Star.
London, England, 1825-05-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

To the Departed.—Stanzas to the Memory of Lord
Byron Bvo. London, 1825.
The author of this beautiful little poem is worthy the
task of celebrating the genius of that master spirit,
whose lyre is now unstrung..but whose works will live
as long as the English language. Of all the tributes to
the memory of the Noble Bard, we have seen none so
chaste, so vigorous, or so appropriate, as the Stanzas to
Me Departed, which, we understand, are from a female
pen. There is great beauty in the first three stanzas,
which we subjoin; and the allusion to that child which
Lord Byron so appropriately called the sole daughter of
his house and heart, is particularly happy.

And didst thou ever five? or art thou not
Rather the bright creation of a dream?
Thy fame the vision of some fancied lot,
A ray of noonday glory o'er a stream,
That evening flush which kindles with its gleam
The glacier'crown upon an Alpine brow;
SO bright, so pure, so transient, that we deem
The Spirit of the dying Day doth throw
Its gentle farewell o'er the twilight world below!
IL
Full many a time o'er those eternal bills
The Spirit of the dying Day shall part.
And youth and fancy, 'mid a worts! of WI,
Create a Paradise in many a heart;
And waves shall roll, and glittering water! start
In fleeting beauty, to the fleeting ray ;
Unreal things—they live not—but depart.
Nor leave one trace when they have paged away ;,
Shadows and visions all—.but Thou went not as they
111.
And didst thou ever live? Yes—life was thine,
An.l youth, and genius, and the swelling tide
(If all in life which seems at first divine,—
I lonnur, and fame, and style, and conscious pride
Of being alone, with none who might divide
The veil which chained all bosoms and beguiled ;
And what is left of these, to watch beside
The early tomb which o'er thy dust is piled?
Reproach—and—Glory—and Thine only Child !
IX.
His only child! be loved thee to the last;
Thy fancied image was perchance the one
In that sad hour of death and doubt which pass'd
Latest across his mortal sight ;—and none
Will wish the word unsaid, the thought undone,
Which breathes, that Fate in kindness may inspire
A heart more calm than his ; to ponder on,
With grief perchance, but such as cloth not tire,
The vanibla'd lift and love of him—thine unknown Sire!

Narrative of an Expedition to Me Source of St. Peter's
River, Lake Wintrepeek, Lake of the IJ'oods,4-e. Per-
farmed in the ) ear ISIS, by order of the Hon. J. C.
Calhoun, Secretary of War, under Me Command of
Stephen li. Long, U.S.?. E. Compiled from the Notes,
qj Major Long, Messrs. Say, Keating, and Calhoun.
By WILLI A NI H. KICATING, A.M. &c. Two VOIS. 81/0.
London, 1825.
While the Govet nment of the United States is actively
attentive to the improvement of those parts of its vast
contint-nt which have been brought into cultivation, it
does not neglect to explore those-more distant regions
which yet remain but little known and thinly populated.
Such is that track of country beyond the northern limits
of the Co ted States, and bounded by the Missouri and
the Mississippi, and extending to the 49th parallel of
h latitude.
In order to explore these regions, an expedition was
filed out in the spring of 1823, under the direction of
Mr. Long. who executed his task with great ability.—
After tracing the source of St. Pctet's River, the expe-
dition returned by the Lakes Superior, Huron, Et ie, .nd
Ontario. No pains appears to have been spared in ob-
taining the most correct information as to the soil, cli-
mate, geology, natural history, &c. of the country
through which the ex' edition passed; and hence a Mass
of interesting and valuable info: motion was obtained.
Mr. Keating, the M.neralogist and Geologist, accons-
p inied the • expedition, and was appointed li:erary
Journalist ; he was afterwards selected to draw up *k
connected narrative from the sevirke Journals of each'
Officer, and well has he acqui ted. himself of his task.
The volumes before us contain Much valuable infor-
mation respecting a country large as Great Britain, but
yet hitherto comparatively little known. This narrative
is indeed an excellent work, and we regret that our
limits confine us to one or two btief extracts. In meet-
ing with the I'otawatomi Indians, Major Long was
anxious to knr w whether they were really cannibals ?
and pretty clearly a'certained that such was really the
case. Mr. Keating says—
" The motives which impel them to cannibalism are
various : in some cas-s it is produced by a famine over
the country, and of this we shall be able to cte a num.
ber of well-attested instances, some of which carry with
them very horrible features, when we treat of the
Chippewa tribes, west of Lake Superior. Another, and
a more frequent cause, is the desire of venting their rage
upon a defeated enemy, or a belief that, by so doing,
they acquire a charm that will make them irresistible.
It is a common superstition with them, that he that
tastes of the body of a brave man acquires a part of his
valour, and that, if be can eat of his heart, which by
them is considered as the seat of all courage, the share
of bravery which he derives from it is still greater.

