POETJIY.
PLE.1SUHES OF EETIREJUEXT.
I love to stray thro' verdant fields,
To watch the growing blade ;
I love to ramble in the groves,
And rest beneath their shade :
I love to climb the rugged cliff,
To skirt the mountains o'er ;
I love to scale the tovYmg rock,
And w ind along the shore :
I love each touch of nature's hand
Her finger's winning art;
I love the copse, w hose verdant hue
Bids spring no more depart :
I love the sunshine of delight
It sparkles to the soul ;
But, most of all, I love a life
IlcuVd beyond controul.
I love the flow'r, which to the sun
(Each morning) throws its ray ;
Jor, like an Angel, thus to heav'n
It bids us wing our way :
But, most of all, I love the flow'ra ..
"Whose beauties seek the shade ;
"Which, for concealment, seek the bow'rs,
And couch beneath the glade.
COM.IUSICATED.
THE SIGH.
"What oft relieves the lab'ring heart,
Opprcss'd by all the train of woe ?
"What can a transient ease impart,
"When fortune lays our comforts low ?
"What to an absent friend is given,
Or breath'd upon the lonely tomb ?
"What rises to the God of Heaven,
Lost to the world in sorrow's gloom ?
What heaves in gentle pity's breast,
W hen vice and folly flutter by ?
What love in earliest form is drest,
Or lies in ambush ? " Tis a Sigh f"
communicatee.
SOW,
BY ROBERT HERRICK.
Gather the rose-buds while c may,
Old Time is still a flying;
Por ihis same flow'r that smiles to-day,
To-n sorrow will be dying.
The glorious light of heav'n, the Sun,
The higher he's a getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
The age is best which is the first,
"When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time ;
And, vhilst yc may, go marry ;
JFor having lost but once your prime,
You nay forever tarry,
.MODEST BEAUTY.
As lamps burn silent with unconscious light,
So modest ease in beauty shines more bright :
Unaiming charms r. ith edge resistless fall,
And she who meant no mischief, does it all.
nv buck wood's magazine.
THE MAN IN THE BELL.
In my younger days, hell-ringing
Was much more in fashion among the
young men of , than it is now.
.Nobody, I believe, practises it there at
present except the servants of the
chun li, and '.he melody has been much
injured in consequence. Some filty
ye; rs igo, about twenty of us who
dwr It in the vicinity of the Cathedral,
forme d a club, which used to ring ev
ery peal that was called for; and, from
continual practice and a rivalry which
arose between us and a club attached
to another steeple, and which tended
considerably to sharpen our zeal, we
became vtry Alczarts on our favorite
instruments. But my bell-ringing prac
tice was shortened by a singular acci
dent, whit h not only stopped my per
formance but made even the sound of
a bell terrible to my ears.
One Sunday, I went with another
into the belfrey to ring for noon prayers,
Lut the second stroke we had pulled
shewed us that the clapper of the bell
Was m filed. Some one had been bu
ried tEat morning, and it had been pre
pared, of course, to ring a mournful
note. W. did not kr.ow of this, but
the remedy was easv. "Jack," said
my companion, " step up to the loft and
cut eff the hat for the way we had
of muffling was by tying a piece of an
old hat, or cloth (the former was pre
ferred) to one side of the clapper, which
deadened every second toll. I coin
plied, and mounting into the belfrey,
crept as usual into the bell, where I be
gan to cut away. The hat had been
lied in some more complicated man
ner than usual, and I as perhaps three
or four minutes in getting it oif ; dur
ing which time my companion below
-was hastily called away, by a message
from his sweetheart I believe, but that
is not material to my story. 1 he per
son who cailed him was a brother of
the club, who, knowing that the time
had come for ringing for service, and
not thinking that any one was above,
began to pull. At this moment I was
just getting out, when I felt the bell
moving; I guessed the reason at once
it was a moment of terror; but by
ja hasty, and almost convulsive effort.
