"Tell us more stories, O mother dear,”
Said the children's voices sweet and clear,-
“Tales of the forest, of fairies bright,

Who dance on the lawn all the summer night."

With a deep, long sigh, and a lingering look
At the pages of some enthralling book,
A beautiful boy stands by her side;
One sees that he is the mother's pride.

"I have finished the book, sweet mother mine,
And rare grand deeds on its pages shine;
But I'd rather hear from your dear mouth
Some tale of the war in our sunny South."

Her dark eye is kindled at the name,

Her lips catch the glow of the sunset flame,— While the passionate thoughts, by memory stirred, Thrill to the heart in each eloquent word.

Her lute its sweet part in the harmony bore,
The waves rippled soft on the near pebbly shore,
As she sang of the hero whose fame from afar
Shines clear o'er the sea, like a tropical star.

She sang how he baffled the North's mighty ships With the swift Alabama, and from her red lips Rang out the bold deeds of the Admiral brave, Who ruled, for long months, autocrat of the wave.

How this swift Alabama, crowned Queen of the Sea,
Disdaining the prize of the foeman to be,
Had sunk to escape from this terrible doom,
Like Egypt's fair queen, finding fame in the tomb.

She told how the hero unbuckled his sword,
That it never might own any foeman its lord,
Then in the deep ocean the rich prize had hurled,
Lest it win, as a trophy, the scorn of the world.

"My son, it is said that the Ocean-King keeps
The Admiral's sword in the unfathomed deeps,
And the Undines still polish the weapon with care,
Till it mirrors the light of their faces fair.

"When a hero shall rise in his godlike youth
To champion the right, or to die for the truth,
A patriot, generous, peerless, and brave,
The sword will be brought from its guardian wave.

"The hero will grasp it in his knightly hand,
And vict'ry shall follow it at his command,
While over old Ocean's exulting domain
The deeds of the Admiral shall echo again."

"This night," cried the boy, "I will ask the deep sea
To bring the great Admiral's sword back to me;
I will kiss the bright blade ere I wave it on high,
And swear to avenge all our wrongs, or to die."

She looked at the grace of the strong, slender form, And the mother's heart thrilled with wild, vague alarm. "Not so, dearest boy," then the pallid lips say;

"For vengeance is His- and 'the Lord will repay.""

The thought of that swc d like a strong magnet draws; The boy learns to brood o'er the lost "Southern Cause," Till his young brow is stern and his fair cheek is thin With the tumult and strife of emotion within.

His ardent soul thrills with a passionate flame
As he walks all alone by the far-sounding main,
His heart with the fire of ambition aflame,
To win for himself such a glorious name.

"O thou mystical ocean! O bounteous sea!

Heed the prayer that alone can be granted by thee;
As King Arthur of old saw 'Excalibur' leap
With its quick jewelled flash from the generous deep,

"Do thou send a nymph from the Nereid's band
With the Admiral's sword in her lily-white hand;
In a patriot's grasp it shall never know stain
Oh, answer my prayer, thou beneficent main!”

In a dream by the sea thus the young sleeper cried;
The answer came back in the swell of the tide,——
"Go, rival his deeds! go, win thee a name!
And the sea will exult as it echoes thy fame.

"The wave shall uplift, and the free winds shall waft
To vict❜ry and glory thy snowy-winged craft;
But they may not grant the boon thou dost crave:
Ask it not of the wind; ask it not of the wave."

"Unsurrendered forever!" now thundered the sea;
"I keep the great trust he committed to me,
More precious to me than all kingliest gems -
The sword of the Admiral Raphael Semmes."

The authorship of this poem has been accredited to several other writers; but we publish it with Miss Anderson's poems, where it properly belongs. It was written on the occasion of Admiral Semmes' visit to Harrodsburg, and was read by Col. Chenoweth, of the late C. S. Army, at the dinner given to the distinguished stranger by Gov. Magoffin.

MRS. CHAPMAN COLEMAN AND DAUGHTERS.

MRS. COLEMAN is more widely known as a woman of society,

and as the daughter of the late John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, than as an author. She was born at Frankfort, the capital of the State. Her educational advantages in early life were not such as are now enjoyed by the young ladies of the present day; but they were the best that Kentucky at that time afforded. At her father's house she met with the most distinguished men of the State, and grew up among the thinkers and talkers of the day.

In 1830, Miss Crittenden married Mr. Chapman Coleman, of Louisville, and resided in that city, the centre of a gay and brilliant circle, until her husband's death, in 1850. Mrs. Coleman is a most brilliant conversationalist. Says a friend, who has been intimate with her for over thirty-seven years: "She has always been ambitious of attaining to distinction and the highest degree of excellence in everything she attempted. Her duties as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, have always been performed in the most conscientious and admirable manner."

Mrs. Coleman has been the mother of seven children, and from their birth she ever devoted herself to their education. After her husband's death she went to Europe, and lived in Germany for the purpose of educating her children. She studied with them, and mastered the French and German languages, with what success, the clever translations from both languages, given to the world by herself and daughters, best testify. Eugenia, Judith, and Sallie Coleman assisted the mother in these translations, of which the series of romances of Mrs. Mühlbach, relating to "Frederick the Great," are best known. The Misses Coleman are lovely, refined, and charming young ladies, full of grace and culture; how could the daughters of such a mother fail of being otherwise?

Mrs. Coleman's knowledge of literature is extensive and accurate. She has a prompt and bright judgment, and her industry and energy are invincible. Could she be induced to give her own thoughts to the

MRS. CHAPMAN COLEMAN AND DAUGHTERS. 181

world of readers, they could not but be delighted with their originality, cleverness, and her piquant style.

Since her return from Europe, Mrs. Coleman has resided principally in Baltimore. She was one of the select committee sent from Baltimore to petition President Johnson in behalf of Mr. Jefferson Davis, then in prison.

Mrs. Coleman has in contemplation a Life and Times of her father, the Hon. J. J. Crittenden, one of the distinguished men of the country, as she is, and has always been, regarded as one of the most distinguished among the brilliant women of Kentucky.