صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[blocks in formation]

Ir the following song tend not to depreciate the dignity of your Miscellany, by inserting it you would much oblige

THE LASS OF MARTINDALE.

AT Martindale, a village gay,

A damsel deigns to dwell;
Her looks are like a summer's day,

Her charms no tongue can tell :
Whene'er I meet her on my way,
I tell my am'rous tale;
Then heave a sigh, or softly say
Sweet maid of Martindale!

Sweet maid of Martindale!
Sweet maid of Martindale!
Then heave a sigh, or softly say
Sweet maid of Martindale!

This nymph hath numbers in her train,
From Hodge up to the 'squire;
A conquest makes of ev'ry swain,
All gaze and all admire:

Then where's the hope, alas! for me,
That I should e'er prevail;

Yet while I breathe I'll think of thee,
Sweet maid of Martindale!

Sweet maid of Martindale, &c.

Should fate propitious be my lot,
To call this charmer mine,
I'd dwell content in lowly cot,
And pompous thoughts resign:
But if the scorns each heart-felt sigh,
And leaves me to bewail;

For thee, my Fair! for thee I'll die,

Sweet maid of Martindale!

Sweet maid of Martindale,

Sweet maid of Martindale!

For thee, my Fair, for thee I'll die,
Sweet maid of Martindale !

VIR.

AN EPIGRAM.

For the Bee

BEING afk'd why in Scotland they've paper for gold,
A satirical jade who let nothing escape her,
Made an answer at once both convincing and bold,

Where there's plenty of rags, there is always much paper.

SELICO, A TALE..

Continued from p. 189 and concluded.

STOPPED by the first guards, he demanded to be con ducted to the king his name and purpose is announced, and he is presented to the monarch. The king of Da homai, covered with gold and precious stones, is half reclined upon a sopha of scarlet and gold, his head leaning on the breast of one of his favourites, clothed with petticoats of brocade, and naked from the waist upwards. The ministers, nobles, and officers, very richly drest, were prostrated at twenty steps from him; the bravest were distinguished by a collar of human teeth, each of which. was a mark of a victory. Many women, with firelocks on their fhoulders, guarded the doors of the apartment: large vases of gold containing palm wine, brandy, and strong liquors, were placed indiscriminately, at a little distance from the king, and the floor was paved with the fkulls of his enemies.

"Sovereign of the world! said Teloné, bowing his forehead to the ground, I come, according to thy sacred orders, to deliver into thy hands.". -He could say no more, his voice faultered, the king questioned him, but he could not answer. Selico then spoke: king of Dahomai, you seebefore you the criminal who, instigated by a fatal passion, penetrated last night into your seraglio. He who holds me bound, was so long my confidential friend, that I intrusted him with my secret; zealous to serve thee, he has betrayed his friend. He surprised me when sleeping, bound me, and brings me here to demand thy promised recompençe, give it him, for the wretch has well earned it.? The king, without deigning to answer him, makes a sign.

to one of his ministers, who siezes the culprit, delivers him to the armed women; and counts out to Teloné, the four hundred ounces of gold. He, loaded with this gold, whose touch is dreadful to him, hastens to buy provisions, and then rushes out of the city in a hurry to carry them to his mother.

[ocr errors]

Already, by orders from the monarch, they had begun the preparations for the terrible execution, with which adultery with the king's wives was punished in Juida. Twowide ditches are dug at a fhort distance from each other. In: that destined for the guilty wife the criminal is fastened. to a stake, and all the ladies of the seraglio, dressed in their best apparel, carrying large vases of boiling water, march to the sound of drums and flutes, and pour this water upon her head until she expires. In the other ditch there is a pile of wood, above which is an iron bar sup-. ported by two stakes, to this bar the other criminal is tied, and when the pile is lighted, the extremity of the flames do but touch him, and he perishes by length of torture. The square was full of spectators. The whole army under arms formed a square battalion of firelocks and darts. The priests, in their drefses of ceremony, were waiting to lay their hands on the victims and devote them to death. The prisoners came from opposite quarters guarded by women. Selico, calm and resigned, marched with an erect countenance and firm step. Having come to the fatal spot, an involuntary movement made him turn his eyes to view his companion in misery;-what is his surprise? what is his grief, to see Berifsa!! He screams out and attempts to fly to her, but his executioners prevent him. Indignation directly takes pofsession of him;--"wretch! says he to himself, during the time when I was bewailing her lofs, and seeking death in order to follow her, the was one of those vile mistresses that dispute the heart of a tyrant! Not content with having betrayed her love, fhe

