Nor stop me these wild flowers to gather; || disregarded them. Riccio, too, received They droop at my touch and decay! I think of the flowers that are blooming Of earth's shallow waters the drinking Is powerless my thirst to allay; That flows by my Father's own door, To drink and to thirst never more. Shine forth and allure me to Him. The gems of this world I am treading For pains a torn spirit is feeling, No balsam from earth it receives, I go to the tree that is healing, To drop in my wounds from its leaves. Returning in gladness to see Historical. a mysterious caution from Damiot, an astrologer whom he used to consult ; and who bade him beware of the bastard-evidently alluding to George Douglas, the natural son of the Earl of Angus, and one of the chief conspirators; but he imagined that he pointed at Murray, then in banishment, and derided his apprehensions. Meantime, every thing was in readiness; a large concourse of the friends of the Reformed Church assembled at Edinburg for the week of fasting and humiliation; directions for prayer and sermons had been previously drawn up by Knox and the ministers; and the subjects chosen were such as seemed calculated to prepare the public mind for resistance, violence and bloodshed. They were selected from the Old Testament alone, and included, amongst other examples, the slaying of Oreb and Zeb, the cutting off the Benjamites, the fast of Esther, the hanging of Haman-inculcating the duty of inflicting swift and summary vengeance on all who persecuted the people of God. 'On the 3d of March the fast commenced in the capital, and on the 4th Parliament assembled. It was opened by the Queen in person; and the Lords of the Articles having been chosen, the statute of treason and forfeiture against Murray and the banished Lords was prepared. This was on a Thursday; and on Tuesday in the following week the act was to be passed; but it was fearfully arrested in its progress. 'On Saturday evening, about 7 o'clock, when it was dark, the Falls of Morton and Lindsay, with a hundred and fifty men, bearing torches and weapons, occupied the court of the palace of Holyrood, seized the gates without resistance, and closed them against all but their own friends. At this moment Mary was at supper in a small closet or cabinet which entered from her bed-chamber. She was attended by the Countess of Argile, the Commendator of Holyrood, Beaton, Master of the Household, Arthur Erskine, Captain of the Guard, and her Secretary, Riccio. The bed-chamber communicat DEATH OF DAVID RIZZIO, THE FAVORITE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTTS. The seventh volume of Tytler's History of Scotland, a valuable work, has just been published in London, and describes some eventful scenes in the life of 'Mary, Queen of Scotts,' whose personal charms, whose moral imperfections, and whose dark misfortunes, have for many years, formed prolific themes for the poet, the novelist, the moralist and the historian. We give below, an extract des-ed by a secret turnpike stair with the cribing the murder of her favorite, the musician, Rizzio, or, as he is called in the work referred to, Riccio: 'Whilst these terrible designs were in preparation against her, some hints of approaching danger were conveyed to the Scottish Queen; but she imprudently || King's apartinent below, to which the conspirators had been admitted; and Darnley, ascending this stair, threw up the arras which concealed its opening in the wall, entered the little apartment where Mary sat, and casting his arin fondly round her waist, seated himself 204 The Peacock Throne. beside her at table. A minute had scarce- || She was then ignorant of the completion ly passed, when Ruthven, clad in complete armor, abruptly broke in. This man had just risen from a sick bed; his features were sunk and pale from disease, his voice hollow, and his whole appearance haggard and terrible. Mary, who was now seven months gone with child, started up in terror, commanded him to be gone; but ere the words were uttered, torches gleamed in the outer room, a confused noise of voice and weapons was heard, and the next moment George Douglas, Car of Faudonside, and other conspirators, rushed into the closet. Ruthven now drew his dagger, and calling out that their busines was with Riccio, made an effort to seize him; whilst this miserable victim, springing behind the Queen, clung by her gown, and in his broken langauge called out, 'Giustizia, Giustizia, sauve ma vie, madame sauve ma vie.' THE PEACOCK THRONE. Among the rich spoils amounting to not less than £80,000,000 sterling, which were carried away by Nadir Shah in his invasion of India, in 1739, was the famous Peacock throne. A brief notice of this will serve as a specimen of the variety, the pomp and magnificence of the Imperial court of the Great Mogul, so late as the 17th century. Delhi was then the capital, and the favorite city over which was cast the shadow of the imperial umbrella, and Shah Jehou was at that time the reigning Emperor. On a certain festive occasion, the birth of a first born son, the heir apAll was now uproar and confusion; parent to the throne, the emperor mountand though Mary earnestly implored ed a new and superb throne. This was them to have mercy, they were deaf to constructed of pure solid gold, and had her entreaties; the table and lights were been seven years in preparing. It was thrown down; Riccio was stabbed by embossed with various figures and studDouglas over the Queen's shoulder; Car ded with precious stones. The expense of Faudonside, one of the most ferocious of the jewels alone amounted to of the conspirators, held a pistol to her £1,250,000, and the cost of the whole breast! and whilst she shrieked with ter- throne is said to have been more than ror, their bleeding victim was torn from £12,000,000 sterling, or $60,000,000, and