THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES \ . Sons Sc Poetical and Prose Writings r. THE MILFORD BARD, CONSISTING OF Sketches in Poetry and Prose, oiVoVoX). xJbuuwAx) . mWvemlaX) j wmkaMuMclj /anrwSi (yvwrnoVojuA. portrait of i\)t Siitlior onb a ShftrJ of $$ fife. Tfl 3 ' -* BALTIMORE: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN MURPHY & CO, JVo. 178 Market Street. WILMINGTON: J. T. HEALD, Sold by Booksellers generally. 1853. ENTERED, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1852, Bt JOHN MURPHY fc CO. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland. LS AS TO THE LADIES OF BALTIMORE, WHO HAD SHOWN KINDNESS TO THE BARD IN SICKNESS, AND UNDER OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES OF AFFLICTION, AND TO WHOSE SOLICITATIONS HE YIELDED IN ITS PUBLICATION* WAS MOST RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THEIR OBLIGED AND DEVOTED FRIEND, n er . so TO THE SAME, ASSOCIATED WITH () f aiits af Utlmfnfltan, WHO WERE NO LESS ATTENTIVE TO THE HARP DURING THE LATER YEARS OF HIS LIFE, AND UNTIL HE WAS REMOVED FROM THIS WORLD BY THE HAND OF DEATH, IS THIS LARGER AND MORE EXTENDED EDITION, ON BEHALF OF THE LATE LAMENTED SON OF SONG, DEDICATED BY THEIR FRIEND, 759396 nfau. the death of the MILFORD BARD the desire has been repeatedly expressed by his numerous friends and admirers, that his Writings should be collected and published in a much more enlarged and extended edition, than has here- tofore been submitted to the public. It is with the view of meeting the demand thus presented, that this volume of his works has been compiled. It contains his best pieces, both of Poetry and Prose, the most of which have not appeared in any previous volume. It is due, alike, to the author and the public, that the literary efforts of one so well known and appreciated as the Milford Bard, should be collected and embodied in a form in which they may be preserved by the lovers of light literature, and read as opportunities may be afforded. Many an hour may be spent, both pleasantly and profitably, in the pe- rusal of the sketches of life and character, and poetic effusions, which the generous-hearted Bard possessed so much delight in preparing for his readers. As a contributor to many of the most popular and interesting periodi- cals of his day, the Bard obtained a very considerable reputation, and his productions have been popular wherever circulated. In his younger years, being favorably known as a correspondent of "The Casket," a Monthly Magazine, and "The Saturday Evening Post," a Weekly Newspaper, both of extensive circulation, his reputation as a writer was established, and his productions were much sought after. Both the Casket and Sa- turday Evening Post were published in Philadelphia, and being the media through which the Bard and other authors presented their writings to the public, their circulation extended to all parts of the country. During his residence in Baltimore, at a later period of his life, the Bard contributed, both in poetry and prose, to nearly all the periodicals of the VI PREFACE. city. He wrote principally, however, for the Baltimore Patriot. With the editors of that paper he was well acquainted, and he received from them many evidences of their favorable regard. Subsequently he removed his residence to Wilmington, Delaware, where he became the Literary Editor of a well conducted literary and commercial journal, published in that city, under the title of "The Blue Hen's Chicken," which paper was owned and edited by Messrs. W. T. Jean- dell and F. Vincent, both warm and devoted friends of the Bard. To Mr. Jeandell he was particularly attached. He acknowledged with gratitude the kindness and attention shown him, both by that gentleman and his family. The stories of the Bard, published in Wilmington, were founded upon circumstances in real life. This gave them additional interest, and caused them to be widely circulated. On the publication of "The Broken Heart," which will be found on page 201 of this volume, thirty-five hun- dred copies of the paper were issued, and they were all immediately dis- posed of; and fell far short of the demand. The story is founded upon a circumstance well known at the time of its occurrence, and in the vi- cinity where it took place. Many of its incidents are of thrilling interest, and are narrated in a manner that will bear comparison with the efforts of some of the best authors of the day. The pieces here published are of various character, style and merit. They form a volume adapted alike to the Library, the Boudoir and the Centre-Table. It is intended for a GIFT BOOK appropriate to all seasons. It will afford instruction and amusement alike to the old and the young; and will serve as the instrument by means of which many an otherwise weary hour may be pleasantly whiled away. THE EDITOR. BALTIMORE, November 23, 1852. PAGE MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD 1 to 30 PROSE. The Wizard of Valley Forge, or the Revenge of the Mysterious Man. ... 