Full text of "The Columbiad a poem"

iltdlfT 

LIBRARY, 1 .' 

UNIVERSITY OF 
CALIFORNIA 



/<><* 



THE 



COLTJMBIAD, 



A POEM. 



BY JOEL BARLOW. 



Tu spiegherai, Colombo, a un novo polo 
Lontane si le fortunate antenne, 
Cb'a pena sea;utra con gli ocohi il volo 
La Fama, ch' ha mille occhi e mille penne. 
Canti Hla Alcide, e Bacco; e di te solo 
Basti a i posteri tuoi, ch' alquanto accenne: 
Che quel poco dara lunga memoria 
Di poema degnissima, e d'istoria. 

GJERUS. LIB. Can. xv. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED TOK RICHARD PHILLIPS, BRIDGE STREET, 

BLACKFRIARS. 

1809. 



LOAN STACK 






Richard Taylor and Co., Printers, Shoe Lane. 






PREFACE. 



IN preparing this work for publication it seems pro 
per to offer some observations explanatory of its 
design. The classical reader will perceive the ob 
stacles which necessarily presented themselves in 
reconciling the nature of the subject with such a 
manner of treating it as should appear the most 
poetical, and at the same time the most likely to 
arrive at that degree of dignity and usefulness to 
which it ought to aspire. 

The Columbiad is a patriotic poem ; the subject 
is national and historical. Thus far it must be in 
teresting to my countrymen. But most of the events 
were so recent, so important and so well known, as 
to render them inflexible to the hand of fiction. 
The poem therefore could not with propriety be 
modelled after that regular epic form which the more 
splendid works of this kind have taken, and on 
which their success is supposed in a great measure 
to depend. The attempt would have been highly 
injudicious ; it must have diminished and debased 



iv PREFACE. 

a series of actions which were really great in them 
selves, and could not be disfigured without losing 
their interest. 

I shall enter into no discussion on the nature of 
the epopea, nor attempt to prove by any latitude 
of reasoning that I have written an Epic Poem. 
The subject indeed is vast ; far superior to any one 
of those on which the celebrated poems of this 
description have been constructed ; and I have no 
doubt but the form I have given to the work is the 
best that the subject would admit. It may be added 
that in no poem are the unities of time, place and 
action more rigidly observed : the action, in the 
technical sense of the word, consisting only of what 
takes place between Columbus and Hesper; which 
must be supposed to occupy but few hours, and 
is confined to the prison and the mount of vision. 

But these circumstances of classical regularity are 
of little consideration in estimating the real merit 
of any work of this nature. Its merit must depend 
on the importance of the action, the disposition of 
the parts, the invention and application of incidents, 
the propriety of the illustrations, the liveliness and 
chastity of the images, the suitable intervention of 
machinery, the moral tendency of the manners, the 
strength and sublimity of the sentiments ; the whole 
being clothed in language whose energy, harmony 
and elegance shall constitute a style every where 
suited to the matter they have to treat. 



PREFACE. v 

It is impossible for me to determine how far I 
may have succeeded in any of these particulars. 
This must be decided by others, the result of whose 
decision I shall never know. But there is one point 
of view in which I wish the reader to place the 
character of my work, before he pronounces on its 
merit: I mean its political tendency. There are 
two distinct objects to be kept in view in the 
conduct of a narrative poem ; the poetical object and 
the moral object. The poetical is the fictitious de 
sign of the action ; the moral is the real design of 
the poem. 

In the Iliad of Homer the poetical object is to 
kindle, nourish, sustain and allay the anger of Achil 
les. This end is constantly kept in view ; and the 
action proper to attain it is conducted with wonder 
ful judgment thro a long series of incidents, which 
elevate the mind of the reader, and excite not only 
a veneration for the creative powers of the poet, 
but an ardent emulation of his heroes, a desire to 
imitate and rival some of the great actors in the 
splendid scene ; perhaps to endeavor to carry into 
real life the fictions with which we are so much 
enchanted. 

Such a high degree of interest excited by the first 
object above mentioned, the fictitious design of the 
action, would make it extremely important that the 
second object, the real design of the poem, should 
be beneficial to society. But the real design in the 

b 



vi PREFACE. 

Iliad was directly the reverse. Its obvious tendency 
was to inflame the minds of young readers with an 
enthusiastic ardor for military fame ; to inculcate 
the pernicious doctrine of the divine right of kings; 
to teach both prince and people that military plun 
der was the most honorable mode of acquiring pro 
perty ; and that conquest, violence and war were the 
best employment of nations, the most glorious prero 
gative of bodily strength and of cultivated mind. 

How much of the fatal policy of states, and of 
the miseries and degradations of social man, have 
been occasioned by the false notions of honor in 
spired by the works of Homer, it is not easy to 
ascertain. The probability is, that however asto 
nishing they are as monuments of human intellect, 
and how long soever they have been the subject 
of universal praise, they have unhappily done more 
harm than good. My veneration for his genius is 
equal to that of his most idolatrous readers ; but my 
reflections on the history of human errors have 
forced upon me the opinion that his existence 
has really proved one of the signal misfortunes of 
mankind. 

The moral tendency of the Eneid of Virgil is 
nearly as pernicious as that of the works of Homer. 
Its poetical or fictitious design, the settlement of his 
hero in Italy, is well delineated and steadily pur 
sued. This object must have been far more in 
teresting to the Romans than the anger of Achilles 



PREFACE. vii 

could have been to the Greeks. Had Virgil written 
his poem one or two centuries earlier than he did, 
while his countrymen felt that they had a country 
and were not themselves the property of a master, 
they must have glowed with enthusiasm in reciting 
the fabulous labors of their ancestors, and adored 
the songster who could have thus elevated so en 
dearing a subject ; who could have adorned it with 
such an interesting variety of incidents, such weight 
of pathos, such majesty of sentiment and harmony 
of verse. But Virgil wrote and felt like a subject, 
not like a citizen. The real design of his poem 
was to increase the veneration of the people for a 
master, whoever he might be, and to encourage 
like Homer the great system of military depre 
dation. 

Lucan is the only republican among the ancient 
epic poets. But the action of his rambling tho 
majestic poem is so badly arranged as to destroy, 
in a poetical sense, the life and interest of the great 
national subject on which it is founded ; at the 
same time that it abounds in the most exalted sen 
timents and original views of manners, highly fa 
vorable to the love of justice and the detestation of 
war. If a mind, formed like that of Lucan, as to 
its moral and political cast, and endowed with the 
creative energy of Homer, had sung to the early 
Greeks the fall of Troy or the labors of Hercules, 
his work (taking the place which those of Homer 

b2 



viii PREFACE. 

have unfortunately occupied) as a splendid model 
for all succeeding ages, would have given a very dif 
ferent turn to the pursuits of heroes and the policy 
of nations. Ambition might then have become a 
useful passion, instead of a destructive disease. 

In the poem here presented to the public the 
objects, as in other works of the kind, are two, 
the fictitious object of the action and the real 
object of the poem. The first of these is to 
sooth and satisfy the desponding mind of Co 
lumbus ; to show him that his labors, tho ill re 
warded by his cotemporaries, had not been per 
formed in vain ; that he had opened the way to the 
most extensive career of civilization and public 
happiness ; and that he would one day be recognised 
as the author of the greatest benefits to the human 
race. This object is steadily kept in view ; and the 
actions, images and sentiments are so disposed as 
probably to attain the end. But the real object of 
the poem embraces a larger scope ; it is to inculcate 
the love of rational liberty, and to discountenance 
the deleterious passion for violence and war; to 
show that on the basis of the republican principle 
all good morals, as well as good government and 
hopes of permanent peace, must be founded ; and 
to convince the student in political science, that the 
theoretical question of the future advancement of 
human society, till states as well as individuals 
arrive at universal civilization, is held in dispute 



PREFACE. ix 

and still unsettled only because we have had too 
little experience of organized liberty in the govern 
ment of nations to have well considered its effects. 

I cannot expect that every reader, nor even every 
republican reader, will join me in opinion with re 
spect to the future progress of society and the ci 
vilization of states ; but there are two sentiments 
in which 1 think all men will agree : that the event 
is desirable, and that to believe it practicable is one 
step towards rendering it so. This being the case, 
they ought to pardon a writer, if not applaud him, 
for endeavoring to inculcate this belief. 

I have taken the liberty, notwithstanding the 
recency of the events, to make some changes in the 
order of several of the principal battles described in 
this poem. I have associated the actions of Starke, 
Herkimer, Brown and Francis in the battle of Sara 
toga, tho they happened at some distance from that 
battle, both as to time and place. A like circum 
stance will be noticed with respect to Sumter, Jack 
son of Georgia and some others in the battle of 
Eutaw. I have supposed a citadel mined and 
blown up in the siege of York, and two ships of 
war grappled and blown up in the naval battle of 
Degrasse and Graves. It is presumed that these 
circumstances require no apology ; as in the two 
latter cases the events are incidental to such situa 
tions, and they here serve the principal purpose, 
being meant to increase our natural horror for the 



x PREFACE. 

havoc and miseries of war in general. And with 
regard to the two former cases we ought to consider 
that, in the epic field, the interest to be excited by 
the action cannot be sustained by following the 
gazette, as Lucan has done. The desultory parts 
of the historical action must be brought together 
and be made to elevate and strengthen each other, 
so as to press upon the mind with the full force of 
their symmetry and unity. Where the events aie 
recent and the actors known, the only duty im 
posed by that circumstance on the poet is to do 
them historical justice, and not ascribe to one hero 
the actions of another. But the scales of justice in 
this case are not necessarily accompanied by the 
calendar and the map. 

It will occur to most of my readers that the mo 
dern modes of fighting, as likewise the instruments 
and terms now used in war, are not yet rendered 
familiar in poetical language. It is doubtless from 
an unwarrantable timidity, or want of confidence 
in their own powers of description, that modern 
poets have made so little use of this kind of riches 
that lay before them. I confess that I imbibed 
the common prejudice, and remained a long time 
in the error of supposing that the ancients had a 
poetical advantage over us in respect to the dignity 
of the names of the weapons used in war, if not in 
their number and variety. And when I published a 
sketch of the present poem, under the title of The 



PREFACE. xi 

Vision of Columbus, I labored under the embarrass 
ment of that idea. I am now convinced that the ad 
vantage, at least as to the weapons, is on the side of 
the moderns. There are better sounding names and 
more variety in the instruments, works, stratagems 
and other artifices employed in our war system than 
in theirs. In short, the modern military dictionary 
is more copious than the ancient, and the words at 
least as poetical. 

As to the mode of fighting, we have, poetically 
speaking, lost something in one respect, but we 
have gained much in another. Our battles indeed 
admit but few single combats, or trials of individual 
prowess. They do admit them however; and it is 
not impossible to describe them with as much detail 
and interest as the nature of the action requires; 
as Voltaire has proved in the single combat of Au- 
male and Turenne in the Henriad. Had he ma 
naged his general descriptions and the other parts 
of the conduct of his poem as well, he would have 
made it a far more interesting work than he has. 
However, since our single combats must be insigni 
ficant in their consequences, not deciding any thing 
as to the result of the battle, it would be inconve 
nient and misplaced to make much use of them in 
our descriptions. And here lies our disadvantage, 
compared with the ancients. 

But in a general engagement, the shock of mo 
dern armies is, beyond comparison^ more magni- 



xii PREFACE. 

ficent, more sonorous and more discoloring to the 
face of nature, than the ancient could have been ; 
and is consequently susceptible of more pomp and 
variety of description. Our heaven and earth are 
not only shaken and tormented with greater noise, 
but filled and suffocated with fire and smoke. If 
Homer, with his Grecian tongue and all its dialects, 
had had the battle of Blenheim to describe, the 
world would have possessed a picture and a piece 
of music which now it will never possess. The 
description would have astonished all ages, and en 
riched every language into which it might have 
been translated. 

With regard to naval battles the moderns have 
altogether the advantage. But there has been no 
naval battle described in modern poetry ; neither is 
there any remaining to us from the ancients, except 
that in the bay of Marseilles by Lucan, and that 
near Syracuse by Silius. It would seem strange 
indeed that Homer, whose wonderful powers of fic 
tion were not embarrassed by historical realities, 
and who in other respects is so insatiable of variety, 
did not introduce a sea fight either in the defence 
of Troy, or in the disastrous voyages of Ulysses. 
But the want of this in Homer's two poems amounts 
almost to a proof that in his time the nations had 
not yet adopted any method of fighting at sea ; so 
that the poet could have no such image in his 
mind. 



PREFACE. xiii 

The business of war, with all its varieties, makes 
but a small part of the subject of my poem ; it 
ought therefore to occupy but a small portion of its 
scenery. This is the reason why I have not been 
more solicitous to vary and heighten the descrip 
tions of battles and other military operations. I 
make this observation to satisfy those readers who 
being accustomed to see a long poem chiefly oc 
cupied with this sort of bustle conceive that the 
life and interest of such compositions depend upon 
it. How far the majesty or interest of epic song 
really depends upon the tumultuous conflicts of war 
I will not decide ; but I can assure the reader, so 
far as my experience goes, that these parts of the 
work are not the most difficult to write. They are 
scenes that exhibit those vigorous traits of human 

o 

character which strike the beholder most forcibly 
and leave the deepest impression. They delight 
in violent attitudes; and, painting themselves in 
the strongest colors 'on the poet's fancy, they are 
easy at any time to recal. He varies them at plea 
sure, he adorns them readily with incidents, and 
imparts them with spirit to the reader. 

My object is altogether of a moral and political 
nature. I wish to encourage and strengthen in the 
rising generation, a sense of the importance of 
republican institutions; as being the great founda 
tion of public and private happiness, the necessary 



xiv PREFACE. 

aliment of future and permanent ameliorations in 
the condition of human nature. 

This is the moment in America to give such a 
direction to poetry, painting and the other fine arts, 
that true and useful ideas of glory may be implanted 
in the minds of men here, to take place of the false 
and destructive ones that have degraded the species 
in other countries ; impressions which have become 
so wrought into their most sacred institutions, that 
it is there thought impious to detect them and 
dangerous to root them out, tho acknowledged to 
be false. Wo be to the republican principle and to 
all the institutions it supports, when once the per 
nicious doctrine of the holiness of error shall creep 
into the creed of our schools and distort the in 
tellect of our citizens! 

The Columbiad, in its present form, is such as I 
shall probably leave it to its fate. Whether it be 
destined to survive its author, is a question that gives 
me no other concern than what arises from the 
most pure and ardent desire of doing good to my 
country. To my country therefore, with every 
sentiment of veneration and affection I dedicate my 
labors. 



INTRODUCTION. 

JivERY circumstance relating to the discovery 
and settlement of America is an interesting object 
of inquiry, especially to the great and growing na 
tions of this hemisphere, who owe their existence 
to those arduous labors. Yet it is presumed that 
many persons, who might be entertained with a 
poem on this subject, are but slightly acquainted 
with the life and character of the hero whose ex 
traordinary genius led him to discover the continent, 
and whose singular sufferings, arising from that ser-? 
vice, ought to excite the indignation of the world. 

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa about 
the year 144J, when the navigation of Europe was 
scarcely extended beyond the limits of the Mediter 
ranean and the other narrow seas that border the 
great ocean. The mariner's compass had been in 
vented and in common use for more than a century ; 
yet with the help of this sure guide, and prompted 
by a laudable spirit of discovery, the mariners of 
those days rarely ventured from the sight of land. 

They acquired wonderful applause by sailing along 
the coast of Africa, and discovering some of the 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

neighboring islands ; and after pushing their re 
searches with great industry for half a century, the 
Portuguese, who were the most fortunate and enter 
prising, extended their voyages southward no farther 
than the equator. 

The rich commodities of the East had, for several 
ages, been brought into Europe by the Red Sea and 
the Mediterranean; and it had now become the ob 
ject of the Portuguese to find a passage to India by 
sailing round the southern extremity of Africa, and 
then taking an eastern course. This great object 
engaged the general attention, and drew into the 
Portuguese service adventurers from the other mari 
time nations of Europe. Every year added to their 
experience in navigation., and seemed to promise 
some distant reward to their industry. The pro 
spect however of arriving at India by that route was 
still by no means encouraging. Fifty years per 
severance in the same track having brought them 
only to the equator, it was probable that as many 
more would elapse before they could accomplish 
their purpose. 

But Columbus, by an uncommon exertion of ge 
nius, formed a design no less astonishing to the 
age in which he lived than beneficial to posterity. 
This design was to sail to India by taking a western 
direction. By the accounts of travellers who had 
visited that part of Asia, it seemed almost without 
limits on the east ; and by attending to the spheri- 



INTRODUCTION. xvii 

cal figure of th'e earth Columbus drew the natural 
conclusion, that the Atlantic ocean must be bounded 
on the west either by India itself, or by some con 
tinent not far distant from it. 

This illustrious navigator, who was then about 
twenty-seven years of age, appears to have pos 
sessed every talent requisite to form and execute 
the greatest enterprises. He was early educated in 
such of the useful sciences as were taught in that 
day. He had made great proficiency in geography, 
astronomy and drawing, as they were necessary to 
his favorite pursuit of navigation. He had been a 
number of years in the service of the Portuguese, 
and had acquired all the experience that their voy 
ages and discoveries could afford. His courage had 
been put to the severest test ; and the exercise of 
every amiable as well as heroic virtue, the kindred 
qualities of a great mind, had secured him an ex 
tensive reputation. He had married a Portuguese 
lady, by whom he had two sons, Diego and Ferdi 
nand; the younger of these is the historian of his 
life. 

Such was the situation of Columbus, when he 
formed and digested a plan, which, in its operation 
and consequences, has unfolded to the view of man 
kind one half of the globe, diffused wealth and in 
dustry over the other, and is extending commerce 
and civilization thro the whole. To corroborate the 
theory he had formed of the existence of a western 



xviii INTRODUCTION. 

continent, his discerning mind, which knew the ap 
plication of every circumstance that fell in his way, 
had observed several facts which by others would 
have passed unnoticed. In his voyages to the Afri 
can islands he had found, floating ashore after a long 
western storm, pieces of wood carved in a curious 
manner, canes of a size unknown in that quarter 
of the world, and human bodies with very singular 
features. 

The opinion being well established in his mind 
that a considerable portion of the earth still re 
mained to be discovered, his temper was too vigorous 
and persevering to suffer an idea of this importance 
to rest merely in speculation, as it had done with 
Plato and Seneca, who seem to have entertained 
conjectures of a similar nature. He determined 
therefore to bring his theory to the test of experi 
ment. But an object of that magnitude required 
the patronage of a prince ; and a design so extra 
ordinary met with all the obstructions that an age 
of superstition could invent, and personal jealousy 
enhance. 

It is happy for mankind that, in this instance, a 
genius capable of devising the greatest undertakings 
associated in itself a degree of patience and enter 
prise, modesty and confidence, which rendered him 
superior to these misfortunes, and enabled him to 
meet with fortitude all the future calamities of his 
life. Excited by an ardent enthusiasm to become a 



INTRODUCTION. 

discoverer of new countries, and fully sensible of the 
advantages that would result to mankind from such 
discoveries, he had the cruel mortification to wear 
away eighteen years of his life, after his system was 
well established in his own mind, before he could 
obtain the means of executing his projected voyage. 
The greatest part of this period was spent in succes 
sive solicitations in Genoa, Portugal and Spain. 

As a duty to his native country he made his first 
proposal to the senate of Genoa, where it was soon 
rejected. Conscious of the truth of his theory, and 
of his own abilities to execute his plan, he retired 
without dejection from a body of men who were in 
capable of forming any just ideas upon the subject, 
and applied with fresh confidence to John Second, 
king of Portugal ; who had distinguished himself as 
the great patron of navigation, and in whose service 
Columbus had acquired a reputation which entitled 
him and his project to general confidence. But here 
he experienced a treatment much more insulting 
than a direct refusal. After referring the examina 
tion of his scheme to the council who had the di 
rection of naval affairs, and drawing from him his 
general ideas of the length of the voyage and the 
course he meant to take, that splendid monarch 
had the meanness to conspire with this council to 
rob Columbus of the glory and advantage he expected 
to derive from his undertaking. While Columbus 



xx INTRODUCTION. 

was amused with the negotiation, in hopes of having 
his scheme adopted, a vessel was secretly dispatched 
by order of the king to make the intended dis 
covery. Want of skill or courage in the pilot ren 
dered the plot unsuccessful ; and Columbus, on 
discovering the treachery, retired with an ingenuous 
indignation from a court which could be capable 
of such duplicity. 

Having now performed what was due to the coun 
try that gave him birth, and to the one that had 
adopted him as a subject, he was at liberty to court 
the patronage of any other which should have the 
wisdom to accept his proposals. He had communi 
cated his ideas to his brother Bartholomew, whom 
he sent to England to negotiate with Henry Seventh ; 
at the same time he went himself into Spain to 
apply in person to Ferdinand and Isabella, who go 
verned the united kingdoms of Arragon and Castile. 

The circumstances of his brother's application in 
England, which appears to have been unsuccessful, 
are not to my purpose to relate ; and the limits 
prescribed to this biographical sketch will prevent 
the detail of particulars respecting his own nego 
tiation in Spain. This occupied him eight years ; 
in which the various agitations of suspense, ex 
pectation and disappointment must have borne hard 
upon his patience. At length his scheme was adopted 
by Isabella ; who undertook, as queen of Castile, 



INTRODUCTION. ,y xxi 

to defray the expenses of the expedition, and de 
clared herself ever after the friend and patron of 
the hero who projected it. 

Columbus, who during his ill success in the ne 
gotiation never abated any thing of the honors and 
emoluments which he expected to acquire in the 
expedition, obtained from Ferdinand and Isabella a 
stipulation of every article contained in his first pro 
posals. He was constituted high admiral and vice 
roy of all the seas, islands and continents which he 
should discover ; with power to receive one tenth 
of the profits arising from their productions and 
commerce. Which offices and emoluments were 
to be made hereditary in his family. 

These articles being adjusted, the preparations 
for the voyage were brought forward with rapidity ; 
but they were by no means adequate to the im 
portance of the expedition. Three small vessels, 
scarcely sufficient in size to be employed in the 
coasting business, were appointed to traverse the 
vast Atlantic, and to encounter the storms and 
currents always to be expected in tropical climates, 
uncertain seasons and unknown seas. These vessels, 
as we must suppose them in the infancy of naviga 
tion, were ill constructed, in a poor condition, and 
manned by seamen unaccustomed to distant voy 
ages. But the tedious length of time which Co 
lumbus had passed in solicitation and suspense, and 
the prospect of being able soon to obtain the object 



xxii INTRODUCTION. 

of his wishes, induced him to overlook what he 
could not easily remedy ; and led him to disregard 
those circumstances which would have intimidated 
any other mind. He accordingly equipped his 
small squadron with as much expedition as possible, 
manned with ninety men and victualled for one 
year. With these, on the third of August 1492, 
amidst a vast crowd of spectators, he set sail on an 
enterprise which, if we consider the ill condition of 
his ships, the inexperience of his sailors, the length 
and precarious nature of his voyage, and the conse 
quences that flowed from it, was the most daring 
and important that ever was undertaken. He touch 
ed at some of the Portuguese settlements in the 

o 

Canary Isles ; where, altho he had been but a few 
days at sea, he found his vessels needed refitting. 
He soon made the necessary repairs, and took his 
departure from the westermost islands that had hi 
therto been discovered. Here he left the former 
track of navigation, and steered his course due west. 

Not many days after he laid this course he per 
ceived the symptoms of a new scene of difficulty. 
The sailors now began to contemplate the dangers 
and uncertain issue of a voyage, the nature and 
length of which were left entirely open to con 
jecture. Besides the fickleness and timidity na 
tural to men unaccustomed to the discipline of a 
seafaring life, several circumstances contributed to 
inspire an obstinate and mutinous disposition ; 



INTRODUCTION. xxiii 

which required the most consummate art as well 
as fortitude in the admiral to control. Having 
been three weeks at sea, and experienced the uni 
form course of the trade winds, they contended that, 
should they continue the same course for a longer 
time, the same winds would never permit them to 
return to Spain. The magnetic needle began to 
vary its direction. This being the first time that 
this phenomenon was ever noticed, it was viewed 
by the sailors with astonishment ; they thought it 
an indication that nature itself had changed its laws, 
and that Providence was about to punish their au 
dacity in venturing so far beyond the bounds of 
man. They declared that the commands of the 
government had been fully obeyed in their pro 
ceeding so many days in the same course, and so far 
surpassing all former navigators in quest of disco 
veries. 

Every talent requisite for governing, soothing 
and tempering the passions of men is conspicuous 
in the conduct of Columbus on this occasion. The 
dignity and affability of his manners, his surprising 
knowledge and experience in naval affairs, his un 
wearied and minute attention to the duties of his 
command, gave him a great ascendency over the 
minds of his men, and inspired that degree of con 
fidence which would have maintained his authority 
in almost any circumstances. But here, from the 
nature of the undertaking, every man had leisure 

C 2 



xxiv INTRODUCTION. 

to feed his imagination with the gloominess and 
uncertainty of the prospect. They found from day 
to day the same steady gales wafting them with 
rapidity from their native country, and indeed from 
all countries of which they had any knowledge. 

He addressed himself to their passions with all 
the variety of management that the situation would 
admit, sometimes by soothing them with the pro 
gnostics of approaching land, sometimes by flattering 
their ambition and feasting their avarice with the 
glory and wealth they would acquire from discover 
ing the rich countries beyond the Atlantic, and 
sometimes by threatening them with the displeasure 
of their king, should their disobedience defeat so 
great an object. But every argument soon lost its 
effect ; and their uneasiness still increased. From 
secret whisperings it arose to open mutiny and dan 
gerous conspiracy. At length they determined to 
rid themselves of the remonstrances of Columbus 
by throwing him into the sea. The infection spread 
from ship to ship, and involved officers as well as 
sailors. They finally lost all sense of subordination 
and addressed their commander in an insolent man 
ner, demanding to be conducted immediately back 
to Spain; or, they assured him, they would seek 
their own safety by taking away his life. 
* Columbus, whose sagacity had discerned every 
symptom of the disorder, was prepared for this last 
stage of it; and was sufficiently apprized of the 



INTRODUCTION. xxv 

danger that awaited him. He found it vain to 
contend with passions he could no longer control. 
He therefore proposed that they should obey his 
orders for three days longer ; and should they not 
discover land in that time, he would then direct his 
course for Spain. They complied with his pro 
posal ; and, happily for mankind, in three days they 
discovered land. This was a small island, to which 
he gave the name of San Salvador. His first in 
terview with the natives was a scene of compassion 
on the one part and astonishment on the other, 
but highly interesting to both. The natives were 
entirely naked, simple and timorous ; and they 
viewed the Spaniards as a superior order of beings 
descended from the sun ; which, in that island 
and in most parts of America, was worshipped as 
a Deity. By this it was easy for Columbus to per 
ceive the line of conduct proper to be observed 
toward that simple and inoffensive people. Had 
his companions and successors of the Spanish na 
tion possessed the wisdom and humanity of this 
great discoverer, the benevolent mind would have 
had to experience no sensations of regret in con 
templating the extensive advantages arising to man 
kind from the discovery of America. 

In this voyage Columbus discovered the islands 
of Cuba and Hispaniola, on the latter of -which he 
erected a small fort ; and having left a garrison of 
thirty-eight men he set sail for Spain. Returning 



xxvi INTRODUCTION. 

across the Atlantic, he was overtaken by a violent 
storm, which lasted several days, and increased to 
such a degree as baffled his naval skill and threat 
ened immediate destruction. In this situation, 
when all were in a state of despair, and it was ex 
pected that every sea would swallow up the crazy 
vessel, he manifested a serenity and presence of 
mind seldom equalled in cases of like extremity. 
He wrote a short account of his voyage and of the 
discoveries he had made ; this he hastily wrapt in 
an oiled cloth, then enclosed it in a cake of wax 
and put it into an empty cask, which he threw 
overboard, in hopes that some fortunate accident 
might preserve a deposit of so much importance to 
the world. 

The storm however abated, and he at length ar 
rived in Spain, after having been driven by stress 
of weather into the port of Lisbon ; where he had 
opportunity, in an interview with the king of Por 
tugal, to prove the truth of his system by arguments 
more convincing than those he had before advanced 
in the character of a bold projector but humble 
suitor. He was received every where in Spain with 
royal honors; his family was ennobled, and his 
former stipulation respecting his offices and emolu 
ments was ratified in the most solemn manner by Fer 
dinand and Isabella; while all Europe resounded his 
praises, and reciprocated their joy and congratulations 
pn the discovery of what they called a new world, 



INTRODUCTION. xxvii 

The immediate consequence was a second voyage, 
in which Columbus took charge of a squadron of 
seventeen ships of considerable burden. Volun 
teers of all ranks solicited to be employed in this 
expedition. He carried over fifteen hundred per 
sons, with the necessaries for establishing a colony 
and extending his discoveries. In this voyage he 
explored most of the West India islands ; but on 
his arrival at Hispaniola he found that the garrison 
he had left there had been all destroyed by the 
natives, and the fort demolished. He proceeded 
however in the planting of his colony ; and by his 
prudent and humane conduct towards the natives 
he effectually established the Spanish authority in 
that island. But while he was thus laying the 
foundation of European dominion in America, some 
discontented persons, who had returned to Spain, 
uniting with his former opponents and powerful 
enemies at court, conspired to accomplish his ruin. 

They represented his conduct in such a light as 
to create uneasiness in the jealous mind of Ferdi 
nand, and make it necessary for Columbus again 
to return to Spain, to counteract their machinations 
aud obtain such farther supplies as were necessary 
to his great political and beneficent purposes. On 
his arriving at court, and stating with his usual 
dignity and confidence the whole history of his 
transactions abroad, every thing wore a favorable 
appearance. He was received with the same honors 



xxviii INTRODUCTION. 

as before, and solicited to take charge of another 
squadron, to carry out farther supplies, to pursue 
his discoveries, and in every respect to use his dis 
cretion in extending the Spanish empire in the 
new world. 

In this third voyage he discovered the continent 
of America at the mouth of the river Orinoco. He 
rectified many disorders in his government of His- 
paniola, which had happened in his absence ; and 
every thing was going on in a prosperous train, when 
an event was announced to him, which completed 
his own ruin and gave a fatal turn to the Spanish 
policy and conduct in America. This was the ar 
rival of Francis de Bovadilla, with a commission to 
supersede Columbus in his government, to arraign 
him as a criminal, and pronounce judgment on 
all his former administration. 

It seems that by this time the enemies of Co 
lumbus, despairing to complete his overthrow by 
groundless insinuations of malconduct, had taken 
the more effectual method of exciting the jealousy 
of their sovereigns. From the promising samples 
of gold and other valuable commodities brought 
from America, they took occasion to represent to 
the king and queen that the prodigious wealth and 
extent of the countries he had discovered would 
soon throw such power into the hands of the viceroy, 
that he would trample on the royal authority and 
bid defiance to the Spanish power. These argu- 



INTRODUCTION. xxix 

ments were well calculated for the cold and suspi 
cious temper of Ferdinand; and they must have 
had some effect upon the mind of Isabella. The 
consequence was the appointment of Bovadilla, the 
inveterate enemy of Columbus, to take the govern 
ment from his hands. This first tyrant of the 
Spanish nation in America began his administra 
tion by ordering Columbus to be put in chains on 
board of a ship, and sending him prisoner to Spain. 
By relaxing all discipline he introduced disorder 
and licentiousness thro the colony. He subjected 
the unhappy natives to a most miserable servitude, 
and apportioned them out in large numbers among 
his adherents. Under this severe treatment perished 
in a short time many thousands of those innocent 
people. 

Columbus was carried in his fetters to the Spa 
nish court, where the king and queen either feigned 
or felt a sufficient regret at the conduct of Bovadilla 
towards their illustrious prisoner. He was not only 
released from confinement ; he was treated with all 
imaginable respect. But, altho the king endea 
vored to expiate the offence by censuring and re 
calling Bovadilla, yet we may judge of his sincerity 
from his appointing Nicholas de Ovando, another 
well known enemy of Columbus, to succeed in the 
government ; and from his ever after refusing to re 
instate Columbus, or to fulfil any of the conditions 
on which the discoveries had been undertaken. 



xxx INTRODUCTION. 

After two years of solicitation for this or some 
other employment, he at length obtained a squa 
dron of four small vessels to attempt new discoveries. 
He then set out, with the enthusiasm of a young 
adventurer, in quest of what was always his favorite 
object, a passage into the South Sea, by which he 
might sail to India. He touched at Hispaniola, 
where Ovando the governor refused him admittance 
on shore, even to take shelter during a hurricane, 
the prognostics of which his experience had taught 
him to discern. By putting into a creek he rode 
out the storm, and then bore away for the conti 
nent. He spent several months, the most bois 
terous of the year, in exploring the coast round the 
gulph of Mexico, in hopes of finding the intended 
navigation to India. At length he was shipwrecked, 
and driven ashore on the island of Jamaica. 

His cup of calamities seemed now to be full. He 
was cast upon an island of savages, without pro 
visions, without a vessel, and thirty leagues from 
any Spanish settlement. But the greatest physical 
misfortunes are capable of being imbittered by the 
insults of our fellow creatures. A few of his com 
panions generously offered, in two Indian canoes, 
to attempt a voyage to Hispaniola, in hopes of ob 
taining a vessel for the relief of the unhappy crew. 
After suffering every extremity of danger and 
fatigue, they arrived at the Spanish colony in 
ten days. Ovando, excited by personal malice 



INTRODUCTION. xxxi 

against Columbus, detained these messengers for 
eight months, and then despatched a vessel to Ja 
maica to spy out the condition of Columbus and 
his crew, with positive instructions to the captain 
not to afford them any relief. This order was 
punctually executed. The captain approached the 
shore, delivered a letter of empty compliment from 
Ovando to the admiral, received his answer and re 
turned. About four months afterwards a vessel 
came to their relief; and Columbus, worn out with 
fatigues and broken by misfortunes, returned for 
the last time to Spain. Here a new distress awaited 
him, which he considered as one of the greatest of 
his whole life: this was the death of queen Isabella, 
his last and most powerful friend. 

He did not suddenly abandon himself to despair. 
He called upon the gratitude and justice of the 
king; and in terms of dignity demanded the fulfil 
ment of his former contract. Notwithstanding his 
age and infirmities, he even solicited to be farther 
employed in extending the career of discovery, 
without a prospect of any other reward than the 
pleasure of doing good to mankind. But Ferdi 
nand, cold ungrateful and timid, dared not comply 
with any proposal of this kind, lest he should in 
crease his own obligations to a man, whose services 
-he thought it dangerous to reward. He therefore 
delayed and avoided any decision on these subjects, 
in hopes that the declining health of Columbus 



xxxii INTRODUCTION. 

would soon rid the court of the remonstrances of a 
suitor, whose unexampled merit was, in their opinion, 
a sufficient reason for destroying him. In this they 
were not disappointed. Columbus languished a 
short time, and gladly resigned a life which had 
been worn out in the most signal services perhaps 
that have been rendered by any one man to an un 
grateful world. 

Posterity is sometimes more just to the memory 
of great men than cotemporaries were to their 
persons. But even this consolation, if it be one, 
has been wanting to the discoverer of our hemi 
sphere. The continent, instead of bearing his name, 
has been called after one of his followers, a man of 
no particular merit. And in the modern city of 
Mexico there is instituted and perpetuated, by order 
of government, an annual festival in honour of Her- 
nando Cortez, the perfidious butcher of its ancient 
race ; while no public honors have been decreed to 
Christopher Columbus, one of the wisest and best 
among the benefactors of mankind. 

After his last return from America he seems to 
have past the short remainder of his life at Valla- 
dolid, the capital of Old Castile, and then the seat 
of the Spanish government. He died in that city 
on the twentieth of August 1506, and was buried 
in one of its churches. Over his body is a plain 
stone inscribed simply with his name, as it is written 
in Spanish, CHRISTOVAL COLON. 



INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 

His son, who wrote his life, has left us a particu 
lar description of his person, manners and private 
character ; all of which were agreeable and interest 
ing. His portrait is in possession of the author of 
this poem. It is painted in oil, half length and the 
size of life, copied from an original picture in the 
gallery of Florence. 






THE 

COLUMBIAD. 

BOOK I. 



ARGUMENT. 



Subject of the Poem, and invocation to Freedom. Condi 
tion of Columbus in a Spanish prison. His monologue 
on the great actions of his life, and the manner in which 
they had been rewarded. Appearance and speech of 
Hesper, the guardian Genius of the western continent. 
They quit the dungeon, and ascend the mount of vision, 
which rises over the western coast of Spain ; Europe 
settling from their sight, and the Atlantic ocean spread 
ing far beneath their feet. Continent of America draws 
into view, and is described by its mountains, rivers, lakes, 
soil and some of the natural productions. 



THE 

COLUMBIAD 



BOOK i. 

I SING the Mariner who first unfurTd 
An eastern banner o'er the western world, 
And taught mankind where future empires lay 
In these fair confines of descending day ; 
Who sway'd a moment, with vicarious power, 
Iberia's sceptre on the new found shore, 
Then saw the paths his virtuous steps had trod 
Pursued by avarice and defiled with blood, 
The tribes he foster'd with paternal toil 
Snatch'd from his hand, and slaughtered for their 
spoil. 1O 

Slaves, kings, adventurers, envious of his name, 
Enjoy'd his labours and purloin'd his fame, 
And gave the Viceroy, from his high seat huiTd, 
Chains for a crown, a prison for a world 

B * 



2 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Long overwhelmed in woes, and sickening there, 
He met the slow still march of black despair, 
Sought the last refuge from his hopeless doom, 
And wislVd from thankless men a peaceful tomb : 
Till visionM ages, opening on his eyes, 
Cheer'd his sad soul, and bade new nations rise ; '2O 
He saw the Atlantic heaven with light o'ercast, 
And Freedom crown his glorious work at last. 

Almighty Freedom ! give rny venturous song 
The force, the charm that to thy voice belong ; 
Tis thine to shape my course, to light my way, 
To nerve my country with the patriot lay, 
To teach all men where all their interest lies, 
How rulers may be just and nations wise: 
Strong in thy strength I bend no suppliant knee, 
Invoke no miracle, no Muse but thee. 30 

Night held on old Castile her silent reign, 
Her half orb'd moon declining to the main ; 
O'er Valladolid's regal turrets hazed 
The drizzly fogs from dull Pisuerga raised ; 
Whose hovering sheets, along the welkin driven, 
Thinn'd the pale stars, and shut the eye from heaven. 
Cold-hearted Ferdinand his pillow prest, 
Nor dream'd of those his mandates robb'd of rest, 



BOOK THE FIRST. 3 

Of him who gemrri'd his crown, who stretch' d his 

reign 

To realms that weighed the tenfold poise of Spain ; 40 
Who now beneath his tower indungeon'd lies, 
Sweats the chill sod and breathes inclement skies. 

His feverish pulse, slow laboring thro his frame, 
Feeds with scant force its fast expiring flame ; 
A far dim watch-lamp's thrice reflected beam 
Throws thro his grates a mist-encumber'd gleam, 
Paints the dun vapors that the cell invade, 
And fills with spectred forms the midnight shade ; 
When from a visionary short repose, 
That nursed new cares and tempered keener woes, 
Columbus woke, and to the walls addrest 
The deep felt sorrows bursting from his breast : 

Here lies the purchase, here the wretched spoil 
Of painful years and persevering toil. 
For these damp caves, this hideous haunt of 

pain, 

I traced new regions o'er the chartless main, 
Tamed all the dangers of untraversed waves, 
Hung o'er their clefts, and topt their surging graves, 
Saw traitorous seas o'er coral mountains sweep, 
Red thunders rock the pole and scorch the deep, (?O 

B 2 



4 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Death rear his front in every varying form, 
Gape from the shoals and ride the roaring storm, 
My struggling bark her seamy planks disjoin, 
Rake the rude rock and drink the copious brine. 
Till the tired elements are lull'd at last, 
And milder suns allay the billowing blast, 
Lead on the trade winds with unvarying force, 
And long and landless curve our constant course. 

Our homeward heaven recoils ; each night forlorn 
Calls up new stars, and backward rolls the morn ; 7 
The boreal vault descends with Europe's shore, 
And bright Calisto shuns the wave no more, 
The Dragon dips his fiery-foaming jole, 
The affrighted magnet flies the faithless pole ; 
Nature portends a general change of laws, 
My daring deeds are deemed the guilty cause ; 
The desperate crew, to insurrection driven, 
Devote their captain to the wrath of heaven, 
Resolve at once to end the audacious strife, 
And buy their safety with his forfeit life. 80 

In that sad hour, this feeble frame to save, 
(Unblest reprieve) and rob the gaping wave, 
The morn broke forth, these tearful orbs descried 
The golden banks that bound the western tide.*3H 



BOOK THE FIRST. 5 

With full success I calm'd the clamorous race, 
Bade heaven's blue arch a second earth embrace ; 
And gave the astonish'd age that bounteous shore, 
Their wealth to nations, and to kings their power. 

Land of delights ! ah, dear delusive coast, 
To these fond aged eyes forever lost ! 90 

No more thy flowery vales I travel o'er, 
For me thy mountains rear the head no more, 
For me thy rocks no sparkling gems unfold, 
Nor streams luxuriant wear their paths in gold ; 
From realms of promised peace forever borne, 
I hail mute anguish, and in secret mourn. 

But dangers past, a world explored in vain, 
And foes triumphant show but half my pain. 
Dissembling friends, each early joy who gave, 
And fired my youth the storms of fate to brave, 100 
Swarm'd in the sunshine of my happier days, 
Pursued the fortune and partook the praise, it\ . 
Now pass my cell with smiles of sour disdain, 
Insult my woes and triumph in my pain. 

One gentle guardian once could shield the brave; 
But now that guardian slumbers in the grave. 
Hear from above, thou dear departed shade ; 
As once my hopes, my present sorrows aid, 



6 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Burst my full heart, afford that last relief, 
Breathe back my sighs and reinspire my grief; 110 
Still in my sight thy royal form appears, 
Reproves my silence and demands my tears. 
Even on that hour no more I joy to dwell, 
When thy protection bade the canvass swell ; 
When kings and church men found their factions vain, 
Blind superstition shrunk beneath her chain, 
The sun's glad beam led on the circling way, 
And isles rose beauteous in Atlantic day. 
For on those silvery shores, that new domain, 
What crowds of tyrants fix their murderous reign ! 
Her infant realm indignant Freedom flies, 121 

Truth leaves the world, and Isabella dies. 

Ah, lend thy friendly shroud to veil my sight, 
That these pain'd eyes may dread no more the light ; 
These welcome shades shall close my instant doom, 
And this drear mansion moulder to a tomb. 

Thus mourn'd the hapless man: a thundering 
sound 

Roll'd thro the shuddering walls and shook the 

ground ; 

O'er all the dungeon, where black arches bend, 
The roofs unfold, and streams of light descend ; 130 



BOOK THE FIRST. 7 

The growing splendor fills the astonish'd room, 
And gales etherial breathe a glad perfume. 
Robed in the radiance, moves a form serene, 
Of human structure, but of heavenly mien ; 
Near to the prisoner's couch he takes his stand, 
And waves, in sign of peace, his holy hand. 
Tall rose his stature, youth's endearing grace 
Adorn'd his limbs and brighten'd in his face ; 
Loose o'er his locks the star of evening hung, 139 
And sounds melodious moved his cheerful tongue : 

Rise, trembling chief, to scenes of rapture rise ; 
This voice awaits thee from the western skies ; 
Indulge no longer that desponding strain, 
Nor count thy toils, nor deem thy virtues vain. 
Thou seest in me the guardian Power who keeps 
The new found world that skirts Atlantic deeps, 
Hesper my name, my seat the brightest throne 
In night's whole heaven, my sire the living sun. 
My brother Atlas with his name divine 
Stampt the wild wave ; the solid coast is mine. 



Atlas and Hesper were of the race of Titans. They were sons 
of Uranus, or of Japetus, according as the fable is traced to dif 
ferent countries, whose supreme God (originally the sun) was call 
ed by different names. Atlas, from being king of Mauritania, 
became a mountain to support the heavens, and gave his name to 



8 THE COLUMBIAD. 

This hand, which fornrd, and in the tides of time 
Laves and improves the meliorating clime, 
Which taught thy prow to cleave the trackless way, 
And hail'd thee first in occidental day, 
To all thy worth shall vindicate thy claim, 
And raise up nations to revere thy name. 



the western ocean. Hesper frequented that mountain in the study 
of astronomy ; till one evening he disappeared, and returned no 
more. He was then placed in the western heaven ; and, having 
been a beautiful young man, he became a beautiful planet, called 
the evening star. This circumstance gave his name to the western 
regions of the earth indefinitely. Italy was called Hesperia by the 
Greeks, because it lay west from them, and seemed under the in 
fluence of the star of evening j Spain was called Hesperia by the 
Romans, for the same reason. 

If the nations which adopted this fable had known of a countiy 
west of the Atlantic, that country must have been Hesperia to 
them all ; and pursuing this analogy I have so named it, in several 
instances, in the course of trn's poem. Considering Hesper as the 
guardian Genius; and Columbus as the Discoverer, of the western 
continent, it may derive its name, in poetical language, from either 
of theirs indifferently, and be called Hesperia or Columbia. 

Atlas is considered in this poem as the guardian Genius of 
Africa. See his speech, in the eighth book, on the slavery of his 
people. 

This explanation seemed of such immediate importance for un 
derstanding the machinery of the poem, as to require its being 
placed here. The other notes, being numerous and some of them 
long, have been forced to yield to typographical elegance; and are 
placed at the end of the volume, with suitable reference to the 
passages to which they belong. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 9 

In this dark age tho blinded faction sways. 
And wealth and conquest gain the palm of praise ; 
Awed into slaves while groveling millions groan, 
And blood-stain'd steps lead upward to a throne ; 
Far other wreaths thy virtuous temples twine, l6l 
Far nobler triumphs crown a life like thine; 
Thine be the joys that minds immortal grace, 
As thine the deeds that bless a kindred race. 
Now raise thy sorrowed soul to views more bright, 
The vision'd ages rushing on thy sight ; 
Worlds beyond worlds shall bring to light their stores, 
Time, nature, science blend their utmost powers,, 
To show, concentred in one blaze of fame, jdi 7 
The ungather'd glories that await thy name. 170 

As that great seer, whose animating rod 
Taught Jacob's sons their wonder-working God. 

O O ' 

Who led thro dreary wastes the murmuring band, 
And reach'd the confines of their promised land, 
Opprest with years, from Pisgah's towering height, 
On fruitful Canaan feasted long his sight ; 
The bliss of unborn nations warm'd his breast, 
Repaid his toils and sooth'd his soul to rest ; 
Thus o'er thy subject wave shalt thou behold 
Par happier realms their future charms unfold, 180 



10 THE COLUMBIAD. 

In nobler pomp another Pisgah rise. 
Beneath whose foot thy new found Canaan lies; 
There, rapt in vision, hail my favorite clime, 
And taste the blessings of remotest time. 

So Hesper spoke ; Columbus raised his head ; 
His chains dropt off; the cave, the castle fled. 
Forth walk'd the Pair; when steep before them stood. 
Slope from the town, a heaven-illumined road ; 
That thro disparting shades arose on high, 189 
Reach'd o'er the hills, and lengthen 'd up the sky, 
Show'd a clear summit, rich with rising flowers, 
That breathe their odors thro celestial bowers. 
O'er the proud Pyrenees it looks sublime, 
Subjects the Alps, and levels Europe's clime ; 
Spain, lessening to a chart, beneath it swims, 
And shrouds her dungeons in the void she dims. 

Led by the Power, the Hero gain'd the height, 
New strength and brilliance flush'd his mortal sight; 
When calm before them flow'd the western main, 
Far stretch'd, immense, a sky-encircled plain. 200 
No sail, no isle, no cloud invests the bound, 
Nor billowy surge disturbs the vast profound ; 
Till, deep in distant heavens, the sun's blue ray 
Topt unknown cliffs and call'd them up to day ; 



BOOK THE FIRST. 11 

Slow glimmering into sight wide regions drew. 
And rose and brighten'd on the expanding view ; 
Fair sweep the waves, the lessening ocean smiles, 
In misty radiance loom a thousand isles ; 
Near and more near the long drawn coasts arise, 209 
Bays stretch their arms and mountains lift the skies, 
The lakes, high mounded, point the streams their way, 
Slopes, ridges, plains their spreading skirts display, 
The vales branch forth, high walk approaching groves, 
And all the majesty of nature moves. 

O'er the wild hemisphere his glances fly, 
Its form unfolding as it still draws nigh, 
As all its salient sides force far their sway, 
Crowd back the ocean and indent the day. 
He saw, thro central zones, the winding shore 219 
Spread the deep Gulph his sail had traced before, 
The Darien isthmus check the raging tide, 
Join distant lands, and neighboring seas divide ; 
On either hand the shores unbounded bend, 
Push wide their waves, to each dim pole ascend ; 
The two twin continents united rise, 
Broad as the main, and lengthen'd with the skies. 

Long gazed the Mariner; when thus the Guide: 
Here spreads the world thy daring sail descried, 



12 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Hesperia call'd, from my anterior claim ; 
But now Columbia, from thy patriarch name. 230 
So from Phenicia's peopled strand of yore 
Europa sail'd, and sought an unknown shore ; 
There stampt her sacred name ; and thence her race, 
Hale, venturous, bold, from Jove's divine embrace, 
Ranged o'er the world, predestined to bestride 
Earth's elder continents and each far tide. 

Ages unborn shall bless the happier day, 
That saw thy streamer shape the guideless way, 
Their bravest heroes trace the path you led, 
And sires of nations thro the regions spread. 24O 
Behold yon isles, where first thy flag unfurl'd 
In bloodless triumph o'er the younger world ; 
As, awed to silence, savage bands gave place, 
And hail'd with joy the sun-descended race. 

Retrace the banks yon rushing waters lave ; 
There Orinoco checks great ocean's wave ; 
Thine is the stream ; it cleaves the well known coast, 
Where Paria's walks thy former footsteps boast. 
But these no more thy wide discoveries bound ; 
Superior prospects lead their swelling round ; 250 
Nature's remotest scenes before thee roll, 
years and empires open on thy soul. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 13 

To yon dim rounds first elevate thy view ; 
See Quito's plains overlook their proud Peru ; 
On whose huge base, like isles amid sky driven, 
A vast protuberance props the cope of heaven ; 
Earth's loftiest turrets there contend for height, 
And all our Andes fill the bounded sight. 
From south to north what long blue swells arise, 
Built thro the clouds, and lost in ambient skies! 260 
Approaching slow they heave expanding bounds, 
The yielding concave bends sublimer rounds ; 
Whose wearied stars, high curving to the west, 
Pause on the summits for a moment's rest ; 
Recumbent there they renovate their force, 
And roll rejoicing on their downward course. 

Round each bluflfbase the sloping ravine bends; 
Hills forms on hills, and croupe o'er croupe extends ; 
Ascending, whitening, how the crags are lost, 
O'erhung with headclifFs of eternal frost! 
Broad fields of ice give back the morning ray, 
Like walls of suns, or heaven's perennial day. 

There folding storms on eastern pinions ride, 
Veil the black void, and wrap the mountains side, 
Rude thunders rake the crags, the rains descend, 
And the long lightnings o'er the vallies bend ; 



14 THE COLUMBIAD. 

While blasts unburden'd sweep the cliffs of snow, 
The whirlwinds wheel above, the floods convolve 
below. 

There molten rocks explosive rend their tomb ; 
Volcanos, laboring many a nation's doom, 280 

Wild o'er the regions pour their floods of fire ; 
The shores heave backward, and the seas retire. 
There lava waits my late reluctant call, 
To roar aloft and shake some guilty wall ; 
Thy pride, O Lima, swells the sulphurous wave, 
And fanes and priests and idols crowd thy grave. 

But cease, my son, these dread events to trace, 
Nor learn the woes that here await thy race. 
Anorth from that broad gulph, where verdant rise 
Those gentler mounds that skirt the temperate skies, 
A happier hemisphere invites thy view ; 291 

Tis there the old world shall embrace the new : 
There Europe's better sons their seat shall trace^ 
And change of government improve the race. 
Thro all the midsky zones, to yon blue pole, 
Their green hills lengthen, their bright rivers roll ; 
And swelling westward, how their champaigns run ! 
How slope their uplands to the morning sun ! 

So spoke the blest Immortal ; when more near 
His northern wilds in all their breadth appear; 30O 



BOOK THE FIRST. 15 

Lands yet unknown, and streams without a name 
Rise into vision and demand their fame. 
As when some saint first gains his bright abode, 
Vaults o'er the spheres and views the works of God, 
Sees earth, his kindred orb, beneath him roll, 
Here glow the centre, and there point the pole ; 
O'er land and sea his eyes delighted rove, 
And human thoughts his heavenly joys improve ^ 
With equal scope the raptured Hero's sight 
Ranged the low vale, or climb'd the cloudy height, 
As, fixt in ardent look, his opening mind, 311 

Explored the realms that here invite mankind. 
From sultry Mobile's gulph-indented shore 
To where Ontario hears his Laurence roar, 
Stretch'd o'er the broadback'd hills, in long array ? 
The tenfold Alleganies meet the day. 
And show, far sloping from the plains and streams, 
The forest azure streak'd with orient beams. 
High moved the scene, Columbus gazed sublime, 
And thus in prospect hail'd the happy clime : 320 
Blest be the race my guardian guide shall lead 
Where these wide vales their various bounties spread! 
What treasured stores the hills must here combine! 
Sleep still ye Diamonds, and ye ores refine; 



16 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Exalt your heads ye oaks,, ye pines ascend, 
Till future navies bid your branches bend ; 
Then spread the canvass o'er the watery way, 
Explore new worlds and teach the old your sway. 

He said, and northward cast his curious eyes 
On other cliffs of more exalted size. 330 

Where Maine's bleak breakers line the dangerous 

coast, 

And isles and shoals their latent horrors boast, 
High lantern'd in his heaven the cloudless White 
Heaves the glad sailor an eternal light ; 
Who far thro troubled ocean greets the guide, 
And stems with steadier helm the stormful tide. 

Nor could those heights unnoticed raise their head, 
That swell sublime o'er Hudson's shadowy bed ; 
Tho fiction ne'er has hung them in the skies, 
Tho White and Andes far superior rise, 340 

Yet hoary Kaatskill, where the storms divide, 
Would lift the heavens from Atlas' laboring pride. 

Land after land his passing notice claim, 
And hills by hundreds rise without a name ; 
Hills yet unsung, their mystic powers untold ; 
Celestials there no sacred senates hold ; 
No chain'd Prometheus feasts the vulture there, 
No Cyclop forges thro their summits glare, 



BOOK THE FIRST. 17 

To Phrygian Jove no victim smoke is curl'd, 
Nor ark high landing quits a deluged world. 350 
But were these masses piled on Asia's shore, 
Taurus would shrink, Hemodia strut no more, 
Indus and Ganges scorn their humble sires, 
And rising suns salute superior fires ; 
Whose watchful priest would meet, with matin blaze, 
His earlier God, and sooner chaunt his praise. 
For here great nature, with a bolder hand, 
Roli'd the broad stream, and heaved the lifted land; 
And here from finish'd earth, triumphant trod 
The last ascending steps of her creating God. 360 

He saw these mountains ope their watery stores, 
Floods quit their caves and seek the distant shores; 
Wild thro disparting plains their waves expand, 
And lave the banks where future towns must stand. 
Whirl'd from the monstrous Andes' bursting sides, 
Maragnon leads his congregating tides ; 
A thousand Alps for him dissolve their snow, 
A thousand Rhones obedient bend below, 
From different zones their ways converging wind, 
Sweep beds of ore, and leave their gold behind, 370 
In headlong cataracts indignant rave, 
Rush to his banks and swell the swallowing wave. 

c 



18 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Ucay la/ first of all his mighty sons, 

From Cusco's walls a wearied journey runs ; 

Pastaza mines proud Pambamarca's base, 

And holds thro sundering hills his lawless race; 

Aloft, where Cotopaxa flames on high, 

The roaring Napo quits his misty sky, 

Down the long steeps in whitening torrents driven, 

Like Nile descending from his fabled heaven ; 38O 

Mound after mound impetuous Tigris rends, 

Curved Ista folds whole countries in his bends ; 

Vast Orinoco, summon'd forth to bring 

His far fetch' d honors to the sateless king, 

Drives on his own strong course to gain the shore, 

But sends Catuba here with half his store ; 

Like a broad Bosphorus here Negro guides 

The gather'd mass of fifty furious tides ; 

From his waste world, by nameless fountains fed, 

Wild Purus wears his long and lonely bed ; 390 

O'er twelve degrees of earth Madera flows, 

And robs the south of half its treasured snows ; 

Zingus, of equal length and heavier force, 

Rolls on, for months, the same continuous course 

To reach his master's bank ; that here constrains 

Topayo, charged with all Brasilia's rains ; 



BOOK THE FIRST. 19 

While inland seas, and lakes unknown to fame, 
Send their full tributes to the monarch stream ; 
Who, s well'd with growing conquest, wheels abroad, 
Drains every land, and gathers all his flood ; 400 
Then far from clime to clime majestic goes, 
Enlarging, widening, deepening as he flows ; 
Like heaven's broad milky way he shines alone, 
Spreads o'er the globe its equatorial zone, 
Weighs the cleft continent, and pushes wide 
Its balanced mountains from each crumbling side. 
Sire Ocean hears his proud Maragnon roar, 
Moves up his bed, and seeks in vain the shore, 
Then surging strong, with high and hoary tide, 
Whelms back the Stream and checks hisrollingpride. 
The stream ungovernable foams with ire, 411 

Climbs, combs tempestuous, and attacks the Sire; 
Earth feels the conflict o'er her bosom spread, 
Her isles and uplands hide their wood-crown'd head; 
League after league from land to water change, 
From realm to realm the seaborn monsters range ; 
Vast midland heights but pierce the liquid plain, 
Old Andes tremble for their proud domain ; 
Till the fresh Flood regains his forceful sway, 
Drives back his father Ocean, lash'd with spray ; 420 

C 2 



20 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Whose ebbing waters lead the downward sweep, 
And waves and trees and banks roll whirling to the 

deep. 

Where suns less ardent cast their golden beams, 
And minor Andes pour a waste of streams, 
The marsh of Moxoe scoops the world, and fills 
(From Bahia's coast to Cochabamba's hills) 
A thousand leagues of bog ; he strives in vain 
Their floods to centre and their lakes retain ; 
His gulphs overcharged their opening sides display, 
And southern vales prolong the seaward way. 43O 
Columbus traced, with swift exploring eye, 
The immense of waves that here exalted lie, 
The realms that mound the unmeasured magazine, 
The far blue main, the climes that stretch between. 
He saw Xaraya's diamond banks unfold, 
And Paraguay's deep channel paved with gold, 
Saw proud Potosi lift his glittering head, 
And pour down Plata thro his tinctured bed. 
Rich with the spoils of many a distant mine, 
In his broad silver sea their floods combine ; 44Q 
Wide over earth his annual freshet strays, 
And highland drains with lowland drench repays ; 
Her thirsty regions wait his glad return, 
And drink their future harvest from his 



BOOK THE FIRST. 21 

Where the cold circles gird the southern sky, 
Brave Magellan's wild channel caught his eye ; 
The long cleft ridges wall'd the spreading way, 
That gleams far westward to an unknown sea. 
Soon as the distant swell was seen to roll, 
His ancient wishes reabsorb'd his soul ; 450 

Warm from his heaving heart a sudden sigh 
Burst thro his lips ; he turn'd his moisten'd eye, 
And thus besought his Angel : speak, my guide, 
Where leads the pass ? and what yon purple tide ? 
How the dim waves in blending ether stray ! 
No lands behind them rise, no pinions on them play. 

There spreads, belike, that other unsail'd main 
I sought so long, and sought, alas, in vain ; 
To gird this watery globe, and bring to light 
Old India's coast ; and regions wrapt in night. 460 
Restore, celestial friend, my youthful morn, 
Call back my years, and let my fame return ; 
Grant me to trace, beyond that pathless sea, 
Some happier shore from lust of empire free; 
To find in that far world a peaceful bower, 
From envy safe and curst Ovando's power. 
Earth's happiest realms let not their distance hide, 
Nor seas forever roll their useless tide. 



22 THE COLUMBIAD. 

For nations yet unborn, that wait thy time, 
Demand their seats in that secluded clime ; 470 
Ah, grant me still, their passage to prepare, 
One venturous bark, and be my life thy care. 

So pray'd the Hero ; Hesper mild replies, 
Divine compassion softening in his eyes, 
Tho still to virtuous deeds thy mind aspires, 
And these glad visions kindle new desires, 
Yet hear with reverence what attends thy state, 
Nor wish to pass the eternal bounds of fate. 
Led by this sacred light thou soon shalt see 
That half mankind shall owe their seats to thee, 480 
Freedom's first empire claim its promised birth 
In these rich rounds of sea-encircled earth ; 
Let other years, by thine example prest, 
Call forth their heroes to explore the rest. 

Thro different seas a twofold passage lies 
To where sweet India scents a waste of skies. 
The circling course, by Madagascar's shores, 
Round Afric's cape, bold Gama now explores ; 
Thy well plann'd path these gleamy straits provide, 
Nor long shall rest the daring search untried. 49Q 
This idle frith must open soon to fame, 
Here a lost Lusitanian fix his name, 



BOOK THE FIRST. 23 

From that new main in furious waves be tost, 
And fall neglected on the barbarous coast. 

But lo the Chief! bright Albion bids him rise, 
Speed in his pinions, ardor in his eyes ! 
Hither, O Drake, display thy hastening sails, 
Widen ye passes, and awake ye gales, 
March thou before him, heaven-revolving sun, 
Wind his long course, and teach him where to run; 
Earth's distant shores, in circling bands unite, 501 
Lands, learn your fame, and oceans, roll in light, 
Round all the watery globe his flag be hurTd, 
A new Columbus to the astonish'd world. 

He spoke ; and silent tow'rd the northern sky 
Wide o'er the hills the Hero east his eye, 
Saw the long floods thro devious channels pour, 
And wind their currents to the opening shore; 
Interior seas and lonely lakes display 
Their glittering glories to the beams of day. 51Q 
Thy capes, Virginia, towering from the tide, 
Raise their blue banks, and slope thy barriers wide, 
To future sails unfold an inland way, 
And guard secure thy multifluvian Bay ; 
That drains uncounted realms, and here unites 
The liquid mass from Allegainan heights. 



24 THE COLUMBIAD. 

York leads his wave, imbank'd in flowery pride, 
And nobler James falls winding by bis side ; 
Back to the hills, thro many a silent vale, 
While Rappahanok seems to lure the sail, 520 

Patapseo's bosom courts the hand of toil, 
Dull Susquehanna laves a length of soil ; 
But mightier far, in sealike azure spread, 
Potowmak sweeps his earth disparting bed. 

Long dwelt his eye where these commingling 

pour'd, 

Their waves unkeel'd, their havens unexplored ; 
Where frowning forests stretch the dusky wing, 
And deadly damps forbid the flowers to spring ; 
No seasons clothe the field with cultured grain, 
No buoyant ship attempts the chartless main ; 530 
Then with impatient voice : My Seer, he cried, 
When shall my children cross the lonely tide ? 
Here, here my sons, the hand of culture bring, 
Here teach the lawn to smile, the grove to sing : 
Ye laboring floods, no longer vainly glide, 
Ye harvests load them, and ye forests ride ; 
Bear the deep burden from the joyous swain, 
And tell the world where peace and plenty reign. 

Hesper to this returned him no reply, 
But raised new visions to his roving eye. 540 



BOOK THE FIRST. 25 

He saw broad Delaware the shores divide, 
He saw majestic Hudson pour his tide ; 
Thy stream, my Hartford, thro its misty robe, 
Play'd in the sunbeams, belting far the globe ; 
No watery glades thro richer vallies shine, 
Nor drinks the sea a lovelier wave than thine. 

My stick and Charles refresh their seaward isles, 
And gay Piscateway pays his passing smiles ; 
Swift Kenebec, high bursting from his lakes, 549 
Shoots down the hillsides thro the clouds he makes; 
And hoarse resounding, gulphing wide the shore, 
Dread Laurence labors with tremendous roar ; 
Laurence, great son of Ocean ! lorn he lies, 
And braves the blasts of hyperborean skies. 
Where hoary winter holds his howling reign, 
And April flings her timid showers in vain, 
Groans the choked Flood, in frozen fetters bound , 
And isles of ice his angry front surround. 

