HORRID DREAMS. WHAT DREAMS PORTEND. Not all a monarch's luxury the woes Stung by the Furies, works with poisoned thought: What dreams presage, what dangers these or those MIDNIGHT STUDY AND NOONDAY SLEEP REPROBATED. In study some protract the silent hours, THE MORNING CHILLS BETTER ENDURED THAN THOSE AT MID- The body, fresh and vigorous from repose, Defies the early fogs: but, by the toils Of wakeful day exhausted and unstrung, Weakly resists the night's unwholesome breath. The grand discharge, the effusion of the skin, Slowly impaired, the languid maladies Creep on, and through the sickening functions steal. So when the chilling east invades the Spring, The delicate Narcissus pines away In hectic languor and a slow disease Taints all the family of flowers, condemned To cruel heavens. But why, already prone To fade, should beauty cherish its own bane? O shame! O pity! nipped with pale quadrille, And midnight cares, the bloom of Albion dies! SOLDIERS AND OTHER LABORERS SLEEP WELL, AND WAKE EASILY NOT SO THE LAZY.-SLEEPY-HEADS; MATTRESSES AND FEATHER BEDS, FOR WHOM. By toil subdued, the warrior and the hind Sleep fast and deep: their active functions soon With generous streams the subtle tubes supply ; And soon the tonic, irritable nerves Feel the fresh impulse, and awake the soul. The sons of indolence with long repose Grow torpid: and, with slowest Lethe drunk, Feebly and lingeringly return to life, Blunt every sense, and powerless every limb. Ye prone to sleep (whom sleeping most annoys), On the hard mattress or elastic couch Extend your limbs, and wean yourselves from sloth; Nor grudge the lean projector, of dry brain And springy nerves, the blandishments of down; Nor envy, while the buried bacchanal HABITS TO BE CHANGED ONLY GRADUALLY. He, without riot, in the balmy feast Of life, the wants of nature has supplied, Who rises cool, serene, and full of soul. But pliant nature more or less demands, As custom forms her; and all sudden change She hates of habit, even from bad to good. If faults in life, or new emergencies, From habits urge you by long time confirmed, GRADUAL CHANGE OF THE SEASONS. WHEN TO USE FURS. Observe the circling year. How unperceived Her seasons change! Behold! by slow degrees, Stern Winter tamed into a ruder Spring; The ripened Spring a milder Summer glows; Departing Summer sheds Pomona's store; And aged Autumn brews the winter storm. Slow as they come, these changes come not void Of mortal shocks: the cold and torrid reigns, The two great periods of the important year, Are in their first approaches seldom safe : Funereal Autumn all the sickly dread, And the black Fates deform the lovely Spring. He well-advised, who taught our wiser sires Early to borrow Muscovy's warm spoils, Ere the first frost has touched the tender blade ; And late resign them, though the wanton Spring Should deck her charms with all her sister's rays. For while the effluence of the skin maintains Its native measure, the pleuritic Spring Glides harmless by ; and Autumn, sick to death With sallow quartans, no contagion breathes. IF DISEASE THREATENS, CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN. I in prophetic numbers could unfold The omens of the year what seasons teem With what diseases; what the humid South Prepares, and what the demon of the East: But you perhaps refuse the tedious song. Besides, whatever plagues in heat, or cold, Or drought, or moisture, dwell, they hurt not you, Skilled to correct the vices of the sky, And taught already how to each extreme To bend your life. But should the public bane Infect you; or some trespass of your own, Or flaw of nature, hint mortality: Soon as a not unpleasing horror glides Along the spine, through all your torpid limbs ; When first the head throbs, or the stomach feels A sickly load, a weary pain the loins ; Be Celsus called; the Fates come rushing on; The rapid Fates admit of no delay. While wilful you, and fatally secure, Expect to-morrow's more auspicious sun, The growing pest, whose infancy was weak And easy vanquished, with triumphant sway O'erpowers your life. For want of timely care, Millions have died of medicable wounds. APPARENT TRIFLES MAY EXPOSE LIFE.EPIDEMICS. Ah! in what perils is vain life engaged! Is big with death. And though the putrid South SWEATING PLAGUE DURING THE CIVIL WARS OF ENGLAND. Ere yet the fell Plantagenets had spent First through the shoulders, or whatever part Beat strong and frequent. Thick and pantingly A wild delirium came; their weeping friends Were grown more fell, more putrid, and malign. To drive the venom out. And here the Fates Was mute; and, startled at the new disease, PRAYER FOR GREAT BRITAIN. Ye guardian gods, on whom the fates depend Of tottering Albion! ye eternal fires [powers That lead through heaven the wandering year! ye That o'er the encircling elements preside! May nothing worse than what this age has seen Arrive! Enough abroad, enough at home, Has Albion bled. Here a distempered heaven Has thinned her cities; from those lofty cliffs That awe proud Gaul, to Thule's wintry reign; While in the west, beyond the Atlantic foam, Her bravest sons, keen for the fight, have died The death of cowards and of common men : Sunk void of wounds, and fallen without renown. But from these views the weeping Muses turn, And other themes invite my wandering song. Rural Odes for October. LONGFELLOW'S "AUTUMN." WITH What a glory comes and goes the year!The buds of Spring- those beautiful harbingers Of sunny skies and cloudless times - enjoy Life's newness, and earth's garniture spread out; And when the silver habit of the clouds Comes down upon the Autumn sun, and with A sober gladness the old year takes up His bright