Our Country's Flag [pp. 699-700]

1840.] Our Country's Flag. 699
Pure spirits do not now shrink from the sordid —they
triumphed then, but the wolf is chained now.
BY J. W. MATTHEWS.
Here ends the story of the "Hermit of the Falls."
Judge thee, reader, whether he is mad: he reasons
calmly sometimes; yet is he not one of those pitia ble beings, the like of whom is found in every in sane hospital? An individual originally of a fine,
sensitive and imaginative mind, the sport of the
master passion-love; but being unfortunate loses
all subjection to reason, and images models of beau ty that his rational eye never saw, treacheries of
which he has never really been the subject; pre sent scenes of loveliness which he cannot in truth
behold, and with the same crazed and diseased ina gination lives in ideal worlds of bliss, and expects a
future state of existence, the highest rapture of
which is the possession of a frail woman, in attachment to whom his weak, though it may be fine
mind, became unmoored-a mind which in the calm
solitude of itself and through the long space of
years, looks upon the joys of Heaven with the gross
eye of a Mahommedan-can he be otherwise than
mad? Nevertheless if thou canst not "make up
thy mind," in thy next visit to Niagara inquire for
the Hermit, and from what thou there learnest,
judge for thyself.
It may be satisfactory to the interested, to state
that Abbot was drowned in the river below the
falls; I think it was in the year 1835, and that his
body was never recovered, but doubtless found repose beneath the wild wave of the torrent, which
whirls its furious surges in the river below. He
had his wish.
The island became too public for him, and he removed his residence out the main land. Three times
a day he was in the habit of bathing in the river.
He was seen by the ferryinan at his accustomed
hour on the day previous to the discovery of his
garments on the banks. He was drowned. W7hether this was intentional on his part, or not, is yet,
and doubtless ever will be, as his history is, a
Mystery. w. c. P.
South Carolina, 1840.
See! see yon gleaming sheet of fire,
And hear that. clear, exulting cry!
Sound! sound the trump and strike the lyre,
Our glorious flag still waves on high.
And still its eagle-guardian wheels
In triumph round his burning home,
While his heart-stirring music peals
Far thro' the vast sky's sounding dome!
Symbol of liberty!- each fold
Has caught the radiance of the sky,
And back in flashing splendor rolled,
From stripes of fire and bars of gold,
The glorious hues that never dieHues that were born in other days,
Where burned the battle's fiercest blaze.
On the uplifting winds of morn
Thy fadeless glories have been borne,
And when the Day-God from the world
Unbound his zone, thy sentinel,
With his majestic pinions furled
Caught the last golden ray which fell.
Where the resistless death-bolt clove
The pall, b e neath wh ose fearful gloom
Full many a mailed warrior strove,
Thy folds hung tremulous above
The fight, and ever as the boom
Of roaring ord'nance, and the shout
Of charging columns thundered by,
Thine eagle's startling scream rang out,
And glittering blade and waving plume
W~rent down beneath his angry eye.
From out the thick and stifling smoke
That veiled the cannon's horrid form,
Thy radiant hues in splendor broke,
Flashing amid the combat's stormAnd when the gory fight was o'er,
And hushed the cannon's mighty roar,
Then, starry banner, thou did'st wave
With pity o'er the fallen brave!
Proud Ocean-Flag! thy stars have shone
In glory o'er the blood-stained deck
Of many a battle-shivered wreck,
When the fierce tempest's hurtling moan
Ch anted the dying sailor's dirge
Over the dark and boiling surge!
And when the manly form was cold,
And Death a triumph there had won,
No muffled funeral-bell was tolled,
But slowly boomed the minute-gun,
While sadly round that gallant breast
Thy proud and brilliant folds were prest,
Robing the wanderer of the deep,
Even in his last and dreamless sleep!
Literary and Intellectual Distinction.
There is a wide difference between literary and in tellectual distinction. A mere scribbler who is fortunate in hitting on a popular subject at a proper time, may attain to a
wide literary distinction, while a stupendous mental organization and long and unintermitted studies are necessary to
intellectual distinction.
Formation of Opinions.
Pallas sprang from the brain of Jupiter, perfect in beauty
and wisdom. There are but few of our opinions which
spring in that way from our minds, as much examination
must necessarily precede the establishment of any proposition we entertain.
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1840.]
Our Counh-y's Fla.-.
699
OTTR COUNTRY'S FLAG.
Ay! thou hast waved o'er battle-field,
Where stirring trumpetswildly pealed
And cheered the spirits of the brave,
When to the deadly charge they sprang
And found, a,y! nobly found a grave
Even while the truinpet's voice still rang!
Flag of the free! the I)atriot forms
That guarded thee in days of old,
Where e'er the sable caiinon rolled
Its thunde,r-anthem through the storms,