THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF. But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale The Pilgrim exile,-sainted name! Rejoiced when he came, in the morning's flame, And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night Still lies where he laid his houseless head ;- The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest : And the world's warm breast is in verdure dress'd, The earliest ray of the golden day On that hallow'd spot is cast; And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, The Pilgrim spirit has not fled- And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, PIERPONT 15 X. THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF. "THE most uncivilized of the savage tribes of America do not apprehend death as the extinction of being. All entertain hopes of a future and more happy state, where they shall be for ever exempt from the calamities which embitter human life, in its present condition. This future state they conceive to be a delightful country, blessed with perpetual spring, whose forests abound with game, whose rivers swarm with fish, where famine is never felt, and uninterrupted plenty shall be enjoyed without labour or toil. they imagine, that departed spirits begin their career anew in the world whither they are gone, that their friends may not enter upon it defenceless and unprovided, they bury together with the bodies of the dead, their bow, their arrows, and other weapons used in hunting or war: they deposit in their tombs the skins or stuffs of which thev *** As make garments, Indian corn, manioc, venison, domestic utensils, and whatever is reckoned among the necessaries in their simple mode of life."-Robertson's History of America. THEY laid the corse1 of the wild and brave They laid within the peaceful bed, That he had found new hunting grounds. Where bounteous nature only tills And these fair isles to the westward lie, And song and dance move endlessly. They told of the feats of the dog and gun, And o'er his arms, and o'er his bones, And since the chieftain here has slept, 1. Any other mode of spelling this word? 2. The object of "laid"? PERCIVAL. INDIAN NAMES. 17 XI. INDIAN NAMES. "How can the red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes, and rivers are indelibly stamped by names of their giving?" Describe the position, and, as far as possible, give the derivations of the "Indian names" in the poem. YE say they all have passed away, That noble race and brave; That their light canoes have vanished That, mid the forests where they roamed, "Tis where Ontario's billow Like ocean's surge is curled, Where strong Niagara's thunders wake The echo of the world, Rich tribute from the west, Ye say their conelike cabins, But their memory liveth on your hills, Old Massachusetts wears it And broad Ohio bears it Amid his young renown. Where her quiet foliage waves, Wachusett hides its lingering voice And Alleghany graves its tone Your mountains build their monument, Though ye destroy their dust. L. H. SIGOURNEY. XII. CASABIANCA. IN the battle of the Nile, the admiral of the L'Orient ordered his son Casabianca (a lad about 13 years of age) not to quit his post, until he told him. In the course of the action, the admiral was killed, the ship caught fire, and was blown up. The boy, unconscious that his father was dead, remained at his post, and permitted himself to be launched into eternity, rather than disobey his father's orders. See Alison's History of Europe. Distinguish between the following words, and put them into sentences: THE boy stood on the burning deck, A creature of heroic blood, A proud though childlike form! The flames roll'd on-he would not go That father, faint in death below, He knew not that the chieftain lay HELLVELLYN. "Speak, father!" once again he cried, And"-but the booming shots replied, And look'd from that lone post of death And shouted but once more aloud, My father, must I stay?" While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud, They wrapt the ship in splendour wild," They caught the flag on high And streamed above the gallant child, There came a burst of thunder sound- 1. Why battle's wreck? ⚫. Meaning of faint here? 3. What task? 4. Whose breath? 5. Why brave? HEMANS. 6. Meaning of splendour wild? 19 XIII. HELLVELLYN. In the spring of 1805, a young gentleman of talents, and of a most amiable disposition, perished by losing his way on the mountain Hellvellyn. His remains were not discovered till three months afterwards. when they were found guarded by a faithful terrier, his constant attendant, during frequent solitary rambles through the wilds of Cumberland and Westmoreland. |