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seemed to gaze on the placid but commanding features of the general with regret and reverence, and then, bowing low, he withdrew.

The armies of America and France were led by their illustrious commander against the enemy under Cornwallis, and terminated a campaign in triumph that had commenced in difficulties. Great Britain soon after became disgusted with the war, and the independence of the States was acknowledged.

As years rolled by it became a subject of pride among the different actors in the war and their descendants to boast of their efforts in the cause which had confessedly heaped so many blessings upon their country; but the name of Harvey Birch died away among the multitude of agents who were thought to have labored in secret against the rights of their countrymen. His image, however, was often present to the mind of the powerful chief who alone knew his true character, and several times did he cause secret inquiries to be made into the other's fate, one of which only resulted in any success. By this he learned that a peddler of a different name, but similar appearance, was toiling through the new settlements that were springing up in every direction, and that he was struggling with the advance of years and apparent poverty. Death prevented further inquiries on the part of the officer, and a long long period passed before he was again heard of.

THE WAR OF EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWELVE.

It was thirty-three years after the interview which we have just related that an American army was once more arrayed against the troops

of England, but the scene was transferred from the banks of the Hudson to those of the Niagara. The body of Washington had long lain mouldering in the tomb; but, as time was fast obliterating the slight impressions of political enmity or personal envy, his name was hourly receiving new lustre, and his worth and integrity each moment became more visible not only to his countrymen, but to the world. He was already the acknowledged hero of an age of reason and truth, and many a young heart amongst those who formed the pride of our army in 1814 was glowing with the recollection of the one great name of America, and inwardly beating with the sanguine expectation of emulating, in some degree, its renown.

In no one were these virtuous hopes more vivid than in the bosom of a young officer who stood on the Table Rock contemplating the great cataract on the evening of the 25th of July of that bloody year. The person of this youth was tall and finely moulded, indicating a just proportion between strength and activity; his deep black eyes were of a searching and dazzling brightness. At times, as they gazed upon the flood of waters that rushed tumultuously at his feet, there was a stern and daring look that flashed from them which denoted the ardor of an enthusiast. But this proud expression was softened by the lines of a mouth around which there played a suppressed archness that partook of feminine beauty. His hair shone in the setting sun like ringlets of gold as the air from the Falls gently moved the rich curls. from a forehead whose whiteness showed that exposure and heat alone had given their darker hue to a face glowing with health. There was another officer stand

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said the one who was called Mason; "since when, we have been playing hide-and-go-seek with the ships. But we are now marching back from where we started, shaking our heads."

"If so,

"Perhaps you have a son among the soldiers?" said his companion, with a milder demeanor and an air of kindness. tell me his name and regiment, and I will take you to him."

The old man shook his head, and, passing his hand over his silver locks, with an air of meek resignation he answered,

"No; I am alone in the world."

"You should have added, Captain Dunwoodie," cried his careless comrade, "if you could find either; for nearly half our army has marched down the road, and may be by this time under the walls of Fort George, for anything that we know to the contrary."

The old man stopped suddenly and looked earnestly from one of his companions to the other. The action being observed by the soldiers, they paused also.

"Did I hear right?" the stranger uttered, raising his hand to screen his eyes from the rays of the setting sun. What did he call you?”

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Some time was expended in reaching the spot where the adventurer was intercepted. Contrary to the expectations of the young soldiers, he proved to be a man far advanced in life, and evidently no follower of the camp. His years might be seventy, and they were indicated more by the thin hairs of silver that lay scattered over his wrinkled brow than by any apparent failure of his system. His frame was meagre and bent, but it was the attitude of habit; for his sinews were strung with the toil of half a century. His dress was mean, and manifested the economy of its owner by the number and nature "My name is Wharton Dunwoodie," reof its repairs. On his back was a scantily-plied the youth, smiling. furnished pack that had led to the mistake in his profession. A few words of salutation, and on the part of the young men of surprise that one so aged should venture so near the whirlpools of the cataract, were exchanged, when the old man inquired, with a voice that began to manifest the tremor of age, the news from the contending armies. We whipped the Redcoats here the other day among the grass on the Chippewa plains,"

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The stranger motioned silently for him to remove his hat, which the youth did accordingly, and his fair hair blew aside like curls of silk and opened the whole of his ingenuous countenance to the inspection of the other.

