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Sailed down the calm stream of the night,
Till gently, as a flake of Snow,
Once more I dropt on earth below,
And girdled as with a rainbow zone,
The Cot beloved I call mine own.
"Sweet Cot! that on the mountain-side
Looks to the stars of Heaven with pride,
And then flings far its smiling cheer
O'er the radiant Isles of Windermere,-
Blest! ever blest! thy sheltered roof!
Pain, grief, and trouble, stand aloof
From the shadow of thy green Palm-Tree!
Let nought from Heaven e'er visit Thee,
But dews, and rays, and sounds of mirth;
And ever may this happy Earth
Look happiest round thy small domain !
Thee were I ne'er to see again,
Methinks that agony and strife
Would fall even on a Fairy's life,
And nought should ever bless mine eyes
Save the dream of that vanished Paradise.

-The hush'd bee-hives were still as death-
And the sleeping Doves held fast their breath,
Nestling together on the thatch;
With my wing-tip I raised the latch,
And there that lovely Lady shone,
In silence sitting all alone,
Beside the cradle of her Child!
And ever as she gazed, she smiled
On his calm forehead white as snow;
I rock'd the cradle to and fro,
As on the broom a Linnet's nest
Swings to the mild wind from the west;
And oft his little hands and breast,
With warm and dewy lips I kist.

tongue,

Sweet Fairy!' the glad Mother said, And down she knelt as if she prayedWhile glad was I to hear our name Bestowed on such a beauteous frame, And with my wings I hid mine eyes, Till I saw the weeping kneeler rise From her prayer in holy extacies!" The COTTAGE FAIRY ceased; and Night, That seem'd to feel a calm delight In the breath of that sweet-warbling Was sad at closing of the song, And all her starry eyne look'd dull, Of late so brightly beautiful; Till on the Fox-glove's topmost cup The FAIRY OF THE LAKE leapt up, And with that gorgeous column swinging, By fits a low wild prelude singing, And gracefully on tip-toe standing, With outstretched arm, as if commanding, The beauty of the Night again Revived beneath her heavenly strain.Low, sad, and wild, were the tones I heard, Like the opening song of the hidden Bird, E'er music steeps th' Italian vales From the heart of a thousand Nightingales; But words were none; the balmy air Grew vocal round that Elfin fair, And, like her fragrant breath, the song Dropp'd dewily from that sweet tongue, But 'twas a language of her own, To grosser human sense unknown; And while in blissful reverie My soul lived on that melody,

In a moment all as death was still :
Then, like an echo in a Hill
Far off one melancholy strain!
Too heavenly pure to rise again,—
And all alone the dreamer stood
Beside the disenchanted flood,
That rolled the rocky banks along
With its own dull, slow, mortal song.
-What wafted off the Fairies? hush!
The storm comes down the glen-crush-
crush-

And as the blackening rain-cloud broke,
The Pine Tree groans to the groaning Oak!
Thunder is in the waving wood-

And from Rydal-mere's white-flashing flood
There comes thro' the mist an angry roar, i
Loud as from the great sea-shore.
Well, I ween, the Fairies knew
The clouds that the sudden tempest brew,
And had heard far-off the raging rills,
As they leapt down from a hundred hills,-
And the ghostlike moan that wails and raves
From the toppling crags and the sable

caves,

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It seems as if colonies had always been the chief means by which civilization is extended and improved.

The colonies which proceed from civilized states carry with them the experience and acquirements of the mother country; and the nature of their situation enables them to cut themselves off from the influence of its prejudices.

The Phenicians and Egyptians, who established themselves on the coast of Greece, and from whom that country derived all its civilization, had observed in their native land the bad effects of a priesthood-monopolizers at once of knowledge and power; and they took care that no similar establishment should find room in their new possessions. Hence, most probably, the immense superiority of the Greeks in science and in art, over those more ancient nations which were their first instructors in both. In Egypt all knowledge was the privileged possession of one profession, and applied solely to its purposes. In Greece,

education and knowledge were left free to all. Ambition and love of fame, those most powerful of all incentives, the only ones which lead to truly great things in science and art, had no influence in Egypt, but were allowed free scope in Greece, and long exerted their rightful sway over the reason and imagination of all men.

