review of things which every sun sees enacted. | the charms of nature,-but her thoughts were wanSuffice it, then, in relation to these hours of my dering on far other objects; her anxious mind was childhood, to remark, that I improved rapidly in all busied with the future, and indulging in airy visions those acquirements which it was befitting a Prince of renown for the son on whom she doted. Unconof the Royal Blood to learn; that the precepts of scious of the present, her eyes would remain fixed the Koran were familiar to me; that the moral on an object which she saw not, her thoughts sentiments of Saadi (20); the wild but tender songs of Hapz; and the sweet verses of Firdusi, were not altogether unknown to me. would recoil in the contemplation of her wishes- NOTES. for, if Hope did not allure us with brighter prospects in Years rolled on. Time stayed not the wheels of his iron car; and though the flattery of courtiers would have persuaded me that I was Lord of the Universe, I never found that the rising or the setting sun waited my bidding. On the contrary, the stars smiled in their chaste glory through the dark blue vault of heaven, or were veiled by the pitchy clouds, though I might have desired an alteration in the changes of nature. The varying seasons, each in due mutation, wove their circling dance around me; and as the hours flew on, I was ever, more desirous of the calm enjoyment of the present, than solicitous of any future aggrandizement. But at times an unwelcome feeling would steal over me, a nervous dread of the future, and an unaccountable perception of some deficiency in (1) "That Hope and Memory," &c. All our mental my present pleasures, without my being able to sufferings may be considered as springing from these two discover what was wanting to complete my happi-faculties of the human mind, taken not singly but conjointly; ness. But the damp still pressed on my spirits; sometimes the very exquisiteness of my joy made me fearful of its continuance, and thus detracted from the felicity I might otherwise have realized. Thus it is in all our fancied ecstasies; they will (2) "Of Allah's countenance," &c. It may appear super. ever be found incomplete and alloyed by the con-fluous to remark, that Allah is the Mahometan name for stitution of our nature, pleasure contains the seeds God, and that by his Prophet is meant the arch impostor Mahomet. of pain, and the more exquisite the one, the more real will be the other. Some Upas tree (21) seems the Romans when they placed a slave behind the triumphal (3) "Like the skeleton," &c. With the same intention as to distil its baleful dews around us; and even while car of their guards, did the Egyptians introduce a skeleton we quaff the effervescent wine of life, some unseen at their entertainments. The allegory of the Egyptians influence opens our eyes to the unreal nature of was however the more forcible of the two; for, the Roman our enjoyments, and partially reveals the miseries was only reminded of the vicissitudes of fortune; but to that are stored up against us. We are mortal (22); the Egyptian was displayed the certain end to which he and the taint of mortality is in every thing apper-world, the same fate awaited all men alike. must come, and that, whatever part he might play in the taining to us; the sweets in which it may be en- (4) That happiness is not." "Man never is, but always veloped may deceive for a moment, but they are to be blest."-Pope. insufficient, effectually to conceal its hated presence. Time passed on; he came not at my desire, neither tarried he at my request, but glided with noiseless steps in the track which he had trodden for ages before. I grew up the delight of my father; often in his joy, would he exclaim, that the jewelled cup of Giamshir(23) was not such an ornament to our empire, as his son, the young Prince Abou Hassan; but the tear that played in my mother's eye, as she listened to the praises I bestowed on me, spoke of a more intense joy in her soul,―a joy unto which her lips refused to give utterance, which words were too weak to express. Often would my mother sit, in seeming be accused of plagiarism, I shall refer the reader to the (9) "The folly of that arrogance," &c. That I may not admiration of the beauties of the landscape,-en-words of Racine, which inspired this idea, though not extranced, to all appearance, while luxuriating on actly similar to it: (5) "The Dead Sea." "They say that there are apple trees upon the sides of the sea, which bear very lovely fruit, but within are all full of ashes.”