of state, the scepter of power, and, five days after the inauguration of Adams, returned here to his Mount Vernon home. And here the good servant, whom his Lord, when he came, found watching and ready, calmly yielded up his breath, exclaiming, "It is well!" and his spirit was wafted to heaven by the blessings of his enfranchised countrymen. Such were the events upon which Herman and Jessie conversed during the hours that glided away at Mount Vernon. Herman could not but wonder, and not wholly without in dignation, that while the earthly dwellings of so many men, rendered illustrious by their genius or their great deeds, were held sacred in the old world, this home of America's peerless patriot, the most hallowed ground of the new land, had not been snatched from the chances of profanation and ruin, and set apart as a shrine to which young and old might make pilgrimages, and be inspired with holy and patriotic emotions as they visited the scenes consecrated by the memory—the virtues of the departed hero. "The day for that token of a nation's reverence must-will come"-answered Jessie confidently. "The land is young—it has not had time, in its bustling struggle for existence, to claim to itself the tomb upon which the spirit of liberty sits enthroned. But Mount Vernon will not be desecrated. If governments are forgetful, there are too many grateful hearts in the breasts of American women for Mount Vernon, the home of their father, to become a ruin. What did you tell me of the raising of the Bunker Hill Monument? When men shrank at the prospect of failure, did not woman press forward and finish what their brothers began? And may not the efforts of the faithful and devoted women of the land preserve, enshrine Mount Vernon. "Enthusiast!" said Herman, "do you suppose they could accomplish such an Herculean task?" "Yes," replied Jessie with fervor, "that, or any good and holy work to which they devote their best energies. Let but a master-spirit (heaven-appointed) lead them and mark out the way-one noble, self-sacrificing and wholly unselfish, patriotic woman, and thousands of hands and hearts will labor with her they will share her laurels, but the work will truly be hers, and it w surely be accomplished." At this moment the sounding of a bell gave warning that the boat was about to return, and they reluctantly retraced their steps to the wharf. UNA AND THE LION.-SPENSER. Yet she, most faithful lady, all this while, Far from all people's press, as in exile, Through that late vision which the enchanter wrought Through woods and wasteness wide him daily sought, Yet wished tidings none of him unto her brought. One day nigh weary of the irksome way, It fortuned, out of the thickest wood And with the sight amaz'd, forgot his furious force. Instead thereof he kissed her weary feet, "The lion, lord of every beast in field," How does he find in cruel heart to hate As the god of my life? Why hath he me abhorr'd ?" THE DIVER-SCHILLER. "Oh, where is the knight or the squire so bold, And o'er it already the dark waters flow; He spoke, and the cup from the terrible steep, That, rugged and hoary, hung over the verge I ask ye again-to the deep below?" And the knights and the squires that gather'd around, And the peril chill'd back every thought of the prize. And all as before heard in silence the king Till a youth with an aspect unfearing but gentle, As he strode to the marge of the summit, and gave Casts roaringly up the charybdis again; And it bubbles and seethes, and it hisses and roars, And at last there lay open the desolate realm! Through the breakers that whiten'd the waste of the swell, Dark-dark yawned a cleft in the midst of the whelm, The path to the heart of that fathomless hell. Round and round whirl'd the waves-deep and deeper still driven, Like a gorge thro' the mountainous main thunder-riven. The youth gave his trust to his Maker! Before That path through the riven abyss closed again— O'er the surface grim silence lay dark and profound, "Gallant youth-noble heart-fare-thee-well, fare-thee-well!" And still ever deepening that wail as of woe, More hollow the gulf sent its howl from below. If thou should'st in those waters thy diadem fling, And cry, "Who may find it shall win it, and wear;" God's wot, though the prize were the crown of a kingA crown at such hazard were valued too dear. For never did lips of the living reveal, What the deeps that howl yonder in terror conceal. O many a ship, to that breast grappled fast, Has gone down to the fearful and fathomless grave; Again, crash'd together, the keel and the mast, To be seen, toss'd aloft in the glee of the wave.— Like the growth of a storm ever louder and clearer, Grows the roar of the gulf rising nearer and nearer. And it bubbles and seethes, and it hisses and roars, And, lo! from the heart of that far-floating gloom, And he breathèd deep, and he breathèd long, And he greeted the heavenly delight of the day. They gaze on each other-they shout as they throng"He lives-lo the ocean has rendered its prey! And out of the grave where the Hell began, His valor has rescued the living man!" And he comes with the crowd in their clamor and glee, He lifts to the king as he sinks on his knee; And the king from her maidens has beckoned his daughte: And he bade her the wine to his cup-bearer bring, "Happy they whom the rose-hues of daylight rejoice, Nor Man stretch too far the wile mercy of Heaven! Never more-never more may he ift from the mirror, The Veil which is woven with NIGHT and with TERROR ! "Quick-brightening like lightning-it tore me along, "And I call'd on my God, and my God heard my prayer, In the strength of my need, in the gasp of my breathAnd show'd me a crag that rose up from the lair, And I clung to it, trembling-and baffled the death' And, safe in the perils around me, behold On the spikes of the coral the goblet of gold. "Below, at the foot of that precipice drear, Spread the gloomy, and purple, and pathless obscure! A Silence of Horror that slept on the ear, That the eye more appall'd might the Horror endure! "Dark-crawl'd-glided dark the unspeakable swarms, "There I hung, and the awe gather'd icily o'er me, So far from the earth where man's help there was none ! The One Human Thing, with the Goblins before meAlone-in a loneness so ghastly-ALONE! Fathom-deep from man's eye in the speechless profound, With the death of the Main and the Monsters around. "Methought, as I gazed through the darkness, that now A hundred-limb'd creature caught sight of its prey, And darted-O God! from the far-flaming bough Of the coral, I swept on the horrible way; On the youth gazed the monarch, and marvel'd-quoth he "Bold Diver, the goblet I promised is thine, |