Through this red sea our God has made our pathway safe to shore ;

Our promised land stands full in sight; shout now as ne'er before!'

And, as the tower came crashing down, the bells, in clear accord, Pealed forth the grand old German hymn, — All good souls praise the Lord!'

EXERCISE LXX.

A FLEET IN JEOPARDY.- Anon

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In the latter part of the month of January, 1801, the day dawned with every indication of bad weather. A mass of dense and heavy clouds, piled upon each other, occupied all space to the southwest; the sun, in his course, looked with a fiery aspect; and the sea-fowl, with the wonderful instinct that puzzles the wise, from their foreknowledge of the storm, came screaming in upon the land; -the wind blew fiercely, and in fearful gusts;-the laboring clouds seemed preparing for a terrible discharge; and distant thunder rolled along the horizon. The masses of clouds, as they sailed along the ocean, nearly shut out the light of day, and rose at opposite extremities into huge mountains of vapor: they were illuminated by fitful flashes of lightning, and looked like giant batteries erected in the heavens.

Comparative darkness came on with a suddenness that I never before had observed; and the gusts were terrific. During this elemental war, the British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Lord Keith, with the army designed to repel that of Bonaparte from Egypt, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, closely crammed in men-of-war and transports, to the number of two hundred sail, were carrying a heavy press of canvass, to avoid a lee shore: that shore was Caramania, in Asia Minor, a most mountainous, well-wooded, black-looking coast.

We were in search of Marmorice harbor, the appointed

rendezvous of the Egyptian expedition; and the Asiatic pilots, frightened at the dangerous position of the fleet, in this tremendous weather, lost the little knowledge they had formerly possessed of this unfrequented and frowning coast, whose mountains towered high above the clouds, and on which no vestige of human life could be seen. Every glass, in the clearance between the squalls, was eagerly turned upon the precipitous shore, upon which the heavy waves beat with most terrific grandeur.

It was evident to the meanest capacity, that unless the harbor could be entered before night, the transports, filled with British warriors, would be wrecked on the lee shore, with no chance of assistance. The men-of-war, by dint of carrying sail, might escap; but the great majority of this fine army, would, in a few hours, become food for the monsters of the deep, or the ferocious and ravenous tenants of the vast forests, that seemed interminable to our straining sight. As each withdrew his glass, with a disappointed look, the round-faced, laughing midshipman lost his disposition for fun and frolic, and all at once became a reflecting, sedate personage.

The admiral, on whom all the responsibility rested, endeavored to assume a calmness of tone and manner, which the honesty of his open nature would not brook: his agitation was visible in the contortions of his venerable countenance, and the sudden starts of his nervous system. • Fire a gun, and hoist a signal of attention to the fleet!' said his lordship. 'They have all answered, my lord,' said the officer of the signal department.

Now, be particular: ask if any one is qualified to lead into Marmorice.'

As the negative flag flew at the mast-head of the men-ofwar, every countenance proportionally fell. At length, with heartfelt joy, I proclaimed that one of our sloops had hoisted her affirmative.

'Who is she, youngster? Do not keep me in suspense!' 'The Petrel, my lord.'

I saw an ejaculation of thankfulness rise warm from the heart to the lips of Lord Keith, as he piously raised his eyes, and pressed his hand on his heart. Signal for the fleet to bear up, make more sail, and follow the Petrel!' said Lord Keith Captain Inglis may be depended on.' And we shook

out a reef, and set the maintop-gallantsail, which soon closed our leader, the Petrel As we approached this mountainous and novel land, the idea, (and it was an astounding one,) seemed to dwell on and occupy the most unreflecting mind, that, should Captain Inglis be wrong, every ship, with twentyfive thousand men, would be the sacrifice of such error! Lord Keith ordered the signal of attention with the Petrel's pendants. Captain Inglis, your responsibility is awful,' said the telegraph. Are you perfectly certain of the entrance of Marmorice?'

'Perfectly sure,' said the answer, and right ahead.'

'Signal-officers on the foreyard, with your glasses!' said the admiral; and, slinging our telescopes, we ascended: indeed it was time; for now the roar of the waves, as they broke on the coast, throwing their spray on high, conveyed a dismal idea of our impending fate.

'A narrow entrance ahead!' called the signal-lieutenant. 'Do the midshipmen make out the same?'

'We all of us discern it, my lord !' shouted the whole, at the very extent of our voices.

'God be praised for this great mercy!' ejaculated his lordship, uncovering and bowing his head with great devotion; and I do aver and believe that the grateful sentiment pervaded every heart in the ship.

