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POETRY.

THE CHAPEL OF THE ISLE.*

A FRAGMENT.

fit a clond of fleecy white

Sits on the calm sea's bosom bright?
A lone amidst you glassy bed
A proud isle rears its silver head,
From Earth's imperial circle hurl'd,
The remnant of an earlier world :
Scarce Alpine summers deign to rest
On that lose island's frozen breast;
Yet lavish Nature there has strewn
With golden hands her fairest boen,
And her hearts have ripen'd there.
Than in Hesperia's gardens fair,
Gay Albine in her castle hall
Sat list ning to the clarion's call:
A wayward yet a gracious dame,
With lip of balm and eye of flame,
And spirit stubborn as the pile
Of colume-rocks that guard her jsle,
Egt bounteous as if round her roll'd
A jasper sea on sands of gold.
Too seldom on her ear in vain
The flatt'rer pour'd his honied strain,
Then would that spirit fierce and wild
Seem, as the cradled slumberer`s, mild.
Her love was fickle, and her smile.
Might well the soaring heart beguile
With such false light as pilgrim sees
Osicy arch or precipice,

When diamond domes his fancy greet,
While gulfs unmeasur'd wait his feet-
Yet sages, bards, and chiefs, have striv`n
To win so bright yet brief a heav'n!
The Lady in her castle ball

Sail'd as she beard the war-horn's call;
With magic tales uncouth and drear
Her watchful pages sooth'd her care;
For the her breast no terrors mov'd,
Full well the wond'rous tale she lov'd,
While o'er her wheel of massy gold
Her band the snow-white feece unroll'd,
To any a wild lay sweetly trill'd
Her minstrel's harp the pauses fill'd.—
Dukeard, unseen, the Wizard Sprite
Gaz'd with a Goblin's grim delight;
Yet 'twas not beauty's sunbeam stole
Thro' the dark windings of his soul,
But with desiring glance he view'd
The sparkling gems around her strew'd.
Her arm the pearls of Indus brac'd,
The leopard's spoils her shoulder grac'd,
Round her brown locks and taper waist
The silk of Persia clung:
And gums, of Araby the pride,
Farat in rich censers by her side-
Nor prouder shone the eastern bride
By fabling poets sung.

"A wizard of France coveted the fair land of Albine, but therein dwelt the son of another magician, who ruled a rare engine selled a Parlement, and could raise, spi-Old Romaunt.

Europ. Mag. l'ol.LXXIII. Fe'. 1918.

And oft his scowling eye explor'd
Her ball with massy treasures stor'd,
A steadfast, broad, and rev'rend pile,
Rich with a hundred ages' toil;
There cluster'd oaks, its columns proud,
Stood like a rude but loyal crand,
Supporters of the one-arch'd roof
Against a thousand tempests proof.
And wreath'd around those columns hung,
The theme of many a minstrel's tongue,
The pike and how and jav'lin bright,
And banner hewn in deathful fight.
St. Cloud's with lilies silver'd o'er,
And pale Iberia's steep'd in gore,
Their faded honours twin'd:
Above, in sov'reign pomp unroll'd,
The Red Cross banner's starry fold
Wav'd in the western wind,
Which crept thro' windows blazon'd high
With pomp of gorgeous heraldry,
Where still the boast of ancient days.
Shone in a rich but fading blaze.
Firm in the midst the Stone of Pow's
Rose like the bulwark of the tow'r-
A name he dar'd not look upon
Was graven on that hallow'd stone-
"O! low shall be its fall," he cried,

When Albine is the victor's bride !"
The foe his haggard form forsook,
And Albine's best-lov'd champion's took :
He deck'd his dark cheek with the glow
Youth and the laughing Loves bestow;
And such a smile as rosy mirth

Sends from the heart which gave it birth:

Albinel" the traitor said, and sigh'd-
The fair dame smil'd with beauty's pride-
"Albine! by all to honour dear,
Give to thy faithful servant eare
Or sacred is this lonely hour

To him who sways the Beacon Tow'r ?"
Her azure eye the fair-one rais'd.
Where stern amaze and anger blaz'd--
"Think'st thou a vassal's love or hate
Can Albine's woe or weal create}
Go, and revere her fate's decree,
The Will of Albine must be free!"
Low bow'd the crafty wizard's head-
"Be Albine ever free he said;
“But is it love whose gentle pow'r
Sways him who rules the Beacon Tow'r?
Is it for Albine's love he drains
The riches of her smiling plains?
Nor wassail bowl nor lady gay
Tempts Willhelm from his lonely way;
Unheard, unseen, the hermit-boy
Pursues his dark and savage joy :
Beneath yon chapel's ruin'd wall
The goblin-race obey his call;
Else wherefore from their mould'ring bed
Wakes be the spirits of the dead?
Lady! the warning voice revere!
Sleeps Albine when a foe is near?
Once Plata's gold her coffers lin`d,
And pilgrims from the farthest Ind
Their treasures at her feet resign'd