—Thevenot. Preacher, all is vanity."-Ecclesiastes, c. 1. (6) " All is alike vanity." "Vanity of vanities, saith the (7) "Your successor may destroy." "Yea I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man who should be after me. And who Ecclesiastes, c. 2, 18 & 19 v. knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool!" &c. (8) "Entailed on the human race as a curse," &c. “And gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith."- Ecclesiastes, c. 1. Homme né pour souffier, prodige d'ignorance, Où vas-tu donc chercher la stupide arrogance ? CHAPTER II. (1) "The tall trees," &c. "There are still in the vales of Shiraz delightful walks shadowed by oriental planes, medlar trees, weeping willows and poplars of extraordinary size."-Malte Brun. (2) "Iran." Iran is the true general name for the empire of Persia."-Sir W. Jones, Asiat. Researches, Disc. 5. (3) "Suristan" means "the land of Roses," and derives its name from the abundance of those beautiful flowers in the country by us named Syria. (4)" Sindhu," or Sindistan, the oriental name for Hindostan-vide Sir Wm. Jones' Discourses. The Hindooby the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and Malte Brun. (5)" Finest looms of Khorassan." "The finest carpets in Persia are made in Khorassan."--Malte Brun. (6) Which shaded the entrance." One side of the room is frequently left open, with a curtain only to draw before it; the fresh air being no slight luxury in the sultry regions of the East. (7) 'Cathay,' or Kitar-one of the oriental names for China. (8) "The burning waves of the Caspian.' ""Not far from thence is the field of fire,' about a square verst in extent, and continually emitting an inflammable gas"-Malte Brun. When the weather is hazy, the springs of Naptha (on an island near Bakow) boil up the higher, and the Naptha often takes fire on the surface of the earth, and runs in a flame into the sea to a distance almost incredible."-. -Hanway on the Everlasting Fire, &c. (9) "Kishmer." "The largest and most fertile (of the islands in the Persian Gulf) is Kishmer."-Malte Brun. Kishmer is situated at the extreme south of Persia, just within the Straits of Ormus. (10)" Cashmere," or Cachemire, as the French write it, is on the extreme east of Persia; part of it is now included in Afghanistan. (11) The Gucbre," or worshipper of fire, is the last remnant of the ancient Magi. They still believe in the doctrines of Zoroaster, and regard the sun as the visible image of Orimazes, or God. (12) “Zerdusht." The oriental name for Zoroaster. (13) "On his belt." "They (the Guebres) lay so much stress on the cusher or girdle, as not to dare to be an instant without it."-Grose's Voyage. (14]" Ormuzd." The Persian name for Oromazer. (15) “Diabekr," a city in Irak Arabi, on the Western confines of Persia. (16) "The banks of that Father of Waters." The Indus bounds Persia on the East. (17) "Sinde." Among the Asiatics it (the Indus) is generally known by the name of Sinde."--Malte Brun. Sinde signifies stream of blue waters. (18) "Odalisque." The Sultan's favorites in the Haram are named odalisques, from oda, a Turkish word signifying a chamber. Vide Costumes of Turkey. (19) "Of the Zenana." The Zenana is the sleeping room of the female inmates of the Haram- Vide do. (20) "Saadi--Hafez---Ferdousi,"-celebrated Persian poets. The first is the moralist of the East--the second is the Anacreon of Shiraz, and the third the author of the Shah-Nameh--an Epic Poem. (21) Some Upas tree"--vide Byron. Childe Harold, Canto iv. This boundless Upas-this all blasting tree, Whose root is earth--whose leaves and branches be The skies which rain their plagues on men like dew, &c. (22) "We are mortal," &c. "Debemur morti nos nostraque."-Horace. SALATHIEL; OR, THE WANDERING JEW. Jerusalem, my country, upon thee The wrath of God has been the longest; The chains, that bound thee in captivity, Of all on earth, have been the strongest. Thus spoke Salathiel; centuries have swept, Yet the appointed vengeance hath not slept; Through every land it follows me, In every clime, where'er I be. O Israel, blessed are thy dead- Thus spoke Salathiel; 'every clime I saw, when through thy streets there trod, I heard the shouts, the ruthless cries One instant there he stopped to rest- Or since, that is the most unblest. The anxious and impatient crowd. But thou shalt tarry till I come." And with their impious scoffs, deride At whose command the winds were hushed, Now save thyself, and we shall see, If thou wilt come