Some go to seek pleasure and some to woo health, But others there are, the base sordid elves! Who sigh not for these-their object is money! Ye favored of fortune, take care of yourselves! Ah! list not their love-tales, though melting as honey. Oh the White Sulphur Spring the White Sulphur Spring That e'er worried the flesh or tormented the bone. How verdant its lawns in the depth of the mountains;-- When the bell sounds to dinner, what throngs sally forth, At table what scrambling, and bustle and clamor! Here gentlemen calling, and there servants running! Vulcan's stout myrmidons, wielding the hammer, Could not have occasioned a clatter more stunning. But enough of terrestrials; now haste we to Paradise, There you'll find sweet Miss C. and Miss B. and Miss W., From Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, From Louisville, Lynchburg, and Edenton City, There are fair ones and rare ones-just look in that walk! 'Tis filled with the graceful, the beauteous, the witty! There are songstresses also among the blithe train, Whose soft notes enchant as they fall on the ear-And Havanna can boast of a nymph whose sweet strain It delights every lover of music to hear. At night you must wend to Terpsichore hall; You'll see there assembled a brilliant collection, Who form every evening a sociable ball, Where cotillons and waltzes are danced to perfection. There are judges and gen'rals, whose names I could mention, But to lengthen this ballad is not my intention, Yet ere I conclude, lo! a paradox hear! Though protestants all, yet obey we a POPE, Whose mandates give pleasure, whene'er they appearThat long he may reign most devoutly we hope! Time wears on here amidst new arrivals, new departures, new faces and new incidents. The strong man of yesterday has his chill or fever to-day, and the languid eye of a few hours bygone, is relighted now with its pristine lustre. All the world has dyspepsia, or is diseased in the liver, or racked with rheumatics, or eaten up with ennui, or bewildered with those gentlemen in blue, who often drive a man out of himself to get rid of them: and so "all the world" come to the Springs. Shoals of valetudinarians, of convalescents, of robust impersonations of ruddy health, and of that numerous class of Spa-visitants who drink the water "from mere wantonness," (to say nothing of adventurers, matrimonially, mammonially, and mirthfully,—of old men to spend fortunes, and young men to get them,--of old women to marry daughters, and young women to marry husbands,)--daily arrive at our doors, anxious for admission to these crowded cabins, and are more often turned off than taken in. Meantime enough of novelty is discovered in the morning to last during the day,a new equipage, a new dress, a new gait, a new expression, a new manner or a new oddity, serving as a topic of conversation to fill up the intervals of lounging or sleeping, of reading, writing, eating, drinking, and bathing,--until night-fall, when the ball-room is lighted, the music strikes up, and the dancers gather in the hall. There, all is animation until the clock strikes eleven,— the merry meeting is dissolved, sleep seals the drowsy eyes of the tired devotee of pleasure, while those of the suffering sick are yet unclosed, and strangers to the sweet restorer the live long night. As the day, so the darkness wears away apace,—another sun dawns over the mountains, and our little world awakens again to go through its gay routine, till weariness, the desire to change, or the end of the season, puts a period to the scene. THE WEST FIFTY YEARS SINCE. By L. M. of Washington City. CHAPTER II The object of Major G. and his party was to reach the foot of Spencer's mountain before nightfall, that they might commence its ascent at the first dawn of the morning. They had before them a toilsome, laborious, and dangerous undertaking. The trace was winding, and not more than three feet wide. Above, the rocks were piled together in such immense masses, and to such an amazing height, that it was fearful to look up. At various projecting points of them, the hawks and eagles were seen teaching their young to try their strength in short and fluttering flights, then returning to the shelter of their maternal wings. Below, the ravines were so deep that if the traveller dared to look down into these bottomless abysses, his head became dizzy, and he lost all self-command. After the march was commenced not a word was spoken. Each rider having his gun in his hand, and his baggage on his shoulder, drove his steed slowly before him, conscious that be might be shot down at every turn of the trace. At short distances the caravan was halted that the horses might take breath. At last the whole of the company reached the highest point of the mountain without interruption. Casting their eyes down the precipice up which they had clambered, they felt an involuntary shuddering. But the prospect was now magnificent. The sun was shining in all his glory; the sky was cloudless. Behind them afar off, they saw the Holston winding its way to the south-west. Before them, on their left, was the broad Tennessee, whose placid waters were moving slowly on to mingle with those of the father of rivers. The fogs which had settled on the bosoms! so regardless are we of the coming calamities of the future, in the enjoyments of the present! About midnight the partners in a reel took the floor and moved off. One of the ladies in it was descended from a distinguished family in North Carolina. Her person was small and delicate; her complexion brown; her eye of a dark hazel-large and languid. The swamps and marshes were rising and dissipating | merry dance was begun. All seemed to forget that under the influence of the increasing heat. Occa- they were surrounded by a vigilant, insidious and sionally, the smoke of some far distant Indian fire was remorseless