her knees, and dragged, amidst shouts the jewel office, the crown jewels, £30,and execrations, through the Queen's || 000,000, or $150,000,000. bedroom to the entrance of the presencechamber. Here Morton and his men rushed upon him, and buried their daggers in his body. So eager and reckless were they in their ferocity, that in the struggle to get at him they wounded one another; nor did they think the work complete till the body was mangled by fifty six wounds, and left in a pool of blood, with the King's dagger sticking in it, to show, as was afterwards alleged, that he had sanctioned the murder. This throne, perhaps the most superb piece of workmanship ever known, was at length known by the name of the Tucht Taons, or the Peacock throne, from the fact of its having the figures of two Peacocks standing behind it, with their tails spread, which were studded with jewels of various colors, to represent life. Between the Peacocks stood a parrot of ordinary size cut out of a single emerald. The finest jewel in the throne was a ruby which had fallen into the hands of Timour of Tamerlane, among the spoils of Delhi, when he took that city from the Hindoos in 1368. This jewel, however, had been cruelly defaced by the barbarous vanity of the preceding Emperor.He had caused his name and titles to be engraved upon it, and when reproved for this silly vanity by the favorite Sultana, the light of the Harem,' the celebrated Noor Mahal, he replied, "This stone may convey my name down further through time than the Empire of the house of Timour.'-Derby and Birmingham Lyceum 'Nothing can more strongly show the ferocious manners of the times than an incident which now occurred. Ruthven, faint from sickness, and reeking from the scene of blood, staggered into the Queen's cabinet, where Mary still stood distracted and in terror of her life. Here he threw himself upon a seat, called for a cup of wine, and being reproached for the cruelty of his conduct, not only vindicated himself and his associates, but plunged a new dagger into the heart of the unhappy Queen by declaring that her husband had advised the whole.- || Rep. the drum summoned them to rest, and all was quiet in the cantonment of Trenton. A different scene, however, was enacting on the other side of the half-frozen Delaware. Bodies of ill-clad troops were For the Ladies' Pearl. PASSAGE OF THE DELAWARE. It was on the night of Christmas-day, 1776, that the haughty Germans, under Colonel Ralle, were merry in their cantonment at Trenton, New Jersey. Loud to be seen silently stealing along the bank and boisterous laughter, ever and anon, of the river. A noble trio, Washington, burst from them as some unfeeling jester Sullivan and Greene, directed their diffiheld up the militia of the undaunted Wash-cult march, and in breathing thoughts and ington to ridicule. Jovial were those tri-burning words instilled their own heroic umphant roysterers over their evening ardor into the advancing corps. They draughts, and little recked they of their caught the high-born flame, and every man morning's destiny. At last, the peal or became a hero in his country's cause. 20.6 A Mother.—Adventure on the Clyde. They reached the river as the evening's dusk hid their stalwart forms from the gaze of a thoughtless enemy. Darkly rolled the angry waters of the Delaware, save where the sparkling iceberg told of the spot to make a soldier's grave. The night air fell chilly, as the breath of deepest winter, on their cheeks. But they persevered, and after many hours of toil and suffering, the whole body stood marshalled in desperate determination, on the left bank of the river. Onward they proceeded, with wary step, towards Trenton. It was now morning. The Germans, scarcely risen, thought not of danger. Suddenly, the toil-worn soldiers of Washington fell on their out-posts. Alarmed, they flew to arms, but what could resist the impetuous charge of the Americans? Ralle fell, mortally wounded; terror inspired his discouraged followers, and finding themselves surrounded on all sides, they threw down their arms in despair, and the cantonment of Trenton was conquered. This splendid victory turned the scale of war in favor of bleeding America. It inspired new courage, begat new zeal, and resulted in the acquisition of that national independency which renders us the admiration and the awe of the world. The Mother. A MOTHER. There's music in a mother's voice, More sweet than breezes sighing; There's kindness in a mother's glance, Too pure for ever dying. There's love within a mother's breast, So deep, 'tis still o'erflowing; And care for those she calls her own, That's ever, ever growing. There's anguish in a mother's tear, When farewell fondly taking, That so the heart of pity moves, It scarcely keeps from breaking. And when a mother kneels to Heaven, And for her child is praying, Oh! who can half the fervor tell, That burns in all she's saying? A mother! how her tender arts Can soothe the breath of sadness, And through the gloom of life once more Bid shine the sun of gladness. A mother! when, like evening's star, Her course has ceased before us, From brighter worlds regards us still, And watches fondly o'er us. ADVENTURE ON THE CLYDE. After an agreeable residence of a few weeks on the sea-shore near Gourock which may be styled the Margate or, Ramsgate of Glasgow, I went one day on board a steamer to re-ascend the Clyde. The weather was fine, and the deck of the boat was crowded with passengers of all kinds, from the portly manufacturer of the western capital, returning like myself from a little pleasurable rustication, to the poor shattered invalid, whom the beautiful day and the low fare had tempted to take a sail down the river and back again. Many were the vessels passing to and fro that day on the Clyde, but one only of these drew any particular attention