THE SONG OF THE HILL SPIRIT. It is the spirit of the Hill Hark! Hark! To the spirit of the glen she calls, With a voice like the song of the morning lark To one in a dungeon's walls. Daylight on my purple peaks Is sinking down to rest, Few and faint are the golden streaks Which gleam in the tranquil west; The owl upon the twilight air Is flitting to and fro, The fox has left his grassy lair Which lies beneath the owl's nest, where It waves on a leafy bough. Glad are the fox and the old grey owl And see above yon woody height 'Tis weaving and 'twill hide full soon Come then sister, through the air Neelghierries, 1823. H. M. P. A FAREWELL LAY TO THE EAST. BY CALDER CAMPBELL. Oh! do not say 'tis folly, thus to suffer heartfelt pain You bid me think of early days, of youth, and hope, and home- With ghostlike sounds and shadows filled, to vex the yearning mind? My brothers? they are dead, all-all! my sisters? one sleeps well, e! My father is a grey old man, the pastor of his flock, And age hath wintered on their brows, and they are poor and old, Yes, they are old, and I must cross the fierce and fickle main, Alone? alone! it is a word that falls upon my heart Like the knell that speaks of death and dole when those we love depart― Depart for brighter regions, where no solitude is known; Alas! how well my heart hath conn'd that dark, dark word—" alone!" For others, in that northern land, I've little love or care Of all the friends who loved me once not one, perhaps, is there; The shades where elephants are found, 'neath graceful bamboos spread: The tall palmyra on the sand, a vegetable dome!— The shaddock bowers-the moogra clumps,-whose breath is like a draught, I'll think of all!-The tombs lit up with lamps and jasmin buds,- 'Tis ever thus--'tis ever thus-the past is aye the best,- Feronià Elephant. HAZLITT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON. As very few copies of the two last volumes of Mr. Hazlitt's Life of Napoleon have reached this country, we propose to lay some extracts from it before our readers, to most of whom they will be "as good as manuscript." The work consists of four large octavo volumes, the two first of which were published in 1828, and the two last were hardly in the printer's hands, when the author died. As we received the work too late in the month to write an entirely original review, we shall be indebted to a contemporary for a considerable portion of this notice. Mr. Hazlitt intended to have given a preface, explanatory of his reasons for undertaking so arduous a task, but he was seized with his last illness before he could prepare it. From a slight anonymous introduction prefixed to the third volume, we learn that much time was occupied, and great expense incurred to obtain ample materials for the work; and that not satisfied with books and written documents, Mr. Hazlitt spent two years in Paris for the especial purpose of conversing with persons most likely to afford him accurate information. Accordingly, his work abounds in anecdotes and details, that throw a new light on many important points in the History of Napoleon; while the originality and power of the author's mind have given even to the most familiar materials an air of novelty and freshness. Those who have been accustomed to look upon Napoleon as a monster, and to regard popular rights and the sovereignty of the people with disdain, will derive little pleasure from this publication, and will, perhaps, accuse Mr. Hazlitt of strong partialities and inveterate prejudices. If a detestation of tyranny, a passionate love of liberty, and a profound respect for intellectual greatness were inconsistent with impartiality and candour, he could not be defended from the charge; but an Historian may, surely, be rigidly just and trustworthy, though neither a Tory nor a believer in the divine right of kings, so long as he states facts as he finds them, and supports the general principles of truth and justice. Mr. Hazlitt is an historian of this class, and his indignation against the enemies of freedom and mankind need not be attributed to interested views or party spirit. It may have been expected by some, that his ardent and wellknown admiration of Napoleon would insensibly lead him to compose an apology or panegyric, while he deceived himself with the idea that he was engaged upon a history; but it is rightly observed in the preface, that he has sacrificed no principle to palliate his hero, and he has rigorously examined, and fearlessly blamed him on all just occasions. But even supposing him to be not without a bias, it is at all events on the generous side; and if, in the contemplation of so brilliant and wonderful a character as that of Napoleon Buonaparte, he betrays a peculiar satisfaction in recognizing his nobler traits, this peculiarity may be advantageously opposed to the unworthy attempts of Sir Walter Scott to tarnish the glory of his greatest actions by a resuscitation of the most paltry libels, and the expression of a ready belief in every testimony, however slight, that is calculated to injure his memory as a man, a soldier, or a statesman. The Life of Napoleon by the Scottish Novelist is not only more voluminous, but it must also be conceded, that it is more picturesque, and more lively and entertaining than the work before us; but it has too much the air of a romance, and is too diffuse in its style, and too irregular and illdigested in its details to be regarded as an historical composition. Though Mr. Hazlitt's previous habits as a writer did not seem favorable to that connected train of thought, and severe simplicity of expression, so requisite in a work of this nature, it cannot be denied that he has succeeded to admiration; and that this is not only his largest and last work but his best and most important one. He had previously distinguished himself as an essayist, a metaphysician, and a critic, and his final labours will stamp his reputation as a philosophical historian. His views in this work are original, profound, and just, and his style ardent, rapid and energetic. He rarely introduces those sparkling images and that radiant diction which glow so profusely in his other writings, but which would be inconsistent with the dignity of history. The only faults that we can find in this work are-first, the omission of all references to authorities, (a fault also to be found in Scott's;) secondly, a too frequent introduction of reflections which, however fine and forcible, interrupt the interest and continuity of the narrative; and thirdly, a violent prejudice against the French nation. Sir Walter Scott characterizes Napoleon's proclamations as mere bombast, (because they are opposed to the dry, formal style adopted by ordinary monarchs,) but Mr. Hazlitt justly considers them brilliant specimens of Military Eloquence; and certainly their effect upon such vast masses of human beings as they were sometimes addressed to, is a better criterion of their merits than the criticism of any single individual. But Scott takes every opportunity of depreciating one of the greatest men of modern times, merely because he was a rankling thorn in the side of legitimacy, and seems on all occasions predetermined not to give him a single sous. He earnestly defends the conduct of Sir Hudson Lowe at St. Helena, and repeats his praise of General Gourgaud as a "loyal soldier," because instead of, like the rest of Napoleon's followers, taking part with his master against the governor, he acted as a spy, and after having been " very communicative" while on the Island, on his arrival in England hurried to the Foreign Office, and pretended to make a frank and full disclosure of everything that he had heard and seen during his residence with Napoleon. At such conduct as this, Sir Walter Scott, has not a word of indignation, but on the contrary affects to credit all this traitor's libels against his confiding and noble-minded master. He cannot conceal, however, from his reader the fact, that the General's conscience afterwards smote him for his base ingratitude, and that "he resumed that tenderness for Napoleon's memory, which may induce him to regret having communicated the secrets of the prison-house to less friendly ears." He takes care to add, that "this change of sentiment can neither diminish the truth of his evidence, nor affect our right to bring forward what we find recorded as communicated by him." As if this remorse were not in itself a strong argument against the truth of his former statements, though the sole circumstance of their coming from the lips of a be |