those wild, sweet tones appealing
From heart to heart, ah! dare I trust
That passionate revealing?

For ah, those dark and pleading eyes
Invoke too keen a sorrow-
A pang that will not pass away
With thy light vows to-morrow.

A love immortal and divine
Within my beart is waking-
A dream of passion and despair
It owns not but in breaking.
Isle of Rhodes, March 1849.

Notes to the foregoing.

1 In spite- Prevent-Raise;-Bowmen-Coursed or traversed-Grassy field or hill-side-Broad Arrows"Wild deer--'In every direction--1°Grey hounds--11Groves12Glanced-13They-14Early-15 Monday-16 By the time-17Hour-18Noon-19Hundred-20A signal of the death of

THE CAPTAIN'S STORY.

A PENINSULAR ADVENTURE.

the deer-21 Assembled from every quarter-22Slaughtered In the neighborhood of the Haymarket, LonGame; "Quartering or cutting up-24 Bows-25 Since-don, there are several minor chess, whist, and 26 Much-27Steed-28 Rode before his men-29Glittered-gossip clubs, held principally at cafés, in an apart30 Red hot coal-31 Baron--32Chase--33Spite -Man--35It-ment which, for club evenings, is sacred to the 96Thee-37Killed--38One--39 Die--40 Pity-41 Thou-.42Earl-43 Country Stand apart-45 And thou and I do battle- members, consisting chiefly of superannuated Christ's curse-47See-Neither-49If it be my fortune- clerks, actors, and other professional mediocri50 I dare meet him, one man for one-61 Squire 52Name- ties, with a sprinkling of substantial, steady trades53 Shame-54 Know—55 Are-56 Two-57Field-58 Weapon men. In one of these modest gatherings, Capwield--Swords--"Helmets-Rich coats of mail-.63Many tain Smith, an extremely communicative and anfolds-63 They struck-64 Stout man-65 Fall (or lie)66 Strength-67 Struck hard-68 Sweated-69 Milan steel- ecdotical gentleman, may occasionally be met 70 See (64) Desirous- Spurted-73 Hail-74 Fortune with, surrounded by an attentive circle of admior income-75 Mad-76 Laid on heavily-" I promise thee ring friends, listening, with all their ears, to one here—78 Before—79 Yielded- One- Stricken-62 Both of the many marvellous adventures it has been liver and lungs—83 Gone-4 Days of his life-85 More-his lot to encounter during a wandering and va

86 Whilst 87 Parted with-88 Nor-89 Put to death"Spanned or grasped—” Could― Rode-93 Courser-ried life. He is not a frequent visitor; his tastes "Stopped-95 Lingered- Blow-97 Sure-98 At the "More-100 Saw slain-101 Bore a bent bow-102 Drew to the hard steel head-10 Swan-feathers-104 Legs-105 Hewn

106 Kneeled-107 Knee.

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LINES.

BY MRS. SARAH H. WHITMAN.

inclining him to scenes of more boisterous conviviality than cigars and coffee, with a seasoning of theatrical and political gossip, can afford or supply; and he accordingly uses these, to him hum-drum assemblies, only as resting, or haltingplaces between more exciting orgies; valuable chiefly for affording him listeners, much more easily amused and astonished than men of larger life-adventure and experience. He is, however, a real captain, and I fancy something of a hero too, in the conventional use of the term, as he seems to have very different, and, I believe, much

Away, away! Thou speakest of that which in all my truer notions of war and glory, than gentlemen

earthly life I have not found and shall not find."

I bade thee stay. Too well I know

The fault was mine, mine only;

I dared not think upon the past
All desolate and lonely.

I know not if my soul could bear
In absence to regret thee,
To strive alone with its despair,
Still seeking to forget thee.

Jean Paul.

who shout about "bright swords," and dilate with a periphrastic unction of "red battle-fields." A lithe, active man is he; and stiff as a ram-rod withal. His harsh, stubbly hair, is brushed in one particular direction with parade precision; and his high, bald forehead, when in convivial mood. glistens as brightly as his sharp, gray eyes; which, one can see with half a one, have been wide open all his life. He rose, it is understood, though he never mentions it himself-perhaps from 2

