1 Baronefs, and all those whofe immediate attention brought them nearest to me. "Curiofity, when ftimulated by a defire to relieve objects in diftrefs, is a laudable and virtuous property of the mind; but your minds are ftill more elevated, for you have refcued me from a fituation in which the lapse of a moment would have foiled your humane exertions, without knowing in whofe favour they were made! You have fympathized in my forrow! You have been anxious for my recovery, without any other than that general information, that I and this little one were objects worthy of your compaffion! "Magnanimity and compaffion are the virtues of my country! They are indigenous to the foil on which we now tread! They are impregnated with the air which we now breathe. From having experienced their influence, I glory in my relation to you! You have already, from Walter my husband, heard for whom your magnanimity was exerted; who was the object of your compaffion. It is now my duty to ftate the caufe that impelled me into a fituation to receive the benefit of thofe virtues. "Married at an early period of life to the husband not only of my Monarch's, but of my own choice, and living, during the few years of the reign of Malcolm that fucceeded our nuptials, a life of happiness, I need not in ftrong language delineate to you the melancholy reverfe that enfued when the tyrant Donald af cended the throne !' I mean the political reverfe; for our domeftic blifs, arifing from a coincidence of mind and fentiments, was placed upon too firm a basis to be fhaken by any events, but fuch as arofe from the former. "Donald, as you well know, is an ufurper! He has affumed the fovereign authority in prejudice to the right of his nephews. Walter, a man of firm principle and unblemished honour, attached to the family of the late Monarch, oppofed this affumption! Need I tell you, that although his oppofition was fufficient to shake the throne of the ufurper, it was ultimately unsuccessful. "Obliged to fly: the tyrant determined to wreck his vengeance upon his property, his vaffals, and lastly upon his family! The ravages of fire and fword pervaded his cftates; his caftle was dilapidated, and myfelf, with this infant, torn from our peaceful home, and with only two female attendants, who have fince perished in the form, conveyed to a watch tower, which ftands on a point of land, ftretching into the ocean that lathes the fea-beaten coaft of Fife. I will not here attempt to irritate your feelings, by defcribing the borror of our fituation: a fituation rendered ftill more terrific by fome private information which I received, that the tyrant having abandoned all hope of finding Walter, determined to fatiate his eagernefs of revenge upon his innocent wife and offspring. "Too true was this information: affaffins were appointed; but Providence interfered!-That God, whom I conflantly fupplicated, heard my prayers, and rescued us from this danger by the very means that were taken to deftroy us!-Edric, the man that was chosen to lead the affaffinating band, had obligations, deep in their nature, to Walter ; he had the generofity to acknowledge them in that trying moment! He did more: he deceived the Governor, procured a vessel, and effected our escape! "Would to Heaven that he had furvived to have received his reward; but he, alas! with three of his companions, was fwallowed in that whirlpool, from which we have fo recently been delivered!" Here the lovely Matilda ceafed: oppreffed by her fenfibility, she was obliged to give way to a fhower of tears. Agatha received the child from her, and prefented him to the knights and ladies; and, as they preffed forward, the young Baronefs, proud of her fituation, offered the filing cherub to their embraces. Walter next received the compliments of the company; but Morcard was no where to be found; his misfortunes had rendered it neceffary for him to feek another asylum. This was the only damp to the univerfal joy that pervaded the caftle of Adelfrid; who, not merely impreffed with thofe general fentiments of gratitude and love which the feafon inspired, but with particular acknowledgments to the Supreme Being, for having made himself and his family in fome degree inftrumental in the preservation of perfons fo elevated and fo worthy, gave the reins to the benevolence of his difpofition. The ancient Saxon hofpitality and beneficence were confpicuous in every part of his demefnes. His knights adopted the example fet them by their Lord. The twelve days were a period by much too circumfcribed for the feftivity which these events excited: a festivity which was were invited to Court, whether an unfuccefsful attempt was made to attract Adelfrid. was founded upon the bafis of fenfe and virtue; for the vifits of Adelfrid, accompanied by Edgar Atheling and Walter, to his various eftates, made a part. In this fituation Matilda, having acof it; where the Baron had occular de- cefs to the King, frequently mentioned monftration of the fituation of his vaffals, to him the beauty and accomplishments and by well-timed encouragement, gifts, of the friend and companion of her youth, and indulgencies, rendered them in eve- Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm. Stiry refpect the objects of the envy of mulated by her reprefentation, he protheir neighbours, whether Norman or pofed a treaty that ended in a marriage, Scotch. which not only restored these two friends to each other, but the Saxon lice to this country. Thefe tranfactions were too public to efcape the notice of William; he had early intimation of them, and had indeed taken ftrong measures to have repreffed the popularity which he saw with concern, in fpight of his private oppofition, Adelfrid, Edgar, and the Saxons, were acquiring. The arrow of an attendant fruftrated the vengeance of the Monarch! Henry the First by indirect means afcended the Throne. Forced by the inftability of his fituation to make conceffions to the people, he inftantly proclaimed a pardon for Morcard; Edgar Atheling was received into favour; Walter and Matilda Upon the abdication of Donald, Walter and Matilda returned to Scotland; where, after a series of happy years, they closed