The opal-hued and many-perfumed Morn From Gloom is born; From out the sullen depth of ebon Night The stars shed light; Gems in the rayless caverns of the earth Have their slow birth; From wondrous alchemy of winter-hours Come summer-flowers; The bitter waters of the restless main Give gentle rain; The fading bloom and dry seed bring once more The year's fresh store; Just sequences of clashing Tones afford The full accord; Through weary ages, full of strife and ruth, Thought reaches Truth; Through efforts, long in vain, prophetic Need Begets the Deed: Nerve then thy soul with direst need to cope; Life's brightest Hope Lies latent in Fate's deadliest lair-- Never despair! INCIDENT DURING THE MUTINY OF 1797. The nineteenth century may now be said to have attained middle age, and in the brilliant noonday of its intellect and science the important events that marked the close of its predecessor are becoming dim and indistinct, like the vanishing images of a dissolving view. Progress has been so rapid since the peace that a wider chasm intervenes between 1799 and 1851 than any dividing the preceding centuries: much more than half a century appears to separate us from the eighteenth. But a stirring and troublous period lies before this interval. Life, doubtless, was more rife with interest and excitement to those whose youth belonged to it than it is in this calmer age. One feels that the "old people" of to-day have more of a "history in their lives" than our age will have; and even while we acknowledge with devout gratitude the blessing of peace, it is pleasant to listen to stories of "the War-time." One evening, while sitting with a relative of our own, gazing on the waters of the Channel, which were trembling and quivering beneath the rosy sunset, we expressed some such sentiments, and after agreeing in our opinion that life in those days was more animated by hope and fear than at present, he added, smiling, "For instance, in '97 I narrowly escaped hanging!" We were much surprised at such a declaration from one who, at the time he spoke, was a brave and distinguished admiral, and eagerly asked the "how and why" of the adventure; and he told us. We regret that we can not recall the exact words of the animated relation, but we will try to give the substance as nearly as possible.