PART VIII. EMPHATIC APPEALS TO DUTY. 1. THE NATIONAL ENSIGN. BEHOLD it! Listen to it! Every star has a tongue; every stripe is articulate. "There is no language or speech where their voices are not heard." There is magic in the web of it. It has an answer for every question of duty. It has a solution for every doubt and perplexity. It has a word of good cheer for every hour of gloom or of despondency. Behold it! Listen to it! It speaks of earlier and of later struggles. It speaks of victories, and sometimes of reverses, on the sea and on the land. It speaks of patriots and heroes among the living and the dead. But before all and above all other associations and memories, whether of glorious men, or glorious deeds, or glorious places, its voice is ever of Union and Liberty, of the Constitution and the Laws. Behold it! Listen to it! Let it tell the story of its birth to these gallant volunteers, as they march beneath its folds by day, or repose beneath its sentinel stars by night! Let it recall to them the strange, eventful history of its rise and progress; let it rehearse to them the wonderful tale of its trials and its triumphs, in peace as well as in war; and never let it be prostituted to any unworthy or unchristian purpose of revenge, depredation, or rapine! And may a merciful God cover the head of each one of its brave defenders in the hour of battle! ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. 2. THE BENDED BOW. In early British times, emblems were used as messengers to the people when sudden danger demanded their aid in national defence, as the mountain fires of Switzerland were signals for rallying in behalf of liberty, and as the watchmen of the ancient Hebrews communicated similar alarms, from mountain peak to mountain peak, as invaders threatened the passes and valleys. The inspiring words of Mrs. Hemans illustrate the enthusiasm with which the ancient Briton rallied to the call of the "bended bow," the call "To Arms." THERE was heard the sound of a coming foe, Heard ye not the battle-horn? Swords must flash, and spears be riven: Arm! ere Britain's turf grows red! And the reaper armed, like a freeman's son; Arm thee! Britain's foes are nigh! And the hunter armed, ere the chase was done; Chieftain, quit the joyous feast! Stay not until the song hath ceased: Leave the hearth and leave the hall, Arm thee! Britain's foes must fall! And the chieftain armed, and the horn was blown; Give our bards a tale of thee! And the prince came armed, like a leader's son; Mother, stay not thou thy boy! Britain calls the strong in heart! And the bended bow and the voice passed on; FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS. 3. THE BOSTON MASSACRE. (March 5th, 1770.) BRITISH taxation of the American Colonists, without representation on their part in the British Parliament, resulted in a collision between the soldiers and citizens, ever memorable as one of the exciting causes of the Revolutionary War. John Hancock, one of the most vigorous denunciators of the tragedy, afterwards presided over the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of American Independence. — ED. TELL me, ye bloody butchers! ye villains, high and low! ye wretches who contrived, as well as you who executed, the inhuman deed! do you not feel the goads and stings of conscious guilt pierce through your savage bosoms? Though some of you may think yourselves exalted to a height that bids defiance to the arms of human justice, and others shroud yourselves beneath the mask of hypocrisy, and build your hopes of safety on the low arts of cunning, chicanery and falsehood; yet do you not sometimes feel the gnawings of that worm which never dies? Do not the injured shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks, and Carr, attend you in your solitary walks, arrest you even in the midst of your debaucheries, and fill even your dreams with terror? Ye dark, designing knaves, ye murderers, parricides ! how dare you tread upon the earth which has drunk in the blood of slaughtered innocents, shed by your wicked hands? How dare you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of Heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition? But, if the laboring earth does not extend her jaws; if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of Death, yet, hear it and tremble! The eye of Heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul, traces the leading clew through all the labyrinths which your industrious folly has devised; and you, however you may have screened yourselves from mortal eyes, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of God. JOHN HANCOCK. NOTE. At the trial of ten British soldiers, at the November term of the Suffolk County Court of Assizes, Boston, Mass., 1770, for the murder, by shooting, of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks, and Cary, Robert Treat Paine, Esq., and Samuel Quincy, Esq., appeared as counsel for the Crown. John Adams, Esq., Mr. Josiah Quincy, and Mr. Sampson Salter Blowers appeared as counsel for the prisoners. A verdict of "not guilty" was rendered against eight, but the remaining two were found guilty of "manslaughter." 4. SCORN TO BE SLAVES. GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN, physician, soldier, statesman, and patriot, fell in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. His appeal to the people after the " Boston Massacre" deserves perpetual remembrance. After the excitement of the tragedy abated, resentment against the soldiers gave place to a more decided arraignment of the British government for that arbitrary policy which precipitated the collision. THE voice of your father's blood calls from the ground: My sons, cease to be slaves! In vain we met the frowns of tyrants; in vain we crossed the boisterous ocean, found a new world, and prepared it for the happy residence of Liberty; in vain we fought; in vain we toiled; we bled in vain, if you, our offspring, want valor to repel the assaults of her invaders." Stain not the glory of your worthy ancestors; but, like them, resolve never to part with your birthright! Be wise in your deliberations, and determined in your exertions for the preservation of your liberty! Follow not the dictates of passion, but enlist yourselves under the sacred banner of reason. Use every method in your power to secure your rights! At least, prevent the curses of posterity from being heaped upon your memories. If you, with united fortitude and zeal, oppose the torrent of oppression; if you feel the true fire of patriotism burning in your breasts; if you, from your souls, despise the most gaudy dress that slavery can wear; if you really prefer the lonely cottage, while blessed with liberty, to gilded palaces surrounded with the ensigns of slavery, you may have the full assurance that tyranny, with her accursed train, will hide her accursed head in confusion, shame, and despair! JOSEPH WARREN. |