Whether the Anglo-American colonies shall ever surpass the European mother-country in civilization and culture of intellect, as much as the Greeks did their oriental ancestors; and whether the future advantages of America (if such she have) shall owe their origin to bold departure from the institutions, opinions, prejudices, and manners of Europe,-these are questions which cannot be answered till after the lapse of more centuries than one. It is possible, nay it is probable, that some thousand years hence, the inhabitants of those newly-peopled countries may surpass the Europeans of our time, as much as these do their ancestors-the Franks and Saxons of the days of Charlemagne. In their turn the Americans may be surpassed in the same proportion by colonies of their own. There is no end to the improvement of intellect. Our species may yet be only in the infancy of its acquirements. SIR MACROSCOPON.

No III.

Facilis descensus Averni.

THAT the rude man of nature should be able, without example or instruction, and by his own efforts alone, to lift himself from a condition nearly resembling that of the brutes, into one of elegance and refinement; that, without aid from above or from abroad, Centaurs and Lapithae could ever fashion themselves into Athenians, I have no capacity to believe. If any one will shew me by what possible means the Iroquese and Guaranis could bring themselves even into the lowest state of European civilization and cultivation, I shall give up my scepticism.

That a people at once moral and refined may degrade themselves into a horde of barbarians or brutes, I have no difficulty in conceiving. The civilized and virtuous Spartans have sunk into savage banditti and become Mainets. The active and intellectual EVOL. III.

gyptians have been succeeded by the Kopts.

So possible, nay so easy, does the ruere in pegus appear to me, that I see nothing improbable in an opinion which some consider as blasphemous. After a few centuries have gone over their heads, the inhabitants of England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, may be robbers, pirates, spiritless hordes,-devoid of science, art, commerce, or industry, or, what is as bad, they may become creatures tame, unproductive, unenergetic. They may retain the externals of refinement, with the vicious torpor of the Chinese. SIR AGELASTUS.

ON THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT SEA SERPENT.

THIS animal, like the Kraken (of which in our last Number we traced the history), is said to shew itself on the surface of the ocean only during calm weather. It appears at times extended like a vast beam; at other times only shewing different portions of its body, and resembling a long chain of casks or floats. According to the old histories, it is a strange and terrible sea monster, which greatly deserves to be taken notice of by those who are curious to look into the extraordinary works of nature.

The

first mention which we find made of this animal, is in the sacred writings. No doubt the Leviathan of Scripture is by many commentators considered as the whale, but a careful perusal of those passages in which it is mentioned, appears to us to lead to a different conclusion. Thus, in the 27th chap. of Isaiah, verse 1st, it is said, "In that day the Lord, with his sore, and great, and strong sword, shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. The same animal is alluded to in Job, chap. 27. "He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent." The appellation of "crooked" is very characteristic of the appearance of the animal, as described by some modern writers. It can scarcely be said to apply to the whale, which is, moreover, frequently

mentioned in Scripture under its proper name.

such terror into the

army

It does not appear, that the writers of Greece and Rome were acquainted with any animal which can be considered as synonimous with the Great Sea Serpent. An amphibious animal of great size, which lived chiefly in fresh water, is mentioned by several of these authors. Of this kind was that described by Livy in his first book of the Punic war, which struck of Regulus, on the banks of the river Bagrada. The same animal is mentioned both by Pliny and Valerius Maximus.* It was 120 feet in length, killed several men, and was found to be almost invulnerable. A singular story is also told by Diodorus Siculus, lib. 3d, of an Egyptian serpent, sixty feet long, which was brought alive to Alexandria, as a present to Ptolemy the II. This creature was observed to leave the water every day to prey upon the cattle of the neighbouring farmers. Many unsuccessful attacks were made upon it, during which several men lost their lives, but at last it was surprised in a narrow defile by means of a net made of strong ropes, and carried alive to Ptolemy's court.

