'That this be false, than if thou'dst found a treasure Officer. Hear me but a while. She had beheld each sad and cruel death, One look to heaven restoring all her calmness; Callias. Oh cruel kindness! and I would have closed I would have smooth'd thy beauteous limbs, and laid My head upon thy breast, and died with thee. Olybius. Good father! once I thought to call thee so, How do I envy thee this her last fondness; She had no dying thought of me.-Go on. Officer. With that the headsman wiped from his swarth cheeks, On the cold block composed her head, and cross'd And some fell down upon their knees, some clasp'd Of that half-smiling face and bending form. Callias. But he-but he-the savage executioner- Callias. Ha! God's blessing on his head! And the axe slid from out his palsied hand? Officer. He gave it to another. Callias. And It fell. I see it, I see it like the lightning flash- I see it, And the blood bursts-my blood!—my daughter's blood! Off-let me loose. Officer. Where goest thou? To the Ghristian, JANUARY, 1823.-No. 249. 6 To learn the faith in which my daughter died, (P. 157-162.) In this day of "rebuke and blasphemy," when so many writers, in poetry and prose, are sapping the faith and morals of the people by their productions, we cannot forbear thanking the writer of this poem for displaying Christianity in so beautiful a light, as contrasted with the fairest forms of heathenism. It is something gained to the cause of truth, to have our associations and feelings engaged on the right rather than the wrong side as respects the Gospel even as a system; though incomparably happier are those who, allured by the exquisite proportions of the exterior of the temple, are persuaded to enter its hallowed walls, and to fix their abode within the precincts of the spiritual "Beauty of Holiness." EXAMINATION OF A WITNESS BEFORE THE SCOTS JURY COURT. The following examination took place in a question tried in the above mentioned court, between the trustees on the Queensferry passage and the town of Kirkaldy. The witness was called on the part of the trustees, and apparently full of their interest. The counsel having heard that the man had received a present of a coat from the clerk to the trustees before coming to attend the trial, thought proper to interrogate him on that point; as by proving this it would have the effect of setting aside his testimony. Q. Pray where did you get that coat? The witness looking obliquely down to the sleeve of his coat, and from thence to the counsel-with a mixture of effrontery and confusion, exclaimed, A. Coat, coat, Sir? whare got I that coat. Q. I wish to know where you got that coat? A. May be ye ken whare I got it? Q. No, but we wish to know from whom you got it? A. Did ye gie me that coat? Q. Tell the jury where you got that coat. A. What's your business wi' that? Q. It is material that you tell the court where you got that coat. Q. Do you recollect whether you bought that coat, or whether it was given to you? A. I canna recollect every thing about ma coats; whan I get them, or whare I get them. Q. You said you recollected perfectly well about the boats 40 Jyears ago; and the people who lived about Kirkaldy then, and ohn More's boat; and can you not remember where you got the coat you have on at present? A. 'Am no going to say ony thing about coats. Q. Did Mr. Douglass, clerk to the trustees, give you that coat? A. How do you ken ony thing about that? Q. I ask you did Mr. Douglass, &c. A. 'Am no bound to answer that question, but merely to tell the truth. Q. So you wont tell where you got that coat? A. I didna get the coat to do ony thing wrong for❜t; I didna engage to say ony thing that wasna true. The Lord Chief Commissioner, when the witness was going out of the box, called him back, and observed, "the court wish to know from you something farther about this coat. It is not believed that you got it improperly, or that there is any reason for your concealing it. You have been disinclined to speak about it, thinking there was something of insult or reproach in the questions put from the bar. You must be sensible that the bench can have no such intention, and it is for your credit, and the sake of your estimony, to disclose fairly where you got it. There may be discredit in concealing, but none in telling where you got it." Q. Where did you get the coat? A. 'Am no obliged to tell about ma coat. Q. True; you are not obliged to tell where you got it; but it is for your own credit to tell. A. I didna come here to tell about coats, but to tell about boats and pinnaces. Q. If you do not tell, I must throw aside your evidence altogether. A. 'Am no gaun to say ony thing about ma coat; 'am no obliged to say ony thing about it. Witness went away and was called back by Lord Gillies. Q. How long have you had that coat? A. I dinna ken how long I hae had ma coat. I hae plenty o' coats. I dinna mind about this coat or that coat. Q. Do you remember any thing near the time; have you had it a year, a month, or a week? Ilave you had it a week? A. Hoot ay, I dare say I may. Q. Have you had it a month? A. I dinna ken; I cam here to speak about boats, and no about coats. Q. Did you buy the coat? A. I didna mind what coat I bought, or what I got. The evidence of this witness was rejected. THE WHITE-HEADED, OR BALD EAGLE,* THIS distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our country, is entitled to particular notice. He has been long known to naturalists, being common in both continents, and occasionally met with from a very high northern latitude, to the borders of the torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and along the shores and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers. Formed by nature for braving the severest cold: feeding equally on the produce of the sea and the land; possessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves; unawed by any thing but man; and from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes and ocean, deep below him, he appears indifferent to the changes of temperature; as, in a few minutes he can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and from thence descend at will to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is therefore found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits; but prefers the borders of lakes and rivers, from the great partiality he has for fish. In procuring these he displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical; attributes not exerted but on particular occasions; but when put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree that commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below; the snow white gulls slowly winnowing the air, the busy tringæ coursing along the sands; trains of ducks streaming over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading; clamorous crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests all his attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows him to be the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight and balancing himself, with half opened wings, on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around! At this moment the eager looks of the Eagle are all ardor, and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, *Falco Leucocephalus. Wilson's Ornithology. soon gains on the fish-hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime ærial evolutions. The unincumbered Eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish: the Eagle poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill gotten booty silently away to the woods. These predatory attacks and defensive manœuvres of the Eagle and the fish-hawk, are matters of daily observation along the whole of our sea board, from Georgia to New England, and frequently excite great interest in the spectators. Sympathy, however, on this as on most other occasions, generally takes side with the honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the attacks of power, injustice and rapacity, qualities for which our hero is so generally notorious, and which, in his superior, man, are certainly detestable. As for the feelings of the poor fish they seem altogether out of the question. When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage and perseverance of the fish-hawks from their neighbourhood, and forced to hunt for himself, he retires more inland in search of young pigs, of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the inhabitants raise vast herds of those animals, complaints are very general against him. He also destroys young lambs in the early part of spring; and will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming furiously at their eyes. In corroboration of the remarks I have myself made on the manners of the Bald-eagle, many accounts have reached me from various persons of respectability, living on or near the sea coast; the substance of all these I shall endeavour to incorporate with the present account. Mr. John L. Gardiner, who resides on an island of three thousand acres, about three miles from the eastern point of Long Island, from which it is separated by Gardiner's bay, and who has consequently many opportunities of observing the habits of these birds, has favoured me with a number of interesting particulars on this subject: for which I beg leave thus publicly to return my grateful acknowledgment. "The Bald-eagles," says this gentleman, "remain on this island during the whole winter. They can be most easily discovered in the evenings, by their loud snoring while asleep on high oak trees; and when awake their hearing seems to be nearly as good as their sight. I think I mentioned to you that I had myself seen one flying with a lamb ten days old, and which it dropped on the ground, from about ten or twelve feet high. The struggling of the |