Sketches of the History and Present Condition of Tripoli, No. XI [pp. 525-530]

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SOUTHERN LITERA ssNER.
VOL. 11. RICHMOND, AU GUS No. IX.
T. W. WHITI, PROPRIETOR. FIVE DOLLARS PER AN-NUM.
THE RULER'S FAITH.
BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.
"Come, lay thine hand upon her, and she shall live."
Matthew 9th and lStlh.
Death cometh to the chamber of the sick.
The ruler's daughter, like the peasant's child,
Grows pale as marble. Hark, that hollow me.n
Which none may help, and then, the last, faint breath
Subsiding with a shudder!
The loud wail
Bespeaks an idol fallen from the shrine
Of a fond parent's heart. A wither'd flower
rs there, oh mother, where thy proudest hope
Solac'd itself with garlands, and beheld
iNew buddings every morn. Father,'tis o'er!
That voice is silent, which had been thy harp,
Quickening thy footstep nightly toward thy home,
Minglinllg, perchance, an echo all too deep
Even with the temple-worship, when the soul
Should deal with God alone.
What stranlger-step
Breaketh the trance of grief? Whoa radiant brow
In meekness, and in majesty doth bend
Beside the bed of death?
"She doth but sleep,
The damsel is not dead."
A smother'd hiss
Contemptuous rises from the wondering band
Who beat the breast and raise the licens'd wail
Of Judah's mourning.
Look ut the dead!
Heaves not the winding-sheet? Tli')se trembling lidsWhat peers between their fringes, like the hue
Of dewy violet? The blanch'd lips dispart,
And what a quivering, long-drawn sigh restores
Their rose-leafbeauty! Lo, the clay-cold hand
Giaspeth the Master's, and with sudden spring
That shrouded sleeper, like a timid fawn,
Hides in her mother's bosom!
Faith's strong root
Was in the parent's spiri4 and its boon
How beautiful!
0 mother, who dost gaze
Upon thy daughter, in that deeper sleep
Which threats the soul's salvation, breathe her namne
To that Redeemer's ear, both when she smiles
In all her glowing beauty on the morn,
And when, at night, her clustering tresses sweep,
Her downy pillow, in the trance of dreams,
Or when at pleasure's beckoning she goes forth,
Or to the meshes of an earthly love
Yields her young heart! Be eloquent for her!
Take no denial, till that gracious hand
Which rais'd the ruler's dead, give life to herThat better life, whose wings surmount the tomb!
'SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY
AND PRESENT CONDITION OF TRIPOLI, WITH SOME AC COUNTS OF THE OTHER BARBARY STATES.
NO. XI.
BY ROBERT GREENHOW.
By the evening of the 3d of July, the preparations
for the bombardment of the Emperor's castle were com pleted; ditches had been dug to the extent of more than
two thousand yards, and the bl+t,ries some of which
were within musket shot of the vw, I, were armed with
six sixteen-pounders, tef tw-: y.-four-poutnders, four
eleven.inch mortars and six nil' i,,ch howitzers. In
order to secure themselves against ai; re "lt attack,
the French had likewise established cotl.',ns
between the cl,:rent bodies of their forces by DO:a
across the fields and gardens, while they had barricaded
or otherwise fortified the lanes and passes which separated their positions from those of their enemies. All
this was done notwithstanding the bold and persevering
efforts of the Algerines, who maintained an almost constant though ill-directed fire on the workmen from their
batteries, and annoyed themn by frequent sorties.
At day break on the morning of the 4th, a rocket was
thrown up from the quarters of the French commander
as a signal for the commencement of the attack, and
all the batteries were instantly opened on the devoted
fortress. Its dauntless defenders returned the fire,
which they continued for some time with great spirit
but with little effect, their balls and shells causing
scarcely any damage to the persons or works of the
besiegers. The walls of the castle, high and entirely
exposed, soon exhibited evidences of the skill of the
French artillerists; the materials of which they were
built, crumbles u'nder the "iron shower" falling incessantly upon them; and the embrasures, made unnecessarily wide, afforded but little protection either to the
guns or to those engaged in serving them.
By eight o'clock the guns of the castle were nearly
all dismounted, and the number of its effective defenders had been so much diminished, that it was found
necessary to desert the ramparts, and retire within the
great tower, which from the thickness of its walls offered at least a temporary security. On this last place of
refiige, the Hasnagee hoisted a black flag, in token of
his deternmination to die rather than yield, according to
the promise which he had made to his master. He was
however released fioin this promise by a signal from
the Casauba indicating the Dey's wish that the fortress shtld be abandoned; this was accordingly done
and the garrison escaped just as the French lin( effected a practicable breach in its wall. General Hurel
who commanded the nearest battery, was then in the
act of advancing with his men towards the opening,
when suddenly the earth shook, the tow ers of the castle
were seen to totter, flashes of flame and dense clouds
of smoke rose above them, and an explosion ensued
which momentarily stunned the ardent soldiers. The
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