foe-so strong is the social principle in our mingling itself with the surrounding atmosphere. No sound of the woodman's axe interrupted the silence that pervaded this illimitable wilderness. The tops of the trees had budded; the snakes had shed their skins, and were crawling slowly from their dens; the bears were emerging lazily from their winter wallows; the wild geese were uttering their glad cries. To the right and to the north of the travellers there was an inter-expression of her countenance was exceedingly mild; minable stretch of bald, bleak and barren mountains. her manner gentle and fascinating. Those who apBut the scene that lay before them and at their feet proached her, however rude and rough, were softened was ravishing. They beheld at last the mighty West, by the kind and gracious way in which she addressed the future abode of countless millions. Descending the them. That one so beautiful and of a nature so tender, mountain, the party halted about dusk; struck their should have adventured into so wild a country, excited flints; applied the sparks to some dry leaves; kindled up wonder in those who were unacquainted with her story. fires; secured their horses so that they might feed on But this high-born and high-bred woman had become the cane, and be readily found in the morning; broiled devoted to an enterprising and chivalric young man, their meat; passed the good-natured joke around, and who loved her so passionately that he could not permit rolled up in their blankets, with their heads resting the winds of heaven to visit her too roughly, and who upon their saddle seats, they soon fell away into sleep. had recently received the appointment of surveyorOn the thirteenth day after leaving the landing, the general of the new territory; a post requiring talents travellers reached the Nashville station. When they and education-one of great profit and imminent peril. emerged from the contiguous wood, and were seen by After his marriage Major R. proceeded to prepare for the settlers, loud, long, and reiterated shouts rung a journey to the west. As the period of his departure through the air. The men rushed out to meet and approached, his young bride declared her unwillingness congratulate them on their coming. The women and to be separated from him. He remonstrated with her children gathered around them. Even the horses which | kindly, but she persisted in her resolution to accompany they rode seemed to be conscious that they had reached him. After her arrival at the station she had given once more the abodes of civilized man. The arrival of birth to a female infant. the strangers was like sudden and unexpected succor sent to a besieged and starving city. The hunting dogs pawed about their feet as if they were old friends. Suddenly, some person said, "What cry is that?" The music was hushed. It was, indeed, a cry of deep distress and alarm. The tramp of horses descending the hill that overlooked the fortress was heard-the riders to be heard. Terror was depicted in every countenance. The women grew pale, and the children gathered around their fathers and mothers. In consequence of this accession to their numbers, the settlers took immediate steps to procure additional | approaching at full speed, and redoubling their efforts means of subsistence. A strong detachment was detailed for the chase. The seine was hauled, and large quantities of fresh fish taken. The opening spring admonished the young men to start their ploughs. They were encouraged to do so by the reflection that the recent addition to their strength gave new assurance that they would be able to keep their footing in the country. The commander of the station exclaimed, “Indians!" As quick as thought, every man sprang to his rifle, tomahawk and knife. This commander was a veteran in war, of iron nerves, hard features, thick set and broad shouldered, slow in his movements, of solid judgment and immoveable courage. Great confidence was reposed in his military skill. When in his cups he would tell over how he had fought through the recent revolutionary contest; that he was standing close by Campbell, when he received from the surviving officer at King's mountain the sword of the gallant Ferguson; that on the next morning he had assisted in hanging a gang of tories, which was, as he believed, the best act of his life. Within five miles of Nashville there were three stations, at each of which there resided about eighty persons, most of them adults. Runners were sent to inform them that a large number of emigrants had arrived, and that it was proposed to celebrate the event by a dance at the Nashville station the next evening. This invitation produced a strong and delightful sensation amongst the invited. They anticipated, truly, that the strangers had brought letters and messages from their relatives and friends, of whom The commander, Major W., said to his company they had not heard for a long time, as well as small with perfect coolness, "Those who are coming are the tokens of continued affection. All attended this cele- surveyor-general and his party; watch, and when they bration who were able to do so. Of young girls there reach the gate open it, let them in, then close it inwere some fifteen or twenty, and a like number of mar-stantly and bar it." In a moment they were in at a full ried women with their children. In going even these short strain and breathless. The company crowded around distances, the visiters moved in military order. The them. When they were able to speak, they stated that females kept the trace. In front and rear, as well as on the party of the surveyor-general, which had gone out each side of them, the young men were stationed, who four days before, to make some surveys, being on its were well armed, and moved with the utmost circum-return, was suddenly set upon by more than four hunspection. The