25 The Sequel, or the Revelation of the Mysterious Man 71 Tour to Valley Forge .104 Ono-keo-co, or the Bandit of the Brandy wine 121 The Dream of Love 174 The Birth of Christ 183 Christ on Calvary 192 The Broken Heart, or Virtue Triumphant in Death 201 The Triumphs of Learning 263 The Quaker Merchant, or the Generous Man Rewarded 273 The Bible 300 Dialogue on Human Happiness 305 The Courtship versus the Rum Jug 314 The Duel, or the Dream of Love 328 The Buggaboo 345 Love a la Mode, or the Boatman's Daughter 357 Helen Mac Trever: a Tale of the Battle of Brandywine 408 The Muzzled Dog 446 The Humming-Bird's Nest 461 The Curiosities of Science, No. 1 489 " " " " " 2 500 Manitoo, the Indian Beauty of the Brandywine, and Wild Harry of Wil- mington 521 Ruins of Time 569 POETRY. What is Hope ? , 103 The Washington Monument 116 Prayer for Greece ,,.,........... 117 Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE The Last Patriot of those who signed the Declaration of Independence... 118 Erin Arise ! 119 Cupid in Exile 120 Concealed Affection 167 The Lady Isabel 168 Fame 171 The Dream 172 Female Charms 173 Death of MacDonough 181 The Grandeur of God 182 The Infant Saviour 191 Lines 200 Slander 255 The Neglected Wife 256 Memory 257 The Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777 259 Love and Reason 270 Hope 271 there are Tears 272 Love's Pilgrimage round the World 296 The Stolen Kiss 297 To the Cottage Maid 298 St. Paul at Athens 302 The Dying Deist 303 Address to the Moon 312 Ambition's Hope , 313 The Cathedral Bell, Baltimore 320 The Sisters of Charity 321 Retrospection 322 Lines on the Death of Isabel Terry 323 Solemn Reflections 324 Speech of Logan 325 Sunrise at Sea 327 The Monkey Outwitted 339 Delaware 342 There I met fair Mary Jane 343 Evening on the First of June , 344 Spirit of Niagara 351 The Great Battle 353 Poland 354 Palsy of the Soul 355 Autumn , 356 Woman's Worth......... 403 CONTENTS. IX PAGE Why don't he Come? 404 To the Charmer 405 Love's Changes , 406 To a Friend 407 The Poor Man's Death-Bed and Burial 434 Thoughts, while standing on the Battle-ground at Chadd's Ford 435 The Banks of the Brandywine 438 Skepticism 444 To Dr. John W. Dorsey, of Liberty-Town, Maryland 442 Lines written on a Tombstone over a Young Lady 445 Adam's Love for Eve 456 Lines on the Death of Mrs. Ann Talley, wife of Mr. Elihu Talley, of Brandywine 457 To Mrs. Rachel Jeandell, of Wilmington. 459 Lines addressed to my young friend M 460 The Dead Bird 467 The New Year 468 My Sister 469 Eulogy on the Life and Death of Dr. Joshua Howard Dorsey, of Liberty- Town, Maryland 470 Reflections on the Death of James Manning 473 Extempore Lines on the Death of Dr. Garret S. Layton, of Milford, Del. .474 Woman's Heart 475 Departed Days 476 Clawing Off 477 The Muse of Poesy 479 Virtue 480 The Flowers 481 The Fair Gondolier 483 The Lexington 485 The Wandering Minstrel 487 The Son of the Sea , 488 A Poet's Garret 510 Fancy 512 The Post Office 513 Winter's Coming 515 To the Duellist 516 Memory of Decatur 517 The Revenge 518 Real Pleasure , 519 Pride , 520 Departure of La Fayette 557 Pathetic Stanzas 558 B X CONTENTS. PAGE A Fragment 559 The Seasons 561 Female Tenderness 562 The Silkworm 563 To a Lady, who rejected my offering of Flowers. . . 564 All is Vanity 565 The Advent of Christ 566 O I have leaned 568 Thoughts 574 Benjamin Franklin 575 Henry Clay 576 John duincy Adams 577 Death of John duincy Adams 578 Daniel Webster 580 The Jubilee, and Death of Adams and Jefferson 581 John M. Clayton 582 Napoleon Bonaparte 583 Bolivar 584 Retrospection 585 Last Lines of the Bard 586 man u HIGHLY responsible and interesting, but melancholy duty is imposed upon the biographer of the MILFORD BARD. It would, at any time, be a difficult task to do justice to the character of one, whose life was marked by so many varying vicissitudes, nearly all under his own control, and materially effective in his person and habits. And more especially is this the case at the present pe- riod a date so early after his death, and while the re- membrance of his person and deeds are fresh in the minds of his friends, and his literary performances so recent in the view of the public. It is not yet four years since the Bard was in the midst of his friends, in the activity and vigor of manhood, pursuing his calling as the editor of a popular periodical, and the contributor of some of the best and most interesting of his writings to its columns. After a brief illness he was snatched away by the grasp of the ruthless destroyer. He is gone; but his memorial is with his numerous admirers. Long will they remember his blandness of manner; his ease and freedom of intercourse with society; his fine conversational powers; his gentleness; his waywardness; his wanderings; his struggles against his besetting vice intemperance; and his arduous labors for the instruction and amusement of the public. JOHN LOFLAND, the MILFORD BARD, was the eldest son of Isaac and Cynthia Lofland. He was born in Milford, Delaware, on the ninth day of March, in the year 1798. Isaac Lofland was a respectable merchant of Mil- ford, and Cynthia, his wife, was one of the most affectionate and frugal wo- men of her day. Her son John, the subject of this memoir, appears to have been her favorite, and it is not unlikely that in the