As old Enceladus, in durance vile, 
Spreads his huge length beneath Sicilia's isle, 56o 
Feels mountains, crush'd by mountains, on him prest. 
Close not his veins, nor still his laboring breast ; 
His limbs convulse, his heart rebellious rolls, 
Earth shakes responsive to her utmost poles, 



26 THE COLUMBIAD. 

While rumbling, bursting, boils his ceaseless ire, 
Flames to mid heaven, and sets the skies on fire. 
So the contristed Laurence lays him low. 
And hills of sleet and continents of snow 
Rise on his crystal breast ; his heaving sides 
Crash with the weight, and pour their gushing tides. 
Asouth, whence all his hundred branches bend, 571 
Relenting airs with boreal blasts contend ; 
Far in his vast extremes he swells and thaws, 
And seas foam wide between his ice-bound jaws. 
Indignant Frost, to hold his captive, plies 
His hosted fiends that vex the polar skies, 
Unlocks his magazines of nitric stores. 
Azotic charms and muriatic powers ; 
Hail, with its glassy globes, and brume congeal'd, 
Rime's fleecy flakes, and storm that heaps the field 
Strike thro the sullen Stream with numbing force, 
Obstruct his sluices and impede his course. 
In vain he strives ; his might interior fails ; 
Nor spring's approach, nor earth's whole heat avails; 
He calls his hoary Sire ; old Ocean roars 585 

Responsive echoes thro the Shetland shores. 
He comes, the Father ! from his bleak domains, 
To break with liquid arms the sounding chains ; 



BOOK THE FIRST. 27 

Clothed in white majesty, he leads from far 
His tides high foaming to the wintry war. 590 
Billows on billows lift the maddening brine, 
And seas and clouds in battling conflict join, 
Overturn the vast gulph glade with rending sweep, 
And crash the crust that bridged the boiling deep ; 
Till forced aloft, bright bounding thro the air, 
Moves the blear ice, and sheds a dazzling glare ; 
The torn foundations on the surface ride, 
And wrecks of winter load the downward tide. 

The loosen'd ice-isles o'er the main advance, 
Toss on the surge, and thro the concave dance ; 600 
Whirl'd high, conjoin'd, in crvstal mountains driven, 
Alp over Alp, they build a midway heaven ; 
Whose million mirrors mock the solar ray, 
And give condensed the tenfold glare of day. 
As tow'rd the south the mass enormous glides, 
And brineless rivers furrow down its sides ; 
The thirsty sailor steals a glad supply, 
And sultry trade winds quaff the boreal sky. 

But oft insidious death, with rnist o'erstrown, 
Rides the dark ocean on this icy throne ; 6lO 

When ships thro vernal seas with light airs steer 
Their midnight march, and deem no danger near. 



28 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The steerman gaily helms his course along, 
And laughs and listens to the watchman's song, 
Who walks the deck, enjoys the murky fog, 
Sure of his chart, his magnet and his log ; 
Their shipmates dreaming, while their slumbers last, 
Of joys to come, of toils and dangers past. 
Sudden a chilling blast comes roaring thro 
The trembling shrouds, and startles all the crew ; 620 
They spring to quarters, and perceive too late 
The mount of death, the giant strides of fate. 
The fullsail'd ship, with instantaneous shock, 
Dash'd into fragments by the floating rock, 
Plunges beneath its basement thro the wave, 
And crew and cargo glut the watery grave. 

Say, Palfrey, brave good man, was this thy doom ? 
Dwells here the secret of thy midsea tomb ? 
But, Susan, why that tear? my lovely friend, 
Regret may last, but grief should have an end. 630 
An infant then, thy memory scarce can trace 
The lines, tho sacred, of thy father's face ; 
A generous spouse has well replaced the sire; 
New duties hence new sentiments require. 

Now where the lakes, those midland oceans, lie, 
Columbus turn'd his heaven-illumined eye. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 29 

Ontario's banks, unable to retain 
The five great Caspians from the distant main, 
Burst with the ponderous mass, and forceful whirFd 
His Laurence forth, to balance thus the world. 640 
Above, bold Erie's wave sublimely stood, 
Look'd o'er the cliff, and heaved his headlong flood ; 
Where dread Niagara bluffs high his brow, 
And frowns defiance to the world below. 
White clouds of mist expanding o'er him play, 
That tinge their skirts in all the beams of day ; 
Pleased Iris wantons in perpetual pride, 
And bends her rainbows o'er the dashing tide. 
Far glimmering in the north, bleak Huron runs, 
Clear Michigan reflects a thousand suns, 650 

And bason'd high, on earth's broad bosom gay, 
The bright Superior silvers down the day. 

Blue mounds beyond them far in ether fade, 
Deep groves between them cast a solemn shade, 
Slow moves their settling mist in lurid streams, 
And dusky radiance streaks the solar beams. 
Fixt on the view the great discoverer stood, 
And thus addrest the messenger of good : 
But why these seats, that seem reserved to grace 
The social toils of some illustrious race, 660 



30 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Why spread so wide and form'd so fair in vain ? 
And why so distant rolls the bounteous main ? 
These happy regions must forever rest, 
Of man unseen, by native beasts possest ; 
And the best heritage my sons could boast 
Illude their search in far dim deserts lost, 
For see, no ship can point her pendants here, 
No stream conducts nor ocean wanders near ; 
Frost, crags and cataracts their north invest, 
And the tired sun scarce finds their bounds awest. 

To whom the Seraph : Here indeed retires 
The happiest land that feels my fostering fires ; 
Here too shall numerous nations found their seat, 
And peace and freedom bless the kind retreat. 
Led by this arm thy sons shall hither come, 
And streams obedient yield the heroes room, 
Spread a broad passage to their well known main, 
Nor sluice their lakes, nor form their soils in vain. 

Here my bold Missisippi bends his way, 
Scorns the dim bounds of yon bleak boreal day, 68O 
And calls from western heavens, to feed his stream, 
The rains and flood that Asian seas might claim. 
Strong in his march, and charged with all the fates 
Of regions pregnant with a hundred states, 



BOOK THE FIRST. 31 

He holds in balance, ranged on either hand, 
Two distant oceans and their sundering land ; 
Commands and drains the interior tracts that lie 
Outmeasuring Europe's total breadth of sky. 

High in the north his parent fountains wed, 
And oozing urns adorn his infant head ; 690 

In vain proud Frost his nursing lakes would close, 
And choke his channel with perennial snows ; 
From ail their slopes he curves his countless rills, 
Sweeps their long marshes, saps their settling hills; 
Then stretching, straighteningsouth, he gaily gleams, 
Swells thro the climes, and swallows all their streams; 
From zone to zone, o'er earth's broad surface cuiTd, 
He cleaves his course, he furrows half the world, 
Now roaring wild thro bursting mountains driven, 
Now calm reflecting all the host of heaven ; 700 
Where Cynthia pausing, her own face admires, 
And suns and stars repeat their dancing fires. 
Wide o'er his meadowy lawns he spreads and feeds 
His realms of canes, his waving world of reeds ; 
Where mammoth grazed the renovating groves, 
Slaked his huge thirst, and chill'd his fruitless loves ; 
Where elks, rejoicing o'er the extinguished race, 
By myriads rise to fill the vacant space. 



32 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Earth's widest gulph expands to meet his wave. 
Vast isles of ocean in his current lave ; 710 

Glad Thetis greets him from his finish'd course. 
And bathes her Nereids in his freshening source. 

To his broad bed their tributary stores 
Wisconsin here, there lonely Peter pours ; 
Croix, from the northeast wilds his channel fills, 
Ohio, gather'd from his myriad hills, 
Yazoo and Black, surcharged by Georgian springs, 
Rich Illinois his copious treasure brings ; 
Arkansa, measuring back the sun's long course, 
Moine, Francis, Rouge augment the father's force. 
But chief of all his family of floods 721 

Missouri marches thro his world of woods ; 
He scorns to mingle with the filial train, 
Takes every course to reach alone the main ; 
Orient awhile his bending sweep he tries, 
Now drains the southern, now the northern skies, 
Searches and sunders far the globe's vast frame, 
Reluctant joins the sire, and takes at last his name. 

There lies the path thy future sons shall trace, 
Plant here their arts, and rear their vigorous race : 
A race predestined, in these choice abodes, 7 30 
To teach mankind to tame their fluvial floods, 



BOOK THE FIRST. 33 

Retain from ocean, as their work requires, 

These great auxiliars, raised by solar fires, 

Force them to form ten thousand roads, and girth 

With liquid belts each verdant mound of earth, 

To aid the colon's as the carrier's toil, 

To drive the coulter, and to fat the soil, 

Learn all mechanic arts, and oft regain 

Their native hills in vapor and in rain. 7 4 

So taught the Saint. The regions nearer drew, 
And raised resplendent to their Hero's view 
Rich nature's triple reign ; for here elate 
She stored the noblest treasures of her state, 
Adorn'd exuberant this her last domain, 
As yet unalter'd by her mimic man, 
Sow'd liveliest gems, and plants of proudest grace, 
And strung with strongest nerves her animated race. 

Retiring far round Hudson's frozen bay, 
Earth's lessening circles shrink beyond the day ; 750 
Snows ever rising with the toils of time 
Choke the chill shrubs that brave the dismal clime ; 
The beasts all whitening roam the lifeless plain, 
And caves unfrequent scoop the couch for man. 

Where Spring's coy steps in cold Canadia stray, 
And joyless seasons hold unequal sway, 

D 



34 THE COLUMBIAD. 

He saw the pine its daring mantle rear, 

Break the rude blast, and mock the brumal year, 

Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies, 

And bid all southern vegetation rise. 760 

Wild o'er the vast impenetrable round 

The untrod bowers of shadowy nature frown'd ; 

Millennial cedars wave their honors wide, 

The fir's tall boughs, the oak's umbrageous pride, 

The branching beech, the aspen's trembling shade 

Veil the dim heaven, and brown the dusky glade. 

For in dense crowds these sturdy sons of earth, 

In frosty regions, claim a stronger birth ; 

Where heavy beams the sheltering dome requires, 

And copious trunks to feed its wintry fires. 77 

But warmer suns, that southern zones emblaze, 
A cool thin umbrage o'er their woodland raise ; 
Floridia's shores their blooms around him spread, 
And Georgian hills erect their shady head ; 
Whose flowery shrubs regale the passing air 
With all the untasted fragrance of the year. 
Beneath tall trees, dispersed in loose array, 
The rice-grown lawns their humble garb display ; 
The infant maize, unconscious of its worth, 
Pointsthegreenspireandbendsthefoliageforth ; 780 



BOOK THE FIRST. 35 

In various forms unbidden harvests rise, 
And blooming life repays the genial skies. 

Where Mexic hills the breezy gulph defend, 
Spontaneous groves with richer burdens bend. 
Anana's stalk its shaggy honors yields, 
Acassia's flowers perfume a thousand fields. 
Their clustered dates the mast-like palms unfold, 
The spreading orange waves a load of gold, 
Connubial vines o'ertop the larch they climb, 
The long-lived olive mocks the moth of time, 79 
Pomona's pride, that old Grenada claims, 
Here smiles and reddens in diviner flames ; 
Pimento, citron scent the sky serene, 
White woolly clusters fringe the cotton's green^ 
The sturdy fig, the frail deciduous cane 
And foodful cocoa fan the sultry plain. 

Here, in one view, the same glad branches bring 
The fruits of autumn and the flowers of spring ; 
No wintry blasts the unchanging year deform, 
Nor beasts unsheltered fear the pinching storm ; 800 
But vernal breezes o'er the blossoms rove, 
And breathe the ripen'd juices thro the grove. 

Beneath the crystal Wave's inconstant light 
Pearls burst their shells to greet the Hero's sight ; 

D 3 



36 THE COLUMBIAD. 

From opening earth in living lustre shine 
The various treasures of the blazing mine ; 
Hills cleft before him all their stores unfold, 
The pale platina and the burning gold ; 
Silver whole mounds, and gems of dazzling ray 
Illume the rocks and shed the beams of day. 810 



THE 

COLUMBIAD. 

BOOK II. 



ARGUMENT. 



Natives of America appear in vision. Their manners and 
characters. Columbus demands the cause of the dis 
similarity of men in different countries. Hesper replies, 
That the human body is composed of a due proportion 
of the elements suited to the place of its first formation ; 
that these elements, differently proportioned, produce all 
the changes of health, sickness, growth and decay ; and 
may likewise produce any other changes which occasion 
the diversity of men ; that these elemental proportions 
are varied, not more by climate than temperature and 
Other local circumstances ; that the mind is likewise in a 
state of change, and will take its physical character from 
the body and from external objects : examples. Inquiry 
concerning the first peopling of America. View of Mexi 
co. Its destruction by Cortez. View of Cusco and Quito, 
cities of Peru. Tradition of Capac and Oella, founders 
of the Peruvian empire. Columbus inquires into their 
real history. Hesper gives an account of their origin, 
and relates the stratagems they used in establishing that 
empire. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD. 



BOOK II. 

JLJLIGH o'er his world as thus Columbus gazed, 
And Hesper still the changing scene emblazed, 
Round all the realms increasing lustre flew, 
And raised new wonders to the Patriarch's view. 

He saw at once, as far as eye could rove, 
Like scattering herds, the swarthy people move 
In tribes innumerable ; all the waste, 
Wide as their walks, a varying shadow cast. 
As airy shapes, beneath the moon's pale eye, 
People the clouds that sail the midnight sky, 10 
Dance thro the grove and flit along the glade, 
And cast their grisly phantoms on the shade ; 
So move the hordes, in thickets half conceal'd, 
Or vagrant stalking thro the fenceless field. 



40 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Here tribes untamed, who scorn to fix their home, 
O'er shadowy streams and trackless deserts roam ; 
While others there in settled hamlets rest, 
And corn-clad vales a happier state attest. 

The painted chiefs, in guise terrific drest, 
Rise fierce to war, and beat their savage breast ; 20 
Dark round their steps collecting warriors pour, 
Some fell revenge begins the hideous roar; 
From hill to hill the startling war-song flies, 
And tribes on tribes in dread disorder rise, 
Track the mute foe and scour the howling wood, 
Loud as a storm, ungovern'd as a flood ; 
Or deep in groves the silent ambush lay, 
Lead the false flight, decoy and seize their prey, 
Their captives torture, butcher and devour, 
Drink the warm blood and paint their cheeks with gore. 

Awhile he paused, with dubious thoughts opprest, 
And thus to Hesper's ear his doubts addrest : 
Say, to what class of nature's sons belong 
The countless tribes of this untutor'd throng ? 
Where human frames and brutal souls combine, 
No force can tame them, and no arts refine. 
Can these be fashion'd on the social plan, 
Or boast a lineage with the race of man ? 



BOOK THE SECOND. 41 

When first we found them in yon hapless isle, 
They seem'd to know and seem'd to fear no guile; 40 
A timorous herd, like harmless roes, they ran, 
And call'd us Gods, from whom their tribes began* 
But when, their fears allay'd, in us they trace 
The well-known image of a mortal race, 
When Spanish blood their wondering eyes beheld, 
A frantic rage their changing bosoms swelFd ; 
They roused their bands from numerous hills afar, 
To feast their souls on ruin, waste and war. 
Nor plighted vows nor sure defeat control 
The same indignant savageness of soul. 50 

Tell then, my Seer, from what dire sons of earth 
The brutal people drew their ancient birth ; 
If these forgotten shores and useless tides 
Have form'd them different from the world besides, 
Born to subjection, when in happier time 
A nobler race should reach their fruitful clime ; 
Or, if a common source all nations claim, 
Their lineage, form and faculties the same, 
What sovereign secret cause, yet undisplay'd, 
This wondrous change in nature's work has made ; 
Why various powers of soul and tints of face 6l 
In different lands diversify the race; 



42 THE COLUMBIAD. 

To whom the Guide: Unnumber'd causes lie, 
In earth and sea, in climate, soil and sky, 
That fire the soul, or damp the genial flame, 
And work their wonders on the human frame. 
See beauty, form and color change with place ; 
Here charms of health the lively visage grace ; 
There pale diseases float in every wind, 
Deform the figure, and degrade the mind. 7 

From earth's own elements thy race at first 
Rose into life, the children of the dust ; 
These kindred elements, by various use, 
Nourish the growth and every change produce ; 
In each ascending stage the man sustain, 
His breath, his food, his physic and his bane. 
In due proportions where these atoms lie, 
A certain form their equal aids supply ; 
And while unchanged the efficient causes reign, 
Age following age the certain form maintain. 80 
But where crude atoms disproportion^ rise, 
And cast their sickening vapors round the skies, 
Unlike that harmony of human frame, 
That moulded first and reproduce the same, 
The tribes ill form'd, attempering to the clime, 
Still vary downward with the years of time ; 



BOOK THE SECOND. 43 

More perfect some, and some less perfect yield 

Their reproductions in this wondrous field ; 

Till fixt at last their characters abide, 

And local likeness feeds their local pride. 90 

The soul too, varying with the change of clime, 

Feeble or fierce, or groveling or sublime, 

Forms with the body to a kindred plan, 

And lives the same, a nation or a man. 

Yet think not clime alone the tint controls, 
On every shore, by altitude of poles ; 
A different cast the glowing zone demands, 
In Paria's groves, from Tombut's burning sands. 
Unheeded agents, for the sense too fine, 
With every pulse, with every thought combine, 1OO 
Thro air and ocean, with their changes run, 
Breathe from the ground, or circle with the sun. 
Where these long continents their shores outspread,, 
See the same form all different tribes pervade; 
Thro all alike the fertile forests bloom, 
And all, uncultured, shed a solemn gloom ; 
Thro all great nature's boldest features rise, 
Sink into vales or tower amid the skies ; 
Streams darkly winding stretch a broader sway, 
The groves and mountains bolder walks display ; 110 



44 THE COLUMBIAD. 

A dread sublimity informs the whole, 
And rears a dread sublimity of soul. 

Yet time and art shall other changes find, 
And open still and vary still the mind. 
The countless clans that tread these dank abodes, 
Who glean spontaneous fruits and range the woods, 
Fixt here for ages, in their swarthy face 
Display the wild complexion of the place. 
Yet when the hordes to happy nations rise, 
And earth by culture warms the genial skies, 1 20 
A fairer tint and more majestic grace 
Shall flush their features and exalt the race ; 
While milder arts, with social joys refined, 
Inspire new beauties in the growing mind. 

Thy followers too, old Europe's noblest pride, 
When future gales shall wing them o'er the tide, 
A ruddier hue and deeper shade shall gain, 
And stalk, in statelier figures, on the plain. 
While nature's grandeur lifts the eye abroad 
O'er these last labors of the forming God, 150 

Wing'd on a wider glance the venturous soul 
Bids greater powers and bolder thoughts unrol ; 
The sage, the chief, the patriot unconfined, 
Shield the weak world and meliorate mankind. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 45 

But think not thou, in all the range of man, 
That different pairs each different cast began ; 
Or tribes distinct, by signal marks confest, 
Were born to serve or subjugate the rest. 

The Hero heard, and thus resumed the strain : 
Who led these wanderers o'er the dreary main ? 140 
Could their weak sires, unskilled in human lore, 
Build the bold bark, to seek an unknown shore ? 
A shore so distant from the world beside, 
So dark the tempests, and so wild the tide, 
That Greece and Tyre, and all who tempt the sea, 
Have shunn'd the task, and left the fame to me. 

When first thy roving race, the Power replied, 
Learn'd by the stars the devious sail to guide, 
From stormy Hellespont explored the way, 
And sought the limits of the Midland sea ; 150 
Before Alcides form'd his impious plan 
To check the sail, and bound the steps of man, 
This hand had led them to this rich abode, 
And braved the wrath of that strong demigod. 

Driven from the Calpian strait, a hapless train 
Roll'd on the waves that sweep the western main ; 
Storms from the orient blacken'd heaven with shade, 
Nor sun nor stars could yield their wonted aid. 



46 THE COLUMBIA!). 

For many a darksome day o'erwhelm'd and tost, 
Their sails, their oars in swallowing surges lost, 160 
At length, the clouds withdrawn, they sad descry 
Their course directing from their native sky. 
No hope remains ; far onward o'er the zone 
The trade wind bears them with the circling sun ; 
Till wreck'd and stranded here, the sylvan coast 
Receives to lonely seats the suffering host. 
The fruitful vales invite their steps to roam, 
Renounce their sorrows and forget their home ; 
Revolving years their ceaseless wanderings led, 
And from their sons descending nations spread. 170 

These in the torrid tracts began their sway, 
Whose cultured fields their growing arts display ; 
The northern tribes a later stock may boast, 
A race descended from the Asian coast. 
High in the Arctic, where Anadir glides, 
A narrow strait the impinging worlds divides ; 
There Tartar fugitives from famine sail, 
And migrant tribes these fruitful shorelands hail. 

o 

He spoke ; when Behren's pass before them lay, 
And moving nations on the margin stray, 1 8O 

Thick swarming, venturous ; sail and oar they ply, 
Climb on the surge and o'er the billows fly. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 47 

As when autumnal storms awake their force, 
The storks foreboding tempt their southern course ; 
From all the fields collecting throngs arise, 
Mount on the wing and crowd along the skies : 
Thus, to his eye, from bleak Tartaria's shore, 
Thro isles and seas, the gathering people pour, 
Change their cold regions for a happier strand, 
Leap from the wave and tread the welcome land ; 190 
In growing tribes extend their southern sway, 
And wander wide beneath a warmer day. 

But why, the Chief replied, if ages past 
Led the bold vagrants to so mild a waste ; 
If human souls, for social compact given, 
Inform their nature with the stamp of heaven, 
Why the wild woods for ever must they rove, 
Nor arts nor social joys their passions move ? 
Long is the lapse of ages, since thy hand 
Conducted here thy first adventurous band. 200 
On other shores, in every eastern clime, 
Since that unletter d, distant tract of time, 
What arts have sprung, imperial powers to grace ! 
What sceptres sway'd the many-master'd race ! 
Guilt, grandeur, glory from their seats been hurl'd, 
And dire divulsions shook the changing world ! 



48 THE COLUMBIA!). 

Ere Rome's first Eagle clave the frighted air, 
Ere Sparta form'd her deathlike sons of war, 
Ere Tyre and I lion saw their towers arise, 
Or Memphian pyramids usurp'd the skies, 210 
These tribes have forester'd the fruitful zone, 
Their seats unsettled, and their name unknown. 

Hesper to this replied : A scanty train, 
In that far age, approach'd the wide domain ; 
The wide domain, with game and fruitage crown'd, 
Supplied their food uncultured from the ground. 
By nature form'd to rove, the humankind, 
Of freedom fond, will ramble unconfined, 
Till all the region fills, and rival right 
Restrains their steps, and bids their force unite ; 220 
When common safety builds a common cause, 
Conforms their interest and inspires their laws ; 
By mutual checks their different manners blend, 
Their fields bloom joyous, and their walls ascend. 
Here to the vagrant tribes no bounds arose, 
They form'd no union, as they fear'd no foes ; 
Wandering and wild, from sire to son they stray, 
A thousand ages, scorning every sway. 
And what a world their seatless nations led ! 
A total hemisphere around them spread ; 230 



BOOK THE SECOND. 49 

See the lands lengthen, see the rivers roll. 
To each far main, to each extended pole ! 

But lo, at last the destined course is run, 
The realms are peopled and their arts begun. 
Where yon mid region elevated lies, 
A few famed cities glitter to the skies ; 
There move, in eastern pomp, the toils of state, 
And temples heave, magnificently great. 

The Hero turn'd to greet the novel sight ; 
When three far splendors, yet confusedly bright, 240 
Rose like a constellation ; till more near, 
Distinctly mark'd their different sites appear ; 
Diverging still, beneath their roofs of gold, 
Three cities gay their mural towers unfold. 
So, led by visions of his guiding God, 
The seer of Patmos o'er the welkin trod, 
Saw the new heaven its flamy cope unbend. 
And walls and gates and spiry domes descend ; 
His well known sacred city grows, and gains 
Her new built towers, her renovated fanes ; 250 
With golden skies and suns and rainbows crown'd, 
Jerusalem looks forth and lights, the world around. 

Bright on the north imperial Mexic rose ; 
A mimic morn her sparkling vanes disclose, 

E 



30 THE COLUMBIA!?. 

Her opening streets concentred hues display, 
Give back the sun, and shed internal day ; 
The circling wall with guardian turrets frown'd, 
And look'd defiance to the realms around ; 
A glimmering lake without the wall retires, 
Inverts the towers, and seems a grove of spires. 260 

Proud o'er the midst, on columns lifted high, 
A giant structure claims a loftier sky ; 
O'er the tall gates sublimer arches bend, 
Courts larger lengthen, bolder walks ascend, 
Starr'd with superior gems the porches shine, 
And speak the royal residence within. 
There, deck'd in state robes, on his golden throne, 
Mid suppliant kings, dread Montezuma shone j 
Mild in his eye a tempered grandeur sate, 
High seem'd his soul, with conscious power elate; 270 
In aspect open, social and serene, 
Enclosed by favorites, and of friends unseen. 

Round the rich throne, in various lustre dight, 
Gems undistinguish'd cast a changing light ; 
Sapphire and emerald soften down the scene, 
Cold azure mingling with the vernal green, 
Pearl, amber, ruby warmer flames unfold, 
And diamonds brighten from the burning gold ; 



BOOK THE SECOND. 5i 

Thro all the dome the living blazes blend, 

And shoot their rainbows where the arches bend. 280 

On every ceiling, painted light and gay, 

Symbolic forms their graphic art display ; 

Recording, confident of endless fame, 

Each feat of arms, each patriarchal name ; 

Like Memphian hieroglyphs, to stretch the span 

Of memory frail in momentary man. 

Pour'd thro the gates a hundred nations greet, 
Throng the rich mart and line each ample street, 
Ply different labors, walls and structures rear, 
Or till the fields, or train the ranks of war. 290 
Thro spreading states the skirts of empire bend, 
New temples rise and other plains extend ; 
Thrice ten wide provinces, in culture gay, 

Bless the same king, and daily firm the sway. 

^ 

A smile benignant kindling in his eyes, 
O happy realm ! the glad Columbus cries, 
Far in the midland, safe from every foe, 
Thy arts shall flourish as thy virtues grow, 
To endless years thy rising fame extend, 
And sires of nations from thy sons descend. 30O 
May no gold-thirsty race thy temples tread, 
Insult thy rites, nor heap thy plains with dead ; 

E 2 



52 THE COLUMBIAD. 

No Bovadilla seize the tempting spoil, 
No dark Ovando, no religious Boyle, 
In mimic priesthood grave, or robed in state, 
O'erwhelrn thy glories in oblivious fate ! 

Vain are thy hopes, the sainted Power replied. 
These rich abodes from Spanish hordes to hide, 
Or teach hard guilt and cruelty to spare 
The guardless prize of sacrilegious war. 31O 

Think not the vulture, mid the field of slain, 
Where base and brave promiscuous strow the plain, 
Where the young hero in the pride of charms 
Pours brighter crimson o'er his spotless arms, 
Will pass the tempting prey, and glut his rage 
On harder flesh, and carnage black with age ; 
O'er all alike he darts his eager eye, 
Whets the blunt beak and hovers down the sky, 
From countless corses picks the dainty food, 
And screams and fattens in the purest blood. 320 
So the vile hosts, that hither trace thy way, 
On happiest tribes with fiercest fury prey. 
Thine the dread task, O Cortez, here to show 
What unknown crimes can heighten human woe, 
On these fair fields the blood of realms to pour, 
Tread sceptres down, and print thy steps in gore, 






BOOK THE SECOND. 53 

With gold and carnage swell thy sateless mind, 
And live and die the blackest of mankind. 

He gains the shore. Behold his fortress rise, 
His fleet high flaming suffocates the skies. 330 
The march begins ; the nations in affright 
Quake as he moves, and wage the fruitless fight ; 
Thro the rich provinces he bends his way, 
Kings in his chain, and kingdoms for his prey ; 
Full on the imperial town infuriate falls, 
And pours destruction o'er its batter'd walls. 

In quest of peace great Montezuma stands, 
A sovereign supplicant with lifted hands, 
Brings all his treasure, yields the regal sway, 
Bids vassal millions their new lord obey ; 340 

And plies the victor with incessant prayer, 
Thro ravaged realms the harmless race to spare. 
But treasures, tears and sceptres plead in vain, 
Nor threats can move him, nor a world restrain ; 
While blind religion's prostituted name 
And monkish fury guide the sacred flame. 
O'er crowded fanes their fires unhallow'd bend, 
Climb the wide roofs, the lofty towers ascend, 
Pour thro the lowering skies the smoky flood, 
And stain the fields, and quench the blaze in blood. 



54 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Columbus heard; and, with a heaving sigh, 351 
Dropt the full tear that started in his eye : 
O hapless day ! his trembling voice replied, 
That saw my wandering pennon mount the tide. 
Had but the lamp of heaven to that bold sail 
Ne'er mark'd the passage nor awoke the gale, 
Taught foreign prows these peopled shores to find, 
Nor led those tigers forth to fang mankind ; 
Then had the tribes beneath these bounteous skies 
Seen their walls widen and their harvests rise ; 36Q 
Down the long tracts of time their glory shone > 
Broad as the day and lasting as the sun. 
The growing realms, behind thy shield that rest, 
Paternal monarch, still thy power had blest, 
Enjoy'd the pleasures that surround thy throne^ 
Survey'd thy virtues and improved their own. 

Forgive me, prince ; this luckless arm hath led 
The storm unseen that hovers o'er thy head ; 
Taught the dark sons of slaughter where to roam, 
To seize thy crown and seal the nation's doom. 370 
Arm, sleeping empire, meet the murderous band, 
Drive back the invaders, save the sinking land. ; . 
But vain the call ! behold the streaming blood ! 
Forgive me, Nature! and forgive me, God' 



BOOK THE SECOND. 55 

While sorrows thus his patriarch pride control, 
Hesper reproving sooths his tender soul: 
Father of this new world, thy tears give o'er, 
Let virtue grieve and heaven be blamed no more. 
Enough for man, with persevering mind, 
To act his part and strive to bless his kind ; 380 
Enough for thee, o'er thy dark age to soar, 
And raise to light that long-secluded shore. 
For this my guardian care thy youth inspired, 
To virtue rear'd thee, and with glory fired, 
Bade in thy plan each distant world unite, 
And wing'd thy vessel for the venturous flight. 

Nor think the labors vain ; to good they tend ; 
Tyrants like these shall ne'er defeat their end ; 
Their end that opens far beyond the scope 
Of man's past efforts and his present hope. 390 
Long has thy race, to narrow shores confined, 
Trod the same round that fetter'd fast the mind ; 
Now, borne on bolder plumes, with happier flight, 
The world's broad bounds unfolding to the sight, 
The mind shall soar ; the coming age expand 
Their arts and lore to every barbarous land ; 
And buried gold, drawn copious from the mine, 
Give wings to commerce and the world refine. 



56 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Now to yon southern cities turn thy view. 
And mark the rival seats of rich Peru. 40O 

See Quito's airy plains, exalted high, 
With loftier temples rise along the sky ; 
And elder Cusco's shining roofs unfold, 
Flame on the day, and shed their suns of gold. 
Another range, in these pacific climes, 
Spreads a broad theatre for unborn crimes ; 
Another Cortez shall their treasures view, 
His rage rekindle and his guilt renew ; 
His treason, fraud, and every fell design, 
O curst Pizarro, shall revive in thine. 41Q 

Here reigns a prince, whose heritage proclaims 
A long bright lineage of imperial names ; 
Where the brave roll of Incas love to trace 
The distant father of their realm and race, 
Immortal Capac. He, in youthful pride, 
With young Oella his illustrious bride, 
Announced their birth divine; a race 'begun 
From heaven, the children of their God the Sun ; 
By him sent forth a polish'd state to frame, 
Crush the fiend Gods that human victims claim, 420 
With cheerful rites their pure devotions pay 
To the bright orb that gives the changing day. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 57 

On this great plan,, as children of the skies, 
They plied their arts and saw their hamlets rise. 
First of their works, and sacred to their fame, 
Yon proud metropolis received its name, 
Cusco the seat of states, in peace design'd 
To reach o'er earth, and civilize mankind. 
Succeeding sovereigns spread their limits far, 
Tamed every tribe, and sooth'd the rage of war ; 43O 
Till Quito bow'd ; and all the heliac zone 
Felt the same sceptre, and confirmed the throne. 

Near Cusco's walls, where still their hallow'd isle 
Bathes in its lake and wears its verdant smile, 
Where these prime parents of the sceptred line 
Their advent made, and spoke their birth divine, 
Behold their temple stand ; its glittering spires 
Light the glad waves and aid their father's fires. 
Arch'd in the walls of gold, its portal gleams 
With various gems of intermingling beams ; 440 
And flaming from the front, with borrow'd ray, 
A diamond circlet gives the rival day ; 
In whose bright face forever looks abroad 
The labor'd image of the radiant God. 
There dwells the royal priest, whose inner shrine 
Conceals his lore ; tis there his voice divine 



58 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Proclaims the laws ; and there a cloistered quire 
Of holy virgins keep the sacred fire. 

Columbus heard ; and curious to be taught 
What pious fraud such wondrous changes wrought, 
Ask'd by what mystic charm, in that dark age, 451 
They quell'd in savage souls the barbarous rage, 
By leagues of peace combined a wide domain, 
And taught the virtues in their laws to reign. 

Long is the tale ; but tho their labors rest 
By years obscured, in flowery fiction drest, 
My voice, said Hesper, shall revive their name, 
And give their merits to immortal fame. 
Led by his father's wars, in early prime 
Young Capac left his native northern clime; 460 
The clime where Quito since hath rear'd her fanes, 
And now no more her barbarous rites maintains. 
He saw these vales in richer blooms array'd, 
And tribes more numerous haunt the woodland shade, 
Saw rival clans their local Gods adore, 
Their altars staining with their children's gore, 
Yet mark'd their reverence for the Sun, whose beam 
Proclaims his bounties and his power supreme ; 
Who sails in happier skies, diffusing good, 
Demands no victim and receives no blood. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 59 

In peace return'd with his victorious sire, 
New charms of glory all his soul inspire; 
To conquer nations on a different plan, 
And build his greatness on the good of man. 

By nature form'd for hardiest deeds of fame, 
Tall, bold and full-proportion'd rose his frame ; 
Strong moved his limbs, a mild majestic grace 
Beam'd from his eyes and open'd in his face 5 
O'er the dark world his mind superior shone, 
And seem'd the semblance of his parent Sun. 48O 
But tho fame's airy visions lift his eyes, 
And future empires from his labors rise ; 
Yet softer fires his daring views control, 
And mixt emotions fill his changing soul. 
Shall genius rare, that might the world improve, 
Bend to the milder voice of careless love, 
That bounds his glories, and forbids to part 
From bowers that woo'd his fluctuating heart ? 
Or shall the toils imperial heroes claim 
Fire his brave bosom with a patriot flame, 4QO 
Bid sceptres wait him on Peruvia's shore, 
And loved Oella meet his eyes no more ? 

Still unresolved he sought the lonely maid, 
Who plied her labors in the silvan shade ; 



60 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Her locks loose rolling mantle deep her breast, 
And wave luxuriant round her slender waist, 
Gay wreaths of flowers her pensive brows adorn, 
And her white raiment mocks the light of morn. 
Her busy hand sustains a bending bough, 
Where cotton clusters spread their robes of snow, 500 
From opening pods unbinds the fleecy store, 
And culls her labors for the evening bower. 

For she, the first in all Hesperia, fed 
The turning spindle with the twisting thread ; 
The woof, the shuttle follow'd her command, 
Till various garments grew beneath her hand. 
And now, while all her thoughts with Capac rove 
Thro former scenes of innocence and love, 
In distant fight his fancied dangers share, 
Or wait him glorious from the finish'd war; 510 
Blest with the ardent hope, her sprightly mind 
A vesture white had for the prince design'd ; 
And here she seeks the wool to web the fleece, 
The sacred emblem of returning peace. 

Sudden his near approach the maid alarms ; 
He flew enraptured to her yielding arms, 
And lost, dissolving in a softer flame, 
His distant empire and the fire of fame. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 6l 

At length, retiring thro the homeward field. 
Their glowing souls to cooler converse yield ; 520 
O'er various scenes of blissful life they ran, 
When thus the warrior to the maid began : 

Long have we mark'd the inauspicious reign 
That waits our sceptre in this rough domain ; 
A soil ungrateful and a wayward race, 
Their game but scanty, and confined their space. 
Where late my steps the southern war pursued, 
The fertile plains grew boundless as I view'd ; 
More numerous nations trod the grassy wild, 
And joyous nature more delightful smiled. 530 
No changing seasons there the flowers deform, 
No dread volcano and no mountain storm ^ 
Rains ne'er invade, nor livid lightnings play, 
Nor clouds obscure the radiant King of day. % 
But while his orb, in ceaseless glory bright, 
Rolls the rich day and fires his stars by night, 
Unbounded fulness flows beneath his reign, 
Seas yield their treasures, fruits adorn the plain ; 
His melting mountains spread their annual flood, 
Night sheds her dews, the day-breeze fans the God. 
Tis he inspires me with the vast design 541 

To form those nations to a sway divine; 



62 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Destroy the rites of every demon Power, 
Whose altars smoke with sacrilegious gore; 
To laws and labor teach the tribes to yield, 
And richer fruits to grace the cultured field. 

But great, my charmer, is the task of fame, 
Their faith to fashion and their lives to tame; 
Full many a spacious wild these eyes must see 
Spread dreary bounds between my love and me ; 55O 
And yon bright Godhead circle thrice the year, 
Each lonely evening numbered with a tear. 
Long robes of white my shoulders must embrace, 
To speak my lineage of ethereal race ; 
That simple men may reverence and obey 
The radiant offspring of the Power of day. 

When these my deeds the faith of nations gain, 
And happy millions bless thy CapacY reign, 
Then shall he feign a journey to the Sun, 
To bring the partner of his well-earn'd throne; 56o 
So shall descending kings the line sustain, 
Till earth's whole regions join the vast domain. 

Will then my fair, at my returning hour, 
Forsake these wilds and hail a happier bower ? 
Will she consenting now resume her smiles, 
Send forth her warrior to his glorious toils ; 






BOOK THE SECOND. 63 

And, sweetly patient, wait the flight of days, 
That crown our labors with immortal praise ? 

Silent the damsel heard; her moistening eye 
Spoke the full soul, nor could her voice reply ; 570 
Till softer accents sooth'd her wounded ear, 
Composed her tumult and allay'd her fear: 
Think not, heroic maid, my steps would part 
While silent sorrows heave that tender heart. 
Oella's peace more dear shall prove to me 
Than all the realms that bound the raging sea ; 
Nor thou, bright Sun, shalt bribe my soul to rest, 
And leave one struggle in her lovely breast. 

Yet think in tribes so vast, my gentle fair, 
What millions merit our instructive care; 580 

How age to age leads on their joyless gloom, 
Habitual slaughter their poor piteous doom ; 
No social ties their wayward passions prove, 
Nor peace nor pleasure treads the howling grove .; 
Mid thousand heroes and a thousand fair 
No fond Oella meets her Capac there. 
Yet, taught by thee domestic joys to prize, 
With softer charms the virgin race shall rise, 
Awake new virtues, every grace improve, 
And form their minds for happiness and love. 



64 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Ah think, as future years thro time descend, 
What wide creations on thy voice depend ; 
And, like the Sun, whose all-delighting ray 
To those mild regions gives his purest day, 
Diffuse thy bounties, let me instant fly ; 
In three short moons the generous task I'll try ; 
Then swift returning, I'll conduct my fair 
Where realms submissive wait her fostering care. 

And will my prince, my Capac, borne away, 
Thro those dark wilds in quest of empire stray, 60O 
Where tigers fierce command the shuddering wood, 
And men like tigers thirst for human blood? 
Think'stthou no dangerous deed the course attends, 
Alone, unaided by thy sire and friends ? 
Even chains and death may meet my hero there, 
Nor his last groan could reach Delia's ear. 

But no! nor death nor chains shall Capac prove 
Unknown to her, while she has power to rove. 
Close by thy side, where'er thy wanderings stray, 
My equal steps shall measure all the way ; 6lO 
With borrow'd soul each chance of fate I'll dare, 
Thy toils to lessen and thy dangers share. 
Quick shall my ready hand two garments weave, 
Whose sunny whiteness shall the tribes deceive ; 



BOOK THE SECOND. 65 

Thus clad, their homage shall secure our sway, 
And hail us children of the God of day. 

The lovely counsel pleased. The smiling chief 
Approved her courage and dispelFd her grief; 
Then to their homely bower in haste they move, 
Begin their labors and prepare to rove. 620 

Soon grow the robes beneath her forming care, 
And the fond parents wed the wondrous pair ; 
But whelm'd in grief beheld the following dawn, 
Their joys all vanished and their children gone. 
Nine days they march'd ; the tenth effulgent morn 
Saw their white forms that sacred isle adorn. 
The work begins ; they preach to every band 
The well-form'd fiction, and their faith demand ; 
With various miracles their powers display, 
To prove their lineage and confirm their sway. 630 
They form to different arts the hand of toil, 
To whirl the spindle and to spade the soil, 
The Sun's bright march with pious finger trace, 
And his pale sister with her changing face ; 
Show how their bounties clothe the labor'd plain, 
The green maize shooting from its golden grain, 
How the white cotton tree's expanding lobes 
File into threads, and swell to fleecy robes ; 

F 



66 THE COLUMBIAD. 

While the tamed Llama aids the wondrous plan, 
And lends his garment to the loins of man. 640 
The astonish'd tribes believe, with glad surprise, 
The Gods descended from the favoring skies, 
Adore their persons robed in shining white, 
Receive their laws and leave each horrid rite, 
Build with assisting hands the golden throne, 
And hail and bless the sceptre of the Sun. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD, 



BOOK III. 



F 2 



ARGUMENT. 



Actions of the Inca Capac. A general invasion of his do 
minions threatened by the mountain savages. Rocha, 
the Inca's son, sent with a few companions to offer terms 
of peace. His embassy. His adventure with the wor 
shippers of the volcano. With those of the storm, on 
the Andes. Falls in with the savage armies. Character 
and speech of Zamor, their chief. Capture of Rocha 
and his companions. Sacrifice of the latter. Death 
song of Azonto. War dance. March of the savage 
armies down the mountains to Peru. Incan army meets 
them. Battle joins. Peruvians terrified by an eclipse of 
the sun, and routed. They lly to Cusco. Grief of 
Oella, supposing the darkness to be occasioned by the 
death of Rocha. Sun appears. Peruvians from the city 
wall discover Rocha on an altar in the savage camp. 
They march in haste out of the city and engage the 
savages. Exploits of Capac. Death of Zamor. Reco 
very of Rocha, and submission of the enemy. 






THE 



COLTJMBIAD 



BOOK III. 

Now twenty years these children of the skies 
Beheld their gradual growing empire rise. 
They ruled with rigid hut with generous care, 
Diffused their arts and sooth'd the rage of war, 
Bade yon tall temple grace their favorite isle, 
The mines unfold, the cultured valleys smile, 
Those broad foundations bend their arches high, 
And rear imperial Cusco to the sky ; 
Wealth, wisdom, force consolidate the reign 
From the rude Andes to the western main. 1O 

But frequent inroads from the savage bands 
Lead fire and slaughter o'er the labor'd lands ; 
They sack the temples, the gay fields deface. 
And vow destruction to the Incan race. 



70 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The king, undaunted in defensive war, 
Repels their hordes, and speeds their flight afar; 
Stung with defeat, they range a wider wood, 
And rouse fresh tribes for future fields of blood. 

Where yon blue ridges hang their cliffs op high, 
And suns infulminate the stormful sky, 20 

The nations, tempered to the turbid air, 
Breathe deadly strife, and sigh for battle's blare ; 
Tis here they meditate, with one vast blow, 
To crush the race that rules the plains below. 
Capac with caution views the dark design, 
Learns from all points what hostile myriads join, 
And seeks in time by proffered leagues to gain 
A bloodless victory, and enlarge his reign. 

His eldest hope, yoling Rocha, at his call, 
Resigns his charge within the temple wall ; 30 

In whom began, with reverend forms of awe, 
The functions grave of priesthood and of law. 

In early youth, ere yet the ripening sun 
Had three short lustres o'er his childhood run, 
The prince had learnt, beneath his father's hand, 
The well-framed code that sway'd the sacred land ; 
With rites mysterious served the Power divine. 
Prepared the altar and adorn 'd the shrine. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 71 

Responsive hail'd, with still returning praise, 
Each circling season that the God displays, 40 

Sooth'd with funereal hymns the parting dead, 
At nuptial feasts the joyful chorus led ; 
While .evening incense and the morning song 
Rose from his hand or trembled on his tongue. 

Thus form'd for empire ere he gain'd the sway, 
To rule with reverence and with power obey, 
Reflect the glories of the parent Sun, 
And shine the Capac of his future throne, 
Employed his docile years ; till now from far 
The rumor'd leagues proclaim approaching war ; 50 
Matured for active scenes he quits the shrine, 
To aid in council or in arms to shine. 

Amid the chieftains that the court compose, 
In modest mien the stripling pontiff rose, 
With reverence bow'd, conspicuous o'er the rest, 
Approach'd the throne, and thus the sire addrest : 
Great king of nations, heaven-descended sage, 
Thy second heir has reach'd the destined age 
To take these priestly robes ; to his pure hand 
I yield them pure, and wait thy kind command. 60 
Should foes invade, permit this arm to share 
The toils, the triumphs, every chance of war ; 



72 THE COLILMBIAD. 

For this dread conflict all our force demands, 
In one wide field to whelm the brutal bands, 
Pour to the mountain gods their wonted food, 
And save thy realms from future leagues of blood. 
Yet oh, may sovereign mercy first ordain 
Propounded compact to the savage train! 
I'll go with terms of peace to spread thy sway, 
And teach the blessings of the God of day. 70 

The sire returned : My great desire you know, 
To shield from slaughter and preserve the foe, 
In bands of concord all their tribes to bind, 
And live the friend and guardian of mankind. 
Should strife begin, thy youthful arm shall share 
The toils of glory thro the walks of war ; 
But o'er their hills to seek alone the foes, 
To gain their confidence or brave their blows, 
Bend their proud souls to reason's voice divine, 
Claims hardier limbs and riper years than thine. 80 
Yet one of heavenly race the task requires, 
Whose mystic rites control the solar fires ; 
So the sooth'd Godhead proves to faithless eyes 
His love to man, his empire of the skies' 

Some veteran chief, in those rough labors tried, 
Shall aid thee on, and go thy faithful guide ; 



BOOK THE THIRD, 73 

O'er dreary heights thy slaking limbs sustain, 
Teach the dark wiles of each insidious train, 
Thro all extremes of life thy voice attend, 
In counsel lead thee, or in arms defend. 90 

And three firm youths, thy chosen friends, shall go 
To learn the climes and meditate the foe ; 
That wars of future years their skill may find, 
To serve the realm and save the savage kind. 

Rise then, my son, first partner of my fame, 
With early toils to build thy sacred name ; 
In high behest, for his own legate known, 
Proclaim the bounties of our sire the Sun. 
Tell how his fruits beneath our culture rise, 
His stars, how glorious, gem our cloudless skies; 100 
And how to us his hand hath kindly given 
His peaceful laws, the purest grace of heaven, 
With power to widen his terrestrial sway, 
And give our blessings where he gives the day. 
Yet, should the stubborn nations still prepare 
The shaft of slaughter for the barbarous war, 
Tell them we know to tread the crimson plain, 
And God's own children never yield to man. 
But ah, my child, with steps of caution go, 
The ways are hideous, and enraged the foe ; 110 



74 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Blood stains their altars, all their feasts are blood. 
Death their delight, and darkness reigns their God ; 
Tigers and vultures, storms and earthquakes share 
Their rites of worship and their spoils of war. 
Shouldst thou, my Rocha, tempt too far their ire, 
Should those dear relics feed a murderous fire, 
Deep sighs would rend thy wretched mother's breast, 
The pale Sun sink in clouds of darkness drest, 
Thy sire and mournful nations rue the day 
That drew thy steps from these sad walls away. 1 2O 

Yet go; tis virtue calls; and realms unknown, 
Won by these works, may bless thy future throne ; 
Millions of unborn souls in time may see 
Their doom reversed, and owe their peace to thee, 
Deluded sires, with murdering hands, no more 
Feed fancied demons with their children's gore, 
But, sway'd by happier sceptres, here behold 
The rites of freedom and the shrines of gold. 
Be wise, be mindful of thy realm and throne ; 
God speed thy labors and preserve my son ! 130 

Soon the glad prince, in robes of white array'd, 
Call'd his attendants and the sire obey'd. 
A diamond broad, in burning gold imprest, 
Displayed the sun's bright image on his breast ; 



BOOK THE THIRD. 75 

A pearl-dropt girdle bound his waist below, 
And the white lautu graced his lofty brow. 
They journey'd forth, o'ermarching far the mound 
That flank'd the kingdom on its Andean bound ; 
Ridge after ridge thro vagrant hordes they past, 
Where each new tribe seem'd wilder than the last; 
To all they preach and prove the solar sway, 141 
And climb fresh mountains on their tedious way. 

At length, as thro disparting clouds they rise, 
And hills above them still obstruct the .skies, 
While a dead calm o'er all the region stood, 
And not a leaf could fan its parent wood, 
Sudden a strange portentous noise began ; 
The birds fled wild, the beasts for shelter ran ; 
Slow, sullen, loud, with deep astounding blare, 
Swell the strong tones of subterranean war ; 15O 
Behind, before, beneath them groans the ground, 
Earth heaves and labors with the shuddering sound ; 
Columns of smoke, that cap the rumbling height, 
Roll reddening far thro heaven, and choke the light ; 
From tottering steeps descend their cliffs of snow, 
The mountains reel, the valleys rend below ; 
The headlong streams forget their usual round, 
And shrink and vanish in the gaping ground. 



76 THE COLUMBIAN 

The sun descends ; but night recals in vain 
Her silent shades, to recommence her reign ; 1 60 
The bursting mount gapes high, a sudden glare 
Coruscates wide, till all the purpling air 
Breaks into flame, and wheels and roars and raves 
And wraps the welkin in its folding waves ; 
Light sailing cinders, thro its vortex driven, 
Stream high and brighten to the midst of heaven ; 
And, following slow, full floods of boiling ore 
Swell, swoop aloft and thro the concave roar. 
Torrents of molten rocks, on every side, 
Lead o'er the shelves of ice their fiery tide ; 170 
Hills slide before them, skies around them burn, 
Towns sink beneath and heaving plains upturn ; 
O'er many a league the flaming deluge hurl'd, 
Sweeps total nations from the staggering world. 

Meanwhile, at distance thro the livid light, 
A busy concourse met their wondering sight ; 
The prince drew near; where lo! an altar stood, 
Rude in its form, and fuTd with burning wood; 
Wrapt in the flames a youth expiring lay, 
And the fond father thus was heard to pray : ISO 
Receive, O dreadful Power, from feeble age, 
This last pure offering to thy sateless rage ; 



BOOK THE THIRD. 77 

Thrice has thy vengeance on this hated land 
Claim'd a dear infant from my yielding hand; 
Thrice have those lovely lips the victim prest, 
And all the mother torn that tender breast ; 
When the dread duty stifled every sigh, 
And not a tear escaped her beauteous eye. 
Our fourth and last now meets the fatal doom ; 
Groan not, my child, thy God remands thee home ; 
Attend once more, thou dark infernal Name, 191 
From yon far streaming pyramid of flame ; 
Snatch from his heaving flesh the blasted breath, 
Sacred to thee and all the fiends of death ; 
Then in thy hall, with spoils of nations crown'd, 
Confine thy walks beneath the rending ground j 
No more on earth the embowel'd flames to pour, 
And scourge my people and my race no more. 

Thus Rocha heard ; and to the trembling crowd 
Turn'd the bright image of his beaming God. 200 
The afflicted chief, with fear and grief opprest, 
Beheld the sign, and thus the prince addrest : 
From what far land, O royal stranger, say, 
Ascend thy wandering steps this nightly way ? 
From plains like ours, by holy demons fired ? 
Have thy brave people in the flames expired ? 



78 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And hast thou now, to stay the whelming flood, 
No son to offer to the furious God ? 

From happier lands I came, the prince returns, 
Where no red flaming flood the concave burns, 210 
No furious God bestorms our soil and skies. 

Nor yield our hands the bloody sacrifice ; 

J 

But life and joy the Power delights to give, 
And bids his children but rejoice and live. 
Thou seest thro heaven the day-dispensing Sun 
In living radiance wheel his golden throne, 
O'er earth's gay surface send his genial beams, 
Force from yon cliffs of ice the vernal streams ; 
While fruits and flowers adorn the cultured field, 
And seas and lakes their copious treasures yield ; 220 
He reigns our only God. In him we trace 
The friend, the father of our happy race. 
Late the lone tribes, on those unlabor'd shores, 
Ran wild and served imaginary Powers ; 
Till he, in pity, taught their feuds to cease, 
Devised their laws, and fashion'd all for peace. 
My sacred parents first the reign began. 
Sent from his courts to guide the paths of man, 
To plant his fruits, to manifest his sway, 
And give their blessings where he gives the day. 230 



BOOR THE THIRD. 79 

The sachem proud replied: Thy garb and face 
Proclaim thy lineage of superior race ; 
And our progenitors, no less than thine> 
Sprang from a God, and own a birth divine. 
From that sky-scorching mount, on floods of flame. 
In elder times my great forefathers came ; 
There dwells the Sire, and from his dark abode 
Oft claims, as now, the tribute of a God. 
This victim due when willing mortals pay, 
His terrors lessen and his fires decay ; 240 

While purer sleet regales the mountain air, 
And our glad hosts are fired for fiercer war. 

Yet know, dread chief, the pious youth rejoin'd, 
Some one prime Power produced all human kind ; 
Some Sire supreme, whose ever-ruling soul 
Creates, preserves, and regulates the whole. 
That Sire supreme must roll his radiant eye 
Round the wide earth and thro the boundless sky ; 
That all their habitants, their gods and men, 
May rise unveiFd beneath his careful ken. 250 

Could thy dark fiend, that hides his blind abode, 
And cauldrons in his cave that fiery flood, 
Yield the rich fruits that distant nations find ? 
Or praise or punish or behold mankind ? 



80 THE COLUMBIAD. 

But when my God, res urging from the nightj 
Shall gild his chambers with the morning light, 
By mystic rites he'll vindicate his throne. 
And own thy servant for his duteous son. 

Meantime, the chief replied, thy cares releast, 
Rest here the night and share our scanty feast; 260 
Which, driven in hasty rout, our train supplied, 
When trembling earth foretold the boiling tide. 
They fared> they rested ; till with lucid horn 
All-cheering Phosphor led the lively morn ; 
The prince arose, an altar rear'd in haste, 
And watch'd the splendors of the reddening east. 

As o'er the mountain flamed the sun's broad eye, 
He call'd the host, his holy rites to try ; 
Then took the loaves of maize, the bounties brake, 
Gave to the chief, and bade them all partake ; 270 
The hallow'd relics on the pile he placed, 
With tufts of flowers the simple offering graced^ 
Held to the sun the image from his breast, 
Whose glowing concave all the God exprest 3 
O'er the dried leaves the rays concentred fly, 
And thus his voice ascends the listening sky : 
O thou, whose splendors kindle heaven with fire, 
Great Soul of nature, man's immortal Sire, 



BOOK THE THIRD. 81 

If e*er my father found thy sovereign grace, 

Or thy blest will ordain'd the Incan race, 280 

Give these lorn tribes to learn thy awful name, 

Receive this offering, and the pile inflame ; 

So shall thy laws o'er wider bounds be known, 

And earth's whole race be happy as thy own. 

Thus pray'd the prince ; the focal flames aspire, 
The mute beholders tremble and retire, 
Gaze on the miracle, full credence own, 
And vow obedience to the sacred Sun. 

The legates now their farther course descried, 
A young cazique attending as a guide, 290 

O'er craggy cliffs pursued their eastern way, 
Trod loftier champaigns, meeting high the day, 
Saw timorous tribes, in these sublime abodes, 
Adore the blasts and turn the storms to gods ; 
While every cloud that thunders thro the skies 
Claims from their hands a human sacrifice. 
Awhile the youth, their better faith to gain, 
Strives with his usual art, but strives in vain ; 
In vain he pleads the mildness of the sun ; 
A gale refutes him ere his speech be done ; 300 
Continual tempests from their orient blow, 
And load the mountains with eternal snow. 



S3 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The sun's own beam, the timid clans declare, 
Drives all their evils on the tortured air ; 
He draws the vapors up their eastern sky, 
That sail and centre round his dazzling eye ; 
Leads the loud storms along his midday course, 
And bids the Andes meet their sweeping force ; 
Builds their bleak summits with an icy throne, 
To shine thro heaven, a semblance of his own ; 310 
Hence the sharp sleet, these lifted lawns that wait, 
And all the scourges that attend their state. 

Two toilsome days the virtuous Inca strove 
To social life their savage minds to move ; / A 

When the third morning glow'd serenely bright, 
He led their elders to an eastern height ; 
The world unlimited beneath them lay, 
And not a cloud obscured the rising day. 
Vast Amazonia, starr'd with twinkling streams, 
In azure drest, a heaven inverted seems ; 320 

Dim Paraguay extends the aching sight, 
Xaraya glimmers like the moon of night, 
Land, water, sky in blending borders play, 
v And smile and brighten to the lamp of day. 
When thus the prince: What majesty divine! 
What robes of gold! what flames about him shine! 



BOOK THE THIRD. 83 

There walks the God! his starry sons on high -,^0 
Draw their dim veil and shrink behind the sky ; 
Earth with surrounding nature's born anew, ny, 
And men by millions greet the glorious view ! 33O 
Who can behold his all-delighting soul 
Give life and joy, and heaven and earth control, 
Bid death and darkness from his presence move, 
Who can behold, and not adore and love ? 
Those plains, immensely circling, feel his beams, 
He greens the groves, he silvers gay the streams, , 
Swells the wild fruitage, gives the beast his food, 
And mute creation hails the genial God. 
But richer boons his righteous laws impart, 
To aid the life and mould the social heart, 340 
His arts of peace thro happy realms to spread, 
And altars grace with sacrificial bread ; 
Such our distinguished lot, who own his sway, 
Mild as his morning stars and liberal as the day. 

His unknown laws, the mountain chief replied, 
May serve perchance your boasted race to guide ; 
And yon low plains, that drink his partial ray, 
At his glad shrine their just devotions pay. 
But we nor fear his frown nor trust his smile ; 
Vain as our prayers is every anxious toil ; 350 

G 2 



84 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Our beasts are buried in his whirls of snow, 
Our cabins drifted to his slaves below. 
Even now his placid looks thy hopes beguile, 
He lures thy raptures with a morning smile ; 
But soon (for so those saffron robes proclaim) 
His own black tempest shall obstruct his flame, 
Storm, thunder, fire, against the mountains driven, 
Rake deep their sulphur'd sides, disgorging here his 

heaven. 

He spoke ; they waited, till the fervid ray 
High from the noontide shot the faithless day ^ 36o 
When lo, far gathering under eastern skies, 
Solemn and slow, the dark red vapors rise ; 
Full clouds, convolving on the turbid air, 
Move like an ocean to the watery war. 
The host, securely raised, no dangers harm, 
They sit unclouded and o'erlook the storm ; 
While far beneath, the sky-borne waters ride, 
Veil the dark deep and sheet the mountain's side ; 
The lightning's glancing fires, in fury cuiTd, 
Bend their long forky foldings o'er the world ; 3/0 
Torrents and broken crags and floods of rain 
From steep to steep roll down their force amain, 
In dreadful cataracts ; the bolts confound 
The tumbling clouds, and rock the solid ground. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 85 

The blasts unburden'd take their upward course, 
And o'er the mountain top resume their force. 
Swift thro the long white ridges from the north 
The rapid whirlwinds lead their terrors forth ; 
High walks the storm, the circling surges rise, 
And wild gyrations wheel the hovering skies ; 380 
Vast hills of snow, in sweeping columns driven, 
Deluge the air and choke the void of heaven ; 
Floods burst their bounds, the rocks forget their place, 
And the firm Andes tremble to their base. 

Long gazed the host; when thus the stubborn chief, 
With eyes on fire, and fill'd with sullen grief: 
Behold thy careless god, secure on high, 
Laughs at our woes and peaceful walks the sky, 
Drives all his evils on these seats sublime, 
And wafts his favors to a happier clime ; 390 

Sire of the dastard race thy words disclose, 
There glads his children, here afflicts his foes. 
Hence! speed thy flight! pursue him where he leads; 
Lest vengeance seize thee for thy father's deeds, 
Thy immolated limbs assuage the fire 
Of those curst Powers, who now a gift require. 

The youth in haste collects his scanty train, 
And, with the sun, flies o'er the western plain ; 



8 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The fading orb with plaintive voice he plies, 
To guide his steps and light him down the skies. 40Q 
So when the moon and all the host of even 
Hang pale and trembling on the verge of heaven, 
While storms ascending threat their nightly reign, 
They seek their absent sire, and sink below the main. 

Now to the south he turns ; where one vast plain 
Calls from a hundred hordes the warrior train ; 
<Of various dress and various form they show'd ; 
Each wore the ensign of his local god. 

From eastern hills a grisly troop descends, 
Whose war song wild the shuddering concave rends; 
Cloak'd in a tigerVhide their grim chief towers, 411 
And apes the brinded god his tribe adores. 
The tusky jaws grin o'er the sachem's brow. 
The bald eyes glare, the paws depend below, 
From his bored ears contorted serpents hung, 
And drops of gore seem'd rolling on his tongue. 
The northern glens pour forth the Vulture-race ; 
Brown tufts of quills their shaded foreheads grace ; 
The claws branch wide, the beak expands for blood, 
And all the armor imitates the god. 42O 

The Condor, frowning from a southern plain, 
Borne on a standard, leads a numerous train : bn/ 



BOOK THE THIRD. 87 

Clench'd in his talons hangs an infant dead, 
His long bill pointing where the sachems tread, 
His wings, tho lifeless, frighten still the wind, 
And his broad tail o'ershades the file behind. 
From other plains and other hills afar, 
The tribes throng dreadful to the promised war ; 
Some twine their forejock with a crested snake, 
Some wear the emblems of a stream or lake ; 430 
All from the Power they serve assume their mode, 
And foam and yell to taste the Incan blood. 

The prince incautious with his men drew near, 
Known for an Inca by his dress and air ; 
Till coop'd and caught amid the warrior trains, . 
They bow in silence to the victor's chains. 
When now the gathered thousands throng the plain, 
And echoing skies the rending shouts retain; 
Zamor, the chieftain of the Tiger-band, 
By choice appointed to the first command, 440 
Shrugg'd up his brinded spoils above the rest, 
And grimly frowning thus the crowd addrest : 

Warriors, attend ! tomorrow leads abroad 
Our sacred vengeance for our brothers' blood. 
On those scorch'd plains for ever must they lie, 
Their bones still nsxked to tlje burning sky J 



88 THE COLUMBJAD. 

Left in the field for foreign hawks to tear, 
Nor our own vultures can the banquet share. 
But soon, ye mountain gods, yon dreary west 
Shall sate your hunger with an ampler feast ; 45O 
When the proud Sun, that terror of the plain, 
Shall grieve in heaven for all his children slain, 
As o'er his realm our slaughtering armies roam, 
And give to your sad Powers a happier home. 
Meanwhile, ye tribes, these men of solar race, 
Food for the flames, your bloody rites shall grace ; 
Each to a different god his panting breath 
Resigns in fire ; this night demands their death ; 
All but the Inca ; him reserved in state 
These conquering hands ere long shall immolate 46o 
To all the Powers at once that storm the skies, 
A grateful gift, before his mother's eyes. 

The sachem ceased ; the chiefs of every race 
Lead the bold captives to their destined place ; 
The sun descends, the parting day expires, 
And earth and heaven display their sparkling fires. 
Soon the raised altars kindle round the gloom, 
And call the victims to their vengeful doom ; 
Led to their pyres, in sullen pomp they tread, 
And sing by turns the triumphs of the dead. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 89 

Amid the crowd beside his altar stood 

The youth devoted to the Tiger-god ; 

A beauteous form he rose, of noble grace, 

The only hope of his illustrious race. 

His aged sire, for numerous years, had shone 

The first supporter of the Incan throne ; 

Wise Capac loved the youth, and graced his hand 

With a fair virgin from a neighboring band ; 

And him the legate prince, in equal prime, 

Had chose to share his mission round the clime. 48O 

He mounts the pyre, the flames approach his breath, 

And thus he wakes the dauntless song of death : 

Dark vault of heaven, that greet his daily throne, 
Where flee the glories of your absent Sun ? 
Ye starry hosts, who kindle from his eye, 
Can you behold him in the western sky ? 
Or if unseen beneath his watery bed, 
The weaned God reclines his radiant head, 
When next his morning steps your courts inflame, 
And seek on earth for young Azonto's name, 490 
Then point these ashes, mark the smoky pile, 
And say the hero suffered with a smile. 
So shall the Power in vengeance view the place, 
In crimson clothe his terror-beaming face, 



go THE COLUMBIAD. 

Pour swift destruction on these curst abodes, 
Whelm the grim tribes and all their savage gods. 

But ah, forbear to tell my stooping sire 
His darling hopes have fed a coward fire ; 
Why should he know the tortures of the brave ? 
Why fruitless sorrows bend him to the grave? 500 
Nor shalt.thou e'er be told, my bridal fair, 
What silent pangs these panting vitals tear ; 
But blooming still the patient hours employ 
On the blind hope of future scenes of joy. 
Now haste, ye fiends of death ; the Sire of day 
In absent slumber gives your malice way ; 
While fainter light these livid flames supply, 
And short-lived thousands learn of me to die. 

He ceased not speaking; when the yell of war 
Drowns all their death songs in a hideous jar ; 51Q 
The cries rebounding from the hillsides pour, ^ 
And wolves and tigers catch the distant roar. 
Now more concordant all their voices join, 
And round the plain they form the festive line ; 
When, to the music of the dismal din, 
Indignant Zamor bids the dance begin. 
Dim thro the shadowy fires each changing form. 
Moves lil^e a cloud before an evening storm, 



BOOK THE THIRD. 91 

When o'er the moon's pale face and starry plain 
The shifting shades lead on their broken train ; 52O 
The mingling tribes their mazy gambols tread. 
Till the last groan proclaims the victims dead, 
Then part the smoky flesh, enjoy the feast, 
And lose their labors in oblivious rest. 