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feeling of modesty, a quality, albeit, in which, | aphorical; and, after a time, Captain Smith like most field heroes, he is somewhat deficient seemed to have acquired a misty notion of what from the ranks. From his perfect knowledge of was meant. Still, it was, he said, a very bad the Spanish tongue, (he passed his youth at Gi-way of writing "history;" which species of combraltar, with occasional trips to the Spanish coast position should, he emphatically observed, be all with his father, who turned an honest penny in facts, and no mistakes. the smuggling line,) he was frequently employed during the Peninsular war by the British commanders in the very necessary, but extremely ticklish, duty of making himself personally ac- "I dare say it was; and as you seem to admire quainted with the state of the French camps and it so much, I wish you had been one of the fortresses-in other words, as a spy; an exceed-'prentices under the master, just to see how it ingly uncomfortable office for any gentleman was done, and how agreeable and pleasant such troubled with "nerves." Captain Smith fre- a masterly job is to the people that do the work. quently thanks God that he never had any, to his knowledge, in his life; no more, he sometimes says, after reading the debates-no more than a member of parliament.

The retreat from Burgos was a masterly affair," persisted warrior Tape; "masterly indeed— uncommon !"

a

I was one of them; and I declare to you I had much rather have been in this café, smoking this abominable cigar, which wont smoke"-and the captain threw the unsatisfactory weed into the Thus much premised, suppose we step in for fire; immediately, however, accepting another minute, and make his acquaintance. That is from the ready hand of the obsequious Tape. the captain with his back to the fire. The gen- That, fortunately, drew uncommonly well; the tleman who has just handed him a cigar, and is spiral columns ascended with the fulness and addressing such martial queries to the old cam-freedom in which the veteran loved to luxuriate. paigner, is a neighboring haberdasher. Just be- He swallowed his demi-tasse at a gulp; and his fore we entered, he inquired, as is his nightly sharp, gray eyes twinkling with fresh lustre, wont, if the waiter was sure the clock was quite said "It was in coming from Burgos that I got right. He is always a little nervous about the into one of the miserablest scrapes I ever expetime, as his spouse is apt to be unpleasantly lively rienced in my life; and all owing to my tenderfor a lady of her colloquial and other prowess, if heartedness, the very worst thing for a campaign he is not at home at half-past ten precisely. He a man can carry about him.” loves peace at home," as much as he seems to "Tell us, captain! What was it? How was delight in war "abroad," and is consequently it ?" cried half a dozen voices. Two elderly genextremely punctual. But see, Tape is tapping tlemen, who had been playing draughts for the the captain again. The veteran cannot fail to previous four or five hours, finding it impossible, flow forth presently; at first, perhaps, a little jer- amidst so much clamor, to bestow the requisite kingly—glug, glug, glug—but after a little coax-attention on their extremely intellectual game, ing, in the freest, easiest style imaginable.

“A splendid march, Captain Smith, that of Wellington upon Ciudad Rodrigo ?"

"Sloppy, Mr. Tape, sloppy; nothing but mud, and snow, and slush. Winter-time; I remember it well," replied Captain Smith.

"Beautiful account Napier gives of it," rejoined the martial Tape.

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also drew near to listen, as the very best thing, after draughts, they could do.

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Captain Smith smiled graciously, seated himself, indulged in a few prefatory whiffs, and proceeded. During the many journeys I at different times made through the province of Leon in Spain, I fell in with a very worthy couple, whom Wellington," he I took a great liking to. Pedro Davila was by says, "jumped on the devoted fortress with both trade a cooper; he made all the casks and tubs his feet!" for miles round the little town near which he "Does Napier say that?" demanded the vet-lived; which was situated, I should tell you, a eran, knocking the consumed ashes off the end good deal out of the direct road, or rather the of his cigar on the mantelpiece. "Does Napier nearest road-for there is nothing very direct in

say that?"

"Yes indeed he does."

"Then Napier tells what is —,” replied the matter-of-fact captain. "The lightest, longestlegged of the 'Light Bobs' could'nt have done it, much less the duke. The duke's short in the legs-sits high in the saddle, though-dong body, dumpy legs. Could no more do it than he could fly; did'nt try either. All a flam!"

Mr. Tape explained that the jumping was met

that country--from Burgos to Astorga. For my part I preferred round-about ways at that time to straight ones; I found them safer. Pedro had a nice garden too, beautifully cultivated, and the prettiest little black-eyed Andalusian wife-Pedro was also a native of the south of Spain-a man's eyes ever lighted upon. Pedro, in his youth, had taken service with a Spanish graudee, who being compelled to fly his country-a common, every-day thing abroad-took up his

abode in Paris; and there Pedro got rid of his in the army, and who has lived upwards of twenfine old constitutional prejudices against foreign- ty in London, is saying a great deal." ers, and obtained in exchange some modern uni- This was quite cheerfully assented to. The versal philanthropy-about the most dangerous ugliness that after such a lengthened and firstarticle to go to market with in Spain it is possi-rate experience bore off the palm, was proble to imagine. And sure I am that if Pedro nounced necessarily incomparable by the entire had known what a dreadful mess his turning phi-auditory. losopher would get me into, to say nothing of his wife, he was far too good a fellow to have done any thing of the sort."

