Western Sun, Volume 2, Number 51, Vincennes, Knox County, 2 December 1809 — Page 4

POETICAL ASYLUM,

FOR THE WtSTERN SUN. THE REGENERATED SINNER. A Parody of SiijhSs Sublime Ode. AS holy Angels bleft is he, The finful man who comes to thee, Arid heats and fees thee, from above Speak fwcctly of redeeming love. 'Twas this re ftor'd my foul to reft, And rais'd fuch tumults in my breaft ; For while4!, read and heard thy voices My heart was fill'd with holy joys. My bofom' gfow'd ; the facred flame Ran quick through all my vital frame ; From my dim cyr the darknefa fell, And I efcap'd from lin and hell. .With fyith and hope my mind was fill'd ; With charity my heart was thrill'd ; My pulfe of life did quickly play, Touch'd by the beams of hsav'nly d3y. M. Aiiguft 1809.

M ISC EL L A NT. From 'tue ARGUS OP WESTERN AMERICA. PAST OCCURRENCES. k FRAGMENT,

Extracted Jrom an original manuscript. "A solemn pleasure tiovv from former pains." Continued. J The wolves irritated by hunger, .ichanced in a few paces of where we fat. I had thrown away my rifle, w hen I iwam with Zerelda over the Mufkmgum, and had hut my pilloib for our defence ; I difcharjjed one of -them among the forcinofl ; it ilunned their voices for a few minutes, hut they again burd forth with rcinvigorated yelling, and rnihed forward with the mod daring MoLnce. I fired mv other pift'il, one of tliem was wounded ;md fled with a feaiful howl; the others follow ed, and we were re!iced from a dreadful apprehenii- . on. Morning hung her fmiling enlign over the tops of the eallern lulls. We renewed our folitary tract, enteied a level wade, parched into fluidity, by the beams o a burning without the welcome draught oi d relrclhing dream. We were almoil c:vhuifted by third ut huon, hut were compelled V i ai and tumifhii.g to w .mdi r mi OUI unlhadrd pLti-iS, w Inch appeared as if th,y had never drank the wet pm;; iu , i i?u-e t a dew.. iltcry nfmu tr.und we afceudcj,

hope anxicufly anticipated the dcfuable cordial at the bottom of the defeent ; but we were difappointed w e hoped again and again but again dif sppomtmcnt came. Night arrived, with a fable vapor of fcorclnng fevers on his wings It -was impolIi?)Ie for us to panic, under the torrid influence of a third, that fancy imagined never could be allayed and with Mars, who (hot his fiery arrow s from the eafl, for our guide, we rambled, in refearch of water until morning. The fun arofe, and his beams appeared to fry in the air, as they darted along a wide level of prairie. Zerelda became too weak to make our accuflomed progrefs toward the Oil I expected tlream. The rifen fun poured a baleful fhowerof heated radiance around us. We endeavoured to confole each other with profpe6ts which neither of us believed ; we avoi: ded wounding each others fenf ability with unavailing complaints, but each felt the fufFering of the other. In the evening, nature wearied out in Zerelda we were afcend-

ing a full, on the top of which the prairie was terminated by .a margin .of woods. She was fcarcely able to move forwards. I held one ot her hands in mine, and prefled my other arm around her waift, 8c

then affided her in a flow progrefs

towards adiltant hope.

Oh ! how 1 bled for her fu Air

ings, my own pangs were bidder's

bable my blood run like llrcams of burning fulpher, my heart

throbed with a fever of fiery billows ; the air I ; breatcd was a crackling flame to my vitals-but the agonies of Zerelda, atlded a tenfold poignancy to my tortures. Lier hand burnt in mine -her face was inflamed into crimfon, but not a drop of fw eat moillened its heat-

ed furface fhe could bear up but little longer. We had nearly reached the fummit but lhe was exluulted. The laft llruggie of famifhing nature nature was expiring fhe pre lied my hand, looked up in my eyes and fainted. Heavens of mercy ! what was to he done I feated her on the grafs, and leaned over her mandate of flupified detraction to have laved fier, i would have torn open my own bofom, and fhe lhould have drank the blood of my heart. k Continue here and fhe never opens the eye of light again." Tins dreadlul certainty rendered me frantic I caught her in m arms, and ran at ieall a mile over the liili lhe had not revived, but I had reached the long faught bkiling. The water w as llagnaut and impure, but J poured a plentiful draught in her lips, and threw it in

ihowers over her face and pei

Her pulfe leaped from oblivion

law the beam of her eve.'

revived in a tranfpor: of fmiJes,

but attempted not to give her joy or gfuthuue in words lhe preife.l my hand, and gave me a look that led me into her foul. During that evening we became so far lelrelbed and ' invigorated,

Mat we continued our juruey in

the morning with our aeeullomed Morei'j.

k.

