Chapter X: Part 10

So the storm subsides to calm; 25
They see the green trees wave
On the heights o'erlooking Grève;
Hearts that bled are stanched with balm.
"Just our rapture to enhance,
Let the English rake the bay, 30
Gnash their teeth and glare askance
As they cannonade away!
'Neath rampired Solidor pleasant riding on the Rance!"
How hope succeeds despair on each captain's countenance!

Out burst all with one accord, 5
"This is paradise for hell!
Let France, let France's king,
Thank the man that did the thing!"
What a shout, and all one word,
"Hervé Riel!" 10
As he stepped in front once more,
Not a symptom of surprise
In the frank blue Breton eyes,
Just the same man as before.

Then said Damfreville, "My friend, 15
I must speak out at the end,
Though I find the speaking hard.
Praise is deeper than the lips;
You have saved the King his ships,
You must name your own reward. 20
Faith, our sun was near eclipse!
Demand whate'er you will,
France remains your debtor still.
Ask to heart's content and have!--or my name's not
Damfreville." 25

Then a beam of fun outbroke
On the bearded mouth that spoke,
As the honest heart laughed through
Those frank eyes of Breton blue:
"Since I needs must say my say,
Since on board the duty's done--
And from Malo Roads to Croisic Point, what is it but a
run?--
Since 'tis ask and have, I may-- 5
Since the others go ashore--?
Come! A good whole holiday!
Leave to go and see my wife, whom I call the Belle Aurore!"
That he asked and that he got,--nothing more.

Name and deed alike are lost: 10
Not a pillar nor a post
In his Croisic keeps alive the feat as it befell;
Not a head in white and black
On a single fishing smack,
In memory of the man but for whom had gone to wrack 15
All that France saved from the fight whence England bore
the bell.
Go to Paris: rank on rank
Search the heroes flung pell-mell
On the Louvre, face and flank! 20
You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Kiel.
So, for better and for worse,
Hervé Riel, accept my verse!
In my verse, Hervé Riel, do thou once more
Save the squadron, honor France, love thy wife the Belle 25
Aurore!

1. What about the man Hervé Riel do you admire
most? Try to describe his character. Tell how he
saved the fleet.

2. Notes: Line 13, page 312, refers to the custom
of painting or carving the head of a hero on the
bow of a ship.--Lines 16-17, page 312. Formerly a
bell was the prize given the victor in a race.

THE SONG OF THE CAMP

BY BAYARD TAYLOR

This is a song of the Crimean War, a war between
Russia on one side and Turkey, Great Britain,
France, and Sardinia on the other. Guarding
Sebastopol (the chief city of the Crimea) were
several forts among which were the Redan and the
Malakoff, mentioned herein. These, as well as the
works of Balaklava, were held by the Russians. It
was at Balaklava, you will recall, that the "Charge
of the Light Brigade" was made, a charge made
famous by Tennyson's poem.

"Give us a song!" the soldiers cried,
The outer trenches guarding,
When the heated guns of the camps allied
Grew weary of bombarding.

The dark Redan, in silent scoff, 5
Lay grim and threatening under;
And the tawny mound of the Malakoff
No longer belched its thunder.

There was a pause. A guardsman said,
"We storm the forts to-morrow: 10
Sing while we may; another day
Will bring enough of sorrow."

They lay along the battery's side,
Below the smoking cannon--
Brave hearts from Severn and from Clyde 15
And from the banks of Shannon.

They sang of love and not of fame;
Forgot was Britain's glory;
Each heart recalled a different name,
But all sang _Annie Laurie_.

Voice after voice caught up the song, 5
Until its tender passion
Rose like an anthem, rich and strong--
Their battle-eve confession.

Dear girl, her name he dared not speak,
But as the song grew louder, 10
Something upon the soldier's cheek
Washed off the stains of powder.

Beyond the darkening ocean burned
The bloody sunset's embers,
While the Crimean valleys learned 15
How English love remembers.

And once again a fire of hell
Rained on the Russian quarters,
With scream of shot, and burst of shell,
And bellowing of the mortars! 20

And Irish Nora's eyes are dim
For a singer dumb and gory;
And English Mary mourns for him
Who sang of _Annie Laurie_.

Sleep, soldiers! Still in honored rest
Your truth and valor wearing;
The bravest are the tenderest--
The loving are the daring.

1. At what time of day did the singing take place?
Why, do you suppose, did the British soldiers sing
_Annie Laurie_? Repeat some of the lines of that
song.

2. What and where are the Severn, the Clyde, and
the Shannon?

3. Who was Florence Nightingale? How was she
connected with the Crimean War?

CABIN BOY AND ADMIRAL

Sir Cloudesley Shovel (1650?-1707) was the cabin
boy of this story. He went to sea when quite young,
and by his ability and courage won constant
promotion, finally becoming admiral. In the sea
fight between the English and French at La Hogue in
1692 (see Browning's "Hervé Riel," page 307)
Shovel's was the first English ship to break
through the enemy's line.