from thy high place, Thou art Messiah, that should be, The Saviour promised to our race. Thine empty prophecies have heard. "My God, hast thou forsaken me!" And yielded up the ghost. A sudden darkness veiled the skies, That bade the shected dead arise, And stilled each heart with wonder; The Temple's veil asunder. I felt a cold sweat, damp and chill, I knew from life I could not part- Can never equal those of life; Our spirits from consuming strife. Those who beneath their years are bending, Upon the wide and trackless sea; To droop and wander witheringly. To join the silent dead, The wretchedness that mov'd in me, The form of her who loved me. When first the Roman Legions came; They smote thy sons with sword and flame; Thy streets were wet with Judah's blood; A heap of ruins showed where stood Thy palaces, and every dome Was crushed beneath the power of Rome. Thy measure heaped to overflowing, With paison that thy deeds distilled, With fruit, whose seeds thou hadst been sowing. The impious Gentile proudly trod, Where Faith had knelt before her God; And Heaven, in its kindness, sprinkling No more to wander on this earth. Yet every day hath brought its woe. And swept the victors down its stream; The captive Empress of the East. I saw his ruthless legions ride, Across the Tiber's yellow tide. Rome! Empress of the World! thy reign was o'erThine Eagle o'er Judea flew no more; Thy conq'ror left thee nothing that was thine, Save earth and sea, whereon thy sun might shine; And Tiber gently laving as before, In saddened murmurs, on his lonely shore. And roused the myriads of the West- Though oft subdued, yet unpossessed. O Israel! for thine ancient crime, Where erst thy children knelt in prayer; There the dark Moslem, at the close of day, But yet the day will come, when thou Shalt not be desolate as now; When, Zion, I once more shall see, All fair and glorious to the eye, As when its sacred halls were trod By him, commissioned from on high, The Son of the Eternal God.' JOHN MARSHALL.. Washington College, Hartford, Connecticut." INCIDENTS ON SHIP AND SHORE IN language by itself. I recollect that this last was THE LIFE OF A MIDSHIPMAN. my greatest difficulty. I had hopes of becoming familiarized with the objects around me, and I fancied that by diligent attention, I might learn how to manoeuvre the guns, and even learn the use of some of the ropes, although the cordage, en masse, appeared to me like an intricate spider's web-but how could I ever learn the hard and uncouth names, which, at every turn, were sounding in my ears? [We owe an apology to our correspondent for having so long delayed the publication of his admirable sketch. It came at a time when we were overwhelmed with manuscripts-got mislaid, and we never had an opportunity of perusing it until a few days ago, when it accidentally came to light. The scenes and adventures of the young 'Reefer,' are true to life. We hope that one who has began so well, will not be discouraged by our apparent neglect. To add to my confusion, I recollect that all the We assure him—and our readers will confirm the opinionthat his 'yarns' have a twist and a smoothness,' that make boats of the ship were named after some unheard of them truly delightful; and, with an Oliver Twist earnest-animal or other. The stern boat for instance, was ness, we ask for more.']-Ed. Mess. Whilst these thoughts were running through my mind, the Lieutenant, seeing that I did not move, thundered forth his order again in such startling tones, that I, unconscious of where I was, sprang at least a foot from the deck. I must have cut a ludicrous figure enough, for I saw the Lieutenant turn aside to hide a smile, as I answered "aye aye, sir," (I soon learnt this much of the dialect,) and started to obey the order. When I reached the waist, I hesitated a moment whether I should go back to the quarter-deck and inquire the meaning of the order, not one word of which I had understood; or whether I should throw myself upon the mercy of the Boatswain's mate, to whom I was directed to convey it. As I was anxious not to appear ignorant in the eyes of my superior, I determined in favor of the latter. So, calling the Boatswain's mate to me, I said to him in an under called the Sphynx. Now I had never been told that there was a boat named the Sphynx; and when September 15th. I was on watch one day, the Lieutenant of the The United States Ship had returned deck, in a tone of voice that made me tremble, orfrom a cruise on the coast of Labrador, and was dered me to "call away the