I succeeded in jumping down, and
throwing myself flat on my back under
the bell.
The room in which it was, was little
more than sufficient to contain it, the
bottom of the bell coming within a
couple of feet of the floor lath. At
that time I certainly was not so bulky
as I am now, but as I lay it was with
in an inch of my face. I had not laid
myself down a second, when the ring
ing began. It was a dreadful situation.
Over me swung an immense mass of
metal, one touch of which would have
crushed me to pieces ; the floor under
me was principally composed of crazy
laths, and if they gave way, I was pre
cipitated to the distance of about fifty
teet upon a loft, which would in all
probability have sunk under the im
pulse of my fall, and sent me to be
dashed to atoms upon the marble floor
of the chancel, an hundred feci below.
I remembered for fear is quick in re
collection how a common clock-
wright, about a month before, had fall
en, and bursting through the floors of
the steeple, driven in the ceiln gs of
the porch, and even broken into the
marble tombstone of a bishop who
slent beneath. This was mv first ter-
A
ror, but the ringing had noi continued
a minute, before a more awful and im
mediate dread came on me. The
deafening sound of the bell smote into
my ears with a thunder which made
me fear their drums would crack.
There was not a fibre of my body it
did not thrill through : It'entered my
very soul; thought and reflection were
almost utterly banished ; J only retain
ed the sensation of agonizing terror.
Every moment I saw the bell sweep
within an inch of my face ; and my
eyes I could not close them, though
to look at the object was bitter as
death followed it instinctively in its
oscillating progress until it came back
again. It was in vain I said to myself
that it could come no nearer at any fu
ture swing than at first ; every time it
descended, I endeavoured to shrink in
to the very floor to avoid being buried
under the down-sweeping mass ; and
then reflecting on the danger of press
ing too weightily on. my frail support;
would cower up again as far as I dared.
At first my fears were mere matter
of fact, I w as afraid the puilies above
would give way, and let the bell plunge
on me. At another time, the possibil
ity of the clapper being shot out in
some sweep and dashing through my
body, as I had seen a ram-rod glide
through a doer, fluttered across my
mind. The dread, as I have already
mentioned, of the crazy floor, tormen
ted me, but these soon gave way to
fears not more unfounded, but more
visionary, and of course more tremen
dous. The roaring of the bell confus
ed my intellect, and my fancy soon be
gan to teem with all sorts of strange
and terrifying ideas. The bell pealing
above, and opening its jaws with a
hideous clamour, seemed to me at one
time a ravenous moi ster, raging to de
vour me ; at another, a whirlpool rea
dy to suck me into its bellowing abyss.
As I gazed on it, it assumed all shapes ;
it was a flying eagle, or rather a roc of
the Arabian story-tellers, clapping its
wings and screaming over me. As I
looked upward into it, it would appear
sometimes to lengthen into indefinite
extent, or to be twisted at the end into
the spiral folds of the tail of a flying
dragon. Nor was the flaring breath,
or fiery glance of that fabled animal,
wanting to complete the picture. My
eyes inflamed, bloodshot, and glaring,
invested the supposed monstser with
a full proportion of unholy light.
It would be endless were I to mere
ly hint at all the fancies that possessed
my mind. Every object that was hid
eous and roaring presented itself to
my imagination. I often thought that
I was in a hurricane at sea, and that
the vessel in which I was embarked
tossed under me with the most furious
vehemtnee. The air, set in motion
by the swinging of the bell, blew over
me, nearly with tbr violence ami more
than the thunder of a tempest ; and
the floor seemed to reel under me. as
under a drunken man. But the most
awful of all the ideas that seized on
me were drawn from the supernatural.
