been enabled to form a pretty correct notion of the feelings and character, as well as history, of this extraordinary man. A Creek by birth, he left his own tribe, whilst a boy, and sought an asylum amongst the Seminoles, where he was reared, and where he flourished.

'His father was a white man, by the name of Powell, who abandoned him, and sent him, a vagrant upon the world, to cater for himself. He soon became a favorite amongst the Seminoles; and, from his force of character and genius alone, he rose to the highest honors of the nation.

'At all the ball-plays, and other manly sports, Powell was reputed first in the nation; and his name was changed to As-se-o-la, from the fact that he could drink a greater quantity of the black drink,' (called as-se-o-la,) which was prepared from some bitter and nauseating herbs, and drunk preparatory to the fast and feast of the green-corn dance.

"He is entirely a "self-made man," and one of an extraordinary character; which is conclusively proved by the fact, that he is acknowledged and followed by all the chiefs of the nation, as their head war-chief. Though he is but a demi-savage in blood, yet he speaks not a word of English; and in his actions and feelings is as perfectly an Indian as any man I ever saw. In stature he is about the middle size; and in his features there is no striking peculiarity to stamp them, but a pleasing symmetry of proportion, upon which the lights and shadows of passion and feeling are seen to play with perfect effect. There is, at times, spread over them the most benignant and expressive smile, even to perfect effeminacy; and, at others, they are darkened with the sternness of a Brutus, or the agony of a dying gladiator. In fact, he is the perfect beau idéal of an Indian prince.

'His face is certainly one of the most expressive I ever looked on, - capable of the most vivid and striking exhibition of the human passions, that can possibly be imagined; bearing upon its front the predominant characteristic impress of sternness, reserve, and perseverance.

'He has a mind of a wonderful construction, calculated to fortify, and yet destroy itself. He smiles and fawns and languishes before the gazing world; but in his solitude, or when he tells in confidence his tale of grief, though smiling dewdrops moisten his eyes at one moment, yet the burning hero rushes through them at the next, - and his clenched teeth

are set in silent oaths of irretractable revenge. Naturally of a restless and impatient disposition, in his captive interviews with the civilized world, he smiles; - but in his solitude, — he grieves and pines with a broken heart. The world, who barely see him, shake the hand of a laughing fawn; but those who listen to his griefs, as I have done, will see the sternness of a Roman, and, in his agony, a beautiful statue of Vengeance.'

Ye've trailed me through the forest,
Ye've tracked me o'er the stream;
And, struggling through the everglade,
Your bristling bayonets gleam:
But I stand as should the warrior,
With his rifle and his spear;
The scalp of vengeance still is red,
And warns ye, 'Come not here!'
I loathe ye in my bosom,

I scorn ye with mine eye;

And I'll taunt ye with my latest breath,
And fight ye till I die!

I ne'er will ask ye quarter,

And I ne'er will be your slave;
But I'll swim the sea of slaughter,
Till I sink beneath its wave.

EXERCISE LXXXIV.

THE ASPECT OF HOLLAND.— Anon.

A great part of the fertile and cultivated soil of Holland, as is well known, has been redeemed from the ocean, or from the stagnant waters of the rivers, by which it is intersected. The inhabitants are obliged always to guard their possessions with vigilance, and often to repel encroachments with activity and vigor.

From the port of Ostend to the mouth of the Ems, along a line of coast extending several hundred miles, there is no barrier against the invasion of the sea, except a continued range of dykes or mounds of sand, raised by the art, and preserved by the industry, of man. By miracles of enterprise and perseverance, the Hollanders have thus been able to say to the raging ocean, without presumption or blasphemy, 'Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.'

Within this line we find fertile fields, extensive meadows, magnificent pleasure-grounds, noble parks, smiling villages, and populous cities No landscape is more rich or striking;

no country of the same extent supports such a number of inhabitants, or contains such an accumulation of the fruits of industry and the materials of happiness.

From the top of several of the town-spires, you can see nearly all the great cities of Holland, spread out before you, on a surface as level as the ocean, and can trace the line of the ocean itself, by the range of yellow sand eminences, destined to act as a bulwark against its waves.

At flood-tide, or with the wind blowing in a particular direction, the level of the waters beyond the dykes, becomes higher than the dry land within them. You may, therefore, hear the waves beating against the barrier above your head, and see that nothing but its height and strength, can protect you from their violence.

6

To this enemy from without, the Dutch have to add one, frequently no less terrible, from within. Your kingdom,' said Napoleon to his brother Louis, may be defined the deposit of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt; the great arteries of my empire.' The contents of these great' arteries' are drained off in a thousand canals and lines of communication between city and city, between village and village; nay, even between street and street, and field and field, and pass, with diminished power, and by almost imperceptible degrees, into the German Ocean, or the Zuyder Zee. But when their volume is violently increased by storms in the higher regions of Europe, or their discharge interrupted by tempests on the coast, a great part of the country is exposed to as much danger from their overflow, as from the agitated waters of the sea.

The soil of Holland, thus rescued and protected, bears everywhere the marks of its origin. It consists either of pure sand, as if it had recently been raised from the bottom of the sea; or of a mossy, black mould, as if formed from the inundation of a river.

The care of supporting the dykes, and protecting the land, which is liable to be inundated, several times every year, by the sea or the rivers, is intrusted to a permanent administration. Obliged to watch their dykes, sluices, and waterworks, as the garrison of a besieged fortress stations sentinels on its ramparts, this body must be always ready and always efficient.

But, notwithstanding all this care, and all these precau

tions, to resist or to repel their watery enemy; notwithstanding this well-organized body of inspectors and engineers; notwithstanding the ample funds and great physical force placed at their disposal, and ready to be employed at their bidding, the violence of the elements often sets all their vigilance, skill, and power at defiance; sweeping away their strongest bulwarks, and threatening their country with a general inundation.

EXERCISE LXXXV.

INUNDATION IN HOLLAND, 1825.- Anon.

The end of the year 1824, and the commencement of 1825, will be long remembered in other parts of Europe, as well as in Holland. About the beginning of the winter months, extraordinary storms prevailed on all parts of the continent, but particularly in its higher regions and mountain ranges. Waterspouts and torrents of rain descended in Switzerland and the Black Forest, not only sufficient to damage the districts on which they fell, but to overthrow dykes and embankments, to cover whole valleys, and sweep away whole villages, with their inhabitants and cattle.

Wirtemberg, Baden, and the countries situated near the Alps, first felt this dreadful visitation. The valleys of the Necker and the Rhine, towards Heidelberg and Manheim, were entirely overflowed, and dreadfully damaged. Similar calamities were experienced in Hanover, Prussia, and other parts of Germany.

While all the rivers that discharge themselves into the North Sea and the Baltic, were thus carrying to their shores the evidences of their violence, a tempest, which swept along the whole of these seas, from west to east, concentrating its fury in the Gulf of Finland, produced the most unheard-of calamities at Cronstadt and St. Petersburg; sweeping away, or nearly destroying, the harbor, the fortresses, the arsenal, and the imperial magazines of the former place; dashing the shipping in pieces, or throwing it out on the land; and demolishing, in the latter, wholly or in part, about five thousand