e through;
The pattering footfalls near and nearer came,
A moment paused,--then, like a flash of flame,
The stag in splendor dawned upon his sight,
And sniffed the crystal air with keen delight.
Upon the morning breeze the piercing twang
Of taut-drawn bowstring ominously rang,
While with a moan the noble creature sank
In pain and terror on the reedy bank.
Beneath a haughty hemlock's spicy shade
The hero stanched the wound his shaft had made;
With leathern thong the stag's slight limbs he bound,
And striding swiftly o'er the ferny ground,
His precious burden on his shoulders wide,
Toward fair Mycenae with her walls of pride
He hurried on from lisping Ladon's shore,
Elate to feel his arduous task was o'er.
Before his steps the joyful tidings flew,
And when anigh the city's gates he drew,
A band of stately elders bade him hail;
Then came a troop of youths in garments pale,
Upon their lips a merry hunting lay;
And following close a group of maidens gay,
With twining flowers, freshed plucked, and emerald sprays.
And all the concourse wished him length of days,
O'erjoyed to see, with horns of glittering gold,
The living stag within the hero's hold.
Nor here nor there the happy hunter stayed
His rapid steps, but while the people made
Great clamor in his honor from the wall,
Sought out the king within the royal hall;
And there, 'mid cries that echoed from the street,
He laid his trophy at the monarch's feet.

WEBSTER'S VINDICATION.

BY HON. STEPHEN M. ALLEN.

The first great National success of the Whig party was in the election
of their candidates for President and Vice-President in 1840, William
Henry Harrison, of Ohio, and John Tyler, of Virginia, being the
successful nominees. The previous influence of the party in many States
of the Union, their ability to carry out great local measures in their
respective locations, and their party power in Congress, but made the
political contest which was long and bitter, the more active and
important. Party strife ran to the highest pitch throughout the whole
country, and Mr. Webster, who was the acknowledged head in the North,
and one of the principal originators of the National Whig organization
in the United States, was looked up to as a most important personage in
the contest, and his influence was deeply felt and appreciated. General