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Original Poetry.

[VOL.?

away. But the sixth also went, and empty, the waiter went to the guest to disappeared in the saloon. The seventh awake him; but who can describe his remained, but seemed to be asleep. This affright, when he found the sitting peris the paymaster! said the waiter, and son a man of straw! kept his eye constantly upon him. The The next day, however, the amount man still seemed to sleep. After many of the bill was sent, the whole having hours had elapsed, and the rooms and been meant only as a joke upon saloon began to become deserted and landlord.

POETRY.

the

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now,

Rose palace proud, and sparkling pinnacle: On pomp and festival beam'd morning's glow; On pomp and festival the twilight fell.

Lovely, and splendid all ;---but SODOM's soul Was stained with blood, and pride, and perjury;

Long warned, long spared, till her whole heart was foul,

And fiery vengeance on its clouds came nigh.

And still she mocked, and danced, and taunt-
ing spoke

Her sportive blasphemies against the
THROVE:---

It came !--the thunder on her slumber broke,
God spake the word of wrath---her dream
was done!

Yet, in her final night, amid her stood

Immortal messengers, and pausing Heaven Pleaded with man, but she was quite embrued!

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From the Literary Panorama, November 1817.
THE ARAB'S TENT.

[See the "Anecdotes of Arab Hospitality,"
in p. 295 of our last Volume.]

Her last hour waned, she scorned to be for LTD of the Sun! on whose swart brow

given !

'Twas done !---down poured at once the sulphurous shower;

Down stooped in flame the heaven's red

canopy;

Oh, for the arm of God in that fierce hour!
'Twas vain; nor help of God or man was
nigh.

They rush, they bound, they howl! the men of
sin!

Still stooped the cloud, still burst the thicker blaze; The earthquake heaved! then sank the hideous din--

Yon wave of darkness o'er their ashes strays.

PARIS! thy soul is deeper dyed with blood,
And long and blasphemous has been thy
day;

And PARIS, it were well for thee, that flood
Or fire could cleanse thy damning stains
Oct. 1817.

away.

PULCI.

10

The beams of cloudless splendour glow,
Where mountains towering towards thy sky
Frown from their cloudy canopy;
And torrents leaping from thy hills
Gush in ten thousand fountain rills;
Where earth's remote foundations
Shook by thy deaf'ning thunder prate
And the dun Simoom's mortal breath
Bears on its wings the blush of death;
Where softer beauties charm the sense
And glow in such pre-eminence,
The pilgrim in thy groves might swear
Another Paradise were there;
Where every mountain glen between
The palm-tree's stately stem is seen,
And countless flowers of rainbow hues
Bathe in thy soft ambrosial dews,
And birds of plumage fair and bright
In golden tints of varying light,
Sport gayly thro' thy perfum'd groves
And warble their untutor'd loves;
Where, stalking thro' thy forest shades
The stately lion baunts thy glades,
And the light panther bounds away
To bask upon the lap of day,
And man---of passion fierce and wild,
Untutor'd nature's genuine child,

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Pursues the chace, nor fears to stray,
As savage and as fierce as they;
Unconquer'd land !---tho' mid thy plains
Fell rapine stalks---subjection reigns,
Tay stubborn bosom spurns the yoke!
Thy forests moek the woodman's stroke--
Thy wastes uncultur'd, widely glow
Unbroken by the lab'ring plough,
Proudly, in rich luxuriance
Shines forth thy wild magnificence,
The sun, from whom thy treasures flow,
The only sovereign thou wilt know!
And such the free-born tide that rolls
Unmingled in thy children's souls;
Like the unshackled whirlwind's breath
Their life ---and like its panse their death;
Their's are wild spirits, hearts of fire
Kindled alike by love or ire,

Where generous feelings strongly beat
And honour holds her spotless seat;
Yet where unsparing rancour dwells,
And vengeance, in her secret cells,
Breathes the fell sentence, ne'er forgiven
By thought of earth, or hope of heaven!
Yet sometimes o'er the savage scene
A beam of brightness plays between
And virtues of a milder clime
In these stern souls becomes sublime :
And in the self-same race, we see
How great--bow little---man can be!
The sun is set---the dewy shower
Blesses each craving herb and flower,
And there beneath the palm-tree's shade,
Where almond blossoms scent the glade,
And trembling on the moonlight way
The light mimosa waves her spray,

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437

"And fills, with soft complaints, the burthen of her song.