inheritance of golden fruits, A pomp and pageant fill the splendid scene. There is a beautiful spirit breathing now O what a glory doth this world put on Shall have a voice, and give him eloquent teachings. GALLAGHER'S "WESTERN AUTUMN.” THE Autumn time is with us! Its approach Was heralded, not many days ago, By hazy skies that veiled the brazen sun, And sea-like murmurs from the rustling corn, And low-voiced brooks that wandered drowsily By purling clusters of the juicy grape, Swinging upon the vine. And now, 't is here! And what a change hath passed upon the face BRYANT'S "AUTUMN WOODS." The mountains that infold, In their wide sweep, the colored landscape round, Seem groups of giant kings in purple and gold, That guard the enchanted ground. I roam the woods that crown The upland, where the mingled splendors glow, My steps are not alone In these bright walks; the sweet south-west, at play, Flies, rustling, where the painted leaves are strewn Along the winding way. And far in heaven, the while, The sun, that sends that gale to wander here, Where now the solemn shade, Let in through all the trees Come the strange rays; the forest depths are bright; Their sunny-colored foliage in the breeze Twinkles, like beams of light. The rivulet, late unseen, Where bickering through the shrubs its waters run, But, 'neath yon crimson tree, Lover to listening maid might breathe his flame, Her blush of maiden shame. O, Autumn! why so soon Depart the hues that make thy forests glad; Ah, 't were a lot too blest Forever in thy colored shades to stray; O'er joys that ne'er will bloom again— And yet my pensive eye Rests on the faint blue mountain long, That lies beyond, I sigh. The moon unveils her brow; I stand deep musing here, Beneath the dark and motionless beech, Whilst wandering winds of nightfall reach My melancholy ear. The air breathes chill and free ; A spirit, in soft music, calls From Autumn's gray and moss-grown halls, And round her withered tree. The hoar and mantled oak, Where weeds the fountain choke. And of our fading years. The tree that shades the plain, Wasting and hoar as time decays, Spring shall renew with cheerful days, But not my joys again. Somerville's "Chase." BOOK I. ARGUMENT. The subject proposed. The origin of hunting. The rude and unpolished manners of the first hunters. Beasts at first hunted for food and sacrifice. The grant made by God to man of the beasts, Gen. 9: 3. The regular manner of hunting first brought into Britain by the Normans. The best horses and best hounds bred here. The advantage of this exercise to the British, as islanders. Address to gentlemen of estates. Situation of the kennel and its several courts. The diversion and employment of hounds in the kennel. The different sorts of hounds for each different chase. Description of a perfect hound. Of sizing and sorting of hounds; the middle-sized hounds recommended. Of the large, deep-mouthed, for hunting the stag and otter. Of the lime-hound; their use on the borders of England and Scotland. A physical account of scents. Of good and bad scenting days. A short admonition to my brethren of the couples. SUBJECT; CHASE, HOUNDS.RUDE ORIGIN OF HUNTING. THE chase I sing, hounds, and their various breed, And no less various use. ** When Nimrod bold, That mighty hunter! first made war on beasts, And stained the woodland green with purple dye, New and unpolished was the huntsman's art; No stated rule, his wanton will his guide, With clubs and stones, rude implements of war! He armed his savage bands, a multitude Untrained of twining osiers formed, they pitch Their artless toils, then range the desert hills And scour the plains below: the trembling herd Start at the unusual sound, and clamorous shout, Unheard before; surprised, alas! to find [lord, Man now their foe, whom erst they deemed their But mild and gentle, and by whom as yet Secure they grazed. Death stretches o'er the plain Wide wasting, and grim slaughter, red with blood: Urged on by hunger keen, they wound, they kill; Their rage licentious knows no bound; at last, Encumbered with their spoils, joyful they bear Upon their shoulders broad the bleeding prey. Part on their altar smokes, a sacrifice To that all-gracious Power whose bounteous hand Supports this wide creation; what remains, On living coals they broil, inelegant Of taste, nor skilled as yet in nicer arts Of pampered luxury. Devotion pure, And strong necessity, thus first began The chase of beasts; though bloody was the deed, WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR INTRODUCED THE REGULAR CHASE. Or chance or industry in after times Nor skilled, nor studious; till from Neustria's coasts EXCELLENCE OF BRITISH HORSES AND HOUNDS. — USE. Hail, happy Britain: highly-favored isle, And Heaven's peculiar care! to thee 't is given To train the sprightly steed, more fleet than those Begot by winds, or the celestial breed That bore the great Pelides through the press Of heroes armed, and broke their crowded ranks, Which proudly neighing, with the sun begins, Cheerful, his course, and, ere his beams decline, Has measured half thy surface unfatigued. In thee alone, fair land of Liberty! Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed As yet unrivalled, while in other climes Their virtue fails, a weak, degenerate race. In vain malignant steams and winter fogs Load the dull air and hover round our coast; The huntsman ever gay, robust, and bold, Defies the noxious vapor, and confides In this delightful exercise to raise His drooping head, and cheer his heart with joy. THE VETERAN HUNTER TO WEALTHY LANDHOLDERS. Ye vig'rous youths! by smiling fortune blest To enjoy these pleasures, for the weak too strong, |