THE FLOWERS.

BY THEOPHILUS SWIFT, Esq.

THESE violets to my fair I bring,
The purple progeny of Spring;
Nor thou, dear girl, the gift refuse,
Love's earliest tribute of the muse.
Whate'er has beauty, worth, or power,
Or grace, or lustre, is a flower.
Wit is a flower; and bards prepare
The flowers of fancy for the fair.
In flower of youth the loves appear,
And lovelier blooms when thou art near
The flower of health. The dancing Hours
Earth's joyful bosom dress with flowers;
And beauty's flowery fetters bind,
In sweet captivity, the mind.

With flowers the Graces Venus deck,
And these adorn a fairer neck;

That neck, whose paradise to range,

A flower I'd prove, and bless the change. One little hour I'd live, then die,

A violet in that heav'n to lie.

Of violets kisses first were made,

And Venus swore they ne'er should fade;
She swore, and by the oath she swore,
The spell improv'd and charm'd the more:
Purpling it rose, the fairest flower
That ever grac'd the poet's bower;
To Laura's lips in haste it flew,
And, blooming there, delights in you.

Still as you charm, some flower we trace,
Some blossom of the mind or face..
When graceful Laura leads the dance,
We cry, The flower of elegance!
Does fashion's wreath her brow adorn;
We know the flower of taste is born:
As the soft hyacinth is seen,

The flower of breeding marks her mien.
Yon lily, symbol of her youth,

Blooms near her heart the flower of truth;
And well these violet buds express
Her beauty's spring of tenderness.
But not the brightest flowers of spring,
Whose odours charge the zephyr's wing,
Not all the vernal sweets that blow,
The violet's grace, the lily's snow,
Like thee in lustre can compare,
Or breathe so fresh, or bloom so fair;
For in thy bosom dwells a flower,
Not time shall taint, nor death devour;
A flower that no rude season fears,
And virtue is the name it bears.

PETER THE GREAT.

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN.

DURING the troubles occasioned by the unbounded ambition of the Princess Sophia*, it is

*Eldest sister of the Czar, who, on seeing her brother placed on the throne, made several attempts on his life.

well known, that the revolt of the Strelitz * brought the empire of Russia to the brink of

ruin.

A brother of the famous Tottelawitau, named Osakoi, a colonel of this body, was beheaded. This execution was followed by the forfeiture of all his property. The Colonel left a son behind him, in the most deplorable state. The young man miraculously escaped the officers of justice, whom Peter had sent in pursuit of him in every direction, and was so lucky as to reach the cottage of a slave who had lived many years with his father, where he remained concealed for some months. This domestic, who had shared the confidence of the father, was very much affected with the situation of the young son, as heir of one of the most illustrious houses in Russia; and as he had committed no offence, he thought the Emperor ought to have been satisfied with the blood of his family, that flowed on the scaffold. These considerations dwelt so powerfully on the mind of the old man, that he formed a plan, which he communicated to Osakoi, and which was neither more nor less than the assassination of the Czar. Notwithstanding he had worked up the feelings of the youth to a great height, yet he trembled at

t

* A militia, similar, in many respects, to that of the Pretosian amongst the Romans, or rather, the Turkish Janissaries. the

the proposition: his personal safety, however, taught him to dissemble the impression that it made, so far as to listen to the means by which it was to be carried into execution. The slave, having supposed that he had succeeded in silencing the voice of religion and conscience, proposed that he should set out for Moscow, where he assured him he would meet with a trusty band of conspirators, ready to place him at their head. Actuated at last perhaps by the infernal spirit of revenge, or the victim of weakness, Osakoi followed his conductor. They arrived at night, and took up their lodging in an inn, near Kremlin, the residence of the Emperor. The slave having found his friends, it was agreed, that, as no time was to be lost, they should hold a council that very night in the ruins of a house within a short distance of the palace.

During all this time, Osakoi had not been able to draw from his guide any knowledge of the number or quality of the conspirators: he pressed him earnestly on these important points, but in vain.

"The hour of meeting approaches," said the slave; you are now going to join a number of persons, animated with a spirit of revenge. Notwithstanding your youth and inexperience, they have chosen you as their head. The hu miliating state to which you are reduced, and

the blood of your father, which cries aloud for vengeance, ought to nerve your arm and inflame your courage: resolution is all that is wanted to crown the attempt with success !"

These words made Osakoi tremble, especially as the inn was full of a great number of Russians, who, according to the custom of the country, drank for the sake of drink.

It is true the slave spoke in a low voice, and in a dialect little known to the Russians at Mosbut that was no reason that some one might not have overheard and understood the discourse.

COW;

The slave and Osakoi repaired to the place of meeting, where they found all the conspirators already assembled.

"You see," faid one of them, who appeared to be the principal, addressing himself to Osakoi, "a circle of unhappy men, who have escaped the tyranny of the Czar. The greater part of our brethren the Strelitz have perished by the hands of the common executioner, and some of them even by the hands of the barbarian himself: he has not, however, been able to extend his fury to us. Heaven has reserved us for the instruments of its justice. The moment is now arrived: young Osakoi, I followed your father to the scaffold; I saw his blood stream down the block, but I could not save him. From that