Soon as the western hills announced the morn, 
And falling fires were scarcely seen to burn, 
Grimm'd by the horrors of the dreadful night, 
The hosts woke fiercer for the promised fight ; 
And dark and silent thro the frowning grove 
The different tribes beneath their standards move. 

Meantime the solar king collects from far 531 
His martial bands, to meet the expected war, 
Camps on the confines of an eastern plain 
That skirts the steep rough limit of his reign ; 
He trains their ranks, their pliant force combines, 
To close in columns or extend in lines, 
To wheel, change front, in broken files dispart, 
And draw new strength from all the warrior's art. 

But now the rising sun relumes the plain, 
And calls to arms the well-accustom'd train. 54Q 
High in the front imperial Capac strode, 
In fair effulgence like the beaming God; 



,92 THE COLUMBIAN 

A golden girdle bound his snowy vest, 
A mimic sun hung sparkling on his breast ; 
The lautu's horned wreath his temples twined > 
The bow, the quiver shade his waist behind ; 
Raised high in air his golden sceptre burn'd, 
And hosts surrounding trembled as he turn'd. 

O'er eastern hills he cast his watchful eye, 
Thro the broad breaks that lengthen down the sky; 
In whose blue clefts the sloping pathways bend., 551 
Where annual floods from melting snows descend. 
Now dry and deep, they lead from every height 
The savage files that headlong rush to fight ; 
They throng and thicken thro the smoky air, 
And every breach pours down the dusky war. 
So when a hundred streams explore their way, 
Down the same slopes, convolving to the sea, 
They boil, they bend, they force their floods amain, 
Swell o'er obstructing crags, and sweep the plain. 56o 

Capac beholds and waits the coming shock, 
As for the billows waits the storm-beat rock ; 
And while for fight his ardent troops prepare, 
Thus thro the ranks he breathes the soul of war : 
Ye tribes that flourish in the Sun's mild reign, 
Long have your flocks adorn'd the peaceful plain, 



BOOK THE THIRD. 93 

As o'er the realm his smiles persuasive flow'd, 

And conquer'd all without the stain of blood ; 

But lo, at last that wild infuriate band 

With savage war demands your happy land. 670 

Beneath the dark immeasurable host, 

Descending, swarming, how the crags are lost ! 

Already now their ravening eyes behold 

Your star-bright temples and your gates of gold ; 

And to their gods in fancied goblets pour 

The warm libation of your children's gore. 

Move then to vengeance, meet the sons of blood, 

Led by this arm and lighted by that God ; 

The strife is fierce, your fanes and fields the prize, 

The warrior conquers or the infant dies. 580 

Fill'd with his fire, the troops in squared array 
Wait the wild hordes loose huddling to the fray ; 
Their pointed arrows, rising on the bow, 
Look up the sky and chide the lagging foe. 

Dread Zamor leads the homicidious train, 
Moves from the clefts and stretches o'er the plain. 
He gives the shriek ; the deep convulsing sound 
The hosts reecho, and the hills around 
Retain the rending tumult ; all the air 
Clangs in the conflict of the clashing war. 590 



94 THE COLUMBIAD; 

But firm undaunted as a shelvy strand 
That meets the surge, the bold Peruvians stand^ 
With steady aim the sounding bowstring ply, 
And showers of arrows thicken thro the sky; 
When each grim host, in closer conflict join'd, 
Clench the dire ax and cast the bow behind ; 
Thro broken ranks sweep wide their slaughtering 

course, 

Now struggle back, now sidelong sway the force. 
Here from grim chiefs is lopt the grisly head ; 
All gride the dying, all deface the dead ; 600 

There scattering o'er the field in thin array, 
Man tugs with man, and clubs with axes play ; 
With broken shafts they follow and they fly, 
And yells and groans and shouts invade the sky; 
Round all the shattered groves the ground is strow'd 
With sever'd limbs and corses bathed in blood. 
Long raged the strife ; and where, on either side, 
A friend, a father or a brother died, 
No trace remain'd of what he was before, 
Mangled with horrid wounds and black with gore. 
Now the Peruvians, in collected might, 6l 1 

With one wide stroke had wing'd the savage flight ; 
But their bright Godhead, in his midday race, 
With glooms unusual veiFd his radiant face, 



BOOK THE THIRD. * 

Querich'd all his beams, tho cloudless, in affright^ 
As loth to view from heaven the finished fight. 
A trembling twilight o'er the welkin moves, 
Browns the dim void, and darkens deep the groves ; 
The waking stars, embolden'd at the sight, 
Peep out and gem the anticipated night; 620 

Day-birds, and beasts of light to covert fly, 
And owls and wolves begin their evening cry* 
The astonish'd Inca marks, with wild surprise, 
Dead chills on earth, no cloud in all the skies, 
His host o'ershaded in the field of blood, 
Gored by his foes, deserted by his God. 
Mute with amaze, they cease the war to wage, 
Gaze on their leaders and forget their rage ; 
.When pious Capac to the listening crowd 
Raised high his wand and pour'd his voice aloud: 630 
Ye chiefs and warriors of Peruvian race, 
Some sore offence obscures my father's face ; 
What moves the Numen to desert the plain, 
Nor save his children, nor behold them slain ? tA 
Fly! speed your course, regain the guardian town,-' 
Ere darkness shroud you in a deeper frown ; 
The faithful walls your squadrons shall defend, 
While my sad steps the sacred dome ascend, 



96 THE COLtiMBIAD. 

To learn the cause, and ward the woes we fear t 
Haste, haste, my sons ! I guard the flying rear. 64O 

The hero spoke ; the trembling tribes obey, 
While deeper glooms obscure the source of day. 
Sudden the savage bands collect amain, 
Hang on the rear and sweep them o'er the plain ; 
Their shouts, redoubling with the flying war, 
Drown the loud groans and torture all the air. 
The hawks of heaven, that o'er the field had stood, 
Scared by the tumult from the scent of blood, 
Cleave the far gloom ; the beasts forget their prey, 
And scour the waste, and give the war its way. 650 

Zamor elate with horrid joy beheld 
The Sun depart, his children fly the field, 
And raised his rending voice : Thou darkening sky, 
Deepen thy damps, the fiend of death is nigh ; 
Behold him rising from his shadowy throne, 
To veil this heaven and drive the conquer'd Sun j 
The glaring Godhead yields to sacred night, 
And his foil'd armies imitate his flight. 
Confirm, infernal Power, thy rightful reign, 
Give deadlier shades and heap the piles of slain; 660 
Soon the young captive prince shall roll in fire, 
And all his race accumulate the pyre. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 97 

Ye mountain vultures, here your food explore, 

Tigers and condors, all ye gods of gore, 

In these rich fields, beneath your frowning sky, 

A plenteous feast shall every god supply. 

Rush forward, warriors, hide the plains with dead ; 

Twas here our friends in former combat bled ; 

Strow'd thro the waste their naked bones demand 

This tardy vengeance from our conquering hand. 670 

He said; and high before the Tiger-train 
With longer strides hangs forward o'er the slain, 
Bends like a falling tree to reach the foe, 
And o'er tall Capac aims a forceful blow. 
The king beheld the ax, and with his wand 
Struck the raised weapon from the sachem's hand ; 
Then clench'd the falling helve, and whirling round, 
FelFd a close file of heroes to the ground ; 
Nor stay'd, but follow'd where his people run, 
Fearing to fight, forsaken by the Sun ; 680 

Till Cusco's walls salute their longing sight, 
And the wide gates receive their rapid flight. 
The folds are barr'd, the foes in shade conceal'd, 
Like howling wolves, rave round the frighted field. 

The monarch now ascends the sacred dome ; 
The Sun's fixt image there partakes the gloom ; 

H 



98 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Thro all the shrines, where erst on new-moon days 

Swelled the full quires of consecrated praise, 

A tomb-like silence reigns ; till female cries 

Burst forth at last, and these sad accents rise : 690 

Was it for this, my son to distant lands 

Must trace the wilds, and tempt those lawless bands? 

And does the God obscure his golden throne 

In mournful darkness for my slaughtered son ? 

Oh, had his beam, ere that disastrous day 

That calFd the youth from these fond arms away, 

Received my spirit to its native sky, 

That sad Oella might have seen him die ! 

Where slept thy shaft of vengeance, O my God, 
When those fell tigers drank his sacred blood ? 700 
Did not the pious prince, with rites divine, 
Feed the pure flame in this thy hallow'd shrine ; 
And early learn, beneath his father s hand, 
To shed thy blessings round the favor'd land ? 
Form'd by thy laws the royal seat to grace, 
Son of thy son, and glory of his race. 
Where, my lost Rocha, rests thy lovely head ? 
Where the rent robes thy hapless mother made ? 
I see thee, mid those hideous hills of snow, 
Pursued and slaughter'd by the wildman foe ; 710 



BOOK THE THIRD. 99 

Or, doom'd a feast for some pretended god, 
Drench his black altar with celestial blood. 
Snatch me, O Sun, to happier worlds of light* 
No: shroud me, shroud me with thyself in night. 
Thou hear'st me not, thou dread departed Power, 
Thy face is dark, and Rocha lives no more. 

Thus heard the silent king ; his equal heart 
Caught all her grief, and bore a father's part. 
The cause, suggested by her tender moan, 
The cause perchance that veil'd the midday sun, 720 
And shouts that spoke the still approaching foe, 
Fixt him suspense, in all the strength of woe. 
A doubtful moment held his changing choice ; 
Now would he sooth her, half assumes his voice ; 
But greater cares the rising wish control, 
And call forth all his energy of soul. 
Why should he cease to ward the coming fate ? 
Or she be told the foes besiege the gate ? 
He turn'd in haste ; and now their image-god 
High on the spire with newborn lustre glow'd ; 
Swift thro the portal flew the hero's eye, 
And hail'd the growing splendor in the sky. 

The troops courageous at return of light 
Throng round the dome, impatient for the fight ; 

H 2 



100 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The king descending in the portal stood, 

And thus addrest the all-delighting God : 

O sovereign Soul of heaven, thy changing face 

Makes or destroys the glory of thy race. 

If from this mortal life my child be fled, 

First of thy line that ever graced the dead ; 

If thy bright splendor ceased on high to burn 

For that loved youth who never must return, 

Forgive thine armies, when in fields of blood 

They lose their strength and fear the frowning God. 

As now thy glory, with superior day, 

Glows thro the field and leads the warrior's way, 

May our exalted souls, to vengeance driven, 

Burn with new brightness in the cause of heaven ! 

For thy slain son the murderous horde shall bleed ; 

We mourn the hero, but avenge the deed. f5Q 

He said ; and from the battlement on high 
A watchful warrior raised a sudden cry : 
" An Inca white on yonder altar tied 
Tis Rocha's self the flame ascends his side." 

In sweeping haste the bursting gates unbar, 
And flood the champaign with a tide of war ; 
A cloud of arrows leads the rapid train, 
They shout, they swarm, they hide the dusty plain ; 



BOOK THE THIRD. 101 

Bows, quivers, girdles strovv the field behind, ti"Jf- 
And the raised axes cleave the passing wind. 76 
The prince, confest to every warrior's sight, 
Inspires each soul and centres all the fight ; 
Each hopes to snatch him from the kindling pyre, 
Each fears his breath already flits in fire. 
Here Zamor ranged his ax-men deep and wide, 
Wedged like a wall, and thus the king defied : 
Haste, son of Light, pour fast the winged war, 
The prince, the dying prince demands your care ; 
Hear how his death song chides your dull delay, 
Lift longer strides, bend forward to the fray, 77^ 
Ere flames infolding suffocate his groan, 
Child of your beaming God, a victim to our own. 

This said, he raised his shaggy shoulders high, 
And bade the shafts glide thicker thro the sky. 
Like the broad billows of the lifted main, 
Rolls into sight the long Peruvian train ; 
A white sail bounding, on the billows tost, 
Is Capac towering o'er the furious host. 

Now meet the dreadful chiefs, with eyes on fire ; 
Beneath their blows the parting ranks retire ; 7 80 
In whirlwind-sweep their meeting axes bound, 
Wheel, crash in air, and plow the trembling ground ; 



102 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Their sinewy limbs in fierce contortions bend, 
And mutual strokes with equal force descend, 
Parried with equal art, now gyring prest 
High at the head, now plunging for the breast. 
The king starts backward from the struggling foe, 
Collects new strength, and with a circling blow 
Rush'd furious on ; his flinty edge, whirl'd wide, 
Met Zamor's helve, and glancing grazed his side 790 
And settled in his groin ; so plunged it lay, 
That scarce the king could tear his ax away. 
The savage fell ; when thro the Tiger- train 
The driving Inca turns his force amain ; 
Where still compact they hem the murderous pyre, 
And Rocha's voice seems faltering to expire. 
The phrensied father rages, thunders wild, 
Hews armies down, to save the sinking child ; 
The ranks fall staggering where he lifts his arm, 
Or roll before him like a billowy storm ; 800 

Behind his steps collecting warriors close ; 
Deep centred in a circling ridge of foes 
He cleaves his wasting way ; the prince unties, 
And thus his voice : Dread Sovereign of the skies, 
Accept my living son, again bestow'd 
To grace with rites the temple of his God. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 103 

Move, heroes, move ; complete the work begun. 
Crush the grim race, avenge your injured Sun. 

The savage host, that view'd the daring deed, 
And saw their nations with their leader bleed, 81O 
Raised high the shriek of horror ; all the plain 
Is trod with flight and cover'd with the slain. 
The bold Peruvians compass round the field, 
Confine their flight, and force the rest to yield ; 
When Capac raised his placid voice again ; 
Ye conquering troops, collect the vanquished train ; 
The Sun commands to stay the rage of war, 
He knows to conquer, but he loves to spare. 

He ceased ; and where the savage leader lay 
Weltering in gore, directs his eager way, 820 

Unwraps the tiger's hide, and strives in vain 
To close the wound, and mitigate the pain ; 
And while compassion for a foe distrest 
Mixt with reproach, he thus the chief addrest : 
Too long, proud prince, thy fearless heart with 
stood 

Our sacred arms, and braved the living God ; 
His sovereign will commands all feuds to cease, 
His realm is concord and his pleasure peace; 



104 THE COLUMBIAD. 

This copious carnage, spreading far the plain. 
Insults his bounties, but confirms his reign. 830 
Enough! tis past; thy parting breath demands 
The last sad office from my yielding hands. 
To share thy pains and feel thy hopeless woe, 
Are rites ungrateful to a fallen foe : 
Yet rest in peace ; and know, a chief so brave, 
When life departs, shall find an honor'd grave ; 
Myself in princely pomp thy tomb shall rear, 
And tribes unborn 1hy hapless fate declare. 

Insult me not with tombs ! the monster cried, 
Let closing clods thy coward carcase hide ; 840 
But these brave bones, unburied on the plain, 
Touch not with dust, nor dare with rites profane ; 
Let no curst earth conceal this gory head, 
Nor songs proclaim the dreadful Zamor dead. 
Me, whom the hungry gods from plain to plain 
Have followed, feasting on thy slaughtered train, 
Me wouldst thou cover ? No! from yonder sky, 
The wide-beak'd hawk, that now beholds me 

die, 

Soon with his cowering train my flesh shall tear, 
And wolves and tigers vindicate their share. 850 
Receive, dread Powers (since I can slay no more), 
My last glad victim, this devoved gore. 



BOOK THE THIRD. 105 

Thus pour'd the vengeful chief his fainting breath, 
And lost his utterance in the gasp of death. 
The sad remaining tribes confess the Power, 
That sheds his bounties round Peruvia's shore; 
All bow obedient to the Incan throne, 
And blest Oella hails her living son. 



THE 

COLTJMBIAD. 

BOOK IY. 



ARGUMENT. 



Destruction of Peru foretold. Grief of Columbus. He is 
comforted by the promise of a vision of future ages. All 
Europe appears in vision. Effect of the discovery of 
America upon the affairs of Europe. Improvement in 
commerce ; government. Revival of letters. Order of 
the Jesuits. Religious persecution. Inquisition. Rise 
and progress of more liberal principles. Character of 
Raleigh ; who plans the settlement of North America. 
Formation of the coast by the gulph stream. Nature of 
the colonial establishments, the first great asylum and 
infant empire of Liberty. Liberty the necessary founda 
tion of morals. Delaware arrives with a reinforcement 
of new settlers, to consolidate the colony of Virginia. 
Night scene, as contemplated by these patriarchs, while 
they are sailing up the Chesapeak, and are saluted by 
the river gods. Prophetic speech of Potowmak. Fleets 
of settlers from seyeral parts of Europe steering for 
America. 



THE 



COLTJMBIAD 



BOOK IV. 

IN one dark age, beneath a single hand, 

Thus rose an empire in the savage land. 

Its wealth and power with following years increase, 

Its growing nations spread the walks of peace ; 

Religion here, that universal name, 

Man's proudest passion, most ungovern'd flame, 

Erects her altars on the same bright base, 

That dazzled erst, and still deludes the race ; 

Sun, moon, all powers that forceful strike his eyes, 

Earth-shaking storms and constellated skies. 1O 

Yet all the pomp his labors here unfold, 
The vales of verdure and the towers of gold, 
Those infant arts and sovereign seats of state, 
In short-lived glory hasten to their fate. 



lio THE COLUMBIAD. 

Thy followers, rushing like an angry flood, 
Too soon shall drench them in the nation's blood ; 
Nor thou, Las Casas, best of men, shalt stay 
The ravening legions from their guardless prey. 
O hapless prelate ! hero, saint and sage, 
Foredoomed with crimes a fruitless war to wage, 20 
To see at last (thy life of virtue run) 
A realm unpeopled and a world undone ! 
While pious Valverde mock of priesthood stands, 
Guilt in his heart, the gospel in his hands, 
Bids, in one field, their unarm'd thousands bleed, 
Smiles o'er the scene and sanctifies the deed. 
And thou, brave Gasca, with persuasive strain, 
Shalt lift thy voice and urge thy power in vain ; 
Vain are thy hopes the sinking land to save, 
Or call her slaughter'd millions from the grave. SO 

Here Hesper paused. Columbus with a sigh 
Cast o'er the continent his moisten'd eye, 
And thus replied : Ah, hide me in the tomb ; 
Why should I live to see the impending doom ? 
If such foul deeds the scheme of heaven compose, 
And virtue's toils induce redoubled woes, 
Unfold no more ; but grant a kind release ; 
Give me, tis all I ask, to rest in peace. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. in 

And thou shalt rest in peace, the Saint rejoin'd, 
Ere these conflicting shades involve mankind. 40 
But broader views shall first thy mind engage, 
Years far advanced beyond this darksome age 
Shall feast thee here ; the fruits of thy long care 
A grateful world beneath thy ken shall share. 
Europe's contending kings shall soon behold 
These fertile plains and hills of treasured gold ; 
And in the path of thy adventurous sail 
Their countless navies float on every gale, 
For wealth and commerce search the western shore, 
And load each ocean with the shining ore. 50 

As up the orient heaven the dawning ray 
Smiles o'er the hills and gives the promised day, 
Drives fraud and rapine from their nightly spoil,. 
And social nature wakes to various toil ; 
So from the blazing mine the golden store 
Mid rival states shall spread from shore to shore, 
Unite their force, its opulence to share, 
Extend the pomp but sooth the rage of war ; 
Wide thro the world while genius unconfined 
Tempts loftier flights, and opens all the mind, 60 
Dissolves the slavish bands of monkish lore, 
Wakes the bold arts and bids the Muses soar. 



112 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Then shall thy northern climes their seats display^ 
United nations there commence their sway ; 
O'er earth and ocean spread their peerless fame, 
And send thro time thy patriarchal name. 

Now turn thy view to Europe ; see the rage 
Of feudal faction every court engage ; 
All honest labor, all commercial ties 
Their kings discountenance, their lords despise. 7 
The naked harbors, looking to the main, 
Rear their kind cliffs and break the storms in vain, 
The willing wave no foreign treasures lade, 
Nor sails nor cities cast a watery shade ; 
Save, where yon opening gulph the strand divides, 
Proud Venice bathes her in the broken tides, 
Weds her tamed sea, shakes every distant throne, 
And deems by right the naval world her own. 

Yet must we mark, the bondage of the mind 
Spreads deeper glooms, and subj ugates mankind ; 8O 
The zealots fierce, whom local creeds enrage, 
In holy feuds perpetual combat wage, 
Support all crimes by full indulgence given, 
Usurp the power and wield the sword of heaven. 

But lo, where future years their scenes unrol, 
The rising arts inspire the venturous soul. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 113 

From all the ports that cleave the coast of Spain, 
New fleets ascending streak the western main ; 
From Tago's bank, from Albion's rocky round, 
Commercing squadrons o'er the billows bound; 9^ 
Thro Afric's isles observe the sweeping sails, 
Full pinions tossing in Arabian gales, 
Indus and Ganges deep in canvass lost, 
And navies crowding round Cambodia's coast; 
New nations rise,, all climes and oceans brave, 
And shade with sheets the immeasurable wave. 

See lofty Ximenes with solemn gait 
Move from the cloister to the walks of state, 
And thro the factious monarchies of Spain, 
Curb the fierce lords and fix one royal reign. 1OO 
Behold dread Charles the imperial seat ascends, 
O'er Europe's thrones his conquering arm extends; 
While wealthier shores, beneath the western day, 
Unfold their treasures to confirm his sway. 

Roused at false glory's fascinating call, 
See Francis train the gallant youths of Gaul, 
O'erstrain the strength of her extended states, 
Scale the proud Alps, or burst their granite gates, 
On Pavia's plain for Cesar's crown contend, 
Of arms the votary, but of arts the friend. 1 la 

i 



114 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Arid see proud Wolsey rise, securely great, 
Kings at his call and mitres round him wait ; 
From monkish walls the hoarded wealth he draw* 
To aid the tyrant and restrain the laws, 
Wakes Albion's genius, neighboring princes braves, 
And shares with them the commonwealth of waves. 

Behold dark Solyman, from eastern skies, 
With his grim host magnificently rise, 
Wave his broad crescent o'er the Midland sea, 
Thro vast Hungaria drive his conquering way, 12O 
Crowd close the Christian powers, and carry far 
The rules of homicide, the lore of war. 

The Tuscan dukes excite a nobler strife ; 
Lorenzo calls the Fine Arts forth to life* 
Fair nature's mimic maids; whose powers divine 
Her charms develop and her laws define ; 
From sire to son the splendid labors spread, 
And Leo follows where good Cosmo led. 
Waked from the ground that Gothic rovers trod, 
Starts the bronze hero and the marble god ; 13O 
Monks, prelates, pontiffs pay the reverence due 
To that bold taste their Grecian masters knew ; 
Resurgent temples throng the Latian shore, 
The Pencil triumphs and the Muses soar. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 115 

O'er the dark world Erasmus rears his eye, 
Ift schoolman lore sees kings and nations he, 
With strength of judgment and with fancy warm, 
Derides their follies and dissolves the charm, 
Tears the deep veil that bigot zeal has thrown 
On pagan books and science long unknown, 140 
From faith in senseless rites relieves mankind, 
And seats bold virtue in the conscious mind. 
But still the frightful task, to face alone 
The jealous vengeance of the papal throne, 
Restrains his hand : he gives the contest o'er, 
And leaves his hardier sons to curb that power. 

Luther walks forth in yon majestic frame, 
Bright beam of heaven, and heir of endless fame, 
Born, like thyself, thro toils and griefs to wind, 
From slavery's chains to free the captive mind, 15O 
Brave adverse crowns, control the pontiff sway, 
And bring benighted nations into day. 

Remark what crowds his name around him brings, 
Schools, synods, prelates, potentates and kings, 
All gaining knowledge from his boundless store, 
And join'd to shield him from the papal power. 
First of his friends, see Frederic's princely form 
Ward from the sage divine the gathering storm, 

I 2 



v 



lib 1 THE COLUMRIAD. 

In learned Wittemburgh secure his seat, 

High throne of thought, religion's safe retreat. iGf) 

There sits Melancthon, mild as morning light. 

And feuds, tho sacred, soften in his sight ; 

In terms so gentle flows his tuneful tongue, 

Even cloister'd bigots join the pupil throng ; 

By all sectarian chiefs he lives approved, 

By monarchs courted and by men beloved. 

And lo, where Europe's utmost limits bend, 
From this new source what various lights ascend ! 
See haughty Henry from the papal tie 
His realms dissever, and the priest defy; 170 

While Albion's sons disdain a foreign throne, 
And learn to bound the oppressions of their own. 

Then rises Loyola, a strange new name, 
By paths unseen to reach the goal of fame ; 
Thro courts and camps he teaches how 7 to wind, 
To mine whole states and overreach mankind. 
Train'd in his school, a bold and artful race 
Range o'er the world, and every sect embrace, 
All creeds and powers and policies explore, 
New seats of science raise on every shore ; 180 

Till their wide empire gains a wondrous birth, 
Built in all empires o'er this ancient earth. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 117 

Our wildmen too, the tribes of Paraguay, 
Receive their rites and bow beneath their sway. 

The world of men thus moving in thy view 
Improve their state, more useful works pursue ; 
Unwonted deeds in rival greatness shine, 
Call'd into life, and first inspired by thine. 
So while imperial Homer tunes the lyre, 
His living lays unnumber'd bards inspire ; 190 

From age to age the kindling spirit flies, 
Sounds thro the earth and echoes to the skies. 

Now roll the years, when Europe's ample space 
By peace and culture rears a wiser race, 
Men bred to labor, school'd in freedom's lore, 
And form'd to colonize our favorite shore. 
To speed their course, the sons of bigot rage 
In persecution whelm the inquiring age; 
Myriads of martyr'd heroes mount the pyre, 
And blind devotion lights the sacred fire. 200 

Led by the dark Dominicans of Spain, 
A newborn Fury walks the wide domain, 
Gaunt INQUISITION ; mark her giant stride, 
Her blood-nursed vulture screaming at her side. 
Her priestly train the tools of torment brings, 
Racks, wheels and crosses, faggots, stakes and strings; 



118 THE COLUMBIA!). 

Scaffolds and cages round her altar stand, 
And, tipt with sulphur, waves her flaming brand. 
Her imps of inquest rounci the Fiend advance, 
Suspectors grave, and spies with eye askance, 21O 
Pretended heretics who worm the soul, 
And sly confessors with their secret scroll, 
Accusers hired, for each conviction paid, 
Judges retained and witnesses by trade. 

Dragg'd from a thousand jails her victim trains, 
Jews, Moors and Christians, clank alike their chains. 
Read their known sentence in her fiery eyes, 
And breathe to heaven their unavailing cries ; 
Lash'd on the pile their writhing bodies turn, 
And, veil'd in doubling smoke, begin to burn. 220 
Where the flames open, lo ! their limbs in vain 
Reach out for help, distorted by the pain ; 
Till folded in the fires they disappear, 
Aud not a sound invades the startled ear. 

See Philip, throned in insolence and pride. 
Enjoy their waitings and their pangs deride ; 
While o'er the same dread scenes, on Albion's isles, 
His well-taught spouse, the cruel Mary, smiles. 
What clouds of smoke hang heavy round the shore ! 
What altars hecatomb'd with Christian gore! 230 



BOOK THE FOURTH, 119 

Her sire's best friends, the wise, the brave, the good. 
Roll in the flames or fly the land of blood. 

To Gallia's plains the maddening phrensy turns, 
Religion raves and civil discord burns ; 
Leaguers and Huguenots their vengeance pour, 
They swell Bartholemy's wide feast of gore, 
Alternate victors bid their gibbets rise, 
And the foul stench of victims chokes the skies. 

Now cease the factions with the Valois line, 
And Bourbon's virtues every voice combine. 240 
QuelFd by his fame, the furious sects accord, 
Europe respires beneath his guardian sword ; 
Batavia's states to independence soar, 
And curb the cohorts of Iberian power. 
From Albion's ports her infant navies heave, 
Stretch forth and thunder on the Flandrian wave ; 
Her Howard there first foils the force of Spain, 
And there begins her mastery of the main. 

The Seraph spoke ; when full beneath their eye 
A riew-fornVd squadron rose along the sky. 25O 
High on the tallest deck majestic shone 
Sage Raleigh, pointing to the western sun ; 
His eye, bent forward, ardent and sublime, 
Seem'd piercing nature and evolving time ; 



120 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Beside him stood a globe, whose figures traced 
A future empire in each present waste ; 
All former works of men behind him shone 
Graved by his hand in ever-during stone ; 
On his calm brow a various crown displays 
The hero's laurel and the scholar's bays ; 260 

His graceful limbs in steely mail were drest, 
The bright star burning on his lofty breast ; 
His sword, high waving, flash'd the solar ray, 
Illumed the shrouds and rainbow'd far the spray ; 
The smiling crew rose resolute and brave, 
And the glad sails hung bounding o'er the wave. 
Storms of wild Hatteras, suspend your roar, , 
Ye tumbling billows, cease to shake the shore ; 
Look thro the doubling clouds, thou lamp of day, 
Teach the bold Argonauts their chartless way ; 270 
Your viewless capes, broad Chesapeak, unfold, 
And show your promised Colchis fleeced with gold. 
No plundering squadron your new Jason brings ; 
No pirate demigods nor hordes of kings 
From shore to shore a faithless miscreant steers, 
To steal a maid and leave a sire in tears. 
But yon wise chief conducts with careful ken 
The queen of colonies, the best of men, 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 121 

To wake to fruitful life your slumbering soil, 
And rear an empire with the hand of toil. 280 

Your fond Medea too, whose dauntless breast 
All danger braves to screen her hunted guest, 
Shall quit her native tribe, but never share 
The crimes and sufferings of the Colchian fair. 
Blest Pocahontas! fear no lurking guile ; 
Thy hero's love shall well reward thy smile. 
Ah sooth the wanderer in his desperate plight, 
Hide him by day and calm his cares by night; 
Tho savage nations with thy vengeful sire 
Pursue their victim with unceasing ire, 290 

And tho their threats thy startled ear assail, 
Let virtue's voice o'er filial fears prevail. 
Fly with the faithful youth, his steps to guide, 
Pierce the known thicket, breast the fordless tide, 
Illude the scout, avoid the ambush'd line, 
And lead him safely to his friends and thine; 
For thine shall be his friends, his heart, his name ; 
His camp shall shout, his nation boast thy fame. 

But now the Bay unfolds a passage wide, 
And leads the squadron up the freshening tide ; 300 
Wher Pohatan spreads deep her sylvan soil, 
And grassy lawns allure the steps of toil. 



THE COLUMBIAD. 

Here, lodged in peace, they tread the welcome land, 
An instant harvest waves beneath their hand, 
Spontaneous fruits their easy cares beguile, 
And opening fields in living culture smile. 

With joy Columbus view'd; when thus his voice: 
Ye grove-clad shores, ye generous hosts, rejoice ! 
Exchange your benefits, your gifts combine ; 
What nature fashions, let her sons refine. 310 

Be thou, my Seer, the people's guardian friend, 
Protect their virtues and their lives defend ; 
May wealth and wisdom with their arts unfold, 
Yet save, oh, save them from the thirst of gold ! 
Let the poor guardless natives never feel 
The flamen's fraud, the soldier's fateful steel ; 
But learn the blessings that alone attend 
On civil rights where social virtues blend, 
In these brave leaders find a welcome guide, 
And rear their fanes and empires by their side. 320 
Smile, great Hesperia, smile ; the star of morn ,o/I 
Illumes thy heavens and bids thy day be born ; 
Thy opening forests show the work begun, 
Thy plains unshaded drink a purer sun ; 
Yield now thy bounties, load the laboring main, 
Give birth, to nations, and begin thy reign. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 123 

The Hero spoke ; when thus the Saint rejoin'd, 
Approved his joy, and feasted still his mind : 
Well may thy voice, with patriarch pride elate, 
Burst forth triumphant at a scene so great ; 330 
Here springs indeed the day, since time began, 
The brightest, broadest, happiest morn of man. 
In these prime settlements thy raptures trace 
The germ, the genius of a sapient race, 
Predestined here to methodise and mould 
J^ew codes of empire to reform the old, 

A work so vast a second world required, 
By oceans bourn'd, from elder states retired ; 
Where, uncontaminated, unconfined, 
Free contemplation might expand the mind, 34O 
To form, fix, prove the well-adjusted plan, 
And base and build the commonwealth of man. 

This arm, that leads the stellar host of even, 
That stretch'd o'er yon rude ridge the western heaven, 
That heaVd the wounded earth, when from her side 
The moon burst forth, and left the South Sea tide, 
That calm'd these elements, and taught them where 
To mould their mass and rib the crusted sphere, 
Line the closed continent with wrecks of life, 
And recommence their generating strife, 350 



124 THE COLUMBIAD. 

That rear'd the mountain,, spread the subject plain, 
Led the long stream and roll'd the billowy main, 
Stole from retiring tides the growing strand. 
Heaved the green banks, the shadowy inlets plann'd, 
Strow'd the wild fruitage, gave the beast his place, 
And form'd the region for thy filial race, 
This arm prepared their future seats of state, 
Designed their limits and prescribed their date. 

When first the staggering globe its breach repair'ct, 
And this bold hemisphere its shoulders rear'd, 36o 
Back to those heights, whose hovering vapor shrouds 
My rock-raised world in Alleganian clouds, 
The Atlantic waste its coral kingdom spread, 
And scaly nations here their gambols led ; 
Till by degrees, thro following tracts of time,' 
From laboring ocean rose the sedgy clime, 
As from unloaded waves the rising sand 
Swell'd into light and gently drew to land. 
For, moved by trade winds o'er the flaming zone, 
The waves roll westward with the constant sun, 370 
Meet my firm isthmus, scoop that gulphy bed, 
Wheel to the north, and here their current spread. 
Those ravaged banks, that move beneath their force, 
Borne on the tide and lost along their course, 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 125 

Create the shore, consolidate the soil, 

And hither lead the enlighten'd steps of toil. ,'Q 

Think not the lust of gold shall here annoy, 
Enslave the nation and its nerve destroy. 
No useles mine these northern hills enclose, 
No ruby ripens and no diamond glows ; 38O 

But richer stores and rocks of useful mould 
Repay in wealth the penury of gold. 
Freedom's unconquer'd race, with healthy toil, 
Shall lop the grove and warm the furrow'd soil, 
From iron ridges break the rugged ore, 
And plant with men the man-ennobling shore ; 
Sails, villas, towers and temples round them heave* 
Shine o'er the realms and light the distant wave. 
Nor think the native tribes shall rue the day 
That leads our heroes o'er the watery way. 390 
A cause like theirs no mean device can mar, 
Nor bigot rage nor sacerdotal war. 
From eastern tyrants driven, resolved and brave* 
To build new states or seek a distant grave> 
Our sons shall try a new colonial plan, 
To tame the soil, but spare their kindred man* 

Thro Europe's wilds when feudal nations spread, 
The pride of conquest every legion led* 



126 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Each fur-clad chief, by servile crowds adored, 
O'er conquer'd realms assumed the name of lord, 4OO 
Built the proud castle, ranged the savage wood, 
Fired his grim host to frequent fields of blood 5 
With new-made honors lured his subject bands. 
Price of their lives, and purchase of their lands ; 
For names and titles bade the world resign 
Their faith, their freedom and their rights divine* 

Contending baronies their terrors spread, 
And slavery follow'd where the standard led ; 
Till, little tyrants by the great overthrown, 
The spoils of nobles build the regal crown ; 41O 
Wealth, wisdom, virtue, every claim of man 
Unguarded fall to consummate the plan. 
Ambitious cares, that nature never gave, 
Torment alike the monarch and the slave, 
Thro all degrees in gradual pomp ascend. 
Honor the name, but tyranny the end. 

Far different honors here the heart shall claim. 
Sublimer objects, deeds of happier fame ; 
A new creation waits the western shore y 
And moral triumphs o'er monarchic power. 420 
Thy freeborn sons, with genius unconfined, 
Nor sloth can slacken nor a tyrant bind ; 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 127 

With self-wrought fame and worth internal blest, 
No venal star shall brighten on their breast, 
Nor king-created name nor courtly art 
Damp the bold thought or desiccate the heart. 
Above all fraud, beyond all titles great, 
Truth in their voice and sceptres at their feet, 
Like sires of unborn states they move sublime, 
Look empires thro and span the breadth of time, 430 
Hold o'er the world, that men may choose from far, 
The palm of peace, or scourge of barbarous war ; 
Till their example every nation charms, 
Commands its friendship and its rage disarms. 

Here social man a second birth shall find, 
And a new range of reason lift his mind, 
Feed his strong intellect with purer light, 
A nobler sense of duty and of right, 
The sense of liberty ; whose holy fire 
His life shall temper and his laws inspire, 44O 

Purge from all shades the world-embracing scope 
That prompts his genius and expands his hope. 

When first his form arose erect on earth, 
Parturient nature hail'd the wondrous birth, 
With fairest limbs and finest fibres wrought, 
And framed for vast and various toils of thought. 



128 THE COLUMBIAD. 

To aid his promised powers with loftier flight, 
And stretch his views beyond corporeal sight, 
Prometheus came, and from the floods of day 
Sunn'd his clear soul with heaven's internal ray, 45O 
The expanding spark divine; that round him springs, 
And leads and lights him thro the immense of things, 
Probes the dense earth, explores the soundless main. 
Remoulds their mass thro all its threefold reign> 
O'er great, o'er small extends his physic laws, 
Empalms the empyrean or dissects a gaz, 
Weighs the vast orbs of heaven, bestrides the sky, 
Walks on the windows of an insect's eye ; 
Turns then to self, more curious still to trace 
The whirls of passion that involve the race, 460 
That cloud with mist the visual lamp of God, 
And plunge the poniard in fraternal blood. 
Here fails his light. The proud Titanian ray 
O'er physic nature sheds indeed its day ; 
Yet leaves the moral in chaotic jars, 
The spoil of violence, the sport of wars, 
Presents contrasted parts of one great plan, 
Earth, heaven subdued, but man at swords with man; 
His wars, his errors into science grown, 
And the great cause of all his ills unknown* 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 129 

But when he steps on these regenerate shores, 
His mind unfolding for superior powers, 
FREEDOM, his new Prometheus, here shall rise, 
Light her new torch in my refulgent skies, 
Touch with a stronger life his opening soul, 
Of moral systems fix the central goal, 
Her own resplendent essence. Thence expand 
The rays of reason that illume the land ; 
Thence equal rights proceed, and equal laws, 
Thence holy Justice all her reverence draws ; 48O 
Truth with untarnish'd beam descending thence, 
Strikes every eye, and quickens every sense, 
Bids bright Instruction spread her ample page, 
To drive dark dogmas from the inquiring age, 
Ope the true treasures of the earth and skies, 
And teach the student where his object lies. 

Sun of the moral world! effulgent source 
Of man's best wisdom and his steadiest force, 
Soul-searching Freedom ! here assume thy stand, 
And radiate hence to every distant land ; 490 

Point out and prove how all the scenes of strife, 
The shock of states, the impassion'd broils of life, 
Spring from unequal sway; and how they fly 
Before the splendor of thy peaceful eye ; 



130 THE COLUMBIAN. 

Unfold at last the genuine social plan, 
The mind's full scope, the dignity of man, 
Bold nature bursting thro her long disguise, 
And nations daring to be just and wise. 

Yes! righteous Freedom, heaven and earth and sea 
Yield or withold their various gifts for thee; 500 
Protected Industry beneath thy reign 
Leads all the virtues in her filial train ; 
Courageous Probity with brow serene, 
And Temperance calm presents her placid mien ; 
Contentment, Moderation, Labor, Art, 
Mould the new man and humanize his heart ; 
To public plenty private ease dilates, 
Domestic peace to harmony of states. 
Protected Industry, careering far, 
Detects the cause and cures the rage of war, 510 
And sweeps, with forceful arm, to their last graves, 
Kings from the earth and pirates from the waves. 

But slow proceeds the work. Long toils, my son, 
Must base the fabric of so vast a throne ; 
Where Freedom founds her everlasting reign, 
And earth's whole empires form the fair domain. 
That great colon i arch, whose exalted soul 
Pervades all scenes that future years unrol, 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 131 

Must yield the palm, and at a courtier's shrine 
His plans relinquish and his life resign ; 520 

His life that brightens, as his death shall stain, 
The fair, foul annals of his master's reign. 

That feeble band, the lonely wilds who tread, 
Their sire, their genius in their Raleigh dead, 
Shall pine and perish in the savage gloom, 
Or mount the wave and seek their ancient home. 
Others in vain the generous task pursue, 
The dangers tempt and all the strife renew ; 
While kings and ministers obstruct the plan, 
Unfaithful guardians of the weal of man. 530 

At last brave Delaware, with his blithe host, 
Sails in full triumph to the well-known coast, 
Aids with a liberal hand the patriot cause, 
Reforms their policy, designs their laws ; 
Till o'er Virginia's plains they spread their sway, 
And push their hamlets tow'rd the setting day. 
He comes, my Delaware! how mild and bland 
My zephyrs greet him from the long-sought land ! 
From fluvial glades that thro my cantons run, 
From those rich mounds that mask the falling sun. 

Borne up my Chesapeak, as first he hails 541 
The flowery banks that scent his slackening sails, 

K 2 



132 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Descending twilight mellows down the gleam 
That spreads far forward on the broad blue stream ; 
The moonbeam dancing, as the pendants glide. 
Silvers with trembling tints the ripply tide ; 
The sand-sown beach, the rocky bluff repays 
The faint effulgence with their amber' d rays ; 
O'er greenwood glens a browner lustre flies, 
And bright-hair'd hills walk shadowy round the skies. 

Profound solicitude and strong delight 551 

Absorb the chief, as thro the waste of night 
He walks the lonely deck, and skirts the lands 
That wait their nations from his guiding hands. 
Tall thro the tide the river Sires by turns 
Rise round the bark and blend their social urns ; 
Majestic brotherhood ! each feels the power 
To feed an empire from his future store. 
They stand stupendous, flooding full the bay, 
And.pointing each thro different climes the way. 56o 

Resplendent o'er the rest, the regent god 
Potowmak towers, and sways the swelling flood ; 
Vines clothe his arms, wild fruits o'erfill his horn, 
Wreaths of green maize his reverend brows adorn, 
His silver beard reflects the lunar day, 
And round his loins the scaly nations play. 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 133 

The breeze falls calm, the sails in silence rest, 
While thus his greetings cheer the stranger guest : 

Blest be the bark that seized the promised hour 
To waft thee welcome to this friendly shore ! 5/0 
Long have we learnt the fame that here awaits 
The future sires of our unplanted states ; 
We all salute thee with our mingling tides, 
Our high-fenced havens and our fruitful sides. 
The hundred realms our myriad fountains drain 
Shall lose their limits in the vast domain ; 
But my bold banks with proud impatience wait 
The palm of glory in a work so great; 
On me thy sons their central seat shall raise, 
And crown my labors with distinguished praise. 580 
For this, from rock-ribb'd lakes I forced my birth, 
And climb'd and sunder'd many a mound of earth, 
Rent the huge hills that yonder heave on high 
And with their tenfold ridges rake the sky, 
Removed whole mountains in my headlong way, 
Strow'd a strong soil around this branching Bay, 
Scoop'd wide his basins to the distant main, 
And hung with headlands every marsh they drain. 

Haste then, my heroes, tempt the fearless toil, 
Enrich your nations with the nurturing spoil ; 590 



134 THE COLUMBIAD. 

O'er my vast vales let yellow harvests wave, 
Quay the calm ports and dike the lawns I lave., 
Win from the waters every stagnant fen, 
Where truant rills escape my conscious ken ; 
And break those remnant rocks that still impede 
My current crowding thro the gaps I made. 

So shall your barks pursue my branching bed, 
Slope after slope, to every fountain's head, 
Seat your contiguous towns on all my shores, 599 
And charge my channel with their seaward stores. 
Freedom and Peace shall well reward your care, 
My guardian mounds protect the friendly pair ; 
Or if delirious War shall dare draw nigh, 
And eastern storms o'ercast the western sky, 
My soil shall rear the chief to guide your host, 
And drive the demon cringing from the coast ; 
Yon verdant hill his sylvan seat shall claim, 
And grow immortal from his deathless fame. 

Then shall your federal towers my bank adorn, 
And hail with me the great millennial morn 6 10 
That gilds your capitol. Thence earth shall draw 
Her first clear codes of liberty and law ; 
There public right a settled form shall find, 
Truth trim her lamp to lighten humankind, 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 135 

Old Afric's sons their shameful fetters cast, 
Our wild Hesperians humanize at last, 
All men participate, all time expand 
The source of good my liberal sages plann'd. 

This said, he plunges* in the sacred flood ; 
That closes calm and lulls the cradled god. 620 
Exulting at his words, the gallant crew 
Brace the broad canvass and their course pursue : 
For now the breathing airs, from ocean born, 
Breeze up the bay, and lead the lively morn 
That lights them to their port. Tis here they join 
Their bold precursors in the work divine ; 
And here their followers, yet a numerous train, 
Wind o'er the wave and swell the new domain. 
For impious Laud, on England's wasted shore, 
Renews the flames that Mary fed before ; 630 

Contristed sects his sullen fury fly, 
To seek new seats beneath a safer sky ; 
Where faith and freedom yield a forceful charm, 
And toils and dangers every bosom warm. 

Amid the tried unconquerable train, 
Whom tyrants press and seas oppose in vain, 
See Plymouth colons stretch their standards o'er, 
Face the dark wildmen and the wintry shore ; 



136 THE COLUMBIAD. 

See virtuous Baltimore ascend the wave, 

See peaceful Penn its unknown terrors brave ; 640 

Swedes, Belgians, Gauls their various flags display, 

Full pinions crowding on the watery way ; 

All from their different ports, their sails unfurl'd, 

Point their glad streamers to the western world. 



THE 

COLTJMBIAD, 

BOOK Y. 



ARGUMENT. 



Vision confined to North America. Progress of the colo 
nies. Troubles with the natives. Settlement of Canada. 
Spirit of the English and French colonies compared. 
Hostilities between France and England extended to 
America. Braddock's defeat. Washington saves the 
relics of the English army. Actions of Abercrombie, 
Amherst, Wolfe. Peace. Darkness overspreads the 
continent. Apprehensions of Columbus from that ap 
pearance. Cause explained. Cloud bursts away in the 
centre. View of congress, and of the differeut regions 
from which its members are delegated. Their endea 
vors to arrest the violence of England compared with 
those of the Genius of Rome to dissuade Cesar from 
passing the Rubicon. The demon War stalking over 
the ocean and leading on the English invasion. Confla 
gration of towns from Falmouth to Norfolk. Battle of 
Bunker Hill seen thro the smoke. Death of Warren. 
American army assembles. Review of its chiefs. Speech 
of Washington. Actions and death of Montgomery, 
Loss of Newyork. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD 



BOOK V. 



COLUMBUS hail'd them with a father's smile, 
Fruits of his cares and children of his toil ; 
While still his eyes, thro tears of joy, descried 
Their course adventurous on the distant tide. 
Thus, when o'er deluged earth her Numen stood, 
The tost ark bounding on the shoreless flood, 
The sacred treasure fixt his guardian view, 
While climes unnoticed in the wave withdrew. 
The Hero saw them reach the rising strand, 
Leap from their ships and share the joyous land ; 10 
Receding forests yield the laborers room, 
And opening wilds with fields and gardens bloom. 
Fill'd with the glance ecstatic, all his soul 
Now seems unbounded with the scene to roll, 



140 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And now impatient, with retorted eye, 
Perceives his station in another sky : 
Waft me, indulgent Angel, waft me o'er, 
With those blest heroes, to the happy shore ; 
There let me live and die. But all appears 
A fleeting vision! these are future years. 20 

Yet grant the illusion still may nearer spread, 
And my glad steps may seem their walks to tread ; 
While Europe, wrapt in momentary night, 
Shall rise no more to intercept the sight. 

Columbus thus ; when Hesper's potent hand 
Moves brightening o'er the visionary land ; 
The height that bore them still sublimer grew, 
And earth's whole circuit settled from their view. 
A dusky deep, serene as breathless even, 
Seem'd vaulting downward like another heaven ; 30 
The sun, rejoicing on his western way, 
Stampt his fair image in the inverted day : 
When now Hesperia's coast arose more nigh, 
And life and action fill'd the dancing eye. 

Between the gulphs, where Laurence drains the 

world 
And where Floridia's farthest floods are curl'd, 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 141 

Where midlands broad their swelling mountains 

heave 

And slope their champaigns to the Atlantic wave, 
The sandy streambank and the woodgreen plain 
Raise into sight the new-made seats of man. 40 
The placid ports, that break the seaborn gales, 
Shoot forth their quays and stretch aloft their sails, 
Full harvests wave, new groves with fruitage bend, 
Gay villas smile, defensive towers ascend ; 
All the rich works of art their charms display, 
To court the planter and his cares repay : 
Till war invades ; when soon the dales disclose 
Their meadows path'd with files of savage foes ; 
High tufted quills their painted foreheads press, 
Dark spoils of beasts their shaggy shoulders dress, 50 
The bow bent forward for the combat strung, 
Ax, quiver, scalpknife on the girdle hung ; 
Discordant yells, convulsing long the air, 
Tone forth at last the war whoop's hideous blare. 

The Patriarch look'd; and every frontier height 
Pours down the swarthy nations to the fight. 
Where Kennebec's high source forsakes the sky, 
Where long Champlain's yet unkeel'd waters lie, 
Where Hudson crowds his hill-dissundering tide, 
Where Kaatskill dares the starry vault divide, 60 



142 THE COLUMBIAN 

Where the dim Alleganies sit sublime 
And give their streams to every neighboring clime, 
The swarms descended like an evening shade, 
And wolves and vultures followed where they spread. 
Thus when a storm, on eastern pinions driven, 
Meets the firm Andes in the midst of heaven, 
The clouds convulse, the torrents pour amain, 
And the black waters sweep the. subject plain. 

Thro harvest fields the bloody myriads tread, 
Sack the lone village, strow the streets with dead ; 70 
The flames in spiry volumes round them rise, 
And shrieks and shouts redoubling rend the skies. 
Fair babes and matrons in their domes expire, 
Or bursting frantic thro the folding fire 
They scream, fly, fall ; promiscuous rave along 
The yelling victors and the driven throng ; 
The streams run purple ; all the peopled shore 
Is wrapt in flames and trod with steps of gore. 
Till colons, gathering from the shorelands far, 
Stretch their new standards and oppose the war, 80 
With muskets match the many-shafted bow, 
With loud artillery stun the astonish'd foe. 
When, like a broken wave, the barbarous train 
Lead back the flight and scatter from the plain- 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 143 

Slay their weak captives, drop their shafts in haste, 
Forget their spoils and scour the trackless waste ; 
From wood to wood in wild confusion hurl'd, 
They hurry o'er the hills far thro the savage world. 

Now move secure the cheerful works of peace, 
New temples rise and fruitful fields increase. 90 
Where Delaware's wide waves behold with pride 
Penn's beauteous town ascending on their side, 
The crossing streets in just allinement run, 
The walls and pavements sparkle to the sun, 
Like that famed city rose the checker'd plan, 
Whose spacious towers Semiramis began ; 
Long ages finish'd what her hand design'd, 
The pride of kings and wonder of mankind. 

Newyork ascends o'er Hudson's seaward isles, 
And flings the sunbeams from her glittering tiles ; 
Albania, opening thro the distant wood, 101 

Rolls her rich treasures on her parent flood ; 
Amid a thousand sails young Boston laves, 
High looms majestic Newport o'er the waves, 
Patapsco's bay contracts his yielding side, 
As spreading Baltimore invades his tide ; 
Aspiring Richmond tops the bank of James, 
And Charleston sways her two contending streams. 



144 THE COLUMBIAN 

Thro each colonial realm, for wisdom great, 
Elected sires assume the cares of state ; 110 

Nursed in equality, to freedom bred, 
Firm is their step and straight the paths they tread ; 
Dispensing justice with paternal hand, 
By laws of peace they rule the happy land ; 
While reason's page their statute codes unfold, 
And rites and charters flame in figured gold. 
All rights that Britons know they here transfuse. 
Their sense invigorate and expand their views, 
Dare every height of human soul to scan, 
Find, fathom, scope the moral breadth of man, 120 
Learn how his social powers may still dilate, 
And tone their tension to a stronger state. 

Round the long glade where lordly Laurence strays, 
Gaul's migrant sons their forts and villas raise, 
Stretch over Canada their colon sway, 
And circling far beneath the western day 
Plant sylvan Wabash with a watchful post, 
O'er Missisippi spread a mantling host, 
Bid Louisiana's lovely clime prepare 
New arts to prove and infant states to rear; 130 
While the bright lakes, that wide behind them spread, 
Unfold their channels to the paths of trade, 






BOOK THE FIFTH. 145 

Ohio's waves their destined honors claim, 
And smile, as conscious of approaching fame. 

But Gallic planters still their trammels wear, 
Their feudal genius still attends them here ; 
Dependent feelings for a distant throne 
Gyve the crampt soul that fears to think alone, 
Demand their rulers from the parent land, 
Laws ready made, and generals to command. 14O 
Judge, priest and pedagogue, and all the slaves 
Of foreign masters, crowding o'er the waves, 
Spread thick the shades of vassalage and sloth, 
Absorb their labors and prevent their growth, 
Damp every thought that might their tyrants brave, 
And keep the vast domain a desert and a grave. 

Too soon the mother states, with jealous fear, 
Transport their feuds and homebred quarrels here. 
Now Gallia's war-built barks ascend in sight, 
White flags unfold, and armies robed in white 150 
On all the frontier streams their forts prepare, 
And coop our cantons with surrounding war. 
Quebec, as proud she rears her rocky seat, 
Feeds their full camp and shades their anchor'd fleet,; 
Oswego's rampart frowns athwart his flood, 
And wild Ontario swells beneath his load. 



140 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And now a friendly host from Albion's strand 
Arrives to aid her young colonial band. 
They join their force, and tow'rd the falling day 
Impetuous Braddock leads their hasty way; l60 
O'er Allegany heights, like streams of fire. 
The red flags wave and glittering arms aspire 
To meet the savage hordes, who there advance 
Their skulking files to join the arms of France. :^>J 

Where, old as earth, yet still unstain'd with blood, 
Monongahela roll'd his careless flood, 
Flankt with his mantling groves the fountful hills, 
Drain'd the vast region thro his thousand rills, 
Lured o'er his lawns the buffle herds, and spread 
For all his fowls his piscatory glade ; I/O 

But now perceives, with hostile flag unfurl'd, 
A Gallic fortress awe the western world ; 
There Braddock bends his march; the troops within 
Behold their danger and the fire begin. 
Forth bursting from the gates they rush amain, 
Front, flank and charge the fast approaching train ; 
The batteries blaze, the leaden volleys pour, 
The vales, the streams, the solid mountains roar ; 
Clouds of convolving smoke the welkin spread, 
The champaign shrouding in sulphureous shade. ISO 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 

Lost in the rocking thunder's loud career, - 

No shouts nor groans invade the Patriarch's ear, 

Nor valorous feats are seen, nor flight nor fall, 

But one broad burst of darkness buries all; 

Till chased by rising winds the smoke withdrew, 

And the wide slaughter open'd on his view. 

He saw the British leader borne afar, 

In dust and gore, beyond the wings of war ; 

And while delirious panic seized his host, 

Their flags, their arms in wild confusion tost, 190 

Bold in the midst a youthful warrior strode, 

And tower'd undaunted o'er the field of blood ; 

He checks the shameful rout, with vengeance burns, 

And the pale Britons brighten where he turns. 

So, when thick vapors veil the nightly sky, 

The starry host in half-seen lustre fly, 

Till Phosphor rises o'er the twinkling crowd, 

And gives new splendor thro his parting cloud. 

Swift on a fiery steed the stripling rose, 
Form'd the light files to pierce the line of foes ; 200 
Then waved his gleamy sword that flash'd the day, 
And thro the Gallic legions hew'd his way : 
His troops press forward like a loose-broke flood, 
Sweep ranks away and smear their paths in blood ; 

L 2 



148 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The hovering foes pursue the combat far, 
And shower their balls along the flying war ; 
When the new leader turns his single force, 
Points the flight forward, speeds his backward course; 
The French recoiling half their victory yield, 
And the glad Britons quit the fatal field. 210 

These deathful deeds as great Columbus eyed, 
With anxious tone he thus addrest the Guide : 
Why combat here these transatlantic bands, 
And strow their corses thro thy pathless lands ? 
Can Europe's realms, the seat of endless strife, 
Afford no trophies for the waste of life ? 
Can monarchs there no proud applauses gain, 
No living laurel for their people slain ? 
Nor Belgians plains, so fertile made with gore, 
Hide heroes' bones nor feast the vultures more ? 220 
Will Rhine no longer cleanse the crimson stain, 
Nor Danube bear their bodies to the main, 
That infant empires here the shock must feel, 
And these pure streams with foreign carnage swell ? 
But who that chief? his name, his nation say, 
Whose lifeblood seems his follies to repay ; 
And who the youth, that from the combat lost 
Springs up and saves the remnant of his host ? 



BOOK THE FlFfH. 149 

The Power replied : Each age successive brings 
Their varying views to earth's contentious kings; 230 
Here roll the years when Albion's parent hand, 
In aid of thy brave children, guards the land ; 
That growing states their veteran force may train, 
A nobler prize in later fields to gain ; 
In fields where Albion's self shall turn their foe, 
Spread broader sails and aim a deadlier blow, 
Recross, in evil hour, the astonish'd wave, 
Her own brave sons to ravage and enslave. 
But here she combats with the powers of Gaul ; 
Here her bold Braddock finds his destined fall ; 240 
Thy Washington, in that young martial frame, 
From yon lost field begins a life of fame. 
Tis he, in future straits, with loftier stride, 
The colon states to sovereign rule shall guide ; 
When,prest by wrongs, their own full force they find, 
To wield the sword for man, and bulwark humankind. 

The Seraph spoke; when thro the purpled air 
The northern armies spread the flames of war. 
Swift o'er the lake, to Crownpoint's fortful strand, 
Rash Abercrombie leads his headlong band 250 
To fierce unequal fight; the batteries roar, 
Shield the strong foes and rake the banner'd shore; 



150 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Britannia's sons again the contest yield, 
Again proud Gaul triumphant sweeps the field. 

But Amherst quick renews the raging toil, 
And drives wide hosting o'er Acadia's isle ; 
Young Wolfe beside him points the lifted lance, 
The boast of Britain and the scourge of France. 
The tide of victory here the heroes turn, 
And Gallic navies in their harbors burn ; 260 

High flame the ships, the billows swell with gore, 
And the red standard shades the conquered shore. 

Wolfe, now detacht and bent on bolder deeds, 
A sail-borne host up sealike Laurence leads, 
Stems the long lessening tide ; till Abraham's height 
And famed Quebec rise frowning into sight. 
Swift bounding on the bank, the foe they claim, 
Climb the tall mountain like a rolling flame, 
Push wide their wings, high bannering bright the air, 
And move to fight as comets cope in war. 270 

The smoke falls folding thro the downward sky, 
And shrouds the mountain from the Patriarch's eye , 
While on the towering top, in glare of day, 
The flashing swords in fiery arches play. 
As on a side-seen storm, adistance driven, 
The flames fork round the semivault of heaven. 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 151 

Thick thunders roll, descending torrents flow. 
Dash down the clouds and whelm the hills below ; 
Or as on plains of light when Michael strove, 
The swords of cherubim to combat move, 280 

Ten thousand fiery forms together fray, 
And flash new lightning on empyreal day. 

Long raged promiscuous combat, half conceai'd, 
When sudden parle suspended all the field ; 
Then roar the shouts, the smoke forsakes the plain 
And the huge hill is topt with heaps of slain, 
Stretch'd high in air Britannia's standard waved, 
And good Columbus hail'd his country saved ; 
While calm and silent, where the ranks retire, 
He saw brave Wolfe in victory's arms expire. 290 
So the pale moon, when morning beams arise, 
Veils her lone visage in her midway skies ; 
She needs no longer drive the shades away, 
Nor waits to view the glories of the day. 

Again the towns aspire ; the cultured field 
And crowded mart their copious treasures yield ; 
Back to his plough the colon soldier moves, 
And songs of triumph fill the warbling groves, 
The conscious flocks, returning joys that share, 
Spread thro the grassland o'er the walks of war, 300 



152 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Streams, freed of gore, their crystal course regain, 
Serener sunbeams gild the tentless plain ; 
A general jubilee, o'er earth and heaven, 
Leads the gay morn and lights the lambent even. 

Rejoicing, confident of long repose, 
(Their friends triumphant, far retired their foes,) 
The British colonies now feel their sway 
Span the whole north and crowd the western day. 
Acadia, Canada, earth's total side, 
From Slave's long lake to Pensacola's tide, 31O 
Expand their soils for them ; and here unfold 
A range of highest hope, a promised age of gold. 

But soon from eastern seas dark vapors rise, 
Sweep the vast Occident and shroud the skies, 
Snatch all the vision from the Hero's sight, 
And wrap the coast in sudden shades of night. 
He turn'd, and sorrowful besought the Power : 
Why sinks the scene, or must I view no more ? 
Must here the fame of that young world descend ? 
Shall our brave children find so quick their end ? 32O 
Where then the promised grace? "Thou soon shalt 

see 
That half mankind shall owe their seats to thee." 

The Saint replied t Ere long, beneath thy view 
The scene shall brighten and thy joys renew. 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 153 

Here march the troublous years, when goaded sore 
Thy sons shall rise to change the ruling power ; 
When Albion's prince, who sways the happy land, 
To lawless rule extends his tyrant hand, 
To bind in slavery's bands the peaceful host, 
Their rights unguarded and their charters lost. 33O 
Now raise thine eye ; from this delusive claim 
What nations leap to life, what deeds adorn their 
fame! 

Columbus look'd ; and still around them spread, 
From south to north, the immeasurable shade ; 
At last the central darkness burst away, 
And rising regions open'd on the day. 
Once more bright Delaware's commercial stream 
And Penn's throng'd city cast a cheerful gleam ; 
The dome of state, as conscious of his eye, 
Now seem'd to silver in a loftier sky, 34O 

Unfolding fair its gates ; when lo, within 
The assembled states in solemn Congress shine. 

The sires elect from every province came, 
Where wide Columbia bore the British name, 
Where Freedom's sons their highborn lineage trace, 
And homebred bravery still exalts the race : 
Her sons who plant each various vast domain 
That Chesapeak's uncounted currents drain ; 



154 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The race who Roanoke's clear stream bestride, 
Who fell the pine on Apalachia's side, 350 

To Albemarle's wide wave who trust their store, 
Who dike proud Pamlico's unstable shore, 
Whose groaning barks o'erload the long Santee, 
Wind thro the realms and labor to the sea, 
(Their cumbrous cargoes, to the sail consign'd, 
Seek distant worlds, and feed and clothe mankind ;) 
The race whose rice-fields suck Savanna's urn, 
Whose verdant vines Oconee's bank adorn ; 
Who freight the Delaware with golden grain, 
Who tame their steeds on Monmouth's flowery plain, 
From huge Toconnok hills who drag their ore, 36l 
And sledge their corn to Hudson's quay-built shore. 
Who keel Connecticut's long meadowy tide, 
With patient plough his fallow plains divide, 
Spread their white flocks o'er Narraganset's vale, 
Or chase to each chill pole the monstrous whale ; 
Whose venturous prows have borne their fame afar, 
Tamed all the seas and steer'd by every star, 
Dispensed to earth's whole habitants their store, 
And with their biting flukes have harrow'd every 
shore. 3 70 

The virtuous delegates behold with pain 
The hostile Britons hovering o'er the main, 






BOOK THE FIFTH. 155 

the strife that bids two worlds engage, 
And blot their annals with fraternal rage ; 
Two worlds in one broad state! whose bounds bestride, 
Like heaven's blue arch, the vast Atlantic tide, 
By language, laws and liberty combined, 
Great nurse of thought, example to mankind. . 
Columbia rears her warning voice in vain, 
Brothers to brothers call across the main ; 380 

Britannia's patriots lend a listening ear, 
But kings and courtiers push their mad career ; 
Dissension raves, the sheathless falchions glare, 
And earth and ocean tremble at the war. 

Thus with stern brow, as worn by cares of state, 
His bosom big with dark unfolding fate, 
High o'er his lance the sacred Eagle spread, 
And earth's whole crown still resting on his head, 
Rome's hoary Genius rose, and mournful stood 
On roaring Rubicon's forbidden flood, 390 

When Cesar's ensigns swept the Alpine air, 
Led their long legions from the Gallic war, 
Paused on the opposing bank with wings unfurl'd, 
And waved portentous o'er the shuddering world. 
The god, with outstretch'd arm and awful look, 
Call'd the proud victor and prophetic spoke; 



156 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Arrest, my son, thy parricidious hate, 
Pass not the stream nor stab my filial state, 
Stab not thyself, thy friends, thy total kind, 
And worlds and ages in one state combined. 400 
The chief, regardless of the warning god, 
Rein'd his rude steed and headlong past the flood, 
Cried, Farewel, Peace ! took Fortune for his guide, 
And o'er his country pour'd the slaughtering tide. 

