The Crater; Or, Vulcan's Peak: A Tale of the Pacific

"I beg, good Heaven, with just desires, What need, not luxury, requires; Give me, with sparing hands, but moderate wealth, A little honour, and enough of health; Free from the b...

"The forest reels beneath the stroke Of sturdy woodman's axe; The earth receives the white man's yoke, And pays her willing tax Of fruits, and flowers, and golden harvest fields...

"The merry homes of England! Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love Meet in the ruddy light! There woman's voice flows forth in song, Or childhood'...

"Yea! long as nature's humblest child Hath kept her temple undefiled By sinful sacrifice, Earth's fairest scenes are all his own, He is a monarch, and his throne Is built amid t...

"To whom belongs this valley fair, That sleeps beneath the filmy air, Even like a living thing? Silent as infant at the breast, Save a still sound that speaks of rest, That stre...

It would have been madness in Mark to pursue his intention. A boat, or craft of any sort, once adrift in such a gale, could not have been overtaken by even one of those islander...

"The king's son have I landed by himself; Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting, His arms in this sad knot."

"Compell the hawke to sit, that is unmanned, Or make the hound, untaught, to draw the deere, Or bring the free, against his will, in band, Or move the sad, a pleasant tale to he...

After this unlooked-for termination of what the colonists called the 'Pirate-War,' the colony enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity. The whaling business was carried on...

"----that done, partake The season, prime for sweetest scents and airs; Then commune how that day they best may ply Their growing work; for much their work outgrew The hands dis...

It was again mid-summer ere Mark Woolston had his boat ready for launching. He had taken things leisurely, and completed his work in all its parts, before he thought of putting...

"There is no gloom on earth, for God above Chastens in love; Transmuting sorrows into golden joy Free from alloy. His dearest attribute is still to bless, And man's most welcome...

"All things in common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour: treason, felony, Sword, pike, gun, or need of any engine Would I not have; but nature should bring forth...

So much time had passed in the execution of the plan of Unus, that the canoes were close under the cliffs, when the governor and his party reached the wood that fringed their su...

The Sabbath ever dawns on the piously-inclined, with hope and a devout gratitude to the Creator for all his mercies. This is more apt to be the case in genial seasons, and rural...

"Forthwith a guard at every gun Was placed along the wall; The beacon blazed upon the roof Of Edgecombe's lofty hall; And many a fishing bark put out, To pry along the coast; An...

"Nay, shrink not from the word 'farewell!' As if 'twere friendship's final knell; Such fears may prove but vain: So changeful is life's fleeting day, Whene'er we sever--hope may...

"Welter upon the waters, mighty one-- And stretch thee in the ocean's trough of brine; Turn thy wet scales up to the wind and sun, And toss the billow from thy flashing fin; Hea...

"Cruel of heart, and strong of arm, Proud in his sport, and keen for spoil, He little reck'd of good or harm, Fierce both in mirth and toil; Yet like a dog could fawn, if need t...

"This is thy lesson, mighty sea! Man calls the dimpled earth his own, The flowery vale, the golden lea; And on the wild gray mountain-stone Claims nature's temple for his throne...

"Deep in the wave is a coral grove, Where the purple mullet and gold fish rove, Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blues, That never are wet with falling dew, But in bri...

"It scares the sea-birds from their nests; They dart and wheel with deafening screams; Now dark--and now their wings and breasts Flash back amid disastrous gleams. O, sin! what...

"God of the dark and heavy deep! The waves lie sleeping on the sands, Till the fierce trumpet of the storm Hath summon'd up their thundering bands; Then the white sails are clas...

"Thou shalt seek the beach of sand Where the water bounds the elfin land; Thou shalt watch the oozy brine Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine, Then dart the glisteni...

Little doubt remained in the mind of the governor, after he had heard and weighed the whole of Bigelow's story, that he had to deal with one of those piratical squadrons that fo...

Divine wisdom has commanded us to "Honour your father and your mother." Observant travellers affirm that less respect is paid to parents in America, than is usual in Christian n...

Although the governor deemed it prudent to anchor for the night, he did not neglect the precaution of reconnoitring. Betts was sent towards the Reef, in a boat well armed and ma...

There is nothing in which American Liberty, not always as much restrained as it might be, has manifested a more decided tendency to run riot, than in the use of names. As for Ch...

The colony had now reached a point when it became necessary to proceed with method and caution. Certain great principles were to be established, on which the governor had long r...

than in any other place he could find; offering greater facilities for launching. This was one motive; but the principal inducement was connected with an apprehension of floods....

"Now from the full-grown day a beamy shower Gleams on the lake, and gilds each glossy flower, Gay insects sparkle in the genial blaze, Various as light, and countless as its ray...

of course entirely out of the question. Mark, however, could see his friend, and see that he was gesticulating, in the most earnest manner, for himself to join him. Then it was...