Thy "reason steered―thy skill disarmed the gale;"
While feebler spirits cowered before the task,
And treachery's efforts met discomfiture.
Thy prescience led thee on:-thy puny fleet-
Thy St. Maria, Pinta, Nigna-sailed,
And rode, triumphant, o'er the boisterous deep,
Till Guanahani blessed thy longing sight:
And, safely landed on that barbarous strand,
A glad Te Deum rose from grateful hearts!
Here was the germ, whence all thy laurels spring.

Now grateful plaudits welcome thy return To Palos:-but too soon Spain's haughty sons Gave wanton rein to Envy: base self-love And captious spleen ill brook'd that thou shouldst share The honours and emoluments assured

By Spain's united crown. Oh, perfidy!

Ingratitude most base!--And must the Muse,

In after-ages, far remote, recount

This deed, most infamous in History's lore,

That, on a further visit to thy land

Thine, by discovery-by compact thine

Thy graceful limbs should wear the felon's chain,
And, at the mandate of an envious wretch,
Hispaniola's lord, thou shouldst be bound?
And, FETTERED like a criminal, return

To that ungrateful land, which, else, had won,

By thine exploits, a never-dying same,
But which thy FETTERS stamp with infamy!

21

Thy violated rights were ne'er restored, And basely were thy promised honours filched: The remnant of thy useful life was spent In fruitless efforts to redress thy wrongs. But while possessed of sound, disposing mind, Thou wast permitted to indite a WILL, And designate thy son, Executor "Go, FERDINAND, go bring my FETTERS here Hang them in my apartment, where my eyes May ever be delighted with the sight! They are a precious treasure:-rich reward For all my services! a Monarch's Gift! A kingly present! pledge of royal faith! A token of a Nation's Gratitude!

เ

Here let them hang, to bless my ardent gaze,
And fix within my heart a Monarch's love!
And when my 'dust to dust' thou shalt commit,
So highly do I prize this royal gift,

O, let it not be sundered from my heart;

But let my FETTERS share my peaceful grave !”
-A WILL, indeed! A scorching epitaph
For punick faith-for perjured royalty!

Yet, though COLUMBUS sleeps, his name shall live, And Spain's proud aristocracy outlive.

Though Florentine Vespucius stole his name,22
COLUMBIA still shall grace the Roll of Fame!
This name is dear to every patriot breast;—
Why should injustice blot it from our crest?
In the corrupted customs of this world,
Too oft is VIRTUE from her zenith hurled !
Vice, oft triumphant, holds remorseless sway;
But Heaven has in reserve a glorious day,
"To bring forth all the deeds of men to light,
And every one, as he deserves, requite."
Then fetters shall COLUMBUS gall no more;
But, there, redressed for all the wrongs he bore,
His sainted spirit shall in glory reign,

While his malignant foes are doomed to misery's chain

HOMEWARD BOUND

INSCRIBED TO LOUISA.

BORNE on affection's wing, I haste
Back to my native hills again ;
Hope of the future, cheers the past-
I launch upon the wide-spread main!

Anxious to lay this painful head
On my LOUISA's faithful breast,

I leave this distant, lonely bed,

To greet my long-loved HOME OF REST.

For there, a wife and children dear,

With anxious longing, look for me;

Then will the INVALID not fear

Once more to brave the treacherous sea.

Propitious breezes! swell the sail,

And waft me to my welcome Home;
Though borne, alas! on every gale,
A summons greets me from the tomb

The time is brief I linger here;-
Probation's day is well-nigh sped;
I hail the peaceful moment near,
Which numbers me among the dead !———

All my appointed time. I'll wait,
Contented still to linger here;

If, haply, in this trial-state,

My wife and children I may cheer:

For YE, indeed, are all the ties,

That bind me to this heartless earth ;— Naught else have I, beneath the skies,Child of affliction, from my birth!

But, dear LOUISA! Heaven hath rest
For us, and ours, which ne'er will end;

For in the mansions of the Blest,

We have an everlasting Friend.

If we our Father's WILL perform,

We'll join our friends in upper skies; When all of earth,-escaped the storm,Shall from earth's EMPYROSIS rise!

"Now launch the boat upon the wave,
The wind is blowing off the shore;"
Again the watery world I brave-

I seek my distant HOME once more.
Philadelphia, October, 1, 1839.