whole of the guests arrived in safety. dred Indians; that the surveyor and two of his chainAbout dark the musicians tuned their violins, and the carriers were killed, and that they four had narrowly escaped. Before this short narrative was closed, a faint a hand as if she had been engaged in an indifferent shriek was heard from the devoted and gentle wife of the surveyor, who had sunk to the floor like a doomed victim. Three of the women bore her off to one of the cabins, whilst a fourth took care of her child. duty, and apparently without losing a single grain-so concentrated were her energies in this cause of life and death! She cut up a quantity of patches, and when she delivered them, she remarked, "that without them the balls would be too small for the bores of the rifles, and that they might make scattering fire." In about an In a short time the station was surrounded by the whole force of the savages. The commander adopted the most judicious measures with the greatest delibera-hour after the first alarm, the enemy gathered around tion. The establishment called the "station," was the station. They kindled a fire near the gate, but so built of long logs, placed end to end, and close together, much wide of it that those within could not assail them the outsides were hewed down smooth, so that an ene- successfully. Having gathered up some live chunks, my could not reach the top, about twenty-five feet high, they advanced with loud yells, with the view of apply. except by ladders. There were port-holes in the sides.ing them to the gate, but just as they were in the act of This wooden wall enclosed about four acres of ground, doing so, the whites poured into them a deadly volley. within which there was a spring and many log dwel-Several were heard to fall, and were quickly dragged lings. At the south-eastern corner there was a gate, away by the survivors. high enough for a man on horseback to enter. This gate was used so continually that it became necessary to frame it out of substantial pieces of wood, placed six or eight inches apart, in order that it might have the proper lightness, turning as it did on imperfect wooden hinges. A considerable time elapsed before a second assault was made. At length, the enemy approached, some with fire, and others with their guns in their hands, which they suddenly protruded through the spaces of the gate, discharged them, and shot down seven of the whites; five of whom were killed on the spot. The wife of the commander of this rude fortress was It was now clear that a desperate effort must be made a heroine in the broadest sense of the term. At the to disperse the party. If the fortress were set on fire, time of which we are speaking she was about thirty, the assailants would gain an entrance, and every soul and the mother of six children. She was unusually within would be massacred. The force of the Indians tall, with large limbs, and inclined to corpulency. was so great, that if they persevered, they could afford When she moved in pursuit of any purpose she seemed to lose a large number, provided they should be able to stride over the earth. Her hair was of a light flaxen at last to achieve a victory. A short council was color, was turned back from her high, broad forehead, held, when Henry G. stepping forward, with a firm and tied behind by a simple leathern string. It was of voice and manner, suggested a new plan of operations. great length, and spread all over her shoulders. Her He proposed, that twenty of the men should clamber step was quick; her eye piercing, and of the brightest up the inside of the wall of the station, take their posiblue; her complexion of the most beautiful white; her tions on the plate at the top, and fire upon the assailants person was perfectly erect; her chest large and promi- as they gathered at the gate. Such an attack, he said, nent; her voice was loud and penetrating. When she would do certain and fatal execution. The resolute spoke, the hearer instantly detected in her the spirit of wife of the commander, who was everywhere amidst command. The passions of this woman were stormy, these horrors wholly undismayed, listened to this plan and yet her affections were tender and ardent. In all with intense interest. Clapping her hand upon Henthe relations of wife, mother, sister and friend, shery's back, she said, with enthusiasm, "You are a dear, manifested the deepest and most endearing devotion. brave boy." Her female companions looked on her with awe and On Henry's turning his eye to his left, there stood reverence, because she was gifted with so sound a judg-his father. Every drop of blood seemed to have left ment, and so great a share of common sense. Her him; his face was of an ashy hue. In a suppressed apprehension was as rapid as the lightning. Unlike most of her sex, she was a total stranger to thick-coming fancies, but saw everything that concerned her interests through the medium of an unclouded reason. When placed in emergencies, she had all the admirable readiness of woman. tone, he expostulated gently, and seemed convulsed by a struggle between paternal affection and the senti ments of a high and delicate honor. He said simply, that perhaps the assailants might be repelled without so great a hazard, and that the position on the top of the wall would expose every one who ascended to almost certain death. But a very large majority were in favor of the new scheme. Henry offered to lead the party, and in a They reached the plate with much difficulty, but when there, they could not be readily seen, as the night was dark. As soon as the men had taken the positions assigned them, Mrs. W. observed to her husband, whom she familiarly denominated John, "I think that there are not enough bullets moulded, or patches cut; the pow-moment the required number were in readiness.