5.

"His spirit floats upon the perfumed gale,
"That murmurs through our soft Arabian
groves,

"Listen! his sighs steal o'er th' enamour'd vale,
"And e'en th' embracing boughs confess
their spotless loves.”-
110

It paus'd--that voice so sweet and clear,
Yet still it held enchain'd the ear,

The rock-the stream---the hill---the grove
Return'd the melody of love,

Till the last echo gently died
Entranc'd upon the silver tide,
Where on its breast the moonlight ray
Sparkles in undulating play,
By its soft light in pensive mood
Spent and benighted Selim stood...
Enrapt by the sweet sounds that stole
Like balm upon his weary soul.
"Was it that, in a scene like this,
"Bright Houries from the bowers of bliss
"Had wing'd to earth their radiant flight,
"To charm the list'ning ear of night?"
The magic minstrel be pursued,
And by the tent the chieftain stood,
He ask'd relief---he ask'd repose---
60 And when did gen'rous Arab close
The veiled tent to suppliant foes?
Abdallah spread before his guest
Of fruits the choicest and the best,
The fleecy lamb for him was slain,
For him the nectar of the plain
Refresh'd the unexpected guest,
And mantled at the simple feast;

Where the fresh stream bright sparkling shoots Each telis his tale; each asks of news :--

Around the willow's silvered roots,
Then in soft murmurs steals away
To sleep in Luna's palest ray ;
'Tis there the Arab's tent is spread :---
The camel's cry---the hurried tread
Have died upon the list'ning ear---
But rising soft and murmuring near
A sweeter melody has sprung,
Floating the listening glades among :---
Each sound is still'd---each accent mute,
For Zeila tunes her warbling lute,
Delight upon the echoes hung,

As thus the beauteous minstrel sung :-

1.

70

80

"Seest thou the moonbeam on yon silver stream?

"Calmly it slumbers on the dimpled wave; "Such and so bright is passion's tender dream, "It decks the morn of life, and smiles upon the grave!

2.

"The beam of blooming youth's unsullied brow,

"The trembling light of beauty's downcast
eye,
"O! these are spells that chase the sigh of woe,
"And spread, o'er sorrowing hearts, their
nameless witchery.
3.

"Behold the rose upon her waving throne→→
"Love tints her brow with his own blushing
hue,
100
"Breathes o'er her form a freshness all his own,
"And bathes her balmy breast with even-
ing's softest dew.

4.

"List to the warbling nightingale--she soars "Far from the haunts of man, the bustling throng,

"Love breathes in every thrilling note she pours,

The Pacha's force---the Pacha's views:
The Mecca pilgrims' lengthen'd train
The well of Zemzem ;---and the plain
Where the great Prophet's vengeful sword
Perform'd the purpose of the Lord.
The stranger tells of lofty deeds---
Again--in thought---the battle bleeds;
"Bright was the day, and proud the story,
"When early conquest dawned in glory
"When on stern Musa's cloven crest
"He wrote the vengeance of his breast;
"Vengeance! oh not the flowing bowl
"Is half so grateful to the soul!
"The cup we quaff---the song we hear,
"Is not so sweet to lip and ear,
"As Musa's life-blood flowing fast,
"And that deep groan which told bis last!"
"Twas thus the vengeful Arab said :---
A flickering paleness overspread
Abdallah's dark and beetling brow,
And then the fierce impetuous glow
Rush'd wildly boiling from the brain,
And throbbed in every swelling vein :
His band across his brow he past,
Anon a hurried look he cast
On high,---in that brief, mute appeal
There dwelt a language all can feel,
But to express---a tongue of fire
Would falter at that tale of ire!
His brow again is calm---to rest
The storm is lulled within his breast;
The guest marked not that changing mood:
And now the pause of solitude
Falls on the tent---and sleep has spread
Her curtain o'er the stranger's head.
But the host slept not---thrice he drew
The glittering sabre forth to view---
He seized his bow---its strength he tried,.
And girt the dagger to his side;
Oh! how he watch'd the wane of night!
The moon with her too placid light

