Undeterr'd by recent loss,

Strong in numbers and in pride,
'Neath their banner's sanguine cross,
March'd the legions deep and wide:
Twice six thousand men and more;

And among them numbers bore
Scaling ladder and fascine:

These to choke the fosse, and those

On the rampart set the foes
Where the blazon'd stars are seen.

Say, what rampart these defies?
Who the brave its heights that man?
No wall'd town is that which lies
"Twixt the fens and Ponchartrain :
'T is a simple breast work shields
Those who guard their native fields
From the fires that threaten now;
And the brave, behold their host!
Mix'd, part new to arms, and most
Craftsmen bred, or from the plough.

Fear not therefore for thy towers,
ORLEANS of the Western World!
Heavy though the cloud that lowers,
Shall no thunder-stone be hurl'd.
On their spires the rain that falls
Will but cleanse the dust-gray walls
Brighter for the coming sun.
Know, the swords by tyrants paid

Match not Freedom's stainless blade,

Though they glitter two for one!

Hark, the cannon's awful peal!
And to heaven ascends the smoke ;
And the foe is seen to reel

For an instant 'neath the stroke:

But the broken columns close;

And again the death-shot mows
Down their ranks. Yet on, again,

On, with courage not the less,

Through the sulphurous shower they press,

Furious for revenge. In vain !

Rang'd upon the bankette (1) stand
They the rifled tube that bear.
Wait they but the brief command,
While the invading cohorts near.
God of armies! now 't is given

'T seems as though the fire of Heaven,
That on SODOM fell of
yore,

Lit the line, or fiercer yet,

Embrasure and parapet

Such, so fast, their lightnings pour.

What the Lion now avails

Valor, pride, and practis'd pow'r ?
Strung in vain, his sinews fail,

Shrunken in that mortal hour.
Round his head the Eagle flies,

Joy and vengeance in her eyes,

(1) Banquette, in fortification, is a bank of inconsiderable elevation raised at the foot of the inside of the parapet (breastwork), to enable the musketeers to fire over the upper part.

Mocking at his bloodless fang:
Wet her talons are with gore,
And above his feebled roar

Rise her scream and pennons' clang.

From his throne of living light,
O'er the carnage of the field
Looks the Power that favors right,
And the invaders' fate is seal'd.
Wing'd by his avenging breath,
Through the air the missile death
Seeks the stirrer of the strife.
Happy chief! thus early slain,
While thy troops yet keep the plain,
Honor sav'd, though lost thy life.

Yet a few, behold, have sprung
O'er the moat! They climb the wall!
Now they shout, and now are flung
Downward, dead or dying, all.
Beaten thrice, the Lion's brood,

Every step distilling blood,

Fly and leave the Stars to wave
O'er the free, whose Captain's skill
Conduct lent to mettled will,
Resolution to the brave.

Goddess, say, (for thou wast there ;
Thou and Honor did inspire,)
Have I sung the deeds that were ?
Has my song not sham'd thy lyre?

If, with thee to prompt and guide,
I have rais'd my country's pride,
And set high her hero's fame,
Give the laurel now to twine
Round my brow, this lay of mine
Coupling with that hero's name.

LAFAYETTE IN AMERICA.

FROM THE FRENCH OF BERANGER.

REPUBLICANS, what train approaches near?

"A warrior old debarks upon our shores."

Sent by some king, new amity to swear?

"Kings love him not, and he their rule abhors."

Is he of power?

"Alone to us he came."

What then his deeds?" He watch'd o'er Freedoms'

birth.

Man of two worlds, undying be thy fame!

All glorious days, illuminate the earth!

"Stranger, in every part of this blest spot,
Which rings with joyful clamors of applause,
Thou seest prevail, though vassalage is not,
Peace, industry, morality, and laws. (1)

(1) That Poetry, which usually deals in fiction, has in this place spoken simple truth, may be corroborated by another French writer. M. DE TOCQUEVILLE holds this language:-"Nothing is more striking to an European traveller in the UNITED STATES than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration. Written laws exist in AMERICA, and one sees that they are daily

Thousands flock hither by oppression driven;

E'en in our deserts smokes the exile's hearth;

Man's rights for judge have here the King of Heaven. All-glorious days, illuminate the earth!

"But how much blood this blessing caus'd to run!
Sinking we were: LAFAYETTE ran to aid,
Pointed to FRANCE, and, taught by WASHINGTON,
Wrestled, o'ercame, and BRITAIN no more sway'd.
For his own land, for Liberty's dear grace,
Mid sorrows he has since grown large in worth.
The print of Olmutz' fetters we efface.

All-glorious days, illuminate the earth!

"This gray-hair'd friend, thus welcom'd by the free, This hero whom a hero call'd his son,

In times gone-by our liberty's young tree

Bless'd when to bourgeon first its stems begun.

executed; but although every thing is in motion, the hand which gives the impulse to the social machine can nowhere be discovered. *** In no country in the world does the law hold so absolute a language as in America; and in no country is the right of applying it vested in so many hands. The administrative power in the UNITED STATES presents nothing either central or hierarchal in its constitution; which accounts for its passing unperceived. The power exists, but its representative is not to be perceived." Democracy in America.* A work I mention with respect; not because its author has commended the political institutions of my country, (these need not the eulogies, as they regard not the defamation of foreigners; it is sufficient to mark their results,) but because he has dared to speak with freedom of those of his own. Democracy in America must prove no insignificant accession to the means that are now at work for the regeneration of FRANCE.

* REEVES' Translation, i. pp. 88 and 90. See also Vol. ii. chap. vi. Section: Respect for the Law in the United States.