dashing with breathless fury up to- the nations. Education, rational wards the scene of execution. He and moral education, will alone disarrived, and brought a full pardon pel the mental gloom of the Irish for Mat, and a commutation of sen- peasantry.

In the above scene tence to transportation for life, for there is full illustration of our asthe other two. What became of sertion. The danger, to an ignoMat I know not, but in Findramore rant mind, of the doctrine of absohe never dared to appear, as certain lution from a fellow creature, is esdeath would have been the conse- tablished by the guilty wretches quence of his not dying game. who make their exit from this life, With respect to Barney Brady, who and enter upon another and a fearkep: the shebeen, and was the prin- ful state of existence, uttering that cipal evidence against those who with their lips, which their hearts were concerned in this outrage, he know to be untruth. In Ireland, was compelled to enact an ex tem- not one criminal in ten, although pore death, in less than a month convicted, upon the clearest and afterwards; having been found most unquestionable evidence, acdead, with a slip of paper in his knowledges his guilt. On the conmouth, inscribed this is the fate trary, nine out of ten repeat unof all informers !""

called for declarations of their innoTruly lamentable is it, that there cence, even at the fatal tree, and should be such a state of society. in the full conviction that such proIreland is a fine country, and has testations can avail them nothing, prodigious natural advantages, but And to what is this to be ascribed, to what purpose have those capabi- but to the absolution given by the lities been applied ? None; the priest ? Where the horror and curse of the Church of Rome is upon misery of crime can be so easily her, and the dark cloud of supersti- esfaced from the conscience, it is tion hangs over her as an incubus, not to be wondered at that the comwhich prevents her rising among mission should be frequent.

THE SHEPHERD POET OF TIIE ALPS.

BY MRS. HEMAYS.

God gare him reverence of laws,
Yet stirring blood in Freeuoni's cause-
A spirit to his rocks akin,
The eye of the hawk and the fire therein !- Coleridge.

Singing of the free blue sky,
And the wild flower glens that lie
Far amidst the ancient hills,
Which the fountain-music tills ;
Singing of the snow-peaks bright,
And the royal eagle's flight,
And the courage and the grace
Foster'd by the chamois-chase;
In his fetters, day by day,
So the Shepherd-poet lay.

Wherefore, from a dungeon-cell
Did those notes of freedoin swell,
Breathing sadness not their own,
Forth with every Alpine tone ?
Wherefore !-can a tyrant's ear
Brook the mountain-winds to hear,
When each blast goes pealing by
With a song of liberty?

Darkly hung th' oppressor's hand
O'er the Shepherd-poet's land;
Sounding there the waters gushid,
While the lip of man was hush'd ;
There the falcon pierced the cloud,
While the fiery heart was bow'd :
But this might not long endure,
Where the mountain-homes were pure;
And a valiant voice arose,
Thrilling all the silent snows;
His-now singing far and lone,
Where the young breeze ne'er was known;
Singing of the glad blue sky,

Wildly—and how mournfully!
Are none but the Wind and the Lammer-Geyer
To be free where the hills unto heaven aspire?
Is the soul of song from the deep glens past,
Now that their Poet is chain'd at last ? ---
Think of the mountains, and deem not so!
Soon shall each blast like a clarion blow!
Yes! though forbidden be every word
Wherewith that Spirit the Alps hath stirr'd,
Yet even as a buried stream through earth
Rolls on to another and brighter birth,
So shall the voice that hath seem'd to die,
Burst forth with the Anthem of Liberty !

And another power is moving
In a bosom fondly loving :-
Oh! a sister's heart is deep,
And her spirit strong to keep
Each light link of early hours,
All sweet scents of childhood's flowers !
Thus each lay by Erni sung,
Rocks and crystal caves among,
Or beneath the linden-leaves,
Or the cabin's vine-hung eaves,
Rapid though as bird-notes gushing,
Transient as a wan cheek's tlushing,
Each in young Teresa's breast
Left its fiery words impress'd ;
Treasured there lay every line,
As a rich book on a hidden shrine.
Fair was that lone girl, and meek,
With a pale transparent cheek,
And a deep-fringed violet eye
Seeking in sweet shade to lie,
Or, if raised to glance above,
Dim with its own dews of love ;
And a pure, Madonpa brow,
And a silvery voice, and low,
Like the echo of a flute,
Even the lası, ere all be mute.
But a loftier soul was seen
In the orphan sister's mien,
From that hour when chains defiled
Him, the high Alps' noble child.
Tones in her quivering voice awoke,
As if a harp of battle spoke ;
Light, that seem'd born of an eagle's nest,
Fiash'd from her soft eyes, unrepress'd ;
And her form, like a spreading water-flower,
When its frail cup swells with a sudden shower,
Seem'd all dilated with love and pride,
And grief for that brother, her young heart's guide.
Well might they love !-those two had grown
Orphans together and alone :
The silence of the Alpine sky
Had hush'd their hearts to piety ;

