صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[graphic][merged small][subsumed]
[blocks in formation]

WORDS BY DR. AZPELL, MUSIC BY STANLEY.

WRITTEN AND COMPOSED FOR GODEY'S LADYS' BOOK.

Andante con Tenerezza.

[graphic][graphic][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]
[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Our piper is a blind old man,

And a blind old man is he;

But there's none walks safer in our clan,

Though a blind old man he be: For he feareth not the dizzy chasm When his Helen leads him o'er, Though rocks the bridge with an awful spasm, As the downward waters roar.

He cannot see the highland glade,

Where the deer drinks from the burn; His eyes rest not in the green-wood shade, But yet he does not mourn;

For the lakes are smooth in Helen's words,
And the hills are white with sheep,
And the valleys swarm with lowing herds,
And the mountain cascades leap.

Our piper is a blind old man

No bookish lore has he;
Yet, of the learned ones in our clan,
None wiser can there be:

For his pipe it has a wondrous tongue,
That speaks to a Scotsman's heart;
The guilty breast with its voice is wrung,
And sorrow robbed of its smart.

Its counsels shall live when he is dust
Who now awakens its strain,

And speak to man of the true and just-
Of freedom's holy reign.

The high, the noble, and the good—

All things that lift the soul

Are taught in our piper's earnest mood, And we yield to its control.

Our piper is both blind and old

No fighting man is he;

But there's none in our clan that is so bold Though weak and blind he be:

For foremost he stands on some lofty hill, And he calls us to the fight;

We grasp the spear at his summons shrill, And throng with a keen delight.

And his pipe is heard when battle shakes
The mountain-bedded rock-

And its voice each warrior's soul awakes,
To dare the coming shock.

And when the sword and the claymore ring,
Where our chieftain's plume we see,
Fired by its sound, with a shout we spring
To death or victory.

[blocks in formation]

ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTERS.

BY THOMAS WYATT, A. M.

(See Plate in August Number.)

MRS. ELIZABETH HAMILTON.

THIS venerable lady, now in the ninety-fifth year of her age, is the widow of General Alexander Hamilton, and the second daughter of General Schuyler of Albany, in the State of New York. Descended from one of the early Dutch settlers of this province, the influence and respectability of whose family had been transmitted through successive generations, her father exercised an almost unrivalled sway over the minds of the descendants of a people whose first mention in history, as a distinct political community, is associated with the assertion of their liberties.

General Schuyler married a Miss Van Rensselaer, by whom he acquired a large fortune, which, together with his own, made him one of the wealthiest men of that period.

Elizabeth Schuyler, the subject of this memoir, was born in Albany, in August, 1757. Her mother, who was an accomplished woman, superintended the education of her daughters till they required the assistance of masters. As Elizabeth approached womanhood, she bid fair to be very beautiful. Born and educated amid affluence and refinement, no pains or expense had been spared to embellish a mind susceptible of receiving every amiable and fascinating quality of character.

At the age of seventeen, Miss Schuyler was present at an entertainment given by the Colonial Governor at New York, where she was much admired. Here she first saw young Hamilton, who was then at college; he was nearly her own age, of elegant manners and superior education, which gave him an entrée into the best society of those days. At this time the colonies were beginning to show signs of discontent, and many severe remarks had appeared in the public press expressive of their grievances and oppression; these were believed to have emanated from the pen of young Hamilton, then a student at college, which caused him to be viewed with no small degree of interest. Colonel Troup says, "his talent for satire was frequently exercised; and the editor of a Whig paper, published in New York, had, by his zeal in the American cause, drawn upon himself the invectives of all the ministerial writers; these invectives, Hamilton burlesqued in doggrel rhyme with great wit and humor." As the term of his studies was drawing to a close, the repeated invasions of the rights of the colonies

were increasing, giving an impulse to the public mind which could not be restrained. Consequently meetings were held, and resolutions framed, inveighing against the act of the government, exhorting the contemplated Congress to prohibit all commercial intercourse with Great Britain. It was at these meetings that Hamilton, only in his eighteenth year, took such a conspicuous part; he listened attentively to the successive speakers, and, finding several points untouched, presented himself to the assembled multitude. His biographer observes, "The novelty of the attempt, his youthful countenance, and his slender form, awakened curiosity and arrested attention. He proceeded almost unconsciously to utter his accustomed reflections; his mind warmed with the theme; his energies were recovered; and, after a discussion, clear, cogent, and novel, of the great principles involved in the controversy, he depicted in glowing colors the long-continued and long-endured oppressions of the mother country; he insisted on the duty of resistance, pointed to the means and certainty of success, and described the waves of rebellion sparkling with fire, and washing back on the shores of England the wrecks of her power, her wealth, and her glory. The breathless silence ceased as he closed; and the whispered murmur, 'It is a collegian! It is a collegian!' was lost in loud expressions of wonder and applause at the extraordinary eloquence of the young stranger."

Things were now growing worse, and Congress published a declaration to organize companies of militia Hamilton joined a volunteer corps commanded by Major Fleming; this company was composed of young gentlemen of the city.

They assumed the name of "Hearts of Oak," and in their green uniforms and leather caps attracted the attention of the inhabitants.

Congress being still further determined to augment its military establishment, other companies were raised, when Hamilton was made "Captain of the Provincial Company of Artillery." This brought him into contact with the generals of the army, among whom was General Schuyler; who, witnessing the brilliant qualities of the young officer, made him more ready to grant the favor which was soon to be asked of him, the hand of his daughter. It was customary with the officers of the Revolution, when they entered their quarters either for the winter or for any length of time, to be joined by their wives. It was on this occasion that Mrs.

« السابقةمتابعة »