Page images
PDF
EPUB

"Make way for liberty!" he cried,
Then ran with arms extended wide,
As if his dearest friend to clasp ;-
Ten spears
he swept within his grasp:-
"Make way for liberty!" he cried :
Their keen points met from side to side;-
He bowed amongst them like a tree,
And thus made way for liberty.
Swift to the breach his comrades fly:
"Make way for liberty," they cry,
And through the Austrian phalanx dart,
As rushed the spears through Arnold's heart;
While, instantaneous as his fall,

Rout, ruin, panic, scattered all :—
An earthquake could not overthrow
A city with a surer blow.

Thus Switzerland again was free;
Thus death made way for liberty!

Ex. CLXVIII-JUSTICE.

SHERIDAN.

MR. HASTINGS, in the magnificent paragraph which concludes this communication, says, "I hope it will not be a departure from official language to say, that the majesty of justice ought not to be approached without solicitation. She ought not to descend to inflame or provoke, but to withhold her judgment, until she is called on to determine." But, my lords, do you, the judges of this land, and the expounders of its rightful laws, do you approve of this mockery, and call it the character of justice, which takes the form of right to excite wrong? No, my lords, justice is not this halt and miserable object; it is not the ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod; it is not the portentous phantom of despair; it is not like any fabled monster, formed in the eclipse of reason, and found in some unhallowed grove of superstitious darkness, and political dismay! No, my lords. In the happy reverse of all this, I turn from the disgusting caricature to the real image! Justice I have now before me, august and pure! the abstract idea of all that would be perfect in the spirits and the aspirings of men! where the mind rises, where the heart expands; where the countenance is ever placid and benign; where her favorite attitude is to stoop to the unfortunate; to

hear their cry and to help them; to rescue and relieve, to succor and save; majestic from its mercy; venerable from its utility; uplifted, without pride; firm, without obduracy; beneficent in each preference; lovely, though in her frown!

On that justice I rely; deliberate and sure, abstracted from all party purpose and political speculation, not on words, but on facts. You, my lords, who hear me, I conjure, by those rights it is your best privilege to preserve; by that fame it is your best pleasure to inherit; by all those feelings which refer to the first term in the series of existence, the original compact of our nature-our controlling rank in the creation. This is the call on all, to administer to truth and equity, as they would satisfy the laws and satisfy themselves

with the most exalted bliss possible or perceivable for our nature, the self-approving consciousness of virtue, when the condemnation we look for will be one of the most ample mercies accomplished for mankind since the creation of the world!

Ex. CLXIX.-TURKISH PERFIDY.

KOSSUTH.

TO-DAY is the anniversary of our arrival at Kutahja! Kutahja! the tomb, where the Sublime Porte has buried us alive, whilst speaking to us of hospitality. Pursued by misfortune we stopped before the threshold of the Mussulman, and asked from him, in the name of God, in the name of humanity, in the name of his religion, a hospitable asylum, or a free passage. The Turkish government had entire liberty to receive us or not. It had the right of saying: I will give you shelter in a prison, or in some distant place where you will be detained and strictly guarded. This is the hospitality which Turkey offers you. If it does not please you, hasten your departure, rid us of your embarrassing presence. This was not said to

us.

The Sublime Porte deigned to open to us its sheltering tent; it entreated us to cross the threshold, and swore by its God and its faith that it would grant us hospitality and a safe asylum. We trusted ourselves to the honor of the Turks. We eat of their bread and of their salt; we reposed under their roof. We prayed to God to bless them, and we offered them our courage, our experience matured by vicissitudes, and our everlasting gratitude. And Hungarians keep their word. Look at Bosnia, where Mussulmen, subjects of the Sublime

Porte, are revolted against it. A handful of Hungarian soldiers are in the ranks of its army-it is but a handful, for the Porte would not accept more. Well! who are first upon the breach? who are first in the charge? who are they who never retreat, who advance in the midst of fire and grape-shot, bayonet in hand, to victory? They are this handful of exiles. They die for Turkey; the Hungarian keeps his word. They offered us hospitality, and they gave us a prison: they swore to us that we should meet with an asylum, and we have found banishment. God will judge; and God is just. We have suffered; but for the sake of not causing embarrassment, we have been silent. They begged us to have confidence. We have shown it. They begged us to wait. We have waited long. They said to us, it is only until Austria shall succeed in re-establishing that which the despots call order (the order of oppression,) that which they call tranquillity (the tranquillity of the tomb.)