was faithlefs to her master! the deserved the name of adultress, and the chastisement with which they are punished. O my dearest mother! it is for you alone I die! it is you alone that I wish to think of!" At the same instant the unfortunate Berifsa had discerned Selico, fhe cries out, and calls the priests to her, and declares that the young man at the stake is not the person who broke into the seraglio,fhe confirms this by all the most redoubted oaths. The priests are alarmed,-stop the execution,-run to inform. the king what had happened, who comes in person to the great square. Anger and indignation are strongly painted on. the face of the monarch, as he approaches Berifsa. "Slave !" says he with a tremendous voice," thou who disdained the love of thy master, thou whom I wifhed to raise to the dignity of my first wife, and whom I suffered to live in spite of your refusals, what is thy object in denying the crime of thy accomplice? Dost thou wish to save him? If he is not thy lover, name him then guilty girl,-point him out to my justice, and I will immediately deliver the innocent.".

King of Dahomai,' replied Berifsa, who was then tied to the stake, I could not accept of thy heart; mine was no longer in my pofsefsion, and I was not afraid to tell thee. So. Dost thou imagine that her who would not tell a falsehood to fhare a throne, could be capable of it at the moment she is going to expire? No; I have owned every thing, I will repeat all I know. A man penetrated last night into my apartment; he only quitted me at day break, but that prisoner is not the man. Thou afketh me to name him;-neither my duty nor my will can consent to do so.. I know nothing can save me, and I only wish to prolong these terrible moments to hinder. you from committing a crime. I swear again, king of Dahomai, that the blood of this innocent man will fall-on. thine own head. Let him be released, and let me suffer,

that is all I request." The king was struck with the tone and manner with which Berifsa had pronounced these last words; he remained musing, holding down his head; and was astonished himself at his own secret repugnance, for once, to fhed blood. But recollecting that this negro had accused himself as being guilty, and fancying that Berissa's eagerness to save him, was from her love to him, all his rage returned; he makes a sign to the executioner, who immediately sets fire to the pile; the women begin their procefsion with their vases of boiling water, when an old man, quite out of breath, and covered with blood and wounds, pushes through the crowd, and throws himself at the king's feet. "Stop!" cried he, "stop! it is I who am the guilty person,-it was I who scaled the walls of thy seraglio to carry off my daughter. I was formerly the priest of the deity who was worshipped on this spot ;my daughter was torn from my arms, and dragged to thy palace; ever since I have constantly watched to see her. This last night I got into her chamber,-fhe in vain attempted to follow me,-thy guards saw her, and I escaped amidst fhowers of arrows of which you see here the marks. I come to give myself up as a victim to you,-to expire with her for whom alone I wished to live." He had not finished, when the king ordered the two prisoners to be unbound and brought before him. He interrogated Seli-co,—he was desirous to know what motive could be powerful enough to make him wish for so cruel a. punishment. Selico, whose heart beat with joy to find that his Berifsa had not been faithlefs to him, was not afraid to inform the monarch of every particular. He related his misfortunes, the indigence of his mother, and the resolution he had taken to gain the 400 ounces for her.. Berifsa and her father listened in shedding tears of admiration. The chiefs,. the soldiers, and the people, were affected; the king felt.

« السابقةمتابعة »