It was a gray autumn evening more than two hundred
years ago, in the reign of King Charles II. There was
the moan of a rising storm over the North Sea, and the
lowering sky, the flying streamers of cloud, and the great
leaden waves, heaving sullenly far as the eye could reach, 5
warned even the bravest sailor that it was a day to keep
safe in port. For what ship could live in such a sea as
that?

Yet the English fleet, far from keeping in port, was
beating seaward against wind and wave. On the quarter deck 10
of the flagship stood Admiral Sir John Narborough--the
first seaman in England--who thirty-five years before
had been a cabin boy. His daring and dauntless courage
had earned for him the name of "Gunpowder Jack,"
and that dark autumn day was to test how well the bold
name fitted him. But he had been tried many a time, and
tempest and sea and the fire of the enemy could not make 5
his stout heart quail.

Suddenly his grave face lighted up and his stern gray
eyes sparkled with joy. Far away along the eastern sky he
saw a bristling line of tall masts with a flag which he knew
well floating over them. The shadow of a smile of scorn 10
changed for a moment the expression of the admiral's
face. For a moment only. There was no time for smiles.
There was mighty work to be done. The floating flag told
that the Dutch were coming; and that day must see the
enemy of England swept from the sea or England herself 15
forget her ancient glory.

Next to an old friend the British sailor loves an old
enemy; and as soon as the men saw the flag of Holland
they were eager for battle. On came the enemy in grim
silence until their nearest vessels were within musket 20
range of the English. Then, all at once, bang! went the
whole broadside from the admiral's vessel, and with a
crash that seemed to echo to the sky the deadly struggle
began.

The English blood was soon up and the only thought 25
was to fight to the last. Amid the blinding smoke, the reek
of gunpowder, the thunder of cannon, and the grinding
tear of the shot through the strong timbers, the sailors did
noble duty that day in the dogged faith that they would
"give as good as they got, anyhow!" 30

Aided by a sudden change of the wind, the Dutch vessels
closed around the flagship with a perfect circle of fire.
Two guns were disabled, the main and mizzen masts had
been shot away, and a long line of wounded and dying men
were lying among the shattered rigging. The thunder from
the guns on the right showed that there the English were
getting the best of it; but even if help should come to the 5
admiral from that quarter, it might come too late.

But how should help be summoned? No signal could
be seen in that smoke, and as for lowering a boat, the great
waves that rushed roaring up the battered sides of the flagship
were a sufficient warning against that. 10

"Lads," cried Sir John, going forward with a scrap of
paper in his hand, "this order must go at once to Captain
Hardy, and the only way is for one of you to swim with it.
Fifty guineas to anyone that will volunteer!"

Such a request, in the face of that boiling sea and that 15
hailstorm of shot, was little better than a sentence of
death; yet before the words were well out of his mouth,
half the crew stepped forward. Before any of them could
speak, however, a shrill, childish voice made itself heard:
"Let me go, your honor!" 20

And there stood a ragged little cabin boy, bareheaded
and barefooted, touching his forelock to Sir John, just as
Sir John had touched his to the admiral, five and thirty
years ago. The boy had evidently been in the thick of the
fight. His hands were grimed with powder and there 25
were splashes of blood upon his tattered clothing. But
through his bright, fearless blue eyes there shone a spirit
worth that of ten ordinary men.

"You, my boy? Why, you can never swim so far in
this sea, and with all that shot flying about." 30

"Can't I?" echoed the boy indignantly. "I've done
more than that before now; and, as for the shot, I don't
care _that_ for it. I'm not going to sit still while everybody
else is fighting the Dutch. Flog me at the gangway
to-morrow, if you like, your honor, but let me do this job
to-day."

The old warrior's stern eyes glistened as if tears were 5
forcing their way. He grasped the thin little hand in his
own.

"You're a chip of the old block," he growled, "and no
mistake! Off with you, then; and may God keep you
safe!" 10

The words were hardly spoken when the boy, thrusting
the dispatch into his mouth, plunged headlong into the
roaring sea. And then for fifteen fierce minutes all was
one scene of fire and tumult and slaughter.

Many a time in that terrible quarter of an hour did the 15
weary men strain their bloodshot eyes, and strain them in
vain, to catch a glimpse of English colors breaking through
the smoke. "If help is to come at all, it must come soon,"
said more than one worn-out sailor.

Suddenly the admiral's grim face brightened with a 20
light never seen there before, and he drew a long, deep
breath like one shaking off a heavy burden. At the same
moment there broke out a fresh thunder of guns on the
right, and through the smoke burst the flag of England,
sweeping all before it like mists scattered by the rising sun. 25

The battle was won, and the few Dutch vessels that had
escaped were disappearing in the dimness of night when the
admiral and his remaining officers gathered on the quarter-deck
to do honor to the little hero. He stood in their
presence with a boyish smile upon his face; but when Sir 30
John held out a well-filled purse, the boy turned his head
proudly away.