from our company. This was a large Irish steamer, which shot past us just as we were opposite to Dumbarton, being probably on its way to Belfast or Dublin. Perhaps it was the number of genuine and unmistakable Milesians on the deck, all returning, ragged as they came, to their native soil, that made myself and others fix our gaze for a minute or two on this vessel. While doing so, we heard a loud cry emitted by some one on board, and saw a great bustle take place on the deck, all the passengers running to one side. Almost immediately the steam was let off, and the vessel brought to a stop. Our captain, on seeing these movements, said, 'Surely there is some one overboard! But the distance was every moment increasing, and we failed to satisfy ourselves that such was the cause of the stir. little while, the passengers, one after another, turned loungingly and indifferently away, and the Irish steamer was soon alike out of sight and out of mind. Our own vessel moved on. We passed the terminus of the Roman wall, and sight of Henry Bell's well-deserved monument. A fiddle, tolerably well played, was struck up by a musician hitherto undistinguished in the crowd of passengers. As we were approaching Erskine Ferry, In a เ The passengers and captain proceeded to the gangway door. The bolt was examined, and it was found on trial, that the wood beneath the staple, and the sta a female voice was heard exclaiming, || the open state of the gangway door, or My bairn! my bairn! Where is my that portion of the bulwark which is so bairn?' and, on turning round, I found constructed as to open for the admission that the words proceeded from a young of passengers and goods. On observing woman of six or seven and twenty, who it open, he had risen to shut it, but thought bore one child in her arms, and led anoth- no more of the matter. Both incidents er in her hand. Her countenance was were so trifling, that he could not say at turned anxiously and imploringly to the what period of the voyage they had tacaptain, as she uttered the words just ken place. mentioned. The captain was close behind me. My good woman,' said he, 'don't distress yourself. If you have missed one of your children, it cannot be far away. Oh, sir,' returned the moth-ple itself, were so much worn away, as to er, I missed it but shortsyne; but I cause the door to burst open to the outlooked every where about the deck be- side, on the instant that any force was fore I spoke. Oh, where is my bairn! applied to it from the deck or inside.The passengers had assembled around Every face looked sad, and yet satisfied, the spot, and the poor woman's appealing at this discovery. Here was, in all hueyes were cast on the circle, as she gave man probability, the place and the cause vent to the last exclamation. Some of of the child's unhappy disappearance; the men may have taken the child below || and the object seen on the water by the' for amusement,' said the captain, sooth- reading passenger, confirmed the suppoingly, and away he went to ascertain the sition. We remember feeling pleased truth of his own conjecture. The young with the conduct of an Englishman preswife followed him. The result, howev- ent on the occasion. With the straighter, was, that the child could not be seen forward and fearless candor of his counor heard of in the ship. The captain be- try, he openly administered a severe repgan to look gloomy, and the company on rimand to the captain for his carelessness board the steamer were again in a buzz in permitting the gangway door to reof sympathizing curiosity. Conjecture main in such a condition. It is nothing once more was busy, though it could on- less,' said the rebuker, 'than a direct ly tend to one single point-that the child trap for children! Where can they think was overboard. But how it had got over- themselves safe, when agitated by natuboard, was the question. Being but five ral fears at finding themselves for the years of age, (the eldest of the three who first time in a ship, if not when they seat had been with the mother,) he could themselves on deck, and lean for firm scarcely be supposed to have climbed the support against the vessel's sides? This side of the vessel, even if he had been child has entertained the thought, and desirous of looking over into the water. has fallen a victim to it.' How then could the thing have happened? One man only could throw a single ray of even conjectural light on the fate of the child. This passenger stated, that, while he had been seated by the side of the vessel, occupied in reading, and in such a position that his eye could see the water nearly to the side of the boat, he had at one time got a momentary glance of what seemed to him a piece of paper or rag on the water; but, through the motion of the vessel, the object had been but an instant before his sight, and could scarcely be said to have occupied his thoughts for a second's duration, if at all. Shortly afterwards he observed another circumstance which he did not then suppose to have any connection with what he had previously seen. This was Who can describe the state of the poor mother all this while! When the discoveries just related had been made, hope seemed to take flight for the first time. Her exclamations went to the heart of all on board. She was the wife of a humble tradesman in Glasgow, and her children having been attacked by an epidemic, she had been sent by her husband to take a trip down the Clyde and up again, in order to speed their convalescence. "Oh! what will their father say" was her constant cry; 'I took three away, and bring home but two! What will its father say! The prospective distress of her husband seemed to pain her more than any thing else, yet, ever and anon, all feelings but the mother's departed, and she shed the agonizing tears of. a 'Rachel weeping for her children.' |