""Tis like our native land," exclaimed the old man with vehemence—“ improving with time. God has blessed both."

"Why do you stare thus, Lieutenant Ma

son?" cried Captain Dunwoodie, laughing a little. "You show more astonishment than when you saw the Falls."

"Oh! the Falls. They are a thing to be looked at on a moonshiny night by your aunt Sarah and that gay old bachelor Colonel Singleton, but a fellow like myself never shows surprise unless it may be at such a touch as be at such a touch as this."

The extraordinary vehemence of the stranger's manner had passed away as suddenly as it was exhibited, but he listened to this speech with deep interest, while Dunwoodie replied a little gravely :

“Come, come, Tom! No jokes about my good aunt, I beg; she is kindness itself, and I have heard it whispered that her youth was not altogether happy."

"Why, as to rumor," said Mason, "there goes one in Accomac that Colonel Singleton offers himself to her regularly every Valentine's Day, and there are some who add that your old great-aunt helps the suit.

"Aunt Jeanette!" said Dunwoodie, laughing. “Dear good soul! she thinks but little of marriage in any shape, I believe, since the death of Dr. Sitgreaves. There were some whispers of a courtship between them formerly, but it ended in nothing but civilities; and I suspect that the whole story arises from the intimacy of Colonel Singleton and my father."

despisable match, as she called it, and how the sale of his plantation in Georgia had brought him- O Lord! I don't know how much."

"Quite likely," returned the captain; "Katy Haynes is no bad calculator.'

They had stopped during this conversa tion, in uncertainty whether their new companion was to be left or not.

The old man listened to each word, as it was uttered, with the most intense interest, but toward the conclusion of the dialogue the earnest attention of his countenance changed to a kind of inward smile. He shook his head, and, passing his hand over his forehead, seemed to be thinking of other times. Mason paid but little attention to the expression of his features, and continued:

"To me she is selfishness embodied."

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"His naine was Cæsar; he was a houseservant of my late grandfather Wharton. You don't remember him, I believe? He died the same year with his master, while we were children. Katy yearly sings his requiem, and, upon my word, I believe he "I know all that, of course; but you deserved it. I have heard something of his must not tell me that the particular prim helping my English uncle—as we call Genbachelor goes so often to General Dunwoo- eral Wharton-in some difficulty that ocdie's plantation merely for the sake of talk-curred in the old war. My mother always ing old soldier with your father. The last time I was there that yellow, sharp-nosed housekeeper of your mother's took me into the pantry and said that the colonel was no

speaks of him with great affection. Both Cæsar and Katy came to Virginia with my mother when she married. My moth

er was

"An angel!" interrupted the old man, in a voice that startled the young soldiers by its abruptness and energy.

and irregulars reached the foot of Lundy's Lane, a road that diverged from the river and crossed a conical eminence at no great

"Did you know her?" cried the son, with distance from the Niagara highway. The

a glow of pleasure on his cheek.

The reply of the stranger was interrupted by sudden and heavy explosions of artillery, which were immediately followed by continued volleys of small-arms, and in a few minutes the air was filled with the tumult of a warm and well-contested battle.

The two soldiers hastened with precipitation toward the camp, accompanied by their new acquaintance. The excitement and anxiety created by the approaching fight prevented a continuance of the conversation, and the three held their way to the army, making occasional conjectures on the cause of the firing and the probability of a general engagement. During their short and hurried walk Captain Dunwoodie, however, threw several friendly glances at the old man, who moved over the ground with astonishing energy for his years; for the heart of the youth was warmed by an eulogium on a mother that he adored. In a short time they joined the regiment to which the officers belonged, when the captain, squeezing the stranger's hand, earnestly begged that he would make inquiries after him on the following morning, and that he might see him in his own tent. Here they separated.