For fevcral davs we encountered

no difliculties but thole which

were inevitable in a dcfirt, and what arofe from our anxiety to avoid the Indians, who w ere f warming through the country on their

return from the American frontiers ; and it w as with a miracle that wc efcaped their observation, w hich wasoccafioned by their having no fufpicion that any American would venture fo far in their territories. Hutwc were foon the deflincd pray of more alarming calamities. 1 had kindled a fire on the bank ot a creek, and was loiding my piflolsto fhoot fomcthir.g for breakfad -I had charged one, and handed the powder to Zerelda who was fitting at my fide I was at fome difficulty to withdraw the rammer from the other which fixed her attention ; lhe forgot the powder which lay loofe on a paper and being entirely engroffed with what I was doing, the paper dropped from her hand into the water. 1 endeavored to recover the powder, but it was Scattered from the paper, & washed down the flrcam. Zerelda was frightened, and un

able to fpeak-- fhe railed her eyes

to mine, the trembling foul of entreaty was in her looks, and feem. ed to fay, forgive---I would not

have been angry for the world. I returned her a fmile with all the

kindnefsof which my nature was

fufceptible,and prefled her hand in

mine. It relieved her apprehenlions, for fhe feared I would be angry, and a look or a word of difplcafure, would have funk her to the earth. ' ' 0 She cenfured . herft lf with the fevereft acrimony for the fatal accident, which would prob aoly occation us both to perifh in the wil-

dernefs, but I endeav ored to infpire her with a hope, which 1 mjfelf, could not harbor, that the pow der might not be wanting, and that we might arrive at the borders of Penufylvania, before wc would be in want of provilion; and as we were not in abfolute need of our break fad, we relumed our journey refolving to prclerve otir only charge of powder for a laft emergency. After travelling for two days without food, we arrived at a place which 1 recognized, and was convinced that we were much farther from the AUeganey river than 1 had contemplated. I became melancholy upon the difcovcry, and my mind began to link towards the verge of defpair. Zerelda now redoubled her effort to give time the fleeting wings ol airy traniporr. She was not horn lor lbrrow, and amidd all our calanuti. s, her lively romantic fpii its lemameti un!)roken. The exhilirating elfulions of h:;r vivacity were a iclrelhihg cordial in the torrid zone of burning tlnrlt, an invigorating lphmg oi ujk xerted energy in the exhaidkci region oi fatigue. She was generally in a fptighdy mood,;m I nirroiuidcd by the dancing laughing graces ; and difpLyed with a hap- variety enlivening humor, and enchanting p iietv t'ri f1, I .." (, .J fi - .

threats of darker into iVr.iles, and made the k delart bio'dom.' Site now perceiv chh it a heavy ferioufnels was gathering a gloom on my brow, and opened heri-wx-hauftable treafure of w it and ;h-r-

lulnefs to difperfc its difagrecah'"; IhadcMand plant the bright Halo ot pleafure in its dead. 1 was ev, ei the willing fubjectof her divine mcantations---fhe could at plealure take hold of my f ;ul with :i hand of irrefiftable magic, and mould and fhape-it as fhe pieafed : l v e r y fa c u ! t y , e very fe n fe , a u d e -very tone, await but the fly in 5 roucli of her enchanted finger to expand and pant, and thrill with the emotions fho intended. Her glance of lbrrow benumed every pulfe of vivacity, folded every win. of extacy, and burll e cry pathetic fpringof the heart to flow with the: tears of fenlibility. But when the; fmiles of joy blpflbmed on her countenance, the fold eel deuves of delight lijew open, the unflrunjj harp of rapture was attuned and vibrated, the rifled w ings of felicity feathered and' expanded, and my foul w rapt in the bofuin of a ixveet faflination was caught up into heaven. . - We vere feated on the grafs by a cool fpring. She ufed a thouC and little fiiccelsful forccrics to . divert my reflections from our melancholy fituation---my mind was obfequious to her bidding.. Unlefs by the interpofitton of a mira

cle, there was a certainty of deatft before us in the meager emaciated garb of famine ; but her .fanciful vivacity, with the infpirative aflluvium of fympathy dole all my horrors from the contemplation of the dlarmmg profpecl, folded theia in the arms of plealing hilarity ; tranfported them with the fragrant embraces of diledtible fenfation, and dandled them with blisful animation on the lap of elylium. I forgot that deatii was at hand, and had he then arrived, the moment of my dillblution would have been an age of blifs ; for I lhould haves died with Zerelda. v he lung an air w hich had fevcral times tuned the. wiidernefs to harmony. The fine delicate touches of her voice fymphonized with fuch indifcribable fweetnefs and harmony, that my foul was intranced by the found, into the bright regions of love w here nothing but the light feet of imagination ever Arayed. The world was contracted to the fpace that held Zerelda---an eternity of time hur.r; on the prelent moment. 1 cuid have flown with her to tl.c e.. halting fnows of Z.n.ol;:, a;.d live J pofn fi'ed of cur w ,hi. Oil Z-r( -Ida, -fii:i r-v ; v.!c her hand as 1 faid it) w , . : a; c ! -:i ol blifs has nature ch ' au xd f-ii the h-'Ppy m.:n, wilo ohrai.i-. h:

idivinitv of cnaniis, which can

hniie a wiidernefs in'o t) tradi e.' This di inity, faid the with a fmile) would f'ion lool'e its fpel!. "c ,n the miditof his ilionhe w f)'iM awake and find hunfeitin a wtldencls.' To be cnt:n:u(!.J

1 1 o m 1 it f. r h 1. y o :- ;. s ro rr. imm.vt: r T'j Tin: t ! k k i t .. v a vd ojj Ti!K LAWs dh I Hi i:.;itki ATAll i.