— der-horns want filling; the boys had better throw out their priming and pick their flints." To one of the women she said, "Go to yonder furthest cabin and bring me some bars of lead." To two others she cried In a little time, upwards of one hundred Indians out, "Mend up the fires-put on the skillets and hand moved up to the gate; some with pieces of timber on me the moulds; set a bucket of water close by to cool their shoulders, with which they intended to batter it the balls in." The lead being brought, she seized an axe down; others with fire, and others with their pieces and cut up enough of pieces to fill the vessels. Hur-loaded. When they had become huddled together and rying to a large poplar chest, she drew therefrom a had fallen into confusion, presenting the appearance of wooden box containing powder; the flasks having a disorderly and uncontrolled mob, the whites below been brought to her, she filled them with as steady and those above fired at the same instant. It was abodes of the fallen. The sound reverberated along the neighboring hills, and at last died away upon the ear. The party returned in profound silence. understood, that Henry and his party should descend | his hand, and the platoon fired into the cold and narrow immediately after they had delivered their fire, but one of the men, who was large and heavy, was slow in his movements; an Indian who was standing some ten or fifteen paces from the crowd, saw him, raised his rifle, and drew the trigger: the bullet struck him between his eyes, and he fell like a mass of lead perfectly dead at the feet of his wife below, who was watching to ascertain his fate. She sunk down on his lifeless body, and both were quickly removed by the order of Mrs. W. Seeing him fall, she sprang to him, and throwing her keen eye upon him, she cried out in a plaintive tone, "Poor fellow, he is gone!" It appeared afterwards that this last effort of the whites had been so fatal to the enemy that they were disheartened, and had imbibed the opinion that those within the fortress were far more numerous than they really were. Accordingly they withdrew, taking both their dead and wounded with them, as was their established custom. After the day had dawned, the commander ordered that the necessary preparations should be made for the interment of those who had fallen. The young men procured some stakes, which being driven into the ground, rough planks were placed thereon, and the whole of the six corpses were laid out side by side, and dressed in white cotton homespun. The wife of the commander covered each gently with a white sheet. Having done this, she passed out of the station, and in about half an hour returned with both hands full of wild flowers, which she scattered over the dead bodies. Amongst the killed was a stripling, who was uncommonly handsome, and who was just nineteen, the oldest child of his parents, who were also residing within the fortress. Raising the sheet, this woman looked at him long and earnestly, then said, whilst the tears were stealing down her face, "What a pity that he should have been cut off so soon!" The parents of this youth sat down together near his body, and remained by it throughout the day, to all appearance wholly inconsolable. On the other side, was the wife of him who had fallen from the top of the rampart, wrapt in grief. Her two little children were at her feet, unconscious of their irreparable loss. Perceiving that their mother withheld from them her accustomed endearments, they endeavored in vain to arouse her attention by climbing up on her knee, and inquiring of her by their looks, "what was the matter with her?" About eleven o'clock, the whole company was gathered around the dead bodies. The women sung several hymns. After they had ceased, those present dispersed, that they might partake of a slight repast. The order was, that the interment should take place a little before sundown. Just as the procession was formed, the commander said, that no brave soldier who fell in battle under his eye, should ever be buried without military honors; that this act of respect was always due to the memory and deeds of the gallant defenders of their country; that such was the established custom during the revolutionary war. A platoon was detailed for this duty. The company moved slowly on-the women singing as they proceeded. When it had reached the graves, Major G. stepped forward, and read the funeral service. The old veteran then waved But there was one being who had participated in the recent tragedy, and who commanded the sympathy of every heart. This was the wife of the surveyor-general. Her misery seemed to be unsusceptible of any alleviation. Unlike most of those around her, she had left all her relatives behind her, for she had literally torn herself from the embraces of her father and mother, to participate in the fortunes of a husband whom she adored. The road before him was thickly beset with dangers-wealth and honor were within his graspbut he had fallen, and she was desolate. The wife of the commander used every effort to soothe her wounded spirit, by arousing her to a sense of the dependant condition of her infant. She sometimes dressed it, and laid it by her side; she offered her the consolations of religion; but the stormy scenes of a western frontier were too rough for the gentle nature of this woman. The arrow which had been shot at her had reached her heart. She gradually pined away, and mourned as one without hope. The long hours were passed in listlessness and dejection. She sat and watched day after day the sun descending in cloudless glory into twilight. She cast her longing eyes in the direction where they told her lay the unburied and unhonored corpse of her husband. At last, she sent one of the children one morning to the wife of the commander with a message that she wished to see her. This summons was obeyed