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reaches the shore, and the venerable form of La Fayette steps from the deck. Again, the cannon's brazen throat thunders forth a peal of welcome.

"With the martial sound of the bugle horn,

And the flap of the banners, that flit as they're borne, And the neigh of the steed, and the multitude's hum, And the clash and the shout, 'they come, they come." **

The procession moved forward. Again, the weapons flashed in the sun-beams, and the air was rent with the shouts of the throng, the burst of music, and the thunder of cannon; and long was the feast, and happy was the greeting, given by "The Spirit of the Old Dominion," to the "Nation's Guest," upon the plains of York.

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THE

ROSE OF THE ALLEGHANY.

"What art thou, Love? or who may thee define?
Where lies thy bourne of pleasure and of pain?
No sceptre graved by Reason's hand, is thine,

Child of the moistened eye and burning brain,
Of glowing fancy and the fervid vein."

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"Thou art the genial balm of virtuous youth,
And point'st where Honor waves her wreath on high,
Like the sweet breeze that wanders from the South,
Thou breath'st upon the soul where embryos lie,
Of new delights, the beauties of the sky."

It was upon a glorious summer's morn, and the first joyous rays of the God of light, were dispelling the cloud of mist which capped the highest Peaks of the Blue Ridge, that a solitary traveller was seen descending one of the numerous passes which lead to the Springs, in the mountains of Virginia. There was nothing uncommon in his appearance, save that of a deep expression of melancholy and sickness, contrasted with a fine figure and genteel appearance: and to a face beaming with mildness, and an eye which shone with the ray of genius, were opposed that deep, inexpressible gaze of sadness, and pallid hue

upon the brow, which told of sorrows and misery. The mountain Nymph while tripping past him, would for a moment be attracted by the graceful bearing and fashionable attire which the stranger presented, but her feelings of sympathy would arise in opposition to those of pleasure, as the wasted, emaciated form of the traveller would contrast so forcibly with her own, glowing in all the freshness and vigour of health. His own abstracted feelings, and the deep dejection of mind under which he was apparently labouring, seemed rather to impede the rapid progress of the stranger's journey, than debility of body or the precipitous nature of the country: at times, some magnificent burst of scenery, breaking through the gaps of the mountain, would cause a glow of rapture (like the sudden gleaming of a sun-beam from beneath a cloud) to lighten his countenance; but, as the scene would pass from his eye, his mind would again sink into the depths of sadness. He was a gentleman from the lower part of Virginia; laboring under the most excruciating bodily and mental diseases, the result of severe domestic afflictions, he was seeking a return of long lost health and serenity of mind amid the mountains. A destructive epidemic, peculiar to his native climate, had, in a very short space of time, swept his whole family from existence; and to fill the measure of his calamities, to sever the last fibre which bound him to earth, an angel in feminine form, whose charms had first elicited his juvenile passion, and whose vow, at a more mature age, rendered her the betrothed idol of his heart, had been seized with the same fa

tal disease, and breathed her last sigh in his presence. Upon his youthful, impassioned feelings, where love and constancy reigned, this rapid succession of misfortunes bore with irresistible force, and paralyzed to a great degree, the energies of his mind. Under the influence of the most desolating apathy of feeling, he had pursued his solitary route through the long tract of country between the sea shore and the mountains; and with a listless disgust, inconsistent with his natural tone of feeling, passed scenes and society which would have once enraptured him. O'er the sumptuous domes, the crowded streets of the Metropolis, he cast a transitory and vacant glance; and to the invitations of warm-hearted and sympathising friends, he paid no regard; for, his heart was surcharged with that flood of grief which overwhelmed all social feeling. It was not until he began to ascend the first grand chain of mountains, which forms the Blue Ridge, that the exertions necessary to surmount the difficulties which impeded his route, awakened his attention to the beauties of its surrounding scenery. And in the wonderful transition from the dreary appearance of lowland scenery, to the rich magnificence of the mountain views, was some relief at length afforded to the black mass of sorrow, so long a weight upon his existence. The farther he advanced into the winding recesses of this grand mountain territory, the more varied and rapid became the succession of charms which it presented him; the massive crag which seemed suspended in æther over his circuitous path, the sparkling fountain which was tumbled

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