IV. "Tis no time for pleasure, Up, my men, and follow Strike with him for freedom, On, where MORGAN's war-horse V. Hath the wily swamp fox Come again to earth? Hath the soul of SUMTER Owned a second birth? From the Western hill-slopes Starts a hero-form, Stalwart, like the oak-tree, Flashing deadly vengeance, Thrilled with fiery zeal! Hound him down, ye robbers! Slay him-if ye can! But woe worth the hireling knave Who meets him, man to man! BUTLER'S PROCLAMATION. BY PAUL H. HAYNE. "It is ordered that, hereafter, when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation."-Butler's Order at New Orleans. I. Ay! drop the treacherous mask; throw by At last we view thee as thou art, A trickster with a demon's heart. II. Off with disguise! no quarter now And murder Fame and Strength alike: Will burn with hate thou canst not tame! III. We know thee now! we know thy race! Comrades! let mercy's fount be sealed, IV. Oh! soldiers, husbands, brethren, sires! V. Oh! soldiers, lovers, Christians, men! And each false soul that turns to flee VI. Think! and strike home!-the fabled might Of Titans were a feeble power To that with which YOUR arms should smite In the next awful battle-hour! And deadlier than the bolts of Heaven Should flash your fury's fatal levin! VII. No pity! let your thirsty brands • VIII. Yea! but there's One who shall not die In battle harness! One for whom Another, and a sterner doom: A warrior's end should crown the brave- IX. As loathsome charnel vapours melt, Die like a nightmare's hideous thought! Colonel Hayne boasts of the friendship of a British poet, who gave him locks of the hair of Byron, Leigh Hunt, Keats, and Shelley, which he had most carefully cherished. I was taking a farewell evening pipe in the piazza of Mrs. McMahon's house, listening to tales of war, to accounts of Yankee violence and cruelty, to Mr. Simmons, of his two sons who fought in the desperate fight at Secessionville, and to his explanation of Mr. Russell's report that South Carolina was ready to have a monarchy. It was in a boating party, where Mr. Simmons was in company with Mr. Russell, when the former observed, that, rather than again submit to the tyranny of the North, they would have a Prince of England to be their king. He spoke of such a measure as only a "dernier ressort," or rather an impossible alternative. Among the passengers by train this evening was Colonel Chesnut, who had been acting as aidede-camp to General Lee, but was now obliged to attend his duties here as member of the Executive Council. When those five days' battle began, President Davis was with the General, to whom he had given command of the Confederate forces: they were advancing over the Chickahominy, the shells and balls falling thick among them, when General Lee, addressing the President, said, "Sir, it is getting too warm for you; you must not go forward, your presence will be needed elsewhere-I must command you to retire;" on which the President said, it was his duty to obey. On the 9th of July I met an officer fresh from Richmond, who stated that the Yankees had lost 30,000 men, fifty pieces of cannon, and 12,000 rifles in the fight near Richmond; the Confederate loss being 8,000 men. He heard a prisoner taken from the Yankees, an Irishman, say, it was not a fair fight, as the Confederates did not stop to fire, but came on to them with bayonets. |