earlier years of his child- hood, he was allowed the free exercise of his own will, with, perhaps, very little restraint. Inheriting the kind and gentle disposition of his mother, his fondness for her gave him easy access to her affections, to which he appealed on every occasion of real or fancied oppression. With childhood these occa- sions are neither few nor slight, and almost always accompanied with the de- mand for redress. With such a child in charge of such a mother, the exercise A MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. of parental discipline was both difficult and uncertain, and allowed a latitude of desire and pursuit on the part of the child, not at all favorable to the formation of a determined and decisive character. Isaac Lofland, the father of the Bard, \ras a man of more ability than educa- tion; and the opportunity he possessed for the exercise of either was not very extensive. To his mother, rather than to him, he was indebted for whatever he possessed of prominent points of character, such, at least, as may be con- sidered inheritable. This was the opinion of the Bard himself, and appears in several forms of expression in his writings. It was a matter of pride to him that he could boast of hereditary character in the maternal relation; and while but little is said of his father in all his numerous published efforts, they teem with allusions to his mother, and with the most affectionate and tender expres- sions of love and devoted attachment. It was the desire and purpose of Isaac Lofland that his son should receive a good education. In this his wife most heartily acquiesced, for she was anxiously desirous that he should be enabled to occupy a respectable position in society. To carry out this design he was sent to school when he was very young. But, either the first teacher that was employed to conduct his studies was utterly incompetent for the task, or the Bard himself was a very dull pupil. It is said that it was full six months before he mastered the alphabet. The promise of distinction so anxiously desired by his parents, was not in any manner realized during the first few years of his childhood. His progress for some years, was measured by the same slow and unsatisfying pace that made memorable the first six months of his scholastic career. He conceived such an utter dislike to mathematics, upon the very threshold of the study, that he could never after be induced to pursue it with any degree of interest. It is probable that his dislike for the study of the languages was but little less than that which he entertained for the pursuit of mathematics. He made some proficiency in Latin and French. Greek, as a study, he did not relish, though he admired the language. He tolerated Valpy to get rid of the problems of Euclid. But the slow and indifferent progress of the Bard, in the ordinary studies of the schools, was by no means indicative of his mental energy and power. His forte was reading and composition. He was passionately de- voted to history, and the lives and works of eminent men, especially the poets. He was contented only when he could be occupied with his favorite authors, either poring over their works, or imitating their styles of composition. Thus employed, he spent much of the time of his youthful years, that he afterwards regretted was not occupied in the acquirement of a thorough knowledge of the less interesting branches of his scholastic education. In composition the Bard excelled at an early age. When but twelve years old he wrote some well measured and sensible poetry. Some of his verses were written at an earlier period of his life, and although they bore the evi- MEMOIR OP THE MILFOHD BARD. O dences of a mind yet unmatured, they were not without merit, and gave pro- mise of future distinction in that department of literature. It is not known whether the very slow progress of the Bard in the studies of his early childhood, and his dislike to some of those of his more advanced youth, were the result of his own natural dulness, or were occasioned by the incompetency of his teacher. Some of his relations are of opinion that his mental powers were fully equal to those of the boys generally of his age, and that the deficiency is entirely chargeable to the person that was entrusted with his education. On behalf of the teacher, no argument can be used to disprove the indictment for incompetency. In. relation to the boy, there are proofs enough that there was no lack of mental ability. His capacity was de- veloped sufficiently early to satisfy his friends that he began life not only mens sana, but mens sana in corpore sana; and was fully able to do his part in a fair and impartial attack upon the alphabet, or any other lesson contained in his primer. Had the instructor shown fair-play, doubtless those potent adver- saries, the A B C's, had fallen one by one before the rising intellect of the future Bard. There are, no doubt, many persons who assume the profession of the teacher, who are altogether insufficient for the arduous duties of that very re- sponsible and interesting office. And there are, no doubt, many young pupils who are dull of