troop of nymphs, clothed in all the splendors of the rainbow, advanced to welcome Hamet, and chant the glories, of their queen. They sung the praises of Fancy, and the happiness of those who live under her enchanting reign. "Here, in this chosen retreat, the pale form of Misery never disturbs the blissful dreams of the happy subjects of the empire of Imagination. Here, free from the inexorable tyranny of dull reality, they sport in flowery regions of ever blooming beauty, while round their brows float airy forms of love and rapture. Here the sad soul, sated with sensual joys, or pressed down with a load of worldly cares, will find a refuge, where suffering is divested of its pangs, and joy comes to the soul unclogged with those attendants which, in the real world, turn it into all the bitterness of sorrow. Hither, O mortal! turn thy erring and doubtful steps, for here only wilt thou find that heaven which is fabled in the skies!" Hamet listened to this delusive rhapsody with breathless impatience, and falling at the feet of his conductor, thanked her for having at length brought him to a spot that realized all his anticipations.

Conducted by his charming guide, he wandered about through all the mazes of visionary enchantment, and his senses became bewildered in a tumult of delight. It seemed as if nature had selected this little region from the whole world, to display the charms, the wonders and the powers of her creative hand. The grass was greener and more luxuriant than was ever seen, and was softer than Persian silk. Groves of myrtle, orange and citron, whose branches intér-twined in social harmony, foliaged the landscape, and the birds that sung in these delightful shades, were birds of Paradise, whose plumage and whose song are the delight of the immortals. Beautiful transparent streams meandered, in graceful curves, among the meadows, and with their low murmuring lulled the heart of Hamet, which was tumultuous with admiration, into a feeling of languid felicity, more luxurious than all his former sensations. The air too, possessed a seductive power,

whose balmy influence disposed the mind to reverie, and while it relaxed the body to a state of delicious lassitude, quickened the imagination into the most glowing conceptions. At length, having exhausted himself in wandering and admiring, Hamet laid himself down at the foot of a spreading tree, at whose root ran a little gurgling stream, and fell asleep.

When he awoke, he, for the first time, since his abode in the happy island, felt a sensation of hunger; for though the imagination sometimes conquers our reason, it cannot overcome the wants of our nature. The visionary, who wastes his time in the indulgence of idle abstraction, and permits his fancy to transport him whither she pleases, will soon be brought to the. sense of suffering reality, by some of those inevitable wants which are the common lot of humanity. Seeing the oranges waving luxuriantly above his head, Hamet stretched out is arm, and essayed to pluck one from its branch, but it illuded his grasp. He tried another, and a third; but still, as his hand approached, they vanished from his view.-In wonder and disappointment, he contemplated the delusion, and, faint with hunger, laid himself down to slake his thirst in the stream that murmured at his feet. As he approached his lips towards it, the waters retired, and though its murmurs still continued, the bottom became dry. A dire and horrible apprehension that his senses had been deluded, now rushed over his mind, and the prospect of starving in the lap of seeming plenty, struck a cold damp upon his heart. In hopeless distraction he wandered through vocal groves and verdant valleys, in search of something to alleviate his wants; but wherever he came, the fruits illuded his grasp, and the waters vanished under his lips.

At length, faint, weary, and exhausted, he arrived at the spot where he first landed, and, sinking down to the ground, waited, in gloomy and hopeless resignation, the consummation of his fate. As his last hour approached, raising himself with a desperate effort, he beheld afar off the smoke of his native cottage curling above the blue hills, and presenting au

Every eye was turned, searching for the British commander in chief, anxious to look at that man, heretofore so much the object of their dread. All were disappointed. Cornwallis held himself back from the humiliating scene; obeying sensations which his great character ought to have stifled. He had been unfor

tunate, not from any false step or deficiency of exertion on his part, but from the infatuated policy of his superior, and the united power of his enemy, brought to bear upon him alone: there was nothing with which he could reproach himself: there was nothing with which he could reproach his brave and faithful army; why not then appear at its head in the day of misfortune, as he had always done in the day of triumph? The British General in this instance deviated from his usual line of conduct, dimming the splendor of his long and brilliant career.

SKETCHES OF CHARACTERS.

CHARACTER OF GEN. WASHINGTON.

THIS great and good man died at his seat in the State of Virginia, upon the 14th day of December, 1799, in the 68th year of his age, after an illness of only four-and-twenty hours. This illustrious General and Politician was characterized by such rare endowments, and such fortunate temperament, that every action of his life was equally exempted from vice and from weakness. The powers of his mind, and the dispositions of his heart, were admirably suited to each other. It was the union of the most consummate prudence with the most perfect moderation.His views, though large and liberal, were never extravagant. His virtues, though comprehensive and beneficent, were discriminating, judicious and practical.

His character had nothing in it to dazzle by its wildness, and surprize by eccentricity; it was of a higher order of moral beauty; it included every thing great and elevated, had no false and tinsel ornaments, and was incapable of change from the varying accidents of manners, of opinions and times.

General Washington, placed in circumstances of the most trying difficulties at the commencement of the American contest, accepted that situation which was pre-eminent in danger and responsibility.His perseverance overcame every obstacle; his moderation conciliated every opposition; his genius supplied every resource; his enlarged view could plan, revise and improve every branch of civil and military operation; he had the superior courage which can act or forbear to act, as true policy dictates, careless of the reproaches of ignorance. He knew how to conquer by waiting, in spite of obloquy, for

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He had been unfor

Every eye was turned, searching for the British commander in chief, anxious to look at that man, heretofore so much the object of their dread. All were disappointed. Cornwallis held himself back from the humiliating scene; obeying sensations which his great character ought to have stifled. tunate, not from any false step or deficiency of exertion on his part, but from the infatuated policy of his superior, and the united power of his enemy, brought to bear upon him alone: there was nothing with which he could reproach himself: there was nothing with which he could reproach his brave and faithful army why not then appear at its head in the day of misfortune, as he had always done in the day of triumph? The British General in this instance deviated from his usual line of conduct, dimming the splendor of his long and brilliant career.