High on the foremost seat, in living light, 
Resplendent Randolph caught the world's full sight. 
He opes the cause, and points in prospect far 
Thro all the toils that wait impending war : 
But, reverend sage ! thy race must soon be o'er, 
To lend thy lustre and to shine no more. 410 

So the mild morning star, from shades of even, 
Leads up the dawn and lights the front of heaven, 
Points to the waking world the sun's broad way, 
Then veils his own, and vaults above the day. 
And see bright Washington behind thee rise, 
Thy following sun, to gild our morning skies, 
O'er shadowy climes to pour enlivening flame, 
The charms of freedom and the fire of fame. 
For him the patriot bay beheld with pride 
The hero's laurel springing by its side ; 420 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 157 

His sword still sleeping rested on his thigh, 
On Britain still he cast a filial eye ; 
But sovereign fortitude his visage bore, 
To meet her legions on the invaded shore. 

Sage Franklin next arose with cheerful mien, 
And smiled unruffled o'er the solemn scene ; 
His locks of age a various wreath embraced, 
Palm of all arts that e'er a mortal graced ; 
Beneath him lay the sceptre kings had borne, 
And the tame thunder from the tempest torn. 430 

Wythe, Mason, Pendleton with Henry join'd, 
Rush, Rodney, Langdon, friends of humankind, 
Persuasive Dickinson, the farmer's boast, 
Recording Thomson, pride of all the host, 
Nash, Jay, the Livingstons, in council great, 
Rutledge and Laurens held the rolls of fate, 
O'er wide creation turn'd their ardent eyes, 
And bade the opprest to selfexistence rise ; 
All powers of state, in their extended plan, 
Spring from consent, to shield the rights of man. 440 
Undaunted Wolcott urged the holy cause, 
With steady hand the solemn scene he draws ; 
Stern thoughtful temperance with his ardor join'd, 
Nor kings nor worlds could warp his steadfast mind, 



158 THE COLUMBIAN 

With graceful ease but energetic tones, 
And eloquence that shook a thousand thrones, 
Majestic Hosmer stood ; the expanding soul 
Darts from his eyebeams while his accents roll. 
But lo! the shaft of death untimely flew, 
And fell'd the patriot from the Hero's view ; 450 
Wrapt in the funeral shroud he sees descend 
The guide of nations and the Muse's friend. 
Columbus dropt a tear ; while Hesper's eye 
Traced the freed spirit mounting thro the sky. 

Each generous Adams, freedom's favorite pair, 
And Hancock rose the tyrant's rage to dare, 
Groupt with firm Jefferson, her steadiest hope, 
Of modest mien but vast unclouded scope. 
Like four strong pillars of her state they stand, 
They clear from doubt her brave but wavering band; 
Colonial charters in their hands they bore, 46 1 
Arid lawless acts of ministerial power. 
Some injured right in every page appears, 
A king in terrors and a land in tears ; 
From all his guileful plots the veil they drew, 
With eye retor-tive look'd creation thro, 
Traced moral nature thro her total plan, 
Markt all the steps of liberty and man ; M 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 

Crowds rose to reason while their accents rung, 
And INDEPENDENCE thunder'd from their tongue. 470 

Columbus turn'd; when rolling to the shore 
Swells o'er the seas an undulating roar ; 
Slow., dark, portentous, as the meteors sweep, 
And curtain black the illimitable deep, 
High stalks., from surge to surge, a demon Form, 
That howls thro heaven and breathes a billowing 

storm. 

His head is hung with clouds ; his giant hand 
Flings a blue flame far flickering to the land ; 
His blood-stain'd limbs drip carnage as he strides, 
And taint with gory grume the staggering tides ; 480 
Like two red suns his quivering eyeballs glare, 
His mouth disgorges all the stores of war, 
Pikes, muskets, mortars, guns and globes of fire, 
And lighted bombs that fusing trails exspire. 
Percht on his helmet, two twin sisters rode, 
The favorite offspring of the murderous god, 
Famine and Pestilence; whom whilom bore 
His wife, grim Discord, on Trinacria's shore ; 
When first their Cyclop sons, from Etna's forge, 
Fill'd his foul magazine, his gaping gorge : 490 
Then earth convulsive groan'd, high shriek'd the air, 
And hell in gratulation calFd him War, 



l6o THE COLUMBIAD. 

Behind the fiend, swift hovering for the coast, 
Hangs o'er the wave Britannia's sail-wing'd host ; 
They crowd the main, they spread their sheets abroad, 
From the wide Laurence to the Georgian flood, 
Point their black batteries to the peopled shorey 
And spouting flames commence the hideous roar. 
Where fortless Falmouth, looking o'er her bay, 
In terror saw the approaching thunders play, 500 
The fire begins ; the shells o'er- arching fly, 
And shoot a thousand rainbows thro the sky ; 
On Charlestown spires, on Bedford roofs they light, 
Groton and Fairfield kindle from the flight, 
Norwalk expands the blaze; o'er Reading hills 
High flaming Danbury the welkin fills ; 
Esopus burns, Newyork's delightful fanes 
And sea-nursed Norfolk light the neighboring plains. 
From realm to realm the smoky volumes bend, 
Reach round the bays and up the streams extend; 510 
Deep o'er the concave heavy wreaths are roird, 
And midland towns and distant groves infold. 
Thro solid curls of smoke, the bursting fires 
Climb in tali pyramids above the spires, 
Concentring all the winds ; whose forces, driven 
With equal rage from every point of heaven, 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 161 

Whirl into conflict, round the scantling pour 
The twisting flames and thro the rafters roar, 
Suck up the cinders, send them sailing far, 
To warn the nations of the raging war, 520 

Bend high the blazing vortex, swelFd and curl'd, 
Careering, brightening o'er the lustred world, 
Absorb the reddening clouds that round them run, 
Lick the pale stars, and mock their absent sun : 
Seas catch the splendor, kindling skies resound, 
And falling structures shake the smouldering ground. 

Crowds of wild fugitives, with frantic tread, 
Flit thro the flames that pierce the midnight shade, 
Back on the burning domes revert their eyes, 
Where some lost friend, some perisht infant lies. 530 
Their maim'd, their sick, their age-enfeebled sires 
Have sunk sad victims to the sateless fires ; 
They greet with one last look their tottering walls, 
See the blaze thicken, as the' ruin falls, 
Then o'er the country train their dumb despair, 
And far behind them leave the dancing glare ; 
Their own crusht roofs still lend a trembling light, 
Point their long shadows and direct their flight. 
Till wandering wide they seek some cottage door, 
Ask the vile pittance due the vagrant poor; 540 

M 



162 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Or faint and faltering on the devious road. 
They sink at last and yield their mortal load. 

But where the sheeted flames thro Charlestown 

roar, 

And lashing waves hiss round the burning shore, 
Thro the deep folding fires dread Bunker's height 
Thunders o'er all and shows a field of fight. 
Like nightly shadows thro a flaming grove, 
To the dark fray the closing squadrons move ; 
They join, they break, they thicken thro the glare, 
And blazing batteries burst along the war ; 550 
Now wrapt in reddening smoke, now dim in sight, 
They rake the hill, or wing the downward flight ; 
Here, wheel'd and wedged, Britannia's veterans turn, 
And the long lightnings from their muskets burn ; 
There scattering strive the thin colonial train, 
Whose broken platoons still the field maintain ; 
Till Britain's fresh battalions rise the height, 
Arid with increasing vollies give the fight. 
When, choked with dust, discolor'd deep in gore, 
And gall'd on all sides from the ships and shore, 560 
Hesperia's host moves off the field afar, 
And saves, by slow retreat, the sad remains of war. 

There strides bold Putnam, and from all the plains 
Calls the tired troops, the tardy rear sustains, 






BOOK THE FIFTH. 163 

And, mid the whizzing balls that skim the lowe, 
Waves back his sword, defies the following foe. 

In this prime prelude of the toil that waits 
The nascent glories of his infant states, 
Columbus mourn'd the slain. A numerous crowd, 
Half of each host, had bought their fame with blood; 
From the whole hill he saw the lifestream pour^ 571 
And sloping pathways trod with tracks of gore. 
Here, glorious Warren, thy cold earth was seen, 
Here spring thy laurels in immortal green ; 
Dearest of chiefs that ever prest the plain, 
In freedom's cause with early honors slain ; 
Still dear in death, as when before our sight 
You graced the senate, or you led the fight. 
The grateful Muse shall tell the world your fame, 
And unborn realms resound the deathless name. 580 

Now from all plains, as settling smokes decay, 
The banded freemen rise in open day ; 
Tall thro the lessening shadows, half conceal'd, 
They throng and gather in a central field ; 
In unskilled ranks but ardent soul they stand, 
Claim quick the foe, and eager strife demand. 

In front firm Washington superior shone, 
His eye directed to the half-seen sun ; 



164 THE COLUMBIAD. 

As thro the cloud the bursting splendors glow, 

And light the passage to the distant foe. 690 

His waving steel returns the living day, 

And points, thro unfought fields, the warrior's way ; 

His valorous deeds to be confined no more, 

Monongahela, to thy desert shore. 

Matured with years, with nobler glory warm, 

Fate in his eye and empire on his arm, 

He feels his sword the strength of nations wield, 

And moves before them with a broader shield. 

Greene rose beside him emulous in arms, 
His genius brightening as the danger warms, 600 
In counsel great, in every science skill'd, 
Pride of the camp and terror of the field. 
With eager look, conspicuous o'er the crowd, 
And port majestic, brave Montgomery strode, 
Bared his tried blade, with honor's call elate, 
Claim'd the first field and hasten'd to his fate. 
Lincoln, with force unfolding as he rose, 
Scoped the whole war and measured well the foes; 
Calm, cautious, firm, for frugal counsels known, 
Frugal of other's blood but liberal of his own. 6lO 
Heath for impending toil his falchion draws, 
And fearless Wooster aids the sacred cause, 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 165 

Mercer advanced an early death to prove, 
Sinclair and Mifflin swift to combat move ; 
Here stood stern Putnam, scored with ancient scars, 
The living records of his country's wars ; 
Wayne, like a moving tower, assumes his post. 
Fires the whole field, and is himself a host ; 
Undaunted Stirling, prompt to meet his foes, 
And Gates and Sullivan for action rose ; 620 

Macdougal, Clinton, guardians of the state, 
Stretch the nerved arm to pierce the depth of fate ; 
Marion with rapture seized the sword of fame, 
Young Laurens graced a father's patriot name ; 
Moultrie and Sumter lead their banded powers, 
Morgan in front of his bold riflers towers, 
His host of keen-eyed marksmen, skill'd to pour 
Their slugs unerring from the twisted bore. 
No sword, no bayonet they learn to wield, 
They gall the flank, they skirt the battling field, 630 
Cull out the distant foe in full horse speed, 
Couch the long tube and eye the silver bead, 
Turn as he turns, dismiss the whizzing lead, 
And lodge the death-ball in his heedless head. 

So toil'd the huntsman Tell. His quivering dart, 
Prest by the bended bowstring, fears to part, 



166 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Dreads the tremendous task, to graze but shun 

The tender temples of his infant son ; 

As the loved youth (the tyrant's victim led) 

Bears the poised apple tottering on his head. 6*4a 

The sullen father, with reverted eye, 

Now marks the satrap, now the bright-hair'd boy ; 

His second shaft impatient lies, athirst 

To mend the expected error of the first, 

To pierce the monster, mid the insulted crowd, 

And steep the pangs of nature in his blood. 

Deep doubling tow'rd his breast, well poised and slow, 

Curve the strain'd horns of his indignant bow ; 

His left arm straightens as the dexter bends, 

And his nerved knuckle with the gripe distends; 650 

Soft slides the reed back with the stiff drawn strand, 

Till the steel point has reacht his steady hand ; 

Then to his keen fixt eye the shank he brings, 

Twangs the loud cord, the feather'd arrow sings, 

Picks off the pippin from the smiling boy, 

And Uri's rocks resound with shouts of joy. 

Soon by an equal dart the tyrant bleeds, 

The cantons league, the work of fate proceeds ; 

Till Austria's titled hordes, with their own gore, 

Fat the fair fields they lorded long before ; 660 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 1*67 

On Gothard's height while freedom first unfurl'd 
Her infant banner o'er the modern world. 

Bland, Moylan, Sheldon the long lines enforce 
With light-arm'd scouts, with solid squares of horse ; 
And Knox from his full park to battle brings 
His brazen tubes, the last resort of kings. 
The long black rows in sullen silence wait, 
Their grim jaws gaping, soon to utter fate ; 
When at his word the carbon clouds shall rise, 
And well aim'd thunders rock the shores and skies. 670 

Two foreign Youths had caught the splendent flame, 
To Fame's hard school the warm disciples came ; 
To learn sage Liberty's unlesson'd lore, 
To brave the tempest on her war-beat shore, 
Prometheus like, to snatch a beam of day, 
And homeward bear the unscintillating ray, 
To pour new life on Europe's languid horde, 
Where millions crouch beneath one stupid lord* 
Tho Austria's keiser and the Russian czar 
To dungeons doom them, and with fetters mar, 680 
Fayette o'er Gaul's vast realm some light shall spread, 
Brave Kosciusko rear Sarmatia's head ; 
From Garonne's bank to Duna's wintry skies, 
The morn shall move, and slumbering nations rise. 



168 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And tho their despots quake with wild alarms, 
And lash and agonize the world to arms, 
Whelm for a while the untutored race in blood, 
And turn against themselves the raging flood ; 
Yet shall the undying dawn, with silent pace, 
Reach over earth and every land embrace ; 690 
Till Europe's well taught sons the boon shall share. 
And bless the labors of the imprison 'd Pair. 

So Leda's Twins from Colchis raped the Fleece, 
And brought the treasure to their native Greece. 
She hail'd her heroes from their finish'd wars, 
Assign 'd their place amid the clustered stars, 
Bade round the eternal sky their trophies flame, 
And charged the zodiac with their deathless fame. 
Here move the Strangers, here in freedom's cause 
His untried blade each stripling hero draws, 700 
On the great chief their eyes in transport roll, 
And war and Washington renerve the soul. 

Steuben advanced, in veteran armor drest, 
For Prussian lore distinguished o'er the rest, 
The tactic lore ; to this he bends his care, 
And here transplants the discipline of war. 
Other brave chieftains of illustrious name 
Rise into sight and equal honors claim ; 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 169 

But who can tell the dew-drops of the morn, 

Or count the rays that in the diamond burn ? flQ 

Grieve not, my valiant friends ; the faithful song 

Shall soon redress the momentary wrong ; 

Your own bright swords have cleaved your course to 

fame, 
And all her hundred tongues recognize every claim. 

Now the broad field as untaught warriors shade, 
The sun's glad beam their shining arms display 'd ; 
High waved great Washington his glittering steel, 
Bade the long train in circling order wheel ; 
And, while the banner'd youths around him prest, 
With voice revered he thus the ranks addrest: 720 
Ye generous bands, behold the task to save, 
Or yield whole nations to an instant grave. 
See hosted myriads crowding to your shore, 
Hear from all ports their vollied thunders roar; 
From Boston heights their bloody standards play, 
O'er long Champlain they lead their northern way, 
Virginian banks behold their streamers glide, 
And hostile navies load each southern tide. 
Beneath their steps your towns in ashes lie, 
Your inland empires feast their greedy eye ; /30 
Soon shall your fields to lordly parks be turn'd, 
Your children butcher'd and your villas burn'd ; 



170 THE COLUMBIAD. 

While following millions, thro the reign of time, 
Who claim their birth in this indulgent clime., 
Bend the weak knee, to servile toils consigned. 
And sloth and slavery still degrade mankind. 
Rise then to war, to timely vengeance rise, 
Ere the gray sire, the helpless infant dies ; 
Look thro the world, see endless years descend, 
What realms, what ages on your arms depend! 
Reverse the fate, avenge the insulted sky, 
Move to the work ; we conquer or we die. 

So spoke Columbia's chief; his guiding hand 
Points out their march to every ardent band, 
Assigns to each brave leader, as they claim, 
His test of valor and his task of fame. 
With his young host Montgomery first moves forth, 
To crush the vast invasion of the north ; 
O'er streams and lakes their flags far onward play, 
Navies and forts surrendering mark their way ; J5O 
Rocks, fens and deserts thwart the paths they go, 
And hills before them lose their crags in snow. 
Loud Laurence, clogg'd with ice, indignant feels 
Their sleet-clad oars, choked helms and crusted 

keels; 

They buffet long his tides ; when rise in sight 
Quebec's dread walls, and Wolfe's unclouded height. 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 171 

Already there a few brave patriots stood, 
Worn down with toil, by famine half subdued ; 
Untrench'd before the town, they dare oppose 
Their fielded cohorts to the forted foes. 760 

Ah gallant troop ! deprived of half the praise 
That deeds like yours in other times repays, 
Since your prime chief (the favorite erst of fame) 
Hath sunk so deep his hateful, hideous name, 
That every honest Muse with horror flings 
The name unsounded from her Sacred strings ; 
Else what high tones of rapture must have told 
The first great action of a chief so bold! 
Twas his, twas yours, to brave unusual storms, 
To tame rude nature in her drearest forms ; 77 
Foodless and guideless, thro that waste of earth, 
You march'd long months ; and, sore reduced by 

dearth, 

Reach' d the proud capital, too feeble far 
To tempt unaided such a task of war ; 
Till now Montgomery's host, with hopes elate, 
Joins your scant powers, to try the test of fate. 

With skilful glance he views the fortress round, 
Bristled with pikes, with dark artillery crown'd ; 
Resolves with naked steel to scale the towers, 
And snatch a realm from Britain's hostile powers. 780 



172 THE COLUMBIAD, 

Now drear December's boreal blasts arise, 
A roaring hailstorm sweeps the shuddering skies, 
Night with condensing horror mantles all, 
And trembling watch-lights glimmer from the wall. 
From bombs o'erarching, fusing, bursting high, 
The glare scarce wanders thro the loaded sky ; 
And in the louder shock of meteors drown'd, 
The accustom'd ear in vain expects the sound. 
He points the assault; and, thro the howling 

air, 

O'er rocky ramparts leads audacious war. 790 

Swift rise the rapid files ; the walls are red 
With flashing flames, that show the piles of dead ; 
Till back recoiling from the ranks of slain, 
They leave their leader with a feeble train, 
Begirt with foes within the sounding wall, 
Who thick beneath his single falchion fall. 
But short the conflict; others hemm'd him round, 
And brave Montgomery prest the gory ground. 
A second Wolfe Columbus here beheld, 
In youthful charms, a soul undaunted yield ; 800 
Forlorn, o'erpower'd, his hardy host remains, 
Stretch'd by his side, or led in captive chains. 
Macpherson, Cheesman share their general's doom; 
Meigs, Morgan, Dearborn, planning deeds to come, 



BOOK THE FIFTH. 173 

Resign impatient prisoners; soon to wield 
Their happier swords in many a broader field. 

Triumphant to Newyork's ill forted post 
Britannia turns her vast amphibious host, 
That seas and storms, obedient to her hand, 
Heave and discharge on every distant land ; 810 
Fleets, floating batteries shake Manhattan's shore, 
And Hellgate rocks reverberate the roar. 
Swift o'er the shuddering isles that line the bay 
The red flags wave, and battering engines play ; 
Howe leads aland the interminable train, 
While his bold brother still bestorms the main, 
Great Albion's double pride ; both famed afar 
On each vext element, each world of war ; 
Where British rapine follows peaceful toil, 
And murders nations but to seize their spoil. 820 

Wide sweep the veteran myriads o'er the strand, 
Outnumbering thrice the raw colonial band ; 
Flatbush and Harlem sink beneath their fires, 
Brave Stirling yields, and Sullivan retires. 
In vain sage Washington, from hill to hill, 
Plays round his foes with more than Fabian skill, 
Retreats, advances, lures them to his snare, 
To balance numbers by the shifts of war. 



174 THE COLUMBIAD. 

For not their swords alone, but fell disease 
Thins his chill camp and chokes the neighboring 
seas. 830 

The baleful malady, from Syrius sent, 
Floats in each breeze, impesting every tent, 
Strikes the young soldier with the morning ray, 
And lays him lifeless ere the close of day, 
Far from his father's house, his mother's care, 
And all the charities that nursed him there. 

Damp'd is the native rage that first impell'd 
The insulted colons to the battling field ; 
When first their high-soul'd sentiment of right 
And full-vein'd vigor nerved their arm to fight. 840 
For stript of health, benumb'd thy vital flood, 
Thy muscles lax'd and decomposed thy blood, 
What is thy courage, man ? a foodless flame, 
A light unseen, a soul without a frame. 

Each day the decimated ranks forgo 
Their dying comrades to repulse the foe, 
And each damp night, along the slippery trench, 
Breathe at their post the suffocating stench ; 
They sink by hundreds on the vapory soil, 
Till a new fight relieves their deadlier toil. 850 



BOOK THE FIFfH. 



175 



At last from fruitless combat, sore defeat, 

To Croton hills they lead a long retreat; 

Pale, curbed, exanimate, in dull despair, 

Train the scant relics of the twofold war : 

The sword, the pestilence press hard behind ; 

The body both assail, and one beats down the mind. 



THE 



COLTJMBIAD. 



BOOK VI. 



ARGUMENT. 



British cruelty to American prisoners. Prison Ship. Retreat 
of Washington with the relics of his army, pursued by 
Howe. Washington recrossing the Delaware in the night, 
to surprise the British van, is opposed by uncommon ob 
stacles. His success in this audacious enterprise lays the 
foundation of the American empire. A monument to be 
erected on the bank of the Delaware. Approach of Bur- 
goyne, sailing up the St. Laurence with an army of 
Britons and various other nations. Indignant energy of 
the colonies, compared to that of Greece in opposing the 
invasion of Xerxes. Formation of an army of citizens, 
under the command of Gates. Review of the American 
and British armies, and of the savage tribes who join the 
British standard. Battle of Saratoga. Story of Lucinda. 
Second battle, and capture of Burgoyne and his army. 






THE 



COLUMBIAN 



BOOK VI. 

JDUT of all tales that war's black annals hold, 
The darkest, foulest still remains untold ; 
New modes of torture wait the shameful strife, 
And Britain wantons in the waste of life. 

Cold-blooded Cruelty, first fiend of hell, 
Ah think no more with savage hordes to dwell ; 
Quit the Caribian tribes who eat their slain, 
Fly that grim gang, the Inquisitors of Spain, 
Boast not thy deeds in Moloch's shrines of old, 
Leave Barbary's pirates to their blood-bought gold, 
Let Holland steal her victims, force them o'er 11 
To toils and death on Java's morbid shore ; 
Some cloak, some color all these crimes may plead ; 
Tis avarice, passion, blind religion's deed ; 

N 2 



180 THE COLUMBIAD. 

But Britons here, in this fraternal broil. 

Grave, cool, deliberate in thy service toil. 

Far from the nation's eye, whose nobler soul 

Thei-r wars would humanize, their pride control, 

They lose the lessons that her laws impart, 

And change the British for the brutal heart. 2O 

Fired by no passion, madden'd by no zeal, 

No priest, no Plutus bids them not to feel ; 

Unpaid, gratuitous, on torture bent, 

Their sport is death, their pastime to torment ; 

All other gods they scorn, but bow the knee, 

And curb, well pleased, O Cruelty, to thee. 

Come then, curst goddess, where thy votaries reign, 
Inhale their incense from the land and main ; 
Come to Newyork, their conquering arms to greet, 
Brood o'er their camp and breathe along their fleet; 
The brother chiefs of Howe's illustrious name 31 
Demand thy labors to complete their fame. 
What shrieks of agony thy praises sound ! 
What grateless dungeons groan beneath the ground ! 
See the black Prison Ship's expanding womb 
Impested thousands, quick and dead, entomb. 
Barks after barks the captured seamen bear, 
Transboard and lodge thy silent victims there ; 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 181 

A hundred scows, from all the neighboring shore, 
Spread the dull sail and ply the constant oar, 40 
Waft wrecks of armies from the well fought field, 
And famisht garrisons who bravely yield ; 
They mount the hulk, and, cramm'd within the cave, 
Hail their last house, their living, floating grave. 

She comes, the Fiend! her grinning jaws expand, 
Her brazen eyes cast lightning o'er the strand, 
Her wings like thunder-clouds the welkin sweep, 
Brush the tall spires and shade the shuddering deep; 
She gains the deck, displays her wonted store, 
Her cords and scourges wet with prisoners' gore; 5O 
Gripes, pincers, thumb- screws spread beneath her feet, 
Slow poisonous drugs and loads of putrid meat ; 
Disease hangs drizzling from her slimy locks, 
And hot contagion issues from her box. 

O'er the closed hatches ere she takes her place, 
She moves the massy planks a little space, 
Opes a small passage to the cries below, 
That feast her soul on messages of woe ; 
There sits with gaping ear and changeless eye, 
Drinks every groan and treasures every sigh, 60 
Sustains the faint, their miseries to prolong, 
Revives the dying and unnerves the strong. 



182 THE COLUMBIAD. 

But as the infected mass resign their breath, 
She keeps with joy the register of death. 
As tost thro portholes from the encumber 'd cave, 
Corpse after corpse fall dashing in the wave ; 
Corpse after corpse, for days and months and years, 
The tide bears off, and still its current clears ; 
At Jast, overloaded with the putrid gore, 
The slime-clad waters thicken round the shore. 70 
Green Ocean's self, that oft his wave renews, 
That drinks whole fleets with all their battling crews, 
That laves, that purifies the earth and sky, 
Yet ne'er before resigned his natural dye, 
Here purples, blushes for the race he bore 
To rob and ravage this unconquer'd shore ; 
The scaly nations, as they travel by, 
Catch the contagion, sicken, gasp and die. 

Now Hesper turns the Hero's tearful eye 
To other fields where other standards fly ; 80 

For here constrained new warfare to disclose, 
And show the feats of more than mortal foes, 
Where interposing with celestial might, 
His own dread labors must decide the fight, 
He bids the scene with pomp unusual rise, 
To teach Columbus how to read the skies. 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 183 

He marks the trace of Howe's triumphant course, 
And wheels o'er Jersey plains his gathering force ; 
Where dauntless Washington, begirt with foes, 
Still greater rises as the danger grows, 90 

And wearied troops, o'er kindred warriors slain, 
Attend his march thro many a sanguine plain. 

From Hudson's bank to Trenton's wintry strand, 
He guards in firm retreat his feeble band ; 
Britons by thousands on his flanks advance, 
Bend o'er his rear and point the lifted lance. 
Past Delaware's frozen stream, with scanty force, 
He checks retreat ; then turning back his course, 
Remounts the wave, and thro the mingled roar 
Of ice and storm reseeks the hostile shore, 10O 
Wrapt in the gloom of night. The offended Flood 
Starts from his cave, assumes the indignant god, 
Rears thro the parting tide his foamy form, 
And with his fiery eyeballs lights the storm. 
He stares around him on the host he heard, 
Clears his choked urn and smooths his icy beard, 
And thus: Audacious chief, this troubled wave 
Tempt not ; or tempting, here shall gape thy grave. 
Is nothing sacred to thy venturous might ? 
The howling storm, the holy truce of night, 110 



184 THE COLUMBIAD. 

High tossing ice-isles crashing round thy side, 
Insidious rocks that pierce the tumbling tide ? 
Fear then this forceful arm, and hear once more, 
Death stands between thee and that shelvy shore. 

The chief beholds the god, and notes his cry, 
But onward drives, nor pauses to reply ; 
Calls to each bark, and spirits every host 
To toil, gain, tempt the interdicted coast. 
The crews, regardless of the doubling roar, 
Breast the strong helm, and wrestle with the oar, 1 20 
Stem with resurgent prow the struggling spray, 
And with phosphoric lanterns shape their way. 

The god perceived his warning words were vain, 
And rose more furious to assert his reign, 
Lash'd up a loftier surge, and heaved on high 
A ridge of billows that obstruct the sky ; 
And, as the accumulated mass he rolls, 
Bares the sharp rocks and lifts the gaping shoals. 
Forward the fearless barges plunge and bound, 
Top the curl'd wave, or grind the flinty ground, 1 3O 
Careen, whirl, right, and sidelong dasht and tost, 
Now seem to reach and now to lose the coast. 

Still unsubdued the sea-drench'd army toils, 
Each buoyant skiff the flouncing godhead foils; 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 185 

He raves and roars, and in delirious woe 
Calls to his aid his ancient hoary foe, 
Almighty Frost; when thus the vanquish'd Flood 
Bespeaks in haste the great earth-rending god : 
Father of storms ! behold this mortal race 
Confound my force and brave me to my face. 140 
Not all my waves by all my tempests driven, 
Nor black night brooding o'er the starless heaven, 
Can check their course; they toss and plunge amain, 
And lo, my guardian rocks project their points in vain. 
Come to my help, and with thy stiffening breath 
Clog their strain'd helms, distend their limbs iu 

death. 

Tho ancient enmity our realms divide, 
And oft thy chains arrest my laboring tide, 
Let strong necessity our cause combine, 
Thy own disgrace anticipate in mine ; 15O 

Even now their oars thy sleet in vain congeals, 
Thy crumbling ice-cakes crash beneath their keels; 
Their impious arms already cope with ours, 
And mortal man defies immortal Powers. 

Roused at the call, the Monarch mounts the 

storm ; 
In muriat flakes he robes his nitrous, form, 



186 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Glares thro the compound, all its blast inhales, 
And seas turn crystal where he breathes his gales. 
He comes careering o'er his bleak domain, 
But comes untended by his usual train ; l6o 

Hail, sleet and snow-rack far behind him fly, 
Too weak to wade thro this pe trifle sky, 
Whose air consolidates and cuts and stings, 
And shakes hoar tinsel from its flickering wings. 
Earth heaves and cracks beneath the alighting god; 
He -gains the pass, bestrides the roaring flood, 
Shoots from his nostrils one wide withering sheet 
Of treasured meteors on the struggling fleet ; 
The waves conglaciate instant, fix in air, 
Stand like a ridge of rocks, and shiver there. 1/0 
The barks, confounded in their headlong surge, 
Or wedged in crystal, cease their oars to urge ; 
Some with prone prow, as plunging down the deep, 
And some remounting o'er the slippery steep 
Seem laboring still, but moveless, lifeless all ; 
And the chill'd army here awaits its fall. 

But Hesper, guardian of Hesperia's right, 
From his far heaven looks thro the rayless night ; 
And, stung to vengeance at the unequal strife, 
To save her host, in jeopardy of life, ISO 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 18? 

Starts from his throne, ascends his flamy car, 

And turns tremendous to the field of war. 

His wheels, resurging from the depth of even, 

Roll back the night, streak wide the startled heaven, 

Rgain their easting with reverted gyres, 

And stud their path with scintillating fires. 

He cleaves the clouds ; and, swift as beams of day, 

O'er California sweeps his splendid way ; 

Missouri's mountains at his passage nod, 

And now sad Delaware feels the present god, 190 

And trembles at his tread. For here to fight 

Rush two dread Powers of such unmeasured might, 

As threats to annihilate his doubtful reign, 

Convulse the heaven and mingle earth and main. 

Frost views his brilliant foe with scornful eye, 
And whirls a tenfold tempest thro the sky ; 
Where each fine atom of the immense of air, 
Steel'd, pointed, barb'd for unexampled war, 
Sings o'er the shuddering ground ; when thus he broke 
Contemptuous silence, and to Hesper spoke : 200 
Thou comest in time to share their last disgrace, 
To change to crystal with thy rebel race, 
Stretch thy huge corse o'er Delaware's bank afar, 
And learn the force of elemental war. 



188 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Or if undying life thy lamp inspire, 
Take that one blast and to thy sky retire ; 
There, roll'd eternal round the heavens, proclaim 
Thy own disaster and my deathless fame. 

I come, said Hesper, not to insult the brave, 
But break thy sceptre and let loose my wave, 21O 
Teach the proud Stream more peaceful tides to roll, 
And send thee howling to thy stormy pole ; 
That drear dominion shall thy rage confine ; 
This land, these waters and those troops are mine. 

He added not ; and now the sable storm, 
Pierced by strong splendor, burst before his form; 
His visage stern an awful lustre shed, 
His pearly planet play'd around his head. 
He seized a lofty pine, whose roots of yore 
Struck deep in earth, to guard the sandy shore 220 
From hostile ravage of the mining tide, 
That rakes with spoils of earth its crumbling side. 
He wrencht it from the soil, and o'er the foe 
Whirl'd the strong trunk, and aim'd a sweeping blow, 
That sung thro air, but miss'd the moving god, 
And fell wide crashing on the frozen flood. 
For many a rood the shivering ice it tore, 
Loosed every bark and shook the sounding shore ; 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 

Stroke after stroke with doubling force he plied, 
Foil'd the hoar Fiend and pulverized the tide. 
The baffled tyrant quits the desperate cause ; 
From Hesper's heat the river swells and thaws, 
The fleet rolls gently to the Jersey coast, 
And morning splendors greet the landing host. 

Tis here dread Washington, when first the day 
O'er Trenton beamM to light his rapid way, 
Pour'd the rude shock on Britain's vanguard train, 
And led whole squadrons in his captive chain ; 
Where veteran troops to half their numbers yield, 
Tread back their steps, or press the sanguine field, 
To Princeton plains precipitate their flight, 241 
Thro new disasters and unfinished fight, 
Resign their conquests by one sad surprise, 
Sink in their pride and see their rivals rise. 

Here dawn'd the day star of Hesperia's fame, 
Here herald glory first emblazed her name ; 
On Delaware's bank her base of empire stands, 
The work of Washington's immortal hands ; 
Prompt at his side while gallant Mercer trod, 
And seal'd the firm foundation with his blood. 250 

In future years, if right the Muse divine, 
Some great memorial on this bank shall shine; 



190 THE COLUMBIAD. 

A column bold its granite shaft shall rear, 
Swell o'er the strand and check the passing air, 
Cast its broad image on the watery glade, 
And Bristol greet the monumental shade ; 
Eternal emblem of that gloomy hour, 
When the great general left her storm-beat shore, 
To tempest, night and his own sword consign'd 
His country's fates, the fortunes of mankind. 26*0 

Where sealike Laurence, rolling in his pride, 
With Ocean's self disputes the tossing tide, 
From shore to shore, thro dim distending skies, 
Beneath full sails imbanded nations rise. 
Britain and Brunswick here their flags unfold, 
Here Hessia's hordes, for toils of slaughter sold, 
Anspach and Darmstadt swell the hireling train, 
Proud Caledonia crowds the masted main, 
Hibernian kerns and Hanoverian slaves 
Move o'er the decks and darken wide the waves. 

Tall on the boldest bark superior shone 2/1 

A warrior ensign'd with a various crown ; 
Myrtles and laurels equal honors join'd, 
Which arms had purchased and the Muses twined; 
His sword waved forward, and his ardent eye 
Seem'd sharing empires in the southern sky. 



BOOK THE SIXTH, 

Beside him rose a herald to proclaim 

His various honors, titles, feats and fame ; 

Who raised an opening scroll, where proudly shone 

Burgoyne and vengeance from the British throne. 280 

Cham plain receives the congregated host, 
And his husht waves beneath the sails are lost ; 
Ticonderoga rears his rocks in vain, 
Nor Edward's walls the weighty shock sustain ; 
Deep George's loaded lake reluctant guides 
Their bounding barges o'er his sacred tides. 
State after state the splendid pomp appalls, 
Each town surrenders, every fortress falls ; 
Sinclair retires ; and with his feeble train, 
In slow retreat o'er many a fatal plain, 290 

Allures their march ; wide moves their furious force, 
And flaming hamlets mark their wasting course ; 
Thro fortless realms their spreading ranks are 

wheel'd, 

On Mohawk's western wave, on Bennington's dread 
field. 

At last where Hudson, with majestic pace, 
Swells at the sight, and checks his rapid race, 
Thro dark Stillwater slow and silent moves, 
And flying troops with sullen pause reproves, 



iga THE COLUMBIAD. 

A few firm bands their starry standard rear, 
Wheel, front and face the desolating war. 300 

Sudden the patriot flame each province warms, 
Deep danger calls, the freemen quit their farms, 
Seize their tried muskets, name their chiefs to lead, 
Endorse their knapsacks and to vengeance speed. 
O'er all the land the kindling ardor flies, 
Troop follows troop, and flags on flags arise, 
Concentred, trained, their forming files unite, 
Swell into squadrons and demand the fight. 

When Xerxes, raving at his sire's disgrace, 309 
Pour'd his dark millions on the coast of Thrace, 
O'er groaning Hellespont his broad bridge huiTd, 
Hew'd ponderous Athos from the trembling world, 
StilPd with his weight of ships the struggling main, 
And bound the billows in his boasted chain, 
Wide o'er proud Macedon he wheel'd his course, 
Thrace, Thebes, Thessalia join'd his furious force. 
Thro six torn states his hovering swarms increase, 
And hang tremendous on the skirts of Greece ; 
Deep groan the shrines of all her guardian gods, 
Sad Pelion shakes, divine Olympus nods, 320 

Shock'd Ossa sheds his hundred hills of snow, 
And Tempe swells her murmuring brook below ; 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 193 

Wild in her starts of rage the Pythian shrieks, 
Dodona's Oak the pangs of nature speaks, 
Eleusis quakes thro all her mystic caves, 
And black Trophonius gapes a thousand graves. 
But soon the freeborn Greeks to vengeance rise, 
Brave Sparta springs where first the danger lies, 
Her self-devoted Band, in one steel'd mass, 
Plunge in the gorge of death, and choke the Pass. 
Athenian youths, the unwieldy war to meet, 331 
Couch the stiff lance, or mount the well arm'd fleet; 
They sweep the incumber'd seas of their vast load, 
And fat their fields with lakes of Asian blood. 

So leapt our youths to meet the invading hordes, 
Fame fired their courage, freedom edged their swords. 
Gates in their van on high-hill'd Bemus rose, 
Waved his blue steel and dared the headlong foes 5 
Undaunted Lincoln, laboring on his right, 
Urged every arm, and gave them hearts to fight ; 340 
Starke, at the dexter flank, the onset claims, 
Indignant Herkimer the left inflames ; 
He bounds exulting to commence the strife, 
And buy the victory with his bartered life. 

And why, sweet Minstrel, from the harp of fame 
Withhold so long that once resounding name ? 

O 



194 THE COLUMBIA!). 

The chief who, steering by the boreal star, 
O'er wild Canadia led our infant war, 
In desperate straits superior powers display'd, 
Burgoyne's dread scourge, Montgomery's ablest aid; 
Ridgefield and Compo saw his valorous might 351 
With ill-arm'd swains put veteran troops to flight. 
Tho treason foul hath since absorbed his soul, 
Bade waves of dark oblivion round him roll, 
Sunk his proud heart abhorrent and abhorr'd, 
Effaced his memory and defiled his sword ; 
Yet then untarnisht rolFd his conquering car ; 
Then famed and foremost in the ranks of war 
Brave Arnold trod ; high valor warm'd his breast, 
And beams of glory play'd around his crest. 36o 
Here toils the chief; whole armies from his eye 
Resume their souls, and swift to combat fly. 

Camp'd on a hundred hills, and trenchM in form, 
Burgoyne's long legions view the gathering storm ; 
Uncounted nations round their general stand, 
And wait the signal from his guiding hand. 
Canadia crowds her Gallic colons there, 
Ontario's yelling tribes torment the air, 
Wild Huron sends his lurking hordes from far, 
Insidious Mohawk swells the woodland war; 3^0 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 19$ 

Scalpers and ax-men rush from Erie's shore. 
And Iroquois augments the war whoop roar; 
While all his ancient troops his train supply, 
Half Europe's banners waving thro the sky ; 
Deep squadron'd horse support his endless flanks. 
And park'd artillery frowns behind the ranks. 
Flush'd with the conquest of a thousand fields, 
And rich with spoils that all the region yields, 
They burn with zeal to close the long campaign, 
And crush Columbia on this final plain. 380 

His fellow chiefs inhale the hero's flame, 
Nerves of his arm and partners in his fame: 
Phillips, with treasured thunders poised and wheel 'd 
In brazen tubes, prepares to rake the field ; 
The trench-tops darken with the sable rows, 
And, tipt with fire, the waving match-rope glows. 
There gallant Reidesel in German guise, 
And Specht and Breyman, prompt for action, rise; 
His savage hordes the murderous Johnson leads^ 
Files thro the woods and treads the tangled weeds, 
Shuns open combat, teaches where to run, 39! 
Skulk, couch the ambush, aim the hunter's gun, 
Whirl the sly tomahawk, the War whoop sing, 
Divide the spoils and pack the scalps they bring. 

o 2 



THE COLUMBIAD. 

Frazer in quest of glory seeks the field; 
False glare of glory, what hast thou to yield ? 
How long, deluding phantom, wilt thou blind, 
Mislead, debase, unhumanize mankind ? 
Bid the bold youth, his headlong sword who draws, 
Heed not the object, nor inquire the cause ; 400 
But seek adventuring, like an errant knight, 
Wars not his own, gratuitous in fight, 
Greet the gored field, then plunging thro the fire, 
Mow down his men, with stupid pride expire, 
Shed from his closing eyes the finished flame, 
And ask, for all his crimes, a deathless name ? 
And when shall solid glory, pure and bright, 
Alone inspire us, and our deeds requite ? 
When shall the applause of men their chiefs pursue 
In just proportion to the good they do, 
On virtue's base erect the shrine of fame, 
Define her empire, and her code proclaim ? 

Unhappy Frazer! little hast thou weighed 
The crimeful cause thy valor comes to aid. 
Far from thy native land, thy sire, thy wife, 
Love's lisping race that cling about thy life, 
Thy soul beats high, thy thoughts expanding roajtt 
On battles past, and laurels yet to come: 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 197 

Alas, what laurels? where the lasting gain ? 

A pompous funeral on a desert plain ! 420 

The cannon's roar, the muffled drums proclaim, 

In one short blast, thy momentary fame, 

And some war minister per-hazard reads 

In what far field the tool of placemen bleeds. 

Brave Heartly strode in youth's o'erweening pride; 
Housed in the camp he left his blooming bride, 
The sweet Lucinda ; whom her sire from far, 
On steeds high bounding o'er the waste of war, 
Had guided thro the lines, and hither led, 
That fateful morn, the plighted chief to wed. 430 
He deem'd, deluded sire! the contest o'er, 
That routed rebels dared the fight no more ; 
And came to mingle, as the tumult ceased, 
The victor's triumph with the nuptial feast. 
They reach'd his tent ; when now with loud alarms 
The morn burst forth and roused the camp to arms; 
Conflicting passions seized the lover's breast, 
Bright honor call'd, and bright Lucinda prest: 
And wilt thou leave me for that clangorous call ? 
Traced I these deserts but to see thee fall ? 440 
I know thy valorous heart, thy zeal that speeds 
Where dangers press and boldest battle bleeds. 



198 THE COLUMBIAD, 

My father said bjest Hymen here should join 

With sacred Love to make Lucinda thine ; 

But other union these dire drums foredoom, 

The dark dead union of the eternal tomb. 

On yonder plain, soon sheeted o'er with blood, 

Our nuptial couch shall prove a crimson clod ; 

For there this night thy livid corse must lie, 

I'll seek it there, and on that bosom die. 450 

Yet go; tis duty calls; but o'er thy head 

Let this white plume its floating foliage spread ; 

That from the rampart, thro the troubled air, 

These eyes may trace thee toiling in the war. 

She fixt the feather on his crest above, 

Bound with the mystic knot, the knot of love ; 

He parted silent, but in silent prayer 

Bade Love and Hymen guard the timorous fair. 

Where Saratoga show'd her champaign side, 
That Hudson bathed with still untainted tide, 46*0 
The opposing pickets push'd their scouting files, 
Wheel'd, skirmisht, halted, practised all their wiles; 
Each to mislead, insnare, exhaust their foes, 
And court the conquest ere the armies close. 

Now roll like winged storms the solid lines, 
The clarion thunders and the battle joins, 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 199 

Thick flames in vollied flashes load the air, 
And echoing mountains give the noise of war; 
Sulphureous clouds rise reddening round the height, 
And veil the skies, and wrap the sounding fight. 470 
Soon from the skirts of smoke, where thousands toil, 
Ranks roll away and into light recoil ; 
Starke pours upon them in a storm of lead ; 
His hosted swains hestrew the field with dead, 
Pierce with strong bayonets the German reins, 
Whelm two battalions in their captive chains, 
Bid Baum, with wounds enfeebled, quit the field, 
And Breyman next his gushing lifeblood yield. 

This Frazer sees, and thither turns his course, 
Bears down before them with Britannia's force, 480 
Wheels a broad column on the victor flank, 
And springs to vengeance thro the foremost rank. 
Lincoln, to meet the hero, sweeps the plain ; 
His ready bands the laboring Starke sustain ; 
Host matching host, the doubtful battle burns, 
And now the Britons, now their foes by turns 
Regain the ground ; till Frazer feels the force 
Of a rude grapeshot in his flouncing horse; 
Nor knew the chief, till struggling from the fall, 
That his gored thigh had first received the ball. 490 



200 THE COLUMBIAD. 

He sinks expiring on the slippery soil ; 
Shock'd at the sight, his baffled troops recoil ; 
Where Lincoln, pressing with redoubled might, 
Broke thro their squadrons and confirm'd the flight ; 
When this brave leader met a stunning blow, 
That stopt his progress and avenged the foe. 
He left the field ; but prodigal of life, 
Unwearied Francis still prolonged the strife ; 
Till a chance carabine attain'd his head, 
And stretchM the hero mid the vulgar dead. 500 
His near companions rush with ardent gait, 
Swift to revenge, but soon to share his fate ; 
Brown, Adams, Coburn, falling side by side, 
Drench the chill sod with all their vital tide. 
Firm on the west bold Herkimer sustains 
The gather'd shock of all Canadia's trains ; 
Colons and wildmen post their skulkers there, 
Outflank his pickets and assail his rear, 
Drive in his distant scouts with hideous blare, 5Og 
And press, on three sides close, the hovering war. 
Johnson's own shrieks commence the deafening din. 
Rouse every ambush and the storm begin. 
A thousand thickets, thro each opening glen, 
Pour forth their hunters to the chase of men ; 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 201 

Trunks of huge trees, and rocks and ravines lend 
Unnumber'd batteries and their files defend ; 
They fire, they squat, they rise, advance and fly, 
And yells and groans alternate rend the sky. 
The well aim'd hatchet cleaves the helmless head, 
Mute showers of arrows and loud storms of lead 52O 
Rain thick from hands unseen, and sudden fling 
A deep confusion thro the laboring wing. 

But Herkimer undaunted quits the stand, 
Breaks in loose files his disencumbered band, 
Wheels on the howling glens each light-arm'd troop, 
And leads himself where Johnson tones his whoop, 
Pours thro his copse a well directed fire ; 
The semisavage sees his tribes retire, 
Then follows thro the brush in full horse speed, 
And gains the hilltop where the Hurons lead ; 530 
Here turns his courser ; when a grateful sight 
Recals his stragglers, and restrains his flight. 
For Herkimer no longer now sustains 
The loss of blood that his faint vitals drains : 
A ball had pierced him ere he changed his field ; 
The slow sure death his prudence had conceal'd, 
Till dark derouted foes should yield to flight, 
And his firm friends could finish well the fight. 



202 THE COLUMBJAD. 

Lopt from his horse the hero sinks at last ? 
The Hurons ken him, and with hallooing blast 540 
Shake the vast wilderness ; the tribes around 
Drink with broad ears and swell the rending sound, 
Rush back to vengeance with tempestuous might, 
Sweep the long slopes from every neighboring height, 
Full on their check'd pursuers ; who regain, 
From all their woods, the first contested plain. 
Here open fight begins ; and sure defeat 
Had forced that column to a swift retreat, 
But Arnold, toiling thro the distant smoke, 
Beheld their plight, a small detachment took, 550 
Bore down behind them with his field-park loud, 
And haiPd his grapeshot thro the savage crowd ; 
Strow'd every copse with dead, and chased afar 
The affrighted relics from the skirts of war. 

But on the centre swells the heaviest charge. 
The squares develop and the lines enlarge. gijusff 
Here Kosciusko's mantling works conceal'd 
His batteries mute, but soon to scour the field ; 
Morgan with all his marksmen flanks the foe, 
Hull, Brooks and Courtlandt in the vanguard glow ; 
Here gallant Dearborn leads his light-arm'd train, 561 
Here Scammel towers, here Silly shakes the plain. 



BOOK THE SIXTH. $03 

Gates guides the onset with his waving brand, 
Assigns their task to each unfolding band, 
Sustains, inspirits, prompts the warrior's rage, 
Now bids the flank and now the front engage, 
Points the stern riflers where their slugs to pour, 
And tells the unmasking batteries when to roar. 
For here impetuous Powell wheels and veers 
His royal guards, his British grenadiers ; 5/0 

His Highland broadswords cut their wasting course, 
His horse-artillery whirls its furious force. 
Here Specht and Reidesel to battle bring 
Their scattering yagers from each folding wing ; 
And here, concentred in tremendous might, 
Britain's whole park, descending to the fight, 
Roars thro the ranks ; tis Phillips leads the train, 
And toils and thunders o'er the shuddering plain. 

Burgoyne, secure of victory, from his height, 
Eyes the whole field and orders all the fight, 580 
Marks where his veterans plunge their fiercest fire, 
And where his foes seem halting to retire, 
Already sees the starry staff give way, 
And British ensigns gaining on the day ; 
When from the western wing, in steely glare, 
All-conquering Arnold surged the tide of war. 



204 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Columbia kindles as her hero comes ; 

Her trump's shrill clangor and her deafening drums 

Redoubling sound the charge; they rage, they burn, 

And hosted Europe trembles in her turn. 590 

So when Pelides' absence check'd her fate, 

All Ilion issued from her guardian gate ; 

Her huddling squadrons like a tempest pour'd, 

Each man a hero and each dart a sword, 

Full on retiring Greece tumultuous fall, 

And Greece reluctant seeks her sheltering wall ; 

But Pelius' son rebounding o'er the plain, 

Troy backward starts and seeks her towers again, 

Arnold's dread falchion, with terrific sway, 
Rolls on the ranks and rules the doubtful day, 600 
Confounds with one wide sweep the astonish'd foes, 
And bids at last the scene of slaughter close. 
Pale rout begins, Britannia's broken train 
Tread back their steps and scatter from the plain, 
To their strong camp precipitate retire, 
And wide behind them streams the roaring fire. 

Meantime, the skirts of war as Johnson gored, 
His kindred cannibals desert their lord ; 
They scour the waste for undistinguish'd prey, 
Howl thro the night the horrors of the day, 6lQ 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 205 

Scalp every straggler from all parties stray'd, 
Each wounded wanderer thro the moonlight glade ; 
And while the absent armies give them place, 
Each camp they plunder and each world disgrace. 

One deed shall tell what fame great Albion draws 
From these auxiliars in her barbarous cause, 
Lucinda's fate ; the tale, ye nations, hear ; 
Eternal ages, trace it with a tear. 
Long from the rampart, thro the imbattled field, 
She spied her Heartly where his column wheel'd, 620 
Traced him with steadfast eye and tortured breast, 
That heaved in concert with his dancing crest ; 
And oft, with head advanced and hand outspread, 
Seem'd from her Love to ward the flying lead ; 
Till, dimm'd by distance and the gathering cloud ; 
At last he vanish'd in the warrior crowd. 
She thought he fell ; and wild with fearless air, 
She left the camp to brave the woodland war, 
Made a long circuit, all her friends to shun, 
And wander'd wide beneath the falling sun ; 630 
Then veering to the field, the pickets past, 
To gain the hillock where she miss'd him last. 
Fond maid, he rests not there ; from finished fight 
He sought the camp, and closed the rear of flight. 



206 THE COLUMBIAD. 

He hurries to his tent ; oh rage ! despair ! 
No glimpse, no tidings of the frantic fair ; 
Save that some carmen, as acamp they drove, 
Had seen her coursing for the western grove. 
Faint with fatigue and choked with burning thirst, 
Forth from his friends with bounding leap he burst^ 
Vaults o'er the palisade with eyes on flame, 641 
And fills the welkin with Lucinda's name, 
Swift thro the wild wood paths phrenetic springs,^ 
Lucind ! Lucinda ! thro the wild wood rings. 
All night he wanders ; barking wolves alone 
And screaming night-birds answer to his moan ; 
For war had roused them from their savage den ; 
They scent the field, they snuff the walks of men. 

The fair one too, of every aid forlorn, 
Had raved and wander'd, till officious morn 65O 
Awaked the Mohawks from their short repose, 
To glean the plunder, ere their comrades rose. 
Two Mohawks met the maid, historian, hold ! 
^oor Human Nature ! must thy shame be told ? 
Where then that proud preeminence of birth, 
Thy Moral Sense ? the brightest boast of earth. 
Had but the tiger changed his heart for thine, 
Could rocks their bowels with that heart combine. 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 207 

Thy tear had gusht, thy hand relieved her pain, 
And led Lucinda to her lord again. 660 

She starts, with eyes upturn'd and fleeting breath, 
In their raised axes views her instant death, 
Spreads her white hands to heaven in frantic prayer, 
Then runs to grasp their knees^ and crouches there* 
Her hair, half lost along the shrubs she past, 
Rolls in loose tangles round her lovely waist ; 
Her kerchief torn betrays the globes of snow 
That heave responsive to her weight of woe. 
Does all this eloquence suspend the knife ? 
Does no superior bribe contest her life ? 670 

There does : the scalps by British gold are paid ; 
A long-hair'd scalp adorns that heavenly head ; 
And comes the sacred spoil from friend or foe, 
No marks distinguish, and no man can know. 

With calculating pause and demon grin, 
They seize her hands, and thro her face divine 
Drive the descending ax ; the shriek she sent 
Attain'd her lover's ear; he thither bent 
With all the speed his wearied limbs could yield, 
WhirFd his keen blade, and stretch'd upon the field 
The yelling fiends ; who there disputing stood 68 1 
Her gory scalp, their horrid prize of blood. 



208 THE COLUMBIAN 

He sunk delirious on her lifeless clay, 

And past, in starts of sense, the dreadful day. 

Are these thy trophies, Carle ton ! these the sword* 
Thy hand unsheath'd and gave the savage hordes, 
Thy boasted friends, by treaties brought from far, 
To aid thy master in his murderous war ? 

But now Britannia's chief, with proud disdain 
Coop'd in his camp, demands the field again. 690 
Back to their fate his splendid host he drew, 
S well'd high their rage, and led the charge anew ; 
Again the batteries roar, the lightnings play, 
Again they fall, again they roll away ; 
For now Columbia, with rebounding might, 
FoiFd quick their columns, but confined their flight. 
Her wings, like fierce tornados, gyring ran, 
Crusht their wide flanks and gain'd their flying van ; 
Here Arnold charged ; the hero storm'd and pour'd 
A thousand thunders where he turn' 

No pause, no parley ; onward far he fray'd, 
Dispersed whole squadrons every bound he made, 
Broke thro their rampart, seized theircampand stores 
And pluck'd the standard from their broken towers. 

Aghast, confounded in the midway field, 
They drop their arms ; the banded nations yield. 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 



209 






When sad Burgoyne, in one disastrous day, 
Sees future crowns and former wreaths decay, 
His banners furl'd, his long battalions wheel'd 
To pile their muskets on the battle field ; 
While two pacific armies shade one plain, 
The mighty victors and the captive train. 



710 






THE 

COLUMBIAD. 

BOOK VII. 



P 2 



ARGUMENT. 

Coast of France rises in vision. Louis, to humble the Bri 
tish power, forms an alliance with the American states. 
This brings France, Spain and Holland into the war, 
and rouses Hyder Ally to attack the English in India. 
The vision returns to America, where the military opera 
tions continue with various success. Battle of Monmouth. 
Storming of Stonypoint by Wayne. Actions of Lincoln, 
and surrender of Charleston. Movements of Cornwallis. 
Actions of Greene, and battle of Eutaw. French army 
arrives, and joins the American. They march to besiege 
the English army of Cornwallis in York and Gloster. 
Naval battle of Degrasse and Graves. Two of their ships 
grappled and blown up. Progress of the siege. A ci 
tadel mined and blown up. Capture of Cornwallis and 
his army. Their banners furled and muskets piled on 
the field of battle. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD. 



BOOK VII. 



JL HUS view'd the Pair ; when lo, in eastern skies, 
From glooms unfolding, Gallia's coasts arise. 
Bright o'er the scenes of state a golden throne, 
Instarr'd with gems and hung with purple, shone ; 
Young Bourbon there in royal splendor sat, 
And fleets and moving armies round him wait. 
For now the contest, with increased alarms, 
Fill'd every court and roused the world to arms ; 
As Hesper's hand, that light from darkness brings, 
And good to nations from the scourge of kings, 10 
In this dread hour bade broader beams unfold, 
And the new world illuminate the old. 

In Europe's realms a school of sages trace 
The expanding dawn that waits the Reasoning Race ; 



214 THE COLUMBIAD. 

On the bright Occident they fix their eyes, 
Thro glorious toils where struggling nations rise ; 
Where each firm deed, each new illustrious name 
Calls into light a field of nobler fame : 
A field that feeds their hope, confirms the plan 
Of well poized freedom and the weal of man. 20 
They scheme, they theorize, expand their scope, 
Glance o'er Hesperia to her utmost cope ; 
Where streams unknown for other oceans stray, 
Where suns unseen their waste of beams display, 
Where sires of unborn nations claim their birth, 
And ask their empires in those wilds of earth. 
While round all eastern climes, with painful eye, 
In slavery sunk they see the kingdoms lie, 
Whole states exhausted to enrich a throne, 
Their fruits untasted and their rights unknown ; 30 
Thro tears of grief that speak the well taught mind, 
They hail the sera that relieves mankind. 

Of these the first, the Gallic sages stand, 
And urge their king to lift an aiding hand. 
The cause of humankind their souls inspired, 
Columbia's wrongs their indignation fired ; 
To share her fateful deeds their counsel moved, 
To base in practice what in theme they proved : 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 215 

That no proud privilege from birth can spring, 
No right divine, nor compact form a king ; 40 

That in the people dwells the sovereign sway, 
Who rule by proxy, by themselves obey ; 
That virtues, talents are the test of awe, 
And Equal Rights the only source of law. 
Surrounding heroes wait the monarch's word, 
In foreign fields to draw the patriot sword, 
Prepared with joy to join those infant powers, 
Who build republics on the western shores. 

By honest guile the royal ear they bend, 
And lure him on, blest Freedom to defend ; 50 
That, once recognised, once establisht there, 
The world might learn her profer'd boon to share. 
But artful arguments their plan disguise, 
Garb'd in the gloss that suits a monarch's eyes* 
By arms to humble Britain's haughty power, 
From her to sever that extended shore, 
Contents his utmost wish. For this he lends 
His powerful aid, and calls the opprest his friends. 
The league proposed, he lifts his arm to save, 
And speaks the borrow 'd language of the brave : 60 

Ye states of France, and ye of rising name 
Who work those distant miracles of fame, 



216 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Hear and attend ; let heaven the witness bear, 
We wed the cause, we join the righteous war. 
Let leagues eternal bind each friendly land, 
Given by our voice, and stablisht by our hand ; 
Let that brave people fix their infant sway, 
And spread their blessings with the bounds of day. 
Yet know, ye nations ; hear, ye Powers above, 
Our purposed aid no views of conquest move ; 7 
In that young world revives no ancient claim 
Of regions peopled by the Gallic name ; 
Our envied bounds, already stretch'd afar, 
Nor ask the sword, nor fear encroaching war ; 
But virtue, coping with the tyrant power 
That drenches earth in her best children's gore, 
With nature's foes bids former compact cease ; 
We war reluctant, and our wish is peace ; 
For man's whole race the sword of France we draw ; 
Such is our will, and let our will be law. 80 

He spoke ; his moving armies veiFd the plain, 
His fleets rode bounding on the western main ; 
O'er lands and seas the loud applauses rung, 
And war and union dwelt on every tongue. 

The other Bourbon caught the splendid strain, 
To Gallia's arms he joins the powers of Spain ; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 217 

Their sails assemble ; Crillon lifts the sword, 
Minorca bows and owns her ancient lord. 
But while dread Elliott shakes the Midland wave, 
They strive in vain the Calpian rock to brave* 90 
Batavia's states with equal speed prepare 
Thro western isles to meet the naval war ; 
For Albion there rakes rude the tortured main, 
And foils the force of Holland, France and .Spain. 

Where old Indostan still perfumes the skies, 
To furious strife his ardent myriads rise ; 
Fierce Hyder there, unconquerably bold, 
Bids a new flag its horned moons unfold, 
Spreads o'er Carnatic kings his splendid force, 
And checks the Britons in their wasting course. 100 

Europe's pacific powers their counsels join, 
The laws of trade to settle and define. 
The imperial Moscovite around him draws 
Each Baltic state to join the righteous cause ; 
Whose arm'd Neutrality the way prepares 
To check the ravages of future wars ; 
Till by degrees the wasting sword shall cease, 
And commerce lead to universal peace. 

Thus all the ancient world with anxious eyes 
Enjoy the lights that gild Atlantic skies, 110 



218 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Wake to new life, assume a borrowed flame, 
Enlarge the lustre and partake the fame. 
So mounts of ice, that polar heavens invade, 
Tho piled unseen thro night's long wintry shade, 
When morn at last illumes their glaring throne, 
Give back the day and imitate the sun. 

But still Columbus, on his war-beat shore, 
Sees Albion's fleets her new battalions pour ; 
The states unconquer'd still their terrors wield, 
And stain with mingled gore the embattled field. 120 
On Pennsylvania's various plains they move, 
And adverse armies equal slaughter prove ; 
Columbia mourns her Nash in combat slain, 
Britons around him press the gory plain ; 
Skirmish and cannonade and distant fire 
Each power diminish and each nation tire. 
Till Howe from fruitless toil demands repose, 
And leaves despairing in a land of foes 
His wearied host ; who now, to reach their fleet, 
O'er Jersey hills commence their long retreat, 130 
Tread back the steps their chief had led before, 
And ask in vain the late abandon'd shore, 
Where Hudson meets the main ; for on their rear 
Columbia moves, and checks their swift career. 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 219 

But where green Monmouth lifts his grassy height, 
They halt, they face, they dare the coming fight. 
Howe's proud successor, Clinton, hosting there, 
To tempt once more the desperate chance of war, 
Towers at their head, in hopes to work relief, 
And mend the errors of his former chief. 140 

Here shines his day ; and here with loud acclaim 
Begins and ends his little task of fame. 
He vaults before them with his balanced blade, 
Wheels the bright van, and forms the long parade ; 
Where Britons, Hessians crowd the glittering field, 
And all their powers for ready combat wield. 
As the dim sun, beneath the skirts of even, 
Crimsons the clouds that sail the western heaven ; 
So, in red wavy rows, where spread the train 
Of men and standards, shone the fateful plain. 1 50 

They shone, till Washington obscured their light, 
And his long ranks roll'd forward to the fight, 
He points the charge ; the mounted thunders roar, 
And rake the champaign to the distant shore. 
Above the folds of smoke that veil the war, 
His guiding sword illumes the fields of air ; 
And vollied flames, bright bursting o'er the plain, 
Break the brown clouds, discovering far the slain : 



220 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Till flight begins ; the smoke is roll'd away, 
And the red standards open into day. l6o 

Britons and Germans hurry from the field, 
Now wrapt in dust, and now to sight reveal'd ; 
Behind, swift Washington his falchion drives, 
Thins the pale ranks, but saves submissive lives. 
Hosts captive bow and move behind his arm, 
And hosts before him wing the sounding storm ; 
When the glad sea salutes their fainting sight, 
And Albion's fleet wide thundering aids their flight ; 
They steer to sad Newyork their hasty way, 
And rue the toils of Monmouth's mournful day. 170 

But Hudson still, with his interior tide, 
Laves a rude rock that bears Britannia's pride, 
Swells round the headland with indignant roar, 
And mocks her thunders from his murmuring shore; 
When a firm cohort starts from Peekskill plain, 
To crush the invaders and the post regain. 
Here, gallant Hull, again thy sword is tried, 
Meigs, Fleury, Butler, laboring side by side, 
Wayne takes the guidance, culls the vigorous band, 
Strikes out the flint, and bids the nervous hand 180 
Trust the mute bayonet and midnight skies, 
To stretch o'er craggy walls the dark surprise. 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 221 

With axes, handspikes on the shoulder hung, 
And the sly watchword whisper'd from the tongue, 
Thro different paths the silent march they take, 
Plunge, climb the ditch, the palisado break, 
Secure each sentinel, each picket shun, 
Grope the dim postern where the byways run. 
Soon the roused garrison perceives its plight ; 
Small time to rally and no. means of flight, 190 
They spring confused to every post they know, 
Point their poized cannon where they hear the foe, 
Streak the dark welkin with the flames they pour, 
And rock the mountain with convulsive roar. 

The swift assailants still no fire return, 
But, tow'rd the batteries that above them burn, 
Climb hard from crag to crag ; and scaling higher 
They pierce the long dense canopy of fire 
That sheeted all the sky ; then rush amain, 
Storm every outwork, each dread summit gain, 20O 
Hew timber'd gates, the sullen drawbridge fall, 
File thro and form within the sounding wall. 
The Britons strike their flag, the fort forgo, 
Descend sad prisoners to the plain below. 
A thousand veterans, ere the morning rose, 
Received their handcuffs from five hundred foes ; 



222 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And Stonypoint beheld, with dawning day, 
His own starr'd standard on his rampart play. 

From sack'd Savanna, whelm'd in hostile fires, 
A few raw troops brave Lincoln now retires; 210 
With rapid march to suffering Charleston goes, 
To meet the myriads of concentring foes, 
Who shade the pointed strand. Each fluvial flood 
Their gathering fleets and floating batteries load, 
Close their black sails, debark the amphibious host, 
And with their moony anchors fang the coast. 

