Chapter II: "Led on by lust of lucre and renown, (3)

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When we consider the delicate form, the gentleness and refinement in which she had been nurtured in the lap of rank and fortune, the shining virtues of connubial constancy, heroic devotion, and unbending fortitude stand out in bold relief in the character of Lady Harriet Ackland; and these, in their practical development in her case, furnish romance with a stranger page than imagination can command, and lend to poetry half its inspiration. They gave impulse to the lyre of the accomplished lady of Perez Morton, Esq.; and I will close this chapter with an extract from her poem, suggested by the events above noticed.

"To gallant Gates, in war serenely brave,

The tide of fortune turns its refluent wave;

Forced by his arms, the bold invaders yield

The prize and glory of the well-fought field:

Bleeding and lost, the captured Ackland lies,

While leaden slumber seals his Fraser's eyes;

Fraser! whose deeds unfading glories claim,

Endeared by virtues and adorned by fame.

.....

'Twas now the time, when twilight's misty ray

Drops the brown curtain of retiring day,

The clouds of heaven, like midnight mountains, lower,

Waft the wild blast and dash the drizzly shower,

Through the wet path her restless footsteps roam,

To where the leader spread his spacious dome.

Low-at his feet she pours the desperate prayer-

Give my lost husband to my soothing care,

Give me in yonder solitary cave,

With duteous love, his burning wounds to lave;

On the warm pillow which his breast supplies,

Catch his faint breath and close his languid eyes,

Or in his cause my proffered life resign-

Mine were his blessings, and his pains were mine."

Present Peacefulness at Saratoga.--Curious Meteorological Phenomena.-- Departure for Schuylerville.

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