apprehension, and indisposed to receive instruction. An ac- tive, energetic, faithful teacher, may remove many an impediment out of the way of his young charge, and lead him on almost imperceptibly, in the pursuit of his studies, until the duty may become a pleasure, and the labor a welcome employment. But on the contrary, if the teacher be incompetent, or indolent, or unfaithful, the study of the pupil becomes a laborious and irksome task a difficult, tedious pursuit; and if he be not worn down by the oppression, in his heart he learns to despise the performance, and to hate the necessity that enforces it. Such may have been the case with the youthful Lofland, and difficulties may thereby have been placed in his path, the removal of which may have cost him many an hour of anxious concern and arduous labor. The fact that a child is six months learning the alphabet, is no proof of mental imbecility, nor of natural dulness. But considered in connection with the hundreds and thousands of other facts of the kind, that are constantly oc- curring, it should be a warning to parents and the guardians of youth and childhood, to exercise great care and judgment in the selection of the in- structors of their children and wards. Regarded in this most important rela- tion, it should induce all who have charge of the young, in their growing and improving years, to give some attention themselves to their studies. The im- press of character is generally made very early. In the responsibility of this impress, the mother of the child, and its first teacher, are mainly interested. One false step on the part of either, may lead to irretrievable ruin. Indul- gence, or too great seventy, on the part of the mother, or inrovnpetency, in- 4 MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. difference, or unfaithfulness, on the part of the teacher, may induce habits of indolence, or reckless disregard of restraint, that may be a perpetual impedi- ment in the way of the youthful charge, or cause him to hurry on through the years of his minority, with a fixed unconcern for consequences, and neither fear nor care in relation to the result. It was doubtless the Bard's misfortune that he was not properly trained in early life. There was a lamentable failure somewhere among those who were intrusted with his education. An examination of his history suggests the idea that he was not, in the scholastic sense of the term, educated at all, but was suf- fered to educate himself, and pursued his way through the years of childhood and youth, without any fixed views either of business or of character. The facts of his life and features of his character, yet to be noticed, afford proof of the correctness of this idea. At the age of fourteen his reading had been extensive, and had his education been properly managed, his character would have been formed. His mind at that age was well stored with facts, but he had not the judgment necessary to enable him to make a proper use of them. Recurring in after years to that interesting period, he made the record which serves as a way-mark in his in- definite career. "In my earlier years," said he, " I was skeptical , though I had listened to many a pious lecture at the feet of one of the most affectionate of mothers. I had read the French and English skeptics at fourteen years of age, with boyhood's avidity and with boyhood's judgment. I dreamt over the pages of Voltaire, D'Alembert, Diderot, Maupertuis, Rousseau, Condorcet, Volney, Hume, Gibbon, with a host of others, and I awoke an infidel. But believing it to be unfair to study on the one side and not on the other, I turned to the Sacred Scriptures, and, endeavoring to establish skepticism, I was convinced of my error." At this point of his life, we discover the Bard' s need of the mathematics, and other branches of his education, the study of which he so heartily dis- liked in his younger years. Upon the solid foundation that these might have afforded him, he might have reared a superstructure, which, while it would have done honor to his character, might have been the means of accomplishing much good among mankind. He was certainly allowed his own way to a very great extent in the pursuit of his reading, and his little bark upon the sea of life at fourteen, carried a dangerous freight of knowledge. But for the coun- sels of his mother, which he so highly treasured, it might have mingled poison with the waters through which it passed, or foundered prematurely upon the sands of infidelity. It was to her instructions that he was indebted for the desire to hear both sides of the important question that troubled him, whether Christianity were truth or false. The impression her " pious lectures " made upon his mind, induced him to study the Scriptures, and although he pursued that study with the view of having his skeptical notions confirmed, the sacred oracles were to him their own interpreter, and performed the wonderful MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. 