Well, she has re-established this order, this tranquillity, by her executions. She has re-established it so far as to dare to provoke Prussia to war; so far as to dare, trusting to the support of her master, the Czar, to encroach upon the nations of Europe, to extend her forces from the Baltic to Rome; so far as to threaten Piedmont and Switzerland; so far as to bribe the border provinces of Turkey to revolt, she has re-established this tranquillity, she has even announced its re-establishment to the Sublime Porte; and we are still prisoners.

I most solemnly protest against this act. I appeal from it to the eternal justice of God, and to the judgment of all humanity.

Ex. CLXX.-THE TRIUMPH OF KUBLAI KHAN.

A LEGEND OF CHINA.

THE heroes were tall and terrible chaps,
Of warlike fame untarnished;

BARHAM.

Two peacocks' feathers in each of their caps,
And their helmets of pasteboard varnished;
Their shoulder-guards, and breast-plates fair,
Were made of cotton, and stuffed with hair;
Their steps were fleet, and their arms were strong;
Their eyes were fierce, and their beards were long;
And each, besides a bow and mace,

Carried a terrible silken shield, Pictured whereon was a hideous face, To fright the foemen out of the field. Each at his back a banner bore;

Through a hollow bamboo its staff was thrust; And of the placards, behind and before,

That called him "brave," and this, "robust.”

The chosen ground was the palace lawn;

The fence was framed, and the swords were drawn ; The three from the east, the Khan from the west, To meet in the middle their steps addressed.

Side by side advanced the three,

All heroes of one stamp;
Side by side, and knee by knee,
With very deliberate tramp.

When they almost met their Tartar foe,

Who towards them came at a swifter pace, They stopped at once, in a fearful row,

And held their shields out towards his face;

Then, working secret wires within,
Made the terrible faces squint and grin;
And they trusted by this decisive plan
To frighten away the Tartar Khan.

But lo and behold! the Tartar Khan

Was not prepared to take the hint;

He looked at the shields,-that fearless man!

And "Ho!" said he, "you may grin and squint!" Then in both his hands his sword raised he, To shatter the shields of the warlike three. This showed a heart, on the Tartar's part, For which the three were not prepared; They stepped, in a crack, some paces back, And opened their eyes and mouths, and stared. "Why stay we here ?" cried valiant Fli, "Oh! fly we hence!" cried dauntless Flee, And, in mighty dismay,

Shun-fo ran away.

I know not which might soonest hie,
Or which was the fleetest of all the three ;-
Their flags were all to ribands torn

By the current of air, so fast their flight;
The peacock plumes from their caps were borne,

And they showed no feather, except the white. And as they ran, the bold placard

That proclaimed them "brave," was their shield and guard. Their flight had turned it towards the Khan,

Who never perceived they were brave, till they ran.

The Tartar bold pursued their flight,

And cleft them down from crown to heel;

And his eyes gleamed bright with his grim delight,
As then on his cue he wiped the steel.
He bowed to the queen and her ladies fair;
His face was flecked with spirts of gore;
"We'll leave these three to the doctor's care,
And now, sweet queen, I am ready for more!"

[blocks in formation]

And the empress spake, and said, “O, Khan,

Since you have shown yourself such a valorous man,
And slain the prime of our warriors thus,

You will not be afraid of a match with us.

So whet your sword on the edge of your shield,
Till I and my ladies come into the field."

Kublai bowed with infinite grace,
Smiled in a very bewitching way,
Wiped the blood from off his face,
And made reply to the empress gay:
"O, lady bold, O, lady bright,

To slaughter men I have little care;-
Send more of such, if you think it right;—
But I draw not swords on dames so fair,
A match with you and your ladies sweet,
Is what would make my bliss complete;
But that which thus would sweeten life,
Is a match in love, and not in strife."

[blocks in formation]

So the empress bowed low, with most lady-like ease,
And answered, "Brave Khan, be it just as you please."
Then he danced them by fours, by tens, and by scores,
Over charcoal pots that were set at the doors;
The town of Kinsai was full of delight ;—

Oh! a wonderful man was the Tartar Khan,

And he conquered in love whom he could n't in fight.

« PreviousContinue »