"Your honor, I did not do this job for money," said he
firmly. "I did it for the sake of the flag and because you
have been good to me. If you say you are satisfied, that
is all I want."

The listening crew, forgetting all restraint, broke into a 5
deafening cheer; and the admiral's iron face softened
strangely as he laid his blackened hand on the bare white
shoulder: "God bless you, my brave lad! I shall live to
see you on a quarter-deck of your own yet."

Thirty years later, when Queen Anne's greatest admiral, 10
Sir Cloudesley Shovel, sailed up the Thames in triumph,
the first to greet him as he stepped ashore was an old white-haired
man who still retained traces of the fire and energy
that had once distinguished "Gunpowder Jack."

"Welcome home, my lad!" said he, heartily. "I said 15
I'd live to see you on a quarter-deck of your own; and,
thank God, I _have_ lived to see you there!"

1. What other sea fights have you read about? Make
a list of sea books and sea battles with which you
are acquainted.

2. What is the high point of interest in this
story? What happened? How is the story related to
Browning's "Hervé Riel"?

3. In modern warfare, how do the ships communicate
with each other? Contrast briefly naval warfare in
Queen Anne's time (the early seventeen hundreds)
with naval warfare of to-day as to: (_a_)
propulsion of ships; (_b_) armor; (_c_) guns; (_d_)
range of fighting.

4. What modern machines operate now in water
fighting? Describe one of these.

LITTLE GIFFEN

BY FRANCIS O. TICKNOR

This poem is based on an actual occurrence. A lad,
nursed back to life, rejoins the hard-pressed
Southern troops and is killed in the first battle.
Ticknor (1822-1874) was a Georgian. By profession a
physician, his love of poetry led to the production
of some of the finest lyrics of the South. Among
these the best known are "Little Giffen" and "The
Virginians of the Valley."

Out of the focal and foremost fire--
Out of the hospital walls as dire--
Smitten of grapeshot and gangrene--
Eighteenth battle and he sixteen--
Specter such as you seldom see, 5
Little Giffen of Tennessee.

"Take him and welcome," the surgeon said;
"Little the doctor can help the dead!"
So we took him and brought him where
The balm was sweet in our summer air; 10
And we laid him down on a wholesome bed--
Utter Lazarus, heel to head!

And we watched the war with bated breath--
Skeleton boy against skeleton death!
Months of torture, how many such! 15
Weary weeks of the stick and crutch;
And still a glint in the steel-blue eye
Told of a spirit that wouldn't die,

And didn't! Nay, more! in death's despite
The crippled skeleton learned to write.
"Dear Mother," at first, of course; and then,
"Dear Captain," inquiring about the men.
Captain's answer: "Of eighty and five, 5
Giffen and I are left alive."

Word of gloom from the war, one day:
"Johnston's pressed at the front, they say!"
Little Giffen was up and away;
A tear--his first--as he bade good-by, 10
Dimmed the glint of his steel-blue eye.
"I'll write, if spared." There was news of fight,
But none of Giffen.--He did not write.

I sometimes fancy that were I king
Of the courtly knights of Arthur's Ring, 15
With the voice of the minstrel in mine ear
And the tender legend that trembles here,
I'd give the best on his bended knee--
The whitest soul of my chivalry--
For Little Giffen of Tennessee. 20

1. In what war did the incidents described occur?
When and between whom did this war take place? Name
some of its great battles; its great commanders.

2 On which side was Little Giffen? Prove your
answer from the poem. Who was Johnston, line 8,
page 321? How old was Giffen? How much service had
he seen?

3. Explain the meaning of: Utter Lazarus (see Luke
xvi: 20); specter; gangrene; line 14, page 320;
line 15, page 321.

4. Name some other writers of the South.

(Used by permission of the Neale Publishing Company.)

MARCO BOZZARIS

BY FITZ-GREENE HALLECK

Marco Bozzaris (1790-1823) was born among the
mountains of Suli, in Epirus, a province of Greece.
He had early military training in the French
service; but at the age of thirty he undertook to
battle against the Turks, who were holding the
Greeks in heavy subjection. At the head of his
countrymen, the Suliotes, he won many battles; but
finally, through treachery, he and his forces were
besieged. To relieve the siege, Bozzaris led his
troops against the enemy in a night attack and won
a complete victory, but the hero fell, dying in the
hour of triumph.

At midnight, in his guarded tent,
The Turk was dreaming of the hour
When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent,
Should tremble at his power;
In dreams, through camp and court, he bore 5
The trophies of a conqueror;
In dreams, his song of triumph heard;
Then wore his monarch's signet ring;
Then pressed that monarch's throne--a king;
As wild his thoughts, and gay of wing, 10
As Eden's garden bird.