130

140

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Calmed not his soul, he cursed her ray
And languished for the blush of day---
It almost dawns---the wavering sky
Announces morning's opening nigh.
Beside the tent, of matchless speed,
Stands ready armed, a noble steed,
His rein is in Abdallah's hand,

Th' impatient courser paws the sand,
And gazing towards the eastern vale
Snuffs, with keen seuse, the cheering gale,
Then sporting, sparns the ground again
And shakes his widely floating main;
The guest's departing words express'd
The grateful language of his breast.
But what the last adieu that hung
Upon Abdallah's faltering tongue ?
He held the stirrup to his guest,
Warm friendship's honorable test,
But stern his brow and dark his eye ;---
The brief, and would-be-calm reply,
The rising anger ill repress'd,
And smother'd in his heaving breast,
The proud cold courtesy, declare
Th' indignant feelings boiling there!
When the last offices were paid
On Selim's arm his hand he laid,
And with a changing cheek---an eye
Flashing with silent energy,
Thus he bespoke him----- Look on high---
"The sun-beam o'er the morning sky
"Early and faint, not yet has thrown

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And like the eagle o'er his prey,
Hung on the stranger's vent rous way.
The phalanx of the armed lines
150 Bright in the morning sun-light shines,
But he would rush upon the spear,
Thro' seas of blood his progress steer,
To taste, but for a moment's breath,
The sweetness of revenge in death;
In vain! the friendly van-guard passed,
Its shout is pealing on the blast;
The race is o'er-mid friendly bands
Safe and unharmed the Arab stands,
But years can never wear away
160 The memory of that well-know day.
Did he not earn an honour'd grave
That foe so gen'rous and so brave?

The splendour of its blushing zone;
"But---mark me stranger!---ere that ray
"Smiles on the golden prime of day,
"Thy life is forfeit---start not---fly!
"For in this wide earth thou and I
"May breathe no more ;-- that hand of thine
"Once link'd in friendship's clasp with mine,
"Is red, polluted, by the flood

"The life-stream of my father's blood!
"Know! that bis dear and sacred name
"Has been traduced by lying fame !
"And shall the source that gave me birth
"Sink unrevenged in the deep earth?

No! ev'ry drop that thou hast shed
Stranger must fall upon thy head---
"Last night thou wert my guest---but now
"Thou know'st the sentence---know my vow,
"My soul is bound from early day
"E'en to the sun's expiring ray,
"To seek the murderer ;---Thou art he!
"Enough--the dawn is brightening---Blee---
"I do not mount a fleeter steed---
"Away--thy life is on thy speed !"
Forward the Arab courser sprung,
Free to the winds his rider flung
The floating reins---his nervous hand
Unconscious grasped the friendly brand,
Lightly the sandy waste he passed;
Swift as the whirlwind's stormy blast
His fierce pursuer's steed he hears,
His hard hoofs clatter in his ears!
The sound grows faint---he breathes again,
And skims alone the sandy plain;
See! see! the friendly ensigns rise
And float upon the ruddy skies,

Yonder the camp's white tents are spread,
But hark! again the approaching tread
Falls on his ear---away! away!
Oh for the fleeting wings of day!

Nearer and nearer o'er the plains

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From the European Magazine.
FOUND IN A CASE CONTAINING A HUMAN
SKELETON.

[By the Author of Courcy, Legends of Lampidosa,&c.]

BEHOLD the real spirit was a skull

Once of ethereal spirit full !

