Yet still it blew! As with primeval sway,

Still did its ample spirit, night and day,
Move on the waters!-All, resign'd to fate,
Folded their arms and sat; and seem'd to wait
Some sudden change; and sought, in chill suspense,
New spheres of being, and new modes of sense;

As men departing, tho' not doom'd to die,

And midway on their passage to eternity.

And again-canto fourth, the continuation of the voyage,

Still, as beyond this mortal life impell'd

By some mysterious energy, he held
His everlasting course. Still self-possess'd,
High on the deck he stood, disdaining rest;
Fathom'd, with searching hand, the dark profound,
And scatter'd hope and glad assurance round.
At day-break might the caravels* be seen,
Chasing their shadows o'er the blue serene;
Their burnish'd prows lash'd by the sparkling tide,
Their green-cross standards† waving far and wide.
And now once more to better thoughts inclin'd,
The seaman, mounting, clamour'd in the wind.
The soldier told his tales of love and war;
The courtier sung-sung to his gay guitar.
Round at primero sate a whisker'd band;
So Fortune smil'd, careless of sea or land.‡

Yet who but he undaunted could explore
A world of waves--a sea without a shore,
Trackless and vast and wild as that reveal'd
When round the ark the birds of tempest wheel'd;

When all was still in the destroying hour

No sign of man! no vestige of his power!

Light vessels, formerly used by the Spaniards and Portuguese.

† F. Columbus, c. 23.

Among those, who went with Columbus, were many adventurers and gentlemen of the court. Primero was the game then in fashion. See Vega, p. 2. lib. iii. c. 9.

Day, when it came, came only with its light.
Tho' long invok'd, 'twas sadder than the night!
Look where he would, forever as he turn'd,
He met the eye of one that inly mourn'd.

Then sunk his generous spirit, and he wept.
The friend, the father rose; the hero slept.
Palos, thy port, with many a pang resign'd,
Fill'd with its busy scenes his lonely mind;
The solemn march, the vows in concert giv❜n,*
The bended knees and lifted hands to Heav'n,
The incens'd rites, and choral harmonies,
The guardian's blessings mingling with his sighs;
While his dear boys-ah! on his neck they hung,
And long, at parting, to his garments clung.

Oft in the silent night-watch doubt and fear
Broke in uncertain murmurs on his ear.
Oft the stern Catalan, at noon of day,
Mutter'd dark threats, and linger'd to obey;
Tho' that brave youth-he, whom his courser bore
Right thro' the midst, when, fetlock deep in gore,
The great Gonzalof battled with the Moor,
(What time the Alhambra shook-soon to unfold
Its sacred courts, and fountains yet untold,

Its holy texts and arabesques of gold)

Tho' Roldan, sleep and death to him alike,

Grasped his good sword, and half unsheathed to strike.

"Come on," he cried, and threw his glove in scorn,
"Nor this your wonted pledge, the brimming horn.
"Valiant in peace! Adventurous at home!

"Oh! had he vow'd with pilgrim-staff to roam,

* His public procession to the convent of Rabida on the day before he set sail. It was there that his sons had received their education; and he himself appears to have passed some time there, the venerable guardian, Juan Perez de Marchena, being his zealous and affectionate friend. The ceremonies of his departure and return are represented in many of the fresco-paintings in the palaces of Genoa.

Gonzalo Fernandez already known by the name of The Great Captain. Granada surrendered on the second of January, 1492. Columbus set sail on the third of August following.

board.

Probably a soldier of fortune. There were more than one of the name on

“Or with banditti sought the sheltering wood,
"Where mouldering crosses mark the scene of blood!"
He said, he drew, then at his master's frown,
Sullenly sheath'd, plunging the weapon down.
We have room only for the concluding canto:

Twice the moon fill'd her silver urn with light.
Then from the throne an angel winged his flight;
He, who unfix'd the compass, and assign'd
O'er the wild waves a pathway to the wind;
Who, while approach'd by none but spirits pure,
Wrought, in his progress through the dread obscure,
Signs like the ethereal bow-that shall endure!*
Before the great adventurer, laid to rest,
He stood, and thus his secret soul address'd.t
"The wind recalls thee; its still voice obey.
"Millions await thy coming; hence, away.
"To thee blest tidings of great joy consign'd,
"Another nature, and a new mankind!

"The vain to dream, the wise to doubt shall cease;
"Young men be glad, and old depart in peace!+
"Hence! tho' assembling in the fields of air,
“Now, in a night of clouds, thy foes prepare
"To rock the globe with elemental wars,
"And dash the floods of ocean to the stars;§
"To bid the meek repine, the valiant weep,

"And thee restore thy secret to the deep!¶

"Not then to leave thee! to their vengeance cast,

"Thy heart their aliment, their dire repast!**

"To other eyes shall Mexico unfold

"Her feather'd tapestries,†† and roofs of gold!

