O! fearful is the battle's rage;

No lady's hand is in the fray;
But brawny limbs the contest wage,
And struggle for the victor's day.

Lo! Spencer sinks, and Warwick's slain,
And breathless bodies strew the plain:
And yells, and groans, and clang, and roar,
Echo along the Wabash shore.

But mark! where breaks upon the eye
Aurora's beam. The coming day
Shall foil a frantic prophecy,

And Christian valour well display.

Ne'er did Constantine's soldiers see,
With more of joy for victory,

A cross the arch of heaven adorn,
'Than these the blushing of the morn.

Bold Boyd led on his steady band,

With bristling bayonets burnish'd bright:
What could their dauntless charge withstand?

What stay the warriors' matchless might?
Rushing amain, they clear'd the field,
The savage foe constrain'd to yield
To Harrison, who, near and far,
Gave form and spirit to the war.

Sound, sound the charge! spur-spur the steed,
And swift the fugitives pursue-

'Tis vain: rein in-your utmost speed,
Could not o'ertake the recreant crew.

In lowland marsh, in dell, or cave,
Each Indian sought his life to save;
Whence, peering forth, with fear and ire,
He saw his prophet's town on fire.

Now, the great Eagle of the West,
Triumphant wing was seen to wave:
And now each soldier's manly breast

Sigh'd o'er his fallen comrade's grave.

Some dropp'd a tear, and mus'd the while,
Then join'd in measur'd march their file;
And here and there cast wistful eye,

That might surviving friend descry.

But let a foe again appear,

Or east, or west, or south, or north;
The soldier then shall dry his tear,
And fearless, gayly sally forth.

With lightning eye, and warlike front,
He'll meet the battle's deadly brunt:
Come Gaul or Briton; if array'd

For fight-he'll feel a freeman's blade.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.-FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

THE AMERICAN LAW JOURNAL,

BY J. E. HALL.

THREE years have elapsed since the editor ventured to submit to the public the plan of a periodical journal devoted to the science of law. During this term, it has been prosecuted with all the zeal and industry which the editor could bestow upon his task, and in the course of the three volumes that have been published, although many defects may have offended the eye of expectation, yet all admit that something, not entirely unworthy of attention, has been accomplished. It is in the nature of every performance to appear imperfect to some; and the editor of a periodical publication, though he insert nothing without careful inquiry and deliberate reflection, is rarely hailed, in his annual career, by the voice of approbation or supported by the assistance of the liberal and the learned. But of this work, it is acknow. ledged with mingled emotions of pride and gratitude, that the opinions which have been expressed, by the most competent judges of its merits, have conveyed all that could be wished and more than was expected in the most deceitful visions of literary

ambition. It is this circumstance which has prevented it from yielding to the uncommonly vexatious obstacles that have opposed its progress: and it is this, which encourages the Editor to make one more exertion before he abandons a design, the execution of which, it is universally agreed, would be useful to the profession.

Some alterations will be made in the plan of the Journal, of which it may be proper to apprize its readers and those who may be inclined to patronize it. All those acts of the Congress and of the General Assembly of Maryland which are of public concern, shall be inserted in the next number which may be issued subsequent to their dates; of those which are private in their nature, no more than the titles will be given. The laws of this state shall be printed so as to correspond with the recent edition by Mr. Maxey, and paged distinctly, so that they may be separated from the Journal. At proper intervals, distinct titlepages and indexes to these two collections, shall be published.

We shall endeavour to procure the laws of every state in the Union, from which such selections shall be made, from time to time, as may enable us, in a few years, to exhibit a complete institute of American jurisprudence. The science of legislation, is not yet perfectly understood among us; it is still in a crude and imperfect state. But with such a collection before him as we hope to amass, the law-giver or the judge may accurately survey the progress of our experiments, and it will be in his power to imitate the promising, to adopt what is salutary and reject that which time has demonstrated to be pernicious.

Thus, by comparing the projects of the adventurous with the experience of the wise, the young legislator may early acquire knowledge and the old will find additional motives of adherence to a rule of action, which is not less imperative in legal than in political science. Thus might the respective laws of the states become, not only what Spencer says laws should be, like stone tables, plain, steadfast and immoveable,-but they might gradually be moulded so as to be the expository applications of consistent and immutable principles. Such a state of harmony and uniformity, pervading the various members of this vast political

body, more than all the cant of hollow patriotism, would brace its fibres and animate its vital functions.

It has been intimated in a cotemporary journal that our plan might be made still more comprehensive; and the reviewer recommends to our attention," inquiries into the origin of the federal constitution and that of the several states, which would afford us some view of the progress we have made. Changes, more frequent than those of the moon, in the form and the substance of the several governments, were once considered the employment or the sport of visionary politicians, and too many of our politicians were of that class; now, the reverence which the sober and the speculative, equally profess, is almost as great as that which they ought to feel. The discussion of old constitutional questions should fill a part of the volume; and the tracts on the subject should either be resuscitated, or an abstract be supplied."

To this suggestion, we have not been inattentive, but have collected a variety of pamphlets, illustrative of our political and legal history, which must always be read with profound interest by the statesman and the lawyer. We had likewise collected some old Latin tracts respecting the civil law and the common law of England, of which we intended to insert copious accounts or faithful translations. In this manner also we proposed to introduce to the English reader a translation of the celebrated Treatise of Hubner on the right of searching and seizing neutral vessels, which we have long since completed: and the Consolato del Mare and the Treatise of Emerigon on Insurance, which are nearly prepared for the press.

We had further marked out some parts of the works of sir Leoline Jenkins relating to the laws of nations: a translation of Fortesque de laudibus legum Angliæ and some sections of Dr. Duck de Usu et Authoritate Juris Civilis Romanorum.

We mention these things, not for the purpose of exciting expectation; but simply to show that however the annals of our domestic jurisprudence should fail in the contribution of materials, we should be at no loss. The legal lore of former ages and foreign nations is an abundant treasury to which the scientific lawyer can always resort for those abstract principles of right which are applicable at all times and in all places.

Each volume will contain at least six hundred pages, divided into semi-annual numbers, the price of each of which will be two dollars and fifty cents payable on delivery.

Persons who receive subscription papers are requested to transmit their orders to the publisher by the 1st of February next, at which time another volume shall be put to press, if it appear probable that the expense may be remunerated.

Subscribers who receive their numbers by the mail, will find them post-paid, if they transmit the price of each volume in ad

vance.

Baltimore, 10th October, 1811.

MORTUARY.

(FROM A RICHMOND PAPER.)

AMID the general gloom which pervades our city, we should do injustice to our feelings, if we did not pay a separate tribute to the memory of Miss SARAH CHEVALLIE CONYERS. Seldom indeed has society been called on to deplore the loss of an individual of finer accomplishments or of more amiable virtues. With her we have been deprived of one of the fairest flowers of Virginia in the sprightly morning of its youth, whilst surrounded by every thing that could contribute to render life desirable. Among her numerous acquaintance, there is not a heart that does not bleed over the calamity, nor an eye that does not stream with tears in memory of her merit. It is the remembrance only of her virtues that can shed a ray of comfort to those friends; we have offered them the purest sympathies of the heart, but alas! sympathy can scarcely soften the anguish of him of whose declining years she was the youthful comforter, and for whom her bosom glowed with all the sacred sensations of filial piety, nor sooth the sorrows of him to whom she was bound by the ties of a still softer sympathy. How bright were their prospects of intellectual happiness! But oh! how changed-how fallen!

* We take this occasion of correcting an unintentional mistake contained in our last number; where it is suggested, that the amiable subject of this article, was affianced to the generous young man who vainly attempted to save