Those pale dim eyes, we would have given
    Our flowers to see them glow—­
  They slept, as sleeps the summer heaven,
    When the sun waxeth low: 
  And soft her glossy lashes were,
  As stars within the crystal air.

  Oh, call her not a phantom form,
    Of deep sepulchral spells;
  Her maiden lips with life are warm,
    And thought within her dwells—­
  Thought, holy as the light that lies
  In the rapt martyr’s lifted eyes.

  Her home—­’tis far away from her,
    Its quiet porch is lone,
  And the sunny wind no more shall stir
    Its streamlet’s silver tone. 
  The zephyrs there, their incense wreathe,
  But, o’er her hair they shall not breathe.

  Her sire reposeth in the wave,
    Beneath an Indian sky;
  The violets fringe her mother’s grave,
    And there, her sisters lie! 
  And we will waft to heaven our prayers,
  When her pure dust is mix’d with theirs.

  Deal.  REGINALD AUGUSTINE.

* * * * *

WINE.

(For the Mirror.)

Sir,—­I am induced to send you the following, in consequence of reading an article upon wine in No. 352, page 45 of your interesting work.

The article appears to have been written with a view of inducing a more frequent use of that wholesome and invigorating beverage by adducing a host of respectable names of antiquity.  But I am somewhat inclined to believe, that notwithstanding the classic lore and learned style in which the article appears, that many there are, whose adverse temper, and whom the present “march of intellect” has so far rendered callous to authoritative conviction, that they still remain sceptics of the extraordinary good qualities and virtues, which the ancients believed this beverage to contain; only because they have thought fit to adhere to the common adage, that no opinion ought to be received upon men’s authority, without a sufficient reason assigned for its correctness.  It is with this view of the subject then, that I venture to make the few following observations.  In the first place, we will briefly consider the nature and chemical properties of wines, and then their tendency and action upon the constitution.

The characteristic ingredient of all wines is alcohol, the proportion and quality of which, and the state and combination in which it exists, constitute the essential properties of the numerous kinds of wines.  The colour of the red wines is produced from the husk of the grape, they being used during fermentation; on the contrary, the colourless wines are those where the husk of the grape is not used during the process of fermentation.  The colouring matter produced from the husks is highly astringent, consequently the red and white wines are very different in their qualities, and very different in their effect on the stomach.