THE RISING. BY THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. Out of the North the wild news came, And there was tumult in the air, The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat, And through the wild land everywhere The answering tread of hurrying feet, While the first oath of Freedom's gun Came on the blast from Lexington. 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. The yeoman and the yeoman's son, Re-oiled the lock, reset the flint; The hands by Heaven made silken soft By some unhallowed earthly stain ; No nobler picture can be found Than woman, brave in word and deed, Her hand is on its aching brow. Within its shade of elm and oak The church of Berkley 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. The pastor rose: the prayer was strong; He spoke of wrongs too long endured, In face of death he dared to fling Defiance to a tyrant king. Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed In eloquence of attitude, Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; A moment there was awful pause, When Berkley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease! In this the dawn of Freedom's day And now before the open door The warrior priest had ordered so- So loud and clear, it seemed the ear And there the startling drum and fife And every word its ardor flung Was, "WAR! WAR! WAR!" "Who dares"- this was the patriot's cry DEFINITIONS. - From "The Wagoner of the Alleghanies." Bō're al, northern. Yeo'man, a freeholder, a man freeborn. Dint, stroke. Măn'or, a tract of land occupied by tenants. Theme, a subject on which a person speaks or writes. Guişe, external appearance in manner or dress. Sōar, a towering flight. NOTES.- Forgot her name. The reference is to the meaning of the word "concord,” — harmony, union. The pastor. This was John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, who was at that time a minister at Woodstock, in Virginia. He was a leading spirit among those opposed to Great Britain, and in 1775 he was elected colonel of a Virginia regiment. The above poem describes his farewell sermon. At its close he threw off his ministerial gown, and appeared in full regimental dress. Almost every man in the congregation enlisted under him at the church door. A DANGER TO OUR REPUBLIC. BY HENRY CLAY. Recall to your recollection the free nations which have gone before us. Where are they now? Gone glimmering through the mist of things that were, A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour. And how lost they their liberties? If we could transport ourselves to the ages when Greece and Rome flour ished in their greatest prosperity, and mingling in the throng should ask a Grecian if he did not fear that some daring military chieftain covered with glory-some Philip or Alexander-would one day overthrow the liberties of his country, the confident and indignant Grecian would exclaim: "No! no! we have nothing to fear from our heroes; our liberties will be eternal." If a Roman citizen had been asked if he did not fear that the conqueror of Gaul might establish a throne upon the ruins of public liberty, he would have instantly repelled the unjust insinuation. Yet Greece fell; and Cæsar passed the Rubicon. We are fighting a great moral battle, for the benefit not only of our country, but of all mankind. The eyes of the whole world are in fixed attention upon us. One, and the largest, portion of it is gazing with contempt, with jealousy, and with envy; the other portion, with hope, with confidence, and with affection. Everywhere, the black cloud of Legitimacy is suspended over the world, save only one bright spot, which breaks out from the political hemisphere of the West, to enlighten, and animate, and gladden the human heart. Observe that, by the downfall of liberty here, all mankind are enshrouded in a pall of universal darkness. To us belongs the high privilege of transmitting, unimpaired, to posterity, the fair character, the liberty of our country. Do we expect to execute this high trust by trampling down the law, justice, the Constitution, and the rights of the people? by exhibiting examples of inhumanity, and cruelty, and ambition? Let us beware, then, how we give our fatal sanction to military insubordination. Greece had her Alexander, Rome her Cæsar, England her Cromwell, France her |