'But what on earth, Captain Smith," interrupted Tape, "could philosophy, Pedro's, or any one's else, have to do with you?"

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"You will hear, Tape: it was his liberal-mindedness and my tender-heartedness joined together, that played the mischief with us both. An excellent fellow, notwithstanding," continued the captain, after a brief pause, was Pedro Davila, too good for a Spaniard, much; one could hardly believe it of him. I was going to say he was equal to an Englishman, but that, perhaps, would be pushing it too far. Many a skin of wine have we emptied together; none of the sloe stuff you get here, but the genuine juice of the grape itself." The captain smacked his lips at the pleasing reminiscence, and then, to reward them for the exercise, imbibed a portion of another demi-tasse, craftily qualified to his taste. -"At the time I speak of, it was highly dangerous to harbor, succor or conceal any Frenchman, woman or child. Death, or worse punishment, was pretty sure to be the doom of any one offending against that law of vengeance; and it happened that one of the most ferocious of minor guerilla leaders, a relentless hunter and slayer of miserable fugitives, was Ramez, a native of the village or town near which Pedro lived. He was seldom long absent from home; and was, in fact, the real governor of the place.

"He gave poor Pedro," continued the captain, "one most diabolical look, (I'll be bound the streaks from his eyes-he always squinted both sides inwards when he was in a passion-crossed each other within an inch of his nose,) then rushed forward, and bawled lustily for help. The Frenchman spurred furiously into the adjoining forest and escaped. Pedro was seized, and the alpha and the omega of it, as the chaplain of the old half-hundredth used to say, was, that he was lugged to prison, tried a few hours afterwards, and condemned to death as a traitor. It was a wild time then most places managed their own affairs their own way, and this was master Ramez and the alcalde's way. Pedro was to have been strangled, gavotted they call it, but there was no apparatus handy, and nobody that particularly liked the job; so, as a particular heavenly grace to him, the alcalde said, it was determined he should be shot on the third day after his arrest."

"It happened," resumed the captain, after again refreshing himself, "that I was, on the very day after Pedro's arrest and condemnation. returning from Burgos to General Picton's headquarters, a good way beyond Astorga; and being near, and in no very particular hurry, I turned out of my road to visit Pedro. When I arrived at the cottage, I found things, as you may sup been imagining for the last hour or so. Instead pose, in a very different state from what I had of wine, there was hysterics; and for an omelette and salad, shrieks and faintings. Marietta "Well, it chanced one unfortunate day, that a clung round my neck with tremendous energy wounded French officer, who had been chased I should not have thought, if I had not experi for several days by Rainez and his fellows, crawl-enced it, that a pretty woman's embrace could ed into Pedro's cottage, and implored shelter and have been so very unpleasant-frantically besuccor. His request was, as you may anticipate, seeching me to send for the British army to libafter what I have told you of Pedro's notions of erate her Pedro. Extricating myself from her philosophy, granted; and the hunted man was grasp as speedily as possible, I began to cast successfully concealed, carefully tended, and re- about in my mind as to what could be done; stored to health. The day of his departure had but I could not at all clear up my ideas. Rearrived; he was carefully disguised, mounted on membering that I never had been able to do so Pedro's mule, and was just bidding his benefac- on a lean stomach, I suggested that we should tor good-by at the garden gate, (Marietta, fortu- first dine, and then perhaps I might hit upon nately, as it turned out, was not at home,) when something for poor Pedro's benefit. Marietta who should poke up his diabolical snout from the agreed with me; and we had, considering that other side of the hedge but Ramez! The ugli- her husband and my dearest friend was to be est rascal, gentlemen," continued Captain Smith, shot the day after the next, a very nice, comwith violent emphasis, "the most ill-favored fortable dinner indeed-very-and some capital scoundrel I ever saw in my life was Ramez: wine afterwards; and then, gentlemen, the fa and that from a man who has been twenty years ther of mischief, or the wine, or Marietta's black

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