In the vast cavern of the bell hideous
faces appeared, and glared down on
me with terrifying frowns, or vith I
grinning mockery, still more appalling, hour probably elapsed before 1 again
At last, the devil himself accoutred, dared to make the experiment, and
as in the common description of the then I found it at rest. I determined
evil spirit, with hoof, horn and tail, and to lose no time fearing that I might
eyes of infernal lustre, made his ap- have lain there already tq,- long, and
pearance, and called on me to curse that the bell for evening service would
God and worship him, who was pow- catch me. This dread stimulated me,
erful to save me. This dread sugges- and I slipped out with the utmost ra
tion he uttered with the full-toned clan- ! pidity; and ardse. I. stood, I suppose,
gour of the bell. I had him within j for a minute, looking with silly wonder
an inch of me, and I thought on the ! on the place of my imprisonment, pen
fate of the Stanton Barsisa. Strenu- J etratcd with joy at escaping, but then
ously and desperately I defied him, rushed down the stony and irregular
and "bade him begone. Reason, then f stairs with the velocity of lightning,
for a moment, resumed her sway, but and arrived in the bell ringer's room,
it was only to fill me with fresh terror, This was the last act I had power to
just as the lightning dispels the gloom accomplish. I leaned against the wall
that surrounds the benighted mariner, ! motionless and deprived of thought, in
but to shew him that his vessel is dri- j which posture my companions found
vine: on a rock, where she must inevit- me, when, in the course of a couple
ably be dashed to pieces. I found I j of hours, they returned to their occu
i . i i . iii-
was oecoming delirious, ana tremoiea j
lest reason should utterly desert me.
This is at all times an agonizing j might, at the figure before them. 1 he
thought, but it smote me then with ten- j wind of the bell had excoriated my
fold agony i I feared lest, when utter- j face, and my dim and stupid eyes
ly deprived of my senses I should j were fixed with a lack-lustre gaze in
rise, to do which I was every moment j my raw eyelids. My hands were
tempted by that strange feeling which j torn and bleeding; my hair dishevel
calls on a man, whose head is dizzy ; led, and my clothes tattered. They
from standing on the battlement of a j spoke to me, but I remained insensible,
lofty castle, to precipitate himself from j They then became alarmed, and has
it, and then death would be instant i tened to remove me. He who had
and tremendous. When I thought of j first gone up with me in the forenoon,
this I became desperate. I caught the j met them as they carried me through
floor with r grasp which drove the i the churchyard, ar.d through him who
blood f rom my nails : and I yelled with ! was shocked at having rn some meas-
the cry of despair. I called for help,
I prayed, I shouted, but all the efforts
of my voice were, of course, drowned
in the bell. As it passed over my
mouth, it occasionally echoed my cries.
which mixed not with its own sound,
but preserved their distinct character.
Perhaps this was but fancy. To me, I
know, they then sounded as if they
were the shouting, howling, or laugh
ing of the fiends with which my imag
ination had peopled the gloomy cave
which hung over me.
You may accuse me of exagge-a-
ting my feelings ; but I am not. Ma-
nv a scene of dread have I since nass-
ed througlvbut they are nothing to the place of worship, to save me from the
self inflicted terrors of this half hour. ; apprehensions of hearing the church
The ancients have doomed one of the ; going bell ; for what Alexander Selkirk,
damned, in their Tartarus, to lie under i in Cowper's poem, complained of as a
i rock, which every moment seems to misfortue, was then to me a blessing.
be descending to annihilate him, and
an awful punishment it would be. But
if to this you add a clamour as loud as
if ten thousand furies were howling
about you a deafening uproar banish
ing reason, and driving you to mad
ness, you must allow that the bitter
ness of the pang was rendered more
terrible. There is no man, firm as his
nerves may be, who could retain his
courage in this situation.