5 work of removing the mass of prejudice he had accumulated against them. Throughout his wayward life he was sometimes disposed to play the skeptic, but whenever he reasoned with himself, he became ashamed of the weakness, and arose from it with renewed purposes of a steadier and more faithful course. The following extract from the passage already partly quoted, shows his at- tachment to the Christian religion, and is a grateful tribute to the memory of his mother's instructions. " Did the Christian religion extend no further than this life, I should advo- cate it, because it is a blessing to society. My life has been a wild one, but my heart is in the right place. In me nature is reversed, for my heart governs my head. Whenever I am disposed to wander from the path of virtue, the memory of the silvery voice of my mother in childhood, comes sighing in my ear, sweet as the harp of heaven to a dying saint. My heart melts with ten- derness, and I am saved." How much like the thoughts and feelings of a wayward contemporary, were those of the Bard when the memory of his mother and her affectionate instruc- tions were recalled in his reveries ? "My mother's voice, how often creeps Its cadence on my lonely hours, Like visions on the wings of sleep, Or dew on the unconscious flowers? And years of sin and manhood flee, And leave me on my mother's knee." At seventeen, the Bard concluded that his school-boy days were over, and tvirned his thoughts upon the profession that he was to pursue in life. After some deliberation he decided upon Medicine, and commenced the study in the office of his cousin, Dr. James P. Lofland. He attended the lectures of the University of Pennsylvania three successive years. When he was nearly through his studies and preparing for graduation, a misunderstanding occurred between Professor Cox, of the University, and himself, in consequence of which he left the Institution, and gave up his purpose of entering the Medical Profession. He was pleased with the Science of Medicine as a study, but he frequently declared that he despised the drudgery of its practice. The misun- derstanding with Professor Cox, produced a revulsion in his mind in relation to the honors of the University, and prevented him from graduating under its authority. He has often said that he did not lose much in the loss of his diploma, for it would have been impossible that he could ever have made his living in the profession. He was well acquainted with the different branches of medical study, and not unfrequently gave advice to the sick and prescribed for them. In the hasty manner in which the Bard gave up the profession that he had expended more than three years in preparing to follow, we have another sad 6 MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. result of the unfortunate neglect of his early education. It is an evidence of lack of power in the concentration of his energies; and it doubtless originated in the loose and indefinite manner in which he was permitted to pass through his youthful years. Had he been placed at school under the care of an effi- cient instructor, and kept at his studies until he had thoroughly mastered them, it is very likely that he would have obtained the control of his own faculties in the effort, and instead of being the sport of a wild and reckless imagination through life, he might have settled down in some active pursuit, and main- tained a prominent position in the community. He was certainly possessed of a considerable share of mental power; but it was turned to but little account because he had no control over himself. He had no advantages in the school of experience. Life with him was a rambling adventure, and he met its changes of wayward fortune with stoical indifference. Parents sometimes boast of what they regard a versatility of talent in their children, but which is nothing more nor less than the fickleness the unsettled purpose the desire for change that unfits them for the studies of childhood and youth, and the sterner duties of more matured life. It is one of the greatest misfortunes of youth that they are allowed to enter upon many pur- suits and enterprises which they never complete. They begin many things which they never finish. One enterprise after another is abandoned before it is understood, and successive performances are commenced and laid aside, as if it were not the object to pursue any to perfection. How much of life is wasted in this manner ? How many of the years of youth are thus employed to the permanent injury of the possessors of such destructive liberty ? Defi- niteness of character and pursuit is as much required in the education of the child, as the studies of the school. Without it the brightest intellect is likely to become a waste the best informed mind a thing of waywardness and chance. Before the Bard commenced the study of medicine, and during the period he was engaged in it, he was in the constant use of his spare moments in compo- sition. He wrote verses with great freedom, and was distinguished among his young acquaintances as " the Poet." He was at one time the principal con- tributor to a popular monthly magazine entitled " The Casket," and a weekly paper called " The Saturday Evening Post," both of which were published in the City of Philadelphia. Some of his early productions were published over the signature of " THE MILFORD BARD," and he was soon distinguished in the use of the sobriquet much more than he was in that of his real name. For many years the title of " THE MILFORD BARD " was familiar nearly all over the country, while the real name of the author was almost unknown. His writings rendered the two periodicals to which they were principally con- tributed very popular, and in their circulation the Bard himself obtained con- siderable celebrity as an author. He wrote upon scientific subjects, as well as those of the lighter literature of the day; and in them all he exhibited a highly MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. 