The bold beleaguer'd post the hero gains, 
And the hard siege with various fate sustains. 
Cornwall is, towering at the British van, 
In these fierce toils his wild career began ; 220 
He mounts the forky streams, and soon bestrides 
The narrow neck that parts converging tides, 
Sinks the deep trench, erects the mantling tower, 
Lines with strong forts the desolated shore, 
Hems on all sides the long unsuccour'd place, 
With mines and parallels contracts the space ; 
Then bids the battering floats his labors crown, 
And pour their bombard on the shuddering town. 

High from the decks the mortar's bursting fires 
Sweep the full streets, and splinter down the spires. 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 223 

Blaze-trailing fuses vault the night's dim round, 
And shells and langrage lacerate the ground ; 
Till all the tented plain, where heroes tread, 
Is torn with crags and cover'd with the dead. 
Each shower of flames renews the townsmen's woe, 
They wail the fight, they dread the cruel foe. 
Matrons in crowds, while tears bedew their charms, 
Babes at their sides and infants in their arms, 
Press round their Lincoln and his hand implore, 
To save them trembling from the tyrant's power. 24O 
He shares their anguish with a moistening eye, 
And bids the balls rain thicker thro the sky ; 
Tries every aid that art and valor yield, 
The sap, the countermine, the battling field, 
The bold sortie, by famine urged afar, 
That dreadful daughter of earth-wasting War. 
But vain the conflict now ; on all the shore 
The foes in fresh brigades around him pour ; 
He yields at last the well contested prize, 
And freedom's banners quit the southern skies. 250 

The victor Britons soon the champaign tread, 
And far anorth their fire and slaughter spread ; 
Thro fortless realms, where unarm'd peasants 
Cornwallis bears his bloody standard high ; . 



224 THE COLUMBIAD. 

O'er Carolina rolls his growing force, 

And thousands fall and thousands aid his course ; 

While in his march athwart the wide domain, 

Colonial dastards join his splendid train. 

So mountain streams thro slopes of melting snow 

Swell their foul waves and flood the world below. 260 

Awhile the Patriarch saw, with heaving sighs, 
These crimson flags insult the saddening skies, 
Saw desolation whelm his favorite coast, 
His children scatter'd and their vigor lost, 
Dekalb in furious combat press the plain, 
Morgan and Smallwood every shock sustain, 
Gates, now no more triumphant, quit the field, 
Indignant Davidson his lifeblood yield, 
Blount, Gregory, Williamson, with souls of fire 
But slender force, from hill to hill retire ; 270 

When Greene in lonely greatness takes the ground, 
And bids at last the trump of vengeance sound. 

A few firm patriots to the chief repair, 
Raise the star standard and demand the war. 
But o'er the regions as he turns his eyes, 
What foes develop ! and what forts arise ! 
Rawdon with rapid marches leads their course, 
From state to state Cornwallis whirls their force, 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 225 

Impetuous Tarleton like a torrent pours, 
And fresh battalions land along the shores ; 280 
Where, now resurgent from his captive chain, 
Phillips wide storming shakes the field again ; 
And traitor Arnold, lured by plunder o'er, 
Joins the proud powers his valor foiFd before. 

Greene views the tempest with collected soul, 
Arid fates of empires in his bosom roll ; 
So small his force, where shall he lift the steel ? 
(Superior hosts o'er every canton wheel) 
Or how behold their wanton carnage spread, 
Himself stand idle and his country bleed ? 290 
Fixt in a moment's pause the general stood, 
And held his warriors from the field of blood; 
Then points the British legions where to steer, \i 
Marks to their chief a rapid wild career, ifj* 

Wide o'er Virginia lets him foeless roam, 
To search for pillage and to find his doom, 
With short-lived glory feeds his sateless flame. 
But leaves the victory to a nobler name, 
Gives to great Washington to meet his way, 
Nor claims the honors of so bright a day. 300 

Now to the conquered south he turns his force> 
Renerves the nation by his rapid course ; 

a 



226 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Forts fall around him, hosts before him fly, 
And captive bands his growing train supply ; 
A hundred leagues of coast, in one campaign, 
Return Teconquer'd to their lords again. 
At last Britannia's vanguard, near the strand, 
Veers on her foe to make one vigorous stand. 
Her gallant Stuart here amass'd from far 
The veteran legions of the Georgian war, 310 

To aid her hard-pusht powers, and quick restore 
The British name to that extended shore. 
He checks their flight, and chooses well their field, 
Flank'd with a marsh, by lofty woods concealed ; 
Where Eu taw's fountains, tinged of old with gore, 
Still murmuring swell'd amid the bones they bore, 
Destined again to foul their pebbly stream, 
The mournful monuments of human fame ; 
ITiere Albion's columns, ranged in order bright, 
Stand like a fiery wall and wait the shock of fight. 
Swift on the neighboring hill as Greene arose, 321 
He view'd, with rapid glance, the glittering foes, 
Disposed for combat all his ardent train, 
To charge, change front, each echelon sustain ; 
Roused well their rage, superior force to prove, 
Waved his bright blade and bade the onset move. 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 227 

As hovering clouds, when morning beams arise, 
Hang their red curtains round our eastern skies, 
Unfold a space to hail the promised sun, 329 

And catch their splendors from his rising throne ; 
Thus glow'd the opposing fronts, whose steely glare 
Glanced o'er the shuddering interval of war. 
From Albion's left the cannonade began, 
And pour'd thick thunders on Hesperia's van, 
Forced in her dexter guards, that skirmisht wide 
To prove what powers the forest hills might hide ; 
They break, fall back, with measured quickstep tread. 
Form close, and flank the solid squares they led. 
Now roll, with kindling haste, the long stark lines, 
From wing to wing the sounding battle joins; 340 
Batteries and field-parks and platoons of fire, 
In mingled shocks their roaring blasts exspire. 
Each front approaching fast, with equal pace, 
Devours undaunted their dividing space ; 
Till, dark beneath the smoke, the meeting ranks 
Slope their strong bayonets, with short firm shanks 
Protruded from their tubes ; each bristling van, 
Steel fronting steel, and man encountering man, 
In dreadful silence tread. As, wrapt from sight, 
The nightly ambush moves to secret fight ; 350 

Q. 2 



228 THE COLUMBIAD. 

So rush the raging files, and sightless close 
In plunging thrust with fierce conflicting foes. 
They reach, they strike, they stagger o'er the slain. 
Deal doubtful blows, or closing clench their man, . 
Intwine their twisting limbs, the gun forgo, 
Wrench off the bayonet and dirk the foe ; 
Then struggling back, reseize the musket bare, 
Club the broad breech, and headlong whirl to war. 
Ranks crush on ranks with equal slaughter gored ; 
Warm dripping streams from every lifted sword 360 
Stain the thin carnaged corps, who still maintain, 
With mutual shocks, the vengeance of the plain. 
At last where Williams fought and Campbell fell, 
'Unwonted strokes the British line repel. 
The rout begins ; the shattered wings afar 
Roll back in haste and scatter from the war ; 
They drop their arms, they scour the marshy field, 
Whole squadrons fall and faint battalions yield. 

The great Observer, fixt in his midsky, 
View'd the whole combat, saw them fall and fly : 370 
He mark'd where Greene with every onset drove. 
Saw death and victory with his presence move^tg 
Beneath his arm saw Marion, Sumter, Gaine, ' 
Pickens and Sumner shake the astonish'd plain ; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 229 

He saw young Washington., the child of fame, 
Preserve in fight the honors of his name. 
Lee, Jackson, Hampton, Pinckney, matcht in might, 
Roll'd on the storm and hurried fast the flight : 
While numerous chiefs, that equal trophies raise, 
Wrought, not unseen, the deeds of deathless praise. 
As Europe now the newborn states beheld 381 
The shock sustain of many a hard-fought field ; 
Swift o'er the main, with high-spread sails, advance 
Our brave auxiliars from the coast of France. 
On the tall decks their curious chiefs explore, 
With optic tube, our camp-encumber'd shore; 
And, as the lessening wave behind them flies, 
Wide scenes of conflict open on their eyes. 
Rochambeau foremost with his gleamy brand 
Points to each field and singles every band, 390 
Sees Washington the power of nations guide, 
And longs to toil and conquer by his side. 
Two brother chiefs, Viominil the name, 
Brothers in birth but twins in generous fame, 
Behold with steadfast eye the plains disclose, 
Uncase their arms and claim the promised foes. 
Biron, beneath his sailj in armor bright, 
Frown'd o'er the wave impatient for the fight ; 



230 THE COLUMBIAD. 






A fiery steed beside the hero stood, 

And his blue blade waved forward o'er the crowd. 

With eager haste descending on the coast, 401 
Thro the glad states they march their veteran host, 
From sea-nursed Newport file o'er western roads, 
Pitch many a camp, and bridge a hundred floods, 
Pass the full towns, where joyful crowds admire 
Their foreign speech, gay mien and gilt attire, 
Applaud their generous deeds, the zeal that draws 
Their swords untried in freedom's doubtful cause. 
Thro Hartford plains, on Litchfield hills they gleam, 
Wave their white flags o'er Hudson's loaded stream, 
Band after band with Delaware's current pour, 
Shade Schuylkill's wave and Elk's indented shore, 
Join their new friends, where allied banners lead, 
Demand the foe and bid the war proceed. 

Again Columbus turn'd his anxious eye 
Where Britain's banner waved along the sky ; 
And, graced with spoils of many fields of blood, 
Cornwallis boastful on a bulwark stood. 
Where York and Gloster's rocky towers bestride 
Their parent stream, Virginia's midmost tide, 420 
He camp'd his hundred nations, to regain 
Their force, exhausted in the long campaign ; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 231 

Paused for a moment on a scene so vast, 
To plan the future and review the past. 
Thro vanquisht provinces and towns in flame 
He mark'd his recent monuments of fame, 
His checker'd marches, long and various toils, 
And camp well stored with wide collected spoils. 

High glittering to the sun his hands unfold 
A map new drafted on a sheet of gold ; 430 

There in delusive haste his burin graved 
A country conquer'd and a race enslaved. 
Its middle realm, by fairer figures known 
And rich with fruits, lay bounded for his own ; 
Deep thro the centre spreads a branching bay, 
Full sails ascend and golden rivers stray.; 
Bright palaces arise relieved in gold, 
And gates and streets the crossing lines unfold. 
James furrows o'er the plate with turgid tide, ^ 
Young Richmond roughens on his masted side ; 440 
Reviving Norfolk from her ashes springs, 
A golden phcenix on refulgent wings ; 
Potowmak's yellow waves reluctant spread, 
And Vernon rears his rich and radiant head. 
Tis here the chief his pointed graver stays, 
The bank to burnish with a purer blaze, 



232 THE COLUMBIAD. ;T 

Gives all his art, on this bright hill to trace 

His future seat and glory of his race ; 

Deems his long line of lords the realm shall own. 

The kings predestined to Columbia's throne, 45O 

But while his mind thus quafft its airy food, >jl| 
And gazing thousands round the rampart stood, 
Whom future ease and golden dreams employ, 
The songs of triumph and the feast of joy; ix tfl A 
Sudden great Washington arose in view, > 

And allied flags his stately steps pursue ; 
Gaul's veteran host and young Hesperia's pride 
Bend the long march concentring at his side, .A 
Strearn over Chesapeak, like sheets of flame, 
And drive tempestuous to the field of fame. 460 

Far on the wild expanse, where ocean lies, 
And scorns all confines but incumbent skies, 
Scorns to retain the imprinted paths of men 
To guide their wanderings or direct their ken ; 
Where warring vagrants, raging as they go, 
Ask of the stars their way to find the foe, 
Columbus saw two hovering fleets advance, 
And rival ensigns o'er their pinions dance. 
Graves, on the north, with Albion's flag tmfurl'd, 
Waves proud defiance to the watery world ; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 233 

Degrasse, from southern isles, conducts his train, 
And shades with Gallic sheets the moving main. 

Now Morn, unconscious of the coming fray 
That soon shall storm the crystal cope of day, 
Glows o'er the heavens, and with her orient breeze 
Fans her fair face and curls the summer seas. 
The swelling sails, as far as eye can sweep, 
Look thro the skies and awe the shadowy deep, 
Lead their long bending lines ; and, ere they close, 
To count, recognise, circumvent their foes, 48O 
Each hauls his wind, the weathergage to gain 
And master all the movements of the plain ; 
Or bears before the breeze with loftier gait, 
And, beam to beam, begins the work of fate. 

As when the warring winds, from each far pole, 
Their adverse storms across the concave roll, 
Thin fleecy vapors thro the expansion run, 
Veil the blue vault and tremble o'er the sun, 
Till the dark folding wings together drive, 
And, ridged with fire and rock'd with thunder, strive; 
So, hazing thro the void, at first appear 491 

White clouds of canvass floating on the air, 
Then frown the broad black decks, the sails are stay'd, 
The gaping portholes cast a frightful shade, 



234 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Flames, triple tier'd, and tides of smoke, arise, 
And fulminations rock the seas and skies. 

From van to rear the roaring deluge runs, 
The storm disgorging from a thousand guns, 
Each like a vast volcano, spouting wide 
His hissing hell-dogs o'er the shuddering tide, 500 
Whirls high his chainshot, cleaves the mast and st rows 
The shiver'd fragments on the staggering foes ; 
Whose gunwale sides with iron globes are gored, 
And a wild storm of splinters sweeps the board. 
Husht are the winds of heaven ; no more the gale 
Breaks the red rolls of smoke nor flaps the sail ; 
A dark dead calm continuous cloaks the glare, 
And holds the clouds of sulphur on the war, 
Convolving o'er the space that yawns and shines, 
With frequent flash, between the laboring lines. 510 
Nor sun nor sea nor skyborn lightning gleams, 
But flaming Phlegethon's asphaltic steams 
Streak the long gaping gulph ; where varying glow 
Carbonic curls above, blue flakes of fire below. 

Hither two hostile ships to contact run, 
Both grappling, board to board and gun to gun ; 
Each thro the adverse ports their contents pour, 
Rake the lower decks, the interior timbers bore, 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 235 

Drive into chinks the illumined wads unseen, 
Whose flames approach the unguarded magazine. 
Above, with shrouds afoul and gunwales mann'd, 
Thick halberds clash ; and, closing hand to hand, 
The huddling troops, infuriate from despair, 
Tug at the toils of death, and perish there ; 
Grenados, carcasses their fragments spread, 
And pikes and pistols strow the decks with dead. 
Now on the Gallic board the Britons rush, 
The intrepid Gauls the rash adventurers crush ; 
And now, to vengeance stung, with frantic air, 
Back on the British maindeck roll the war. 530 
There swells the carnage ; all the tar- beat floor 
Is clogg'd with spatter'd brains and glued with gore ; 
And down the ship's black waist fresh brooks of blood 
Course o'er their clots, and tinge the sable flood. 
Till War, impatient of the lingering strife 
That tires and slackens with the waste of life, 
Opes with engulphing gape the astonish'd wave, 
And whelms the combat whole, in one vast grave. 
For now the imprison'd powder caught the flames, 
And into atoms whirl'd the monstrous frames 540 
Of both the entangled ships ; the vortex wide 
Roars like an jEtna thro the belching tide, 



236 THE COLUMBIAD. 

And blazing into heaven, and bursting high, 
Shells, carriages and guns obstruct the sky ; 
Cords, timbers, trunks of men the welkin sweep, 
And fall on distant ships, or shower along the deep. 

The matcht armadas still the tight maintain, : 
But cautious, distant ; lest the staggering main 
Drive their whole lines afoul, and one dark day 
Glut the proud ocean with too rich a prey. 550 
At last, where scattering fires the cloud disclose, 
Hulls heave in sight and blood the decks overflows; 
Here from the field tost navies rise to view, 
Drive back to vengeance and the roar renew, 
There shattered ships commence their flight afar, 
Tow'd thro the smoke, hard struggling from the war; 
And some, half seen amid the gaping wave, 
Plunge in the whirl they make, and gorge their grave. 

Soon the dark smoky volumes roll'd away, 
And a long line ascended into day ; 560 

The pinions swell'd, Britannia's cross arose 
And flew the terrors of triumphing foes ; 
When to Virginia's bay, new shocks to brave, 
The Gallic powers their conquering banners wave. 
Glad Chesapeak unfolds his bosom wide, 
And leads their prows to York's contracting tide ; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 237 

Where still dread Washington directs his way 3 
And seas and continents his voice obey ; 
While brave Cornwallis, mid the gathering host. 
Perceives his glories gone, his promised empire lost. 

Columbus here with silent joy beheld 571 

His favorite sons the fates of nations wield. 
Here joyous Lincoln rose in arms again, 
Nelson and Knox moved ardent o'er the plain : 
Scam m el alert with force unusual trod, 
Prepared to seal their victory with his blood ; 
Cobb, Dearborn, Laurens, Tilghman, green in years 
But ripe in glory, tower'd amid their peers ; 
Death-daring Hamilton with splendor shone/ **<>' 
And claim'd each post of danger for his own, 580 
Skill'd every arm in war's whole hell to wield, 
An Ithacus in camp, an Ajax in the field. 

Their Gallic friends an equal ardor fires ; 
Brisk emulation every troop inspires : 
Where Tarleton turns, with hopes of flight elate_, 
Brave Biron moves and drives him back to fate. 
Hems in his host, to wait, on Gloster plains, 
Their finish'd labors and their destined chains. 

Two British forts the growing siege outflank. 
Rake its wide works and awe the tide-beat bank ; 590 



238 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Swift from the lines two chosen bands advance, 
Our light-arm'd scouts,, the grenadiers of France ; 
These young Viominil conducts to fame, 
And those Fayette's unerring guidance claim. 
No cramm'd cartouch their belted back attires, 
No grains of sleeping thunder wait their fires ; 
The flint, the ramrod spurn' d, away they cast ; 
The strong bright bayonet, imbeaded fast, 
Stands beaming from the bore; with this they tread, 
Nor heed from high-wall'd foes their showers of lead. 
Each rival band, tho wide and distant far, 601 

Springs simultaneous to this task of war ; 
For here a twofold force each hero draws, 
His own proud country and the general cause ; 
And each with twofold energy contends, 
His foes to vanquish and outstrip his friends. 
They summon all their zeal, and wild and warm 
O'er flaming ramparts pour the maddening storm, 
The mounted cannons crush, and lead the foe 
Two trains of captives to the plain below; 6lO 
An equal prize each gallant troop ameeds, 
Alike their numbers and alike their deeds. 

A strong high citadel still thundering stood, 
And stream' d her standard o'er the field of blood, 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 239 

Check'd long the siege with fulminating blare, 
Scorn'd all the steel and every globe of war, 
Defied fell famine, heapt her growing store, 
And housed in bombproof all the host she bore. 
No rude assault can stretch the scale so high, 
In vain the battering siege-guns round her ply ; 620 
Mortars well poized their deafening deluge rain, 
Load the red skies and shake the shores in vain ; 
Her huge rock battlements rebound the blow, 
And roll their loose crags on the men below. 

But while the fusing fireballs scorch the sky, 
Their mining arts the staunch besiegers ply, 
Delve from the bank of York, and gallery far, 
Deep subterranean, to the mount of war ; 
Beneath the ditch, thro rocks and fens they go, 
Scoop the dark chamber pi umb beneath the foe ; 630 
There lodge their tons of powder and retire, 
Mure the dread passage, wave the fatal fire, 
Send a swift messenger to warn the foe 
To seek his safety and the post forgo. 
A taunting answer comes ; he dares defy 
To spring the mine and all its ^Etnas try ; 
When a black miner seized the sulphur'd brand, 
Shriek'd high for joy, and with untrembling hand 



240 .THE COLUMBIAD.^ 

Touch 'd quick the insidious train ; lest here the chief 
Should change his counsel and afford relief: 640 
For hard the general's task, to speak the doom 
That sends a thousand heroes to the tomb ; 
Heroes who know no wrong; who thoughtless speed 
Where kings command or where their captains lead. 
Burst with the blast, the reeling mountain roars, 
Heaves, labors, boils, and thro the concave pours 
His flaming contents high ; he chokes the air 
With all his warriors and their works of war ; 
Guns, bastions^ magazines confounded fly, 
Vault wide their fresh explosions o'er the sky, 650 
Encumber each far camp^ and plough profound 
With their rude fragments every neighboring ground. 

Britain's brave leader, where he sought repose. 
And deem'd his hill-fort still repulsed the foes, 
Starts at the astounding earthquake, and descries 
His chosen veterans whirling down the skies. 
Their mangled members round his balcon fall, 
Scorch'd in the flames, and dasht on every wall : 
Sad field of contemplation! Here, ye great, 
Kings, priests of God, and ministers of state, 660 
Review your system here ! behold and scan 
Your own fair deeds, your benefits to maal 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 241 

You will not leave him to his natural toil, 

To tame these elements and till the soil, 

To reap, share, tithe you what his hand has sow r n, 

Enjoy his treasures and increase your own, 

Build up his virtues on the base designed, 

The well-toned harmonies of humankind. 

You choose to check his toil, and band his eyes 

To all that's honest and to all that's wise ; 670 

Lure with false fame, false morals and false lore, 

To barter fields of corn for fields of gore, 

To take by bands what single thieves would spare, 

And methodise his murders into war. 

Now the prest garrison fresh danger warms ; 
They rush impetuous to each post of arms, 
Man the long trench, each embrasure sustain, 
And pour their langrage on the allied train ; 
Whose swift approaches, crowding on the line, 
Each wing envelop and each front confine. 680 
O'er all sage Washington his arm extends, 
Points every movement, every work defends, 
Bids closer quarters, bloodier strokes proceed, 
New batteries blaze and heavier squadrons bleed. 
Line within line fresh parallels enclose ; 
Here runs a zigzag, there a mantlet grows, 

R 



242 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Round the pent foe approaching breastworks rise, 
And bombs, like meteors, vault the flaming skies. 
Night, with her hovering wings, asserts in vain 
The shades, the silence of her rightful reign ; 690 
High roars her canopy with fiery flakes, 
And War stalks wilder thro the glare he makes. 

With dire dismay the British chief beheld 
The foe advance, his veterans shun the field, 
Despair and slaughter where he turns his eye, 
No hope in combat and no power to fly ; 
Degrasse victorious shakes the shadowy tide, 
Imbodied nations all the champaign hide, 
Fosses and batteries, growing on the sight, 
Still pour new thunders and increase the fight; 700 
Shells rain before him, rending every mound, 
Crags, gunstones, balls o'erturn the tented ground, 
From post to post his driven ranks retire, 
The earth in crimson and the skies on fire. 

Death wantons proud in this decisive round, 
For here his hand its favorite victim found; 
Brave Scammel perisht here. Ah! short, my friend, 
Thy bright career, but glorious to its end. 
Go join thy Warren's ghost, your fates compare, 
His that commenced, with thine that closed the war; 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 243 

Freedom, with laurel'd brow but tearful eyes, 711 
Bewails her first and last, her twinlike sacrifice. 

Now grateful truce suspends the burning war, 
And groans and shouts promiscuous load the air ; 
When the tired Britons, where the smokes decay, 
Quit their strong station and resign the day. 
Slow files along the immeasurable train, 
Thousands on thousands redden all the plain, 
Furl their torn bandrols, all their plunder yield, 
And pile their muskets on the battle field. 720 
Their wide auxiliar nations swell the crowd, 
And the coop'd navies, from the neighboring flood, 
Repeat surrendering signals, and obey 
The landmen's fate on this concluding day. 

Cornwallis first, their late all-conquering lord, 
Bears to the victor chief his conquer'd sword, 
Presents t^ie burnisht hilt, and yields with pain 
The gift of kings, here brandisht long in vain. 
Then bow their hundred banners, trailing far 
Their wearied wings from all the skirts of war. 730 
Battalion'd infantry and squadron'd horse 
Dash the silk tassel and the golden torse ; 
Flags from the forts and ensigns from the fleet 
Roll in the dust, and at Columbia's feet 

R 2 



244 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Prostrate the pride of thrones ; they firm the base 
Of Freedom's temple, while her arms they grace. 
Here Albion's crimson Cross the soil overspreads, 
Her Lion crouches and her Thistle fades ; 
Indignant Erin rues her trampled Lyre, 
Brunswick's pale Steed forgets his foamy fire, 7^0 
Proud Hessia's Castle lies in dust o'erthrown, 
And venal Anspach quits her broken Crown. 

Long trains of wheel'd artillery shade the shore, 
Quench their blue matches and forget to roar; 
Along the encumber' d plain, thick planted rise 
High stacks of muskets glittering to the skies, 
Numerous and vast. As when the toiling swains 
Heap their whole harvest on the stubly plains, 
Gerb after gerb the bearded shock expands, 
Shocks, ranged in rows, hill high the burden'd lands; 
The joyous master numbers all the piles, f5l 

And o'er his well-earn'd crop complacent smiles : 
Such growing heaps this iron harvest yield, 
So tread the victors this their final field. 

Triumphant Washington, with brow serene, 
Regards unmoved the exhilarating scene, 
Weighs in his balanced thought the silent grief 
That sinks the bosom of the fallen chief, 



BOOK THE SEVENTH. 245 

With all the joy that laurel crowns bestow, 

A world reconquered and a vanquished foe. 760 

Thus thro extremes of life, in every state, 

Shines the clear soul, beyond all fortune great ; 

While smaller minds, the dupes of fickle chance, 

Slight woes o'erwhelm and sudden joys entrance. 

So the full sun, thro all the changing sky, 

Nor blasts nor overpowers the naked eye ; 

Tho transient splendors, borrow'd from his light, 

Glance on the mirror and destroy the sight. 

He bids brave Lincoln guide with modest air 
The last glad triumph of the finished war ; 77 
Who sees, once more, two armies shade one plain, 
The mighty victors and the captive train. 



aa airr 30 






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Vt" ! *-f. r\ * 
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THE lib .. 9 ',,^ 

COLUMBIAD. 

BOOK VIIL 






ARGUMENT. 



Hymn to Peace. Eulogy on the heroes slain in the war ; 
in which the Author finds occasion to mention his Brother. 
Address to the patriots who have survived the conflict ; 
exhorting them to preserve the liberty they have esta 
blished. The danger of losing it by inattention illustrated 
in the rape of the Golden Fleece. Freedom succeeding 
to Despotism in the moral world, like Order succeeding to 
Chaos in the physical world. Atlas, the guardian Genius 
of Africa, denounces to Hesper the crimes of his people 
in the slavery of the Africans. The Author addresses his 
countrymen on that subject, and on the principles of 
their government. 

Hesper, recurring to his object of showing Columbus the 
importance of his discoveries, reverses the order of time, 
and exhibits the continent again in its savage state. 
He then displays the progress of arts in America. Fur- 
trade. Fisheries. Productions. Commerce. Education. 
Philosophical discoveries. Painting. Poetry. 






THE 



COLTJMBIAD. 






BOOK VIII. 



HAIL, holy Peace, from thy sublime abode 
Mid circling saints that grace the throne of God! 
Before his arm around our embryon earth 
Stretch'd the dim void, and gave to nature birth, 
Ere morning stars his glowing chambers hung, 
Or songs of gladness woke an angel's tongue, 
Veil'd in the splendors of his beamful mind, 
In blest repose thy placid form reclined, 
Lived in his life, his inward sapience caught, 
And traced and toned his universe of thought. 10 
Borne thro the expanse with his creating voice 
Thy presence bade the unfolding worlds rejoice, 
Led forth the systems on their bright career, 
Shaped all their curves and fashion'd every sphere, 



250 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Spaced out their suns, and round each radiant goal, 
Orb over orb, compelled their train to roll, 
Bade heaven's own harmony their force combine, 
Taught all their host symphonious strains to join, 
Gave to seraphic harps their sounding lays, 
Their joys to angels, and to men their praise. 20 

From scenes of blood, these verdant shores that stain, 
From numerous friends in recent battle slain, 
From blazing towns that scorch the purple sky, 
From houseless hordes their smoking walls that fly, 
From the black prison ships, those groaning graves, 
From warring fleets that vex the gory waves, 
From astorm'd world, long taught thy flight to mourn, 
I rise, delightful Peace, and greet thy glad return. 

For now the untuneful trump shall grate no more; 
Ye silver streams, no longer swell with gore, 30 
Bear from your war-beat banks the guilty stain 
With yon retiring navies to the main. 
While other views, unfolding on my eyes, 
And happier themes bid bolder numbers rise ; 
Bring, bounteous Peace, in thy celestial throng, 
Life to my soul, and rapture to my song ; 
Give me to trace, with pure unclouded ray, 
The arts and virtues that attend thy sway, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 251 

To see thy blissful charms, that here descend, 
Thro distant realms and endless years extend. 40 

Too long the groans of death and battle's bray 
Have rung discordant thro my turgid lay : 
The drum's rude clang, the war wolfs hideous 

howl 

Convulsed my nerves and agonized my soul, 
Untuned the harp for all but misery's pains, 
And chased the Muse from corse-encumber'd plains. 
Let memory's balm its pious fragrance shed o& 
On heroes' wounds and patriot warriors dead ; 
Accept, departed Shades, these grateful sighs, 
Your fond attendants thro your homeward skies. 50 

And thou, my earliest friend, my Brother dear, 
Thy fall untimely still renews my tear. 
In youthful sports, in toils, in taste allied, 
My kind companion and my faithful guide, 
When death's dread summons, from our infant eyes, 
Had call'd our last loved parent to the skies. 
Tho young in arms, and still obscure thy name, 
Thy bosom panted for the deeds of fame ; 
Beneath Montgomery's eye, when by thy steel 
In northern wilds the frequent savage fell. 60 

Fired by his voice, and foremost at his call, 
To mount the breach or scale the flamy wall, 



252 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Thy daring hand had many a laurel gain'd, 
If years had ripen'd what thy fancy feign'd. 
Lamented Youth! when thy great leader bled, 
Thro the same wound thy parting spirit fled, 
Join'd the long train, the self-devoted band, 
The gods, the saviors of their native land. 

On fame's high pinnacle their names shall shine. 
Unending ages greet the group divine, JO 

Whose holy hands our banners first unfurl'd, 
And conquer'd freedom for the grateful world. 

And you, their peers, whose steel avenged their 

blood, 

Whose breasts with theirs our sacred rampart stood, 
Illustrious relics of a thousand fields! 
To you at last the foe reluctant yields. 
But tho the Muse, too prodigal of praise, 
Dares with the dead your living worth to raise, 
Think not, my friends, the patriot's task is done, 
Or Freedom safe, because the battle's won. 80 

Unnumber'd foes, far different arms that wield, 
Wait the weak moment when she quits her shield, 
To plunge in her bold breast the insidious dart, 
Or pour keen poison round her thoughtless heart. 
Perhaps they '11 strive her votaries to divide, 
From their own veins to draw the vital tide ; 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 253 

Perhaps, by cooler calculation shown, 
Create materials to construct a throne, 
Dazzle her guardians with the glare of state, 
Corrupt with power, with borrow'd pomp inflate, QO 
Bid thro the land the soft infection creep, 
Whelm all her sons in one lethargic sleep, 
Crush her vast empire in its brilliant birth, 
And chase the goddess from the ravaged earth. 

The Dragon thus, that watch'd the Colchian fleece, 
Foil'd the fierce warriors of wide-plundering Greece ; 
Warriors of matchless might and wondrous birth, 
Jove's sceptred sons and demigods of earth. 
High on the sacred tree, the glittering prize 
Hangs o'er its guard, and fires the warriors' eyes ; 10O 
First their hurl'd spears his spiral folds assail, 
Their spears fall pointless from his flaky mail ; 
Onward with dauntless swords they plunge amain : 
He shuns their blows, recoils his twisting train, 
Darts forth his forky tongue, heaves high in air 
His fiery crest, and sheds a hideous glare, 
Champs, churns his poisonous juice, and hissing loud 
Spouts thick the stifling tempest o'er the crowd ; 
Then, with one sweep of convoluted train, 
Rolls back all Greece, and besoms wide the plain, HO 



254 THE COLUMBIAD. 

O'erturns the sons of gods, dispersing far 
The pirate horde, and closes quick the war. 
From his red jaws tremendous triumph roars, 
Dark Euxine trembles to its distant shores, 
Proud Jason starts, confounded in his might, 
Leads back his peers, and dares no more the fight. 
But the sly Priestess brings her opiate spell, 
Soft charms that hush the triple hound of hell, 
Bids Orpheus tune his all-enchanting lyre, 
And join to calm the guardian's sleepless ire. 120 
Soon from the tepid ground blue vapors rise, 
And sounds melodious move along the skies ; 
A settling tremor thro his folds extends, 
His crest contracts, his rainbow neck unbends, 
O'er all his hundred hoops the languor crawls, 
Each curve develops, every volute falls, 
His broad back flattens as he spreads the plain, 
And sleep consigns him to his lifeless reign. 
Flusht at the sight the pirates seize the spoil, 
And ravaged Colchis rues the insidious toil. 13O 

Yes! fellow freemen, sons of high renown, 
Chant your loud peans, weave your civic crown; 
But know, the goddess you 've so long adored, 
Tho now she scabbards your avenging sword, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 255 

Calls you to vigilance, to manlier cares, 

To prove in peace the men she proved in wars : 

Superior task! severer test of soul ! 

Tis here bold virtue plays her noblest role 

And merits most of praise. The warrior's name, 

Tho peal'd and chimed on all the tongues of fame, 

Sounds less harmonious to the grateful mind 141 

Than his who fashions and improves mankind. 

And what high meed your new vocation waits ! 
Freedom, parturient with a hundred states, 
Confides them to your hand ; the nascent prize 
Claims all your care, your soundest wisdom tries. 
Ah nurture, temper, train your infant charge, 
Its force develop and its life enlarge, 
Unfold each day some adolescent grace, 
Some right recognise or some duty trace ; 150 

Mould a fair model for the realms of earth, 
Call moral nature to a second birth, 
Reach, renovate the world's great social plan, 
And here commence the sober sense of man. 

For lo, in other climes and elder states, 
What strange inversion all his works awaits ! 
From age to age, on every peopled shore, 
Stalks the fell Demon of despotic power, 



256 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Sweeps in his march the mounds of art away, 
Blots with his breath the trembling disk of day, l6o 
Treads down whole nations every stride he takes, 
And wraps their labors in his fiery flakes. 

As Anarch erst around his regions hurl'd 
The wrecks, long crush'd, of time's anterior world ; 
While nature mourn'd, in wild confusion tost, 
Her suns extinguisht and her systems lost ; 
Light, life and instinct shared the dreary trance, 
And gravitation fled the field of chance ; 
No laws remained of matter, motion, space ; 
Time lost his count, the universe his place; 170 
Till Order came, in her cerulean robes, 
And launch'd and rein'd the renovated globes, 
Stock'd with harmonious worlds the vast Inane, 
Archt her new heaven and fixt her boundless reign r 
So kings convulse the moral frame, the base 
Of all the codes that can accord the race ; 
And so from their broad grasp, their deadly ban, 
Tis yours to snatch this earth, to raise regenerate man. 

My friends, I love your fame, I joy to raise 
The high-toned anthem of my country's praise ; 1 8O 
To sing her victories, virtues, wisdom, weal, 
Boast with loud voice the patriot pride I feel ; 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 257 

Warm wild I sing ; and, to her failings blind, 
Mislead myself, perhaps mislead mankind. 
Land that I love ! is this the whole we owe ? 
Thy pride to pamper, thy fair face to show ; 
Dwells there no blemish where such glories shine ^ 
And lurks no spot in that bright sun of thine ? 
Hark! a dread voice, with heaven-astounding strain, 
Swells like a thousand thunders o'er the main, 190 
Rolls and reverberates around thy hills, 
And Hesper's heart with pangs paternal fills. 
Thou hearst him not; tis Atlas, throned sublime, 
Great brother guardian of old Afric's clime ; 
Hi^h o'er his coast he rears his frowning form, 
O'erlooks and calms his sky-borne fields of storm, 
Flings off the clouds that round his shoulders hung, 
And breaks from clogs of ice his trembling tongue ; 
While far thro space with rage and grief he glares, 
Heaves his hoar head and shakes the heaven he 

bears : 

Son of my sire ! O latest brightest birth 201 
That sprang from his fair spouse, prolific earth ! 
Great Hesper, say what sordid ceaseless hate 
Impels thee thus to mar my elder state. 
Our sire assigned thee thy more glorious reign. 
Secured and bounded by our laboring main ; 

s 



258 THE COLUMBIAD. 

That main (tho still my birthright name it bear) 
Thy sails overshadow, thy brave children share ; 
I grant it thus ; while air surrounds the ball, 
Let breezes blow, let oceans roll for all. 21O 

But thy proud sons, a strange ungenerous race, 
Enslave my tribes, and each fair world disgrace, 
Provoke wide vengeance on their lawless land, 
The bolt ill placed in thy forbearing hand. 
Enslave my tribes ! then boast their cantons free, 
Preach faith and justice, bend the sainted knee, 
Invite all men their liberty to share, 
Seek public peace, defy the assaults of war, 
Plant, reap, consume, enjoy their fearless toil, 
Tame their wild floods, to fatten still their soil, 22O 
Enrich all nations with their nurturing store, 
And rake with venturous fluke each wondering 

shore. 

Enslave my tribes! what, half mankind imban, 
Then read, expound, enforce the rights of man! 
Prove plain and clear how nature's hand of old 
Cast all men equal in her human mould ! 
Their fibres, feelings, reasoning powers the same, 
Like wants await them, like desires inflame. 
Thro former times with learned book they tread, 
Revise past ages and rejudge the dead, 230 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 259 

Write, speak, avenge, for ancient sufferings feel, 
Impale each tyrant on their pens of steel, 
Declare how freemen can a world create, 
And slaves and masters ruin every state. 
Enslave my tribes! and think, with dumb disdain, 
To scape this arm and prove my vengeance vain ! 
But look! methinks beneath my foot I ken 
A few chain'd things that seern no longer men ; 
Thy sons perchance! whom Barbary's coast can tell 
The sweets of that loved scourge they wield so well. 
Link'd in a line, beneath the driver's goad, 241 
See how they stagger with their lifted load ; 
The shoulder'd rock, just wrencht from off my hill 
And wet with drops their straining orbs distil, 
Galls, grinds them sore, along the rampart led, 
And the chain clanking counts the steps they tread. 

By night close bolted in the bagnio's gloom, 
Think how they ponder on their dreadful doom, 
Recal the tender sire, the weeping bride, 
The home, far sunder'd by a waste of tide, 250 
Brood all the ties that once endear'd them there, 
But now, strung stronger, edge their keen despair. 
Till here a fouler fiend arrests their pace : 
Plague, with his burning breath and bloated face, 

s 2 



36o THE COLUMBIA!). 

With saffron eyes that thro the dungeon shine, 
And the black tumors bursting from the groin, 
Stalks o'er the slave ; who, cowering on the sod, 
Shrinks from the Demon and invokes his God, 
Sucks hot contagion with his quivering breath, 259 
And, rack'd with rending torture, sinks in death. 

Nor shall these pangs atone the nation's crime ; 
Far heavier vengeance, in the march of time, 
Attends them still; if still they dare debase 
And hold inthrall'd the millions of my race; 
A vengeance that shall shake the world's deep frame, 
That heaven abhors, and hell might shrink to name. 
Nature, long outraged, delves the crusted sphere, 
And moulds the mining mischief dark and drear; 
Europa too the penal shock shall find, 
The rude soul-selling monsters of mankind : 270 

Where Alps and Andes at their bases meet, 
In earth's mid caves to lock their granite feet, 
Heave their broad spines, expand each breath ing lobe, 
And with their massy members rib the globe, 
Her cauldron'd floods of fire their blast prepare ; 
Her wallowing womb of subterranean war 
Waits tut the fissure that my wave shall find, 
To force the foldings of the rocky rind, 



BOOR THE EIGHTH. 261 

Crash jour curst continent, and whirl on high 

The vast avulsion vaulting thro the sky, 280 

Fling far the bursting fragments, scattering wide 

Rocks, mountains, nations o'er the swallowing tide. 

Plunging and surging with alternate sweep, 

They storm the day-vault and lay bare the deep, 

Toss, tumble, plough their place, then slow subside, 

And swell each ocean as their bulk they hide; 

Two oceans dasht in one! that climbs and roars, 

And seeks in vain the exterminated shores. 

The deep drencht hemisphere. Far sunk from day, 

It crumbles, rolls, it churns the settling sea, 290 

Turns up each prominence, heaves every side, 

To pierce once more the landless length of tide : 

Till some poized Pambamarca looms at last 

A dim lone island in the watery waste, 

Mourns all his minor mountains wreck'd and hurFd, 

Stands the sad relic of a ruin'd world, 

Attests the wrath our mother kept in store, 

And rues her judgments on the race she bore. 

No saving Ark around him rides the main, 

Nor Dove weak-wingM her footing finds again ; 300 

His own bald Eagle skims alone the sky, 

Darts from all points of heaven her searching eye, 



262 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Kens, thro the gloom, her ancient rock of rest, , 
And finds her cavern'd crag, her solitary nest. 

Thus toned the Titan his tremendous knell, 
And lash'd his ocean to a loftier swell ; 
Earth groans responsive, and with laboring woes 
Leans o'er the surge and stills the storm he throws. 

Fathers and friends, I know the boding fears 
Of angry genii and of rending spheres 310 

Assail not souls like yours ; whom Science bright 
Thro shadowy nature leads with surer light; 
For whom she strips the heavens of love and hate, 
Strikes from Jove's hand the brandish t bolt of fate, 
Gives each effect its own indubious cause, 
Divides her moral from her physic laws, 
Shows where the virtues find their nurturing food, 
And men their motives to be just and good. 

You scorn the Titan's threat ; nor shall I strain 
The powers of pathos in a task so vain 320 

As Afric's wrongs to sing ; for what avails 
To harp for you these known familiar tales ? 
To tongue mute misery, and re-rack the soul 
With crimes oft copied from that bloody scroll 
Where Slavery pens her woes ; tho tis but there 
We learn the weight that mortal life can be. 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 26*3 

The tale might startle still the accustom'd ear, 
Still shake the nerve that pumps the pearly tear, 
Melt every heart, and thro the nation gain 
Full many a voice to break the barbarous chain. 330 
But why to sympathy for guidance fly, 
(Her aids uncertain and of scant supply) 
When your own self-excited sense affords 
A guide more sure, and every sense accords ? 
Where strong self-interest, join 'd with duty, lies, 
Where doing right demands no sacrifice, 
Where profit, pleasure, life-expanding fame 
League their allurements to support the claim, 
Tis safest there the im pleaded cause to trust ; 
Men well instructed will be always just. 34O 

From slavery then your rising realms to save, 
Regard the master, notice not the slave ; 
Consult alone for freemen, and bestow 
Your best, your only cares, to keep them so. 
Tyrants are never free ; and, small and great, 
All masters must be tyrants soon or late ; 
So nature works ; and oft the lordling knave 
Turns out at once a tyrant and a slave, 
Struts, cringes, bullies, begs, as courtiers must, 
Makes one a god, another treads in dust, 350 



26*4 THE COLUMBIA!). 

Fears all alike,, and filches whom he can, 
But knows no equal, finds no friend in man. 

Ah! would you not be slaves, with lords and kings, 
Then he not masters ; there the danger springs. 
The whole crude system that torments this earth, 
Of rank, privation, privilege of birth, 
False honor, fraud, corruption, civil jars, 
The rage of conquest and the curse of wars, 
Pandora's total shower, all ills combined 
That erst o'erwhelm'd and still distress mankind, 
Box'd up secure in your deliberate hand, 36*1 

Wait your behest, to fix or fly this land. 

Equality of Right is nature's plan ; 
And following nature is the inarch of man. 
Whene'er he deviates in the least degree, 
When, free himself, he would be more than free, 
The baseless column, rear'd to bear his bust, 
Falls as he mounts, and whelms him in the dust. 

See Rome's rude sires, with autocratic gait, 
Tread down their tyrant and erect their state ; 370 
Their state secured, they deem it wise and brave 
That every freeman should command a slave, 
And, flusht with franchise of his camp and town, 
Rove thro the world and hunt the nations down ; 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 265 

Master and man the same vile spirit gains, 

Rome chains the world, and wears herself the chains. 

Mark modern Europe with her feudal codes. 
Serfs, villains, vassals, nobles, kings and gods, 
All slaves of different grades, corrupt and curst 
With high and low, for senseless rank athirst, 380 
Wage endless wars; not fighting to be free, 
But cujum p.ecus, whose base herd they '11 be. 

Too much of Europe, here transplanted o'er, 
Nursed feudal feelings on your tented shore, 
Brought sable serfs from Afric, cull'd it gain, 
And urged your sires to forge the fatal chain. 
But now, the tents o'erturn'd, the war dogs fled, 
Now fearless Freedom rears at last her head 
Matcht with celestial Peace,- my friends, beware 
To shade the splendors of so bright a pair ; 390 
Complete their triumph, fix their firm abode, 
Purge all privations from your liberal code, 
Restore their souls to men, give earth repose, 
And save your sons from slavery, wars and woes. 

Based on its rock of Right your empire lies, 
On walls of wisdom let the fabric rise ; 
Preserve your principles, their force unfold, 
Let nations prove them and let kings behold. 



266 THE COLUMBIAD. 

EQUALITY, your first firm-grounded stand j 
Then FREE ELECTION ; then your FEDERAL BAND ; 
This holy Triad should forever shine 401 

The great compendium of all rights divine, 
Creed of all schools, whence youths by millions draw 
Their themes of right, their decalogues of law ; 
Till men shall wonder (in these codes inured) 
How wars were made, how tyrants were endured. 

Then shall your works of art superior rise, 
Your fruits perfume a larger length of skies, 
Canals careering climb your sunbright hills, 409 
Vein the green slopes and strow their nurturing rills, 
Thro tunnel'd heights and sundering ridges glide, 
Rob the rich west of half Kenhawa's tide, 
Mix your wide climates, all their stores confound, 
And plant new ports in every midland mound. 
Your lawless Missisippi, now who slimes 
And drowns and desolates his waste of climes, 
Ribb'd with your dikes, his torrent shall restrain, 
And ask your leave to travel to the main ; 
Won from his wave while rising cantons smile, 
Rear their glad nations and reward their toil. 42O 

Thus Nile's proud flood to human hands of yore 
Raised and resigned his tide-created shore, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 267 

CalFd from his Ethiop hills their hardy swains, 
And waved their harvests o'er his newborn plains ; 
Earth's richest realm from his tamed current sprung ; 
There nascent science toned her infant tongue, 
Taught the young arts their tender force to try^ri-i 
To state the seasons and unfold the sky ; 
Till o'er the world extended and refined, 
They rule the destinies of humankind. 430 

Now had Columbus well enjoy'd the sight 
Of armies vanquisht and of fleets in flight, 
From all Hesperia's heaven the darkness flown, 
And colon crowds to sovereign sages grown. 
To cast new glories o'er the changing clime, 
The guardian Power reversed the flight of time> 
RolFd back the years that led their course before, 
Stretch'd out immense the wild uncultured shore ; 
Then shifts the total scene, and rears to view 
Arts and the men that useful arts pursue. 440 

As o'er the canvass when the painter's mind 
Glows with a future landscape well design'd, 
While Panorama's wondrous aid he calls, 
To crowd whole realms within his circling walls, 
Lakes, fields and forests, ports and navies rise, 
A new creation to his kindling eyes ; 



268 THE COLUMJBIAD. 

He smiles o'er all ; and in delightful strife 
The pencil moves and calls the whole to life. 
So while Columbia's patriarch stood sublime, 
And saw rude nature clothe the trackless clime ; 45O 
The green banks heave, the winding currents pour, 
The bays and harbors cleave the yielding shore, 
The champaigns spread, the solemn groves arise, 
And the rough mountains lengthen round the skies; 
fhro all their bounds he traced, with skilful ken, 
The unform'd seats and future walks of men ; 
Mark'd where the field should bloom, the pennon 

play, 

Great cities grow and empires claim their sway ; 
When, sudden waked by Hesper's waving hand, 
They rose obedient round the cultured land. 460 

In western tracts, where still the wildmen tread, 
From sea to sea an inland commerce spread ; 
On the dim streams and thro the gloomy grove 
The trading bands their cumbrous burdens move ; 
Furs, peltry, drugs, and all the native store 
Of midland realms descended to the shore. 

Where summer suns, along the northern coast, 
With feeble force dissolve the chains of frost, 
Prolific waves the scaly nations trace, 
And tempt the toils of man's laborious race. 4/0 






BOOK THE EIGHTH. 269 

Tho rich Brazilian strands, beneath the tide, 
Their shells of pearl and sparkling pebbles hide > 
While for the gaudy prize a venturous train 
Plunge the dark deep and brave the surging main, 
Drag forth the shining gewgaws into air, 
To stud a sceptre or emblaze a star ; 
Far wealthier stores these genial tides display, 
And works less dangerous with their spoils repay. 
The Ftero saw the hardy crews advance, 
Cast the long line and aim the barbed lance; 480 
Load the deep floating barks, and bear abroad 
To every land the life- sustaining food ; 
Renascent swarms by nature's care supplied, 
Repeople still the shoals and fin the fruitful tide. 

Where southern streams thro broad savannas bend. 
The rice-clad vales their verdant rounds extend : 
Tobago's plant its leaf expanding yields, 
The maize luxuriant clothes a thousand fields; 
Steeds, herds and flocks o'er northern regions rove. 
Embrown the hill and wanton thro the grove. 490 
The woodlands wide their sturdy honors bend, 
The pines, the liveoaks to the shores descend, 
There couch the keels, the crooked ribs arise, 
Hulls heave aloft and mastheads mount the skies : 



THE COLUMBIAD. 

Launch! on the deep o'er every wave they fly. 
Feed tropic isles and Europe's looms supply. 

To nurse the arts and fashion freedom's lore 
Young schools of science rise along the shore ; 
Great without pomp their modest walls expand, 
Harvard and Yale and Princeton grace the land, 5OO 
Penn's student halls his youths with gladness greet, 
On James's bank Virginian Muses meet, 
Manhattan's mart collegiate domes command, 
Bosom'd in groves, see growing Dartmouth stand ; 
Bright o'er its realm reflecting solar fires, 
On yon tall hill Rhode Island's seat aspires. 

Thousands of humbler name around them rise, 
Where homebred freemen seize the solid prize ; 
Fixt in small spheres, with safer beams to shine, 
They reach the useful and refuse the fine, 51O 

Found, on its proper base, the social plan, 
The broad plain truths, the common sense of ma% 
His obvious wants, his mutual aids discern, 
His rights familiarize, his duties learn, 
Feel moral fitness all its force dilate, 
Embrace the village and comprise the state. 
Each rustic here who turns the furrow'd soil, 
The maid, the youth that ply mechanic {oil, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 271 

In equal rights, in useful arts inured, 
Know their just claims, and see their claims secured; 
They watch their delegates, each law revise, 521 
Its faults designate and its merits prize, 
Obey, but scrutinize ; and let the test 
Of sage experience prove and fix the best. 
Here, fired by virtue's animating flame > 
The preacher's task persuasive sages claim, 
To mould religion to the moral mind, 
In bands of peace to harmonize mankind, 
To life, to light, to promised joys above 
The soften'd soul with ardent hope to move. 530 
No dark intolerance blinds the zealous throng, 
No arm of power attendant on their tongue ; 
Vext Inquisition, with her flaming brand> 
Shuns their mild march, nor dares approach the land. 
Tho different creeds their priestly robes denote, 
Their orders various and their rites remote, 
Yet one their voice, their labors all combined, 
Lights of the world and friends of humankind. 
So the bright galaxy o'er heaven displays 
Of various stars the same unbounded blaze ; 540 
Where great and small their mingling rays unite, 
And earth and skies exchange the friendly light. 



THE COLUMB1AD. 

And lo, my sorij that other sapient band, 
The torch of science flaming in their hand ! 
Thro nature's range their searching souls aspire, 
Or wake to life the canvass and the lyre. 
Fixt in sublimest thought^ behold them rise 
World after world Unfolding to their eyes, 
Lead, light, allure them thro the total plan, 
And give new guidance to the paths of man. 55O 

Yon meteor- mantled hill see Franklin tread, 
Heaven's awful thunders rolling o'er his head ; 
Convolving clouds the billowy skies deform, 
And forky flatties em blaze the blackening storm, 
See the descending streams around him burn, 
Glance on his rod and with his finger turn ; 
He bids conflicting fultninants expire 
The guided blast, and holds the irnprison'd fire. 
No more, when doubling storms the vault 6'erspread, 
The livid glare shall strike thy race with dread, 560 
Nor towers nor temples, shuddering with the sound, 
Sink in the flames and shake the sheeted ground. 
His well tried wires, that every tempest wait, 
Shall teach mankind to ward the bolts of fate, 
With pointed steel o'ertop the trembling spire, 
And lead from untouch'd walls the harmless fire ; 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 273 

Fill'd with his fame while distant climes rejoice, 
Wherever lightning shines or thunder rears its voice. 

And see sage Kitten house, with ardent eye, 
Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky ; 570 
Clear in his view the circling planets roll, 
And suns and satellites their course control. 
,He marks what laws the widest wanderers bind, 
Copies creation in his forming mind, 
Sees in his hall the total semblance rise, 
And mimics there the labors of the skies. 
There student youths without their tubes behold 
The spangled heavens their mystic maze unfold, 
And crowded schools their cheerful chambers grace 
With all the spheres that cleave the vast of space. 

To guide the sailor in his wandering way, 581 
See Godfrey's glass reverse the beams of day. 
His lifted quadrant to the eye displays 
From adverse skies the counteracting rays - f 
And marks, as devious sails bewildered roll, 
Each nice gradation from the .steadfast pole. 

West with his own great soul the canvass warms, 
Creates, inspires, impassions human forms, 
Spurns critic rules, and seizing safe the heart, 
Breaks down the former frightful bounds of Art ; 590 

T 



274 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Where ancient manners, with exclusive reign. 
From half mankind withheld her fair domain. 
He calls to life each patriot, chief or sage, 
Garb'd in the dress and drapery of his age. 
Again bold Regulus to death returns, 
Again her falling Wolfe Britannia mourns; 
Lahogue, Boyne, Cressy, Nevilcross demand 
And gain fresh lustre from his copious hand ; 
His Lear stalks wild with woes, the gods defies, 
Insults the tempest and outstorms the skies; 600 
Edward in arms to frowning combat moves, 
Or, won to pity by the queen he loves, 
Spares the devoted &'<r, whose deathless deed 
Preserves the town his vengeance doom'd to bleed. 

With rival force, see Copley's pencil trace 
The air of action and the charms of face. 
Fair in his tints unfold the scenes of state, 
The senate listens and the peers debate ; 
Pale consternation every heart appals, 
In act to speak, when death-struck Chatham falls. 
He bids dread Calpe cease to shake the waves, 6l 1 
While Elliott's arm the host of Bourbon saves ; 
O'er sail-wing'd batteries sinking in the flood, 
Mid flames and darkness, drench'd in hostile blood, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 275 

Britannia's sons extend their generous hand 

To rescue foes from death, and bear them to the land. 

Fired with the martial deeds that bathed in gore 
His brave companions on his native shore, 
Trumbull with daring hand their fame recals ; 
He shades with night Quebec's beleagured walls, 620 
Thro flashing flames, that midnight war supplies, 
The assailants yield, their great Montgomery dies. 
On Bunker height, thro floods of hostile fire, 
His Putnam toils till all the troops retire, 
His Warren, pierced with balls, at last lies low, 
And leaves a victory to the wasted foe. 
Britannia too his glowing tint shall claim, 
To pour new splendor on her Calpean fame ; 
He leads her bold sortie, and from their towers 
Overturns the Gallic and Iberian powers. 63O 

See rural seats of innocence and ease, 
High tufted towers and walks of waving trees, 
The white waves dashing on the craggy shores, 
Meandring streams and meads of mingled flowers, 
Where nature's sons their wild excursions tread, 
In just design from Taylor's pencil spread. 

Stuart and Brown the moving portrait raise, 
Each rival stroke the force of life conveys ; 

T 2 



276 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Heroes and beauties round their tablets stand, 
And rise unfading from their plastic hand ; 64O 
Each breathing form preserves its wonted grace, 
And all the soul stands speaking in the face. 

Two kindred arts the swelling statue heave, 
Wake the dead wax, and teach the stone to live. 
While the bold chissel claims the rugged strife, 
To rouse the sceptred marble into life, 
See Wright's fair hands the livelier fire control, 
In waxen forms she breathes impassion 'd soul ; 
The penciFd tint o'er moulded substance glows, 
And different powers the peerless art compose. 650 
Grief, rage and fear beneath her fingers start, 
Roll the wild eye and pour the bursting heart ; 
The world's dead fathers wait her wakening call, 
And distant ages fill the storied hall. 

To equal fame ascends thy tuneful throng, 
The boast of genius and the pride of song ; 
Caught from the cast of every age and clime, 
Their lays shall triumph o'er the lapse of time. 

With lynx-eyed glance thro nature far to pierce, 
With all the powers and every charm of verse, 660 
Each science opening in his ample mind, 
His fancy glowing and his taste refined, 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 277 

See Trumbull lead the train. His skilful hand 
Hurls the keen darts of satire round the land. 
Pride, knavery, dullness feel his mortal stings, 
And listening virtue triumphs while he sings ; 
Britain's foil'd spns, victorious now no more, 
In guilt retiring from the wasted shore, 
Strive their curst cruelties to hide in vain ; 
The world resounds them in his deathless strain. 

On wings of faith to elevate the soul 671 

Beyond the bourn of earth's benighted pole, 
For Dwight's high harp the epic Muse sublime 
Hails her new empire in the western clime. 
Tuned from the tones by seers seraphic sung, 
Heaven in his eye and rapture on his tongue, 
His voice revives old Canaan's promised land, 
The long-fought fields of Jacob's chosen band. 
In Hanniel's fate, proud faction finds its doom, 
Ai's midnight flames light nations to their tomb, 68O 
In visions bright supernal joys are given, 
And all the dark futurities of heaven. 

While freedom's cause his patriot bosom warms, 
In counsel sage, nor inexpert in arms, 
See Humphreys glorious from the field retire, 
Sheathe the glad sword and string the soothing lyre ; 



278 THE COLUMBIAD. 

That lyre which erst, in hours of dark despair, 
Roused the sad realms to finish well the war. 
O'er fallen friends, with all the strength of woe, 
Fraternal sighs in his strong numbers flow ; 690 
His country's wrongs, her duties, dangers, praise, 
Fire his full soul and animate his lays : 
Wisdom and War with equal joy shall own 
So fond a votary and so brave a son. 



. 



THE 

COLUMBIAD 

BOOK JX. 



ARGUMENT. 



Vision suspended. Night scene, as contemplated from the 
mount of vision. Columbus inquires the reason of the 
slow progress of science, and its frequent interruptions. 
Hesper answers, that all things in the physical as well as 
the moral and intellectual world are progressive in like 
manner. He traces their progress from the birth of the 
universe to the present state of the earth and its inhabi 
tants ; asserts the future advancement of society, till per 
petual peace shall be established . Columbus proposes his 
doubts ; alleges in support of them the successive rise and 
downfal of ancient nations ; and infers future and peri 
odical convulsions. Hesper, in answer, exhibits the great 
distinction between the ancient and modern state of the 
arts and of society. Crusades. Commerce. Hanseatic 
League. Copernicus. Kepler. Newton. Galileo. Herschel. 
Descartes. Bacon. Printing Press. Magnetic Needle. 
Geographical discoveries. Federal system in America. 
A similar system to be extended over the whole earth* 
Columbus desires a view of this. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD 



BOOK IX. 

BUT now had Hesper from the Hero's sight 
Veil'd the vast world with sudden shades of night. 
Earth, sea and heaven, where'er he turns his eye, 
Arch out immense, like one surrounding sky 
Lamp'd with reverberant fires. The starry train 
Paint their fresh forms beneath the placid main ; 
Fair Cynthia here her face reflected laves, 
Bright Venus gilds again her natal waves, 
The Bear redoubling foams with fiery joles, 
And two dire dragons twine two arctic poles. 10 
Lights o'er the land, from cities lost in shade, 
New constellations, new galaxies spread, 
And each high pharos double flames provides, 
One from its fires, one fainter from the tides. 



282 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Centred sublime in this bivaulted sphere, 
On all sides void, unbounded, calm and clear, 
Soft o'er the Pair a lambent lustre plays, 
Their seat still cheering with concentred rays ; 
To converse grave the soothing shades invite, 
And on his Guide Columbus fixt his sight: 20 

Kind messenger of heaven, he thus began, 
Why this progressive laboring search of man ? 
If men by slow degrees have power to reach 
These opening truths that long dim ages teach, 
If, schooled in woes and tortured on to thought, 
Passion absorbing what experience taught, 
Still thro the devious painful paths they wind, 
And to sound wisdom lead at last the mind, 
Why did not bounteous nature, at their birth, 
Give all their science to these sons of earth, 30 
Pour on their reasoning powers pellucid day, 
Their arts, their interests clear as light display ? 
That error, madness and sectarian strife 
Might find no place to havock human life. 

To whom the guardian Power : To thee is given 
To hold high converse and inquire of heaven, 
To mark untraversed ages, and to trace 
Whatever improves and what impedes thy race, 



BOOK THE NINTH. 283 

Know then, progressive are the paths we go 
In worlds above thee, as in thine below. 40 

Nature herself (whose grasp of time and place 
Deals out duration and impalms all space) 
Moves in progressive march ; but where to tend, 
What course to compass, how the march must end, 
Her sons decide not ; yet her works we greet 
Imperfect in their parts, but in their whole complete. 

When erst her hand the crust of Chaos thirl'd, 
And forced from his black breast the bursting world, 
High swelPd the huge existence crude and crass, 
A formless dark impermeated mass ; 50 

No light nor heat nor cold nor moist nor dry, 
But all concocting in their causes lie. 
Millions of periods, such as these her spheres 
Learn since to measure and to call their years, 
She broods the mass ; then into motion brings 
And seeks and sorts the principles of things, 
Pours in the attractive and repulsive force, 
Whirls forth her globes in cosmogyral course, 
By myriads and by millions, scaled sublime, 59 
To scoop their skies, and curve the rounds of time. 

She groups their systems, lots to each his place, 
Strow'd thro immensity, and drown'd in space, 



284 THE COLUMBIAD. 

All yet unseen ; till light at last begun, 
And every system found a centred sun, 
Call'd to his neighbor and exchanged from far 
His infant gleams with every social star ; 
Rays thwarting rays and skies overarching skies 
Robed their dim planets with commingling dyes, 
Hung o'er each heaven their living lamps serene, 
And tinged with blue the frore expanse between: 70 
Then joyous Nature hail'd the golden morn, 
Drank the young beam, beheld her empire born. 

Lo the majestic movement ! there they trace 
Their blank infinitudes of time and space, 
Vault with careering curves her central goal, 
Pour forth her day and stud her evening stole, 
Heedless of count ; their numbers still unknown, 
Unmeasured still their progress round her throne ; 
For none of all her firstborn sons, endow'd 
With heavenly sapience and pretensions proud, 80 
No seraph bright, whose keen considering eye 
And sunbeam speed ascend from sky to sky, 
Has yet explored or counted all their spheres, 
Or fixt or found their past record of years. 
Nor can a ray from her remotest sun, 
Shot forth when first their splendid morn begun, 



BOOK THE NINTH. 285 

Borne straight, continuous thro the void of space, 
Doubling each thousand years its rapid pace 
And hither posting, yet have reach'd this earth, 
To bring the tidings of its master's birth. 90 

And mark thy native orb ! tho later born, 
Tho still unstored with light her silver horn, 
As seen from sister planets, who repay 
Far more than she their borrow'd streams of day, 
Yet what an age her shell-rock ribs attest ! 
Her sparry spines, her coal-encumber'd breast ! 
Millions of generations toil'd and died 
To crust with coral and to salt her tide, 
And millions more, ere yet her soil began, 99 

Ere yet she form'd or could have nursed her man. 

Then rose the proud phenomenon, the birth 
Most richly wrought, the favorite child of earth ; 
But frail at first his frame, with nerves ill strung, 
Unform'd his footsteps, long untoned his tongue, 
Unhappy, unassociate, unrefined, 
Unfledged the pinions of his lofty mind, 
He wander'd wild, to every beast a prey, 
More prest with wants, and feebler far than they ; 
For countless ages forced from place to place, 
Just reproduced but scarce preserved his race. 110 



286 THE COLUMBIAD. 

At last, a soil more fixt and streams more sweet 
Inform the wretched migrant where to seat ; 
Euphrates' flowery banks begin to smile, 
Fruits fringe the Ganges, gardens grace the Nile ; 
Nile, ribb'd with dikes, a length of coast creates, 
And giant Thebes begins her hundred gates, 
Mammoth of human works! her grandeur known 
These thousand lustres by its wrecks alone ; 
Wrecks that humiliate still all modern states, 119 
Press the poized earth with their enormous weights, 
Refuse to quit their place, dissolve their frame 
And trust, like Ilion, to the bards their fame. 
Memphis amass'd her piles, that still o'erclimb 
The clouds of heaven, and task the tooth of time ; 
Belus and Brama tame their vagrant throngs, 
And Homer, with his monumental songs, 
Builds far more durable his splendid throne 
Than all the Pharaohs with their hills of stone. 

High roll'd the round of years that hung sublime 
These wondrous beacons in the night of time; 130 
Studs of renown ! that to thine eyes attest 
The waste of ages that beyond them rest ; 
Ages how fill'd with toils ! how gloom'd with woes ! 
Trod with all steps that man's long march compose, 



BOOK THE NINTH. 28? 