their lives in peace: and the memory of the important event which hath been in these pages recorded, was impreffed upon the public mind, and became a traditional theme, by the circumftance that the child to providentially preferved, affumed the name of Stuart from the office of his father, and was the founder of a Ryal family, equally celebrated for their virtues, their talents, and their misfortunes. POETRY. ODE FOR THE NEW YEAR—1798. By Henry-James Pye, Efq. Poet Laureat. HEN genial Zephyr's balmy wing Fans, with foft plume, the flowry vale, WH Each tender fcyon of the Spring, Each spreading tree of weaker form, Waves high his giant branches, and defies Deep-rooted in this kindred foil, So Freedom here, thro' many an age, And as the ftormy ruin pafs'd, 'While Europe, bending to the blast, Alone Britannia's happy life, But fee! along the darkling main The gathering clouds malignant lower ; And spreading o'er our blue domain, Againft our fhores their thunders pour; While treach'rous Friends, and daring Foes, Around in horrid compact close; Their fwarming barks portentous, fhade Unnumber'd Hofts ufurp in vain With brazen throat, with breath of flame; And captive in his Ports their Squadrons ride, Or mourn their fhatter'd wrecks, deep From Shore to Shore, from Pole to Pole, To feas that Ifles Atlantic lave From From hoary Greenland's frozen lands For Fate has fairly Teal'd her woes, Her Thittle's fhangant wi' the Rofe; Sair fcad is her auld Highland hofe, An' tartan trews, An' craw fu' creufe. While, to the notes that hail'd the Ifle, An' her auld frien's are now her foes, Emerging from its parent main, The facred Mufe, with raptur'd fmile, Refponfive pours th' exulting ftrain: "RULE, BRITANNIA! RULE THE WAVES, "BRITONS NEVER WILL BE SLAVES!" FOR THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. ON A WITHER'D THISTLE. HERE, all forlorn, ye hardly dow, Frae wind and weet', It wounds my heart, to think that ye lik pithlefs cuif's contempt maun drie'; A donart loon gaun o'er the lee Will at ye ftare, An' ne'er wi' pity blin' his ce', Nor fay, Ye're there. The Thistle wad been tentit weel Her daring fons, in days of yore, Wi' dauntless foul; Thus, I let fa' a heart-fhed tear An' teughly warfle i' the weir 'Mang hoftile bluid. When Care and Crazy eild combine, Wi' fullen gloom; Dumfries, 12 December, 1797. Or drowning flies, or fhoe loft in the mire By little whimpering boy, with rueful face; Come, Mufe, and fing the dreaded Wobing-Day. -Ye who beneath the yoke of wedlock bend, With bowed foul, full well ye ken the day Which week, fmooth fliding after week, brings on Too foon; for to that day nor peace belongs Nor comfort; e'er the first grey streak of dawn, The red-arm'd washers come and chafe repofe, Nor pleafant fmile, nor quaint device of mirth, E'er vifited that day; the very cat, Vifits the parlour, an unwonted guest. ⚫ Ferguson. Caft Caft at the lowering fky, if sky fhould low er From that last evil, oh preserve us, hea vens! For fhould the skies pour down, adieu to all 5 And all the petty miseries of life. And Montezuma fmil'd on burning coals; Who call'ft thyself perchance the mafter Or study swept, or nicely-dufted coat, rent Gape wide as Erebus, nor hope to find Some fnug recefs impervious; fhould'ft thou try The customed garden walks, thine eye fhall rue The budding fragrance of thy tender fhrubs, Myrtle or refe, all crush'd beneath the weight Of coarse-check'd apron, with impatient hand Twitch'd off when fhowers impend: or crofing lines Relique of coftly fuppers, and fet by Anxiously fond, tho' oft her spectacles One lefs indulgent.- At intervals my mother's voice was heard, To fold, and starch, and clap, and iron, and Then would I fit me down, and ponder much Why washings were. Sometimes thro' hol- Of pipe amufed we blew, and fent aloft Earth, air, and fky, and ocean, hath its TO THE NIGHTINGALE. Tranflation of the 15th Ode of Rouffeau. Shall mar thy mufings, as the wet-cold WHY, plaintive warbler! tell me why fheet Flaps in thy face abrupt. Woe to the friend claim From cheer deficient, fhall his confort's Cheer up propitious; the unlucky guest For ever fighs thy troubled heart? Renews her robe of gayeft green? When Nature wakes the vernal scene; Each bleffom of the teeming earth, The glories of the op'ning day, The new-born flowrets of the dale; I scarce knew why, look'd cross, and drove For thee, with liberal hand she strews me from them; Nor foft carefs could I obtain, nor hope Her fragrance on the western gale; Hark! gic wand, Which fancy figures in her trembling mood: Around his head thofe elves and fpirits flew, Who taste on earth of heav'n's ambrofial food, Who fuck with bees the cowflip's honey due, And steal, to make them coats, the rainbow's brilliant hue. There on her car fate Mab the fairy queen, And dreams of various hue around her flung; Her coachman, merry Puck, array'd in green, Before her on the nut-built chariot hung, And all his knavish tricks and frolics fung. There was the witch's child, who ne'er unclos'd His brutal lips but forth a curse there fprung: And Ariel quaint, of other mold compos'd, Who trode the winter wind, and in the gale repos'd. LINES occafioned by a Didactic Poem on the Progrefs of Civil Society. as I am, I yet have powers to fneer at him, who dares debafe the gold of Gray With his vile dress, and by such base al Thron'd on a cloud in yon ætherial plain, "Smiling in fcorn;" methinks, I hear him cry, "Profaic poetafter, cease to drain The filthy dregs of Epicurus' fty; Whofe pond'rous weight would numb each They fhall not mix with my nectareous other hand; For who like him could fairy chaplets twine, Could paint with living hues the airy band Of shapes infernal, and of forms divine, ftrain!" LINES written by Sir Walter Raleigh, the Night before his Execution. Or dive fo wond'rous deep in fancy's gold. EVEN fuch is Time, that takes on truft en mine? Reluctant rising from their nether skies, Our youth, our joys, our all we have, And pays us but with age and duft; Who in the dark and filent grave (When we have wander'd all our ways) Shuts up the ftory of our days. But from this earth, this grave, this duft, My God shall raise me up—I trust. INTER 1 |