Everything in the American camp announced an approaching struggle. At a distance of a few miles the sound of cannon and musketry was heard above the roar of the cataract. The troops were soon in motion, and a movement made to support the division of the army which was already engaged. Night had set in before the reserve

summit of this hill was crowned with the cannon of the British, and in the flat beneath was the remnant of Scott's gallant brigade, which for a long time had held an unequal contest with distinguished bravery. A new line was interposed and one column of the Americans directed to charge up the hill, parallel to the road. This column took the English in flank, and, bayonetting their artillerists, gained possession of the cannon. They were immediately joined by their comrades, and the enemy was swept from the hill. But large reinforcements were joining the English general momentarily, and their troops were too brave to rest easy under the defeat. Repeated and bloody charges were made to recover the guns, but in all they were repulsed with slaughter. During the last of these struggles the ardor of the youthful captain whom we have mentioned urged him to lead his men some distance in advance, to scatter a daring party of the enemy. He succeeded, but in returning to the line missed his lieutenant from the station that he ought to have occupied.

Soon after this repulse, which was the last, orders were given to the shattered troops to return to the camp. The British were nowhere to be seen, and preparations were made to take in such of the wounded as could be moved. At this moment Wharton Dunwoodie, impelled by affection for his friend, seized a lighted fusee, and, taking two of his men, went himself in quest of his body where he was supposed to have fallen. Mason was found on the side of the hill, seated with

great composure, but unable to walk, from
a fractured leg. Dunwoodie saw and flew
to the side of his comrade, exclaiming,
"Ah, dear Tom! I knew I should find
you the nearest man to the enemy."

"Softly, softly! Handle me tenderly," replied the lieutenant. "No; there is a brave fellow still nearer than myself, and who he can be I know not. He rushed out of our smoke, near my platoon, to make a prisoner or some such thing, but, poor fellow! he never came back. There he lies, just over the hillock. I have spoken to him several times, but I fancy he is past answering."

Dunwoodie went to the spot, and to his astonishment beheld the aged stranger.

"Circumstances of political importance which involve the lives and fortunes of many have hitherto kept secret what this paper now reveals. Harvey Birch has for years been a faithful and unrequited servant of his country. Though man does not, may God reward him for his conduct! "GEO. WASHINGTON."

It was the spy of the neutral ground, who died, as he had lived, devoted to his country and a martyr to her liberties.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEP-
ULCHRE.

"It is the old man who knew my mother," THERE is no single building within the cried the youth; "for her sake he shall have honorable burial. Lift him, and let him be carried in; his bones shall rest on native soil." The men approached to obey. He was lying on his back, with his face exposed to the glaring light of the fusee; his eyes were closed as if in slumber; his lips, sunken with years, were slightly moved from their natural position, but it seemed more like a smile than a convulsion which had caused the change. A soldier's musket lay near him his hands were pressed upon his breast, and one of them contained a substance that glistened like sil

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walls of Jerusalem which excites a more intense interest in the mind of the traveller, or which has afforded wider scope for speculation, than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church was built by the empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, and covers the supposed spot of our Saviour's interment. The key of the church is kept by the governor of the city, the door is guarded by a Turk and opened only at fixed hours, and then only with the consent of the three convents and in the presence of their several dragomen—an arrangement which often causes great and vexatious delays to such as desire admittance. This formality was probably intended for solemnity and effect, but its consequence is exactly the reverse; for as soon as the door is opened the pilgrims, who have almost always been kept waiting for some time, and have naturally become impatient, rush in, struggling with each other.

Supposing the rush to be over and the

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