Dim drear disastrous ; ere his foot could gain 
A height so brilliant o'er the bestial train. 

In those blank periods, where no man can trace 
The gleams of thought that first illumed his race, 
His errors, twined with science, took their birth, 
And forged their fetters for this child of earth. 140 
And when, as oft, he dared expand his view, 
And work with nature on the line she drew, 
Some monster, gender'd in his fears, unmanned 
His opening soul, and marr'd the works he plann'd. 
Fear, the first passion of his helpless state, 
Redoubles all the woes that round him wait, 
Blocks nature's path and sends him wandering wide. 
Without a guardian and without a guide. 

Beat by the storm, refresh t by gentle rain, 
By sunbeams cheer'd or founder'd in the main, 1 50 
He bows to every force he can't control, 
Jndows them all with intellect and soul, 
With passions various, turbulent and strong, 
Rewarding virtue and avenging wrong, 
Gives heaven and earth to their supernal doom, 
And swells their sway beyond the closing tomb. 
Hence rose his gods, that mystic monstrous lore 
Of blood-stain'd altars and of priestly power, 



288 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Hence blind credulity on all dark things, 159 

False morals hence, and hence the yoke of kings. 

Yon starry vault that round him rolls the spheres, 
And gives to earth her seasons, days and years, 
The source designates and the clue imparts 
Of all his errors and of all his arts. 
There spreads the system that his ardent thought 
First into emblems, then to spirits wrought ; 
Spirits that ruled all matter and all mind, 
Nourished or famish'd, kill'd or cured mankind, 
Bade him neglect the soil whereon he fed, 
Work with hard hand for that which was not bread, 
Erect the temple, darken deep the shrine, 171 

Yield the full hecatomb with awe divine, 
Despise this earth, and claim with lifted eyes 
His health and harvest from the meteor'd skies. 

Accustom'd thus to bow the suppliant head, 
And reverence powers that shake his heart with dread, 
His pliant faith extends with easy ken 
From heavenly hosts to heaven-anointed men ; 
The sword, the tripod join their mutual aids, 
To film his eyes with more impervious shades, ISO 
Create a sceptred idol, and enshrine 
The Robber Chief in attributes divine. 



BOOK THE NINTH. 289 

Arm the new phantom with the nation's rod, 

And hail the dreadful delegate of God. 

Two settled slaveries thus the race control, 

Engross their labors and debase their soul ; 

Till creeds and crimes and feuds and fears compose 

The seeds of war and all its kindred woes. 

Unfold, thou Memphian dungeon ! there began 
The lore of Mystery, the mask of man ; 190 

There Fraud with Science leagued, in early times, 
Plann'd a resplendent course of holy crimes, 
Stalk'd o'er the nations with gigantic pace, 
With sacred symbols charm'd the cheated race, 
Taught them new grades of ignorance to gain, 
And punish truth with more than mortal pain, 
Unfold at last thy cope ! that man may see 
The mines of mischief he has drawn from thee. 
Wide gapes the porch with hieroglyphics hung, 
And mimic zodiacs o'er its arches flung; 200 

Close labyrinth'd here the feign 'd Omniscient dwells, 
Dupes from all nations seek the sacred cells ; 
Inquiring strangers, with astonish'd eyes, 
Dive deep to read these subterranean skies, 
To taste that holiness which faith bestows, 
And fear promulgates thro its world of woes. 



2<)0 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The bold Initiate takes his awful stand, 

A thin pale taper trembling in his hand ; 

Thro hells of howling monsters lies the road, 

To season souls and teach the ways of God. 21O 

Down the crampt corridor, far sunk from day, 
On hands and bended knees he gropes his way, 
Swims roaring streams, thro dens of serpents crawls, 
Descends deep wells and clambers flaming walls ; 
Now thwart his lane a lake of sulphur gleams, 
With fiery waves and suffocating steams ; 
He dares not shun the ford ; for full in view 
Fierce lions rush behind and force him thro. 
Long ladders heaved on end, with banded eyes 21 
He mounts, and mounts, and seems to gain the skies; 
Then backward falling, tranced with deadly fright, 
Finds his own feet and stands restored to light. 
Here all dread sights of torture round him rise; 
Lash'd on a wheel, a whirling felon flies ; 
A wretch, with members chain'd and liver bare, 
Writhes and disturbs the vulture feasting there : 
One strains to roll his rock, recoiling still ; 
One, stretch'd recumbent o'er a limpid rill, 
Burns with devouring thirst ; his starting eyes, 
Sviell'd veins and frothy lips and piercing cries 230 



BOOK THE NINTH. 291 

Accuse the faithless eddies, as they shrink 

And keep h kn pantingstill, still bendingo'er the brink. 

At last Elysium to his ravisht eyes 
Spreads flowery fields and opens golden skies ; 
Breathes Orphean music thro the dancing groves, 
Trains the gay troops of Beauties, Graces, Loves, 
Lures his delirious sense with sweet decoys, 
Fine fancied foretaste of eternal joys, 
Fastidious pomp or proud imperial state, - 
Illusions all, that pass the Ivory Gate ! 240 

Various and vast the fraudful drama grows, 
Feign'd are the pleasures^ as unfelt the woes ; 
Where sainted hierophants, with well taught mimes, 
Play'd first the role' for all succeeding times ; 
Which, vamp'd and varied as the clime required, 
More trist or splendid, open or retired, 
Forms local creeds, with multifarious lore, 
Creates the God and bids the world adore. 

Lo at the Lama's feet, as lord of all, 
Age following age in dumb devotion fall j 250 

The youthful god, mid suppliant kings enshrined, 
Dispensing fate and ruling half mankind, 
Sits with contorted limbs, a silent slave, 
An early victim of a secret grave ; 

u 2 



292 THE COLUMBIAD. 

His priests by myriads famish every clime 
And sell salvation in the tones they chime. 

See India's Triad frame their blood- penn'd codes, 
Old Ganges change his gardens for his gods, 
Ask his own waves from their celestial hands, 
And choke his channel with their sainted sands. 260 
Mad with the mandates of their scriptured word, 
And prompt to snatch from hell her dear dead lord, 
The wife, still blooming, decks her sacred urns, 
Mounts the gay pyre, and with his body burns. 

Shrined in his golden fane the Delphian stands. 
Shakes distant thrones and taxes unknown lands. 
Kings, consuls, khans from earth's whole regions come, 
Pour in their wealth, and then inquire their doom ; 
Furious and wild the priestess rends her veil, 269 
Sucks, thro the sacred stool, the maddening gale, 
Starts reddens foams and screams and mutters loud, 
Like a fell fiend, her oracles of God. 
The dark enigma, by the pontiff scrolled 
In broken phrase, and close in parchment roll'd, 
From his proud pulpit to the suppliant hurl'd, 
Shall rive an empire and distract the world. 

And where the mosque's dim arches bend on high, 
Mecca's dead prophet mounts the mimic sky ; 



BOOK THE NINTH. 293 

Pilgrims, imbanded strong for mutual aid. 
Thro dangerous deserts that their faith has made, 
Train their long caravans, and famish'd come 281 
To kiss the shrine and trembling touch the tomb, 
By fire and sword the same fell faith extend, 
And howl their homilies to earth's far end. 

Phenician altars reek with human gore, 
Gods hiss from caverns or in cages roar, 
Nile pours from heaven a tutelary flood, 
And gardens grow the vegetable god. 
Two rival powers the magian faith inspire, 
Primeval Darkness and immortal Fire ; 290 

Evil and good in these contending rise, 
And each by turns the sovereign of the skies. 
Sun, stars and planets round the earth behold 
Their fanes of marble and their shrines of gold ; 
The sea, the grove, the harvest and the vine 
Spring from their gods and claim a birth divine; 
While heroes, kings and sages of their times, 
Those gods on earth, are gods in happier climes ; 
Minos in judgment sits, and Jove in power, 
And Odin's friends are feasted there with gore. 300 

Man is an infant still ; and slow and late 
Must form and fix his adolescent state, 



294 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Mature his manhood, and at last behold 

His reason ripen and his force unfold. 

From that bright eminence he then shall cast 

A look of wonder on his wanderings past, 

Congratulate himself and o'er the earth 

Firm the full reign of peace predestined at his birth. 

So Hesper taught ; and farther had pursued 
A theme so grateful as a world renew ? d j 31O 

But dubious thoughts disturb'd the Hero's breast. 
Who thus with modest mien the Seer addrest: 
Say, friend of man, in this unbounded range, 
Where error vagrates and illusions change. 
What hopes to see his baleful blunders cease, 
And earth commence that promised age of peace? 
Like a loose pendulum his mind is hung, 
From wrong to wrong by ponderous passion swung, 
It vibrates wide, and with unceasing flight 
Sweeps all extremes and scorns the mean of right. 
Tho in the times you trace he seems to gain 321 
A steadier movement and a path more plain, 
And tho experience will have taught him then 
To mark some dangers, some delusions ken, 
Yet who can tell what future shocks may spread 
New shades of darkness round his lofty head. 



BOOK THE NINTH. 295 

Plunge him again in some broad gulph of woes, 
Where long and oft he struggled, wreck'd and rose? 

What strides he took in those gigantic times 
That sow'd with cities all his orient climes ! 330 
When earth's proud floods he tamed, made many 

a shore, 
And talk'd with heaven from Babel's glittering 

tower ! 

Did not his Babylon exulting say, 
I sit a queen, for ever stands my sway ? 
Thebes, Memphis, Nineveh, a countless throng, 
Caught the same splendor and return'd the song ; 
Each boasted, promised o'er the world to rise, 
Spouse of the sun, eternal as the skies. 
Where shall we find them now? the very shore 
Where Ninus rear'd his empire is no more : 340 
The dikes decay'd, a putrid marsh regains 
The sunken walls, the tomb-encumber'd plains, 
Pursues the dwindling nations where they shrink, 
.And skirts with slime its deleterious brink. 
The fox himself has fled his gilded den, 
Nor holds the heritage he won from men ; 
Lapwing and reptile shun the curst abode, 
And the foul dragon, now no more a god, 



296 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Trails off his train ; the sickly raven flies ; 

A wide strong-stencht Avernus chokes the skies. 350 

So pride and ignorance fall a certain prey 

To the stanch bloodhound of despotic sway. 

Then past a long drear night, with here and there 
A doubtful glimmering from a single star ; 
Tyre, Carthage, Syracuse the gleam increase, 
Till dawns at last the effulgent morn of Greece. 
Here all his Muses meet, all arts combine 
To nerve his genius and his works refine ; 
Morals and laws and arms, and every grace 
That e'er adorn'd or could exalt the race, 36o 

Wrought into science and arranged in rules, 
Swell the proud splendor of her cluster'd schools, 
Build and sustain the state with loud acclaim, 
And work those deathless miracles of fame 
That stand unrivall'd still ; for who shall dare 
Another field with Marathon compare ? 
Who speaks of eloquence or sacred song, 
But calls on Greece to modulate his tongue ? 
And where has man's fine form so perfect shone 
In tint or mould, in canvass or in stone ? , 3/0 

Yet from that splendid height o'erturn'd once more, 
He dasht in dust the living lamp he bore. 



BOOK THE NINTH. 297 

Dazzled with her own glare, decoy 'd and sold 
For homebred faction and barbaric gold, 
Greece treads on Greece, subduing and subdued, 
New crimes inventing, all the old renew'd, 
Canton o'er canton climbs ; till, crush'd and broke, 
All yield the sceptre and resume the yoke. 

Where shall we trace him next, the migrant man, 
To try once more his meliorating plan ? 3 SO 

Shall not the Macedonian, where he strides 
O'er Asian worlds and Nile's neglected tides, 
Prepare new seats of glory, to repay 
The transient shadows with perpetual day ? 
His heirs erect their empires, and expand 
The beams of Greece thro each benighted land ; 
Seleucia spreads o'er ten broad realms her sway, 
And turns on eastern climes the western ray ; 
Palmyra brightens earth's commercial zone, 
And sits an emblem of her god the sun ; 390 

While fond returning to that favorite shore 
Where Ammon ruled and Hermes taught of yore, 
All arts concentrate, force and grace combine 
To rear and blend the useful with the fine, 
Restore the Egyptian glories, and retain, 
Where science dawn'd, her great resurgent. reign. 



298 THE COLUMBIAD. 

From Egypt chased again, he seeks his home, 
More firmly fixt in sage considerate Rome. 
Here all the virtues long resplendent shone, 
All that was Greek, barbarian and her own ; 40O 
She school'd him sound, and boasted to extend 
Thro time's long course and earth's remotest end 
His glorious reign of reason ; soon to cease 
The clang of arms, and rule the world in peace. 
Great was the sense he gain'd, and well defined 
The various functions of his tutor'd mind ; 
Could but his sober sense have proved his guide, 
And kind experience pruned the shoots of pride, 

A field magnificent before him lay ; 
Land after land received the spreading ray ; 41O 
Franchise and friendship travell'd in his train, 
Bandits of earth and pirates of the main 
Rose into citizens, their rage resign 'd, 
And hail'd the great republic of mankind, 
If ever then state slaughter was to pause, 
And man from nature learn to frame his laws, 
This was the moment ; here the sunbeam rose 
To hush the human storm and let the world repose. 

But drunk with pomp and sickening at the light, 
He stagger'd wild on this delirious height; 420 



BOOK THE NINTH. 299 

Forgot the plainest truths he learnt before, 
And barter'd moral for material power. 
From Calpe's rock to India's ardent skies, 
O'er shuddering earth his talon'd Eagle flies, 
To justice blind, and heedless where she drove, 
As when she bore the brandisht bolt of Jove. 

Rome loads herself with chains, seals fast her eyes, 
And tells the insulted nations when to rise ; 
And rise they do, like sweeping tempests driven, 
Swarm following swarni, o'ershading earth and 
heaven, 430 

Roll back her outrage, and indignant shed 
The world's wide vengeance on her sevenfold head. 
Then dwindling back to littleness and shade 
Man soon forgets the gorgeous glare he made, 
Sinks to a savage serf or monkish drone, 
Roves in rude hordes or counts his beads alone, 
Wars with his arts, obliterates his lore, 
And burns the books that rear'd his race before. 

Shrouded in deeper darkness now he veers 
The vast gyration of a thousand years, 440 

Strikes out each lamp that would illume his way, 
Disputes his food with every beast of prey ; 
Imbands his force to fence his trist abodes, 
A wretched robber with his feudal codes. 



300 THE COLUMBIAD. 

At length, iUseems, some parsimonious rays 
Collect from each far heaven a feeble blaze, 
Dance o'er his Europe, and again excite 
His numerous nations to receive the light. 

o 

But faint and slow the niggard dawn expands. 
Diffused o'er various far dissunderM lands, 450 

Dreading, as well it may, to prove once more 
The same sad chance so often proved before. 
And why not lapse again ? Celestial Seer, 
Forgive my doubts, and ah remove my fear ! 
Man is my brother ; strong I feel the ties, 
From strong solicitude my doubts arise ; 
My heart, while opening with the boundless scope 
That swells before him and expands his hope, 
Forebodes another fall ; and tho at last 
Thy world is planted and with light o'ercast, 460 
Tho two broad continents their beams combine 
Round his whole globe to stream his day divine, 
Perchance some folly, yet uncured, may spread 
A storm proportioned to the lights they shed, 
Veil both his continents, and leave again 
Between them stretcrTd the impermeable main ; 
All science buried, sails and cities lost, 
Their lands uncultured, as their seas uncrost. 



BOOK THE NINTH. 301 

Till on thy coast, some thousand ages hence, 
New pilots rise, bold enterprise commence, 470 
Some new Columbus (happier let him be, 
More wise and great and virtuous far than me) 
Launch on the wave, and tow Yd the rising day 
Like a strong eaglet steer his untaught way, 
Gird half the globe, and to his age unfold 
A strange new world, the world we call the old. 
From Finland's glade to Calpe's storm-beat head 
He'll find some tribes of scattering wildmen spread; 
But one vast wilderness will shade the soil, 
No wreck of art, no sign of ancient toil 480 

Tell where a city stood ; nor leave one trace 
Of all that honors now, and all that shames the race. 
If such the round we run, what hope, my friend, 
To see our madness and our miseries end ? 
Here paused the Patriarch : mild the Saint return'd, 
And as he spoke, fresh glories round him burn'd : 
My son, I blame not but applaud thy grief; 
Inquiries deep should lead to slow belief. 
So small the portion of the range of man 
His written stories reach or views can span, 490 
That wild confusion seems to clog his march, 
And the dull progress made illudes thy search. 



302 THE COLUMBIAN. 

But broad beyond compare, with steadier hand 

Traced o'er his earth, his present paths expand. 

In sober majesty and matron grace 

Sage Science now conducts her filial race ; 

And if, while all their arts around them shine, 

They culture more the solid than the fine, 

Tis to correct their fatal faults of old, 

When, caught by tinsel, they forgot the gold ; 50O 

When their strong brilliant imitative lines 

Traced nature only in her gay designs, 

Rear'd the proud column, toned her chanting lyre y 

Warm'd the full senate with her words of fire, 

Pour'd on the canvass every pulse of life, 

And bade the marble rage with human strife. 

These were the arts that nursed unequal sway, 
That priests would pamper and that kings would pay, 
That spoke to vulgar sense, and often stole 
The sense of right and freedom from the soul. 51O 
While, circumscribed in some concentred clime, 
They reach'd but one small nation at a time, 
Dazzled that nation, pufft her local pride, 
Proclairn'd her hatred to the world beside, 
Drew back returning hatred from afar, 
And sunk themselves beneath the storms of war. 



BOOK THE NINTH. 3O3 

As, when the sun moves o'er the flaming zone, 
Collecting clouds attend his fervid throne, 
Superior splendors, in his morn displayed, 
Prepare for noontide but a heavier shade ; 520 

Thus where the brilliant arts alone prevailed, 
Their shining course succeeding storms assail'd ; 
Pride, wrong and insult hemm'd their scanty reign, 
A Nile their stream, a Hellespont their main, 
Content with Tiber's narrow shores to wind, 
They fledged their Eagle but to fang mankind; 
Ere great inventions found a tardy birth, 
And with their new creations blest the earth. 

Now sober'd man a steadier gait assumes, 
Broad is the beam that breaks the Gothic glooms. 
At once consenting nations lift their eyes, 631 

And hail the holy dawn that streaks the skies ; 
Arabian caliphs rear the spires of Spain, 
The Lombards keel their Adriatic main, 
Great Charles, invading and reviving all, 
Plants o'er with schools his numerous states of 

Gaul ; 

And Alfred opes the mines whence Albion draws 
The ore of all her wealth, her liberty and laws. 

Ausonian cities interchange and spread 
The lights of learning on the wings of trade ; 540 



304 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Bologna's student walls arise to fame, 
Germania, thine their rival honors claim ; 
Halle, Gottinge, Upsal, Kiel and Leyden smile, 
Oxonia, Cambridge cheer Britannia's isle ; 
Where, like her lark, gay Chaucer leads the lay, 
The matin carol of his country's day. 

Blind War himself, that erst opposed all good, 
And whelm'd meek Science in her votaries' blood, 
Now smooths, by means unseen, her modest way, 
Extends her limits and secures her sway. 55O 

From Europe's world his mad crusaders pour 
Their banded myriads on the Asian shore ; 
The mystic Cross, thro famine toil and blood, 
Leads their long marches to the tomb of God. 
Thro realms of industry their passage lies, 
And labor'd affluence feasts their curious eyes ; 
Till fields of slaughter whelm the broken host, 
Their pride appall'd, their warmest zealots lost, 
The wise remains to their own shores return, 
Transplant all arts that Hagar's race adorn, 5^0 
Learn from long intercourse their mutual ties, 
And find in commerce where their interest lies. 

From Drave's long course to Biscay's bending 

shores, 
Where Adria sleeps, to where the Bothnian roars, 



BOOK THE NINTH. 305 

In one great Hanse, for earth's whole trafic known, 
Free cities rise, and in their golden zone 
Bind all the interior states ; nor princes dare 
Infringe their franchise with voracious war. 
All shield them safe, and joy to share the gain 
That spreads o'er land from each surrounding main, 
Makes Indian stuffs, Arabian gums their own, 571 
Plants Persian gems on every Celtic crown, 
Pours thro their opening woodlands milder day, 
And gives to genius his expansive play. 

This blessed moment, from the towers of Thorn 
New splendor rises ; there the sage is born ! 
The sage who starts these planetary spheres, 
Deals out their task to wind their own bright years, 
Restores his station to the parent Sun, 
And leads his duteous daughters round his throne. 
Each mounts obedient on her wheels of fire, 581 
Whirls round her sisters, and salutes the sire, 
Guides her new car, her youthful coursers tries, 
Curves careful paths along her alter'd skies, 
Learns all her mazes thro the host of even, 
And hails and joins the harmony of heaven. 
Fear not, Copernicus ! let loose the rein, . 
Launch from their goals, and mark the moving train; 

x 



306* THE COLUMBIAD. 

Fix at their sun thy calculating eye, 

Compare and count their courses round their sky. 590 

Fear no disaster from the slanting force 

That warps them staggering in elliptic Course ; 

Thy sons with steadier ken shall aid the search, 

And firm and fashion their majestic march, 

Kepler prescribe the laws no stars can shun, 

And Newton tie them to the eternal sun. 

By thee inspired, his tube the Tuscan plies, 
And sends new colonies to stock the skies, 
Gives Jove his satellites, and first adorns 
Effulgent Phosphor with his silver horns. 600 

Herschel ascends himself with venturous wain, 
And joins and flanks thy planetary train, 
Perceives his distance from their elder spheres, 
And guards with numerous moons the lonely round 
he steers. 

Yes, bright Copernicus, thy beams, far hurl'd, 
Shall startle well this intellectual world, 
Break the delusive dreams of ancient lore, 
New floods of light on every subject pour, 
Thro Physic Nature many a winding trace, 
And seat the Moral on her sister's base. 6lO 

Descartes with force gigantic toils alone, 
Unshrines old errors and propounds his own ; 



BOOK THE NINTH. so? 

Like a blind Samson, gropes their strong abodes, 
Whelms deep in dust their temples and their gods, 
Buries himself with those false codes they drew, 
And makes his followers frame and fix the true. 

Bacon, with every power of genius fraught, 
Spreads over worlds his mantling wings of thought, 
Draws in firm lines, and tells in nervous tone 
All that is yet and all that shall be known, 620 
Withes Proteus Matter in his arms of might, 
And drags her tortuous secrets forth to light, 
Bids men their unproved systems all forgo, 
Informs them what to learn, and how to know, 
Waves the first flambeau thro the night that veils 
Egyptian fables and Phenician tales, 
Strips from all-plundering Greece the cloak she wore, 
And shows the blunders of her borrowed lore. 

One vast creation, lately borne abroad, 
Cheers the young nations like a nurturing God, 63O 
Breathes^thro them all the same wide-searching soul, 
Forms, feeds, refines and animates the whole, 
Guards every ground they gain, and forward brings 
Glad Science soaring on cerulean wings, 
Trims her gay plumes, directs her upward course, 
Props her light pinions and sustains her force, 

X 2 



308 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Instructs all men her golden gifts to prize, 

And catch new glories from her beamful eyes, 

Tis the prolific Press ; whose tablet, fraught 

By graphic Genius with his painted thought, 640 

Flings forth by millions the prodigious birth, 

And in a moment stocks the astonish'd earth. 

Genius, enamor'd of his fruitful bride, 
Assumes new force and elevates his pride. 
No more, recumbent o'er his finger'd style, 
He plods whole years each copy to compile, 
Leaves to ludibrious winds the priceless page, 
Or to chance fires the treasure of an age ; 
But bold and buoyant, with his sister Fame, 
He strides o'er earth, holds high his ardent flame, 650 
Calls up Discovery with her tube and scroll, 
And points the trembling magnet to the pole. 
Hence the brave Lusitanians stretch the sail, 
Scorn guiding stars, and tame the midsea gale ; 
And hence thy prow deprest the boreal wain, 
Rear'd adverse heavens, a second earth to .gain, 
Ran down old Night, her western curtain thiiTd, 
And snatch'd from swaddling shades an infant world. 

Rome, Athens, Memphis, Tyre! had you butknown 
This glorious triad, now familiar grown, 660 



BOOK THE NINTH. 309 

The Press, the Magnet faithful to its pole, 
And earth's own Movement round her steadfast goal, 
Ne'er had your science, from that splendid height, 
Sunk in her strength, nor seen succeeding night. 
Her own utility had forced her sway, 
All nations caught the fast-extending ray, 
Nature thro all her kingdoms oped the road, 
Resign'd her secrets and her wealth bestow'd ; 
Her moral codes a like dominion rear'd, 
Freedom been born and folly disappeared, 670 

War and his monsters sunk beneath her ban, 
And left the world to reason and to man. 

But now behold him bend his broader way, 
Lift keener eyes and drink diviner day, 
All systems scrutinize, their truths unfold, 
Prove well the recent, well revise the old, 
Reject all mystery, and define with force 
The point he aims at in his laboring course, 
To know these elements, learn how they wind 
Their wondrous webs of matter and of mind, 680 
What springs, what guides organic life requires, 
To move, rule, rein its ever-changing gyres, 
Improve and utilise each opening birth, 
And aid the labors of this nurturing earth. 






310 THE COLUMBIAD. 

But chief their moral soul he learns to trace, 
That stronger chain which links and leads the race; 
Which forms and sanctions every social tie, 
And blinds or clears their intellectual eye. 
He strips that soul from every filmy shade 
That schools had caught, that oracles had made, 690 
Relumes her visual nerve, develops strong 
The rules of right, the subtle shifts of wrong; 
Of civil power draws clear the sacred line, 
Gives to just government its right divine, 
Forms, varies, fashions, as his lights increase, 
Till earth is fill'd with happiness and peace. 

Already taught, thou know'st the fame that waits 
His rising seat in thy confederate states. 
There stands the model, thence he long shall draw 
His forms of policy, his traits of law ; 700 

Each land shall imitate, each nation join 
The well-based brotherhood, the league divine, 
Extend its empire with the circling sun, 
And band the peopled globe beneath its federal zone. 

As thus he spoke, returning tears of joy 
Suffused the Hero's cheek and pearl'd his eye : 
Unveil, said he, my friend, and stretch once more 
Beneath my view that heaven-illumined shore ; 



BOOK THE NINTH. 311 

Let me behold her silver beams expand. 
To lead all nations, lighten every land, 710 

Instruct the total race, and teach at last 
Their toils to lessen and their chains to cast, 
Trace and attain the purpose of their birth, 
And hold in peace this heritage of earth. 
The Seraph smiled consent, the Hero's eye 
Watch'd for the daybeam round the changing sky. 



THE 

COLUMBIAD. 

BOOK X. 



ARGUMENT. 



The vision resumed, and extended over the whole earth. 
Present character of different nations. Future progress 
of society with respect to commerce ; discoveries ; inland 
navigation ; philosophical, medical and political know 
ledge. Science of government. Assimilation and final 
union of all languages. Its effect on education, and on 
the advancement of physical and moral science. The 
physical precedes the moral, as Phosphor precedes the 
Sun. View of a general Congress from all nations, as 
sembled to establish the political harmony of mankind. 
Conclusion. 



THE 



COLUMBIAD. 



BOOK X. 

rlESPER again his heavenly power display'd, 
And shook the yielding canopy of shade. 
Sudden the stars their trembling fires withdrew, 
Returning splendors burst upon the view, 
Floods of unfolding light the skies adorn, 
And more than midday glories grace the morn. 
So shone the earth, as if the sideral train, 
Broad as full suns, had sail'd the ethereal plain ; 
When no distinguisht orb could strike the sight, 
But one clear blaze of all-surrounding light 10 
O'erflow'd the vault of heaven. For now in view 
Remoter climes and future ages drew ; 
Whose deeds of happier fame, in long array, 
Call'd into vision, fill the newborn day. 



316 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Far as seraphic power could lift the eye, 
Or earth or -ocean bend the yielding sky, 
Or circling suns awake the breathing gale, 
Drake lead the way, or Cook extend the sail ; 
Where Behren sever 'd, with adventurous prow, 
Hesperia's headland from Tartaria's brow ; 20 

Where sage Vancouvre's patient leads were hurl'd, 
Where Deimen stretch'd his solitary world ; 
AH lands, all seas that boast a present name, 
And all that unborn time shall give to fame, 
Around the Pair in bright expansion rise, 
And earth, in one vast level, bounds the skies. 

They saw the nations tread their different shores, 
Ply their own toils and wield their local powers, 
Their present state in all its views disclose, 
Their gleams of happiness, their shades of woes, 3O 
Plodding in various stages thro the range 
Of man's unheeded but unceasing change. 
Columbus traced them with experienced eye, 
And classed and counted all the flags that fly ; 
He mark'd what tribes still rove the savage waste, 
What cultured realms the sweets of plenty taste ; 
Where arts and virtues fix their golden reign, 
Or peace adorns, or slaughter dyes the plain. 



BOOK THE TENTH. 317 

He saw the restless Tartar, proud to roam, 
Move with his herds and pitch a transient home ; 40 
Tibet's long tracts and China's fixt domain, 
Dull as their despots, yield their cultured grain ; 
Cambodia, Siam, Asia's myriad isles 
And old Indostan, with their wealthy spoils 
Attract adventurous masters, and o'ershade 
Their sunbright ocean with the wings of trade. 
Arabian robbers, Syrian Kurds combined, 
Create their deserts and infest mankind ; 
The Turk's dim Crescent, like a day-struck star, 
As Russia's Eagle shades their haunts of war, 5O 
Shrinks from insulted Europe, who divide 
The shatter'd empire to the Pontic tide. 
He mark'd impervious Afric, where alone 
She lies encircled with the verdant zone 
That lines her endless coast, and still sustains 
Her northern pirates and her eastern swains, 
Mourns her interior tribes purloin'd away, 
And chain'd and sold beyond Atlantic day. 
Brazilla's wilds, Mackensie's savage lands 
With bickering strife inflame their furious bands ; 60 
Atlantic isles and Europe's cultured shores 
Heap their vast wealth, exchange their growing stores, 



318 THE COLUMBIAD. 

All arts inculcate, new discoveries plan, 
Tease and torment but school the race of man. 
While his own federal states, extending far, 
Calm their brave sons now breathing from the war, 
Unfold their harbors, spread their genial soil, 
And welcome freemen to the cheerful toil. 

A sight so solemn, as it varied round, 
Fill'd his fond heart with reveries profound ; 70 
He felt the infinitude of thoughts that pass 
And guide and govern that enormous mass. 
The cares that agitate, the creeds that blind, 
The woes that waste the many-master'd kind, 
The distance great that still remains to trace, 
Ere sober sense can harmonize the race, 
Held him suspense, imprest with reverence meek, 
And choked his utterance as he wish'd to speak : 
When Hesper thus : The paths they here pursue. 
Wide as they seem unfolding to thy view, 80 

Show but a point in that long circling course 
Which cures their weakness and confirms their force, 
Lends that experience which alone can close 
The scenes of strife, and give the world repose. 
Yet here thou seest the same progressive plan 
That draws for mutual succour man to man, 



BOOK THE TENTH. 319 

From twain to tribe, from tribe to realm dilates, 
In federal union groups a hundred states, 
Thro all their turns with gradual scale ascends, 
Their powers, their passions and their interest blends; 
While growing arts their social virtues spread, Ql 
Enlarge their compacts and unlock their trade ; 
Till each remotest clan, by commerce join'd, 
Links in the chain that binds all humankind, 
Their bloody banners sink in darkness fuiTd, 
And one white flag of peace triumphant walks the 

world. 

As infant streams, from oozing earth at first 
With feeble force and lonely murmurs burst, 
From myriad unseen fountains draw the rills 
And curl contentious round their hundred hills, 100 
Meet, froth and foam, their dashing currents swell, 
O'er crags and rocks their furious course impel, 
Impetuous plunging plough the mounds of earth, 
And tear the fostering flanks that gave them birth ; 
Mad with the strength they gain, they thicken deep 
Their muddy waves and slow and sullen creep, 
O'erspread whole regions in their lawless pride, 
Then stagnate long, then shrink and curb their tide; 
Anon more tranquil grown, with steadier sway, 
Thro broader banks they shape their seaward way, 110 



320 THE COLUMBIAD. 

From different climes converging, join and spread 
Their mingled waters in one widening bed, 
Profound, transparent ; till the liquid zone 
Bands half the globe and drinks the golden sun, 
Sweeps onward still the still expanding plain, 
And moves majestic to the boundless main. 
Tis thus Society's small sources rise ; 
Thro passions wild her infant progress lies ; 
Fear, with its host of follies, errors, woes, 
Creates her obstacles and forms her foes ; 1 20 

Misguided interest, local pride withstand, 
Till long-tried ills her growing views expand, 
Till tribes and states and empires find their place, 
Whose mutual wants her widest walks embrace ; 
Enlightened interest, moral sense at length 
Combine their aids to elevate her strength, 
Lead o'er the world her peace-commanding sway, 
And light her steps with everlasting day. 

From that mark'd stage of man we now behold, 
More rapid strides his coming paths unfold; 130 
His continents are traced, his islands found, 
His well-taught sails on all his billows bound, 
His varying wants their new discoveries ply, 
And seek in earth's whole range their sure supply 



BOOK THE TENTH. 321 

First of his future stages, them shalt see 
His trade unfetter'd and his ocean free. 
From thy young states the code consoling springs, 
To strip from vulture War his naval wings; 
In views so just all Europe's powers combine, 
And earth's full voice approves the vast design. 140 
Tho still her inland realms the combat wage 
And hold in lingering broils the unsettled age, 
Yet no rude shocks that shake the crimson plain 
Shall more disturb the labors of the main ; 
The main that spread so wide his travelled way, 
Liberal as air, impartial as the day, 
That all thy race the common wealth might share, 
Exchange their fruits and fill their treasures there, 
Their speech assimilate, their counsels blend, 
Till mutual interest fix the mutual friend. 150 

Now see, my son, the destined hour advance; 
Safe in their leagues commercial navies dance, 
Leave their curst cannon on the quay-built strand, 
And like the stars of heaven a fearless course command. 

The Hero look'd ; beneath his wondering eyes 
Gay streamers lengthen round the seas and skies ; 
The countless nations open all their stores, 
Load every wave and crowd the lively shores ; 

Y 



322 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Bright sails in mingling mazes streak the air, 
And commerce triumphs o'er the rage of war. 160 

From Baltic streams, from Elba's opening side, 
From Rhine's long course and Texel's laboring tide, 
From Gaul, from Albion, tired of fruitless fight, 
From green Hibernia, clothed in recent light, 
Hispania's strand that two broad oceans lave, 
From Senegal and Gambia's golden wave, 
Tago the rich, and Douro's viny shores, 
The sweet Canaries and the soft Azores, 
Commingling barks their mutual banners hail, 
And drink by turns the same distending gale. 170 
Thro Calpe's strait that leads the Midland main, 
From Adria, Pontus, Nile's resurgent reign, 
The sails look forth and wave their bandrols high 
And ask their breezes from a broader sky. 
Where Asia's isles and utmost shorelands bend, 
Like rising suns the sheeted masts ascend; 
Coast after coast their flowing flags unrol, 
From Deimen's rocks to Zembla's ice-propt pole, 
Where Behren's pass collapsing worlds divides, 
Where California breaks the billowy tides, 1 80 
Peruvian streams their golden margins boast, 
Or Chili bluffs or Plata flats the coast. 



BOOK THE TENTH. 323 

Where, clothed in splendor, his Atlantic way zoM 
Spreads the blue borders of Hesperian day, 
From all his havens, with majestic sweep, 
The swiftest boldest daughters of the deep 
Swarm forth before him ; till the cloudlike train 
From pole to pole o'ersheet the whitening main. 

So some primeval seraph, placed on high, 
From heaven's sublimest point o'erlook'd the sky, 
When space unfolding heard the voice of God, 191 
And suns and stars and systems roll'd abroad, 
Caught their first splendors from his beamful eye, 
Began their years and vaulted round their sky j )E1 f 
Their social spheres in bright confusion play, 
Exchange their beams and fill the newborn day. 

Nor seas alone the countless barks behold ; 
Earth's inland realms their naval paths unfold. 
Her plains, long portless, now no more complain 
Of useless rills and fountains nursed in vain ; 20O 
Canals curve thro them many a liquid line, 
Prune their wild streams, their lakes and opans join. 
Where Darien hills o'erlook the gulphy tide, 
Cleft in his view the enormous banks divide ; 
Ascending sails their opening pass pursue, 
And waft the sparkling treasures of Peru. 



324 THE COLUMRIAD. 

Moxoe resigns his stagnant world of fen, 
Allures, rewards the cheerful toils of men, 
Leads their long new-made rivers round his reign, 
Drives offthe stench and waves his golden grain, 21O 
Feeds a whole nation from his cultured shore, 
Where not a bird could skim the skies before. 

From Mohawk's mouth, far westing with the sun, 
Thro all the midlands recent channels run, 
Tap the redundant lakes, the broad hills brave, 
And Hudson marry with Missouri's wave. 
From dim Superior, whose uncounted sails 
Shade his full seas and bosom all his gales, 
New paths unfolding seek Mackensie's tide, 
And towns and empires rise along their side ; 220 
Slave's crystal highways all his north adorn, 
Like coruscations from the boreal morn. 
Proud Missisippi, tamed and taught his road, 
Flings forth irriguous from his generous flood 
Ten thousand watery glades; that, round him curl'd, 
Vein the broad bosom of the western world. 

From the red banks of Arab's odorous tide 
Their Isthmus opens, and strange waters glide ; 
Europe from all her shores, with crowded sails, 
Looks thro the pass and calls the Asian gales. 230 



BOOK THE TENTH. 325 



Volga and Obi distant oceans join, 
Delighted Danube weds the wasting Rhine ; 
Elbe, Oder, Neister channel many a plain, 
Exchange their barks and try each other's main. 
All infant streams and every mountain rill 
Choose their new paths, some useful task to fill, 
Each acre irrigate, re-road the earth, 
And serve at last the purpose of their birth. 

Earth, garden'd all, a tenfold burden brings ; 
Her fruits, her odors, her salubrious springs 240 
Swell, breathe and bubble from the soil they grace, 
String with strong nerves the renovating race, 
Their numbers multiply in every land, 
Their toils diminish and their powers expand ; 
And while she rears them with a statelier frame 
Their soul she kindles with diviner flame, 
Leads their bright intellect with fervid glow 
Thro all the mass of things that still remains to know. 

He saw the aspiring genius of the age 
Soar in the Bard and strengthen in the Sage : 250 
The Bard with bolder hand assumes the lyre, 
Warms the glad nations with unwonted fire, 
Attunes to virtue all the tones that roll 
Their tides of transport thro the expanding soul. 



326 THE COLUMBIAD. 

For him no more, beneath their furious gods, 
Old ocean crimsons and Olympus nods, 
Uprooted mountains sweep the dark profound, 
Or Titans groan beneath the rending ground. 
No more his clangor maddens up the mind 
To crush, to conquer and enslave mankind, 260 
To build on ruin'd realms the shrines of fame, 
And load his numbers with a tyrant's name. 
Far nobler objects animate his tongue, 
And give new energies to epic song ; 
To moral charms he bids the world attend, 
Fraternal states their mutual ties extend, 
O'er cultured earth the rage of conquest cease, 
War sink in night and nature smile in peace. 
Soaring with science then he learns to string 
Her highest tjarp, and brace her broadest wing, 270 
With her own force to fray the paths untrod, 
With her own glance to ken the total God, 
Thro heavens o'ercanopied by heavens behold 
Q New suns ascend and other skies unfold, 
Social and system'd worlds around him shine, 
And lift his living strains to harmony divine. 

The Sage with steadier lights directs his ken, 
Thro twofold nature leads the walks of men, 



BOOK THE TENTH. 327 

Remoulds her moral and material frames, 
Their mutual aids, their sister laws proclaims. 280 
Disease before him with its causes flies, 
And boasts no more of sickly soils and skies ; 
His well-proved codes the healing science aid, 
Its base establish and its blessing spread, 
With long-wrought life to teach the race to glow, 
And vigorous nerves to grace the locks of snow. 
From every shape that varying matter gives, 
That rests or ripens, vegetates or lives, 
His chymic powers new combinations plan, 
Yield new creations, finer forms to man, 290 

High springs of health for mind and body trace, 
Add force and beauty to the joyous race, 
Arm with new engines his adventurous hand. 
Stretch o'er these elements his wide command, 
Lay the proud storm submissive at his feet, 
Change, temper, tame all subterranean heat, 
Probe laboring earth and drag from her dark side 
The mute volcano, ere its force be tried ; 
Walk under ocean, ride the buoyant air, 
Brew the soft shower, the labor'd land repair, 300 
A fruitful soil o'er sandy deserts spread, 
And clothe with culture every mountain's head. 



328 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Where system'd realms their mutual glories lend, 
And well-taught sires the cares of state attend, 
Thro every maze of man they learn to wind, 
Note each device that prompts the Proteus mind, 
What soft restraints the tempered breast requires, 
To taste new joys and cherish new desires, 
Expand the selfish to the social flame, 
And rear the soul to deeds of nobler fame. 310 

They mark, in all the past records of praise, 
What partial views heroic zeal could raise ; 
What mighty states on others' ruins stood, 
And built unsafe their haughty seats in blood ; 
How public virtue's ever borrow'd name 
With proud applauses graced the deeds of shame r 
Bade each imperial standard wave sublime, 
And wild ambition havoc every clime ; 
From chief to chief the kindling spirit ran, 
Heirs of false fame and enemies of man. 320 

Where Grecian states in even balance hung, 
And warm'd with jealous fires the patriot's tongue, 
The exclusive ardor cherish'd in the breast 
Love to one land and hatred to the rest. 
And where the flames of civil discord rage, 
And Roman arms with Roman arms engage, 



BOOK THE TENTH. 329 

The mime of virtue rises still the same, 
To build a Cesar's as a Pompey's name. 

But now no more the patriotic mind, 
To narrow views and local laws confined, 330 

Gainst neighboring lands directs the public rage, 
Plods for a clan or counsels for an age ; 
But soars to loftier thoughts, and reaches far 
Beyond the power, beyond the wish of war ; 
For realms and ages forms the general aim, 
Makes patriot views and moral views the same, 
Works with enlighten'd zeal, to see combined 
The strength and happiness of humankind. 

Long had Columbus with delighted eyes 
Mark'd all the changes that around him rise, 340 
Lived thro descending ages as they roll, 
And feasted still the still expanding soul ; 
When now the peopled regions swell more near, 
And a mixt noise tumultuous stuns his ear. 
At first, like heavy thunders rolFd in air, 
Or the rude shock of cannonading war, 
Or waves resounding on the craggy shore, 
Hoarse roll'd the loud-toned undulating roar. 
But soon the sounds like human voices rise, 
All nations pouring undistinguisht cries; 35O 

'"V* 



330 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Till more distinct the wide concussion grown 

Rolls forth at times an accent like his own. 

By turns the tongues assimilating blend, 

And smoother idioms over earth ascend ; 

Mingling and softening still in every gale, 

O'er discord's din harmonious tones prevail. 

At last a simple universal sound 

Winds thro the welkin, sooths the world around, 

From echoing shores in swelling strain replies, 

And moves melodious o'er the warbling skies. 360 

Such wild commotions as he heard and view'd, 
In fixt astonishment the Hero stood, 
And thus besought the Guide : Celestial friend, 
What good to man can these dread scenes intend ? 
Some sore distress attends that boding sound 
That breathed hoarse thunder and convulsed the 

ground. 

War sure hath ceased ; or have my erring eyes 
Misread the glorious visions of the skies ? 
Tell then, my Seer, if future earthquakes sleep, 
Closed in the conscious caverns of the deep, 370 
Waiting the day of vengeance, when to roll 
And rock the rending pillars of the pole. 
Or tell if aught more dreadful to my race 
In these dark signs thy heavenly wisdom trace ; 



BOOK THE TENTH. 331 

And why the loud discordance melts again 
In the smooth glidings of a tuneful strain. 

The guardian god replied: Thy fears give o'er; 
War's hosted hounds shall havoc earth no more ; 
No sore distress these signal sounds foredoom, 
But give the pledge of peaceful years to come ; 3 BO 
The tongues of nations here their accents blend, 
Till one pure language thro the world extend. 

Thou know'st the tale of Babel ; how the skies 
Fear'd for their safety as they felt him rise, 
Sent unknown jargons mid the laboring bands, 
Confused their converse and unnerved their hands, 
Dispersed the bickering tribes and drove them far, 
From peaceful toil to violence and war ; 
Bade kings arise with bloody flags unfuiTd, 
Bade pride and conquest wander o'er the world, 390 
Taught adverse creeds, com mutual hatreds bred, 
Till holy homicide the climes o'erspread. 
For that fine apologue, with mystic strain, 
Gave like the rest a golden age to man, 
Ascribed perfection to his infant state, 
Science unsought and all his arts innate ; 
Supposed the experience of the growing race 
Must lead him retrograde and cramp his pace, 



332 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Obscure his vision as his lights increast, 

And sink him from an angel to a beast. 400 

Tis thus the teachers of despotic sway 
Strive in all times to blot the beams of day, 
To keep him curb'd, nor let him lift his eyes 
To see where happiness, where misery lies. 
They lead him blind, and thro the world's broad waste 
Perpetual feuds, unceasing shadows cast, 
Crush every art that might the mind expand, 
And plant with demons every desert land ; 
That, fixt in straiten'd bounds, the lust of power 
May ravage still and still the race devour, 410 

An easy prey the hoodwink'd hordes remain, 
And oceans roll and shores extend in vain. 

Long have they reign'd ; till now the race at last 
Shake off their manacles, their blinders cast, 
Overrule the crimes their fraudful foes produce, 
By ways unseen to serve the happiest use, 
Tempt the wide wave, probe every yielding soil, 
Fill with their fruits the hardy hand of toil, 
Unite their forces, wheel the conquering car, 
Deal mutual death, but civilize by war. 420 

Dear-bought the experiment and hard the strife 
Of social man, that rear'd his arts to life. 



BOOK THE TENTH. 333 

His Passions wild that agitate the mind, 
His Reason calm, their watchful guide designed, 
While yet unreconciled, his march restrain, 
Mislead the judgment and betray the man. 
Fear, his first passion, long maintain'd the sway, 
Long shrouded in its glooms the mental ray, 
Shook, curb'd, controll'd his intellectual force, 
And bore him wild thro many a devious course. 430 
Long had his Reason, with experienced eye, 
Perused the book of earth and scaled the sky, 
Led fancy, memory, foresight in her train, 
And o'er creation stretch'd her vast domain ; 
Yet would that rival Fear her strength appal ; 
In that one conflict always sure to fall, 
Mild Reason shunn'd the foe she could not brave, 
Renounced her empire and remained a slave. 

But deathless, tho debased, she still could find 
Some beams of truth to pour upon the mind ; 44O 
And tho she dared no moral code to scan, 
Thro physic forms she learnt to lead the man ; 
To strengthen thus his opening orbs of sight, 
And nerve and clear them for a stronger light. 
That stronger light, from nature's double codes, 
Now springs expanding and his doubts explodes ; 



334 THE COLUMBIAD. 

All nations catch it, all their tongues combine 

To hail the human morn and speak the day divine. 

At this blest period, when the total race 
Shall speak one language and all truths embrace, 
Instruction clear a speedier course shall find, 451 
And open earlier on the infant mind. 
No foreign terms shall crowd with barbarous rules 
The dull unmeaning pageantry of schools ; 
Nor dark authorities nor names unknown 
Fill the learnt head with ignorance not its own ; 
But wisdom's eye with beams unclouded shine, 
And simplest rules her native charms define ; 
One living language, one unborrow'd dress 
Her boldest flights with fullest force express ; 460 
Triumphant virtue, in the garb of truth, 
Win a pure passage to the heart of youth, 
Pervade all climes where suns or oceans roll, 
And warm the world with one great moral soul, 
To see, facilitate, attain the scope 
Of all their labor and of all their hope. 

As early Phosphor, on his silver throne, 
Fair type of truth and promise of the sun, 
Smiles up the orient in his dew-dipt ray, 
Illumes the front of heaven and leads the day ; 470 



BOOK THE TENTH. 335 

Thus Physic Science, with exploring eyes> 

First o'er the nations bids her beauties rise, 

Prepares the glorious way to pour abroad 

Her Sister's brighter beams, the purest light of God. 

Then Moral Science leads the lively mind 

Thro broader fields and pleasures more refined ; 

Teaches the temper'd soul, at one vast view, 

To glance o'er time and look existence thro, 

See worlds and worlds, to being's formless end, 

With all their hosts on her prime power depend, 

Seraphs and suns and systems, as they rise, 481 

Live in her life and kindle from her eyes, 

Her cloudless ken, her all-pervading soul 

Illume, sublime and harmonize the whole ; 

Teaches the pride of man its breadth to bound 

In one small point of this amazing round, 

To shrink and rest where nature fixt its fate, 

A line its space, a moment for its date ; 

Instructs the heart an ampler joy to taste, 

And share its feelings with each human breast, 490 

Expand its wish to grasp the total kind 

Of sentient soul, of cogitative mind ; 

Till mutual love commands all strife to cease, 

And earth join joyous in the songs of peace. 



336 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Thus heard Columbus, eager to behold 
The famed Apocalypse its years unfold ; 
The soul stood speaking thro his gazing eyes, 
And thus his voice : Oh let the visions rise ! 
Command, celestial Guide, from each far pole, 
John's vision'd morn to open on my soul, 50O 

And raise the scenes, by his reflected light, 
Living and glorious to my longing sight. 
Let heaven unfolding show the eternal throne, 
And all the concave flame in one clear sun; 
On clouds of fire, with angels at his side, 
The Prince of Peace, the King of Salem ride, 
With smiles of love to greet the bridal earth, 
Call slumbering ages to a second birth, 
With all his white-robed millions fill the train, 
And here commence the interminable reign ! 51O 

Such views, the Saint replies, for sense too bright-,, 
Would seal thy vision in eternal night; 
Man cannot face nor seraph power display 
The mystic beams of such an awful day. 
Enough for thee, that thy delighted mind 
Should trace the temporal actions of thy kind j 
That time's descending veil should ope so far 
Beyond the reach of wretchedness and war, 



BOOK THE TENTH. 



337 



Till all the paths in nature's sapient plan 

Fair in thy presence lead the steps of man, 520 

And form at last, on earth's extended ball, 

Union of parts and happiness of all. 

To thy glad ken these rolling years have shown 

The boundless blessings thy vast labors crown, 

That, with the joys of unborn ages blest, 

Thy soul exulting may retire to rest. 

But see once more! beneath a change of skies, 

The last glad visions wait thy raptured eyes. 

Eager he look'd. Another train of years 
Had roll'd unseen, and brighten'd still their spheres; 
Earth more resplendent in the floods of day 531 
Assumed new smiles, and flush'd around him lay. 
Green swell the mountains, calm the oceans roll, 
Fresh beams of beauty kindle round the pole ; 
Thro all the range where shores and seas extend, 
In tenfold pomp the works of peace ascend. 
Robed in the bloom of spring's eternal year, 
And ripe with fruits the same glad fields appear; 
O'er hills and vales perennial gardens run, 
Cities unwall'd stand sparkling to the sun ; 540 
The streams all freighted from the bounteous plain 
Swell with the load and labor to the main, 

z 



338 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Whose stormless waves command a steadier gale 
And prop the pinions of a bolder sail : 
Sway'd with the floating weight each ocean toils, 
And joyous nature's full perfection smiles. 

Fill'd with unfolding fate, the vision'd age 
Now leads its actors on a broader stage ; 
When clothed majestic in the robes of state, 
Moved by one voice, in general congress meet 550 
The legates of all empires. Tvvas the place 
Where wretched men first firm'd their wandering 

pace; 

Ere yet beguiled, the dark delirious hordes 
Began to fight for altars and for lords ; 
Nile washes still the soil, and feels once more 
The works of wisdom press his peopled shore. 

In this mid site, this monumental clime, 
Rear'd by all realms to brave the wrecks of time 
A spacious dome swells up, commodious great, 
The last resort, the unchanging scene of state. 560 
On rocks of adamant the walls ascend, 
Tall columns heave and sky-like arches bend ; 
Bright o'er the golden roofs the glittering spires 
Far in the concave meet the solar fires ; 
Four blazing fronts, with gates unfolding high, 
Look with immortal splendor round the sky : 



BOOK THE TENTH. 339 

Hither the delegated sires ascend, 
And all the cares of every clime attend. 

As that blest band, the guardian guides of heaven, 
To whom the care of stars and suns is given, 670 
(When one great circuit shall have proved their 

spheres, 

And time well taught them how to wind their years) 
Shall meet in general council ; call'd to state 
The laws and labors that their charge await ; 
To learn, to teach, to settle how to hold 
Their course more glorious, as their lights unfold : 
From all the bounds of space (the mandate known) 
They wing their passage to the eternal throne ; 
Each thro his far dim sky illumes the road, 
And sails and centres tow'rd the mount of God; 580 
There, in mid universe, their seats to rear, 
Exchange their counsels and their works compare : 
So, from all tracts of earth, this gathering throng 
In ships and chariots shape their course along, 
Reach with unwonted speed the place assign'd 
To hear and give the counsels of mankind. 
South of the sacred mansion, first resort 
The assembled sites, and pass the spacious court. 

Z 2 



340 THE COLUMBIAD. 

Here in his porch earth's figured Genius stands, 
Truth's mighty mirror poizing in his hands ; 590 
Graved on the pedestal and chased in gold, 
Man's noblest arts their symbol forms unfold, 
His tillage and his trade; with all the store 
Of wondrous fabrics and of useful lore : 
Labors that fashion to his sovereign sway 
Earth's total powers, her soil and air and sea ; 
Force them to yield their fruits at his known call, 
And bear his mandates round the rolling ball. 
Beneath the footstool all destructive things, 
The mask of priesthood and the mace of kings, 600 
Lie trampled in the dust ; for here at last 
Fraud, folly, error all their emblems cast. 
Each envoy here unloads his wearied hand 
Of some old idol from his native land ; 
One flings a pagod on the mingled heap, 
One lays a crescent, one a cross to sleep ; 
Swords, sceptres, mitres, crowns and globes and stars, 
Codes of false fame and stimulants to wars 
Sink in the settling mass ; since guile began, 
These are the agents of the woes of man. 6lO 

Now the full concourse, where the arches bend, 
Pour thro by thousands and their seats ascend. 



BOOK THE TENTH. 341 

Far as the centred eye can range around, 
Or the deep trumpet's solemn voice resound, 
Long rows of reverend sires sublime extend, 
And cares of worlds on every brow suspend. 
High in the front, for soundest wisdom known, 
A sire elect in peerless grandeur shone ; 
He open'd calm the universal cause, 
To give each realm its limit and its laws, 620 

Bid the last breath of tired contention cease, 
And bind all regions in the leagues of peace ; 
Till one confederate, condependent sway 
Spread with the sun and bound the walks of day, 
One centred system, one all-ruling soul 
Live thro the parts and regulate the whole. 

Here then, said Hesper, with a blissful smile, 
Behold the fruits of thy long years of toil. 
To yon bright borders of Atlantic day 
Thy swelling pinions led the trackless way, 630 
And taught mankind such useful deeds to dare, 
To trace new seas and happy nations rear ; 
Till by fraternal hands their sails unfurl'd 
Have waved at last in union o'er the world. 

Then let thy steadfast soul no more complain 
Of dangers braved and griefs endured in vain, 



342 THE COLUMBIAN 

Of courts insidious, envy's poison' d stings, 
The loss of empire and the frown of kings ; 
While these broad views thy better thoughts compose 
To spurn the malice of insulting foes ; 640 

And all the joys descending ages gain, 
Repay thy labors and remove thy pain, 






THE 

COLUMBIAD. 

NOTES. 



Tho it would be more convenient to the reader to find some 
of these notes, especially the shorter ones, at the bottom of the 
pages to which they refer, yet most of them are of such a length 
as would render that mode of placing them disadvantageous to 
the symmetry of the pages and the general appearance of the 
work. It seemed necessary that these should be collected at 
the end of the Poem ; and it was thought proper that the others 
should not be separated from them. 

The notes will probably be found too voluminous for the taste 
of some readers ; but others would doubtless be better pleased 
to see them still augmented, as several of the philosophical sub 
jects and historical references are left unexplained. Were I to 
offer apologies in this case, I should hardly know on which side 
to begin. I will therefore only say that in this appendage, as 
in the body of the work, I have aimed, as well as I was able, 
at blending in due proportions the useful with the agreeable. 



THE 

COLUMBIAD. 



NOTES. 



No. 1. 

One gentle guardian once could shield the brave; 
But now that guardian slumlers in the grave. 

Book I. Line 105. 

1 HE death of queen Isabella, which happened before the last 
return of Columbus from America, was a subject of great sorrow 
to him. In her he lost his only powerful friend in Spain, on 
whose influence he was accustomed to rely in counteracting the 
perpetual intrigues of a host of enemies, whose rank and fortune 
gave them a high standing at the court of Valladolid. Their 
situation and connexions must have commanded a weight of au 
thority not easily resisted by an individual foreigner, however 
illustrious from his merit. 

It was a grievous reflection for Columbus that his services, 
tho great in themselves and unequalled in their consequences to 
the world, had been performed in an age and for a nation which 
knew not their value, as well as for an ungrateful monarch who 
chose to disregard them. 

No. % 

As, awed, to silence, savage lands gave place, 
And hail'd with joy the sun-descended race. 

Book I. Line 243. 

The original inhabitants of Hispaniola were worshippers of 
the sun. The Europeans, when they first landed there, were 



34(5 THE COLUMBIAN. 

lupposed by them to be gods, and consequently descended from 
the sun. See the subject of solar worship treated more at large 
in a subsequent note. 

No. 3. 

High lanterned in his heaven the cloudless White 
Heaves the glad sailor an eternal light ; 

Book I. Line 333. 

The White Mountain of Newhampshire, tho eighty miles 
from the sea, is the first land to be discovered in approaching 
that part of the coast of North America. It serves as a land, 
mark for a considerable length of coast, of difficult navigation. 

No. 4. 

Whirl 1 d from the monstrous Andes' lursting side$> 
Maragnon leads his congregating tides ; 

Book I. Line 365. 

This river, from different circumstances, has obtained several 
different names. It has been called Amazon, from an idea that 
some part of the neighboring country was inhabited by a race 
of warlike women, resembling what Herodotus relates of the 
Amazons of Scythia. It has been called Orellana, from its having 
been discovered by a Spanish officer of that name, who, on a 
certain expedition, deserted from the younger Pizarro on one 
of the sources of this river, and navigated it from thence to the 
ocean. Maragnon is the original name given it by the natives ; 
which name I choose to follow. 

If we estimate its magnitude by the length of its course and 
the quantity of water it throws into the sea, it is much the 
greatest river that has hitherto come to our knowledge. Its 
navigation is said by Condamine and others to be uninterrupted 
for four thousand miles from the sea. Its breadth, within the 
banks, is sixty geographical miles ; it receives in its course a 
variety of great rivers, besides those described in the text. Many 



NOTES. 347 

of these descend from elevated countries and mountains covered 
with snow, the melting of which annually swells the Maragnon 
above its banks ; when it overflows and fertilizes a vast extent 
of territory. 

No. 5. 

He saw XaraycCs diamond banks unfold t 
And Paraguay's deep channel paved with gold. 

Book I. Line 435. 

Some of the richest diamond mines are found on the banks of 
the lake Xaraya. The river Paraguay is remarkable for the 
quantities of gold dust found in its channel. The Rio de la 
Plata, properly so called, has its source in the mountains of 
Potosi ; and it was probably from this circumstance that it re 
ceived its name, which signifies River of Silver. This river, after 
having joined the Paraguay, which is larger than itself, retains 
its own name till it reaches the sea. Near the mouth, it is one 
hundred and fifty miles wide j but in other respects it is far in. 
ferior to the Maragnon. 

No. 6. 

Soon as the distant swell was seen to roll, 
His ancient wishes realsorUd his soul; 

Book I. Line 449. 

The great object of Columbus, in most of his voyages, was 
to discover a western passage to India. He navigated the Gulph 
of Mexico with particular attention to this object, and was much 
disappointed in not finding a pass into the South Sea. The view 
he is here supposed to have of that ocean would therefore na^ 
turally recal his former desire of sailing to India. 

No. 7. 

This idle frith must open soon to fame, 
Here a. lost Lusitanian jix his name, 

Book I. Line 401. 

The straits of Magellan, so called from having been discovered 



348 THE COLUMBIAD. 

by a Portuguese navigator of that name > who first attempted to 
sail round the world, and lost his life in the attempt. 

No. 8. 

Say, Palfrey, Irave good man, was this thy doom ? 
Dwells here the secret of thy midsea toml ? 

Book I. Line 627. 

Colonel Palfrey of Boston was an officer of distinction in the 
American army during the war of independence. Soon after the 
war he proposed to visit Europe, and embarked for England ; 
but never more was heard of. The ship probably perished in 
the ice. His daughter, here alluded to, is now the wife of WiL. 
liam Lee, American consul at Bordeaux. 

No. 9. 

The leasts all whitening roam the lifeless plain, 
And caves unfrequent scoop the couch for man. 

Book I. Line 753. 

The color of animals is acquired partly from the food they 
eat, thro successive generations, and partly from the objects 
with which they are usually surrounded. Dr. Darwin has a 
curious note on this subject, in which he remarks on the advan. 
tages that insects and other small animals derive from their color, 
as a means of rendering them invisible to their more powerful 
enemies ; who thus find it difficult to distinguish them from other 
objects where they reside. Some animals which inhabit cold 
countries turn white in winter, when the earth is covered with 
snow; such as the snowbird of the Alps. Others in snowy 
regions are habitually white; such as the white bear of Russia. 

No. 10. 

A different cast the gloiving %one demands, 

Jn Paria's llooms, from TomluCs burning sands. 

Book II. Line 97. 

Paria is a fertile country near the river Orinoco ; the only 



NOTES. 349 

part of the continent of America that Columbus had seen. 
Tombut, in the same latitude, is the most sterile part of Africa. 
America embraces a greater compass of latitude by many de 
grees than the other continent; and yet its inhabitants present 
a much less variety in their physical and moral character. When 
shall we be able to account for this fact ? 

No. 11. 

Yet when the hordes to happy nations rise, 
And earth ly culture warms the genial skies, 

Book II. Line 119. 

Without entering into any discussion on the theory of heat 
and cold (a point not yet settled in our academies) I would just 
observe, in vindication of the expression in the text, that some 
solid matter, such for instance as the surface of the earth, seems 
absolutely necessary to the production of heat. At least it must 
be a matter more compact than that of the sun's rays ; and per- 
haps its power of producing heat is in proportion to its solidity. 

The warmth communicated to the atmosphere is doubtless pro- 
duced by the combined causes of the earth and the sun ; but the 
agency of the former is probably more powerful in this opera, 
tion than that of the latter, and its presence more indispensable. 
For masses of matter will produce heat by' friction, without the 
aid of the sun ; but no experiment has yet proved that the rays 
of the sun are capable of producing heat without the aid of other 
and more solid matter. The air is temperate in those cavities of 
the earth where the sun is the most effectually excluded ; whereas 
the coldest regions yet known to us are the tops of the Andes, 
where the sun's rays have the most direct operation, being the 
most vertical and the least obstructed by vapors. Those regions 
are deprived of heat by being so far removed from the broad sur 
face of the earth ; a body that appears requisite to warm the 
surrounding atmosphere by its cooperation with the action of 
the sun. 



S60 THE COLUMBIAD. 

From these principles we may conclude that cultivation, in a 
woody country, tends to warm the atmosphere and ameliorate a 
cold climate ; as, by removing the forests and marshes, it opens 
the earth to the sun, and allows them to act in conjunction upon 
the air. 

According to the descriptions given of the middle parts of Eu* 
rope by Cesar and Tacitus, it appears that those countries were 
much colder in their days than they are at present ; cultivation 
seems to have softened that climate to a great degree. The same 
effect begins to be perceived in North America. Possibly it may 
in time become as apparent as the present difference in the tem 
perature of the two continents. 

No. 12. 

A ruddier hue and deeper shade shall gain, 
And stalk, in statelier Jigures, on the plain. 

Book II. Line 127. 

The complexion of the inhabitants of North America, who 
are descended from the English and Dutch, is evidently darker, 
and their stature taller, than those of the English and Dutch in 
Europe. 

No. 13. 

Like Memphian hieroglyphs, to stretch the span 
Of memory frail in momentary man. 

Book II. Line 287. 

We may reckon three stages of improvement in the graphic 
art, or the art of communicating our thoughts to absent persons 
and to posterity by visible signs. First, The invention of paint 
ing ideas, or representing actions, dates and other circumstances 
of historical fact, by the images of material things, drawn usually 
on a flat surface, or sometimes carved or moulded in a more 
solid form. This was the state at which the art had arrived in 
Egypt befoie the introduction of letters, and in Mexico before 



NOTES. 351 

the arrival of the Spaniards. The Greeks in Egypt called it 
hieroglyphic. 

Second, The invention of painting sounds, which we do by 
the use of letters, or the alphabet, and which we call writing. 
This was a vast improvement ; as it simplified in a wonderful 
degree the communication of thought. For ideas are infinite in 
number and variety ; while the simple sounds we use to convey 
them to the ear are few, distinct and easy to be understood. It 
would indeed be impossible to express all our ideas by distinct 
and visible images. And even if the writer were able to do this, 
not many readers could be made to understand him ; since it 
would be necessary that every new idea should have a new image 
invented and agreed upon between the writer and the reader, be 
fore it could be used. Which preliminary could not be settled 
without the writer should see and converse with the reader. And 
he might as well, in this case, convey his ideas by oral speech ; 
so that his writing could be of little use beyond a certain routine 
of established signs. 

