4. Yet listen, sister! while I lave And then, no more its form we see, 5. Hast heard it told, when infants smile And chant their heavenly numbers? 6. Then, sister! hear the silent voice LESSON CXXVII. 12 7 SCOTLAND. FLAGG. 1. SCOTLAND! There is magic in the sound. Statesmen scholars, divines, heroes, and poets! do you want exemplars worthy of study and imitation? Where will you find them brighter than in Scotland? Where can you find them purer than in Scotland? Here no Solon, indulging imagination, has pictured the perfectability of man; no Lycurgus, viewing him through the medium of human frailty alone, has left for his government an iron code, graven on eternal adamant. No Plato, dreaming in the luxurious gardens of the academy, has fancied what he should be, and bequeathed a republic of love. a Lycurgus; a Spartan legislator, born about 898, B. C. But sages, knowing their weakness, have appealed to his un derstanding, cherished his virtues, and chastised his vices. 2. Friends of learning! would you do homage at the shrine of literature? Would you visit her clearest founts? Go to Scotland. Are you philosophers, seeking to explore the hidden mysteries of mind? Bend to the genius of Stewart!" Student, merchant, or mechanic, do you seek usefulness? Consult the pages of Black and of Adam Smith. Grave barrister! would you know the law; the true, the sole expression of the people's will? There stands the mighty Mansfield !b 3. Do we look for high examples of noble daring? Where shall we find them brighter than in Scotland? From the "bonny highland heather" of her lofty summits, to the modest lily of the vale, not a flower but has blushed with patriot blood. From the proud foaming crest of Solway, to the calm polished breast of Loch Katrine, not a river or lake but has swelled with the life-tide of freedom! Would you witness greatness? Contemplate a Wallace and a Bruce. They fought not for honors, for party, for conquest. 'T was for their country and their country's good, religion, liberty and law. 4. Would you ask for chivalry? that high and delicate sense of honor, which deems a stain upon one's country, as individual disgrace; that moral courage which measures danger, and meets it against known odds; that patriot valor, which would rather repose on a death-bed of laurels than flourish in wealth and power under the night-shade of despotism? Cit izen soldier! turn to Lochiel; "proud bird of the mountain!" Though pierced with the usurper's arrow, his plumage still shines through the cloud of oppression, lighting to honor all who nobly dare to "do or die." Where then can we better look for all that is worthy of honest ambition, than to Scotland? b Mans. a Stewart, Dugald; an eminent philosopher, born at Edinburgh in 1753. field, William Murry; born at Perth in 1705, and became chief justice of the King's Bench in 1756. c Wallace, Sir William; a Scottish patriot, born in 1276. d Bruce, Robert; the deliverer of Scotland from the English yoke, by the defeat of Edward II. in 1314, at Bannockburn. LESSON CXXVIII. / 28 THE CHARACTER OF GREENE. HEADLEY. 1. NEXT to Washington, Greene was the ablest commander in the revolutionary army. In person he was above the middle height, and strongly made. He had a fine face, with a florid complexion, lit up by brilliant blue eyes. His natural expression was frank and benevolent, but in battle it assumed a sternness, which showed that beneath his easy and gentle manners was a strength of purpose not easily overcome. When highly excited, or absorbed in intense thought, he had a curious habit of rubbing violently his upper lip with his fore-finger. 2. Inured by exposure and toil, his frame possessed a wonderful power of endurance, rendered still greater by the indomitable will it enclosed. A self-made man, he rose from the ranks to major-general of the army, solely by his own genius and force. Ignorant at first of military tactics, he applied himself with such diligence to the subject, that he mastered them in less time than many employ on the rudiments; and the knowledge he obtained was not merely so many maxims and rules stowed away, but principles, out of which he wrought his own plans and system. 3. He had almost intuitive perception of character. He resembled Washington in this respect, and seemed to take the exact measure of every man who approached him. Many of his actions in the field were based upon this knowledge of his adversaries, and hence, though often inexplicable to others, perfectly clear and rational to himself. 4. Thus, in the southern campaign against Cornwallis his movements were sometimes considered rash in the extreme, a Greene; Major General Nathaniel Greene was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, May 27th, 1742. b Tactics; the science and art of disposing military and naval forces In order of battle. • Cornwallis; the British commander. by those who judged of them merely from the relative position and strength of the armies. But to him, who could judge more correctly from his knowledge of men's views and character, than from their transient movements, what course they would take, they appeared the wisest he could adopt. 5. A more fearless man never led an army; and his courage was not the result of sudden enthusiasm, or even of excitement, but of a well-balanced and strong character. He was never known to be thrown from his perfect self-possession by any danger, however sudden; and was just as calm and collected when his shattered army tossed in a perfect wreck around him, as in his tent at night. The roar of artillery, and the tumult of a fierce-fought battle, could not disturb the natural action of his mind; his thoughts were as clear, and his judgment was as correct, in the midst of a sudden and unexpected overthrow, as in planning a campaign." 6. This gave him tremendous power, and was the great reason that, though beaten, he could not be utterly routed. No matter how superior his antagonist, or how unexpected the panic of his troops, he was never, like Gates, driven a fugitive from the field. He possessed two qualities seldom found united; great caution, and yet great rapidity. His blow was carefully planned, and when it came it fell like falling lightning. 7. His mind was clear and comprehensive, and worked with ceaseless activity and energy. Nothing could escape his glance, and he seemed to forecast all the contingencies that did or could happen.. His fortitude was wonderful. All exposures, all privations, all embarrassments, toils and suffer ings, he bore with a patience that filled his soldiers with astonishment and admiration. During his southern campaign he never took off his clothes, except to change them, for seven months; and sometimes would be in the saddle two days on a stretch, without a moment's repose. a The time an army is in the field. 8. His energy was equal to his endurance; for he not only bore everything bravely, but under difficulties that would have weighed an ordinary man to the earth, put forth almost superhuman exertions. No sooner was one obstacle surmounted than he attacked another; and no sooner was one danger escaped than he plunged into another, again to extricate himself, to the astonishment of all. Tireless as fate itself, he would neither take repose, nor allow it to his enemy. His whole career, while opposed to Cornwallis, is one of the most remarkable in the history of military men. 9. When he took command of the southern army, he found it to consist of a mere handful of destitute, undisciplined, and ragged troops; yet, with these, he entered the field against one of the best generals of the age, supported by an army of veteran soldiers. With his raw recruits around him, he immediately began the offensive; and before his powerful enemy had time to penetrate his plans, smote him terribly at Cowpens.a 10. Having by this movement brought the whole English force against him, he was compelled to retreat, and by a series of skillful maneuvers and forced marches, completely foiled every attempt to reach him. Unable to cope with his adversary, he, nevertheless, refused to quit the field; retiring like the lion, slowly and resolutely. He kept his pursuer ever under his eye, so that he could not make a mistake without receiving a blow. 11. He stopped when his adversary stopped, and looked him boldly in the face, till he provoked him to burn his baggage, in order to convert his entire army into light troops, and thus facilitate his movements. But even then he would outmarch and out-manœuver him, penetrating and baffling every plan laid against him, and carrying out every one of his own. 12. He thus led his enemy through the entire state of North Carolina; and the moment he turned, followed him, and dealt him such a staggering blow at Guilford, that he was compelled ■ Cowpens; a place in Union District, S. C., remarkable in the revolutionary history for one of the most decisive pitched battles in the whole war. |