O, Sirs! look round you, lest ye be deceived; Forgiveness may be spoken with the tongue, But think not that the parchment and mouth pardon Ye should forgive this bloody-minded man For all his black and murderous monstrous crimes! 42 WAT TYLER'S ADDRESS TO THE KING.-Robert Southey. B. 1774; d. 1843 KING of England, Petitioning for pity is most weak, The sovereign People ought to demand justice. To force upon the French a King they hate; And, like your spaniels, lick the hand that beats us? The costly banquet courts your appetite; Sweet music soothes your slumbers: we, the while, And sleep scarce sheltered from the cold night wind, 64 We toil and sweat for mark me, King of England' OUR bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lowered, And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again. In life's morning march, when my bosom was young; And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung. Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart. And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. 44 TO THE ARMY BEFORE QUEBEC, 1759.—Gen. Wolfe. Born, 1726; died, 1759. I CONGRATULATE you, my brave countrymen and fellow-soldiers, on the spirit and success with which you have executed this important part of our enterprise. The formidable Heights of Abraham are now surmounted; and the city of Quebec, the object of all our toils, now stands in full view before us. A perfidious enemy, who have dared to exasperate you by their cruelties, but not to oppose you on equal ground, are now constrained to face you on the open plain, without ramparts or intrenchments to shelter them. You know too well the forces which compose their army to dread their superior numbers. A few regular troops from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who, when fresh, were unable to withstand the British soldiers, are their General's chief dependence. Those numerous companies of Canadians, insolent, mutinous, unsteady, and ill-disciplined, have exercised his utmost skill to keep them together to this time; and, as soon as their irregular ardor is damped by one firm fire, they will instantly turn their backs, and give you no further trouble but in the pursuit. As for those savage tribes of Indians, whose horrid yells in the forests have struck many a bold heart with affright, terrible as they are with a tomahawk and scalping-knife to a flying and prostrate foe, you have experienced how little their ferocity is to be dreaded by resolute men upon fair and open ground: you can now only consider them as the just objects of a severe revenge for the unhappy fate of many slaughtered countrymen. This day puts it into your power to terminate the fatigues of a siege which has so long employed your courage and patience. Possessed with a full confidence of the certain success which British valor must gain over such enemies, I have led you up these steep and dangerous rocks, only solicitous to show you the foe within your reach. The impossibility of a retreat makes no difference in the situation of men resolved to conquer or die: and, believe me, my friends, if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your General, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country. 45. THE AMERICAN FLAG.-J. R. Drake. Born, 1795; died, 1820 Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night, Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, And see the lightning lances driven, And rolls the thunder-drum of Heaven, Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly, Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall, Flag of the free heart's hope and home! Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in Heaven. Forever float that standard sheet ! Where breathes the foe but falls before us, With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? 46. TO THE AMERICAN TROOPS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND, 1776General George Washington. Born, 1732; died, 1799. THE time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a tate of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die. Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us, then, rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now-upon us; and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us, therefore, animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth. Liberty, property, life and honor, are all at stake. Upon your courage and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our wives, children and parents, expect safety from us only; and they have every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a cause. The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but remember they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few brave Americans. Their cause is bad,their men are conscious of it; and, if opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with our advantage of works, and knowledge of the greard, ne victory is most assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive, wait for orders, and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution. 47. TO THE ARMY OF ITALY, MAY 15, 1796.-Napoleon Bonaparte. B. 1769 ; d. 1821. Original Translation. SOLDIERS! You have precipitated yourselves like a torrent from the Apennines. You have overwhelmed or swept before you all that opposed your march. Piedmont, delivered from Austrian oppression, has returned to her natural sentiments of peace and friendship towards France. Milan is yours; and over all Lombardy floats the flag of the Republic. To your generosity only, do the Dukes of Parma and of Modena now owe their political existence. The army which proudly threatened you finds no remaining barrier of defence against your courage. The Po, the Tessino, the Adda, could not stop you a single |