wings of his mind were rapid, but capricious, and there were times, when the light which flashed from them as they passed, glanced like a mirror in the sun, only to dazzle the beholder. +Engrossed with his subject, careless of his words, his loftiest flights of eloquence were sometimes followed by *colloquial or provincial barbarisms. But, though often incorrect, he was always fascinating. Language, with him, was merely the scaffolding of thought, employed to raise a dome, which, like Angelo's, he suspended in the heavens. 7. It is equally impossible to forget or to omit, a gentleman from Kentucky,* whom party has since made the fruitful topic of unmeasured *panegyric and detraction. Of *sanguine temperament, and impetuous character, his declamation was impassioned, his retorts acrimonious. Deficient in refinement, rather than in strength, his style was less elegant and correct, than animated and impressive. But it swept away your feelings with it, like a mountain torrent, and the force of the stream left you little leisure to remark upon its clearness. His estimate of human nature was, probably, not very high. Unhappily, it is, perhaps, more likely to have been lowered, than raised, by his subsequent experience. Yet then and ever since, except when that imprudence so natural to genius prevailed over his better judgment, he adopted a lofty tone of sentiment, whether he spoke of measures or of men, of friend or adversary. On many occasions, he was noble and captivating. One, I can never forget. It was the fine burst of indignant eloquence, with which he replied to the taunting question, "What have we gained by the war?" 8. Nor may I pass over in silence a Representative from New Hampshire,† who has almost obliterated all memory of that distinction, by the superior fame he has attained as a Senator from Massachusetts. Though then but in the bud of his political life, and hardly conscious, perhaps, of his own extraordinary powers, he gave promise of the greatness he has since achieved. The same vigor of thought; the same force of expression; the short sentences; the calm, cold, collected manner; the air of solemn dignity; the deep, *sepul chral, unimpassioned voice; all have been developed only, not changed, even to the intense bitterness of his *frigid tirony. The piercing coldness of his sarcasm was indeed peculiar to him; it seemed to be an emanation from the spirit of the icy ocean. Nothing could be at once so novel and so powerful; it was frozen mercury, becoming as *caustic as red hot iron. CIV. THE AMERICAN FLAG. FROM DRAKE. 1. WHEN Freedom, from her mountain height, 2. Majestic monarch of the cloud! Who rear 'st aloft thy regal form, When strive the warriors of the storm, To guard the banner of the free, 3. Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly, Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet, 4. Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave; 5. Flag of the free heart's only home, Where breathes the foe but falls before us, And Freedom's banner waving o'er us? CV. THE EAGLE. FROM PERCIVAL. JAMES G. PERCIVAL, a native of Connecticut, was a poet of distinction. He was also distinguished as a geologist, botanist, and philologist. He was remarkable for his extreme modesty and reserve, as well as for his learning and poetic talent. He died in 1856. 1. BIRD of the broad and sweeping wing! Thy home is high in heaven, Where the wide storms their banners fling, 2. Thou art perched aloft, on the beetling crag, And on, with a haste that can not lag, Again thou hast plumed thy wing for flight, And away, like a spirit wreathed in light, 3. Lord of the boundless realm of air! The hearts of the bold and ardent dare Beneath the shade of thy golden wings, From the river of Egypt's cloudy springs, 4. For thee they fought, for thee they fell, Thou wert, through an age of death and fears, Till the gathered rage of a thousand years, 5. And then, a deluge of wrath it came, And the nations shook with dread; And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame, Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood, The Roman standard was the image of an eagle. The soldiers swore by it, and the loss of it was considered a disgrace. † Alluding to the destruction of Rome by the northern barbarians. 6. And where was then thy fearless flight? To the land, that caught the setting light, There, on the silent and lonely shore, And the world, in its darkness, asked no more 7. "But then, came a bold and hardy few, 8. "And now that bold and hardy few And danger and doubt I have led them through, And over their bright and glancing arms, With an eye that fires, and a spell that charms, CVI. THE SHIPWRECK. of the 1. IN the winter of 1824, Lieutenant GUnited States navy, with his beautiful wife and infant child, *embarked in a packet at Norfolk, bound to South Carolina. For the first day and night after their departure, the wind continued fair, and the weather clear; but, on the evening of the second day, a severe gale sprung up, and, toward midnight, the captain, judging himself much further from the land than he really was, and dreading the Gulf Stream, hauled in for the coast; but with the intention, it is presumed, of lying to when he supposed himself clear of the Gulf. Lieut. G. did not approve of the captain's determination, and the result proved that his fears were well-founded; for toward morning the vessel grounded. |