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this undertaking, is to render it completely original in all its parts; and the present Tale is a commence-. ment of a series, the characters and plot of which will be confined exclusively to the State of Virginia. The succeeding numbers, it is expected, will be enriched by designs furnished by a native artist: for the present and first number, the author has been lucky enough to procure a profile lithographic sketch of the present Governor of Virginia, taken from an original drawing by Mr. Macrae, a member of the last Legislature. It is exhibited not only as a mark of respect from the author to the distinguished individual whom it represents, but also for the purpose of exhibiting a specimen of the new art of lithography in Virginia, as executed by Mr. Martin, of this city.

THE SOLDIER'S GRATITUDE,

OR

A LEGEND OF LEE.

"To roam o'er desert battle fields,

To muse on scenes of former days,

Of ambuscades, of tortures and of death,

To swell the bugle's note, echo the cannon's shot,
And raise the soul-inspiring shout of victory;
Be then my task."

The Revolutionist.-A Play.

The campaign of 1781 was commenced. The ball of the revolution had slowly receded from the scene of its first impulse, and the active operations of warfare had been transferred from the northern, to the southern part of the American Continent. A long and diversified succession of events concurred to render this period peculiarly interesting. The latter part of the preceding year had been marked by the destruction of Colonel Washington's troop at Monks Corner, and by the capitulation of Charleston to Sir Henry Clinton; which disasters, connected with the butchery of Buford's party at Waxhaw, the shameful defeat of Gates at Camden, and the

subsequent ruin and misery attendant upon it, had effectually damped the ardour of liberty, and almost crushed resistance. The conqueror's footsteps were marked by acts of cruelty, and scenes of coldblooded oppression, alike revolting to humanity and honour. Their dark path was illumined by the glare of burning cottages, and their shouts of revelry mingled with the screams of the devoted Americans. The halter and famine awaited those of the males who escaped the sword of the enemy, and the females suffered the joint horrors of cruelty and brutality. The arm of protection was withered and nerveless, and the loud, bold cry of freedom and victory, was hushed into the most abject whisper of submission. But, the scene suddenly changed and the star of the south again shone with doubly reflected brilliancy. Ferguson with the flower of the British army, was cut to pieces by the Virginia yeomanry upon King's, Mountain. Tarleton, the sanguinary spirit, so long a terror to the south, was driven by Morgan in ruin and disgrace from the Cowpens. The destruction of Pyle with his band of tories by the legionary forces of Lee, checked the rapidly increasing growth of loyalty, and with the flash of the last cannon that thundered upon the plains of Guilford, forever vanished the spell which had so long enthralled the liberties of Southern America.

It was upon a mild evening in the month of March '81, that a young officer bearing the Continental uniform, was seen passing through the tract of country lying between the Haw and Deep rivers in North Carolina, at that time the theatre of contend

THE SOLDIER'S GRATITUDE.

7

ing operations between the legionary forces of Tarleton and Lee. It was naturally a sterile region; but now rendered completely desolate by the ravages of war, which had laid waste all the slightest vestiges of that improvement, by which its barrenness in former days had been partially relieved. In addition to the other unpleasant reflections occasioned by the solitary and desolate prospect around him, the officer was racked with dread presentiments of being captured by some of the roving bands of loyalists and desperadoes, with which the country was swarming. He was brave, yet the idea of being subjected to the ignominious fate, which was the never-failing lot of those who were captured in this war of extermination, was a thought sufficient to strike despondency into the stoutest bosom. He determined, however, in case of attack, to make the most desperate resistance which his power afforded ; and as the sun descended, and the hour of twilight and of danger drew near, he carefully primed his pistols with fresh powder, and drew his sword-hilt to a position which admitted of a ready grasp. He had as yet seen no symptoms of a dwelling, and was calculating upon the uncomfortable prospect of spending the night in the wilderness, when at the pinnacle of a knoll at some distance, he saw the top of a chimney. He spurred his jaded horse, who seemed to have lost his instinct, and moved at a sluggish gait, although near a place of refreshment. He at last reached the wished-for spot, but his hopes were at once blasted, when instead of a comfortable cottage, with all its attendant provisions of kind

ness and hospitality, he beheld nought but prostrate walls, the mouldering carcases of men and cattle, and the surface of the earth scorched and blackened by bivouac fires. This was the first complete specimen of partizan warfare which the young officer had as yet witnessed; and after the first strong emotion of horror had partially subsided, the reflection that this might one day be the fate of his own beloved family, who had as yet escaped the ravages of warfare, upon the peaceful banks of the mighty James, caused a tear to start from his eye, and struck to his soul with heaviness. He had slowly turned to proceed, when his eye was caught by the appearance of a horseman emerging by a small path from a thicket of pines at his right, Concealed from view by the projection of the ruined chimney, the young officer had full leisure, not only to examine the dress and appearance of the stranger as he approached towards him, but to revolve the chances of his being a friend or foe. He saw at a glance that he was a large, and apparently, very powerful man. Upon his head he wore the cavalry cap, then common to both armies, but a view of his clothes and uniform was entirely intercepted by an immense scarlet cloak, which enveloped his whole body and hung almost to the earth. He was mounted upon a large roan charger, whose ease of movement and elegance of limb attracted the admiration of the officer, as they showed evident marks of the long-boasted blood of the favourite lowland steed. The stranger had now approached so near that he determined to remove from his place of con

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