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LESSON LII. 2

DOWNFALL OF POLAND.

1. OH! sacred Truth! thy triumph ceased awhile,
And Hope, thy sister, ceased with thee to smile,
When leagued oppression poured to northern wars
Her whiskered pandoors* and her fierce hussars,†
Waved her dread standard to the breeze of morn,
Pealed her loud drum, and twanged her trumpet horn;
Tumultuous horror brooded o'er her van,

Presaging wrath to Poland,—and to man!

2. Warsaw's last champion,‡ from her hights surveyed,
Wide o'er the fields, a waste of ruin laid;

(h)

"Oh! heaven!" he cried, "my bleeding country save, "Is there no hand on high to shield the brave? “Yet, though destruction sweep these lovely plains, "Rise! fellow-men! our country yet remains! "By that dread name we wave the sword on high', "And swear for her to live—with her—to die!" 3. (1) He said, and on the rampart-hights arrayed His trusty warriors, few, but undismayed; Firm-paced and slow, a horrid front they form, Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm; Low murmuring sounds along their banners fly, Revenge, or death,-the watch-word' and reply`; (h) Then pealed the notes, omnipotent to charm, And the loud tocsin tolled their last alarm.

4. In vain, alas! in vain, ye gallant few!
From rank to rank, your volleyed thunder flew !
Oh bloodiest picture in the book of time,
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime;
Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,
Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe!

Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear,
Closed her bright eye, and curbed her high career;
Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell,
And freedom shrieked-as Kosciusko fell!

5. The sun went down, nor ceased the carnage there`,
Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air;
On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow,
His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below;
The storm prevails`, the rampart yields away,
Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay!

*Pandoor, a Hungarian soldier.

†Hussar, a Hungarian horseman.

Kosciusko.

Hark! as the smoldering piles with thunder fall,
A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call!
Earth shook, red meteors flashed along the sky,
And conscious Nature shuddered at the cry!

6. (h) Oh righteous heaven! ere Freedom found a grave,
Why slept the sword, omnipotent to save?

Where was thine arm, O Vengeance! where thy ròd,
That smote the foes of Zion and of God?

That crushed proud Ammon, when his iron car
Was yoked in wrath, and thundered from afar?
Where was the storm that slumbered till the host
Of blood-stained Pharaoh left their trembling coast;
Then, bade the deep in wild commotion flow,
And heaved an ocean on their march below?

7. Departed spirits of the mighty dead'!
Ye that at Marathon and Leuctra bled'!

Friends of the world'! restore your swords to man,
Fight in his sacred cause and lead the van!
Yet, for Sarmatia's tears of blood, atone,
And make her arm puissant as your own!
Oh! once again to Freedom's cause return

The patriot TELL the BRUCE OF BANNOCKBURN"!

CAMPBELL.

LESSON LIII.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

1. Ir there be one state in the Union, Mr. President, that may challenge comparison with any other, for a uniform, zealous, ardent, and uncalculating devotion to the Union', that state is South Carolina'. Sir', from the very commencement of the revolution', up to this hour', there is no sacrifice, however great, she has not cheerfully made'; no service she has ever hesitated to perform.

2. She has adhered to you in your prosperity'; but in your adversity', she has clung to you with more than filial affection'. No matter what was the condition of her domestic' affairs, though deprived of her resources', divided by parties', or surrounded by difficulties', the call of the country has been to her as the voice of God'. Domestic discord ceased at the sound'; every man became at once reconciled to his brethren', and the sons of Carolina were all seen, crowding together to the temple, bringing their gifts to the altar of their common country'.

3. What, sir, was the conduct of the South, during the revolu tion? Sir, I honor New England for her conduct in that glorious struggle. But great as is the praise which belongs to her, I

think at least equal honor is due to the South. Never was there exhibited, in the history of the world', higher examples of noble daring', dreadful suffering', and heroic endurance', than by the whigs of Carolina, during the revolution'. The whole state, from the mountains to the sea, was overrun by an overwhelming force of the enemy. The fruits of industry perished on the spot where they were produced, or were consumed by the foe.

4. "The plains of Carolina" drank up the most precious blood of her citizens. Black, smoking ruins marked the places which had been the habitation of her children. Driven from their homes into the gloomy and almost impenetrable swamps, even there', the spirit of liberty survived', and South Carolina, sustained by the example of her Sumpters', and her Marions', proved, by her conduct, that though her soil' might be overrun, the spirit of her people' was invincible.