Sphynx." Here was anchored off Governors' Island, in the Bay of a poser. What the Sphynx was, was beyond my New-York. A small boat, pulled by a single wa- comprehension. It is true, I had some faint recolterman, is seen to leave the Battery, and steer lection of having read in my schoolbooks, of a towards the ship. In the bow, you observe an fabulous animal of that name, with the head of a enormous trunk projecting several feet beyond the man, and body of a horse; but what it could mean, boat; while in the stern sheets, sits a youth of when applied to the economy of a man-of-war, was about sixteen, with brown hair, light complexion, beyond my comprehension. and gray eyes. That youth, gentle reader, is no other than the writer of these memoirs. He has just been appointed a Midshipman, and is now in the act of obeying his first orders. See! he has reached the ship, and ascends the side-awkwardly enough, as it is the first ship he has ever been on board of. He has on, his undress uniform coat; and, as he is known by this, to be a Midshipman, a brother-Midshipman receives him at the gangway.A few words pass between them, and the new comer is conducted to a large fat man, with a rubicund face. The fat man is the first Lieutenant; and as the Captain is not on board, he is the commanding officer. The new Midshipman now presents his order for duty to the first Lieutenant, who, having read it, thereby finds out the name of the stranger, and introduces him to one or two of the Lieutenants standing near, and then directs the Midshipman who had received him at the gang-tone," my good man, is there a rope in the ship way, to take him "below" and introduce him to called the Sphynx ?" "The Spynx, sir ?"—Sailors his messmates. This done, the younker is con- never get names right, especially if they are hard sidered as domesticated, and is permitted to wan- ones;-"Lord bless your soul, no sir; I reckon you der about the ship alone, to gratify his curiosity, mean the boat, sir." "Ah!" said I, (the idea striand pick up an idea or two by way of commencing king me at once,) "is there a boat called the his nautical education. "Yes sir; that's the name of the stern I have a distinct recollection of the utter amaze-boat, what Jim Guest is coxswain of." "Well ment, with which I regarded every thing that met then," said I, "what is the meaning of call away my view, for the first few days after my arrival. the Sphynx?" "Call away the Spynx, sir? why Nor is this to be wondered at; so entirely different it means-why it means, sir, to call her awayare all the ways of life on board a ship, and espe- that is, sir, (seeing that I did not comprehend him,) cially on board a ship-of-war, from any conceivable to have her manned." "Oh well," said I, "have mode of life on shore. The ship in herself is a her manned then;" and I turned away very much perfect maze-a mystery to the uninitiated. The relieved at the successful delivery of this my first beings by whom he is surrounded are no less so; order. The boat had been manned, and was lying and the military rule and discipline complete the at the gangway in readiness for service; I wonillusion. And then the language of the sea is a 'dered why the Lieutenant did not use her, as he Sphynx ?" Vol. VII-96 had told me that he wanted her. He paced the when they ought to have addressed me, especially deck awhile, and hearing nothing from me, grew as I was a new comer, with more of the suaviter impatient, and finally called me to him, in the same in modo. I was exceedingly anxious to please, as sharp voice that had made me tremble so much well as to learn; and a word of instruction, kindly before-"Mr. Seymore," said he, "I thought I spoken, would have done me far more good, than told you to have the Sphynx manned!" "So I the half reproachful words that were used. I have did sir," said I," for I told the Boatswain's mate strengthened this opinion by subsequent experience, to call her away, the moment you gave me the or- and I am now convinced that many of our best offider." "Told the Boatswain's mate to do it, sir! cers err in this respect. I have now the very go and see to it yourself, sir; and always recollect, highest opinion of those gentlemen, whose deportthat when you are told to have any thing done, you ment towards me was so well calculated to esmust see it done yourself, and not trust to others." trange me from them; but it was a long time, even “Aye aye, sir,” said I, as I turned away with in-after I came to know them better, and appreciate dignant feelings