Again the moments shall she bring,
When youth was in its freshest prime;
We'll pluck the roses that shall spring
Upon the grave of buried Time.
There's magic in the olden song ;-
Yea, e'en ecstatic are the tears
Which steal adown our smiles among,
Roused by the sounds of other years.

And as the mariner can find

Wild pleasure in the voiced roar, Even in the often-dreaded wind,

That wrecked his every hope before; If there's a pang that lurks beneath-For youth had pangs-oh! let it rise! 'Tis sweet to feel the poet breathe

The spirit of our former sighs. ;

We'll hear the strains we heard so oft,
In life's first, warm, impassioned hours,
That fell on our young hearts as oft

As summer dews on summer flowers! And as the stream where'er it hies,

Steals something in its purest flow,' Those strains shall taste of ecstasies

O'er which they floated long ago.

Even in our morn, when fancy's eye

Glanc'd, sparkling o'er a world of bliss, When joy was young and hope was high, We could not feel much more than this; Howe'er, then, time our day devours,

Why should our smiles be overcast ? Why should we grieve for fleeting hours? We find a future in the past.

THE DEATH OF KING SEBASTIAN.

THE following historical extract is translated from the very rare Portuguese chronicles of Hieronimo Mendoça, an eye-witness of the events, and in substance is confirmed by the author.

Sebastian, king of Portugal, possessed a mind full of ardour and enthusiasm. The African war was one of religion and chivalry, but at that period, a political excuse was necessary to render it more inviting; nevertheless, we find Sebastian determined to enter upon the war, contrary to the wise councils of Osorio, and other of his ministers, who clearly predicted the fatal result of such an unequal contest.

Muley Mahommed, king of Morocco, was a tyrant, abhorred by his subjects, by whom he had been dethroned, or rather by his uncle, Muley Moluch, who disputed its possession. The young Christian king took the latter's part, in consideration of a considerable tribute to be paid him in the event of success. Sebastian departed for Africa in 1578, with twelve thousand Portuguese and Spanish troops, four thousand foreign allies, about one thousand adventurers of every country, and a numerous suite of followers whose only object was plunder.

Muley Moluch encountered the Christians at the head of eighty thousand horse, and twenty thousand infantry. This immense army was drawn up in the form of a crescent, in the neighbourhood of Alcaçar Kebir, not far from the river Lucos. Notwithstanding the immense disparity of force, the Portuguese at the onset obtained a considerable advantage, but in the midst of this dawning success, a shout was raised-" All is lost!-Retreat-Fly!"

"Fly!" exclaimed Rodriguez de Sa, "Fly! my horse does not know how to back." Springing into the enemies' ranks, his death animated the courage of his countrymen.

Muley Moluch, seeing the disadvantage of the strategy, and being mortally wounded, died in the arms of a Portuguese renegade, named Hamet Zaba, who secretly conveyed the body to his litter, transmitting the orders he appeared to receive from thence to the army. Soon the valiant captain Perez de Zavora fell dead in the midst of his soldiers, and the rout of the Christians commenced; at this moment prodigies of individual valour were performed, but in vain. The king seeing the day lost, and his hopes blighted, determined npon seeking death on the field of battle, in spite of the wishes of his captains who surrounded him, and urged him, while in time, to seek safety in flight. But Sebastian, pointing out the banner of Portugal, exclaimed, "Let us surround it, and fall with it "

Oct. 1845.

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After the fatal result of the battle of Acaçar Kebir, at which the glory of the Portuguese army was tarnished, the disaster appeared so great at Lisbon, that for some time it was not credited by a people hitherto only accustomed to victory. The poet Camoens, while dying in a hospital, forgot his own sufferings, and blended them in his generous feelings for those of his country, which he was no longer able to defend by his sword, or mourn over with his pen. "At least

I die with her," were the last words Camoens uttered before his death. We will, after this slight sketch of the facts, proceed in the literal words of our ancient author:

scene.

On the very day of the battle of Alcaçar, Sebastian de Resendo, page of the chamber of the king, passing into slavery through this multitude to the dead bodies of friends and foes, lying naked,--for they were stripped by their conquerors,-beheld of the number the body of the king, whose servant he had been. He was then forced to shed an abundance of tears, for he could not avoid it; and he fixed well in his remembrance the spot of this sorrowful The next day morning, having rendered an account of what he had seen to other gentlemen, it appeared to them that they should tell the scherif not to let the royal body remain without sepulture. At the same time they sent a message to that prince, and he ordered two Moors, accompanied by Resende, to seek the dead body. It was found in the place indicated. Resende then contemplated the royal body, so full of beauty; he bathed it with his tears, then taking off his shirt, covered it, and having found on the field of battle, the king's drawers, which the conquerors had disdained carrying away, he also put them on the body. He then placed it on a horse, and it was conducted to the scheriff's tent.

