"Were all in Malwood Vale so blest? Went down in clouds and sadness, This desolate and mournful being is the venerable Pastor of the Valley, whose only child, Ellen, the heroine of the tale, has forsaken him : "She whose young life's first clouded ray Had clasped his neck, and climbed his knee, Oh, moment of parental pride! We pass over the details of Ellen's infancy and early youth, though beautifully touched, and select the following passage, descriptive of the blameless enjoyments of domestic life : "When rain without is pelting fast, Disturbed percliance by ruthless thought "When by that hearth, so brightly blazing, Poured out its speechless tribute there, In such a home she's shrined - Than where that sacred band is twined Thy holy bond shall sever; Nothing can be more happily described than the effect upon the dog of the roaring gust in the chimney. It is a picture which must bring back the reality to every reader's mind; and of which it may most justly be said, that it has oft been seen, though ne'er so well expressed.' One rough and stormy night, when "The sun had set In many a wintry cloud, And round their dwelling, cold and wet, The wintry wind blew loud, a sound Of voices in the blast half drowned, Approached; and, nearer as it came, Called loudly on Fitzarthur's name; Distress and haste were in the tones Of that loud cry; and feeble moans, As the old Pastor turned to hear, Struck indirectly on his car, Confus'dly mingled with the wail That sobbed in the subsiding gale. And soon th' unclosing door displayed A rugged group, whose vent'rous trade Daily with boat and net was plied On the near ocean's foaming tide, One in their sinewy arms they bore, Whose eyes seemed closed to wake no more, But for his low and feeble plaint, That murmured faintly, and more faint." The stranger thus committed to the hospitality of the good Pastor, has been wrecked that night on the adjacent coast. He only, of all the " hapless band" sailing in the "gallant vessel," has escaped destruction : "Close round a floating spar he clung, Till the returning billows flung Their living burthen on the beach." Some friendly fishermen were near, who rescued him from the surge, "Ere the next fast retreating wave nothing delays the marriage but the necessity of waiting till, by suing for it in person, the lover is able to obtain the consent of a "Grasping uncle, cold and proud," on whom, as he asserts," his fortunes hang;" but, ere long, he acknowledges to Ellen a thousand doubts and fears respecting this meditated application to his unfeeling kinsman; and succeeds in persuading her, at least, that it would be folly to defer a union which might be privately solemnized, and kept concealed "Till happier times should clear away Fitzarthur, however, is not so easily to and, after "short debate," agreed to be influenced. He rejects with firm convey him to their Pastor's, "Where entrance and relief was free To every child of misery." Here, by " days and weeks of tender care," he was restored to health and strength. He had been a soldier, one "Whose harassed frame From foreign fields of conflict came." The consequence, as might be anticipated, of De Morton's introduction at the parsonage, is his falling in love with Ellen, and Ellen with him. He lingers around her throughout the whole ensuing spring and summer; gains upon the good Pastor's heart, "Adapting to the spirit there, Words, looks, and taste with cautious care. Or studious hours, in serious talk, Oft would he speak, with seeming awe, And then he thought, Heaven's will be done! "His simple and ingenuous mind, ness the proposal of a clandestine marriage; and, though with reluctance and pain, bids the young man depart, and prohibits his re-appearance till the obstacle is removed which opposes itself to the public disposal of his hand. The venerable monitor is obeyed; the longcherished guest quits Malwood; and Ellen, sad, yet submissive-clinging to hope, and lingering in every spot, dearer by remembrance made," in which she had heretofore wandered with her lover, sees the winter elapse now "When overhead, the lark no more Was heard her summer song to pour, But in her stead, the red-breast nigh, Hopped noiseless, with enquiring eye," without forfeiting her dependence on his honour. The return of summer, however, brings with it the keenest apprehensions, caused by De Morton's protracted and unexplained delay. Poor Ellen's health becomes affected; her spirits and activity wholly give way, except when in the presence of her father, to avert from whose observation the full amount of her anguish she exerts herself with a sweetness, which, at so trying a season, renders her peculiarly interesting. The beautiful eulogium, which follows, of the female character when adorned with its appropriate virtues, "Long-suffering, mild, meek tenderness," we have not space to insert entire: but we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of presenting to our readers its admirable concluding lines: "Behold her tears in secret flow, For those she loves, how fond her cares "In agony she gazed around; The developement of De Morton's character, and the consequent punishment of the remorseful Ellen, now rapidly succeed. He deserts her ere the first twelvemonth has elapsed after their clopement; she is a mother, and believes herself to be a wife;a longer period, however, than usual, of neglect and avoidance on his part, had rendered her a prey to dejection and wretched-.. ness, when a letter arrives that nearly annihilates her: "De Morton's last farewell it bore, v T A dreadful species of calm, though intense despair, assails her on the perusal of this infamous scroll, from which it is, weeks, nay months, ere she recovers. Her slender store of money begins to fail; her health declines; she remains utterly bereft of friends, of reputation, of means to exist, except such as she needle's skill," to provide a scanty susobtains by mechanically plying the that her father has irrevocably renounced tenance for her infant, She believes: letter which she had addressed to him her: De Morton had suppressed every since her flight; and dead to hopestunned by the tremendous penalty which her fault had brought upon her, she neither dared to renew her filial supplications, nor had sufficient energy left to retain even a wish that they might be heard. The progressive and touching manner in which her conversion from this state of unnatural and moody apathy is effected, cannot be too highly commended. We shall select, for the conclusion of this article, the passage, though somewhat long, to which we allude, persuaded that it must excite in desire to know how the sorrows of poor every reader of sensibility, an anxious Ellen terminate. 