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A serpent rears his blazing crest,
And spreads his venom'd fold."
Well pleas'd the wizard-foe beheld
Her breast with changeful tumults
swell'd-

"Ah, Lady! scorn the beardless sage!
Il sits the hermit-cowl of age

On youth's enamell'd brow!
Shall Albine to a peasant-guide
Her treasures and her fame confide,
Yet scorn a victor's vow?

Bid then the shrill-voic'd clarion cease—
Spread in these halls the feast of peace;
Thy throne shall grace the victor's side,
Thy hand his giant arm shall guide:
First of a new and valiant race,
His brow the Iron Crown shall grace-
Avails it from what dust he springs?,
The valiant and the free are kings-
This cup the wounds of war shall heal,
And thy rich lip our concord scal—”
She heard and smil'd-but grimly gaunt,
With eyes that mock'd the guileful vaunt,
The Warden of her Beacon-tow'r
Stood by the timeworn Stone of Pow'r.
To earth the poison'd cup he flung,,
And bigh the Red-Cress banner hung-
Home, wizard-robber, to thy lair!.

, Hence, of our island-fires beware!
Go! teach thy ear our fate's behest-
No tyrant-foe, no traitor-guest,
Shall taint the proud isle of the west,

While Abine's self is there!"
The Warden gave his bugle sound-d,
O'er rocks and hills and vallies roun
Swift as the echo flew, arose
The scarlet host to meet their foes:
On ev'ry cliff a beacon's light
Sprang up to mock the gloom of night,
Till round the proud isle's rocky head
A wreath of living lustre spread--
Then high he wav'd his flaming brand,
And far and wide illumed the strand-

Is Albine yet subdued?" he cried"Shall Albine be the Bandit's Bride? First let the pilot ask in vain Where rose the West's green Isle, the glory of the main?"

Whence come the lonely feet that tread
The mould'ring Chapel of the dead?--
There in religious gloom enclos'd,
A mighty Horologe repos`d—
A work divine! its massy frame
Glow'd with a never-dying flame;
Within, a hundred wheels of gold,
Self-mov'd with vital instinct roll'd..
Each on its glowing axle burn'd,
Each in a various orbit tern'd;
Confus dly regular tey mov'd,
And concord from contention prov'd.
High on a radiant tripod rais'd,
The adamantine fabric blaz'd,

While on its spiral point supreme
Shone Albine's ancient diadem,
A magic gift!--for he whose eye
Could fate's remotest depths descry,
Thus on the dark brink of the tomb
Pronounc'd the sea girt Eden's doom :
"Long as that holy frame shall stand,
The work of an immortal hand,
Unchang'd and undefac'd shall smile
The glories of the silver Isle:
But when it falls, let Albine wait
The darkest tragedy of fate!"
With stedfast eye and rev'rent feet
Stern Willhelm trod the dim retreat-

The mystic Horologe alone

Amidst funereal darkness shone-
The key whose magic touch controul'd
Those never-number'd valves of gold
Was his alone!-in persive mood
The crystal panoply he view'd,
Dimm'd by the fading touch of time,
But in its slow decay sublime.
Behind him, thro' the dicar abode,
The Wizard-foe in silence strode.
He smil'd-a smile as wan and grim
Shrivels the livid lips of him,

Who, shrunk in floods of sulph'rous fire,
Reviles high heav'n's avenging ire-
From its broad base, in marble cleav'd,
The tri-form'd pedestal he heav'd,
But heav'd in vain - tho' feebler shocks
Might rend from Earth her eldest rocks.
Yet o'er its starry summit's beam
He breath'd a dank and venom'd steam;
Then in its shadow couching low,
Malign he eyed his noblest foe.
Slow to the rev'rend structure's side
Willhelm his radiant key applied;
On earth he casts his fearless eyes,
Where shrin'd in fame his father lies-
He calls him!-thro' the gloom profound
Påle shrouded spectres murmur round-
Earth yawns-beneath his moss-green

stone

They hear the dead man's waking groan-
"Com'st thou so soon, my son, to know
The measure of thy Albine's woe?
Calls Willhelm from their peaceful grave
The dead to counsel and to save?
Go! rather wake the living dead
From Slavery's inglorious bed.
But midst her chiefs and kindred slain,
Thy Albine's self shall still remain
Herself, in storms and ruin, great-
Herself alone shall fix her fate!
Stern Willhelm bears the welcome doom-
Superior fires his eye illume-
"Father! to heav'n and thee alone
The secret of my soul is known;
That love that holy love, whose sway
My soul's assembled powers obey.
Speak thou, to whom unveil'd appears
The offspring of ascending years,
Shall Albine bow to tyrant-pride?
Shall Albine be a Bandit's bride ?"
The dead man smil'd; and as a veil
Of mist ascends before the gale,