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MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTH CAROLINA.

1. The eulogium pronounced on the character of the state of South Carolina, by the honorable gentleman, for her revolutionary and other merits, mects my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowledge that the honorable member goes before me, in regard for whatever of distinguished talent or distinguished character, South Carolina has produced. I claim part of the honor'; I partake in the pride of her great names. I claim them for countrymen', one and all-the Laurenses', the Rutledges', the Pinckneys', the Sumpters', the Marions'-Americans all-whose fame is no more to be hemmed in by state lines, than their talents and patriotism were capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow limits.

2. In their day and generation, they served and honored the country, and the whole country, and their renown is of the treasures' of the whole country. Him', whose honored name the gentleman himself' bears,—does he suppose me less capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or sympathy for his' suffering, than if his eyes had first opened upon the light in Massachusetts, instead of South Carolina'! Sir, does he suppose it in his power to exhibit in Carolina a name so bright as to produce envy in my bosom? No', sir,-increased gratification and delight rather. Sir, I thank God', that, if I am gifted with little of the

spirit which is said to be able to raise mortals' to the skies', I have yet none', as I trust, of that other' spirit, which would drag angels' down'.

3. When I shall be found, sir, in my place here in the senate, or elsewhere, to sneer at public merit, because it happened to spring up beyond the little limits of my own' state or neighborhood; when I refuse for any such cause, or for any cause, the homage due to American talent, to elevated patriotism, to sincere devotion to liberty and the country'; or if I see an uncommon endowment of Heaven'; if I see extraordinary capacity or virtue in any son of the South'; and if, moved by local prejudice', or gangrened by state jealousy', I get up here to abate a tithe of a hair from his just character and just fame', may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

4. Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts. She needs' none. There she is'; behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history'; the world knows it by heart. The past', at least, is secure. There is Boston', and Concord', and Lexington', and Bunker-hill'; and there they will remain forever'. And, sir, where American liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured and sustained', there it still lives', in the strength of its manhood, and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall wound' it; if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it; if folly and madness, if uncasiness under salutary restraint', shall succeed to separate it from that Union', by which alone its existence is made sure', it will stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was rocked'; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it may still retain, over the friends who gathered around' it; and it will fall at last, if fall it must', amid the proudest monuments of its glory, and on the very spot of its origin. WEBSTER.

LESSON LV.)

MODULATION.

1. 'Tis not enough the voice be sound and clear",
'Tis modulation' that must charm the ear.
When desperate heroes grieve with tedious moan,
And whine their sorrows in a see-saw tone,
The same soft sounds of unimpassioned woes,
Can only make the yawning hearers doze.
The voice all modes of passion can express,
That marks the proper word with proper stress:

But none emphatic can that speaker call,
Who lays an equal emphasis on all.

2. Some o'er the tongue the labored measures roll,
Slow and deliberate as the parting toll;

Point every stop`, mark every pause so strong, Their words like stage processions stalk along. 3. All affectation but creates disgust;

And e'en in speaking, we may seem too just.
In vain for them the pleasing measure flows,
Whose recitation runs it all to prose;
Repeating what the poet sets not down,
The verb disjointing from its favorite noun,
While pause, and break, and repetition join
To make a discord in each tuneful line`.

4. Some placid natures fill the allotted scene
With lifeless drawls, insipid and serene;
While others thunder every couplet o'er,
And almost crack your ears with rant and roar.
More nature oft, and finer strokes are shown
In the low whisper, than tempestuous tone;
And Hamlet's hollow voice and fixed amaze,
More powerful terror to the mind conveys,
Than he, who, swollen with impetuous rage,
Bullies the bulky phantom of the stage.
5. He who, in earnest, studies o'er his part,
Will find true nature cling about his heart.
The modes of grief, are not included all
In the white handkerchief and mournful drawl';
A single look more marks the internal woe,
Than all the windings of the lengthened Oh!
Up to the face the quick sensation flies,

And darts its meaning from the speaking eyes:
Love, transport, madness, anger, scorn, despair,
And all the passions', all the soul is there.

LLOYD.

LESSON LVI.

OTHELLO'S APOLOGY.

(This should be read in a middle tone.)

1. Most potent, grave, and reverend seigniors,
My very noble and approved good masters,
That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter,
It is most true; true', I have married her;
The very head and front of my offending

2.

Hath this extent`, no more`.

Rude am I in speech,

And little blessed with the set phrase of peace,

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