In modern times the Sea Serpent appears to occur chiefly in the northern ocean. It is described at considerable length, though with some circumstances of exaggeration, by Eric Pontoppidan, to whose work we have already had occasion so frequently to refer. He observes, that in all his inquiries concerning it, he has hardly spoken to one intelligent person of the Manor of Nordland, who did not give the strongest assurances of its existence; and many of the northern traders think it is as ridiculous to be questioned regarding the Great Serpent, as if they were asked, whether there be such fish as Cod or Eel. Along the Norwegian coast it is known by the names of Soe Ormen and Aaale Tust.

The following letter from the Hon. Captain Lawrence de Ferry to Reutz of Bergen, serves to illustrate the history of this animal.

"The latter end of August, in the year 1746, as I was on a voyage, in my return from Trundheim, in a very calm and hot day, having a mind to put in to Molde, it happened that when we were arrived with

*Hist. Nat. lib. viii. cap. xiv. Val. Max. lib. i. cap. ult.

.

my vessel within six English miles of the aforesaid Molde, being at a place called Jule-Næss, as I was reading in a book, I mongst the men at the oars, who were eight heard a kind of murmuring voice from a

in number, and observed that the man at the

helm kept off from the land. Upon this I inquired what was the matter, and was informed that there was a Sea Snake before us. I then ordered the man at the helm to keep to the land again, and to come up with this creature, of which I had heard so many stories. Though the fellows were under some apprehension, they were obliged to Sea-Snake passed by us, and we were obIn the mean time, this obey my orders. liged to tack the vessel about to get nearer

to it. As the snake swam faster than we

We row

could row, I took my gun, that was ready charged, and fired at it; on this he immediately plunged under the water. ed to the place where it sunk down, which and lay upon our oars, thinking it would in the calm might easily be observed,

come up again to the surface; however it did not. When the Snake plunged down, the water appeared thick and red; perhaps some of the shot might wound it, the distance being very little. The head of this Snake, which it held more than two feet above the surface of the water, resembled that of a horse. It was of a grayish colour, large. It had black eyes, and a long white and the mouth was quite black and very

mane that hung down from the neck to the surface of the water. Besides the head and neck, we saw seven or eight folds or coils of this Snake, which were very thick, and as far as we could guess, there was about a fathom distance between each fold. I re

lated this affair in a certain company where there was a person of distinction present,

who desired that I would communicate to him an authentic detail of all that happened; and for this reason, two of my sailors, who were present at the same time and place when I saw this monster, namely Nicholas Pederson Kopper, and Nicholas Nicholson Anglewigen, shall appear in court to declare on oath the truth of every

particular herein set forth; and 1 desire descriptions. I remain, sir, your obliged the favour of an attested copy of the said (Signed) L. DE FERRY. Bergen, 21st February 1751.

servant,

Its exact dimensions do not seem to be accurately known. According to

some accounts it attains the enormous

length of 100 fathoms, or 600 English feet, but such a measurement, in all probability, much exceeds the truth. It is frequently mentioned by the northern poets, particularly Peter Dass, whose poetical description of it, commencing with

"Om Soe-ormen veed jeg ey nogen Beskeed," is well known.

In the curious description of Norway, by Jonas Ramus, there is the following passage:

"Anno 1687, a large Sea-Snake was

seen by many people in Dramsfiorden; and, at one time, by eleven persons together. It was in very calm weather; and so soon as the sun appeared, and the wind blew a little, it shot away just like a coiled cable that is suddenly thrown out by the sailors; and they observed that it was some time in stretching out its many folds. Olaus Magnus, in his Hist. Sept. lib. xxi. c. 24, speaks of a Norwegian Snake 80 feet long, but not thicker than a child's arm. • Est in littori

bus Norwegicis vermis glauci coloris, longitudine xl cubitorum, et amplius vix spissitudinem infantis brachii habens.""