matters not whether the foe be a white man or an
Indian ; provided he be an enemy, it is all that is re-
quired. Mr. Marron has seen the Potawatomis, with
the hands and limbs of both white men and Cherokees,
which they were about to devour.
" It is well attested, that one of the officers attached to
General Harmer's command was taken prisoner by the
Miamis previously to the defeat of the whole army,
and tortured by them in the most cruel and unrelent-
ing manner for three days, on the west bank of the
Maumee. The Indians declared that he had behaved
with a remarkable degree of fortitude. Pieces of flesh
were cut off from his body, roasted, and eaten by them
in the presence of the agonized victim. No exclamation
or groan could be drawn ft om the intrepid prisoner, un-
til a squaw thrust a burning brand into his privates,
when he was heard to exclaim, 4‘ Oh, my GOD!" A
young Indian warrior then declared that the prisoner,
Laying proved himself a brave man, should no longer
be kept in agony, and put a period to his sufferings by
dispatching -him with his tomahawk.
One of the best-attested instances is that of Captain
Wells, who was killed after the capture of Chicago, in
1812. This man, who had been a long time among the
Indians, having been taken prisoner by them at the age
of thirteen, had acquired a great reputation for con-
rage ; and his name is still mentioned as that of the
brav,st white man w;th whom they bad ever met. He
had almost become one cf their number, and had united
himself to a descendant of Little Turtle. At the com-
mencement of hostilities between Britain and the
United Stales, he sided with his own countrymen,
while the Indians of this vicinity all passed Into the
British service. When the fort was afterwards be.

sieged by the united Indians, Captain Wells was there,'
having arrived just two days before with tbe orders from
General Hull for the evacuation of the post. Wells
WAS killed after the action, his body was divided, and
his heart was shared, as being the most certain spell for
courage, and part of it was sent to the various tribes in
alliance with the Potawatomis, white they themselves
feasted upon the rest." •
Mr. Keating was particularly attentive to the geology
and mineralogy of the country through which he tra-
velled, and in the account of the Salt Springs at Za-
nesville, be relates a curious hoax. Some of these
springs are come at by boring auger-holes about three
inches in diameter, to the depth of 700 feet.
.• It was in boring for coal, a few years since, that a
deception was practised which made considerable
noise in the country, and produced much mischief in
Zanesville and its vicinity. It appears well ascertained,
at present, that the silver, said to have been found in
one of the auger-holes bored on the banks of the river,
bad been thrown in by. some evil-minded persons. The
pretended discovery induced many to speculate largely
upon the mine, before the detection of the plot, whence
they incurred great losses ; this event occurred in the
year 1819."
We consider Mr. Keating's work as a very valuable
addition to the collection of Modern Travels, and par-
ticularly interesting to Englishmen, on account of its
relating to a part of America with which an extensive
fur trade is connected.