This narrow cell was lite's retreat:
This space was Thought's mysterious seat!
What beauteous pictures filled this spot!
What dreams of pleasure long forgot!
Nor Love, nor Joy, nor Hope, nor Fear,
Has left one trace or record here!
Beneath this mould'ring canopy
Once shone the bright and busy eye---
But start not at the dismal void !---
If social love that eye employ'd;
If with no lawless fire it gleam'd,
But through the dew of kindness beam'd;
That eye shall be forever bright,
When stats and suns Bave lost their light!
Here, in this silent cavern, hung
The ready, swift, and tuneful tongue;
If Falsehood's honey it disdain'd,
And where it could not praise, was chain'd ƒ
If bold in Virtue's cause it spoke,
Yet gentle Concord never broke;
That tuneful tongue shail plead for thee
When Death unveils eternity!

Say, did these fingers delve the mine,
Or with its envied rubies shine?
To hew the rock, or wear the gem,
Can nothing now avail to them:
But, if the page of Truth they sought,
Or comfort to the mourner brought,
These bands & richer weed shall claim
Than all that wants on Wealth or Fame!
Avails it whether bare or shod
These fect the path of duty trod,
If from the bow'rs of joy they fled,
To south Affliction's humble bed;
If Grandeur's guilty bribe they spurn'd,
And home to Virtue's lap return'd;
These feet with Angel wings shall vie,
And tread the palace of the sky!

From the Monthly Magazine, Nov. 1817. TRANSLATION FROM HORACE

ODE XIV. LIB. 2.

POSTHUMUS! alas, alas!

V.

How swift the fleeting moments pass;
Nor can Religion's pow'r

Retard fell Death's resistless blow,
The hoary head, the wrinkled brow,

Or thwart our fatal hour.

TOL. 2.]

Intelligence: Literary and Philosophical.

No---should'st thou, each succeeding day,
To bell's relentless monarch slay

A three-fold hecatomb;
Who by his iron-hand restrains
Giants in adamantine chains,
Ingulph'd in Stygian gloom.

For all who Nature's bounty share---
The king, the husbandman, the fair---
Must yield to Death's domain :
In vain we shun, enwrapt in ease
Th' hoarse-sounding Adriatic seas,
Or blood-stain'd battle-plain.

In vain we shun the autumnal gale,
O'er lazy Styx we soon must sail,

(To Pluto's realms we speed ;)
Where Danaus' race unceasing toils,
And Sisyphus, whose stone recoils,
Revolving o'er his head.

Thy wife, thy land, thy groves of trees,
Must all be left; and none of these

Their short-liv'd lord shall have ;
Except the hateful cypress boughs,
Whose verdure shall alone diffuse

Their fragrance o'er thy grave,
Soon shalt thou to a worthier heir
Resign thy wealth, and sumptuous fare;
And wines of choicest store,

I

Better than feasts pontifical,

(Or those of sewer or seneschal)
Shall stain the costly boor.

From the European Magazine.
THE TEAR.

N Laura's bosom blush'd a rose,

ON

439

Fresh bath'd in dew of summer's morn g
Its tints might rival even those

Which youthful beauty's cheek adorn,
But, oh! its fragrance all nad flown,
And Laura's lip confess'd the theft;
Its leaves in silence sigh'd alone,
That not one balmy sweet was left.
Woe told its tale, and in her eye
Shone melting Pity's trembling tear;
The radiant gem of sympathy,

So wildly bright,---so purely clear.
It paused, then softly traced its way
Until it found a home of rest;
And glittering on the flower it lay,
Whose pillow was fair Laura's breast.
An angel caught the tear, and then,
With golden pinions soar'd on high,
Where loved of angels, blest of men,
It shines a star in Evening's sky.

LONDON INTELLIGENCE.