At midnight, in the forest shades,
Bozzaris ranged his Suliote band,
True as the steel of their tried blades,
Heroes in heart and hand. 15
There had the Persian's thousands stood,
There had the glad earth drunk their blood,
On old Platæa's day;
And now, there breathed that haunted air
The sons of sires who conquered there,
With arm to strike, and soul to dare, 5
As quick, as far, as they.

An hour passed on--the Turk awoke;
That bright dream was his last;
He woke to hear his sentries shriek,
"To arms!--they come! the Greek! the Greek!" 10
He woke--to die midst flame, and smoke,
And shout, and groan, and saber stroke,
And death shots falling thick and fast
As lightning from the mountain cloud--
And heard, with voice as trumpet loud, 15
Bozzaris cheer his band:
"Strike--till the last armed foe expires;
Strike--for your altars and your fires;
_Strike_--for the green graves of your sires,
God--and your native land!" 20

They fought--like brave men, long and well;
They piled that ground with Moslem slain;
They conquered--but Bozzaris fell
Bleeding at every vein.
His few surviving comrades saw 25
His smile when rang their proud huzza
And the red field was won;
Then saw in death his eyelids close,
Calmly as to a night's repose,
Like flowers at set of sun. 30

Come to the bridal chamber, Death!
Come to the mother, when she feels,
For the first time, her first-born's breath;
Come when the blessed seals
That close the pestilence are broke, 5
And crowded cities wail its stroke;
Come in consumption's ghastly form,
The earthquake's shock, the ocean's storm;
Come when the heart beats high and warm
With banquet song, and dance, and wine,-- 10
And thou art terrible!--The tear,
The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier;
And all we know, or dream, or fear,
Of agony are thine.

But to the hero, when his sword 15
Has won the battle for the free,
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word,
And in its hollow tones are heard
The thanks of millions yet to be.
Bozzaris! with the storied brave 20
Greece nurtured in her glory's time,
Rest thee; there is no prouder grave,
Even in her own proud clime.
We tell thy doom without a sigh;
For thou art Freedom's now, and Fame's.-- 25
One of the few, the immortal names,
That were not born to die!

1. This is a stirring selection to read aloud. What
makes it so? Read the lines that you like best.

2. What has the first stanza on page 324 to do with
the poem?

3. Explain: Suliote; Moslem; Platæa; lines 25-27,
page 324.

SAN JUAN HILL

BY GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING

Santiago, Cuba, was the center of some of the
heaviest fighting of the Spanish-American War. The
Spanish fleet had taken refuge from the American
fleet in Santiago Harbor. The Spanish army had been
concentrated there to protect their fleet. The
American army, under the general command of Major
General Shafter, invested the city. The following
extract describes picturesquely the fighting three
days before the Spanish fleet put to sea.

On June 30th the general order came to move forward
and every man felt that the final test of skill at arms
would soon come. The cavalry division of six regiments,
camped in its tracks at midnight on El Pozo Hill, awoke
next morning to find itself in support of Grimes' Battery, 5
which was to open fire here on the left.

The morning of July 1st was ideally beautiful, the sky
was cloudless and the air soft and balmy, peace seemed to
reign supreme, great palms towered here and there above
the low jungle. It was a picture of a peaceful valley. 10
There was a feeling that we had secretly invaded the Holy
Land. The hush seemed to pervade all nature as though
she held her bated breath in anticipation of the carnage.

Captain Capron's field guns opened fire upon the southern
field at El Caney and the hill resounded with echoes. 15
Then followed the rattle of the musketry of the attacking
invaders. The firing in our front burst forth and the
battle was on.

The artillery duel began and in company with foreign
military attachés and correspondents we all sat watching
the effect of the shots as men witness any friendly athletic
contest, eagerly trying to locate the enemy's smokeless
batteries. A force of insurgents near the old Sugar Mill
applauded at the explosion of each firing charge, apparently 5
caring for little except the noise.

Now and then a slug of iron fell among the surrounding
bushes or buried itself deep in the ground near us. Finally
a projectile from an unseen Spanish gun disabled a Hotchkiss
piece, wounded two cavalrymen, and smashed into the 10
old Sugar Mill in our rear, whereupon the terrorized insurgents
fled and were not seen again near the firing line until
the battle was over.

When the Tenth Cavalry arrived at the crossing of San
Juan River our observation balloon had become lodged in 15
the treetops above and the enemy had just begun to make
a target of it. A converging fire upon all the works within
range opened upon us that was terrible in its effect. Our
mounted officers dismounted and the men stripped off at
the roadside everything possible and prepared for business. 20

We were posted for a time in the bed of the stream
directly under the balloon, and stood in the water to our
waists awaiting orders to deploy. Standing there under
that galling fire of exploding shrapnel and deadly Mauser
bullets the minutes seemed like hours. General Wheeler 25
and a part of his staff stood mounted a few minutes in the
middle of the stream. Just as I raised my hand to salute
in moving up the stream to post the leading squadron of
my regiment, a piece of bursting shell struck between his
horse's feet and covered us both with water. 30

Pursuant to orders, with myself as guide, the second
squadron of the Tenth forced its way through wire fence
and almost impenetrable thicket to its position. The regiment
was soon deployed as skirmishers in an opening
across the river to the right of the road and, our line being
partly visible from the enemy's position, their fire was
turned upon us and we had to lie down in the grass a few 5
minutes for safety. Two officers of the regiment were
wounded; here and there were frequent calls for the surgeon,
but no order came to move forward. Whatever may have
been the intention of the commanding general as to the
part to be played by the cavalry division on that day, the 10
officers present were not long in deciding the part their
command should play, and the advance began.