In twenty minutes the ringing was
done. Half of that time past over
me without computation, the other
half appeared an age. When it ceas
ed, I became gradually more quiet, but
a new fear retained me. I knew that
five minutes would elapse without
ringing, but at the end of that short
time, the bell would be rung a second
time, for five minutes more. I could
not calculate the time. A minute and
an hour were of equal duration. I
feared to rise, lest the live minutes
should have elapsed, and the ringing
be asain commenced, in which case I
should be crushed, before I could es
cape, against the walls or frame work
of the bell. I therefore still continu
ed to lie down, cautiously shifting my
self, howevtr, with a careful gliding,
so that my eyes no longer looked into
the hollow. This was of itself a con
siderable relief. The cessation of the
noise had, in a great measure, the ef
fect of stupifying me, for my attention
being no longer occupied by the chi
meras I had conjured up, began to flag.
All that now distressed me was the
constant expectation of the second
ringing, for which however I settled
myself with a kind of stupid resolution.
I closed my eyes, and clenched my
teeth as firmly as if they were screw
ed in a vice. At last the dreaded mo
ment came, and the first swing of the
bell extorted a groan from me, as they
say the most resolute victim screams
at the sight of the rack, to which he is
for a second time destined. After
this, however, t lay silent and lethargic,
without a thought. Wrapt in the de
fensive armour of stupidity, I defied
the bell and its intonations. When it
ceased, I was roused a little by the
hope of escape. I did not, however,
decide on this step hastily, but, put
ting up my hand with the utmost cau
tion, I touched the rim. Though the
ringing had ceased, it still was tremu
lous from the sound, and shook under
my hand, which instantly recoileibas
From an electric jar. A quarter of an j
paiion.
They were shocked, as well they
lire occasioned the accident, the cause
of my misfortune was discovered. I
was put to bed at heme, and remained
for three days delirious, but gradually
recovered my senses. You may be
j sure the bell formed a prominent topic
of my ravings, and if I heard a peal,
they were instantly increased to the
utmost violence. Even when the de
lirium abated, my sleep was continu
ally disturbed by imagined ringings,
and my dreams were haunted by the
fancies which almost maddened me
while in the steeple. My friends re-
I moved me to a nouse m tne country,
! which was sufficiently distant from any
i .1 i
i "ere I recovered ; Out, even long alter
recovery, if a gale wafted the notes of
j a peal towards me, I started with ner-
vous apprehension. I felt a Mahom-
etan hatred to all the bell tribe, and en
vied the subjects of the Commander
of the Fnithiul the sonorous voice of
their Muezzin. Time cured this, as
it does most of our follies ; but, even
at the present day, if, by chance, my
nerves be unstrung, some particular
tones of the cathedral be 11 have power
to surprise me into a momentaty start.
TilE VAMPIRE.
A gentleman by the name of Sted
man, while in Surinam, was attacked
during his sleep by one of these ani
mals ; and his account of this accident
is somewhat singular, and tends to elu
cidate the fact of the existence of that
animal. We shall extract it in his own
language, from his narrative. " I can
not here," says he, u forbear relating a
singular circumstance respecting my
self, viz : that on waking about four
o'clock one morning in my hammock,
I was extremely alarmed at finding my
self weltering in congealed blood, and
without feeling any pain whatever.
Having started up and rung for the
surgeon, with a firebrand in one hand,
and all over besmeared with gore ; to
which if added my pale face, short hair,
and tattered apparel, he might well ask
the question,
Tic thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd ;
liring with thee airs of heav'n or blasts from hell ?
The mystery, however, was, that I
had been bitten by a vampire or spectre
of Guiana, which is also called the jly
ing dog of New Spain, and by Span
iards perro volador ; this is no other
than a bat of monstrous size, that sucks
the blood from men and cattle while
they are fast asleep, even sometimes
till they die ! And as the manner in
which they proceed is truly wonderful,
I shall endeavor to give a distinct ac
count of it.
Knowing by instinct, that the person
they intend to attack is in sound slum
ber, they generally alight near the fett.
where, while the creature continues
fanning with its enormous wings, which
keeps one cool, he bites out a piece of
the great toe, so very small indeed, that
the head of a pin could scarcely be re
ceived into the wound, which is conse
quently not painful yet through this
orifice he continues to suck the blood,
until lie is obliged to disgorge, 2ic
then begins again, and thus continues
sucking and disgorging till he is scarce
ly able to fly, and the sufferer has of
ten been known to sleep from time to
eternity.