Arend him from their dark repose
The Future's awful shadows rose,
Imperial on his purple throne
The mighty Wizard sat alone,
And 'twas a pageant strange to view,
Vars banners streak'd with ev'ry bue,
Br cronds of trembling vassals spread,
Wide as a rainbow, arch'd his head.
Peneath his feet, a footstool proud!
St. Jago's warworn helmet bow'd,
And that fam'd shield, in slumber lost,
Wia tow'rs of blazing gold emboss'd,
The provie of Leon's proudest host

Lay trampled by his hate:

Sex chiefs from Belgia's baleful strand,
And thrice three from the Mountain Band,
Sod silent at the red right hand

Cflim whose thought was fate.
A pociect and the pomp is past!
He trone has crumbled in the blast;
As exile in unfriended gloom,
He lingers, living in his tomb,
Hissentinel, the howling surge;
An empire's secret groans, his dirge!
The vision changes and a throng
Of bridal minstrels float along:
The sun on western bills afar
Shines in the May-eve's ruby car,
Wale peaceful vales and harvests teem
Beeeath the glories of his beam.
She comes!-the pride of Albine's isle !
Wah azure eyes and maiden smile.
That with her cheek's pale beauty show
Like sunbeams pour'd on Alpine snow.
The noblest of her noble race
Beside her bolds his envied place:
The firemen of her golden fields
Raise high a canopy of shields;
And rang d beneath their shade sublime,
Stand knights and chiefs of ev'ry clime:
But from her brow the myrtle leaf
Falis pot more beautiful and brief-
Another moment, and the pall
Of death and darkness covers all?
The comet and the star are gone
Trat empires paus'd to gaze upon;
Yet not alike-the comet's path
Mark d an avenging demon's wrath;
fict that mild star of loveliest light,
Which promis'd bliss and fled from sight,
It place in nobler spheres has won,
Itself in Heav'n's own world an everlasting
Sun!

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V.

JOURNAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND,
Days omitted, no Business of Importance.
HOUSE OF LORDS.

TUESDAY, Jan. 27, 1818.-The House
met this day for the despatch of busi-
T. Shortly after three o'clock, the Lord
Chancellor, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
De Earl of Harrowby, the Earl of West-

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moreland, and the Duke of Montrose, entered the Horse as Lords Commissioners, and the House of Commons, attended by their Speaker, appeared at the Bar: bis Lordship then read the speech:

"My Lords, and Gentlemon, "We are commanded by his Royal High ness the Prince Regent to inform you, that it is with great concern that he is obliged to announce to you the continuance of his Majesty's lamented indisposition.

The Prince Regent is persuaded that you will deeply participate in the afliction with which his Royal Highness has been visited, by the calamitous and untimely death of his beloved and only child the Princess Charlotte.

"Under this awful dispensation of Providence, it has been a soothing consolation to the Prince Regent's heart, to receive from all descriptions of his Majesty's subjects the most cordial assurances both of their just sense of the loss which they have sustained, and of their sympathy with his parental sorrow: And, amidst his own sufferings, his Royal Highness has not been unmindful of the effect which this sad event must have on the interests and future Prospects of the kingdom.

"We are commanded to acquaint you, that the Prince Regent continues to receive from Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition towards this Country, and of their desire to maintain the general tranquillity.

"His Royal Highness has the satisfaction of being able to assure you, that the confi dence which he bas invariably felt in the stability of the great sources of our national prosperity has not been disappointed.

"The improvement which has taken place in the course of the last year, in almost every branch of our domestic industry, and the present stale of public credit, afford abundant proof that the difficulties under which the country was labouring were chiefly to be ascribed to temporary

causes.

been in a state of progressive improvement -in its most important branches.

"My Lords, and Gentlemen, "We are commanded by the Prince Regent to inform you, that he has concluded Treaties with the courts of Spain and Portugal, on the important subject of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

"His Royal Highness has directed that a copy of the former Treaty should be immediately laid before you; and he will order a similar communication to be made of the latter treaty, as soon as the ratification of it shall have been exchanged.