White regiments, black regiments, regulars and rough
riders, representing the young manhood of the North and
South, fought shoulder to shoulder unmindful of race or 15
color, unmindful of whether commanded by an ex-Confederate
or not, and mindful only of their common duty as
Americans.

Through streams, tall grass, tropical undergrowth, under
barbed-wire fences and over wire entanglements, regardless 20
of casualties, up the hill to the right this gallant advance
was made. As we appeared on the crest we found the
Spaniards retreating only to take up a new position farther
on, spitefully firing as they retired and only yielding their
ground inch by inch. 25

Our troopers halted and lay down for a moment to get
a breath and in the face of continued volleys soon formed
for attack on the blockhouses and intrenchments on the
second hill. This attack was supported by troops including
some of the Tenth who had originally moved to the left 30
toward this second hill and had worked their way in groups,
slipping through the tall grass and bushes, crawling when
casualties came too often, courageously facing a sleet of
bullets, and now hugging the steep southern declivity
ready to spring forward the few remaining yards into the
teeth of the enemy. The fire from the Spanish position
had doubled in intensity until the popping of their rifles 5
made a continuous roar. There was a moment's lull and
our line moved forward to the charge across the valley
separating the two hills. Once begun it continued dauntless
in its steady, dogged, persistent advance until like a
mighty resistless torrent it dashed triumphant over the 10
crest of the hill, and firing a final volley at the vanishing
foe, planted the regimental colors on the enemy's breastworks
and the Stars and Stripes over the blockhouse on
San Juan Hill to stay.

This was a time for rejoicing. It was glorious. 15

--_From an address given in
Chicago, November 27, 1898._

1. When was the Spanish-American War fought? Why?
What were its greatest battles? Tell how each of
the following figured in this war: Dewey, Sampson,
Schley, Shafter, Wheeler, Roosevelt.

2. Imagine yourself in Lieutenant Pershing's place
on the field of battle. Describe the engagement.

3. Report briefly from notes taken on outside
reading on the battle of Manila Bay, or the cruise
of the _Oregon_, or the destruction of the Spanish
fleet off Santiago.

4. General John Joseph Pershing was born in
Missouri, September 13, 1860. He was graduated from
the West Point Military Academy; served in a number
of Indian campaigns, was a military instructor;
served with the Tenth Cavalry in the Cuban
campaign, 1898, and in the Philippines, 1899-1903;
commanded the U. S. troops in pursuit of the bandit
Villa in Mexico in 1916; was in command of the
American Expeditionary Forces in the World War. If
possible, read an account of Pershing's early life
and report on it in class.

BURIAL OF A SOLDIER IN FRANCE

BY GERALD M. DWYER

This is part of a letter home from Private Dwyer,
Co. A, 121st Engineers, A. E. F. It is used here by
permission of _The Springfield (Mass) Republican_.

Even far behind the lines of battle, in this beautiful
France, little scenes take place which bring home to
one the seriousness and sadness of life. Picture to yourself
a dark-green hillside divided into sections by the hedge
fences which the French peasant makes so much use of. 5
In one of these fields soldiers are at work making roads and
little pathways. At one end are a number of flower-covered
mounds, each one marked with a wooden cross, for this
particular little field is one of the American Expeditionary
Force's cemeteries. 10

On the day which I have in mind, a drizzling rain comes
softly, though steadily, down. A number of soldiers, hardly
distinguishable from the mud in which they are working,
are busy leveling off the ground around a flagpole which
stands in the center of the cemetery. Presently they stop 15
work and stand listening to the drumbeats which can be
heard faintly in the distance. The little group gathers about
the flagpole, waiting.

Slowly up the roadway comes a procession headed by the
band playing the sweetly solemn funeral march. Behind 20
it is carried a plain wooden box, draped with the Stars and
Stripes, while a firing squad marches in the rear. They stop
at a newly dug grave and gently lower the coffin. In clear,
concise tones the chaplain reads the funeral service. A mist
seems to creep up from the valley and wisps of it wind themselves
through the air. In the neighboring field the sheep
who have been grazing huddle together and gaze, as only
sheep can, at the performance going on near them. Like
the sheep, the soldiers in the cemetery gather closer to each 5
other, each one's eyes filled with tears, and each one conscious
of a queer sensation going on within him. . . .