The turf, o'er their dead mother laid,
Had been their altar when they pray'd ;
There, more in tenderness than woe,
The stars had seen their young tears flow;
The clouds, in spirit-like descent,
Their deep thoughts by one touch bad blent,
And the wild storms link'd them to each other-
How dear can peril make a brother!

Now is their bearth a forsaken spot,
The vine waves unpruned o'er their mountain-cot;
Away, in that holy affection's might,
The maiden is gone, like a breeze of the night ;-
She is gone forth alone, but her lighted face,
Filling with soul every secret place,
Hath a dower from heaven, and a gift of sway,
To arouse brave hearts in its hidden way,
Like the sudden flinging forth on high,
Of a banner that startleth silently!
She hath wander'd through many a hamlet-vale,
Telling its children her brother's tale;
And the strains, by his spirit pour'd away,
Freely as fountains might shower their spray,
From her fervent lip a new life have caught,
And a power to kindle yet bolder thought;
While sometimes a melody, all her own,
Like a gush of tears in its plaintive tone,
May be heard 'midst the lonely rocks to flow,
Clear through the water-chimes-clear, yet low.

6 Thou'rt not where wild flowers wave
O'er crag and sparry cave ;
Thou’rt not where pipes are sounding,
Or joyous torrents bounding-

Alas, my brother!
66 Thou’rt not where green, on high,
The brighter pastures lie;
Ev’n those, thine own wild places,
Bcas of our chain dark traces :

Alas, my brother!
« Far bath the sunbeam spread,
Nor found thy lonely bed;
Long hath the fresh wind sought ther,
Nor one sweet whisper brought thee-

Alas, my brother!
" Thou, that for joy wert born,
Free as the wings of morn!
Will aught thy young life cherish,
Where ihe Alpine rose would perish?

Alas, my brother!
" Cunst thou be singing still,
As once on every hill ?
Is not thy soul forsaken,
And the bright gift from the taken ?-

Alas, alas, my brother!"
And was the bright gift from the captive fled ?
Like the fire on his hearth, was his spirit dead ?
Not so !—but as rooted in stillness deep,
The pure stream-lily its place will keep,
Though its tearful urns to the blast may quiver,
While the red waves rush down the foaming river;
So freedom's faith in his bosom lay,
Trembling, yet not to be borne away!
He thought of the Alps and their breezy air,
And felt that his country no chains might bear ;

He thought of the hunter's haughty life,
And knew there must yet be noble strife ;
But, oh! when he thought of that orphan maid,
His high heart melted-he wept and pray'd !
For he saw her not as she moved e'en then,
A wakener of heroes in every glen,
With a glance inspired which no grief could tamc,
Bearing on Hope like a torch's flaine,
While the strengthening voice of mighty wrongs
Gave echoes back to her thrilling songs;
But his dreams were fill'd by a haunting tone,
Sad as a sleeping infant's moan ;
And his soul was pierced by a mournful eye,
Which look'd on it-oh! how beseechingly !
And there floated past him a fragile form,
With a willowy droop, as beneath the storm ;
Till wakening in anguish, his faint heart strove
In vain with its burden of helpless love!
-Thus woke the dreamer one weary night-
There flash'd through his dungeon a swift strong light ;
He sprang up—he climb’d to the grating-bars,
-It was not the rising of moon or stars,
But a signal flame from a peak of snow,
Rock'd through the dark skies, to and fro!
There shot forth another-another still
A hundred answers of hill to hill!
Tossing like pines in the tempest's way,
Joyously, wildly, the briglit spires play,
And each is hail'd with a pealing shout,
For the high Alps waving their banners out!
Erni, young Erni! the land hath risen!
-Alas! to be lone in thy narrow prison !
Those free streamers glancing, and thou not there !