swelling in my bosom, and ready them, before I could get over my feeling of dislike. to burst forth at my lips, at this my first rowing-When one has been awhile on board ship, and bei. e. scolding. My messmates had carefully in- comes accustomed to the brief, sententious, and frestilled into me, however, the precept that I must quently stern, manner in which the Naval officer not “talk back;" so I held my peace. delivers himself, he ceases to regard it in the light in which it strikes a landsman. But to the newcomer, the youth who perhaps has just been cut loose from his mother's apron-string, and upon whose tender cheek the parting tear has scarcely dried, it is enough almost to disgust him with the cer cannot be too careful in his deportment towards the youth of sensitive feelings coming on board, for the first time, to make a ship his home; and that such a different home, too, from the one he has just left. As I had brought no bed on board with me, and was in some other respects unprepared for immediately taking up my quarters on board, I was permitted towards night, to return to my hotel on shore, with instructions to be on board the next evening, equipped in all respects for sea. The service, and to send him back to his home before wardroom boat was called away and manned; seve- he has had an opportunity to ând out his error. I ral of the Lieutenants and other officers, hand- lay it down as a general rule therefore, that an offisomely attired in citizen's clothes, were grouped about the decks, in readiness to go on shore also. The officer of the boat, a Midshipman of about my own age, but who had already made a short cruise to sea, hopped lightly over the side, and remained standing in the stern sheets of the boat. I, being I had not been long seated before a cheerful fire anxious to show my politeness, had studiously kept in the bar-room of my hotel, when a couple of genin the rear of the officers clustering around the tlemen, apparently of about twenty-five or twentygangway, in order that they might precede me six years of age, came in, and in a very polite manner into the boat. The Boatswain's mate, who was introduced themselves to me as Midshipmen of the standing forward of the side-ladder, drew out from Receiving-Ship. They were dressed in a shabby the waistband of his tight-fitting duck trowsers, a genteel style, having on black clothes, with the silver whistle, which was suspended around his coats buttoned up to the chin, and half-worn beaver neck by a piece of black ribbon, and blowing a long hats nicely brushed. I was a little surprised to shrill call upon it, two active little side-boys sprang find men of their age (they both wore large whisover the side, and, standing on either side of the kers) calling themselves Midshipmen; nevertheouter or accommodation-ladder, presented man-less, I felt flattered by their attentions, and began ropes to the officers, for the convenience of descending into the boats. A momentary pause ensued without any of the officers moving, during which I saw them look at each other and smile; at last one of them turning round to me, said, "Mr. Seymore, are you going ashore in this boat?" "Aye aye, sir." (I had been told, that whenever I wanted to say "yes," I must answer "aye aye," instead.) "Then jump into the boat, and recollect hereafter that Midshipmen must always go into a to have the honor of paying the score every time. boat before Lieutenants." to fancy myself a person of some little importance. They made themselves very agreeable; they sat and chatted, and smoked, and drank brandy and water from time to time-always inviting me to drink with them, which I, in order to appear as polite, and as manly as possible, always did. As often as we drank, I pulled out my purse and paid for what we had had: they seeming to look upon this as a matter of course. I was but too happy I looked upon it as a mark of their regard: they I cannot exactly describe the feelings produced being my guests, and altogether too clever to think in me by these little chidings. I felt mortified and of offending me, by offering to pay for any thing angry; and yet, when I reflected upon the language they had drank in my hotel. Presently the supper used towards me, it did not appear so very objec-bell rang; and, neither of them rising to retire, I intionable. It was more the manner than the words. vited them in to supper; they hesitated a little at I fancied that the officers spoke harsh and briefly, first, but finally accepted my invitation, and we |