Now the chaplain has finished, the members of the firing
squad take their places. A dead silence ensues, broken by
the shots of their rifles. Two more salvos are fired and the 10
ceremony is finished. Finally, when the mist has become
very dense, the clear notes of the bugle ring out, blowing
taps for a soldier's last farewell sleep.

You will never really appreciate the beauty and pathos
of the notes of taps unless you have heard them while lying 15
on your hard bunk some night at the end of a hard day.
The music seems to say that some day things will be peaceful
again, all these hardships will be merely incidents to
laugh over in the happy days to come. And so, singing its
farewell to you, the notes die away, leaving you to slip into 20
the balm of sleep.

The grave has now been covered and the procession and
workers gone. The fields and valley seem forsaken and
alone in the late afternoon. But no, there by the graves,
flitting through the rain in their capes and hoods, and looking 25
like so many little sparrows, are some little French girls,
daughters of the near-by peasants. Tenderly their little
hands decorate the newest grave with flowers, their tribute
to one who risked all for the safety of little maidens. Thus
the grave is left, heaped with green branches and flowers, a 30
pretty resting place.

--_The Springfield Republican._

_OUR COUNTRY_

_Of old sat Freedom on the heights,
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights,
She heard the torrents meet.

There in her place she did rejoice,
Self-gathered in her prophet mind,
But fragments of her mighty voice
Came rolling on the wind.

Then stepped she down through town and field
To mingle with the human race,
And part by part to men revealed
The fullness of her face._

--ALFRED TENNYSON.

AMERICA FOR ME

BY HENRY VAN DYKE

Doctor van Dyke (1852-) is a noted clergyman,
writer, and educator. He has long been connected
with Princeton University. From 1913-1917, during
the trying period of the World War, he was United
States minister to Holland. His many visits to
Europe have served only to increase his devotion to
his native land. The following poem is a fine
expression of the genuine homesickness of the
traveled scholar for his own country. You should
read it and re-read it until it has sung itself
into your memory.

(From _The Poems of Henry van Dyke_. Copyright,
1920, by Charles Scribner's Sons.)

'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the
kings--
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things. 5

_So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air; 10
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study
Rome;
But when it comes to living, there is no place like home.

I like the German fir woods, in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains
filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her 5
way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to
lack;
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back;
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,-- 10
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

_Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plow the rolling
sea,
To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, 15
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._

1. How many places are mentioned by name? Tell what
and where each is.

2. What does the author admire in the Old World?
What does he mean by his distinction between London
and Paris? List the things the author misses in the
Old World. How is America contrasted with Europe?
Explain line 15, page 334.

3. Report on other writings of Dr. van Dyke. Which
of his outdoor books do you know?

* * * * *

Love thou thy land, with love far-brought
From out the storied Past, and used
Within the Present, but transfused
Through future time by power of thought.

--_Alfred Tennyson._

WARREN'S ADDRESS AT THE BATTLE OF
BUNKER HILL

BY JOHN PIERPONT

Stand! the ground's your own, my braves!
Will ye give it up to slaves?
Will ye look for greener graves?
Hope ye mercy still?
What's the mercy despots feel? 5
Hear it in that battle peal!
Read it on yon bristling steel!
Ask it--ye who will!

Fear ye foes who kill for hire?
Will ye to your homes retire? 10
Look behind you! they're afire!
And, before you, see
Who have done it! From the vale
On they come!--and will ye quail?--
Leaden rain and iron hail 15
Let their welcome be!

In the God of battles trust!
Die we may--and die we must;
But, oh, where can dust to dust
Be consigned so well, 20
As where heaven its dews shall shed
On the martyred patriot's bed,
And the rocks shall raise their head,
Of his deeds to tell?

WHAT IS AN AMERICAN?

BY HECTOR SAINT JEAN DE CRÈVEC[OE]UR

De Crèvec[oe]ur (1731-1813) was a French writer who
emigrated to America at the age of twenty-three. He
settled on a farm near the City of New York, and
came to know many of the great men of his day. For
instance, he had the friendship of Washington and
Franklin. France appointed him as her consul at New
York. In 1782 Crèvec[oe]ur published his _Letters
of an American Farmer_. As this extract shows, it
is almost prophetic in its insight into the future.

What then is the American, this new man? He is
either a European, or the descendant of a European,
hence that strange mixture of blood which you will find
in no other country. I could point out to you a family
whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was 5
Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose
present four sons have now four wives of different nations.

An American is he who, leaving behind him all his ancient
prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the
new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he 10
obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American
by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater.
Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race
of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause
great changes in the world. Americans are the western 15
pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great
mass of arts, sciences, vigor, and industry which began
long since in the East; they will finish the great circle.

The Americans were once scattered all over Europe;
in America they are incorporated into one of the finest
systems of population which has ever appeared, and which
will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different
climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to
love his country much better than that wherein either he 5
or his forefathers were born. Here the rewards of his
industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor;
his labor is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest.
Can it want a stronger allurement?