"In these negociations it has been his Royal Highness's endeavour, as far as circumstances would permit, to give effect to the recommendations contained in the joint Addresses of the two Houses of Parliament: And his Royal Highness has a full reliance on your readiness to adopt such measures as may be necessary for fulfilling the engagement into which he has entered for that purpose.

"The Prince Regent has commanded us to direct your particular attention to the deficiency which has so long existed in the number of places of public worship belonging to the Established Church, when compared with the increased and increasing population of the country.

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"His Royal Highness most earnestly re- \ commends this important subject to your early consideration, deeply impressed, as beb, has no doubt you are, with a just sérse of the many blessings which this country by the favour of Divine Providence has enjoyed; and with the conviction, that the religious and moral habits of the people are the most sure and firm foundation of national prosperity."

The usual adjournment took place after the speech was read. At five o'clock their "So important à change could not fail Lordships again assembled, when Lord to withdraw from the disaffected the prin- Holland said, he hoped that some one of his cipal means of which they had availed them- Majesty's ministers intended to move the selves for the purpose of fomenting a spirit repeal of the Habeas Corpus Suspension of discontent, which unhappily led to acts Act, as a kind of act of grace, after they of insurrection and treason: And his Royal had so wantonly and so unnecessarily sus Highness entertains the most confident ex-pended so great a protection of the freedom pectation, that the state of peace and tranquillityto which the country is now restored, will be maintained against all attempts to disturb it, by the persevering vigilance of the Magistracy, and by the loyalty and good sense of the people.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "The Prince Regent has directed the Estimates for the current year to be laid before you.

"His Royal Highness recommends to your continued attention the state of the Public Income and Expenditure of the country; and he is most happy in being able to acquaint you, that, since you were last • assembled in Parliament, the Revenge has

of the subject. If this suhject was not brought forward by some other noblé lørd, he should at an early period of the session, bring it under the notice of the house himself.-The Earl of Liverpool stated, that the repeal of the Act in question would be moved by Lord Sidmouth."

The customary address to the Prince Regent was then moved by the Earl of Aylesford, and was seconded by the Lord Selsey: both of these noblemen, after dilating on the general grief evinced by the nation on the loss of the Princess Charlotte, congratulated the house on the information that the prospects of the country were brightening. Our commerce, foreign and

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domestic, was rapidly improving; our revente was increasing, and public credit Hood again on the most satisfactory and naken basis.-The Marquis of Lans4 one would not propose any amendment, Angh he could concur with only that part of the address which related to the death of

Princess Charlotte. He insisted that no effence of any thing like an organized conspiracy had been discovered, which called for the suspension of the constitution. -The Earl of Liverpool shortly replied, when the address was agreed to.—

In consequence of Mr. Rose, who has succeeded his father as clerk of parliament, bring abroad, Mr. Henry Cooper was thorfaed to sign papers and bills in his

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 28.-Lord Sidmouth presented a bill for repealing the Habeas Corpas Suspension Bill, which was read à first time. His lordship then moved to impend the standing orders (forbidding the pasing a bill through more than one stage in the same day) with reference to this bill. Ordered.

SATURDAY, Jan. 31.-The Royal Assent given, by commission, to the bill for the repeal of the Act of last Sesssion, untitled, an Act for the Repeal of the Habeas Corpus Aet. The Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Staftesbury, and Lord Melville.The Lords adjourned to Monday.

MONDAY, Feb. 2.—Lord Sidmouth pretested certain papers relative to the past and present state of the country. His Lord ship would not then move for the appoint ment of & Secret Committee to examine, ewing to the absence of Lord Holland and the Marquis of Lansdown, who were prevented from attending by the death of the Earl of Upper Ossory.

TUESDAY, Feb. 3. Lord Sidmouth moved the appointment of a Committee, which was opposed by the Earl of Carnar voo and the Marqus of Lansdowne, on the ground that it would be a mère mockery toconfine the inquiry to the papers furnished by ministers themselves.-The Secret Committers of last Session, their Lordships observed, had made their Report upon ez-parte evidence and upon ex-parte evidence ministers might get what Report Chey pleased. The papers were then referred to a Committee of Secrecy-fo consist of seven lords to be chosen by ballot.—

On Thursday, the following Peers were appointed Members of the Secret Committee:-The Lord Chancellor, Earl of Harrowby, Duke of Montrose, Earl of Liverpoel, Marquis Camden, Marquis Lansdown, Earl Fitzwilliam, Earl Powis, Viscount Sidmonth, Lords Grenville and Redesdale.*

• The present number of Peers is three hundred and sixty eight: Their numbers are a follow.

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