From the New Monthly Magazine, Nov. 1817.

ful Arts, Natural History, and the Application
of Natural History, which last will embrace
Anatomy, Surgery, Materia Medica, Phar
macy and Medicine. The third division, ia
8 volumes, will comprise Biography, chron
logically arranged, with National History,
Political Geography and Chronology. The
fourth division, in 8 volumes, will contain a
Gazetteer of Geography, and a Philosophical
and Etymological Lexicon of the English
Language: the citations arranged according
to the age of the works from which they are
selected. The Index, occupying the last
volume, will be a digested body of reference
to the whole work, in which the English as
well as the scientific name of every subject of
Natural History will be given. Such is the
general outline of arrangement which will
distinguish this ENCYCLOPEDIA from all its
predecessors. Its projectors moreover pledge
themselves to the rigid exclusion of the false
philosophy of the age, which has perverted
similar publications, that ought to be devoted
to the arts and sciences, into vehicles of licen-
tiousness, materialism, and infidelity.
work will be published in parts or half-volumes,
at the rate of one at least every three months,
and the first will appear on the 1st of January

N one of our late numbers we announced the intended publication of the ENCYCLOPÆDIA METROPOLITANA, and are now desirous to call the attention of our readers to some of the peculiar claims which this undertaking prefers to public patronage. The most striking is the arrangement.---It is justly observed in the Prospectus that---" the inapplicability of a strictly scientific method to a modern Encyclopædia, has led to the abandon ment of all principle of rational arrangement; and it may be safely asserted of all our Universal Dictionaries hitherto, that the chief difference between them, in respect of their plan, consists in the more or less complete disorganization of the Sciences and Systematic Arts. Nor has the imperfection rested here, The position of those alphabetical fragments into which the whole system of human know ledge has been splintered, was but too frequently determined by the caprice or convenience of the compiler. The division of parts into minor parts had no settled limit; and the arrangement became neither properly scientific, nor properly alphabetical. It had the inconveniences of both, without the advantages of either." To remedy these inconveniences, of which those who, like ourselves have had frequent occasion to refer to such collections, must be thoroughly sensible, it is propoThe following important discoveries of sed to give to the forth-coming work the twofold advantage of a philosophical and alpha- uses to which the Potatoe-plant may be apbetical arrangement. To the Introduction plied, have been lately made in France. The "On the Laws and Regulative Principles of preparation of Potass is a simple process, and Education," will succeed the Pure Sciences, promises the greatest advantage to the cultiWe trust the experiment will be Grammar and Philology, Logic and Mathe- vators. matics: Metaphysics, Morals and Theology, tried in England; its success would be of inin 2 vols. finite utility to our manufactures :--The Mixed Sciences, Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Optics and Astron- On the Distillation of Spirits of Wine (Alcohol) omy, will occupy one volume; the Applied Sciences, 5 volumes, divided between Experimental Philosophy, the Fine Arts, the Use

1818.

From the European Magazine.
POTATOES.

from Potatoes.

The

A French lady, the Countess de N****, whom political events compelled to change

440

London Literary and Philosophical Intelligence.

her chateau, on the banks of the Saone, for a Cottage eight leagues from Viana---has established, on the small farm she occupies, a distillation of brandy from potatoes; which she has found to be very lucrative. The brandy of 20 degrees of Reaumur is very pure, and has neither taste nor smell different from that produced by the distillation of grapes. The method she employs is very simple, and within every person's reach.

Take 100lb. of potatoes, well washed, dress them by steam, and let them be bruised to powder with a roller, &c. In the mean time, take 4lb. of ground malt, steep it in lake-warm water, and then pour it into the fermenting back, and pour on it twelve quarts of boiling water; this water is stirred about, and the bruised potatoes thrown in and well stirred about with wooden rakes, till every part of the potatoes is well saturated with the liquor. Immediately six or eight ounces of yeast is to be mixed with 28 gallons of water, of a proper warmth to make the whole mass of the temperature of from 12 to 15 degress of Reaumur; there is to be added half a pint to a pint of good brandy.

The fermenting back must be placed in a room to be kept, by means of a stove, at a temperature of fifteen to eighteen degrees of Reaumur. The mixture must be left to re

main at rest.

The back must be large enough to suffer the mass to rise seven or eight inches, without running over. If, notwithstanding this precaution, it does so, a little must be taken out, and returned when it falls a little: the back is then covered again, and the fermentation is suffered to finish without touching it---which takes place generally in five or six days. This is known by its being perceived that the liquid is quite clear, and the potatoes fallen to the bottom of the back. The fluid is decanted, and the potatoes pressed dry.