Women and children, who before in vain demanded a 10
morsel of bread, now gladly help their men folk to clear those
fields whence exuberant crops are to arise to feed and to
clothe them all, without any part being claimed either
by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord.

Religion demands but little of the American: a small 15
voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God.
Can he refuse these?

The American is a new man, who acts upon new
principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas and form
new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, 20
penury, and useless labor, he has passed to toils of
a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.--This
is an American.

--_Letters of an American Farmer._

1. What is Crèvec[oe]ur's definition of an
American? How would you define an American to-day?

2. Explain lines 15-18, on page 336. What does the
last clause of the sentence mean?

3. What reasons does the author give for a great
love of country on the part of Americans? Do these
reasons still hold good?

4. Explain: Alma Mater, posterity, allurement,
voluntary, servile, penury, subsistence.

THE RISING OF '76

BY THOMAS BUCHANAN READ

Read this selection entirely through before
stopping to inquire the meaning of puzzling
passages. Then re-read it for the references not
previously clear to you. A final reading should
enable you to get the fullness of the author's
meaning. On your first reading you should be able
to determine generally when the events took place,
where, and what happened.

Out of the North the wild news came,
Far flashing on its wings of flame,
Swift as the boreal light that flies
At midnight through the startled skies.
And there was tumult in the air, 5
The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat
And through the wide land everywhere
The answering tread of hurrying feet;
While the first oath of Freedom's gun
Came on the blast of Lexington; 10
And Concord, roused, no longer tame,
Forgot her old baptismal name,
Made bare her patriot arm of power,
And swelled the discord of the hour.

Within its shade of elm and oak 15
The church of Berkeley Manor stood;
There Sunday found the rural folk,
And some esteemed of gentle blood.
In vain their feet with loitering tread
Passed mid the graves where rank is naught;
All could not read the lesson taught
In that republic of the dead.

How sweet the hour of Sabbath talk,
The vale with peace and sunshine full, 5
Where all the happy people walk,
Decked in their homespun flax and wool!
Where youth's gay hats with blossoms bloom,
And every maid, with simple art,
Wears on her breast, like her own heart, 10
A bud whose depths are all perfume;
While every garment's gentle stir
Is breathing rose and lavender.

The pastor came: his snowy locks
Hallowed his brow of thought and care; 15
And calmly, as shepherds lead their flocks,
He led into the house of prayer.
The pastor rose; the prayer was strong;
The psalm was warrior David's song;
The text, a few short words of might,-- 20
"The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!"

He spoke of wrongs too long endured,
Of sacred rights to be secured;
Then from his patriot tongue of flame
The startling words for Freedom came. 25
The stirring sentences he spake
Compelled the heart to glow or quake,
And rising on his theme's broad wing,
And grasping in his nervous hand
The imaginary battle brand,
In face of death he dared to fling
Defiance to a tyrant king. 5

Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed
In eloquence of attitude,
Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher;
Then swept his kindling glance of fire
From startled pew to breathless choir; 10
When suddenly his mantle wide
His hands impatient flung aside,
And lo! he met their wondering eyes
Complete in all a warrior's guise.

A moment there was awful pause,-- 15
When Berkeley cried, "Cease, traitor! Cease!
God's temple is the house of peace!"
The other shouted, "Nay, not so,
When God is with our righteous cause;
His holiest places then are ours, 20
His temples are our forts and towers
That frown upon the tyrant foe;
In this, the dawn of Freedom's day,
There is a time to fight and pray!"

And now before the open door-- 25
The warrior priest had ordered so--
The enlisting trumpet's sudden roar
Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er,
Its long reverberating blow,
So loud and clear, it seemed the ear
Of dusty death must wake and hear;
And there the startling drum and fife
Fired the living with fiercer life.

While overhead, with wild increase, 5
Forgetting its ancient toll of peace,
The great bell swung as ne'er before.
It seemed as it would never cease;
And every word its ardor flung
From off its jubilant iron tongue 10
Was, "War! War! War!"

"Who dares?"--this was the patriot's cry,
As striding from the desk he came,--
"Come out with me, in Freedom's name,
For her to live, for her to die?" 15
A hundred hands flung up reply,
A hundred voices answered, "I."

1. Explain the following references in the first
stanza: "the North"; "wild news"; "boreal light";
"first oath of Freedom's gun"; "Concord . . .
forgot her old baptismal name."

2. Where does this story begin? What is the purpose
of the first stanza? Where is the scene laid? What
is the date of the action? Who was Berkeley? What
occurs?

3. What other dramatic Revolutionary War episodes
do you know? Name three other Revolutionary War
poems.

4. Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) was a
Pennsylvanian by birth. His interests in art and
literature took him abroad, and he spent several
years in Italy. A number of his poems and paintings
are highly esteemed.