With regard to this last mentioned animal, we are entirely of Pontoppidan's opinion, that there must have been some mistake in the measurement, as the thickness of a child's arm is quite disproportioned to such a length. The existence of the animal itself we can scarcely doubt, as Olaus affirms, 'Hunc vermem sæpius vidi, ab ejus tactu, nautarum informatione, abstinens." There is, in all probability, some typographical error.

It appears, from several passages in the works of the Scandinavian writers, that there is a current belief in the existence of a great serpent of an amphibious nature, which, like that mentioned by the ancient historians, does not confine its depredations to the water. Whether this animal should be considered as synonimous with the great Sea Serpent, which, according to some accounts recently received from America, is also reported to have been observed on shore, or otherwise, it is not at present easy to determine. According to Pontoppidan, it is said, by the people who inhabit the Norwegian coast, that the latter species is not generated in the sea, but on the land; and that when they become so large that they cannot easily move upon the ground, they go into the sea and attain their full growth. In favour of this tradition, we may quote the following passage from the Mundus Mirabilis of Happelius:

"Nicolaus Gramius, minister at Londen in Norway, gives, 16th Jan. anno 1656, of such a serpent, the following account, from the report of Gulbrandi Hougsrud and Olaus Anderson, that they had seen, in the last autumnal inundation, a large water serpent, or worm, in the Spæriler Sea; and it is believed that it had been seen before in Mios, and had been hitherto hid in the river

Bang. As soon as it reached the shore of this river, it proceeded, on the dry land, to the Spæriler Sea; it appeared like a mighty mast, and whatever stood in its way was thrown down-even the very trees and huts;

At

the people were terrified with its hissing and frightful roaring; and almost all the fish, in the aforesaid sea, were devoured or drove away by it. The inhabitants of Odale were so terrified at this monster, that none would venture to go to the sea to follow their would any body walk along the shore. customary fishing and wood-trade, nor the end of the autumn, before the waters were frozen, this monster was seen at a disevery body; its head was as big as an hogstance, and, by its enormous size, surprised head, and the thickness of its body, as far as the same appeared above water, was like a tun; the length of the whole body was vast; it reached, as far as the spectators could judge, the length of three Norway dannen-trees, and rather exceeded.”

An amphibious serpent, equally terrific, is described by Olaus Magnus in his xxvii. chapter:

"Those that visit the coasts of Norway tell us of a very strange phenomenon, namely, that there is in these seas a snake 200 feet long, and 20 feet round, which lives in the hollows of the rocks, and under the cliffs, about Bergen, and goes out in the and swine; or else it goes to the sea, and moonlight nights to devour calves, sheep, catches star-fish, crabs, &c. It has a mane two feet long; it is covered with scales, and has fiery eyes; it disturbs ships, and raises itself up like a mast, and sometimes snaps some of the men from the deck."

We consider it extremely improbable, that so great a change in the habits of any animal should take place, as that presumed, by the alleged fact of the Great Snake dwelling in the deep only, after having attained a considerable degree of maturity. Such changes never take place without corresponding alterations in the most important organs and functions of the animal itself, and alterations of that nature have never been observed to occur in any of the snake tribe, or among cetaceous animals. It is scarcely more probable, that it should be even an occasional inhabitant of the land, although it is very likely that it possesses the power of living for a long period of time in moist or marshy ground, or even among rocks, if accidentally deserted by the waters. Such accounts must have originated in the circumstance of some great snake having been carried on shore by unusually high tides, or forced, by the inundation of a river, into the wet grounds in its

vicinity.* We shall return to the Sea Serpent, more properly so called.

The animal described by Paul Egede, as seen by him during his second voyage to Greenland, must have been of this kind.