7 creditable familiarity with general history, the lives, characters and writings of eminent authors, and the various matters of science upon which he employed his pen. At this period of his life, and during the residence of the Bard in Philadel- phia, the poet, Thomas Moore, visited this country. The literary attainments and position of the young Lofland attracted his attention, and induced an ac- quaintance. They became intimate friends, and the Bard has often alluded, with interest and pleasure, to the period when they enjoyed each others' so- ciety and conversation. Their rambles along the banks of the Schuylkill, and admiration of the scenery on both sides of that beautiful river, were subjects of delightful reminiscence, to which the Bard frequently recurred in his wan- derings, as green spots amid the waste of his memory. It is said of the Bard, and indeed the fact is sometimes referred to in his writings, that during the years of his early manhood, he became very much attached to a young lady, whom he addressed, and with whom, it is supposed, he was anxiously desirous of uniting his fame and fortune. But for some cause or other his suit was unsuccessful, and he was doomed to a life of disap- pointment and regret. In both his prose and poetic productions, he has in- vested this circumstance with a romantic interest, which has afforded a melan- choly pleasure, especially to a great many of his younger readers. In the story of " The Betrayer," the last of his compositions, and which he did not live to finish, he intimates a later attachment, the features of which might have been more apparent had his life been prolonged until the stoiy was concluded. In the introduction he says, " Every thing in the story is described just as it occurred, even to the words spoken, so far as they can be remembered. The names of the characters are fictitious, and the names alone, for all else is real. Who the personages are that figure in this drama, I leave to my readers to dis- cover; only one reason induces me to acknowledge that I am one, that reason must be locked in my heart. Reader! dear reader! that reason, or motive, is a strong one, and it is bathed in the tears of a beautiful, affectionate, and vir- tuous woman, and will be embalmed and buried in my bosom, unknown to any other human being, until the trump of the angel Gabriel shall break upon the gloom of the grave, and the secrets of all hearts made bare before the tri- bunal above." There is reason for the opinion that he was himself one of the principal cha- racters of the story, and it is possible that, if it had been concluded, many of the events of that interesting period of his life, and of the affair which he characterized as one of affection and honor, might have been suggested. In some of his poetic effusions he alludes to the circumstance of his early attachment, in a manner so full of interest and feeling, that if he had not him- self stated that they were occasioned by it, the idea would be suggested to the reader. In his "Lines " to a lady that expressed some regard for him, occur the following: 1 MEMOIR OF THE MILFORD BARD. "OH! once I bowed at beauty's shrine, Charmed with love's silken chain; But never can this heart. of mine, Bow down in bliss again. "I woke the harp to woman's ear, With all a minstrel's art; And as she leaned my notes to hear, Love's arrow pierced my heart. "The memory of that mournful hour, We for the last time met; To blot there is no human power, I may not now forget." In the poem entitled "The Dream of other Days," are the following allu- sions to the subject. dream of other days how bright? But mournful 'tis to me When on my soul there shines the light Of love and memory. "I see her in my manhood's pride, In beauty brightly blaze; Again she lingers at my side, In dreams of other days. "She leans upon my bosom now, Her heart is pressed to mine; I feel it beating as her vow She breathes of love divine. I see her face so mild, so meek, I hear her soul-felt sigh; A smile is on her dimpled cheek, A tear in her dark eye. "That vow is broken, and that breast, To guile and grief is given; My heart no more with hope is blest, Alas ! I fall from heaven. I float alone down life's dark stream, A wreck in beauty's gaze; Oh! sweet, but sad to me that dream 4 That dream of other days." It is clearly evident that in his writings, and intercourse with his friends, the Bard frequently alluded to his disappointment in " his affair of the affections," MEMOIR OP THE MILPORD BARD.