We would not that a bribe should be
Clasped in a brave man's hold:
'Tis a base weapon, vainly drawn ;—
Briton! put up thy gold.
Nor hope thou thus, by prayer or threat,
To go hence, free and proud:
How faintly falls the speech of man,
When God's deep voice is loud!
"God and our country!"-hallowed words!—
Breathe them but in thy heart,
Briton! then crave us, that we bid
A mortal foe depart.
Within our souls there is a voice,-
Within our eyes a fire,-
Leaving to pity's moan no ear,
No glance to low desire:
Our country's wrong,-our country's hope,-
Are written on heaven's wall:
We may but read that lightning scroll,—
Hear but its thunder call.
may but meet thee as a foe,
Lead thee but as a slave;
Start'st thou ?-Yes! that proud form may bow
To fill a felon's grave!
Go thou with us: our last resolve,—
Perchance thy doom,-is told :-
Thinkest thou to buy a patriot's soul?
Briton! put up thy gold!
Ex. XXIV.-HIAWATHA'S WOOING.
Ar the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Making arrow-heads of jasper,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony.
At his side, in all her beauty,
Sat the lovely Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing Water,
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes;
Of the past the old man's thoughts were,
And the maiden's of the future.
He was thinking, as he sat there,
Of the days when with such arrows
He had struck the deer and bison,
On the Muskoday, the meadow;
Shot the wild goose, flying southward,
On the wing, the clamorous Wawa;
Thinking of the great war-parties,
How they came to buy his arrows,
Could not fight without his arrows.
Ah, no more such noble warriors
Could be fouud on earth as they were!
Now the men were all like women,
Only used their tongues for weapons!
She was thinking of a hunter,
From another tribe and country,
Young and tall and very handsome,
Who one morning, in the Spring-time,
Came to buy her father's arrows,
Sat and rested in the wigwam,
Lingered long about the doorway,
Looking back as he departed.
She had heard her father praise him,
Praise his courage and his wisdom;
Would he come again for arrows
To the Falls of Minnehaha?
On the mat her hands lay idle,
And her eyes were very dreamy.
Through their thoughts they heard a footstep,
Heard a rustling in the branches,
And with glowing cheek and forehead,
With the deer upon his shoulders,
Suddenly from out the woodlands
Hiawatha stood before them.
Straight the ancient Arrow-maker
Looked up gravely from his labor,
Laid aside the unfinished arrow,
Bade him enter at the doorway,
Saying, as he rose to meet him,
"Hiawatha, you are welcome!"
At the feet of Laughing Water
Hiawatha laid his burden,
Threw the red deer from his shoulders;
And the maiden looked up at him,
Looked up from her mat of rushes,
Said with gentle look and accent,
"You are welcome, Hiawatha !"
Then uprose the Laughing Water,
From the ground fair Minnehaha,
Laid aside her mat unfinished,
Brought forth food and set before them,
Water brought them from the brooklet,
Gave them food in earthen vessels,
Gave them drink in bowls of bass-wood,
Listened while the guest was speaking,
Listened while her father answered,
But not once her lips she opened,
Not a single word she uttered.
"After many years of warfare,
Many years of strife and bloodshed,
There is peace between the Ojibways
And the tribe of the Dacotahs,"
Thus continued Hiawatha,
And then added, speaking slowly,
"That this peace may last for ever,
And our hands be clasped more closely,
And our hearts be more united,
Give me as my wife this maiden,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Loveliest of Dacotah women!"
And the ancient Arrow-maker
Paused a moment ere he answered,
Smoked a little while in silence,
Looked at Hiawatha proudly,
Fondly looked at Laughing Water,
And made answer very gravely:
"Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;
Let your heart speak, Minnehaha !"
And the lovely Laughing Water Seemed more lovely, as she stood there, Neither willing nor reluctant,
As she went to Hiawatha,
Softly took the seat beside him,
While she said, and blushed to say it,
"I will follow you, my husband!"
This was Hiawatha's wooing!
Thus it was he won the daughter
Of the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs!
From the wigwam he departed,
Leading with him Laughing Water;
Hand in hand they went together,
Through the woodland and the meadow,
Left the old man standing lonely
At the doorway of his wigwam,
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha
Calling to them from the distance,
Crying to them from afar off,
"Fare thee well, O Minnehaha !”
Pleasant was the journey homeward,
Through interminable forests,
Over meadow, over mountain,
Over river, hill, and hollow.
Short it seemed to Hiawatha,
Though they journeyed very slowly,
Though his pace he checked and slackened
To the steps of Laughing Water.
Pleasant was the journey homeward!
All the birds sang loud and sweetly
Songs of happiness and heart's-ease;
Sang the blue-bird, the Owaissa,
"Happy are you, Hiawatha,
Having such a wife to love you!"
Sang the robin, the Opechee,
"Happy are you, Laughing Water,
Having such a noble husband!"
Thus it was they journeyed homeward;
Thus it was that Hiawatha
To the lodge of old Nokomis
Brought the moonlight, starlight, firelight,
Brought the sunshine of his people,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Handsomest of all the women
In the land of the Dacotahs,
In the land of handsome women.
Ex. XXV.-SAYING, NOT MEANING.
Two gentlemen their appetite had fed,
When opening his toothpick-case,. one said,
"It was not until lately that I knew
That anchovies on terrâ firmâ grew.
"Grow!" cried the other, "yes, they grow, indeed,
Like other fish, but not upon the land;
You might as well say grapes grow on a reed,
Or in the Strand!"
"Why, sir," returned the irritated other, "My brother,
When at Calcutta
Beheld them bond fide growing;
He would 'nt utter
A lie for love or money, sir; so in
This matter you are thoroughly mistaken." "Nonsense, sir, nonsense! I can give no credit To the assertion-none e'er saw or read it; Your brother, like his evidence, should be shaken."
"Be shaken, sir! let me observe, you are Perverse-in short-"
"Sir," said the other, sucking his cigar, And then his port
"If you will say impossibles are true,
You may affirm just any thing you please-
That swans are quadrupeds, and lions blue,
And elephants inhabit Stilton cheese!
Only you must not force me to believe
What's propagated merely to deceive."
force me to say, sir, you 're a fool,"
Returned the bragger.
Language like this no man can suffer cool:
It made the listener stagger;
So thunder-stricken, he at once replied,
"The traveler lied
Who had the impudence to tell it you;"
"Zounds! then d'ye mean to swear before my face That anchovies do n't grow like cloves and mace ?" "I do!"
|