The number of simple sounds in human language, used in dis 
course, is not above eighteen or twenty,- and these are so varied 
in the succession in which they are uttered, as to express an 
inconceivable and endless variety of thought and sentiment. 
Then, by the help of an alphabet of about twenty.six letters 
or visible signs, these sounds are translated from the ear to the 
eye ; and we are able, by thus painting the sound, to arrest its 
fleeting nature, render it permanent, and talk with distant na 
tions and future ages, without any previous convention what, 
ever, even supposing them to be ignorant of the language in 
which we write. This is the present state of the art, as com. 
monly practised in all the countries where an alphabet is used. 
It is called the art of writing ; and to understand it is called 
reading. 

Third, Another invention, which is still in its infancy, is the 
art of painting phrases, or sentences ; commonly called short 
hand writing. This is yet but little used, and only by a few 



352 THE COLUMBIAD. 

dexterous persons, who make it a particular study. Probably 
the true principles on which it ought to be founded are yet to be 
discovered. But it may be presumed, that in this part of the 
graphic art there remains to the ingenuity of future generations 
a course of improvements totally inconceivable to the present ; 
by which the whole train of impressions now made upon the 
mind by reading a long and well written treatise may be con. 
Teyed by a few strokes of the pen, and be received at a glance 
of the eye. This desideratum would be an abridgment of labor 
in our mental acquisitions, of which we cannot determine the 
consequences. It might make, in the progress of human know 
ledge, an epoch as remarkable as that which was made by the 
invention of alphabetical writing, and produce as great a change 
in the mode of transmitting the history of events. 

One consequence of the invention of alphabetical writing seems 
to have been to throw into oblivion all previous historical facts ; 
and it has thus left an immense void, which the imagination 
knows not how to fill, in contemplating the progress of our 
race. How many important discoveries, which still remain to 
our use, must have taken their origin in that space of time which 
is thus left a void to us ! A vast succession of ages, and ages of 
improvement, must have preceded (for example) the invention 
of the wheel. The wheel must have been in common use, we 
know not how long, before alphabetical writing; because we 
find its image employed in painting ideas, during the first stage 
of the graphic art above described. The wheel was likewise in. 
use before the mysteries of Ceres or those of Isis were established ; 
as is evident from, its being imagined as an instrument of punish 
ment in hell, in the case of Ixion, as represented in those my 
steries. The taming of the ox and the horse, the use of the sickle 
and the bow and arrow, a considerable knowledge of astronomy, 
and its application to the purposes of agriculture and navigation., 
with many other circumstances, which show a prodigious im 
provement, must evidently have preceded the date of the zodiac ; 
a date fixed by Dupuis, with a great degree of probability, at 



NOTES. 353 

about seventeen thousand years from our time. This epoch 
would doubtless carry us back many thousand years beyond that 
of the alphabet ; the invention of which was sufficient of itself to 
obliterate the details of previous history, as the event has proved. 

How far the loss of these historical details is to be regretted, 
as an impediment to our progress in useful knowledge, I will not 
decide; but in one view, which I am going to state, it may 
be justly considered as a misfortune. 

The art of painting ideas, being arrested in the state in which 
the use of the alphabet found it, went into general disuse for 
common purposes ; and the works then extant, as well as the 
knowledge of writing in that mode, being no longer intelligible 
to the people, became objects of deep and laborious study, and 
known only to the learned ; that is, to the men of leisure and 
contemplation. These men consequently ran it into mystery ; 
making it a holy object, above the reach of vulgar inquiry. On 
this ground they established, in the course of ages, a profitable 
function or profession, in the practice of which a certain portion 
of men of the brightest talents could make a reputable living ; 
taking care not to initiate more than a limited number of pro- 
fessors; no more than the people could maintain as priests. 
This mode of writing then assumed the name of hieroglyphic, 
or sacred painting, to distinguish it from that which had now 
become the vulgar mode of writing, by the use of the alphabet. 
This is perhaps the source of that ancient, vast and variegated 
system of false religion, with all its host of errors and miseries, 
which has so long and so grievously weighed upon the character 
of human nature. 

In noticing the distinction of the three stages in the graphic 
art above described, I have not mentioned the wonderful powers 
we derive from it in the language of the mathematics and the 
language of music. In each of these, though its effects are al 
ready astonishing, there is no doubt but great improvements are 
still to be made. Our present mode of writing in these, as in 
literature, belongs to the second or alphabetical stage of the gra 
phic art. The ten ciphers, and the other signs used in the ma- 

2 A 



254 THE COLUMBIAD. 

thcmatical sciences, form the alphabet in which the language of 
those sciences is written. The few musical notes, and the other 
signs which accompany them, furnish an alphabet for writing 
the language of music. 

The mode of writing in China is still different from any of 
those I have mentioned. The Chinese neither paint ideas nor 
sounds ; but they make a character for every word ; which cha 
racter must vary according to the different inflections and uses 
of that word. The characters must therefore be insnpportably 
numerous, and be still increasing as the language is enriched 
with new words by the augmentation and correction of ideas. 

The English language is supposed to contain about twelve 
thousand distinct words, and the Italian about seventeen thou 
sand, in the present state of our sciences. I know not how 
many the Chinese may contain ; but if we were to write our 
languages in the Chinese method, it would be the business of a 
whole life for a man to learn his mother tongue, so as to read 
and write it for his ordinary purposes. 

As the Chinese have not adopted an alphabet, but have ad- 
hered to an invariable state of the graphic art, which is probably 
more ancient by several thousand years than our present method, 
may we not venture to conjecture that the traces of their very 
ancient history have been, for that reason, better preserved ? and 
that their pretensions to a very high antiquity, which we have been 
used to think extravagant and ridiculous, are really not without 
foundation ? If so, we might then allow a little more latitude to 
ourselves, and conclude that we are in fact as old as they, and 
might have been as sensible of it, if we had adhered to our ancient 
method of writing ; and not changed it for a new one nhich, while 
it has facilitated the progress of our science, has humbled our 
pride of antiquity, by obliterating the dates of those labors and 
improvements of our early progenitors, to which we are indebted 
for more of the rudiments of our sciences and our arts than we 
usually imagine. 

It is much to be regretted, that the Spanish devastation in 
Mexico and Peru was so universal as to leave us but few monu- 



NOTES. 355 

merits of the history of the human mind in those countries, which 
presented a state of manners so remarkably different from what 
can be found in any other part of the world. The pictorial 
Writing of the Mexicans, tho sometimes called hieroglyphic, does 
not appear to merit that name, as it was not exclusively appro- 
priated by the priests to sacred purposes. Indeed it could not 
be so appropriated till a more convenient method could be dis 
covered and adopted for common purposes. For a thing cannot 
become sacred, in this sense of the word, until it ceases to be 
common. 

No. 14. 

No Bovadilla seize the tempting spoil, 
No dark Ovando, no religious Boyle, 

Book II. Line 303. 

Bovadilla and Ovando are mentioned in the Introduction as 
the enemies and successors of Columbus in the government of 
Hispaniola. They began that system of cruelty towards the 
natives which in a few years almost depopulated that island, and 
was afterwards pursued by Cortez, Pizarro and others, in ail 
the first settlements in Spanish America. 

Boyle was a fanatical priest who accompanied Ovando, and, 
under pretence of christianizing the natives by the sword, gave 
the sanction of the church to the most shocking and extensive 
scenes of slaughter. 

No. 15. 

He gains the shore. Behold his fortress rise. 
His fleet high flaming suffocates the skies. 

Book II. Line 329. 

The conduct of Cortez, when he first landed on the coast of 
Mexico, was as remarkable for that hardy spirit of adventure, 
to which success gives the name of policy, as his subsequent ope 
rations were for cruelty and perfidy. As soon as his army was 
oo shore ; he dismantled his fleet of such articles as would be 

2 A 2 



356 THE COLUMBIAD. 

useful in building a new one ; he then set fire to his ships, and 
burnt them in presence of his men ; that they might fight their 
battles with more desperate courage, knowing that it would be 
impossible to save themselves from a victorious enemy by flight. 
He constructed a fort, in which the iron and the rigging were 
preserved. 

No. 16. 

With cheerful rites their pure devotions pay 
To the bright orb that gives the changing day. 

Book II. Line 421. 

It is worthy of remark, that the countries where the worship 
of the sun has made the greatest figure are Egypt and Peru ; the 
two regions of the earth the most habitually deprived of rain, 
and probably of clouds, which in other countries so frequently 
obstruct his rays and seem to dispute his influence. Tho in the 
rude ages of society it is certainly natural in all countries to pay, 
adoration to the sun, as one of the visible agents of those changes 
in the atmosphere which most affect the people's happiness, yet 
it is reasonable to suppose that this adoration would be more 
unmixed, and consequently more durable, in climates where the 
agency of the sun appears unrivalled and supreme. 

On the supposition that Greece and Western Asia, regions 
whose early traditions are best known to us, derived their first 
theological ideas from Egypt, it is curious to observe how the 
pure heliosebia of Egypt degenerated in those climates in pro- 
portion as other visible agents seemed to exert their influence in 
human affairs. Greece is a mountainous country, subject to a 
great deal of lightning and other meteors, whose effects are tre 
mendous and make stronger impressions on rude savages than 
the gentle energies of the sun. 

The Greeks therefore, having forgotten the source of their 
religious system, ceased to consider the sun as their supreme 
god ; his agency being, in their opinion, subject to a more po 
tent divinity, the Power of the air or Jupiter, whom they styled 



NOTES. 357 

the Thunderer. So that Apollo, the god of light, became, in 
their mythology, the subject and offspring of the supreme god 
of the atmosphere. This religion became extremely confused 
and complicated with new fables, according to the temperature 
and other accidents of the different climates thro which it passed. 
The god of thunder obtained the supreme veneration generally 
in Europe ; known in the south by the name of Jupiter or Zeus, 
and in the north by that of Thor. 

Europe in general has an uneven surface and a vapory sky, 
liable to great concussions in the lower regions of the atmo 
sphere which border the habitation of man. There is no wonder 
that in such a region the god of the air should appear more 
powerful than the god of light. This disposition of the elements 
has given a gloomy cast to the mind, and in the north more than, 
in the south. The Thor of the Celtic nations was more tre 
mendous, more feared and less beloved, than the Jupiter of the 
Greeks and Romans ; he was worshipped accordingly with more 
bloody sacrifices. But in all Europe, Western Asia and the 
northwestern coast of Africa, where the earth is uneven and the 
climate variable, their religion was more gloomy and their gods 
more ferocious than among the ancient Egyptians. 
' A like difference is observed in the religions of the two coun 
tries in America where civilization was most advanced before the 
arrival of the Spaniards. Peru enjoyed a climate of great se 
renity and regularity. Of all the sensible agents that operated 
on the earth and air, the sun was apparently the most uniform, 
and energetic. The worship of the sun was therefore the most 
predominant and durable ; and it inspired a mildness of manners 
analogous to his mild and beneficent influence. In Mexico and 
other uneven countries, where storms and earthquakes were fre 
quent, the sun, altho he was reckoned among their deities, was 
not considered so powerful as those of a more boisterous and 
maleficent nature. The Mexican worship was therefore addressed 
chiefly to ferocious beings, enemies to human happiness, who de 
lighted in the tears and blood of their votaries. The difference ia 



358 THE COLUMBIAD. 

the moral cast of religion in Peru and Mexico, as well as in Egypt 
and Greece, must have been greatly owing to climate. Indeed 
in what else should it be found? since the origin of religious 
ideas must have been in the energies of those visible agents which 
form the distinctive character of climates. 

No. 17. 

Long is the tale ; lut tho their lalors rest 
By years obscured, in flowery Jiction drest, 

Book II. Line 455. 

The traditions respecting these founders of the Peruvian em 
pire are indeed obscure ; but they excite in us the same sort of 
veneration that we feel for the most amiable and distinguished 
characters of remote antiquity. The honest zeal of Garcilasso 
de la Vega in collecting these traditions into one body of his 
tory, as a probable series of facts, is to be applauded ; since he 
has there presented us with one of the most striking examples of 
the lean Ideal in political character, that can be found in the 
whole range of literature. He treats his subject with more na 
tural simplicity, tho with less talent, than Plutarch or Xeno- 
phon, when they undertake a similar task, that of drawing tra 
ditional characters to fill up the middle space between fable and 
history. 

With regard to the true position that the portrait of Manco 
Capac ought to hold in this middle space, how near it should 
stand to history and how near to fable, we should find it difficult 
to say, and perhaps useless to inquire. Plutarch has gravely 
given us the lives and actions of several heroes who are evidently 
more fabulous than Capac, and of others who should be placed 
on the same line with him. The existence of Theseus, Romulus 
and Numa is more doubtful and their actions less probable than 
his. The character of Capac, in regard to its reality, stands on 
a parallel with that of the Lycurgus of Plutarch and the Cyrus 
of Xenophon ; not purely historical nor purely fabulous, but 
presented to us as a compendium of those talents and labors which 



NOTES. 350 

might possibly be crowded into the capacity of one mind, and 
be achieved in one life, but which more probably belong to se 
veral generations; the talents and labors that could reduce a 
great number of ferocious tribes into one peaceable and indus* 
trious state. 

Garcilasso was himself an Inca by maternal descent, born and 
educated at Cusco after the Spanish conquest. He writes appa 
rently with the most scrupulous regard to truth, with little judg 
ment and no ornament. He discovers a credulous zeal to throw 1 
a lustre on his remote ancestor Manco Capac, not by inventing 
new incidents, but by collecting with great industry all that hadf 
been recorded in the annals of the family. And their manner of 
recording events, tho not so perfect as that of writing, was not 
so liable to error as traditions merely oral, like those of the 
Caledonian and other Celtic bards, with respect to the ancient 
heroes of their countries. 

His account states, that about four centuries previous to the 
discovery of that country by the Spaniards, the natives of Peru 
\rere as rude savages as any in America. They had no fixed ha 
bitations, no ideas of permanent property ; they wandered naked 
like the beasts, and like them depended on the events of each 
day for a subsistence. At this period Manco Capac and his 
wife Mama Oella appeared on a small island in the lake Titiaca, 
near which the city of Cusco was afterwards built. These per 
sons, to establish a belief of their divinity in the minds of the 
people, were clothed in white garments of cotton, and declared 
themselves descended from the sun, who was their father and the 
god of that country. They affirmed that he was offended at 
their cruel and perpetual wars, their barbarous modes of wor 
ship, and their neglecting to make the best use of the blessings 
he was constantly bestowing, in fertilizing the earth and pro 
ducing vegetation ; that he pitied their wretched state, and had 
sent his own children to instruct them and to establish a number 
of wise regulations, by which they might be rendered happy. 

By some uncommon method of persuasion, these persons dretf 



360 THE COLUMBIAD. 

together a few of the savage tribes, laid the foundation of the 
city of Cusco, and established what is called the kingdom of the 
Sun, or the Peruvian empire. In the reign of Manco Capac, 
the dominion was extended about eight leagues from the city ; 
and at the end of four centuries it was established fifteen hun 
dred miles on the coast of the Pacific ocean, and from that ocean 
to the Andes. During this period, thro a succession of twelve 
inonarchs, the original constitution, established by the first Inca, 
remained unaltered; and this constitution, with the empire it 
self, was at last overturned by an accident which no human wis 
dom could foresee or prevent. 

For a more particular detail of the character and institutions 
of this extraordinary personage the reader is referred to a subse 
quent note, in which he will find a dissertation on that subject. 

In the passage preceding this reference, I have alluded to the 
fabulous traditions relating to these children of the sun. In the 
remainder of the second and thro the whole of the third book, 
I have given what may be supposed a probable narrative of their 
real origin and actions. The space allowed to this episode may 
appear too considerable in a poem whose principal object is so 
different. But it may be useful to exhibit in action the manners 
and sentiments of savage tribes, whose aliment is war; that the 
contrast may show more forcibly the advantages of civilized life., 
whose aliment is peace. 

No. 18. 

Long roles of white iny shoulders must emlrace, 
To speak my lineage of ethereal race; 

Book II. Line 553. 

As the art of spinning is said to have been invented by Oella, 
it is no improbable fiction to imagine that they first assumed 
these white garments of cotton as an emblem of the sun, in order 
to inspire that reverence for their persons which was necessary 
to their success. Such a dress may likewise be supposed to have 
continued in the family as a badge of royalty. 



NOTES, 361 

No. 19. 

DISSERTATION ON THE INSTITUTIONS OF MANCO CAPAC. 

For the end of Book II. 

Altho the original inhabitants of America in general deserve 
to be classed among the most unimproved savages that had been, 
discovered before those of New Holland, yet the Mexican and 
Peruvian governments exhibited remarkable exceptions, and 
seemed to be fast approaching to a state of civilization. In the 
difference of national character between the people of these two 
empires we may discern the influence of political systems on the 
human mind, and infer the importance of the task which a le 
gislator undertakes, in attempting to reduce a barbarous people 
under the control of government and laws. 

The Mexican constitution was formed to render its subjects 
brave and powerful ; but, while it succeeded in this object, it 
kept them far removed from the real blessings of society. Ac 
cording to the Spanish accounts (which for an obvious reason 
may however be suspected of exaggeration) the manners of the 
Mexicans were uncommonly ferocious, and their religion gloomy, 
sanguinary, and unrelenting. But the establishments of Manco 
Capac, if we may follow Garcilasso in attributing the whole of 
the Peruvian constitution to that wonderful personage, present 
the aspect of a most benevolent and pacific system ; they tended 
to humanize the world and render his people happy; while his 
ideas of deity were so elevated as to bear a comparison with the 
sublime doctrines of Socrates or Plato. 

The characters, whether real or fabulous, who are the most 
distinguished as lawgivers among barbarous nations, are Moses, 
Lycurgus, Solon, Numa, Mahomet, and Peter of Russia. Of 
these, only the two former and the two latter appear really to 
deserve the character of lawgivers. Solon and Numa possessed 
not the opportunity of showing their talents in the work of ori 
ginal legislation. Athens and Rome were considerably civilized 
before these persons arose. The most they could do was to cor- 



352 THE COLUMBIAD. 

rect and amend constitutions already formed. Solon may be 
considered as a wise politician, but by no means as the founder 
of a nation. The Athenians were too far advanced in society to 
admit any radical change in their form of government ; unless 
recourse could have been had to the representative system, by 
establishing an equality of rank, and instructing all the people 
in their duties and their rights ; a system which was never un. 
derstood by any ancient legislator. 

The institutions of Numa (if such a person as Numa really 
existed) were more effective and durable. His religious cere- 
monies were, for many ages, the most powerful check on the 
licentious and turbulent Romans, the greater part of whom were 
ignorant slaves. By inculcating a remarkable reverence for the 
gods, and making it necessary to consult the auspices when any 
thing important was to be transacted, his object was to render 
the popular superstition subservient to the views of policy, and 
thus to give the senate a steady check upon the plebeians. But 
the constitutions of Rome and Athens, notwithstanding the abun 
dant applause that has been bestowed upon them, were never 
fixed on any permanent principles ; tho the wisdom of some of 
their rulers, and the spirit of liberty that inspired the citizens, 
may justly demand our admiration. 

Each of the other legislators above mentioned deserves a par. 
ticular consideration, as having acted in stations somewhat si 
milar to that of the Peruvian patriarch. Three objects are to 
be attended to by the legislator of a barbarous people : First, 
That his system be such as is capable of reducing the greatest 
number of men under one jurisdiction : Second, That it apply 
to such principles in human nature for its support as are uni- 
yersa! and permanent, in order to insure the duration of the go- 
Ternment: Third, That it admit of improvements correspondent 
to any advancement in knowledge or variation of circumstances 
that may happen to its subjects, without endangering the prin 
ciple of government by such innovations. So far as the systems 
of such legislators agree with these fundamental principles, they 



NOTES. 36S 

are worthy of respect ; and so far as they deviate, they may be 
considered as defective. 

To begin with Moses and Lycurgus : It is proper to observe 
that, in order to judge of the merit of any institutions, we must 
take into view the peculiar character of the people for whom they 
were framed. For want of this attention, many of the laws of 
Mqses and some of those of Lycurgus have been ridiculed and 
censured. The Jews, when led by Moses out of Egypt, were 
not only uncivilized, but having just risen to independence from 
a state of servitude they united the manners of servants and sa. 
vages ; and their national character was a compound of servility, 
ignorance, filthiness and cruelty. Of their cruelty as a people 
we need no other proof than the account of their avengers of 
blood, and the readiness with which the whole congregation 
turned executioners, and stoned to death the devoted offenders. 
The leprosy, a disease now scarcely known, was undoubtedly- 
produced by a want of cleanliness continued for successive ge 
nerations. In this view, their frequent ablutions, their peculiar 
modes of trial and several other institutions, may be vindicated 
from ridicule and proved to be wise regulations. 

The Spartan lawgiver has been censured for the toleration of 
theft and adultery. Among that race of barbarians these habita 
were too general to admit of total prevention or universal pu 
nishment. By vesting all property in the commonwealth, in. 
stead of encouraging theft, he removed the possibility of the 
crime; and, in a nation where licentiousness was generally in. 
dulged, it was a great step towards introducing a purity of man. 
ners, to punish adultery io all cases wherein it was committed 
without the consent of all parties interested in its consequences. 

Until the institution of representative republics, which are of 
recent date> it was found that those constitutions of government 
were best calculated for immediate energy and duration, which 
were interwoven with some religious system. The legislator 
who appears in the character of an inspired person renders his 
political institutions sacred, and interests the conscience as 



364 THE COLUMBIAD. 

as the judgment in their support. The Jewish lawgiver had thii 
advantage over the Spartan : he appeared not in the character of 
a mere earthly governor, but as an interpreter of the divine 
will. Bj enjoining a religious observance of certain rites he 
formed his people to habitual obedience; by directing their 
cruelty against the breakers of the laws he at least mitigated the 
rancor of private hatred ; by directing that real property should 
return to the original families in the year of Jubilee he prevented 
too great an equality of wealth ; and by selecting a single tribe 
to be the interpreters of religion he prevented its mysteries from 
being the subject of profane and vulgar investigation. With a 
view of securing the permanence of his institutions, he prohi 
bited intercourse with foreigners by severe restrictions, and 
formed his people to habits and a character disagreeable to other 
nations ; so that any foreign intercourse was prevented by the 
mutual hatred of both parties. 

To these institutions the laws of Lycurgus bear a striking re- 
semblance. The features of his constitution were severe and for 
bidding ; it was however calculated to inspire the most enthu 
siastic love of liberty and martial honor. In no country was 
the patriotic passion more energetic than in Sparta ; no laws 
ever excluded the idea of separate property in an equal degree, 
or inspired a greater contempt for the manners of other nations. 
The prohibition of money, commerce and almost every thing de 
sirable to effeminate nations, excluded foreigners from Spartaj and 
while it inspired the people with contempt for strangers it made 
them agreeable to each other. By these means Lycurgus rendered 
the nation warlike ; and to insure the duration of the govern 
ment he endeavored to interest the consciences of his people by 
the aid of oracles, and by the oath he is said to have exacted from 
them to obey his laws till his return, when he went into per 
petual exile. 

From this view of the Jewish and Spartan institutions, applied 
to the principles Before stated, they appear in the>two first ar. 
tides considerably imperfect, and in the last totally defective. 



NOTES. 36S 

Neither of them was calculated to bring any considerable terri 
tory or number of men under one jurisdiction : from this cir 
cumstance alone they could not be rendered permanent, as na 
tions so restricted in their means of extension must be constantly 
exposed to their more powerful neighbors. But the third object 
of legislation, that of providing for the future progress of so 
ciety, which as it regards the happiness of mankind is the most 
important of the three, was in both instances entirely neglected. 
These symptoms appear to have been formed with an express 
design to prevent future improvement in knowledge or enlarge 
ment of the human mind, and to fix those nations in a state of 
ignorance and barbarism. To vindicate their authors from an 
imputation of weakness or inattention in this particular, it may 
be urged that they were each of them surrounded by nations 
more powerful than their own ; it was therefore perhaps impos 
sible for them to commence an establishment upon any other 
plan. 

The institutions of Mahomet are next to be considered. The 
first object of legislation appears to have been better understood 
by him than by either of the preceding sages; his jurisdiction 
was capable of being enlarged to any extent of territory, and 
governing any number of nations that might be subjugated by 
his enthusiastic armies ; and his system of religion was admirably 
calculated to attain this object. Like Moses, he convinced his 
people that he acted as the vicegerent of God ; but with this 
advantage, adapting his religion to the natural feelings and pro 
pensities of mankind, he multiplied his followers by the allure 
ments of pleasure and the promise of a sensual paradise. These 
circumstances were likewise sure to render his constitution dura 
ble. His religious system was so easy to be understood, so splendid 
and so inviting, there could be no danger that the people would 
lose sight of its principles, and no necessity of future prophets 
to explain its doctrines or reform the nation. To these advan 
tages if we add the exact and rigid military discipline, the splen 
dor and sacredness of the monarch, and that total ignorance 



3<56 THE COLUMBIAD, 

among the people which such a system will produce and per 
petuate, the establishment must have been evidently calculated 
for a considerable extent and duration. But the last and most 
important end of government, that of mental improvement and 
social happiness, was deplorably lost in the institution. There 
was probably more learning and cultivated genius in Arabia, in 
the days of this extraordinary man, than can now be found in all 
the Mahometan dominions. 

On the contrary, the enterprising mind of the Russian mo. 
narch appears to have been wholly bent on the arts of civiliza. 
tion and the improvement of society among his subjects. Esta 
blished in a legal title to a throne which already commanded a 
prodigious extent of country, he found the first object of go. 
vernment already secured; and by applying himself with great 
sagacity to the third object, that of improving his people, it was 
reasonable to suppose that the second, the durability of his sy 
stem, would become a necessary consequence. He effected his 
purposes, important as they were, merely by the introduction of 
the arts and the encouragement of politer manners. The great 
ness of his character appears not so much in his institutions, 
which he copied from other nations, as in the extraordinary 
measures he followed to introduce them, the judgment he showed 
in selecting and adapting them to the genius of his subjects, and 
the surprising assiduity by which he raised a savage people to 
an elevated rank among European nations. 

To the nature and operation of the several forms of govern, 
ment above mentioned I will compare that of the Peruvian law 
giver. I have observed in a preceding note that the knowledge 
we have of Manco Capac is necessarily imperfect and obscure, 
derived thro traditions and family registers (without the aid of 
writing) for four hundred years ; from the time he is supposed 
to have Jived, till that of his historian and descendant, Inca Gar. 
cilasso de la Vega. About an equal interval elapsed from the 
supposed epoch of the first kings of Rome to that of their first 
historians j a longer space from Lycurgus to Herodotus j pro 



NOTE S. QQ7 

bably not a shorter one from the time of the great Cyrus to that 
of Xenophon, author of the elegant romance on the actions of 
that hero. 

I recal the reader's attention to these comparisons, not with 
a view of contending that our accounts of the actions ascribed 
to Capac are derived from authentic records, and that he is a 
subject of real history, like Mahomet or Peter ; but to show 
that, our channels of information with regard to him being equally 
respectable with those that have brought us acquainted with the 
classical and venerable names of Lycurgus, Romulus, Numa and 
Cyrus, we may be as correct in our reasonings from the modern 
as from the ancient source of reference, and fancy ourselves 
treading a ground as sacred on the tomb of the western patriarch, 
as on those more frequented and less scrutinized in the east, con. 
secrated to the demigods of Sparta, Rome and Persia. 

It is probable that the savages of Peru before the time of 
Capac, among other objects of adoration, paid homage to the 
sun. By availing himself of this popular sentiment he appeared, 
like Moses and Mahomet, in the character of a divine legislator 
endowed with supernatural powers. After impressing these ideas 
on the minds of the people, drawing together a number of the 
tribes and rendering them subservient to his benevolent purposes, 
he applied himself to forming the outlines of a plan of policy 
capable of founding and regulating an extensive empire, wisely 
calculated for long duration, and well adapted to improve the 
knowledge, peace and happiness of a considerable portion of 
mankind. In the allotment of the lands as private property he 
invented a mode somewhat resembling the feudal system of Eu 
rope: yet this system was checked in its operation by a law 
similar to that of Moses which regulated landed possessions in 
the year of Jubilee. He divided the lands into three parts ; the 
first was consecrated to the uses of religion, as it was from the 
sacerdotal part of his system that he doubtless expected its most 
powerful support. The second portion was set apart for the 
Inca and his family, to enabk) him to defray the expenses of 



368 THE 

government and appear in the style of a monarch. The third 
and largest portion was allotted to the people ; which allotment 
was repeated every year, and varied according to the number 
and exigences of each family. 

As the Incan race appeared in the character of divinities, it 
seemed necessary that a subordination of rank should be esta 
blished, to render the distinction between the monarch and his 
people more perceptible. With this view he created a band of 
nobles, who were distinguished by personal and hereditary ho 
nors. These were united to the monarch by the strongest ties 
of interest; in peace they acted as judges and superintended the 
police of the empire ; in war they commanded in the armies. 
The next order of men were the respectable landholders and cul 
tivators, who composed the principal strength of the nation. 
Below these was a class of men who were the servants of the 
public and cultivated the public lands. They possessed no pro 
perty, and their security depended on their regular industry and 
peaceable demeanor. Above all these orders were the Inca and 
his family. He possessed absolute and uncontrolable power; 
his mandates were regarded as the word of heaven, and the 
double guilt of impiety and rebellion attended on disobedience. 

To impress the utmost veneration for the Incan family, it was 
a fundamental principle that the royal blood should never be 
contaminated by any foreign alliance. The mysteries of religion 
were preserved sacred by the high priest of the royal family 
under the control of the king, and celebrated with rites capable 
of making the deepest impression on the multitude. The annual 
distribution of the lands, while it provided for the varying cir 
cumstances of each family, was designed to strengthen the bands 
of society by perpetuating that distinction of rank among the 
orders which is supposed necessary to a monarchical govern 
ment; the peasants could not vie with their superiors, and the 
nobles could not be subjected by misfortune to a subordinate 
station. A constant habit of industry was inculcated upon all 
ranks by the force of example. The cultivation of the soil, 



NOTES. 369 

which in most other countries is considered as one of the lowest 
employments, was here regarded as a divine art. Having had 
no knowledge of it before, and being taught it by the children 
of their god, the people viewed it as a sacred privilege, a na 
tional honor, to assist the sun in opening the bosom of the earth 
to produce vegetation. That the government might be able to 
exercise the endearing acts of beneficence, the produce of the 
public lands was reserved in magazines, to supply the wants of 
the unfortunate and as a resource in case of scarcity or invasion. 

These are the outlines of a government the most simple and 
energetic, and at least as capable as any monarchy within our 
knowledge of reducing great and populous countries under one 
jurisdiction; at the same time, accommodating its principle of 
action to every stage of improvement, by a singular and happy 
application to the passions of the human mind, it encouraged 
the advancement of knowledge without being endangered by 
success. 

In the traits of character which distinguish this institution we 
may discern all the great principles of each of the legislators 
above mentioned. The pretensions of Capac to divine authority 
were as artfully contrived and as effectual in their consequences 
as those of Mahomet ; his exploding the worship of evil beings 
and objects of terror, forbidding human sacrifices and accom 
modating the rites of worship to a god of justice and benevo 
lence, produced a greater change in the national character of his 
people than the laws of Moses did in his ; like Peter he pro 
vided for the future improvement of society, while his actions 
were never measured on the contracted scale which limited the 
genius of Lycurgus. 

Thus far we find that altho the political system of Capac did 
not embrace that extensive scope of human nature which is ne 
cessary in forming republican institutions, and which can be 
diawn only from long and well recorded experience of the pas 
sions and tendencies of social man, yet it must be pronounced 
at least equal to those of the most celebrated monarchical law- 

2 B 



S70 THE COLUMBIAD. 

givers, whether ancient or modern. But in some things his mind 
seems to have attained an elevation with which few of theirs will 
bear a comparison ; I mean in his religious institutions, and the 
exalted ideas he had formed of the agency and attributes of su 
pernatural beings. 

From what source he could have drawn these ideas it is dif 
ficult to form a satisfactory conjecture. The worship of the sun 
is so natural to an early state of society, in a mild climate with 
a clear atmosphere, that it may be as reasonable to suppose it 
would originate in Peru as in Egypt or Persia; where we find 
that a similar worship did originate and was wrought into a 
splendid system ; whence it was probably extended, with various 
modifications, over most of the ancient world. 

Or if we reject this theory, and suppose that only one nation, 
from some circumstance peculiar to itself, could create the ma 
terials of such a system, and has consequently had the privilege 
of giving its religion to the human race ; we may in this case 
imagine that the Phenicians (who colonized Cadiz and other 
places in the west of Europe, at the time when they possessed 
the solar worship in all its glory) must have had a vessel driven 
across the Atlantic ; and thus conveyed a stock of inhabitants, 
with their own religious ideas, to the western continent. 

The first theory is doubtless the most plausible. And the mild 
regions of Pern, for the reasons mentioned in a former note, be 
came, like Egypt, the seat of an institution so congenial to its 
climate. But in more boisterous climates, where storms and 
other violent agents prevail, many different fables have wrought 
themselves into the system, as remarked in the same note; and 
the solar religion in such countries has generally lost its name 
and the more beneficent parts of its influence. Being thus cor 
rupted, religion in almost every part of the earth assumed a 
gloomy and sanguinary character. 

Savage nations create their gods from such materials as they 
have at hand, the most striking to their senses. And these are 
in general an assemblage of destructive attributes. They usually 



NOTES. 371 

form no idea of a general superintending providence ; they con. 
sider not their god as the author of their beings, the creator of 
the world and the dispenser of the happiness they enjoy ; they 
discern him not in the usual course of nature, in the sunshine 
and in the shower, the productions of the earth and the bless 
ing of society ; they find a deity only in the storm, the earth 
quake and the whirlwind, or ascribe to him the evils of pesti 
lence and famine; they consider him as interposing in wrath to 
change the course of nature and exercise the attributes of rage 
and revenge. They adore him with rites suited to these attri 
butes, with horror, with penance and with sacrifice ; they ima 
gine him pleased with the severity of their mortifications, with 
the oblations of blood and the cries of human victims ; and they 
hope to compound for greater judgments by voluntary suffer 
ings and horrid sacrifices, suited to the relish of his taste. 

Perhaps no single criterion can be given which will determine 
more accurately the state of society in any age or nation than, 
their general ideas concerning the nature and attributes of deity. 
In the most enlightened periods of antiquity, only a few of their 
philosophers, a Socrates, Tully or Confucius, ever formed a ra. 
tional idea on the subject, or described a god of purity, justice 
and benevolence. But Capac, erecting his institutions in a coun 
try where the visible agents of nature inspired more satisfactory 
feelings, adopted a milder system. As the sun, with its undis 
turbed influence, seemed to point itself out as the supreme con 
troller and vital principle of nature, he formed the idea, as the 
Egyptians had done before, of constituting that luminary the 
chief object of adoration. He taught the nation to consider the 
sun as the parent of the universe, the god of order and regularity ; 
ascribing to his influence the rotation of the seasons, the pro 
ductions of the earth and the blessings of health ; especially at 
tributing to his inspiration the wisdom of their laws, and that 
happy constitution which was the delight and veneration of the 
people, 

A system so just and benevolent, as might be expected, was 
2 B 2 



372 THE COLUMBIAD. 

attended with success. In about four centuries the dominion 
of the Incas had extended fifteen hundred miles in length, and 
had introduced peace and prosperity thro the whole region. The 
arts of society had been carried to a considerable degree of im 
provement, and the authority of the Incan race universally ac 
knowledged, when an event happened which disturbed the tran 
quillity of the empire. Huana Capac, the twelfth monarch, had 
reduced the powerful kingdom of Quito and annexed it to his 
dominions. To conciliate the affections of his new subjects, he 
married a daughter of the ancient king of Quito, who was not 
of the race of Incas. Thus, by violating a fundamental law of 
the empire, he left at his death a disputed succession to the 
throne. Atabalipa, the son of Huana by the heiress of Quito, 
being in possession of the principal force of the Peruvian armies, 
left at that place on the death of his father, gave battle to his 
brother Huascar, who was the elder son of Huana by a lawful 
wife, and legal heir to the crown. 

After a long and destructive civil war the former was victo. 
rious ; and thus was that flourishing kingdom left a prey to regal 
dissensions and to the few soldiers of Pizarro, w ho happened at 
that juncture to make a descent upon the coast. In this manner 
he effected an easy conquest and an utter destruction of a nu 
merous, brave, unfortunate people. 

It is however obvious that this deplorable event is not to be 
charged on Capac, as the consequence of any defect in his insti 
tution. It is impossible that an original legislator should effec 
tually guard against the folly of all future sovereigns. Capac 
had not only removed every temptation that could induce a wise 
prince to wish for a change in the constitution, but had connected 
the ruin of his authority with the change; for he who disregards 
any part of institutions deemed sacred teaches his people to 
consider the whole as an imposture. Had he made a law or- 
daining that the Peruvians should be absolved from their alle 
giance to a prince who should violate the laws, it would have 
implied possible error and imperfection in those persons whom 



NOTES. 373 

the people were ordered to regard as divinities ; the reverence 
due to characters who made such high pretensions would have 
been weakened; aud instead of rendering the constitution per 
fect, such a law would have been its greatest defect. Besides, 
it is probable the rupture might have been healed and the suc 
cession settled, with as little difficulty as frequently happens with 
partial revolutions in other kingdoms, had not the descent of the 
Spaniards prevented it. And this event, for that age and coun 
try, must have been beyond the possibility of human foresight. 
But viewing the concurrence of these fatal accidents, which re 
duced this flourishing empire to a level with many other ruined 
and departed kingdoms, it only furnishes an additional proof 
that no political system has yet had the privilege to be perfect. 

On the whole it is evident that the system of Capac (if the 
Peruvian constitution may be so called) is one of the greatest 
exertions of genius to be found in the history of mankind. When, 
we consider him as an individual emerging from the midst of a 
barbarous people, having seen no example of the operation of 
laws in any country, originating a plan of religion and policy 
never equalled by the sages of antiquity, civilizing an extensive 
empire and rendering religion and government subservient to the 
general happiness of a great people, there is no danger that we 
grow too warm in his praise, or pronounce too high an eulogium 
on his character. 

No. 20. 

' Bade yon tall temple grace their favorite isle, 
The mines unfold, the cultured valleys smile, 

Book III. Line 5. 

One of the great temples of the sun was built on an island in 
the lake Titiaca near Cusco, to consecrate the spot of ground 
where Capac and Oella first made their appearance and claimed 
divine honors as children of the sun. 



374 THE COLUMBIAD. 

No. 21. 

His eldest hope, young Rocha, at his call, 
Resigns his charge within the temple wall; 

Book III. Line 29. 

The high priest of the sun was always one of the royal fa., 
mily ; and in every generation after the first, was brother to the 
king. This office probably began with Rocha ; as he was the 
first who was capable of receiving it, and as it was necessary, 
in the education of the prince, that he should be initiated in the 
sacred mysteries. 

No. 22. 

A pearl-dropt girdle lound his waist lelow, 
And the white lautu graced his lofty Irow. 

Book III. Line 135. 

The lautu was a cotton band, twisted and worn on the head 
of the Incas as a badge of royalty. It made several turns round 
the head ; and, according to the description of Garcilasso, it 
must have resembled the Turkish turban. 

It is possible that both the lautu and the turban had their re* 
mote origin m the ancient astronomical religion, whose principal 
god was the sun and usually represented under the figure of a 
man with the horns of the ram ; that is, the sun in the sign of 
aries. The form of the lautu and of the turban (which I sup 
pose to be the same) seems to indicate that they were originally 
designed as emblems or badges ; and when properly twisted and 
wound round the head, as Turks of distinction usually wear the 
turban, they resemble the horns of the ram as represented in 
those figures of Jupiter Ammon where the horns curl close to 
the head. 

There is an eugraving in Garcilasso representing the first Inca 
and his wife, Capac and Oella; and the heads of both arc orna- 



N O T E S. 375 

mented with rams' horns projecting out from the lautu. Whe 
ther the figures of these personages were usually so represented 
in Peru previous to the Spanish devastation, would be difficult 
at this day to ascertain. If it could be ascertained that they 
were usually so represented there, we might esteem it a remarka 
ble circumstance in proof of the unity of the origin of their re- 
ligion with that of the ancient Egyptians ; from which all the 
early theological systems of Asia and Europe, as far as they 
have come to our knowledge, were evidently derived. 

No. 23. 

Receive, dreadful Power, from feeble age. 
This last pure offering to thy sateless rage ; 

Book HI. Line 181. 

Garcilasso declares that the different tribes of those mountain 
savages worshipped the various objects of terror that annoyed 
the particular parts of the country where they dwelt; such as 
storms, volcanos, rivers, lakes, and several beasts and birds of 
prey. All of them believed that their forefathers were descended 
from the gods which they worshipped. 

No. 24. 

Held to the sun the image from his Ireast 
Whose glowing concave all the god expre&t -, 

Book III. Line 273. 

The historian of the Incas relates that, by the laws of the 
empire, none but sacred fire could be used in sacrifices; and 
that there were three modes in which it might be procured. 
First, the most sacred fire was that which was drawn immedi 
ately from the sun himself by means of a concave mirror, which 
was usually made of gold or silver highly polished. Second, in 
case of cloudy weather or other accident, the fire might be taken 
from the temple^ where it was preserved by the holy virgins ; 



376 THE COLUMBIAD. 

whose functions and discipline resembled those of the vestals of 
Rome. Third, when the sacrifice was to be made in the pro- 
vinces at an inconvenient distance from the temple, and when 
the weather was such as to prevent drawing the fire immediately 
from the sun, it was permitted to procure it by the friction of 
two pieces of dry wood. 

The two latter modes were resorted to only in cases of neces 
sity. Not to be able to obtain fire by means of the mirror was 
a bad omen, a sign of displeasure in the god ; it cast a gloom 
over the whole ceremony and threw the people into lamentations, 
fearing their offering would not be well received. 

This method of procuring fire directly from the sun, to burn 
a sacrifice, must have appeared so miraculous to the savages who 
could not understand it, that it doubtless had a powerful effect 
in converting them to the solar religion and to the lucan govern, 
ment. 

No. 25. 

Dim Paraguay extends the aching sight, 
Xaraya glimmers like the moon of night, 

Book III. Line 321. 

Xaraya is a lake in the country of Paraguay, and is the prin 
cipal source of the river Paraguay. This river is the largest 
branch of the Plata. 

No. 26. 

The Condor frowning from a southern plain, 
Borne on a standard, leads a numerous train : 

Book III. Line 421. 

The Condor is supposed to be the largest bird of prey hitherto 
known. His wings, from one extreme to the other, are said to 
measure fifteen feet ; he is able to carry a sheep in his talons, 
and he sometimes attacks men. He inhabits the high mountains 
of Peru, and is supposed by some authors to be peculiar to the 
American continent. Buffon believes him to be of the same 



NOTES. 377 

species with the laemmer-geyer (lamb-vulture) of the Alps. The 
similarity of their habitations favors this conjecture ; but the 
truth is, the Condor of Peru has not been well examined, ancj 
his history is imperfectly known. 

No. 27. 

So shall the Power in vengeance view the place, 
In crimson clothe his terror-beaming face, 

Book III. Line 493. 

It is natural for the worshippers of the sun to consider any 
change in the atmosphere as indicative of the different passions 
of their deity. With the Peruvians a sanguine appearance in 
the sun denoted his anger. 

No. 28. 

Thro all the shrines, where erst on new-moon days 
Swell' d the full quires of consecrated praise, 

Book 1IJ. Line 687. 

New-moon days were days of high festival with the Incas, ac 
cording to Garcilasso. Eclipses of the sun must therefore have 
happened on solemn days, and have interrupted the service of 
the temple. 

No. 29. 

Las Casas. Valuer de, Gasca. 

Book IV. Line 1727. 

Bartholomew de las Casas was a Dominican priest of a most 
amiable and heroic character. He first went to Hispaniola with 
Columbus in his second voyage, where he manifested an ardent 
but honest zeal, first in attempting to instruct the natives in the 
principles of the catholic faith, and afterwards in defending them 
against the insufferable cruelties exercised by the Spanish tyrants 
who succeeded Columbus in the discoveries and settlements in 



378 THE COLUMBIAD. 

South America. He early declared himself Protector of the In 
dians ; a title which seems to have been acknowledged by the 
Spanish government. He devoted himself ever after to the most 
indefatigable labors in the service of that unhappy people. He 
made several voyages to Spain, to solicit, first from Ferdinand, 
then from cardinal Ximenes, and finally from Charles V, some 
effectual restrictions against the horrid career of depopulation 
which every where attended the Spanish arms. He followed 
these monsters of cruelty into all the conquered countries ; where, 
by the power of his eloquence and that purity of morals which 
commands respect even from the worst of men, he doubtless 
saved the lives of many thousands of innocent people. His life 
was a continued struggle against that deplorable system of ty. 
ranny, of which he gives a description in a treatise addressed to 
Philip prince of Spain, entitled Brevissima Relation de la De- 
struydon de las Yndias. 

It is said by the Spanish writers that the inhabitants of His- 
paniola, when first discovered by the Spaniards, amounted to 
more than one million. This incredible population was reduced, 
in fifteen years, to sixty thousand souls. 

Vincent Falverde was a fanatical priest who accompanied Pi- 
zarro in his destructive expedition to Peru. If we were to search 
the history of mankind, we should not find another such example 
of the united efforts of ecclesiastical hypocrisy and military fe 
rocity, of unresisted murder and insatiable plunder, as we meet 
with in the account of this expedition. 

Father Valverde, in a formal manner, gave the sanction of 
the church to the treacherous murder of Atabalipa and his rela 
tions ; which was immediately followed by the destruction and 
almost entire depopulation of a flourishing empire. 

Pedro de la Gasca was one of the few men whose virtues form 
a singular contrast with the vices which disgraced the age in 
which he lived and the country in which he acquired his glory. 
He was sent over to Peru by Charles V without any military 
force, to quell the rebellion of the younger Pizarro and to pre. 



NOTES. 379 

rent a second depopulation, by a civil war, of that country 
which had just been drenched in the blood of its original inha 
bitants. He effected this great purpose by the weight only of 
his personal authority and the veneration inspired by his virtues. 
As soon as he had suppressed the rebellion and established the 
government of the colony he hastened to resign his authority 
into the hands of his master, And tho his victories had been, 
obtained in the richest country on earth he returned to Spain as 
poor as Cincinnatus ; having resisted every temptation to plun 
der, and refused to receive any emolument for his services. 

No. 30. 

First of his friends, see Frederic's princely form 
Ward from the sage divine the gathering storm ; 

Book IV. Line 157. 

Frederic of Saxony, surnamed the Wise, was the first sove* 
reign prince who favored the doctrines of Luther. He became 
at once his pupil and his patron, defended him from the perse, 
cutions of the pope, and gave him an establishment as professor 
in the university of Wittemburgh. 

No. 31. 

By all sectarian chiefs he rives approved, 
By monarchs courted and ly men beloved. 

Book IV. Line 165. 

Francis I, out of respect to the great learning and moderation 
of Mclancthon, and disregarding the pretended danger of dis 
cussing the dogmas of the church, invited him to come to France 
and establish himself at Paris ; but the intrigues of the cardinal 
de Tournon frustrated the king's intention. 

If every leader of religious sects had possessed the amiable 
qualities of Melancthon, 'and every monarch who wished to op 
pose the introduction of new opinions had partaken of the wis- 



380 THE COLUMBIAD. 

dom of Francis, the blood of many hundreds of millions of the 
human species, which has flowed at the shrine of fanaticism, 
would have been spared. This circumstance alone would have 
made of human society by this time a state totally different from 
what we actually experience; and its influence on the progress 
of improvement in national happiness and general civilization 
must have been beyond our ordinary calculation. 

No. 32. 

While kings and ministers obstruct the plan, 
Unfaithful guardians of the weal of man. 

Book IV. Line 629. 

The British colonies in all their early struggles for existence 
complained, and with reason, of the uniform indifference and 
discouragement which they experienced from the government of 
the mother country. But it was probably to that very indif 
ference that they owed the remarkable spirit of liberty and self. 
dependence which created their prosperity, by inducing them 
uniformly to adopt republican institutions. These circumstances 
prepared the way for that mutual confidence and federal union 
which have finally formed them into a flourishing nation. 

Ministers who feel their power over a distant colony to be 
uncontrolled are so naturally inclined to govern too much, that 
it may be a fortunate circumstance for the colony to be neglected 
altogether. This neglect was indeed fatal to the first Virginia 
settlers sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh ; and the companies who 
afterwards succeeded in their establishments at Jamestown in 
Virginia and at Plymouth in Massachusetts were very near 
sharing the fate of their predecessors. But after these settle, 
ments had acquired so much consistence as to assure their own 
continuance, it may be assumed as an historical fact, that the 
want of encouragement from government was rather beneficial 
than detrimental to the British colonies' in general. 

These establishments were in the nature of private adventures. 



NOTES. 331 

undertaken by a few individuals at their own expense, rather 
than organised colonies sent abroad for a public purpose. They 
were companies incorporated for plantation and trade. All they 
asked of the mother country (after obtaining acts of incorpora 
tion enabling them to acquire property and exercise other civil 
functions, such as incorporated companies at home could exer 
cise) was to give them charters of political franchise, ascertain 
ing the extent and limits of their rights and duties as subjects of 
the British crown forming nations in parts of the earth that had 
been found in an uncultivated state, and far removed from the 
mother country. 

As they could not in this situation be represented in the par 
liament of England, these charters stipulated their right of having 
parliaments or legislative assemblies of their own, with executive 
and judiciary institutions established within their territories. 

The acknowledgment of these rights placed them on a dif 
ferent footing from any other modern colonies ; and the re 
stricting clause, by which their trade was confined to the mother 
country, rendered their situation unlike that of the colonies of 
ancient Greece. Indeed the British system of colonization in 
America differed essentially from every other, whether ancient 
or modern ; if that may properly be called a system, which was 
rather the result of early indifference to the cries of needy ad 
venturers, and subsequent attempts to seize upon their earnings 
when they became objects of rapacity. This singular train of 
difficulties must be considered as one of the causes of our ancient 
prosperity arid present freedom. 

No. 33. 

Where Freedom's sons their high-lorn lineage trace, 
And homelred Iravery still exalts the race : 

Book V. Line 345. 

The author of this poem will not be suspected of laying any 
stress on the mere circumstance of lineage or birth, as relating 



382 THE COLUMBIAD. 

either to families or nations. The phrase however in the text ia 
not without its meaning. Among the colonies derived from the 
several nations of Europe in modern times, those from the Eng 
lish have flourished far better than the others, under a parity of 
circumstances, such as climate, soil and productions. The reason 
of this undeniable fact deserves to be explained. 

Colonies naturally carry with them the civil, political and re 
ligious institutions of their mother countries. These institutions 
in England are much more favorable to liberty and the develop 
ment of industry than in any other part of Europe which has 
sent colonies abroad. But this is not all : when men for several 
generations have been bred up in the habit of feeling and exer 
cising such a portion of liberty as the English nation has enjoyed, 
their minds are prepared to open and expand themselves as oc 
casion may offer. They are able to embrace new circumstances, 
to perceive the improvements that may be drawn from them, and 
not only make a temperate use of that portion of self-control to 
which they are accustomed, but devise the means of extending it 
to other objects of their political relations, till they become fa 
miliar with all the interests of men in society. 

The habitual use of the liberty of the press, of trial by jury 
in open court, of the accountability of public agents and of some 
voice in the election of legislators, must create, in a man or a 
nation, a character quite different from what it could be under 
the habitual disuse of these advantages. And when these habits 
are transplanted with a young colony to a distant region of the 
earth, enjoying a good soil and climate, with an unlimited and 
unoccupied country, the difference will necessarily be more 
remarkable. 

A most striking illustration of this principle is exhibited in the 
colonies of North America. This coast, from the St. Laurence 
to the Missisippi, was colonized by the French and English. 
(I make no account of the Dutch establishment on the Hudson 
nor of the Swedish on the Delaware ; they being of little import 
ance, and early absorbed in th English settlements.) If we 



NOTES. 383 

look back only one hundred years from the present time, we 
find the French and English dominions here about equally im 
portant in point of extent and population. The French Canada, 
Acadia, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Florida and Louisiana 
were then as far advanced in improvement as the English settle 
ments which they flanked on each side. And the French had 
greatly the advantage in point of soil, interior navigation and 
capability of extension. They commanded and possessed the 
two great rivers which almost met together on the English fron 
tier. And the space between the waters of those rivers on the 
west was planted with French military posts, so as to complete 
the investment. 

New Orleans was begun before Philadelphia, and was much 
better situated to become a great commercial capital. Quebec 
and Montreal were older, and had the advantage of most of our 
other cities. Add to this that the French nation at home was 
about twice as populous as the English nation at home ; and as 
that part of the increase of colonial population which comes from 
emigration must naturally be derived from their respective mother 
countries, it might have been expected that the comparative ra 
pidity of increase would hav-e been in favor of the French at 
least two to one. 

But the French colonists had not been habituated to the use 
of liberty before their emigration ; and they were not prepared 
nor permitted to enjoy it in any degree afterwards. Their laws 
were made for them in their mother country, by men who could 
not know their wants and who felt no interest in their prospe 
rity : and then they were administered by a set of agents as ig 
norant as their masters ; men who, from the nature of their em 
ployment and accountability, must in general be oppressive and 
rapacious. 

The result has solved a great problem in political combina 
tion. One of these clusters of colonies has grown to a powerful 
empire, giving examples to the universe in most of the great ob 
jects which constitute the dignity of nations. The other, after 



384 THE COLUMBIAD. 

having been a constant expense to the mother country, and serv 
ing for barter and exchange in the capricious vicissitudes of Eu 
ropean despotism, presents altogether at this day a mass of po 
pulation and wealth scarcely equal to one of our provinces. 

This note is written at the moment when Louisiana, one of 
the most extensive but least peopled of the French colonies, rs 
ceded to the United States. The world will see how far the 
above theory will now be confirmed by the rapid increase of 
population and improvement in that interesting portion of our 
continent. 

No. 34. 

Beneath him lay the sceptre kings had lorne, 
And the tame thunder from the tempest torn. 

Book V. Line 429. 

Eripuit ceelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyranms. 

This epigraph, written by Tnrgot on the bust of Franklin, 
seems to have been imitated from a line in Manilius ; where no 
ticing the progress of science in ascribing things to their natural 
and proper causes instead of supernatural ones, he says, 

Eriput Jovi fulmen, viresque tonandi, 

Et sonitum ventis concessit, nubibus ignem. 

No. 35. 

And Knox from his full park to lattle brings 
His Irazen tubes, the last resort of kings. 

Book V. Line 665. 

ULTIMA RATIO REGUM ; a device of Louis XIV engraved on 
his ordnance, and afterwards adopted by other powers. When 
we consider men as reasonable beings and endowed with the 
qualities requisite for living together in society, this device looks 
like a satire upon the species ; but in "reality it only provesrthe 
imperfect state to which their own principles of society have 



NOTES. 385 

yet advanced them in the long and perhaps interminable pro 
gress of which they are susceptible. This ultima ratio being al 
ready taken oat of the hands of individuals and confided only 
to the chiefs of nations is as clear a proof of a great progress 
already made, as its remaining in the hands of those chiefs is a 
proof that we still remain far short of that degree of wisdom 
and experience which will enable all the nations to live at peace 
one with another. 

There certainly was a time when the same device might have 
been written on the hatchet or club or fist of every man ; and 
the best weapon of destruction that he could wield against his 
neighbour might have been called ultima ratio virorum, meaning 
that human reason could go no farther. But the wisdom we 
have drawn from experience has taught us to restrain the use of 
mortal weapons, making it unlawful and showing it to be un 
reasonable to use them in private disputes. The principles of 
social intercourse and the advantages of peace are so far under 
stood as to enable men to form great societies, and to submit 
their personal misunderstandings to common judges; thus re 
moving the ultima ratio from their own private hands to the 
hands of their government. 

Hitherto there has usually been a government to every nation ; 
but the nations are increasing in size and diminishing in num 
ber; so that the hands which now hold the ultima ratio by de 
legation are few, compared with what they have been. I mean 
this observation to apply only to those extensions of nationality 
which have been formed on the true principles of society and ac 
quiesced in from a sense of their utility. I mean not to apply it 
to those unnatural and unwieldy stretches of power, whose over 
throw is often and erroneously cited as an argument against the 
progress of civilization ; such as the conquests of Alexander, the 
Roman generals, Omar, Gengis Khan and others of that bril 
liant description. These are but meteors of compulsive force, 
which pass away and discourage, rather than promote, the spirit 
of national extension of which I speak. 

2 c 



386 THE COLUMBIAD. 

This spirit operates constantly and kindly; nor is its progress 
so slow but that it is easily perceived. Even within the short 
memorials of modern history \ve find a heptarchy in England. 
Ossian informs us that in his time there was a great number of 
warlike states in Ireland and as many more in Scotland. With 
out going back to the writings of Julius Cesar to discover the 
comparative condition of France, we may almost remember 
when she counted within her limits six or seven different go 
vernments, generally at war among themselves and inviting fo 
reign enemies to come and help them destroy each other. Every 
province in Spain is still called a kingdom ; and it is not long 
since they were really so in fact, with the ultima ratio in the 
hands of every king. 

The publicist who in any of those modern heroic ages could 
have imagined that all the hundred nations who inhabited the 
western borders of Europe, from the Orknies to Gibraltar, 
might one day become so far united in manners and interests as 
to form but three great nations, would certainly have passed 
for a madman. Had he been a minister of Pharamond or of 
Fingal he could no more have kept his place than Turgot could 
keep his after pointing out the means of promoting indus 
try and preventing wars. He would have been told that the in 
habitants of each side of the Humber were natural enemies one to 
the other ; that if their chiefs were even disposed to live in peace 
they could not do it ; their subjects would demand war and 
could not live without it. The same would have been said of 
the Seine, the Loire and every other dividing line between their 
petty communities. It would have been insisted on that such 
rivers were the natural boundaries of states and never could be 
otherwise. 

But now since the people of those districts find themselves no 
longer on the frontiers of little warlike states, but in the centre 
of great industrious nations, they have lost their relish for war, 
and consider it as a terrible calamity ; they cherish the minister 
who gives them peace, and abhor the one who drives them into 



NOTES. 387 

unnecessary wars. Their local disputes, which used to be settled 
by the sword, are now referred to the tribunals of the country. 
They have substituted a moral to a physical force. They have 
changed the habits of plunder for those of industry ; and they 
find themselves richer and happier for the change. 

Who will say that the progress of society will stop short in the 
present stage of its career ? that great communities will not dis 
cover a mode of arbitrating their disputes, as little ones have 
done ? that nations will not lay aside their present ideas of inde 
pendence and rivalship, and find themselves more happy and 
more secure in one great universal society, which shall contain 
within itself its own principles of defence, its own permanent 
security ? It is evident that national security, in order to be 
permanent, must be founded on the moral force of society at 
large, and not on the physical force of each nation indepen 
dently exerted. The ultima ratio must not be a cannon, but a 
reference to some rational mode of decision worthy of rational 
beings. 

No. 36. 

Else what high tones of rapture must have told 
The first great action of a chief so bold! 

Book V. Line 767. 

General Arnold, the leader of this detachment, had acquired 
by this and many other brilliant achievements a degree of mili 
tary fame almost unequalled among the American generals. His 
shameful defection afterwards, by the foulest of treason, should 
be lamented as a national dishonor; it has not only obliterated 
his own glory, but it seems in some sort to have cast a shade on 
that qf others whose brave actions had been associated with his 
in the acquisition of their common and unadulterated fame. 

The action here alluded to, the march thro the wilderness 
from Casco to Quebec, was compared in the gazettes of that day 
to the passage of the Alps by Hannibal. And really, consU 



388 THE COLUMBIAD. 

dered as a scene of true military valor, patient suffering and 
heroic exertion (detached from the idea of subsequent success 
in the ulterior expedition) the comparison did not disgrace the 
Carthaginian. Yet since the defection of Arnold, which hap 
pened five years afterwards, this audacious and once celebrated 
exploit is scarcely mentioned in our annals. And Meigs, Dear 
born, Morgan and other distinguished officers in the expedition, 
whom that alone might have immortalized, have been indebted 
to their subsequent exertions of patriotic valor for the share of 
celebrity their names now enjoy. 

See the character of Arnold treated more at large in the sixth 
book. 

No. 37. 

See the llack Ptison Ship's expanding womb 
Impested thousands, quick and dead, entomb. 

Book VI. Line 35. 

The systematic and inflexible course of cruelties exercised by 
the British armies on American prisoners during the three first 
years of the war were doubtless unexampled among civilized na 
tions. Considering it as a war against rebels, neither their of 
ficers nor soldiers conceived themselves bound by the ordinary 
laws of war. 

The detail of facts on this subject, especially in what con 
cerned the prison ships, has not been sufficiently noticed in our 
annals ; at least not so much noticed as the interest of public 
morals would seem to require. Mr. Boudinot, who was the 
American commissary of prisoners at the time, has since informed 
the author of this poem that in one prison ship alone, called the 
Jersey, which was anchored near Newyork, eleven thousand 
American prisoners died in eighteen months ; almost the whole 
of them from the barbarous treatment of being stifled in a 
crowded hold with infected air, and poisoned with unwholesome 
food. 



NOTE S. 389 

There were several other prison ships, as well as the sugar- 
house prison in the city, whose histories ought to be better 
known than they are. I say this not from any sort of enmity 
to the British nation, for I have none. I respect the Bri- 
tisth nation ; as will be evident from the views I have given 
of her genius and institutions in the course of this work. 
I would at all times render that nation every service consistent 
with my duty to my own ; and surely it is worthy of her mag 
nanimity to consider as a real service every true information 
given her relative to the crimes of her agents in distant countries. 
These crimes are as contrary to the spirit of the nation at home 
as they are to the temper of her laws. 

No. 38. 

Myrtles and laurels equal honors join'd, 

Which arms had purchased and the Muses twined ; 

Book VI. Line 273. 

General Burgoyne had gained some celebrity by his pen, as 
well as by his sword, previous to the American war. He was 
author of the comedy called The Heiress^ and of some other the 
atrical pieces which had been well received on the London 
theatres. 

No. 39. 

Deep Georges loaded lake reluctant guides 
Their bounding larges o'er his sacred tides. 

Book VI. Line 285. 

The water of Lake George was held in particular veneration 
by the French catholics of Canada. Of this they formerly made 
their holy water ; which was carried and distributed to the 
churches thro the province, and probably produced part of the 
revenues of the clergy. This water is said to have been chosen 
for the purpose on account of its extreme clearness. The lake 
was called Lac du Saint Sacrement. 



390 THE COLUMBIAD. 

No. 40. 

His savage hordes the murderous Johnson leads, 
Files thro the woods and treads the tangled weeds, 

Book VI. .Line 389. 

This was general sir John Johnson, an American royalist in 
the British service. He was the son of sir William Johnson, 
who had been a rich proprietor and inhabitant in the Mohawk 
country, in the colony of New York, and had been employed 
by the king as superintendant of Indian affairs. Sir William 
had married a Mohawk savage wife; and it was supposed that 
the great influence which he had long exercised over that and 
the neighboring tribes must have descended to his son. It was 
on this account that he was employed on the expedition of Bur. 
goyne ; in which he had the rank of brigadier general, and the 
special direction of the savages. 

No. 41. 

Are these thy trophies, Carleton! these the swords 
Thy hand unsheath'd and gave the savage hordes, 

Book VI. Line 685. 

General sir Guy Carleton, afterwards lord Dorchester, was the 
British governor of Canada and surerintendant of Indian affairs 
at the time of Burgoyne's campaign. Having great influence 
with the warlike tribes who inhabited the west of Canada and 
the borders of the Lakes, he was ordered by the minister to 
adopt the barbarous and unjustifiable measure of arming and 
bringing them into the king's service in aid of this expedition. 

This was doubtless done with the consent of Burgoyne, tho 
he seems to have been apprehensive of the difficulty of managing 
a race of men whose manners were so ferocious, and whose 
motives to action must have been so different from those of the 
principal parties in the war. Burgoyne, in his narrative of 



NOTE S. 391 

this campaign, informs us that he took precautions to discou 
rage that inhuman mode of warfare which had been customary 
among those savages. He ordered them to kill none but such 
persons as they should find in arms fighting against the king's 
troops; to spare old men, women, children and prisoners; and 
not to scalp any but such as they should kill in open war. He 
intimated to them that he should, not pay for any scalps but 
those thus taken from enemies killed in arms. 

It is unfortunate for the reputation of the general and of his 
government, that they did not reflect on the futility of such an 
order and the improbability of its being executed. A certain 
price was offered for scalps ; the savages must know that in a 
bag of scalps, packed and dried and brought into camp and 
counted out before the commissary to receive payment, it 
would be impossible to distinguish the political opinions or the 
occupation, age or sex of the heads to which they had belonged; 
it could not be ascertained whether they had been taken from. 
Americans or British, whigs or tories, soldiers killed in arms or 
killed after they had resigned their arms, militia men or peasants, 
.old or young, male or female. 