The entrance of Marmorice now became distinctly visible to all on deck, from the contrast of the deep, still water to the creamy froth on the shore; and the signal for the fleet to crowd all sail for the port in view, and the men-of-war to haul their wind, until the merchant-men had entered the channel, was flying at our ship's mast-head, as she shot into the gut of Marmorice. The tremendous mountains overshadowed us, and seemed inclined, from their great height, to come thundering down upon us, like the tremendous avalanches in the mountains of Switzerland.

We now entered the spacious and splendid harbor, circular in its form, and more than twenty miles in circumference. It created great astonishment from its vast magnitude, — being capable of containing all the ships in the world, and from

its mountainous shore, with immense forests. In so small a nook as to be nearly invisible, stands, on a rock, a fort, with a few wretched houses, surrounded by a high wall, for the purpose, I considered, of keeping out the wild beasts,

which seemed here lords of the ascendant. This fortification displayed the crescent, and was saluted with eleven guns, as we took up anchorage, closely followed by our numerous fleet.

Scarcely had we moored, when the heavy masses of clouds that had rested on and capped the high land, now opened upon us in earnest; and the forked lightning darted among the fleet with fatal effect. The gale increased to a perfect hurricane, and blew from all points of the compass; the flakes of ice, for they were too large to be called hail, came down with such prodigious force, as to destroy man and beast; and whoever witnessed that storm, could entertain no doubt of a special providence in the affairs of men. We were all safe moored; and our hearts expanded in thankfulness to the Eternal Power that had watched over our safety.

EXERCISE LXXI.

KOSCIUSKO.*- Anon.

The Russian general, Suwarrow,† afterwards so famous, entered Lithuania, in the summer of 1794, and defeated the corps of the patriot army of Poland. On the other hand, General Fersen advanced rapidly, at the head of a considerable body, to join Suwarrow.

Kosciusko resolved at all hazards to prevent this junction, and left Warsaw, in September. But the orders he had sent to General Poninski, to meet him, were intercepted by the Russians: the corps of that chief could not join him; and the important pass of a river was forced by the Russians. x

At last, on the sixth of October, Kosciusko was attacked by the army of Generson, three times superior to his own. The battle, most bloody, and most fatal to the Poles, lasted an entire day: the Russians were twice repulsed; and prodigies of valor rendered the fortune of the day doubtful, when Kosciusko fell senseless, pierced with wounds. He had made his attendants swear not to abandon him living to the power of

* Pronounced, Kostseosko. †Soovarrov. G sounding as in get.

the Russians; and it is asserted that some Polish horsemen, not being able to rescue his body, struck him with their sabres on the head, and left him for dead on the field of battle.

The Cossacks were already preparing to strip his body, when he was recognized by some officers. As soon as the name of Kosciusko was pronounced, even the Cossacks themselves testified the respect due to courage and misfortune. All the aid of art was lavished on him; and he was treated with the greatest regard. But an order soon arrived to have him transported to St. Petersburg, where the empress Catharine, who was sometimes generous, but then too much irritated to be so, had him plunged into a dungeon.

He would, without doubt, have terminated his career in prison, or augmented the number of wretched Poles, who already languished in the deserts of Siberia, if the death of the empress had not come to change his destiny.

One of the first acts of Paul, the First, was to render homage to the virtues of Kosciusko. He not only immediately set him at liberty, but granted him a pension, which the noble Pole would not touch; and the brevet of which he sent back, as soon as he reached a soil beyond the fear of Russian influence.

When his numerous wounds were healed, Kosciusko repaired to America, where he was received, as a citizen-hero should be, who had been lavish of his blood in the two worlds, for the sacred cause of liberty. In 1798, he returned to France, where the same honors awaited him: at Paris, every faction united in celebrating his arrival; and his countrymen, of the army of Italy, having found, at the taking of Loretto, the sabre of an ancient defender of Poland and Germany, John Sobiesky, who had vanquished the Turks under the walls of Vienna, judged Kosciusko alone worthy of possessing the weapon, and sent it to him.

Kosciusko preferred a sojourn in France to any other, and remained there a long time, without accepting, however, any employment. The Polish hero, in an humble retreat in the country, occupied his leisure hours in rustic labor, and amused himself with the culture of flowers. But he did not cease to be attentive to the destiny of his country, and to give useful lessons to his fellow-citizens.

In 1814, when France was invaded by foreign troops, Kosciusko happened to be at a country-house, in the environs