Tae distillation is by vapour, with a wooden or copper still, on the plan of Count Rumford. The product of the first distillation is low

wines.

When the fermentation has been favourable, from every 100lb. of potatoes six quarts and upwards of good brandy, of 20 degrees of the erometer, are obtained; which, put into new casks, and afterwards browned with burnt sugar, like the French brandies, is not to be distinguished from them.

The Countess de N. has dressed and distilled per diem 1,000lbs. of potatoes at twice, which gives 50 to 70 quarts of good brandy. We may judge from this essay what would be the advantages of such an operation, if carried on on a grand scale, and throughout the year.

Tae residue of the distillation is used as food for the stock of her farm, which consists of 34 horned cattle, 60 pigs, and 60 sheep; they are all excessively fond of it when mixed with water, and the cows yield abundance of milk. The sheep use about five quarts per diem each; viz, one half in the morning, and one half at night. The malt must be fresh ground---the Countess has it groɗnd every week.

On the means of extracting Potass from Pota-
toe-tops.
One of the most important discoveries of the
present day is that of a druggist of Amiens, by
which Europe will be freed from the heavy
tribute she pays to America for the article of
potass. The author of this discovery has, in a
truly patriotic manner, made known his dis-
covery---after ascertaining, by a series of ex-

[VOL. 2

periments, the truth of his conclusions. The French Society of Agriculture, and the Society for Encouragement of National Industry, have both named Commissioners to frame official reports; in the mean time, we feel it important to give an account of the process, in the hope that, even in the present season, it may be turned to account--as it interests landlords, tenants, merchants, and manufac

turers.

It is necessary to cut off the potatoe-tops the moment that the flowers begin to fall, as that is the period of their greatest vigour; they must be cut off at four or five inches from the ground, with a very sharp knife. Fresh sprouts spring, which not only answer all the purposes of conducting the roots to maturity, bat tend to an increase of their volume, as they (the sprouts) demand less nourishment than the old top. The tops may be suffered to remain on the ground where cut; in eight or ten days they are sufficiently dry without turning and may be carted, either home or to a corner of the field, where a hole is to be dug in the earth, about five feet square, and two feet deep (the combustion would be too rapid, and the ashes cool too quick, and thereby diminish the quantity of alkali, were they burnt in the open air.) The ashes must be kept red hot as long as possible: when the fire is strong, tops that are only imperfectly dried may be thrown in, and even green ones will then burn well enough.

The ashes extracted from the hole must be put in a vessel, and boiling water poured upon it, and then the water must be evaporated: for these two operations potatoe-tops may be used alone as firing in the furnace, and the ashes collected. There remains after the evaporation a dry saline reddish substance, known in commerce under the name of saliu ; the more the ashes are boiled, the greyer and more valuable the salin becomes.

The salin must then be calcined in a very hot oven, until the whole mass presents a uniform reddish brown. In cooling it remains dry, and in fragments---bluish within, and white on the surface: in which state it takes the name of potass.

Tae ashes, exhausted of their alkaline principle, afford excellent manure for land intended to be planted with potatoes.

The following is a table of the results obtained in France :--

An acre planted with potatoes.

at one foot distance, gives 40,000
These 40,000 plants yield, on an
average, 3lb. per plant, at
least, of green tops
On drying they are reduced to
Tais quantity produces of ashes
The evaporation gives of ashes,
exhausted of alkali

Salin

The salin loses 10 to 15 per cent.
in calcination, which gives of
potass

120,0001b. 40,000lb. 7,500lb.

5,000lb.

2,500lb.

2,2001b.

All these estimates are taken at the lowest, by which it is evident that upwards of 2,000lb. of potass may be obtained, in addition to an increased crop, from every acre of potatoes, or a value far exceeding that of the crop itself. Farmers, of course, will next year turn this discovery to the best account, in planting those potatoes which yield the greatest quantity of tops. The expenses of preparing the potass as above described, including every thing, is about six guineas per acre.

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