1 "The Sabbath day, the day of Nor ever had her footsteps trodata du. Misch To seek the house of prayer and praise. To entering crowds, they seemed denied Unseen, her entrance to oppose→→→→ From the gay crowds that passed her by, A Sabbath's summer-noon was o'er, Had ne'er defaced his Maker's plan;' "Een Ellen's heart half felt the power, A Loitering and musing as she past, Ellen approached the end at last Of that deep glade; when on her ear A chime of bells came pealing clear, Borne sweetly on the swelling breeze; And soon between the parting trees, A lovely vale disclosed to sight Its hamlet group of dwellings white, And its grey steeple's ivied fane, Where the long window's latticed Reflected in effulgence bright The warm red beams of evening light, From that grey spire, the sacred sound Of Sabbath bells was ringing round, And many a group, with faces glad, In pride of Sunday raiment clad, pane Stood clustering round the church-yard gate, Their pastor's near approach to wait. TH it A "He came, a man with silver hair,; 10JJIIS? And eyes that beamed paternal care, When on his little flock they cast Their silent blessing-as he past, A word, a look, a smile to gain, "The bell had ceased; the rustic throng With silent reverence moved along, And some, as close they passed her by, Lingered with kind enquiring eye, And proffered low, with courteous look, Welcome within to seat and book:The voice of welcome, kind and new, Fell on her heart like balmy dew, It seemed to say, Poor wanderer! come, A father's house invites thee home; Approach; his promised rest is sweet; Cast down thy burthen at his feet.” She entered, and the closing door Shut out the troublous world once more, And all its cares-a fearful host Were soon in holier feelings lost. "But when the reverend preacher rose, How touching was the text he chose! How did her heart within her burn! It was the prodigal's returnUpon that mild persuasive tongue, In breathless eagerness she hung; To her to her! each precious word Seemed strongly, feelingly referred : The Lord had promised to forgive The sinner who would turn and live; And as he spoke, with hands outspread, It would be unfair both to our author, and to those who, we trust, will become desirous of reading this poem, to proceed any further either in our exposition of the story, or our extracts. All we shall add is, that a very elegant and modest introduction in verse is prefixed to the volume, which, we think, will go far towards awakening a favourable disposition in behalf of the writer : and that the catastrophe of the tale is one of the best imagined, and the most impressive, that we have ever met with. CONJECTURES ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF THE TURKS, IN OUR readers will have observed in our pages lately, many notices relating to endeavours of several of the better informed and more public-spirited Greeks to diffuse the actuating impulse of knowledge among their countrymen; nor have we been backward to consider this as the first power of a series, intended to issue in important consequences. Greece, undoubtedly, for ages, was singularly illustrious in arts and arms. Science and literature were honoured, both in public and in private, among her communities; and so much of our own science and literature is to this day derived from Grecian sources, that scarcely any country on earth is allowed claims to superior interest. We study the language, as well as the arts, of our ancient masters; and it may safely be said, that Britain never saw a period at which an acquaintance with it was more honourable, or more general-a period when so extensive a subscription for a costly work of the kind could have been obtained, as that which now distinguishes Mr. Valpy's edition of Stephens's Greek Thesaurus. Greece has long suffered under the most barbarous despotism; but Greece has supported the misfortune with a certain kind of sullen perseverance; and nearly four centuries have seen her sons, for the most part, retain their national characteristics, notwithstanding the allurements held out by their oppressors to effect a substitution of their own; and the indignities perpetrated towards those who sternly refuse compliance. We may say, that the language, the the local usages, differ little manners, from those found by the Turks when first they took possession of the country. We know of nations which have coalesced with their conquerors, and even have taken their name; but a Greek cannot be more injuriously or more dishonourably aspersed, than by being called a Turk or a Mahometan. A Greek may be supple from policy, he may cringe under the pressure of necessity; but at liberty to shew himself, he is another man. This observation, it must be understood, applies rather, in its favourable sense, to the inhabitants of the country, than to Greeks resident in towns; and hence it is that travellers, who mostly see the citizen Greeks, form very inadequate conceptions of the body of the people, with whom they have no intercourse but in passing. Notwithstanding the lapse of nearly four centuries, during which the Ottoman banner has waved triumphant over the country, there were till very lately many parts, and some of them of considerable extent, which retained their liberty, where no Turk dared to shew himself, and where a slight acknowledgment of the Sultan's supremacy was all the obedience he could exact from them. This was remarkable in the Mainiotes, the Spahiotes, the inhabitants of the town and fastnesses of Sulli, who long and valiantly defended their liberty; and if they ultimately fell victims to corruption and treachery, not a few of them still preserve a strong recollection of their former state. Even the Albanians, undoubtedly the best soldiers in the Turkish service, are no longer loyal than while engaged in that service; and |