Oh, wretched life! fading hopes! The picture of human presumption ! Those who the previous day had seen a young king, both so much loved and so much feared, the lord of an opulent kingdom, mounted on a superb horse, trampling under foot an enemy's soil, in full security in the midst of his vassals, entirely surrounded by sparkling arms, and pure love, those behold now him fastened to a bad horse, by a cord-covered with blood and earth;-the face, deformed by the agony of death, above all, on account of a wound he had received on the head; another beneath the right arm was to be seen, which appeared to have been made by a zagay, (barbed dart.)

Certes, there is great need of the help of heaven, that a poor human understanding should be humiliated before the incomprehensible decrees of Divine Providence, on beholding in a single moment the honour of the Portuguese arms, the hopes of a valorous king, the protector of so many other menthus grovelling in the dust.

When the body arrived before the gentlemen who were present at the

battle, and before some other captives, all gave themselves up to great lamentations, and throwing themselves upon their knees, with unspeakable love they kissed the feet of him whom they recognized, if eyes so filled with tears could entirely recognize what they looked at, in its present mangled condition.

Then the scherif caused them to be told, that they should well examine the dead body,-that if it was that of Don Sebastian, he would give it the sepulture that was due to it; and that after such examination, a report should be made him. They did as the prince commanded, although there were no other testimonials than tears and numberless sighs. These were sufficient to give entire credence to this dolorous event. All diligence wasmade, and the gentlemen present having certified the fact, the scherif informed them they would have to redeem the body of their king. They replied they would do so, and that the prince should declare what amount they should give, because they would send and seek at the first Christian establishment whatever he should demand. When the scherif heard this reply, as his intention was merely to convince himself if this body was really that of Don Sebastian, he no longer hesitated, and ordered that it should be placed in a coffin. They used for that purpose the litter in which Joam de Salva went; and it was thus that the corpse was carried to Alcaçar.

After having identified the body of King Sebastian, the gentlemen present held a council, as well as their miserable condition would permit ; thereupon it was resolved that they should agree to ransom themselves in a mass, as much to obtain a favourable price, as to obviate the inconvenience resulting from the promises that some nobles would make, who were impatient to recover their liberty, without considering how far it might place obstacles in the way of others gaining theirs. Of this advice were agreed Don Duarte de Menezes, Don Duarte de Castel; Franco, afterwards de Sazubal ; Don Fernando de Castro, Don Miguel de Noronha, and Belchior do Amaral.

After this resolution, it appeared well to those of the council, to whom the others had given their authority, that they should request the scherif to place some gentlemen as a body-guard,-not only as a mark of dignity, but in fear that some other corpse might be substituted, thereby causing the truth never more to be believed.

Don Duarte then informed the scherif of this fresh decision, and he readily accorded what they demanded. It was ordered that Belchior do Ammaral should accompany the body, and give it sepulture.

Ammaral then departed for Alcaçar. It was in the lower rooms of the house of Abraen Sufiano, alcaid of that same town, that the obsequies were performed, with the assistance of a German. The body was interred in the

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coffin, in which it had been conveyed; it was covered with plaster and sand. And after having shed many tears, the two christians placed on the grave some stones, and some tiles, that the spot might at any future time be recognized·

After having accomplished this sad duty, Belchior do Ammiral was sent to Tangiers, a city belonging to the Portuguese to treat for the ransom of the captives.

There was at that time in the city, a monk of the order of preachers,-a man extremely learned and pious, whom, on account of his nobility and virtue, Don Sebastian loved well. He had not accompanied the king, in order to take care of the wounded, because he was himself indisposed at the time of the expedition. It was not long before he heard of the arrival of Belchior do Ammiral, and he requested him, on account of his sickness, to come and see him. Then when he was arrived, he said to him,-"My lord, I have one thing to ask of your courtesy: I have no wish to know anything else :-The king, Don Sebastian, is he unfortunately dead?” Belchior replied :—“ He is dead,-I buried him with my own hands." When the monk had heard him' and had understood the horror of this cruel catastrophe, in which he saw marked all the miseries of his couutry, without saying a word, he turned to the other side of the bed on which he was lying, and rendered his soul up to God.

After that Belchior had remitted his letters to Don Francisco de Souza, captain of a Portuguese vessel sailing for Lisbon, he returned into captivity; although he might have made use of his liberty, no person having become answerable for it to the scherif but himself.

The scherif, accompanied by his prisoners, proceeded towards Fez. The events that occurred in this journey were so numerous, and so unfortunate, that one does uot know if they can be related, nor if they do not go beyond the limits of human patience; and this only causes me to pass them over in silence. If those who were interested it these mishaps were to be reminded of their misfortune, it appears to me that it would be afflicting them anew with the same torment. It is not just that so many evils should be so often suffered.

Arrived at Fez, the fate of the christians was in no way ameliorated. There was a great number of them that their masters held in the public prisons, in order that they should purchase their liberty at a high price. In this situation they slept on the ground, without any other nourishment but some wretched aliment given from compassion by other prisoners, undergoing sentence of punishment, or awaiting judgment for their crimes, who thus shared the charity they themselves alone depended upon. Other christian captives were employed in grinding corn and oats by the hand-mill, or