Cattle they generally bite in the ear
but always in places where the blood
flows spontaneously. Having applied
tobacco ashes as the best remedy, and
washed the gore from myself and ham
moc, I observed several small heaps of
congealed blood all around the place
where I had lain upon the ground on
examining which, the surgeon judged
that I had lost at least twelve or four
teen ounces during the night,"
JD.'uXCEXG EX JUS SOUR I.
The following account of the novel manner if?,
'vhich Ralls are got up and carried on in the state
cf Missouri, is taken from a letter written by a
gentleman in St. Louis to his friend in Virginia.
4fc The first ball of the season is gen
erally by subscription, early after th
cold weather commences ; and at this
ball some ladies, say four or six, and
generally the handsomest in company,
select as many gentlemen as kings,
which is generally performed by a la
dy's pinning a bouquet (French word,
a nosegay) to a gentlemen's bosom,
and giving him a kiss. The next
day he calls on his queen, kisses her,
and inquires what she most fancies,
to adorn her person, which he procures
for her generally a complete set of
fineriea ; and each time he calls on her
gets a fresh kiss. When the queens
are all adorned, a ball is given by-the
kings, who wait on and dance with
their queens. They are then (after
taing the parting kiss) all reduced to
commoners, and the ex-queens, or oth
er ladies, kiss and crown oher gentle
men as kings. Several ladies, the past
winter, got, in this way, sufficient ap
parel to last them the whole year."
IIOAItllOUJWD.
In cases of the lungs, the virtues of
the hoarhound, which grows sponta
neous and in abundance about Salisbu
ry, is known to almost every old wo
man within the boundaries of our town.
Whether, however, it has all the vir
tues attributed to it below, is at least
questionable. The prescription is sim
ple, and the proposed benefit great. It
is easily tested :
Consumption. Completely to eradi
cate this disorder, I will not positively
say the following remedy is capable of
doing, but I will venture to affirm that
by a temperate mode of living, (avoid
ing spirituous liquors wholly) wearing
flannel next to the skin, and taking ev
ery morning half a pint of new milk,
mixed with the expressed juice of
green hoarhound, the complaint will
not only be relieved, but the individu
al shall procure to himself a length of
days beyond what the mildest fever
could give room to hope for. I am, my
self, a living witness of the beneficial
effects of this agreeable, and though
innocent, yet powerful application.
Four weeks use of the hoarhound and
milk relieved the pains of my breast,
and gave me to breathe deep, long and
free- strengthened and harmonized
my voice, and restored to me a better
state of health than I had enjoyed for
many years. x.
RIIEUMATIS3T.
It is said to be a specific for the
Rheumatism, to apply a cabbage leaf to
the part affected. Choose a perfect
leaf, cut off the protuberant stalk at
the back, and place it on the part with
a bandage of flannel, at going to bed.
It will produce a local perspiration,
and in two or three repetitions, effect
a cure.
COTTOJST SEED.
To prevent Worms from cutting the
Cotton Plant, mix 24 lbs. of saltpetre
with lOO gallons of water, in which
soak the Cotton Seed well a few hours
previous to planting by this process
a certain moisture is created round
the Plant highly, beneficial. A little
pulverized Plaster of Paris should be
mixed with the above if possible. .
To save Cucumbers from Bugs.
Set out an onion (or set up an onion
stalk) in each hill of cucumbers, and
the bugs will keep away.
Another. Sprinkle on at evening,
(after cool) tea grounds, as they are.
commonly left by families after use.
This as oftetf as two or three times in
a week, will not only prevent injuries
from bugs, but strengthen and invigo
rite thevine, and cause it to become
exceedingly fruitly.