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قراءة كتاب The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 6, December 1837

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The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 6, December 1837

The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 6, December 1837

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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differ in many striking particulars from those of this country, from those of Palenque, and among themselves. This is strongly in evidence of the historical fact, that the ancient Mexicans were composed of numerous and very different tribes of people. That various tribes have also dwelt in our western valleys, is quite certain; and that our whole country has, at remote periods, been the theatre of strange events, and the residence of peculiar people, cannot admit of doubt. While some of that people were unacquainted with the use of metals, others must have possessed a very good knowledge of them, and withal the mode of working them. A well-finished steel bow, found in one of the western tumuli, and the scoria, evidently the product of forges discovered among the works which have been left by some previous inhabitants of the Ohio valley, are among the proofs of this fact. Hieroglyphical writing, long a desideratum among the remains of the primitive inhabitants of the United States, has also been discovered. Descriptive paintings similar to those executed by the Mexicans, may in like manner have been left by this people, but they would have disappeared, had they been so left, from the effects of time. No stone edifices resembling those of Mexico have however been found among us; no piles of rude masonry, stone fortifications, bridges, viaducts, etc., as at Palenque and other places. There are some traces, if recent accounts be true, of tumuli and walls in this country, which were built in part of burnt bricks, not unlike those with which the great pyramid of Chollula was built; yet there are none in the same style and magnificence. Enough, however has been noticed, among the ancient arts of this country, to satisfy us that our primitive inhabitants may have been among the builders of that stupendous structure. The same form may now be noticed in a tumulus near Cincinnati. Others have been destroyed, which had the same pyramidal form, with regular off-sets. On the tops of these, and particularly those of a large size, it has been conjectured that structures similar to those of Mexico were built. The one ruthlessly destroyed at Circleville, Ohio, affords strong evidences of its having been devoted to the worship of the sun, and to the offering of human sacrifices. But more of this anon. Subsequent remarks will tend to show, when we shall have furnished other particulars of newly-discovered ruins in Central America, how far those of our own country agree with the ancient arts of Mexico.


THE ENCAGED BIRD TO HIS MISTRESS.

Lady, sweet lady! let me go,
To breathe again my native air;
Where mountain streams unfetter'd flow,
And wild flowers in profusion bear;
Where mingled notes of feather'd throng
Pour forth their free, harmonious song,
In praise to Him who bids them fly,
Bound only by the lofty sky:
I pine! I pine! to stretch my wings,
And feel the sun's enlivening glow—
To join the lay the free-bird sings;
Kind lady! let thy prisoner go!
Long have I cheer'd this summer bower,
Where oft thy fairy footstep treads;
Beguiled for thee the tedious hour,
And chased the tear that sorrow sheds:
Or, when beneath these clustering vines,
Thy lovely form for rest reclines,
I charm thy spirit still, in dreams,
Wakening by music heavenly themes.
And, lady, thou hast charms that win
Even the bird encaged to love;
Without so fair, sure all within,
To meek compassion's touch must move.
Yes, thou art fair; but those blue eyes
Are not to me the azure heaven;
Nor is the food thy hand supplies,
And in such rich abundance given,
Sweet as the crumbs by labor earn'd,
Ere I of luxury had learn'd;
Nor is this splendid cage a home
Worth the free woods I long to roam:
Think'st me ungrateful for thy care—
That all thy fondness I forget?
No! songs my warmest thanks shall bear;
But, lady, I'm thy prisoner yet!
Say, is there not some kindred-one,
Absence from whom 'tis pain to bear—
And thus, when thou art here alone,
So often falls the pearly tear?
Lady, I too had once a mate,
When freedom was my happy state;
And for that mate I yet do pine,
And sorrow oft at day's decline:
God hath ordain'd that nought which lives
Should live alone, far from its kind;
Not only man the bliss receives,
Which he in fellowship doth find.
Birds of the air are paired above,
By Him who hears the raven's cry;
And shall man break the bonds of love
'Twixt harmless songsters of the sky?
No! let the little life we live
Enjoy the sweets that God doth give;
Unshackled sail the ambient air,
And carol forth our music there.
And thus, by thine own freedom blest—
By all the kindness thou canst show,
And by the love that heaves thy breast,
Lady, sweet lady! let me go!

Cedar-Brook, Plainfield, (N. J.), 1837. E. C. S.


THE SOUL'S TRUST.

'Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.'

Psalms.

Though troubles assail me, and dangers surround,
Though thorns in my pathway may ever be found,
Still let me not fear, for thou ever wilt be
My God and my guide, while I lean upon thee.
The sweet buds of promise may fade ere they bloom,
The hopes which are earth-born, lie low in the tomb;
And though my life's pathway seem weary to me,
I shall gather new strength, as I lean upon thee.
Though bound to the

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