66

July 6th, a most hideous sea-monster was seen, which reared itself so high above the water, that its head overtopped our mainsail. It had a long pointed nose, out of which it spouted like a whale. Instead of fins, it had great broad flaps like wings; its body seemed to be grown over with shellwork, and its skin very rugged and uneven; it was shaped like a serpent behind, and when it dived into the water again, it plunged itself backwards, and raised its tail above the water a whole ship-length from its body."

The above account is the only one with which we are acquainted, in which the Sea-Snake is said to spout water like the whale. It is indeed singular, that that character has not been more frequently remarked ; and this omission induces us to suppose it not improbable, that two kinds of animals exist, bearing a general resemblance to each other, to both of which the name of Sea-Snake has been applied. The Orkney animal, afterwards mentioned, appears, from the testimony of different witnesses, to have been provided with air-holes and a lengthened neck, and, consequently, with lungs; from which it follows, that it must frequently have had occasion to spout out water after the manner of the more common cetaceous animals. The Great Serpent, recently seen off the American coast, was sometimes visible, about the same place, for an entire day, but was not observed to exert any such faculty. If that character, as mentioned in the Greenland relation, was not the result of some deception, it may be concluded, that the animal described by Egede differed considerably from those usually observed in the North Sea, which have never been described as possessed of such a power, although various accounts agree in stating, that when they approach, they cause a great agitation in the water, and sometimes make it run like the current at a mill. It has been said to shed its skin annually, like the Land-Snake; and at Kopperwiig, in Norway, it was affirmed, that a cover for a table was made

* Petrus Undalinus makes mention of huge water-snakes being occasionally observed in some of the Norwegian Lakes. Cap. vii. p. 36.

of one of these skins. This report excited the curiosity of Pontoppidan, who was anxious to know the truth and accordingly wrote for proper information; but he could learn nothing of it. He was, however, informed, that in 1720, a Sea-Snake had lain for some time in a creek near that place; that it came there at high water, through a narrow channel about seven or eight feet broad, but went away, after lying there a whole week, and left behind it a skin, which the informer, whose name was Korlack Korlacksen, declared he saw and handled. It lay with one end under water in the creek, and how long it was within the channel, was several facould not be determined. The creek, thoms deep, and the skin lay stretched out a great way; but one end having been floated on shore by the tide, lay there for a long time, and was seen soft and slimy consistence, as the body by every one. of the animal itself is also said to be, according to some accounts. party of Norwegian sailors once caught of their vessel, where it lay till they were a young one, and laid it upon the deck obliged to throw it overboard, owing to the insupportable fætor which emanated from a soft and viscid slime, to which its body was partly dissolved.*

This skin was of a

Thus a

All the accounts which we have read

agree in this, that the slightest gust of animal, and immediately causes it to wind is particularly hateful to this sink to the bottom of the sea. This

"We have the same account from Pere

Labat, of a small Sea-Serpent about four feet long, and as thick as a man's arm. His words are,

Nous l'attachames au mât

après l'avoir assommé pour voir quelle figure il auroit le lendemain. Nous connumes combien nôtre bonheur avoit été grand, de n'avoir point touché a ce poisson, qui sans doute nous auroit tous empoisonnez. Car nous trouvames le matin qu'il s'étoit entierement dissous en une eau verdatre et puante, qui avoit coulé sur le pont, sans qu'il restat presque autre chose, que la peau et la reste, quoi qu'il nous eut paru le soir fort ferme et fort bon. Nous conclumes, ou que ce poisson étoit empoisonné par accident, ou que de sa nature ce n'étoit qu'un composé de venin. Je crois que c'étoit quelque vipere marin. J'en ay parlé à plusieurs pescheurs et autres gens de mer, sans avoir jamais pu étre bien eclairci de ce que je voulois sçavoir touchant ce poisson.' Nouveaux Voyages aux Isles Françoises de l'Amerique, tom. 5, cap. xiv. p. 335.” Pontopp. vol. 2, p. 201.

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