instantly. She desired that her child should be brought and laid beside her. Pausing for several minutes, during which the tears ran rapidly down her pale cheeks, she broke silence, and said, "My time has come; my spirit is broken-life is to me a burden. I have struggled a good while between hope and despair. This child will soon be an orphan. Your never-ceasing kindness has enkindled in me towards you an affection almost filial. I have sent for you to bid you farewell, and to commit this infant to your charge. I have to request that you, whenever this horrid war shall be followed by peace, will cause my child to be taken, and placed in the arms of my mother." Then reclining her head, and placing her lips on those of the infant, she gently breathed out her immortal spirit. PRYNNE'S HISTRIOMASTIX. Prynne's 'Histriomastix' is a quarto of more than 1100 pages-an invective against the stage-the matter chiefly temporary and levelled at fugitive events-the author never ventures upon the most trivial opinion without calling to his aid whatever has been said in all ages and nations—a Helluo librorum in which are quoted more than a thousand authors. Milton says of Prynne, "that hot querist for tythes whom ye may know by his wits lying ever beside him in the margin to be ever beside his wits in the text." THE FATE OF THE GIFTED. "As the body wastes, The spirit gathers greater strength, and sheds It has long been a popular superstition, that superior mental endowment marks its possessor for an early grave. And not only so, but that early doom must result, as a consequence, from a highly gifted mind. That the opinion is erroneous, at least in so far as a false cause is assigned for an effect, need not be denied. If it be true that unusual talent will inevitably invite death, the converse of the proposition ought to be equally true, that the entire void of mental possessions ensures a "green old age." But we do not propose to combat error, neither do we intend to write a philosophical disquisition. That the gifted do find an early tomb, is so frequently true, that we cannot wonder at the prevalence of the superstition, nor deem the sentiment of the ancients singular "Whom the gods love, die young." In many instances, we may mark the foe that destroys them. In one case, a feeble physical frame seems to wear rapidly out, and consumption "flushes the cheek" "With roses that bloom only o'er the grave; In another case, poverty seems to have presided at the birth, and attends untiring throughout the short term of days, till despair and horror dry up the very fountain of life, and the poor victim sinks into an untimely grave. But we sometimes look in vain, and hence, no doubt, the notion, to which we have alluded, of the peculiar partiality of Heaven. At the risk of the charge of exquisite sentimentality, we hazard the assertion, that men of unusual poetical character seem to possess but little sympathy with the utilitarian world around them. Their soul is cast in a finer mould than that of the crowd with which they are doomed to mingle. The hum and bustle of the machinery of life jars discordantly on their ear. It is true, that the poet sometimes makes a business man: but it is not his peculiar talent that makes him thus. He becomes so in opposition to it. We are indeed at fault if a political economist would not endorse his genius as unproductive capital. When we speak of the poet, we by no means use the term in a limited sense. We mean the man of geniusof sensitive spirit-of brilliant imagination and fancyof a soul delighting in the bright and beautiful things of earth-the child of nature. For such-though they possess many points of difference, and diversity of taste and pursuit-are united by a common bond of sympa. thy. The god within responds to the god without. The same yearning of soul after spiritual things is theirs. The same turning from the discordant throng away, to commune with the "voices of nature." They behold What lover of literature has not mourned over the fate of the lamented White? Who can read the story of his toils-his sufferings-his death-without a tear? He was worthy the plaintive lay of the mighty bard who bewailed him. And such is the fate of many. After a few years of sorrow and suffering among those who cannot appreciate them aright-whose heart cannot sympathise with their heart-from poverty, from disease, from overwrought sensibility, or some kindred cause, the frail mortal tenement is dissolved, and the spirit which seemed formed only for heaven, seeks again its native skies! "And then mankind In generous mockery, pay that tribute due We have not chosen our present theme for the purpose of a mere idle waste of sympathy. We have been betrayed into a much longer prelude than we antici pated. We have long wished to publish in a connected form (accompanied with a brief biographical sketch) a few of the fugitive articles of some who have contributed largely to our periodical literature, and who have fallen early in the race, while winning an honorable renown. We would do it both from a sense of justice to departed worth, and also from what we deem the just merit of the articles themselves. Two hold an especial place in our memory, though, as circumstances favor, we may conti nue our notice. The sketches must of course be brieftoo brief-and the number of articles extremely limited. In the order of the arrangement we design no reference to the relative talent of the individuals, but consult only our own convenience. The remainder of our present number we propose to devote to the memory of the late CHESTER A. GRISWOLD. "The spoiler came, and all thy promise fair, Hath sought the grave, to sleep forever there." Mr. Griswold was a native of Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, but for the last few years of his life was a resident of Utica, New York, where, we be |