Before the scene of the history is changed to Africa, it may be stated, that on the 15th of May, while all France was intent upon the preparations for the departure of the expedition, an ordinance appeared in the Moniteur dissolving the Chamber of Deputies. A few days after a partial change was made in the Ministerial Body by the introduction of persons still more opposed to liberal institutions than those whom they replaced, and still more odious to the nation at large. The French Ministry subsisted as thus organized until the 28th of July, when Charles the Tenth ceased to reign. A LAY OF RUIN. BY MISS DRAPER. 'Twas nightfall--and the stars their pale light threw Upon the Cortées, and her joyous crew, Propitious heaven a friendly cool wind gave, That fanned them gently o'er the silvery wave: Upon the deck, mingled the gay and young, In giddy motion--while the pleasant sound, The lively note of merry music rung In lightsome echoes, on the water round. Oh! it is glorious, when on ocean far, A prosperous crew their jovial revels keep, Gazing on Beauty 'neath the midnight star, And dancing on the bosom of the deep. Amid his mates, thick gather'd round the mast, The laughing sailor whistles loud, and sings Of storm, and shipwreck, and strange dangers past, Of sharks, and crocodile, and all such things As eat men up at sea--and then anon, Of Heathen temples, and of Christian domes, Of Greenland Beauties, in a freezing zone, And dark-ey'd Donnas, in their sunny homes. Far from the rest--pensive, and silently, Mute as a statue, Sobieski stood, A banish'd Pole--a gallant soldier he, Of noble aspect, and of noble blood. It wanted not the aid of tongue to speak, All Sobieski had been--or was now: The silent tear, upon his manly cheek, The thick, deep furrows of his lofty brow,-- His faded lip, his melancholy gaze, Told the sad history of gone-by days. And closely by his side a frail girl clung, The proud Pole's daughter: with a tearless eye, And pensive smile--upon his arm she hung, Like some pale being from the distant sky. {148} A breeze arose--it was a joyous breeze-- And as they hurry through the parting seas, From highest mast the anxious tars look out: "Land, land ahead!" the hopeful sailors shout. It blew a gale--it blew a heavy gale-- With dexterous hand they furl the rattling sail. A tempest came--against a frightful rock The Cortées struck--hearts quiver'd with the shock. "Down with the life-boat,"--'twas a fearful cry; And oaths, and prayers, went mingling through the sky. By raging winds and furious breakers lash'd, 'Gainst the tall cliffs again the Cortées dash'd-- On the white waves a scatter'd wreck she lay, And the wild billows roll'd her mast away.