The event proved the deplorable policy of employing such 
auxiliaries, especially in such multitudes as were brought toge 
ther on this occasion. No sooner did hostilities begin between 
the two armies than these people, who could have no know 
ledge of the cause nor affection for either party, and whose only 
object was plunder and pay, began their indiscriminate and 
ungovernable ravages on both sides. They robbed and mur 
dered peasants, whether royalists or others; men, women, chil 
dren, straggling and wounded soldiers of both armies. The tra 
gical catastrophe of a young lady of the panic of Macrea, 
whose story is almost literally detailed in the foregoing para 
graphs of the text, is well known. It made a great impression 
on the public mind at the time, both in England and America. 

General Carleton, in the preceding campaigns, when the war 
was carried into Canada, had been applauded for his humanity 



392 THE COLUMBIAD. 

in the treatment of prisoners. But the part he took in this 
measure of associating the savages in the operations of the Bri 
tish army was a stain upon his character ; and the measure was 
highly detrimental to the royal cause, on account of the general 
indignation it excked thro the country. 

No. 42. 

That 7io proud privilege from lirth can springy 
No right divine, nor compact form a king -, 

Book VII. Line 39. 

The assumed right of kings, or that supreme authority which 
one man exercises over a nation, and for which he is not held 
accountable, has been contended for on various grounds. It 
has been sometimes called the right of conquest; in which is 
involved the absolute disposal of the lives and labors of the con 
quered nation, in favor of the victorious chief and his descend 
ants to perpetuity. Sometimes it is called the divine right; in 
which case kings are considered as the vicegerents of God. 

This notion is very ancient, and it is almost universal among 
modern nations. Homer is full of it ; and from his unaffected 
recurrence to the same idea every where in his poems, it is 
evident that in his day it was not called in question. The man 
ner in which the Jews were set at work to constitute their first 
king proves that they were convinced that, if they must have a 
king, he must be given them from God, and receive that solemn 
consecration which should establish his authority on the same 
divine right which was common to other nations, from whom 
they borrowed the principle. 

There are some few instances in history wherein this divine 
right has been set aside ; but it has generally been owing rather 
to the violence of circumstances, which sometimes drive men to 
act contrary to their prejudices, tho they still retain them, than 
to any effort of reasoning by which they convinced themselves 
that this was a prejudice, and that no divine right existed in 



NOTES. 393 

reality. For it does not violate this supposed right, to change 
one king for another, or one race of kings for another, tho 
done in a manner the most unjust and inhuman. In this case 
the same divine right remains, and only changes, with the 
diadem, from one head to another. And tho this change should 
happen six times in one day (as in one instance it has done in 
Algiers by the murder of six successive kings) they would still 
say it was God who did it all ; and the action would only tend 
to prove to the credulous people, that God was made after their 
own image, as changeable as themselves. 

It is only in the case of Tarquin and a few others (whose 
overthrow has been followed by a more popular form of go- 
vernment) that it can be said that the principle of the divine right 
has been disregarded, laid aside and forgotten for any length 
of time. 

The English are perhaps the first and only people that ever 
overturned this doctrine of the divinity of kings, without changing 
their form of government. This was brought on by circum 
stances, and took effect in the expulsion of James II. Books 
were then written to prove that the divine right of kings did 
not exist ; at least, not in the sense in which it had been under 
stood. And these writings completely silenced the old doctrine 
in England. This indeed was gaining an immense advantage in 
favor of liberty ; tho the effort of reason, to arrive at it, seems 
to be so small. 

But while the English were discarding the old principle they 
set up a new one ; which indeed is not so pernicious because it 
cannot become so extensive, but which is scarcely more reason 
able : it is the right of kings by compact; that is, a compact, 
whether written or understood, by which the representatives of 
a nation are supposed to bind their constituents and their de 
scendants to be the subjects of a certain prince and of his de 
scendants to perpetuity. This singular doctrine is developed 
with perspicuity, but ill supported by argument, in Burke's 
Reflections on the French Revolution. 



394 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The principle of the American government denies the right 
of any representatives to make such a compact, and the right 
of any prince to carry it into execution if it were mader What 
ever varieties or mixtures there may be in the forms of govern 
ment, there are but two distinct principles on which government is 
founded. One supposes the source of power to be out of the people, 
and that the governor is not accountable to them for the man 
ner of using it; the other supposes the source of power to be in 
the people, and that the governor is accountable to them for the 
manner of using it. The latter is our principle. In this sense 
no right divine nor compact can form a king; that is, a person 
exercisiug underived and unreverting power. 

No. 43. 

But while dread Elliott shakes the Midland wave, 
They strive in vain the Calpian rock to Irave. 

Book VII. Line 89. 

The English general Elliott commanded the post of Gibraltar, 
against which the combined forces of France and Spain made a 
vigorous but fruitless attack in the year 1781. This attack fur 
nished the subjects for two celebrated pictures alluded to in the 
eighth book : The burning of the Floating Batteries painted by 
Copley ; and The Sortie, painted by Trumbull. 

No. 44. 

To guide the sailor in his wandering way, 
See Godfrey's glass reverse the learns of day . 

Book VIII. Line 581. 

It is less from national vanity than from a regard to truth and 
a desire of rendering personal justice, that the author wishes to 
rectify the history of science in the circumstance here alluded to. 
The instrument known by the name of Hadley's Quadrant, now 
universally in use and generally attributed to Dr. Hadley, was 



NOTES. 395 

invented by Thomas Godfrey of Philadelphia. See Jefferson's 
Notes on Virginia ; likewise Miller's Retrospect of the Eighteenth 
Century, in which the original documents relative to Godfrey's 
invention are fully detailed. 

No. 45. 

West with his own great soul the canvass warms, 
Creates, inspires, impassions human forms, 

Book VIII. Line 587. 

Benjamin West, president of the Royal Academy in London, 
was born and educated in Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty- 
three he went to Italy to perfect his taste in the art to which his 
genius irresistibly impelled him; in which he was destined to 
cast a splendor upon the age in which he lives, and probably to 
excel all his cotemporaries, so far at least as we can judge from 
the present state of their works. After passing two years in 
that country of models, where canvass and marble seem to con. 
tribute their full proportion of the population, he went to 
London. 

Here he soon rendered himself conspicuous for the boldness 
of his designs, in daring to shake off the trammels of the art 
so far as to paint modern history in modern dress. He had al 
ready staggered the connoisseurs in Italy while he was there, by 
his picture of The Savage Chief taking leave of his family on 
going to war. This extraordinary etfort of the American pencil 
on an American subject excited great admiration at Venice. 
The picture was engraved in that city by Bartolozzi, before 
either he or West went to England. The artists were surprised 
to find that the expression of the passions of men did not de 
pend on the robes they wore. And his early works in London, 
The Death of Wolfe, The Battles of the Boyne, Lahogue, &c., en 
graved by Woollett and others, not only established his reputa 
tion, but produced a revolution in the Art. So that modern 
dress has now become as familiar in fictitious as in real life; it 
being justly considered essential in painting modern history. 



396 THE COLUJMBIAD. 

The engraving from his Wolfe has been often copied in 
France, Italy and Germany ; and it may be said that in this 
picture the revolution in painting really originated. It would 
now be reckoned as preposterous in an artist to dress modern 
personages in Grecian or Roman habits, as it was before to give 
them the garb of the age and country to which they belonged. 

The merit of Mr. West was early noticed and encouraged by 
the king; who took him into pay with a convenient salary, and 
the title of historical painter to his majesty. In this situation 
he has decorated the king's palaces, chapels and churches with 
roost of those great pictures from the English history and from 
the Old and New Testament, which compose so considerable a 
portion of his works. 

The. following catalogue of his pictures was furnished me by 
Mr. West himself in the year 1802. It comprises only his 
principal productions in historical painting, and only his finished 
pictures ; without mentioning his numerous portraits, or his 
more numerous sketches and drawings. 

The pictures marked thus* have been engraved. The ciphers 
express the size of the pictures. When the same subject is 
mentioned more than once, there is more than one picture on 
that subject. 

IN THE QUEEN'S HOUSE. 

* Regulus departing from Rome. * Hannibal sworn when a child. 

* Death of Wolfe. Damsel accusing Peter. 

* Death of Epaminondas. Apotheosis of the two young princes. 

* Death of chevalier Bayard. Germanicus, with Segestus and his 

* Cyrus, with a king and family daughter prisoners, 
captives. 

IN THE KING'S APARTMENTS AT WINDSOR. 

Edward III crossing the Somme. Battle of Crcssy, Edward embracing 
Edward III crowning Ribemond at his son. 

Calais. , St. George destroying the Dragon. 

The Six Burgesses of Calais before Battle of Poictiers, king of Franco 

Edward. prisoner to the Black Prince. 



NOTES. 



397 



Institution of the Order of the Garter. 

Battle of Nevilcross. 

Christ's Crucifixion. 

The same on glass for the west win 
dow of the church at Windsor, 36 
feet by 28. 

Peter, John and women at the Se 
pulchre. 



The same on glass for the east win 
dow of the same church, 36 feet 
by 28. 

The Angels appearing to the Shep 
herds. 

Nativity of Christ. 

Kings presenting gifts to Christ. 



IN THE MARBLE GALLERY, WINDSOR CASTLE. 

Hymen dancing with the Hours Boys with the insignia of the Fine 

before Peace and Plenty. Arts. 

Boys with the insignia of Riches. 

IN THE KING'S CHAPEL AT WINDSOR. 

A complete history of Revealed Religion, divided into four dispensations, 
and comprised in thirty-eight pictures. 



PATRIARCHAL DISPENSATION. 

Adam and Eve created. 9 feet by 6. 
Adam and Eve driven from Para 
dise, do. 
The Deluge. do. 
Noah sacrificing. do. 
Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac. 

do. 

Birth of Jacob and Esau. do. 
Death of Jacob, surrounded by his 

sons. do. 

Bondage of the Israelites in Egypt. 

do. 

MOSAICAL DISPENSATION. 

Moses called. do. 

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh, 
their rods turned to serpents. 

15 feet by 10. 

Pharaoh's Army lost in the sea. 
Moses receiving the Law. 

18 feet by 12. 

Moses consecrating Aaron and his 
eons to the Priesthood. 

15 feet by 10. 



Moses shows the Brazen Serpent. 

15 feet by 10. 

Moses on Mount Pisgah sees the 
Promised Land and dies. 

9 feet by 6. 

Joshua passing the Jordan, do. 
The twelve Tribes drawing their 

lots. do. 

David called and anointed, do. 

GOSPEL, DISPENSATION. 

John Baptist called and named, 
do. 

Christ born. do. 

Christ offered gifts by the Wise 

Men. do. 

Christ among the Doctors, do. 
Christ baptized, and the Holy Spirit 

descending on him. 15 feet by 10, 
Christ healing the Sick. do. 
Christ's last Supper. do. 

Christ's Crucifixion. 36 feet by 28. 
Christ's Resurrection, Peter, John 

and the women at the Sepulchre. 
do, 



398 



THE COLUMBIAD. 



* Christ's Ascension. 18 feet by 12. 

Peter's first Sermon, Descent of the 
Holy Spirit. 15 feet by 10. 

The Apostles preaching and work 
ing miracles. do. 

Paul and Barnabas turning from the 
Jews to the Gentiles. do. 

APOCALYPTIC DISPENSATION. 

John seeing the Son of Man, and 

called to write. 9 feet by 6. 

The Throne surrounded by the Four 



Beasts, and Saints laying down their 
crowns. 9 feet by 6. 

Death on the Pale Horse, and the 
Opening of the Seals. do. 

The White Horse and his legions, 
and the Man destroying the Old 
Beast. do. 

General Resurrection, the end of 
Death. do. 

Christ's Second Coming. do. 

The New Jerusalem. do. 



IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. BECKFORD. 



Michael and his angels casting out 
the Red Dragon and his angels. 

The Woman clothed with the Sun. 

John called to write the Apoca- 
lypse. 

The JBeast rising out of the sea. 

The mighty Angel, one foot on sea 
the other on land. 

St. Anthony of Padua. 

The Madre Dolorosa. 



Simeon with the Child in his arms. 

Landscape, with a Hunt in the back 
ground. 

Abraham and Isaac going to sacri 
fice. 

Thomas a Becket. 

Angel in the Sun. 

Order of the Garter, differing in 
composition from that at Wind- 



IN THE COLLECTION OF EARL GROSVENOR. 
The Slmnamite's son raised to life by * Restoration of Charles II. 



Elisha. 
Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph. 

* Death of Wolfe. 

* Battle of Lahogue. 

* Battle of the Boyne. 



* Cromwell dissolving the Parlia 
ment. 

The Golden Age. 
General Wolfe when a boy. 



IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. HOPE. 



* Telemachus and Calypso. 

* Angelica and Madora. 
The Damsel and Orlando. 
Cicero at the tomb of Archimedes. 
St. Paul's Conversion. 



St. Paul persecuting the Christians. 
His restoration to sight by Ananias. 
Mr. Hope's family; nine figures, size 
of life. 



IN THE HISTORICAL GALLERY, PALLMALL. 

Citizens of London offering the The Queen soliciting king Henry to 
crown to William the Conqueror. pardon her son John. 



NOTES. 



399 



IN GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 



Paiil shaking the Viper from his 

finger. 

Paul preaching at Athens. 
Elymas the Sorcerer struck blind- 
Cornelius and the Angel. 
Peter delivered from prison. 
Conversion of St. Paul. 
Paul before Felix. 
Return of the Prodigal Son. 



LARGE FIGURES OF 

Faith, Matthias, Malachi, 

Hope, Thomas, Micah, 

Charity, Simon, Zachariah, 

Innocence, James major, Daniel, 

Matthew, James minor, Jude, John, 

Mark, Philip, Andrew, 

Luke, Peter, Bartholomew- 



IN DIFFERENT CHURCHES. 



Michael chaining the Dragon. 
Angels announcing the birth of 

Christ. 

St. Stephen stoned to death. 
Raising of Lazarus. 
Paul shaking off the Viper. 
The last Supper. 



Resurrection of Christ. 
Peter denying Christ. 
Moses showing the Brazen Serpent. 
John seeing the Lamb of God. 
A Mother leading her children to the 
Temple of Virtue. 



IN VARIOUS COLLECTIONS. 



Lord dive taking the duany from 

the Mogul. 
The same. 
Christ receiving the Sick. 

Pemyl. hospital. 

* Leonidas exiling Cleombrotus and 
family. 

The two Marys at the Sepulchre. 
Alexander and his Physician. 
Cesar reading the Life of Alexan 
der. 

Death of Adonis. 
Continence of Scipio. 

* Savage Warrior taking leave of 
his family. 

Venus and Cupid. 
Alfred dividing his loaf with the 
Beggar. 



Helen presented to Paris. 

Cupid stung by a bee. 

Simeon and the Child. 

* William Penn treating with the 
Savages. 

Destruction of the Spanish Arma 
da. 

Philippa- soliciting of Edward the 
pardon of the citizens of Calais. 

Europa on the Bull. 

Death of Hyacinthus. 

Death of Cesar. 

Venus presenting her cestus to Juno. 

Rinaldo and Armida. 

Pharaoh's Daughter with the child 
Moses. . 

The stolen Kiss. 

Angelica and Madora. 



400 



THE COLUMBIAD. 



Woman of Samaria at the well with 

Christ. 
Agrippina leaning on the urn of 

Germanicus. 
Death of Wolfe. 
The same; smaller size. 
Romeo and Juliet. 
King Lear and his Daughters. 
Belisarius and the Boy. 
Sir Francis Baring and family. 
* Mr. West and family. 
A Mother and Child. 



Jupiter and Semele. 

Petus and Arria. 

Venus and Cupid smiling at Europa 

when Jupiter had left her. 
Rebecca coming to Jacob. 
Rebecca receiving the bracelets at 

the well. 
Agrippina landing at Brundusium 

with the ashes of Germanicus. 
The same. 
The same. 
Endymion and Diana. 



IN THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT FULTON. 

Ophelia distracted, before the king * King Lear in the storm, 
and queen. 



IN MR. WEST'S OWN COLLECTION. 



Hector taking leave of his Wife and 

Child. 

Elisha raising the Shunamite's Son. 
The raising of Lazarus. 
Macbeth and the Witches. 
The return of Tobias. 
Return of the Prodigal Son. 
Ariadne on the sea shore. 
Death of Adonis. 
King of France brought to the 

Black Prince. 
* Death of Wolfe. 
Venus and Adonis. 
Battle of Lahogue. 
Edward III crossing the Somme. 
Philippa at the Battle of Nevilcross. 
Angels announcing the birth of 

Christ. 

Kings bringing presents to Christ. 
View on the river Thames. 
View on the Susquehanna. 
Picture of Tangere Mill at Eton. 



Chryseis restored to her Father. 

Antiochus and Stratonice. 

King Lear and his Daughters. 

Chryseus on the sea shore. 

Nathan and David. Thou art the man. 

Elijah raising the widow's Son. 

Choice of Hercules. 

Venus and Europa. 

Daniel interpreting the Writing on 

the Wall. 
Marius on the ruins of Carthage. 

* Cymon and Iphigenia. 

Cicero at the tomb of Archimedes. 

* Alexander, king of Scotland, re 
scued from the Stag. 

Battle of Cressy. 

* Mr. West and his family. 

* Anthony shows Cesar's Robe and 
Will. 

Egysthus viewing the body of Cly- 

trmnestra. 
Recovery of king George in 1789. 



NOTES. 



401 



A large landscape in Windsor Fo 
rest. 

Ophelia before the King and Queen. 
"Leonidas taking leave of his family. 
Phaeton receiving from Apollo the 

chariot of the Sun. 
The Eagle giving the cup of water to 

Psyche. 

Moonlight and the Beckoning Ghost. 

Pope. 

Angel sitting on the stone at the 

Sepulchre. 

The same subject differently com 
posed. 

* Angelica and Madora. 
The Damsel and Orlando. 
The Good Samaritan. 
Old Beast and False Prophet de 
stroyed. 

Christ healing the sick in the temple. 
Death on the Pale Horse. 
Jason and the Dragon. 
Venus and Adonis seeing the Cupids 

bathe. 

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. 
Passage boat on the Canal. 
Paul and Barnabas rejecting the 
Jews arid turning to the Gentiles. 
Diomed, his horses struck with light 
ning. 

Milk-woman in St. James's Park. 
Expulsion of Adam and Eve from 

Paradise. 

Order of the Garter. 
Orion on the Dolphin's back. 
The Deluge. 
Queen Elizabeth's Procession to St. 

Paul's. 
Christ showing a child, emblem of 

heaven. 
Harvest Home. 
Washing Sheep. 



St. Paul shaking off the Viper. 
Sun setting at Twickenham on 

Thames. 

Driving sheep and cows to water. 
Cattle drinking, and Mr. West draw 
ing, in Windsor Park. 
Pharaoh and his host in the Red 

Sea. 

Telemachus and Calypso. 
Moses consecrating Aaron and his 

sons. 
A Mother inviting her little boy to 

come to her thro a brook. 
Brewer's porter and hod carrier. 
Venus attended by the Graces. 
Naming of Samuel. 
Birth of Jacob and Esau. 
Ascension of Christ. 
Samuel presented to Eli. 
Moses shown the Promised Land. 
Christ among the Doctors. 
Reaping scene. 
Adonis and his dog. 
Mothers with their children in 

water. 
Joshua crossing the Jordan with the 

Ark* 

Christ's Nativity. 
* Pyrrhus when a child before king 

Glaucus. 
The Man laying his bread on the 

bridle of the dead Ass. Sterne. 
The Captive. Ditto. 
Cupid letting loose two Doves. 
Cupid asleep. 
Children eating cherries. 
St. Anthony of Padua aadUhe Chifd; 
Jacob and Laban with his two 

daughters. 

The Women looking fnto the Sepul 
chre and seeing two Angels where 
the Lord lay, 
2 D 



402 THE COLUMBIAD. 

The Angel unchainrng Peter iu Death of lord Chatham. 

prison. Presentation of the Crown to Wil- 

Death of sir Philip Sidney. liam the Conqueror. 

Death of Epaminondas. Europa crowning the Bull with 

Death of chevalier Bayard. flowers. 

Death of Cephalus. "West's garden, gallery and painting 

* Kosciusko on a couch* room, 

Abraham and Isaac. Here is the Cave of Despair. Spencer. 

wood andjire, but where is the lamb Arethusa bathing. 

to sacrifice? Cupid shows Venus his finger stung 

Eponina with her children giving by a bee. 

bread to her husband when in Ubald brings his three daughters 

concealment. to Alfred for him to choose one for 

King Henry pardoning his brother his wife. 

John at the prayer of his mother. * Pylades and Orestes. 

Besides the two hundred and ninety-nine large finished pic- 
tures here mentioned, Mr. West has done about one hundred 
portraits, and upwards of two hundred drawings with the pen ; 
which last, for sublimity of conception, are among the finest of 
his works. So that the whole of his pieces amount to above six 
hundred. Some of them are larger in size than any in the 
national gallery of France ; and he has not been assisted by any 
other painter. 

Mr. West is now about sixty. eight years of age. He discovers 
no abatement in the activity of his genius, nor in the laborious 
exercise of his talents. He has painted several fine pictures since 
the above catalogue was made. Three of which I have particularly 
noticed in his painting room : Tobet and Tobias with the fish ; 
Abraham sending away Hagar with her child; Achilles receiving 
from Thetis the new armor; and we hear that he has lately 
painted the Death of Nelson. He may yet produce many more 
original works ; tho it is presumed he has already exceeded all 
other historical painters, except Rubens, in the number and 
Tariety of his productions. With regard to the merit of his 
pictures, I cannot pretend to form a judgment that would be of 
any use in directing that of others. He is doubtless the most 
classical painter, except Raphael, whose works arc known to us. 



NOTES. 403 

The critics find fault with the coloring of Mr. West. But 
in his works, as in those of Raphael, we do not look for co 
loring. It is dignity of character, fine expression, delicate de 
sign, correct drawing and beautiful disposition of drapery which 
fix the suffrage of the real judge. All which qualities can only 
spring from an eleYated mind. 

No. 46. 

Nile pours from heaven a tutelary flood, 
And gardens grow the vegetable god. 

Book IX. Line 287. 

O sanctas gentes, quibus haec nascuntur in hortis 
Numina. Juv. SAT. 15. 

No. 47. 

Tis to correct their fatal faults of old, 
When, caught ly tinsel, they forgot the gold t 

Book IX. Line 499. 

The state of the arts and sciences among the ancients, viewed 
with reference to the event of universal civilization, was faulty in 
two respects. First, In their comparative estimation : Second, 
In their flourishing only in one nation at a time. These circum 
stances might be favorable to the exertions of individual genius ; 
and they may be assigned both as causes of the universal destruc 
tion of the arts and sciences by the Gothic conquest, and as rea 
sons why we should not greatly lament that destruction. 

From the political state of mankind in the days of their an 
cient splendor it was natural that those arts which depend on the 
imagination, such as Architecture, Statuary, Painting, Eloquence 
and Poetry, should claim the highest rank in the estimation of a 
'people. In several, perhaps all of these, the ancients remain un 
rivalled. But these are not the arts which tend the most to the 
general improvement of society. A man in those days would 
have rendered more service to the world by ascertaining the true 



404 THE COLUMBIAD. 

figure and movements of the earth, than by originating a heaven 
and filling it with all the gods of Homer ; and had the expenses 
of the Egyptian pyramids been employed in furnishing ships of 
discovery and sending them out of the Mediterranean, the na. 
tions called civilized would not have been afterwards overrun by 
Barbarians. 

But the sciences of Geography, Navigation and Commerce, 
with their consequent improvements in Natural Philosophy and 
Humanity, could not, from tjie nature of things at that time, 
become objects of great encouragement or enterprise. Talent 
was therefore confined to the cultivation of arts more striking 
to the senses. As these arts were adapted to gratify the vanity 
of princes, to help carry on the sacred frauds of priests, to fire 
the ambition of heroes, or to gain causes in popular assemblies, 
they were brought to a degree of perfection which prevented 
their being relished or understood by barbarous neighbors. 

The improvements of the world therefore, whether in litera 
ture, sciences or arts, descended with the line of conquest from 
one nation to another, till the whole were concentred in 
the Roman empire. Their tendency there was to inspire a 
contempt for nations less civilized, and to teach the Romans to 
consider all mankind as the proper objects of their military de 
spotism. These circumstances prepared, thj*o a course of ages, 
and finally opened a scene of wretchedness at which the human 
mind has been taught to shudder. But some such convulsion 
seemed necessary to reduce the nations to a position capable of 
commencing regular improvements. And, however novel the 
sentiment may appear, I will venture to say that, as to the pro. 
spect of universal civilization, mankind were in a better situation 
in the time of Charlemagne than they were in the days of Au 
gustus. 

The final destruction of the Roman empire left the nations of 
Europe in circumstances similar to each other ; and their conse 
quent rivalship prevented any disproportionate refinement from 
appearing in any particular region. The principles of govern- 



NOTES. 405 

merit, firmly rooted in the Feudal System, unsocial and unphi- 
losophical as they were, laid the foundation of that balance of 
power which discourages the Cesars and Alexanders of modern 
ages from attempting the conquest of the world. 

It seems necessary that the arrangement of events in civilizing 
the world should be in the following order : fast, all parts of it 
must be considerably peopled; second, the different nations must 
be known to each other; third, their wants must be increased, 
in order to inspire a passion for commerce. The first of these 
objects was not probably accomplished till a late period. The 
second for three centuries past has been greatly accelerated. The 
third is a necessary consequence of the two former. The spirit 
of commerce is happily calculated to open an amicable inter, 
course between all countries, to soften the horrors of war, to 
enlarge the field of science, and to assimilate the manners, feel 
ings and languages of all nations. This leading principle, in its 
remoter consequences, will produce advantages in favor of free 
government, give patriotism the character of philanthropy, in. 
duce all men to regard each other as brethren and friends, and 
teach them the benefits of peace and harmony among the na 
tions. 

I conceive it no objection to this theory that the progress has 
hitherto been slow ; when we consider the magnitude of the ob 
ject, the obstructions that were to be removed, and the length 
of time taken to accomplish it. The future progress will pro. 
bably be more rapid than the past. Since the invention of print 
ing, the application of the properties of the magnet, and the 
knowledge of the structure of the solar system, it is difficult to 
conceive of a cause that can produce a new state of barbarism ; 
unless it be some great convulsion in the physical world, so ex 
tensive as to change the face of the earth or a considerable part 
of it. This indeed may have been the case already more than 
once, since the earth was first peopled with men, and antecedent 
to our histories. But such events have nothing to do with the 
present argument. 









406 THE COLUMBIAD. 

No. 48. 

Herschel ascends himself with venturous wain, 
And joins and Jlanks thy planetary train, 

Book IX. Line 601. 

The planet discovered by Herschel was called by him Georgium 
Sidus ; but in all countries except England it is named Herschel, 
and probably will be so named there after his death and that of 
the patron to whom his gratitude led him to make this extraor 
dinary dedication. 

I would observe that, besides the impropriety of giving it an 
other name than that of the discoverer, it is inconvenient to use 
a double name, or a name composed of two words. Let it be 
either George or Herschel. 

The passage referred to in this note was written before the 
discovery of the three other planets which are now added to our 
catalogue. Could my voice have weight in deciding on the names 
to be given to these new children of the sun, I would call them 
by the names of their respective discoverers, Piazzi, Gibers and 
Harding, instead of the senseless and absurd appellations of 
Ceres, Pallas and Juno. The former method would at least 
assist us in preserving the history of science ; the latter will only 
tend farther to confuse a very ancient mythology which is al 
ready extremely confused, and increase the difficulty of follow 
ing the faint traces of real knowledge that seems couched under 
the mass of that mythology ; traces which may one day lead to 
many useful truths in philosophy and morals. 

No. 49. 

To luild on ruin'd realms the shrine of fame, 
And load his numbers with a tyrant's name. 

Book X. Line 261. 

A most useful book might be written on this subject. It 
should be a Review of Poets and Historians, as to the moral 



NOTES. 407 

and political tendency of their works. It should likewise treat 
of the importance of the task assigned to these two classes of 
writers. It might attempt to point out the true object they 
ought to have in view ; perhaps do this with such clearness and 
energy as to gain the attention of writers as well as readers, and 
thus serve in some measure as a guide to future historians and 
poets. At least it would prove a guide to readers ; and by 
teaching them how to judge, and what to praise or blame in the 
accounts of human actions, whether real or fictitious, the public 
taste would be reformed by degrees. In this case the recorders 
of heroic actions, as well as the authors of them, would find it 
necessary to follow this reform, or they must necessarily fail of 
obtaining the celebrity to which they all aspire. 

I think every person who will give himself the trouble to form 
ah opinion on the manner in which actions, called heroic, have 
been recorded, must find it faulty ; and must lament, as one of 
the misfortunes of society, that writers of these two classes al. 
niost universally, from Homer down to Gibbon, have led astray 
the moral sense of man. In this view we may say in general of 
poets and historians, as we do of their heroes, that they have 
injured the cause of humanity almost in proportion to the fame 
they have acquired. 

I would not be understood by this observation to mean that 
such writers have done no good. Even the works of Homer, 
which have caused more mischief to mankind than those of any 
other, have likewise been a fruitful source of a certain species 
of benefits. They elevate the mind of every reader ; they have 
called forth great exertions of genius in poets, artists, philoso 
phers and heroes, thro a long succession of ages. But it re 
mains to be considered what a fruitful source they have likewise 
been of those false notions of honor and erroneous systems of 
policy which have governed the actions of men from his day to 
ours. 

If, instead of the Iliad, he had given us a work of equal 
Splendor founded on an opposite principle ; whose object should 



408 THE COLUMBIAD. 

have been to celebrate the useful arts of agriculture and naviga 
tion; to build the immortal fame of his heroes, and occupy his 
whole hierarchy of gods, on actions that contribute to the real 
advancement of society, instead of striking away every founda 
tion on which society ought to be established or can be greatly 
advanced ; mankind, enriched with such a work at that early 
period, would have given a useful turn to their ambition thro 
all succeeding ages. 

It is not easy to conceive how different the state of nations 
would have been at this day from what we now find it, had such 
a bent been given to the pursuits of genius, and such glory cast 
upon actions truly worthy of imitation. I have treated this 
subject more at large in the third chapter of Advice to the Prz- 
vileged Orders. 

But it will be asked how this kind of censure can attach to 
the writers of history, whose business is to invent nothing, to 
confine themselves to the simple narration of facts, and relate the 
actions of men, not as they should be, but as they are. This is 
inded a part of the duty of the historian ; but it is not his whole 
duty. His narrative should be clear and simple ; but he should 
likewise develop the political and moral tendency of the trans, 
actions he details. 

In reviewing actions or doctrines which favor despotism, in 
justice, false morals or political errors, he should not suffer 
them to pass without an open and well supported censure. He 
should show how the authors of such actions might have con 
ducted themselves and succeeded in gaining the celebrity which 
they sought, by doing good instead of harm to the age and coun 
try where they acquired their fame. 

The history of human actions, in a political view, has gene 
rally been the history of human errors. The writers who have 
given it to us do not appear to have been sensible of this. How 
then are young readers to be sensible of it? Their minds are 
still to be formed; and those who are destined for public life 
must in a great measure take their bias from the study of his- 



NOTES. 409 

tory. Put history in general, to answer the purpose of sound 
instruction to the future guides of nations, must be rewritten. 
For example : among the hundred historians who have treated 
of what is called the Roman Republic I know not one who has 
told us this important fact, that Rome never had a republic. 
The same may be said of Athens, and of several other turbulent 
associations of men in former ages. And it is for want of this 
attention or this knowledge in the writers of their histories, that 
the republican principle of government is so generally associated, 
even at this day, with the idea of insurrection, anarchy and the 
desire of conquest. Whereas it is in fact the want of the repub 
lican principle, not the practice of it, which has occasioned all 
the insurrections, anarchy and desire of conquest, that have 
disturbed the order of society both in ancient and modern times. 

Again : in relating the destruction of Carthage, a measure 
which the zealous patriots, both before and after, considered so 
essential to the glory of the Roman state, and which has immor 
talized so many heroes as the authors and projectors of that de 
struction, I believe no historian has told us that the disease, 
decay and downfal of Rome itself were occasioned by that mea 
sure, and must be dated from that epoch ; and that the actions 
of Regulus and Scipio, the themes of universal applause, were 
really more injurious to their country than those of Marius and 
Sylla, the objects (and justly so) of universal detestation. 

If these principles had been understood by Polybius and his 
successors in the brilliant heritage of history, and had been pro 
perly impressed on the minds of their readers, we should not 
have heard old Cato's vociferation delenda est Carthago applied 
to the American states'by an orator of the British parliament, 
as we did during the war ; because every member of that parlia 
ment must have understood that the prosperity of these states 
would be highly advantageous to Britain, from the extensive 
commercial intercourse that the relative situation of the two 
countries required. Neither should we see at this day the French 
and English nations seeking to impoverish and extirpate each 



410 THE GOLUMBIAD. 

other ; each of them entertaining the erroneous and absurd opi. 
nion that its own prosperity is to be increased by the adversity 
of its neighbor. We should have learned long ago from the 
plain dictates of reason, instead of having it beat into us some 
ages hence by costly experience, that the true dignity of a state 
is in the happiness of its members ; and that their happiness is 
best promoted by the pursuit of industry at home and the free 
exchange of their productions abroad. 

We should have perceived the real and constant interest that 
every nation has in the prosperity of its neighbors, instead of 
their destruction. France would have perceived that the wealth 
of the English would be beneficial to her, by enabling them to 
receive and pay for more of her produce. England would have 
seen the same thing with regard to the French ; and such would 
have been the sentiments of other nations reciprocally and 
universally. 

I know I must be called an extravagant theorist if I insinuate 
that all these good things would have resulted from having his. 
tory well written and poetry well conceived. No man will 
doubt however that such would have been the tendency ; nor 
can we deny that the contrary has resulted, at least in some 
degree, from the manner in which such writings have been com. 
posed. And why should we write at all, if not to benefit man. 
kind? The public mind, as well as the individual mind, re. 
ceives its propensities : it is equally the creature of habit. Na. 
tions are educated, like a single child. They only require a 
longer time and a greater number of teachers. 

No. 50. 

For thatjine apologue, in mystic strain, 
Cave like the rest a go/den age to man t 

Book X. Line 393. 

Absurdities in speculative opinion are commonly considered 
as innocent things; and we are told every day that they are 



NOTES. 411 

not worth refuting. So far as opinions are sure to rest merely 
in speculation, and cannot in any degree become practical, this 
is doubtless the proper way of treating them. But there are 
few opinions of this dormant and indifferent kind, especially 
among those that become general and classical among the na 
tions. 

The activity of such, tho imperceptible; is extensive. They 
get wrought into our intellectual existence, and govern our 
modes of acting as well as thinking. The interest of society 
therefore requires that they should be scrutinized, and that such 
as are erroneous should be exposed, in order to be rejected; 
when their place may be supplied by truth and reason, which 
nourish the mind and accelerate the progress of improvement. 

Among the absurd notions which early turned the heads of the 
teachers of mankind, and which are so ridiculous as generally 
to escape our censure, is that of a Golden Age ; or the idea that 
men were more perfect, more moral and more happy in some 
early stage of their intercourse, before they cultivated the earth 
and formed great societies. 

The author of Don Quixote has played his artillery upon this 
doctrine to very good effect; he has summoned against it all 
the force of our contempt by making it the text of one of the 
gravest discourses of his hero. But my sensibility is such on 
moral and political errors, as rarely to be satisfied with the 
weapon of ridicule; tho I know it to be one of the most 
mortal of intellectual weapons. 

The notion that the social state of men cannot ameliorate, 
that they have formerly been better than they now are, and that 
they are continually growing worse, is pregnant with infinite 
mischief. I know no doctrine in the whole labyrinth of im. 
posture that has a more immoral tendency. It discourages the 
efforts of all political virtue; it is a constant and practical apo 
logy for oppression, tyranny, despotism, in every shape, in 
every corner of society, as well as from the throne, the pulpit, 
the tribunal and the camp. It inculcates the belief that igno- 



412 THE COLUMBIAD. 

ranee is better than knowledge ; that war and violence are more 
natural than industry and peace ; that deserts and tombs are 
more glorious than joyful cities and cultivated fields. 

One of the most operative means of bringing forward our im 
provements and of making mankind wiser and better than they 
are, is to convince them that they are capable of becoming so. 
Without this conviction they may indeed improve slowly, un* 
steadily and almost imperceptibly, as they have done within the 
period in which our histories arc able to trace them. But this 
conviction, impressed on the minds of the chiefs and teachers of 
nations, and inculcated in their schools, would greatly expedite 
our advancement in public happiness and virtue. Perhaps it 
would in a great measure insure the world against any future 
shocks and retrograde steps, such as heretofore it has often 
experienced. 



POSTSCRIPT. 

A AM well aware that some readers will be dissatisfied in 
certain instances with my orthography. Their judgments are 
respectable ; and as it is not a wanton deviation from ancient 
usage on my part, the subject may justify a moment's retro, 
spect from this place. Since we have arrived at the end of a 
work that has given me more pleasure in the composition than 
it probably will in its reception by the public, they must 
pardon me if I thus linger awhile in taking leave. It is a fa- 
vorite object of amusement as well as labor, which I cannot 
hope to replace. 

Our language is constantly and rapidly improving. The un 
exampled progress of the sciences and arts for the last thirty years 
has enriched it with a great number of new words, which are 
now become as necessary to the writer as his ancient mother 
tongue. The same progress which leads to farther extensions 
of ideas will still extend the vocabulary ; and our neology must 
and will keep pace with the advancement of our knowledge. 
Hence will follow a closer definition and more accurate use of 
words, with a stricter attention to their orthography. 

Such innovations ought undoubtedly to be admitted with 
caution ; and they will of course be severely scrutinized by 
men of letters. A language is public property, in the most ex 
tensive sense of the word ; and readers as well as writers are its 
guardians. But they ought to have no objection to improving 
the estate as it passes thro their hands, by making a liberal tho 
rigid estimate of what may be offered as ameliorations. Same 



414 THE COLUMBIAD.- 

respectable philologists have proposed a total and immediate 
reform of our orthography and even of our alphabet; but the 
great body of proprietors in this heritage are of opinion that 
the attempt would be less advantageous than the slow and cer 
tain improvements which are going forward, and which will ne 
cessarily continue to attend the active state of our literature. 

We have long since laid aside the Latin diphthongs ce and OK 
in common English words, and in some proper names tho not in 
all. Uniformity in this respect is desirable and will prevail. 
Names of that description which occur in this work I have 
therefore written with the simple vowel, as Cesar ', Phenida, Etna, 
Medea. 

Another class of our words are in a gradual state of reform. 
They are those Latin nouns ending in or, which having past 
thro France on their way from Rome, changed their o into eu. 
The Norman English writers restored the Latin o, but retained 
the French u; and tho the latter has been since rejected in most 
of these words, yet in others it is still retained by many writers. 
It is quite useless in pronunciation ; and propriety as well as 
analogy requires that the reform should be carried thro. No 
writer at this day retains the u in actor, author, emperor and 
the far greater part, perhaps nine tenths, of this class of nouns ; 
why then should it be continued in the few that remain, such 
as labor t honor ? The most accurate authors reject it in all 
these, and 1 have followed the example. 

I have also respectable authorities in prose as well as poetry 
for expunging the three last letters in though and through; they 
being totally disregarded in pronunciation and awkward in ap 
pearance. The long sound of o in many words, as go,Jro, puts 
it out of doubt with respect to tko; and its sound of oo, which 
frequently occurs, as in prove, move, is an equal justification of 
thro. All the British poets, from Pope downwards, and several 
eminent prose writers, including Shaftsbury and Staunton, have 
by their practice supported this orthography. 

Some verbs in the past tense, where the usual ending in ed \ 



NOTES. 415 

harsh and uncouth, have long ago changed it for t, as fixt, 
capt, meant, past, blest. Poetry has extended this innovatiou 
to many other verbs which are necessarily uttered with the 
sound of t, tho in prose they may still retain for a while their 
ancient ed. I consider this reform as a valuable improvement 
in the language, because it brings a numerous class of words to 
be written as they are spoken ; and the proportion of the re 
formed ones is already so considerable that analogy, or regularity 
of conjugation, requires us to complete the list. I have not 
carried this reform much farther than other poets have done 
before me. Examples might perhaps be found for nearly all 
the instances in which I have indulged it, such as perisht, as* 
tonisht, tho I have not been solicitous to seek them. The cor 
rection might well be extended to several remaining verbs of the 
same class ; but it is difficult in this particular case to fix the 
proper limit. 

With regard to the apostrophe, as employed to mark the 
elision in the past tense of verbs, I have followed the example 
of the most accurate poets ; who use it where the verb in the 
present tense does not end in e, as furl'd, because the ed would 
add a syllable and destroy the measure. But where the present 
tense ends in e, it is retained in the past with the d, as robed, 
because it does not add a syllable. 

The letter k we borrowed from the Greek, and the c from the 
Latin. The power of each of these letters at the end of a word 
is precisely the same ; and the power of one is the same as that 
of both. Yet our early writers placed them both at the end of 
certain words, with the c before the , as mtisick, pullick ; why 
they did not put the k first, as being the most ancient character, 
does not appear. Modern authors have rejected the k at the 
end of this class of words ; and no correct writer will think of 
replacing such an inconvenient appendage. 

The idea of putting a stop to innovation in a living language 
is absurd, unless we put a stop to thinking. When a language 
becomes fixt it becomes a dead language. Men must leave it 



416 THE COLUMBIAD. 

for a living one, in which they can express their ideas with all 
their changes, extensions and corrections. The duty of the 
critic in this case is only to keep a steady watch over the inno 
vations that are offered, and require a rigid conformity to the 
general principles of the idiom. Noah Webster, to whose phi 
lological labors our language will be much indebted for its 
purity and regularity, has pointed out the advantages of a 
steady course of improvement^- and how it ought to be conducted. 
The Preface to his new Dictionary is an able performance. He 
might advantageously give it more development, with some cor 
rection, and publish it as a Prospectus to the great work he 
now has in hand. 

The uniform tendency of our language is towards simplicity 
as well as regularity. With this view the final e, in words 
where it is quite silent and useless, is dropping off, and will 
* soon disappear. Having long since resigned the place it held in, 
the greater part of these words, as joy e, ruine, and more recently 
in some others, it must finally quit the remainder where it is 
still found a superfluous letter, as active, decisive, determine. 

We may even hazard a prediction that our whole class of ad 
jectives ending in ous will be reformed and brought nearer to 
their pronunciation by rejecting the o. A similar change may 
be expected in words ending in ss. These words have already 
undergone one reform : they were formerly written with a final 
f, as wiLdernesse. They have lost the e because it was useless ; 
and as the final s has now become equally useless, it might be 
dismissed with as little violence to the language. But these 
two projected innovations have not yet been ventured upon in 
any degree ; and it is not desirable to be the first in so daring 
an enterprise, when it is not immediately important. 



INDEX 



TO PASSAGES IN THIS POEM BY PROPER NAMES. 



[The Roman Numerals refer to the Book, the Arabic to the Line.] 



ABERCROMBJE, v, 250 

Abraham, v, 205 

Acadia, v, 256, 309 

Adams, v, 455. vi, 503 

Adria, ix, 564. x, 172 

Adriatic, ix, 534 

Afric, i, 488. iv, gi, 615. viii, 
194,321, 385. x, 53 

Ai, viii, 680 

Ajax, vii, 582 

Albania, v, 101 

Albemarle, v, 351 

Albion, i, 495. iv> 89, 115, 
171, 227, 245. v, 157, 231, 
235, 327, 817. vi, 615. vii, 
93, 118,168,319,333,469, 
737. ix, 537. x, 163 

Alcides, ii, 151 

Alfred, ix, 537 

Alleganies, i, 316. v, 6l, l6l 

Alps, i, 194, 367, 602. iv, 108. 
viii, 271 

Amazonia, iii, 319 

Amherst, v, 255 



Ammon, ix, 392 

Anadir, ii, 175 

Anarch, viii, 163 

Andes, i, 258, 340, 365, 418, 

424. iii, 10, 308, 384. v, 66. 

viii, 271 

Anspach, vi, 267. vii, 742 
Apalachia, v, 35O 
Arab, x, 227 
Arctic, ii, 175 
Arkansa, i, 719 
Arnold, vi, 359, 549, 586, 599, 

699. vii, 283 
Asia, i, 351. x, 43, 176 
Athens, ix, 659 
Athos, vi, 312 
Atlantic, i, 21, 118, 146. iv, 

363. v, 38, 376. vii, HO. x, 

58, 61, 183, 629 
Atlas, i, 149, 342. viii, 193 
Austria, v, 659, 679 
Avernus, ix, 350 
Azonto, iii, 490 
Azores, x, 1 68 



418 



INDEX. 



Babel, ix, 332. x, 383 
Babylon, ix, 333 
Bacon, ix, 617 
Bahia, i, 426 
Baltic, vii, 104. x, 161 
Baltimore, iv, 639. v, 106 
Barbary, vi, 10. viii, 239 
Bartholemy, iv, 236 
Batavia, iv, 243. vii, 91 
Baum, vi, 477 
Bedford, v, 503 
Behren, ii, 179. x. 19, 179 
Belgia, v, 219 
Belus, ix, 125 
Bemus, vi, 337 
Bennington, vi, 294 
Biron, vii, 397, 586 
Biscay, ix, 563 
Black, i, 717 

Bland, v, 663 

Blount, viii, 269 

Bologna, ix, 541 

Bosphorus, i, 387 

Boston, v, 103, 725 

Bothnian, ix, 564 

Bourbon, iv, 240. vii, 5, 85. 
viii, 612 

Bovadilla, ii, 303 

Boyle, ii, 304 

Boyne, viii, 597 

Braddock, v, 16O, 173,240 

Brama, ix, 125 

Brazilla, i, 396. x, 59 

Breyman, vi, 388, 478 

Bristol, vi, 256 



Britain, v, 258, 422, 557, 780. 
vi, 4, 237, 265. vii, 55, 41 6, 
653. viii, 667 

Britannia, v, 253, 287, 381, 
494, 553, 808. vi, 480, 603, 
689. vii, 172, 307, 56 1. viii, 
596, 615, 627. ix, 544 
Brooks, vi, 560 
Brown, vi, 503. viii, 637 
Brunswick, vi, 265. vii, 740 
Bunker, v, 545. viii, 623 
Burgoyne, vi, 280, 350, 364, 

579, 707 
Butler, vii, 178 

Caledonia, vi, 268 
California, vi, 188. x, 180 
Calisto, i, 72 
Calpe, viii, 611. ix, 423, 477. 

x, 171 

Cambodia, iv. 94. x, 43 
Cambridge, ix, 544 
Campbell, vii, 363 
Canaan, i, 176, 182. viii, 677 
Canada, v, 125, 309 
Canadia, i, 755. vi, 348, 367, 

506 

Canaries, x, 168 
Capac, ii, 415, 460, 507, 558, 

586, 599, 607. iii, 25, 48, 

477, 541, 561, 629, 674, 

77, 815 
Carleton, vi, 685 
Carnatic, vii, 99 
Carolina, vii, 255 



INDEX. 



Carthage, ix, 355 

Caspian, i, 638 

Castile, i, 31 

Catuba, i, 386 

Cesar, iv, 109. v, 391, x, 328 

Champlain, v, 58, 726. vi, 281 

Chaos, ix, 47 

Charles, i, 547. iv, 101. ix, 535 

Charleston, v, 108. vii, 211 

Charlestown, v, 503, 543 

Chatham, viii, 610 

Chaucer, ix, 545 

Cheesman, v, 803 

Chesapeak, iv, 271, 541. v, 
348. vii, 459, 565 

Chili, x, 182 

China, x, 41 

Clinton, v. 621. vii, 137 

Cobb, vii, 577 

Coburn, vi, 503 

Cochabamba, i, 426 

Colchis, iv, 272. v, 693. viii, 
130 

Columbia, i, 230. T, 344, 379, 
743. vi, 380, 587, 695. vii, 
36, 123, 134, 450, 734. viii, 
449 

Columbus, i, 51, 185,319,431, 
504, 636. ii, 1, 296, 351, 
449. iv, 31, 307. v, 1, 25, 
21 1,288, 333, 453,471, 569, 
799. vi, 86. vii, 117, 415, 
467, 571. viii, 431. ix, 20, 
471. x, 33, 339, 495 

Compo, vi, 351 



Connecticut, v, 363 

Cook, x, 18 

Copernicus, ix, 587, 605 

Copley, viii, 605 

Cornwallis, vii^ 219, 254, 278, 

418,569,725 
Cortez, ii, 323, 407 
Cosmo, iv, 128 
Cotopaxa, i, 377 
Courtlandt, vi, 560 
Cressy, viii, 597 
Crillon, vii, 87 
Croix, i, 715 
Croton, v, 852 
Crownpoint, v, 249 
Cusco, i, 374. ii, 403, 427,433. 

. Hi, 8, 681 

Cyclop, i. 348. v, 489 
Cynthia, i, 701. ix, 7 

Danbury, v, 506 
Danube, v, 222. x, 232 
Darien, i, 221. x, 203 
Darmstadt, vi, 267 
Dartmouth, viii, 504 
Davidson, vii, 268 
Dearborn, v, 804. vi, 501 . vii, 577 
Degrasse, vii, 471, 697 
Deimen, x, 22, 1 78 
Dekalb, vii, 265 
Delaware, i, 541. iv, 531, 537. 
v, 91, 337, 359. vi,97, 190, 

203, 247. vii, 41 1 
Descartes, ix, 6l 1 
Dickinson, v, 433 



420 



INDEX. 



Dodona, vi, 324 
Dominicans, iv, 201 
Douro, x, 167 
Drake, i, 497. x, 18 
Drave, ix, 563 
Duna, v, 683 
Dwight, viii, 673 

Edward, vi, 284. viii, 601 

Egypt, ix, 397 

Elba, x, ]6l, 233 

Eleusis, vi, 325 

Elk, vii, 412 

Elliott, vii, 89. viii, 612 

Elysium, ix, 233 

Enceladus, i, 559 

England, iv, 629 

Erasmus, iv, 135 

Erie, i, 641. vi, 371 

Erin, vii, 739 

Esopus, v, 507 

Ethiop, viii, 423 

Etna, v, 489- vii, 542, 636 

Euphrates, ix, 113 

Europa, i, 232. viii, 269 

Europe, i, 71, 194, 293, 688. 
ii, 125. iv, 67, 102, 1 67, 193, 
242, 397. v, 23, 215, 677, 
691. vi, 374, 590. vii, 13, 
101,381. viii, 377, 383,496. 
ix, 447, 551. x, 51, 61, 139, 
229 

Eutaw, vii, 315 

Euxine, viii, 114 



Fairfield, v, 504 

Falmouth, v, 499 

Fayette, v, 681. vii, 595 

Ferdinand, i, 37 

Finland, ix, 477 

Flatbusb, v, 823 

Fleury, vii, 178 

Floridia, i, 773. v, 36 

France, v, 164, 258. vii, 6l, 79, 

94, 384, 592 

Francis, i, 720. iv, 106. vi, 498 
Franklin, v, 425. viii, 551 
Frazer, vi, 395, 413, 479, 487 
Frederic, iv. 157 

Gaine, vii, 377 

Gallia, iv, 233. v., 149. vii, 2, 86 

Gama, i, 488 

Gambia, x, 166 

Ganges, 1, 353. iv, 93. ix, 114, 

258 

Garonne, v. 683 
Gasca, iv, 27 
Gates, v, 62O. vi, 337, 563. vii, 

267 
Gaul, iv, 106. v, 124, 239, 25 4, 

681. vii, 457. ix, 536. x, 163 
George, vi, 285 
Germania, ix, 542 
Gloster, vii, 419, 587 
Godfrey, viii, 582 
Gothard, v, 66l 
Got tinge, ix, 543 
Graves, vii, 469 
Greece, ii, 145. v, 694. vi, 318, 



INDEX. 



421 



595. viii, 96, 110. ix, 356, 

308, 375, 386, 627 
Greene, v, 599. vii, 271, 285, 

321, 371 
Gregory, vii, 269 
Grenada, i, 791 
Groton, v, 504 

Hagar, ix, 560 

Halle, ix, 543 

Hamilton, vii, 579 

Hampton, vii, 377 

Hancock, v, 456 

Hanniel, viii, 679 

Hanse, ix, 565 

Harlem, v, 823 

Hartford, i, 543. vii, 409 

Harvard, viii, 500 

Hatreras, iv, 267 

Heartly, vi, 425, 62O 

Heath, v, 6ll 

Hellespont, ii, 149. vi, 311. ix, 
524 

Hellgate, v, 812 

Hemodia, i, 352 

Henry, iv, 169. v, 431 

Herkimer, vi, 342, 505, 523, 
533 

Hermes, ix, 392 

Herschel, ix, 601 

Hesper, i, 147, 185, 473, 539- 
ii, 2, 32, 213, 376, 457. iv, 
31. v, 25, 453. vi, 79, 177, 
200, 209, 232. vii, 9. viii, 



192, 203, 459. ix, 1, 309. x, 

1, 79. 627 
Hesperia, i, 229. ii, 503. iv, 

321. v, 33, 561. vi, 177,245. 

vii, 22, 334, 457. viii, 433. 

x, 20 

Hessia, vi, 266. vii, 741 
Hibernia, x, 164 
Hispania, x, 165 
Holland, vi, 11. vii, 94 
Homer, iv, 189. ix, 126 
Hosmer, v, 447 
Howard, iv, 247 
Howe, v, 815. vi, 31, 87. vii, 

127, 137 
Hudson, i, 338, 542, 749. v, 

59, 99> 362. vi, 93, 295, 460. 

vii, 133, 171,410. x, 216 
Hull, vi, 56o. vii, 177 
Humphreys, viii, 685 
Hungaria, iv, 120 
Huron, i, 649. vi, 269, 53O, 

540 

.Hyder, vii, 97 
Hymen, vi, 443, 458 

Iberia, i, 6 

Ilion, ii, 209. vi, 592. ix, 122 

Illinois, i, 718 

India, i, 460, 486. ix, 257, 423 

Indostan, vii, 95. x, 44 

Indus, i, 353. iv, 93 

Inquisition, iv, 203. viii, 533 

Iris, i, 647 



422 



INDEX. 



Iroquois, vi, 372 
Isabella, i, 122 
Ista, i, 382 
Ithacus, vii, 582 

Jackson, vii, 377 
Jacob, i, 172. viii; 678 
James, i, 518. v, 107. vii, 430. 

viii, 502 

Jason, iv, 273. viii, 115 
Java, vi, 12 
Jay, v, 435 
Jefferson, v, 457 
Jersey, vi, 88, 233. vii, 13O 
Jerusalem, ii, 252 
John, x, 500 

Johnson, vi, 38$, 51 1, 526, 607 
Jove, i, 234, 34p. viii, 98, 314. 

ix, 299, 426, 599 

Kaatskill, i, 341. v, 60 

Kenhawa, viii, 412 

Kenebec, i. 549. v, 57 

Kepler, ix, 595 

Kiel, ix, 543 

Knox, v, 665. vii, 574 

Kosciusko, v, 682. vi, 557 

Lahogiie, viii, 597 

Lama, ix, 249 

Langdon, v, 432 

Las Casas, iv, 17 

Laud, iv, 629 

Laurence, i, 314, 552, 567, 



640. v, 35, 123, 264, 496, 

753. vi, 261 

Laurens, v, 436, 624. vii, 577 
Lear, viii, 599 
Leda, v, 693 
Lee, vii, 377 
Leo, iv, 128 
Ley den, ix, 543 
Lima, i, 285 
Lincoln, v, 607. vi, 339, 483, 

493. vii, 210, 239, 573, 769 
Litchfield, vii, 409 
Livingston, v, 435 
Lombards, ix, 534 
Lorenzo, iv, 124 
Louisiana, v, 129 
Loyola, iv, 173 
Lucinda, vi, 427, 438, 444, 617, 

642, 644, 660 
Luther, iv, 147 

Macdougal, v, 621 
Macedon, vi, 3 1 5 
Mackensie, x, 59, 219 
Macpherson, v, 803 
Madagascar, i, 487 
Madera, i, 391 
Magellan, i, 446 
Maine, 5,331 

Manhattan, v, 811. viii, 503 
Marathon, ix, 366 
Maragnon, i, 366, 407 
Marion, v, 623. vii, 373 
Mary, iv, 228, 630 



INDEX. 



423 



Mason, v, 43 1 

Mecca, ix, 278 

Medea, iv, 281 

Meigs, v, 804. vii, 178 

Melancthon, iv, l6l 

Memphis, ix, 123, 335, 659 

Mercer, v, 613. vi, 249 

Mexic, i, 783. ii, 253 

Michael, v, 279 

Michigan, i, 650 

Mifflin, v, 614 

Minorca, vii, 88 

Minos, ix, 299 

Missisippi, i, 679. v, 128, viii, 

415. x, 223 

Missouri, i, 722. vi. 189. x, 216 
Mobile, i, 313 
Mohawk, vi, 294, 370, 651, 

653. x, 213 
Moine, i, 720 
Moloch, vi, 9 
Monmouth, v, 360. vii, 135, 

170 

Monongahela, v, 166, 594 
Montezuma, ii, 268, 337 
Montgomery, v, 604, 747, 775, 

798. vi, 350. viii, 59, 622 
Morgan, v, 626, 804. vi, 559. 

vii, 266 

Moultrie, v, 625 
Moxoe, i, 425. x, 207 
Moylan, v, 663 
Mystic, i, 547 

Napo, i, 378 



Narraganset, v, 365 

Nash, v, 435. vii, 123 

Negro, i, 387 

Neister, x, 233 

Nelson, vii, 574 

Nereids, i, 712 

Nevilcross, viii, 597 

Newport, v, 104. vii, 403 

Newton, ix, 596 

Newyork, v, 99, 507, 807. vi, 

29. vii, 169 
Niagara, i, 643 
Nile, i, 380. viii, 421. ix, 114, 

287, 382, 524. x, 172, 555 
Nineveh, ix, 335 
Ninus, ix, 34Q 
Norfolk, v, 508. vii, 441 
Norwalk, v, 505 

Obi, x, 231 

Oconee, v, 358 

Oder, x, 233 

Odin, ix, 300 

Oella, ii, 416, 492, 575, 586, 

606. iii, 698, 858 
Ohio, i, 716. v, 133 
Olympus, vi, 320. x, 256 
Ontario, i, 314, 637. v, 156. vi, 

368 

Orinoco, i, 246, 383 
Orpheus, viii, 119 
Ossa, vi, 321 
Oswego, v, 155 
Ovando, i, 466. ii, 304 
Oxonia, ix, 544 



424 



INDEX. 



Palfrey, i, 627 

Palmyra, ix, 3 89 

Pambamarca, i, 375. viii, 2p3 

Pamlico, v, 352 

Pandora, viii, 35Q 

Paraguay, i, 436. iii, 321. iv, 

183 

Paria, i, 248. ii, 98 
Pastaza, i, 375 
Patapsco, i, 521. v, 105 
Patmos, ii, 246 
Pavia, iv, 109 
Peekskill, vii, 175 
Peleus, vi, 597 
Pelides, vi, 59! 
Pelion, vi, 320 
Pendleton, v, 43 1 
Penn, iv, 640. v, 92, 338. viii, 

501 

Pennsylvania, vii, 121 
Pensacola, v, 31O 
Peru, i, 254. ii, 4OO. x, 206 
Peruvia, ii, 491. iii, 856 
Peter, i, 714 
Pharaoh, ix, 128 
Phenicia, i, 231 
Philip, iv, 225 

Phillips, vi, 383, 577. vii, 282 
Phlegethon, vii, 512 
Pickins, vii, 374 
Pinckney, vii, 3. 77 
Piscateway, i, 548 
Pisgah, i, 175, 181 
Pisuerga, i, 34 
Pizarro, ii, 410 



Plata, i, 438. x, 182 

Plutus, vi, 22 

Plymouth, iv, 637 

Pocahontas, iv, 285 

Pohatan, iv, 301 

Pomona, i, 791 

Pompey, x, 328 

Pontic, x, 52 

Pontus, x, 172 

Potosi, i, 437 

Potowmak, i, 524. iv, 562. vii, 

443 

Powell, vi, 569 
Princeton, vi, 241. viii, 50O 
Prometheus, i, 347. iv, 449 > 

473. v, 675 

Proteus, ix, 621. x, 306 
Purus, i, 390 

Putnam, v, 563, 615. viii, 624 
Pyrenees, 1, 193 
Pythian, vi, 323 

Quebec, v, 153, 266, 75& viii, 

620 
Quito, i, 254. ii, 401, 43 1* .461 

Raleigh, iv, 252, 524 
Randolph, v, 406 
Rappahanok, i, 520 
Rawdon, vii, 277 
Reading, v, 5O5 
Regulus, viii, 595 
Reidesel, vi, 387, 573 
Rhine, v, 221. x, 162,232 
Rhode Island, viii, 506 



INDEX. 



425 



Rhone, i, 36S 

Richmond, v, 107- vii, 440 

Ridgefield, vi, 351 

Rittenhouse, viii, 569 

Roanoke, v, 349 

Rocha, iii, 29, 115, 199, 7<>7> 

716, 754, 796 
Rochambeau, vii, 389 
Rodney, v, 432 
Rome, ii, 207. v > 389- viii, 369, 

376. ix, 398, 427, 659 
Rouge, i, 720 
Rubicon, v, 390 
Rush, v, 432 
Russia, x, 50 
Rutledge, v, 436 

Salem, x, 506 

Samson, ix, 613 

Santee, v, 353 

Saratoga, vi, 459 

Sarmatia, v, 682 

Savanna, v, 357. vn . 20 9 

Scammel, vi, 562. vii, 575, 707 

Schuylkill, vii, 412 

Seleucia, ix, 387 

Senegal, x, 166 

Semiramis, v, 96 

Sheldon, v, 663 

Shetland, i, 586 

Siam, x, 43 

Sicilia, i, 560 . 

Silly, vi, 562 

Sinclair, v, 614. vi, 289 

Slave, v, 3 1 0.x, 221 



Small wood, vii, 266 

Solyman, iv, 117 

South Sea, iv, 346 

Spain, i, 40, 195. iv, 87, 99, 

201, 247. vi, 8. vii, 86, 94. 

ix, 533 

Sparta, ii, 208. vi, 328 
Specht, vi, 388, 573 
Starke, vi, 341, 473, 484 
Steuben, v, 703 
Stillwater, vi, 297 
Stirling, v, 619, 824 
Stonypoint, vii, 207 
Stuart, vii, 309. viii, 637 
Sullivan, v, 620, 824 
Sumner, vii, 374 
Sumter, v, 625. vii, 373 
Superior, i, 652. x, 217 
Susan, i, 629 
Susquehanna, i, 522 
Syracuse, ix, 355 

Tago, iv, 89. x, 167 
Tarleton, vii, 279, 585 
Tartaria, ii, 187. x, 2O 
Taurus, i, 352 
Taylor, viii, 636 
Tell, v, 635 
Tempe, vi, 322 
Texel, x, 162 

Thebes, vi, 316. ix, 116, 335 
Thessalia, vi, 316 
Thetis, i, 711 
Thomson, v, 434 
Thorn, ix, 575 
2p 



426 



INDEX. 



Thrace, vi, 310, 3lQ 

Tiber, ix, 525 

Tibet, x, 41 

Ticouderoga, vi, 283 

Tigris, i, 381 

Tilghman, vii, 5/7 

Titan, viii, 305. 319. x, 258 

Tobago, viii, 487 

Toconnok, v, 361 

Tombut, ii, 98 

Topavo, i 396 

Trenton, vi, 93 236 

Trinacria, v, 488 

Trophonius, vi, 226 

Troy, vi, 598 

Trumbull, viii, 619, 663 

Tuscan, iv, 123. ix, 597 

Tyre, ii, 145, 209. ix,355, 659 

Ucayla, i, 373 
Upsal, ix, 543 
Uri, v, 656 

Valladolid, i, 33 

Valois, iv, 239 

Valverde iv, 23 

Vancouvre, x, 21 

Venice, iv, 76 

Venus, ix, 8 

Vernon, vii, 444 

Viomimil, vii, 393, 593 

Virginia, i, 511. iv, 535. vii, 

295, 420, 563 
Volga, x, 231 



Wabash, v, 1 27 

Warren, v, 573. vii, 709. viii, 
625 

Washington, v, 241, 415, 587, 
702, 717, 825. vi, 89, 235, 
248. vii, 151, 163,299,375, 
391,455, 567,681,755 

Wayne, v, 617. vii, 179 

West, viii, 587 

White, i, 333, 340 

Williams, vii, 363 

Williamson, vii, 269 

Wisconsin, i, 714 

Wittemburgh, iv, 159 

Wolcott, v, 441 

Wolfe, v, 257, 263, 20, 756, 
799. viii, 596 

Wolsey, iv, ill 

Wooster, v, 612 

Wright, viii, 647 

Wythe, v, 431 

Xaraya, i, 435. iii, 322 
Xerxes, vi, 309 
Ximenes, iv, 97 

Yale, viii, 50O 

Yazoo, i, 717 

York, i, 517- vii, 419, 566, 627 

Zamor, iii, 439, 516, 585, 651, 

765, 790, 844 
Zembla, x, J78 
Zingus, i, 393. 



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SIR JOHN FROISS ARTS CHRONICLES 

>f ENGLAVp, FRANCE, SPAIN, and 'he adjoining Conn 
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the Coronation of Henry IV. Newly translated from 
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