handed her to a
seat. He accompanied the first salutations with many flattering
compliments, but with all his endeavours to win her favour, he could not
awaken even a temporary regard in the bosom of Alida. In the meantime,
she had full leisure to observe his singular behaviour, to listen to his
insinuating address, to hear him mention the name of Theodore, and when
he observed her feelings were excited, to hear him suddenly change the
subject. He sometimes appeared to regard her with an eye of pity, but it
arose from a consciousness of his own errors, bordering on baseness. He
felt unhappy at his own want of integrity, and his heart reproached him
with injustice and treachery.

CHAPTER XVII.

A polished mien, with elegance of mind,
A winning grace, with taste and sense refined,
A kindly, sympathizing heart, sincere,
The gloomy scene, the pensive thought to cheer.

In a series of events, a period at length arrived, which manifested to
mankind, in a more melancholy degree, the shocking consequences and
devastation of war, the overwhelming sorrow that is brought on families
for the loss of friends, with the discouraging embarrassments attending
all kinds of business.

A severe engagement had recently taken place within half a mile of the
Niagara cataract. General Scott, on his arrival at Niagara Falls,
learned that the British were in force directly in his front, separated
only by a narrow piece of wood. He soon pressed through the wood, and
engaged the British on the Queenstown road. He advanced upon the enemy,
and the action commenced at six o'clock in the afternoon, and continued
with little intermission until twelve at night. The thunder of the
cannon, the roaring of the falls, the incessant discharge of artillery
during the six hours in which the parties were in combat, heightened by
the circumstance of its being night, afforded such a scene as is rarely
to be met with in the history of the wars of nations. The evening was
calm, and the moon shone with lustre when not enveloped in clouds of
smoke from the firing of the contending armies. Taking into
consideration the numbers engaged, few contests have ever been more
sanguinary. The battle was one of the most severe that had been fought
during the war. The British troops engaged in this action amounted to
5000 men; many of them were selected from the flower of Lord
Wellington's army. Colonel Miller's achievement, in storming the
battery, was of t