REMINISCENCES OF MICHAEL KELLY.
The following is an extract from this forthcoming
work, which cannot fail to aff.)rd amusement to the
Public from the experience of the Author, and the
intercourse of the veteran Actor, with the first wits
and most celebrated characters of his day.
" Mr. Lennan, a saddler in Dublin, was most se-
riously stage.struck, and volunteered to act Major
O'ilaherts, in which he was execrable; after this was
x,ver, however, he exhibited himself at the Cockle Club.
where the facetious Isaac Sparks presided, and Jack
',log was Vice;Presidelt : they made him extremely
tipsy, and then gave him in charge to the watch, for
having murdered Maj r O'Flaherty, and left the poor
saddler all night in durance vile, who afterwards stuck
to making saddles, and never more was found guilty
of murdering M jars, even on the stage,
" I had the pleasure also to be introduced to my
worthy countryman, the Reverend Fuller O'Leary, the
well•known Roman Catholic Priest; he was A man of
infinite wit, of instructive and amusing conversation.'
I felt highly honoured by the notice of the pious pillar
of the Roman Church ; our tastes were congenial, for
his Reverence was mighty fond of whiskey-punch, and
so was I ; and many a jug of Sr. Patrick's eye-water,
night after night, did his Reverence and myself enjoy,
chattering over that national beverage. He sometimes
favoured me with his company to dinner ; when he did,
I always had a corned shoulder of mutton for him, for
he, like some others of his countrymen, who shall be
nameless, was ravenously fond of that dish.
" One day the faceti ars John Philpot Curran, who
was also very partial to the said corned mutton, did
me the honour to meet him at dinner. To enjoy the
society of such men was an intellectual treat. They
were great friends, and seemed to have a mutual re•
specs for each other's talents, as it may easily be ima-
gined; aqd O'Leary versus Curran, was no bad match. ,
One day after dinner, Curran said to him, Reverend
Father, I wish that you we. e Saint Peter.' And why,
Counsellor, would 3ou wish tha' I was Saint Peter?'
asked O'Leary. Because, Reverend Father, in that
case you would have the keys of Heaven, and you
could let me in' By my honour and conscience,
Counsellor,' replied the Divine, • it would be better for
you that I had the keys of the other place, for then I
could let you out:---Curran enjoyed the joke, which he
admitted had a good deal of reason in it.

The Duke of YORK was in the House of Lords on
Friday, during the di-c.issions on the Catholic Petitions.
Twenty-three Petitions were presented to the House
of Lords on Friday evening against, and eight in fa-
•your of, the Roman Catholic Claims.
Accounts from all parts of the country represent the
present Spring as the most promising there has been for
many years. The foliage was never known to be more
luxuriant; and the appearance of every species of vege-
tation bespeaks an abundant produce. There has been
a partial blight in some of the apple districts, but nut
such as to affect the crop.
Neon RANT BANK Cord musicArtoN.--Mr. Rtarms,
from the Bai k of England, made an important com-
munication to the members of the Stock Exchange on
Saturday, that the holders of the Stock created in
1797, called the Loyalty Loan, will have the option of
taking Consols for.the amount of their Stock at 75; or
if they do not acceptirf this boon, Government will pay
off the amount at par, on or before the 31 of July next.
This would give the holders four per cent. for the money
advanced. It will be recollected, this stock amounted
in 1797 to eighteen millions and a half, at five per cent.
interest; in 1802 sixteen millions were paid off, or
rather exchanged for other descriptions of stock; sub-
sequently further arrangements were made, leaving
about 600,00 W. to be paid off nlw,, or exchanged for
Consols, as we have before stated. The Government,
at the time of the creation of. this stock, reserved the
power of paying it off three years,after the Navy Five
per Cents. were paid off or reduced, or after a peace of
two years' continuance.
Saturday afternoon, an Inquisition was taken at the'
Crown public-house, in Duke s-court, St. Martin's-lane,
on the body of the Rev. Mr. Vivian, whose sudden death
was announced irs our Paper of Saturday. Mr. Gay
Shute, residing at Watford, in the county of Herts, sur-
geon, stated that he had attended professionally the de-
ceased and his family for the last four years, and from
the description frequently given during that period, of
-the complaint the deceased labouted under, he consi
dered it to be a species of angina pectoris, and having
attended as his medical adviser, he had been particu-
larly requested by Sir Hussey Vivian, Bart. deceased's
nephew, to be present at the Inquest; and from the
general appearances, was of opinion that the cause of
his sudden death was angina pectoris, which produced
suffocation, with a total suspension of vital action.
Witness had.opened the body, and on inspection found
appearances to justify him in his opinion. There were
no marks of violence whatever, on any part of the body.
The deceased was in the 72d year of his age, and has
left a family of six children. After some further evi-
dence, the Jury,without hesitation, returned a verdict-
-4' Died by the visitation of GoD."
Ostia, that mine of antiquities, is again being ex-
plored. The speculator is a Signor Cartoni, of Rome.
,Several broken columns, , inscriptions, and a superb
block, of extraordinary dimensions, of orientalal abaster,
have already been discovered.