*It is remarkble that these phenomena still remain among the mysteries of nature.

†Te tua fata docebo. Virg.-Saprai di tua vita il viaggio. Dante.

P. Martyr, Epist. 133. 152.

§ When he entered the Tagus, all the seamen ran from all parts to behold, as it were some wonder, a ship that had escaped so terrible a storm. F. Columbus, c. 40.

I wrote on a parchment that I had discovered what I had promised; and, having put it into a cask, I threw it into the sea. Ibid, c. 37.

** See the Euminedes of Æschylus, v. 305, &c.

Clavigero, VII. 52.

"To other eyes, from distant cliff descried,*
"Shall the Pacific roll bis ample tide.

"Chains thy reward! beyond the Atlantic wave
"Hung in thy chamber, buried in thy grave!†
"Thy reverend form to time and grief a prey,
"A phantom wandering in the light of day!

"What tho' thy gray hairs to the dust descend,
"Their scent shall track thee, track thee to the end;
"Thy sons reproach'd with their great father's fame,
"And on his world inscrib'd another's name!
"That world a prison-house, full of sights of wo,
"Where groans burst forth, and tears in torrents flow!
"These gardens of the sun, sacred to song,
"By dogs of carnage, howling loud and long,
"Swept-till the voyager, in the desert air,
"Starts back to hear his alter'd accents there!§

"Not thine the olive, but the sword to bring,
"Not peace, but war! Yet from these shores shall spring
"Peace without end;¶ from these, with blood defil'd,
"Spread the pure spirit of thy master mild!

'Here, in his train, shall arts and arms attend,

"Arts to adorn, and arms but to defend!
"Assembling here, all nations shall be blest;**
"The sad be comforted; the weary rest:

"Untouch'd shall drop the fetters from the slave;

"And he shall rule the world he died to save!

* Balboa immediately concluded it to be the ocean for which Columbus had searched in vain; and when, at length, after a toilsome march among the mountains, his guides pointed out to him the summit from which it might be seen, he commanded his men to halt, and and went up alone. Herrera, I. x. I.

I always saw them in his room, and he ordered them to be buried with his body. F. Columbus, c. 86.

+ One of these, on account of his extraordinary sagacity and fierceness, received the full allowance of a soldier. His name was Bezerillo.

§ No unusual effect of an exuberant vegetation. The air was so vitiated,' says an African traveller; that our torches burnt dim, and seemed ready to be extinguished; and even the human voice lost its natural tone.'

See Washington's farewell address to his fellow citizens.

** North America became instantly an asylum for the oppressed; huguenots, and catholics, and sects of every name and country. Such were the first settlers in Carolina and Maryland, Pennsylvania and New England. Nor is South America altogether without a claim to the title. Even now, while I am writing, the ancient house of Braganza is on its passage across the Atlantic,

Cum sociis, natoque, Penatibus, et magnis dis.

"Hence, and rejoice. The glorious work is done.
"A spark is thrown that shall eclipse the sun!
"And, tho' bad men shall long thy course pursue,
"As erst the ravening brood o'er chaos flew,*
"He, whom I serve, shall vindicate his reign;
"The spoiler spoil'd of all; the slayer slain;†
"The tyrant's self, oppressing and opprest,
"Mid gems and gold unenvied and unblest:‡
"While to the starry sphere thy name shall rise,
"(The bright reward of generous enterprise!)
"Thine in all hearts to dwell-by fame enshrin'd,
"With those, the few, that live but for mankind.”

ORIGINAL POETRY.-FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

TO A ROSE BUD, ON MY STUDY TABLE.

ILLFATED bud! and must thou bloom,
Mid musty books and classic lore!
And must thou find an early tomb,

Where flowery fragrance never breath'd before,
Alas! it ill befits thee to be found

Among the ponderous tomes of wights profound.
Better for thee to blush in beauteous pride,
On her fair bosom whom my soul holds dear,
Than in this hermitage thy charms to hide,
And "waste thy fragrance" in this humble sphere.
But sooth to say thy beauties charm the eye,

Of one who dearly loves such gift of spring,
Thou shalt not "uncommended die,"

For I a verse will sing.

*See Paradise Lost. X.

Cortes, Pizarro.- Almost all,' says Las Casas, have perished. The innocent blood, which they had shed, called aloud for vengeance; the sighs, the tears of so many victims went up before God.'

L'Espagne a fait comme ce roi insensé qui demanda que toute ce qu'il toucheroit se convertit en or, et qui fut oblige de revenir aux dicux pour les prier de finir sa misère. Montesq.