XIII. THE FALL OF TECUMSEH. [Statesman. New-York.] This highly intellectual savage, appropriately styled " king of the woods," was no less distinguished for his acts of humanity than heroism. He fell in the bloody charge at Moravian town, during the late war. What heavy-hoofed coursers the wilderness roam, To the war blast indignantly tramping, The steel-bit impatiently champing ? Conducting the free and the fearless- Through paths unfrequented and cheerless, Announcing that chivalrous sally, To pour his response from the valley. And nought but the war-whoop given- As if by the lightning riven. The blood-stifled gasp of the dying, That upward went wildly flying. The chief of the horsemen contended, That fast from his charger descended. But the rider repressed not his daring, Borrowed proof from the plume he was wearin Had ne'er swung the battle-axe o'er him-- And Tecumseh fell prostrate before him. The thunder of tumult that causes, To tell that the massacre pauses. O ne'er may the nations again be curst, With conflict so dark and appalling, From their agonized bosoms in falling. Where the hopes of the red man perished, By the virtuous, cease to be cherished. With a spirit most loving and loyal, The deeds of Tecumseh, the royal. In his arm, slept the force of the thunder, And left the freed captive to wonder. With a rudely-built tumulus o'er him, By the mound where his followers bore him. XIV. GEEHALE. AN INDIAN LAMENT. [Statesman. N. Y.] I will go to my tent and lie down in despair- This snake-skin, that once I so sacredly wore, Oh! then I shall banish these cankering sighs, They came to my cabin, when heaven was black, XV. THE SNOW-STORM.* [Eastern Argus. Portland. ] And pathless was the dreary wild, A mother wander'd with her child. And darker hours of night came on, * In the month of December, 1821, a Mr. Blake, with his wife and an infant, were passing over the Green mountain, near the town of Arlington, Vi. in a sleigh with one horse. The drifting snow rendered it impossible for ihe horse to proceed ; Mr. Blake set off on foot in search of assistance, and perished in the storm, before he could reach a human dwelling. The mother alarmed (as is supposed) at his long absence, went in quest of him with the infant in her arms. She was found in the morning, dead, a short distance from the sleigh. The child was wrapped in her cloak, and survived the perils of the cold and the storm. And deeper grew the drists of snow Her limbs were chilled, her strength was gone- And bared her bosom to the storm, And smiled, to think her babe was warm, And saw her 'neath a snowy veil. Her cheek was cold, and hard, and pale XVI. BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. (Chronicle. Reading.) TAE host moved exulting, the fortress was near, And the forest around them waved, lonely and drear ; 'Twas the home of the savage, defenceless and lorn, And they thought on his prowess, and laughed him to scorn : But ghastly they gazed when his yelling accurst, The war-cry of death, from that wilderness burst, When an enemy's presence alone they could tell, By the flash, and the shout, and the warrior that fell. From his rocks, and his fastnesses, tangled and green, There his fury was felt, and his prowess was seen, For the rude chieftain shewed, though untutored in art, That the fortress of freedom is fixed in the heart. With the rushing of ocean, the might of a flood, The veterans of Albion advanced in the wood; Like the scattering of water, when dashed into spray, The strength of the Briton was melted away. As gleams the light rainbow, that waters spray on, So bright from the battle-mist Washington shone, And protected each band, that filed scattered and fast, Like a feet broken cloud, when the tempest is past. Though fast fell around him his brethren in arms, Though maddening and wild, rose the battle's alarms, Yet the hero undauntedly stood on the field, For the arm of Jehovah was Washington's shield. F XVII. THE CHAIR OF THE INDIAN KING [Mirror. Connecticut.] In the neighbourhood of Mohegan, is a rude recess, environed by rocks, which still retains the name of " the chair of Uncas.” When the fort of that king was besieged by the Narragansetts, and his people perishing with famine, he took measures to inform the English of their danger, and was found seated in this rocky chair, anxiously watching the river, on the night when those supplies arrived, which rescued bis tribe from destruction. These were conveyed in a large canoe from Saybrook, under cover of darkness, by an enterprising man, of the name of Leffingwell, to whom Uncas, as a proof of his gratitude, gave a large tract of land, comprising nearly the whole of Norwich. TAE monarch sat on 'his rocky throne, Before him, the waters lay ; And their spears of the braken grey. Through the veil of their midnight shroud, 'Neath their canopy of cloud. As it fell on the waveless tide ? And bow that front of pride ? Withering in famine's blight, And quench a nation's light. Which over the waters moves! Than the maid to him who loves. |