- Is the moment of rapture, or fierce despair ?
-Hark! there's a tumult that shakes his cell,
At the gates of the mountain citadel!
Hark! a clear voice through the rude sounds ringing!
-Doth he know the strain, and the wild, sweet singing ?

" There may not long be fetters,

Where the cloud is earth's array,
And the bright floods leap from cave and steep,

Like a hunter on the prey !
“There may not long be fetters,

Where the white Alps have their towers ;
Unto eagle-homes, if the arrow comes,

The chain is not for ours !

It is she !_She is come like a day-spring beam,
She that so mournfully shadow'd his dream !
With her shining eyes and her buoyant form,
She is come! her tears on his cheek are warm ;
And O! the thrill in that weeping voice!
- My brother, my brother! come forth, rejoice!"
-Poet! the land of thy love is free,
-Sister! thy brother is won by thee !

APPARITIONS.

"It is, I think,” says Sir Walter supernatural occurrences by the Scott, in his Letters on " Demono- consciousness of the existence of a logy and Witchcraft,” “ conclusive, spiritual world, inferring in the gethat mankind, from a very early pe- neral proposition the undeniable riod, have their minds prepared for truth, that each man, from the mo

narch to the beggar, who has once ed, high in a particular department acted his part on the stage, conti- of the law, which often placed the nues to exist, and may again, even property of others at his discretion in a disembodied state, if such is the and control, and whose conduct, pleasure of Heaven, for aught that therefore, being open to public obwe know to the contrary, be permit- servation, he had for many years ted or ordained to mingle amongst borne the character of a man of unthose who yet remain in the body. Usual steadiness, good sense, and The abstract possibility of appari- integrity. He was, at the time of tions must be admitted by every one my friend's visits, confined princiwho believes in a Deity, and his pally to his sick rooin, sometimes to superintending omnipotence. But bed, yet occasionally attending to imagination is apt to intrude its ex- business, and exerting his mind, planations and inferences founded apparently with all its usual strength on inadequate evidence. Sometimes and energy, to the conduct of inour violent and inordinate passions, portant atlairs entrusted to him ; por originating in sorrow for our friends, did there, to a superficial observer, remorse for our crimes, our eager- appear anything in his conduct, ness of patriotism, or our deep sense while so engaged, that could argue of devotion—these or other violent vacillation of intellect, or depression excitements of a moral character, of mind. His outward symptoms of in the visions of night, or the rapt malady argued no acute or alarming ecstacy of the day, persuade us that discase. But slowness of pulse, abwe witness, with our eyes and cars, sence of appetite, difficulty of digesan actual instance of that superna- tion, and constant depression of tural communication, the possibility spirits, scemed to draw their origin of which cannot be denied. At from sume hidden cause, which the other times, the corporeal organs patient was determined to conceal. impose upon the mind, while the The deep gloom of the unfortunate eye, and the ear, diseased, derang- gentleman -- the embarrassment, ed, or misled, convey false impres- which he could not conceal from his sions to the patient. Very often friendly physician the briefness both the mental delusion and the and obvious constraint with which physical deception exist at the same he answered the interrogations of time ; and men's belief of the phe- his medical adviser, induced my nomena presented to them, however friend to take other methods for erroneously, by the senses, is the prosecuting his inquiries. He apfirmer and more readily granted, plied to the sufferer's family, to that the physical impression corres- learn, if possible, the source of that ponded with the mental excitement. secret grief which was gnawing the

The following strange story of a heart and sucking the lite-blood of fatal delusion illustrates one of the his unfortunate patient. The percases shown to be favorable to su sons applied to, after conversing toperstition :

gether previously, denied all know“Of the friend,” says Sir Walter, ledge of any cause for the burden "by whom the facts were attested, which obviously affected their relaI can only say, that if I found

my

tive. So far as they knew-and self at liberty to name him, the rank they thought they could hardly be which he holds in his profession, as deceived-his worldly affairs were well as his attainments in science prosperous; no family loss had ocand philosophy, form an undisputed curred which could be followed claim to the most implicit credit. It with such persevering distress ; no was the fortune of this gentleman to entanglements of affection could be be called in to attend the illness of supposed to apply to his age, and a person now long deceased, who in no sensation of severe his life-time stood, as I am inform- could be consistent with his charac

remorse