Why is the Spanish maiden's grave 'Tis not the orange-bough that sends But the Rose of Sharon's eastern bloom And none but strangers pass the tomb The lowly Cross, with flowers o'ergrown, But who hath graved, on its mossy stone, These are the trophies of a chief, -Some blossom pluck'd, some faded leaf, Scorn not her tomb-deny not her Banner and plume might wave. She bound the steel, in battle tried, And stood with brave men, side by side, In the strength and faith of love! That strength prevail'd-that faith was bless'd!" True was the javelin thrown, Yet pierced it not her warrior's breast, She met it with her own! And nobly won, where heroes fell In arms for the holy shrine, A death which saved what she loved so well, And a grave in Palestine. Then let the Rose of Sharon spread And let yon grey stone, undefaced, THE WRECK. All night the booming minute-gun Look'd o'er the tide-worn steep. Had vail'd her topsails to the sand, The queenly ship!-brave hearts had striven, And true ones died with her We saw her mighty cable riven, Like floating gossamer. We saw her proud flag struck that morn, A star once o'er the seas Her anchor gone, her deck uptorn, And sadder things than these. We saw her treasures cast away- And gold was strewn the wet sands o'er, And gorgeous robes-but oh! that shore We saw the strong man still and low, Yet by that rigid lip and brow, Not without strife he died. And near him on the sea-weed lay- But well our gushing hearts might say, For her pale arms a babe had prest, Her very tresses had been flung To wrap the fair child's form, Where still their wet long streamers clung, And beautiful 'midst that wild scene, Deep in her bosom lay his head, Oh! human Love, whose yearning heart, So stamps upon thy mortal part Surely thou hast another lot, There is some home for thee, Where thou shalt rest, remembering not THE RELEASE OF TASSO. There came a bard to Rome; he brought a lyre Or greet a conqueror with its war-notes high; He brought a spirit whose ethereal birth Wild fairy-bowers, and groves of deathless green, On the blue waters, as in joy they sweep, 22 Where, through rich foliage if a sunbeam peep, While the high soul they burst from, pin'd in chains. And in the summer-gardens, where the spray Oh! if it be that wizard sign and spell, ART. VIII. Commentaries on American Law. By JAMES KENT. Vol. i. New-York, Halsted: 1826. To a peculiar, and in our opinion, a most impolitic provision in the constitution of the state of New-York, we are indebted for the present work. According to that fundamental law, no one can exercise the functions of a judge, after he has attained the age of sixty years; an age which, on this side of the Hudson, is considered as that at which the human mind, enriched by knowledge, matured by experience, and unclouded by turbulent passions, is fittest to decide with wisdom and calmness on the complicated affairs of men. Hence, in all countries and in all ages, from the days of Nestor to the present time, the elders of the land have been looked up to as the soundest and most prudent advisers on nice and difficult questions, and to them the name of sages, which implies the highest degree of knowledge and wisdom, has been emphatically applied. But it is otherwise in the state of New-York. There Jefferson and Adams, whose lives were prolonged much beyond the number of years commonly allotted to mankind, and whose lamps shone bright to the last moment, would, during a long period of their existence, have been considered unfit to fill even the petty offices of county magistrates, and to settle a triffing litigated case of slander or assault and battery. Washington, himself, at the moment when his hand was signing that celebrated instrument, the proclamation of neutrality, which saved our country from the horrors of war,* was actually disfranchised in one of the states that was at that time relying on the powers of his mind for its safety. Yet, even he, was incapacitated from being a justice of the peace in the county of Otsego; he was not fit for the office; he was too old; the faculties of his mind were impaired. Such was the reasoning which the New-York constitution would have applied to him as well as to any other, while that mind kept the enraged powers of Europe in respectful awe; and at home, regardless of opposition, was preparing this nation, by the blessings of a long peace, for the glories which it afterwards acquired by a short and successful war. Our author was appointed to the office of recorder of the city of New-York, in the month of March, 1797. In the year 1806, we find him filling the highest place in the Supreme Court of that state, in which he had sat for some years as a puisne judge. On the 25th of February, 1814, he was appointed to the office of chancellor, which he filled until the 31st of July, 1823, when on the stroke of the last hour announcing that he had reached the end of his sixtieth year, he was obliged to descend from the high station which he had filled with so much honour, and return to private life. This was the effect of the constitutional law that we have mentioned. It is said, that this extraordinary law was adopted in consequence of the disgust occasioned by one Daniel Horsmanden, who under the royal government was chief justice of the pro vince of New-York. He was, and it appears justly too, a most unpopular judge; tenacious of his will, and arbitrary in his decisions. He lived to a very advanced age, and the revolution • Washington was, at that time, (in 1793), sixty-one years of age. He was born in the year 1732. |