OUR OWN COUNTRY

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY

There is a land of every land the pride,
Beloved of Heaven o'er all the world beside,
There brighter suns dispense serener light
And milder moons imparadise the night.
O land of beauty, virtue, valor, truth, 5
Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth!
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and scepter, pageantry and pride, 10
While in his softened looks benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend.
Where shall that land, that spot of earth, be found?
Art thou a man, a patriot? Look around!
O thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, 15
That land thy country and that spot thy home.

1. Make a list of songs whose theme is love of
country. Name the national hymns of the chief
countries of the world. What songs have love of
home as their theme?

2. Write the meaning of the above poem in a few
short sentences.

3. Select five unusual words from the poem, give a
brief definition of each, and use each in a
sentence.

4. Find out the following facts about the life of
Montgomery: dates of birth and death; nationality;
business or profession; chief writings.

PATRICK HENRY'S SPEECH

In March, 1775, a month before Lexington, Patrick
Henry electrified the Virginia convention with the
speech that here follows. A resolution was before
the convention "that the colony be immediately put
in a state of defence." Speaking to that resolution,
Henry thrilled the delegates with his review of
British mistreatment and his climax of "give me
liberty or give me death."

Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in
the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes
against a painful truth, and to listen to the song of the
siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of
wise men engaged in the great and arduous struggle for 5
liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those
who, having eyes see not, and having ears hear not, the
things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am
willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to 10
provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that
is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of
the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I
wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the 15
British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes
with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves
and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which
our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir;
it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves 20
to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this
gracious reception of our petition comports with those
warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our
land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and
reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling
to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back
our love? 5

Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements
of war and subjugation, the last argument to which
kings resort. I ask, sir, what means this martial array,
if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can
gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has 10
Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to
call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No,
sir, she has none. They are meant for us. They can be
meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet
upon us those chains which the British ministry have been 15
so long forging.

And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument?
Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years.
Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing.
We have held the subject up in every light of which it is 20
capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to
entreaty and supplication? What terms shall we find that
have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech
you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done
everything that could have been done to avert the storm 25
that is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated,
we have supplicated, we have prostrated
ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition
to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry
and Parliament. 30

Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances
have produced additional violence and insult, our supplications
have been disregarded, and we have been spurned
with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after
these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and
reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If
we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate these 5
inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending,
if we mean not basely to abandon the noble
struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which
we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the
glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must 10
fight! I repeat, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms
and to the God of hosts is all that is left us.

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with
so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be
stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? 15
Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a
British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we
gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we
acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely
on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom, hope, 20
until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means
which the God of Nature hath placed in our power.

Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of
liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, 25
are invincible by any force which our enemy can send
against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of
nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles
for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to 30
the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have
no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now
too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat
but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged.
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat, sir, let
it come! 5

It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may
cry Peace, peace! But there is no peace. The war is
actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North
will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our
brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here 10
idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they
have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God! I know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! 15

1. The following outline sets forth the major
topics of the speech. Find the paragraphs each
includes. What did Henry say on each point?

I. Introduction
1. The speaker is willing to face facts
II. Body
1. The past acts of the British ministry are not
favorable to present hope
2. The present assembly of British armies and navies
means subjugation for the colonists
3. The colonists cannot meet this force with petitions,
for
a. Petitions have been tried and are useless
4. The colonists can meet the British only with force of
arms, for
a. It is the only means left, and
b. The colonists have the strength to fight
III. Conclusion
1. Therefore, let us make ready for battle.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO MRS. BIXBY

Executive Mansion, Washington.
November 21, 1864.

Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts.

Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War
Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts 5
that you are the mother of five sons who have
died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak
and fruitless must be any words of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the 10
consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic
they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may
assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you
only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the
solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a 15
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln.

1. Undoubtedly the most difficult kind of letter to
write is the letter of sympathy, expressing sorrow
for loss by death. Why? Lincoln's little letter to
Mrs. Bixby has long been considered a classic of
its kind. It is sincere, sympathetic, and helpful.
What makes it so?

2. How did Lincoln come to write this letter? What
does the fact that he wrote it show about the man?
What was his object in writing it? Do you think he
succeeded? What consolation did he offer the
mother?

THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY

BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

What flower is this that greets the morn,
Its hues from heaven so freshly born?
With burning star and naming band
It kindles all the sunset land:
Oh, tell us what its name may be,-- 5
Is this the Flower of Liberty?
It is the banner of the free,
The starry Flower of Liberty!

In savage nature's far abode
Its tender seed our fathers sowed; 10
The storm winds rocked its swelling bud,
Its opening leaves were streaked with blood,
Till lo! earth's tyrants shook to see
The full-blown Flower of Liberty!
Then hail the banner of the free, 15
The starry Flower of Liberty!

Behold its streaming rays unite
One mingling flood of braided light,--
The red that fires the Southern rose,
With spotless white from Northern snows, 20
And, spangled o'er its azure, see
The sister stars of Liberty!
Then hail the banner of the free,
The starry Flower of Liberty!