cotton-bales to the rear. They cut them open and used the layers of
cotton for beds.
AFTER THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
The British troops had retreated before the savage crackling of the
Tennessee and Kentucky rifles. The American artillery, which had
continued to play upon the British batteries, ceased their fire for the
guns to cool and the dense smoke to roll away.
The whole American Army crowded in triumph to the parapet, and looked
over into the field.
What a scene was gradually disclosed to them! The plain was covered and
heaped with the British dead and wounded. The American soldiers, to
their credit be it repeated, were appalled and silenced at the sight
before them.
Dressed in their gay uniforms, cleanly shaven and attired for the
promised victory and triumphal entry into New Orleans, these stalwart
men lay on the gory field frightful examples of the horrors of war.
Strangely did they contrast with those ragged, begrimed, long-haired
pioneer men who, crowding the American parapet, stood surveying the
destruction their long-rifles had caused.
On the edge of the woods, there were many British soldiers who, being
slightly wounded, had concealed themselves under brush and in the trees.
And it was pitiable to hear the cries for help and water that arose from
every quarter of the field.
As the Americans gazed on this scene of desolation and suffering, a
profound and melancholy silence pervaded the Army. No sounds of
exultation or rejoicing were heard. Pity and sympathy had succeeded to
the boisterous and savage feelings which a few minutes before had
possessed their souls.
Many of the Americans stole without leave from their positions, and with
their canteens gave water to the dying, and assisted the wounded. Those
of their enemy who could walk, the Americans led into the lines, where
they received attention from Jackson’s medical staff. Others, who were
desperately wounded, the Americans carried into camp on their backs.
Jackson sent a message to New Orleans to despatch all the carts and
vehicles to the lines. Late in the day, a long procession of these carts
was seen slowly winding its way along the levee from the field of
battle. They contained the British wounded.
The citizens of New Orleans, men and women, pressed forward to tender
every aid to their suffering enemies. By private subscription, the
citizens supplied mattresses and pillows, lint and old linen; all of
which articles were then exceedingly scarce in the city. Women-nurses
cared for the British, and watched at their bedsides night and day.
Several of the officers, who were grievously wounded, were taken to
private residences and there provided with every comfort.
Such acts as these ennoble humanity, and soften the horrors of war.
_James Parton_ (_Retold_)
APRIL 13
THOMAS JEFFERSON
THE FRAMER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
_All honour to Jefferson--to the man, who, in the concrete pressure of a
struggle for National Independence by a single People, had the coolness,
forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document
an abstract truth applicable to all men and all times; and so to embalm
it there, that to-day and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a
stumbling-block to the very harbingers of reappearing tyranny and
oppression._
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE FOURTH OF JULY
1826
_“Is it the Fourth?” “No, not yet,” they answered, “but ’t
will soon be early morn.
We will wake you, if you slumber, when the day begins to dawn.”
Then the statesman left the present, lived again amid the past,
Saw, perhaps, the peopled Future, lived again amid the Past,
Till the flashes of the morning lit the far horizon low,
And the sun’s rays, o’er the forest in the East, began to glow._
* * * * *
_Evening, in majestic shadows, fell upon the fortress’ walls;
Sweetly were the last bells ringing on the James and on the Charles.
’Mid the choruses of Freedom, two departed victors lay,
One beside the blue Rivanna, one by Massachusetts Bay._
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH (_Condensed_)
THOMAS JEFFERSON was born in Virginia, April 13, 1743
Framed the Declaration of Independence, 1776
Was elected Governor of Virginia, 1779
Appointed Secretary of State in Washington’s Cabinet, 1789
Elected third President of the United States, 1800
He died on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Signing of the
Declaration of Independence, the Fourth of July, 1826
He was called the Sage of Monticello. Monticello was the name of
his fine country estate.
THE BOY OWNER OF SHADWELL FARM
Thomas Jefferson was a boy of seventeen, tall, raw-boned, freckled, and
sandy-haired. He came to Williamsburg from the far west of Virginia, to
enter the College of William and Mary.
With his large feet and hands, his thick wrists, and prominent cheek
bones and chin, he could not have been accounted handsome or graceful.
He is described, however, as a fresh, bright, healthy-looking youth, as
straight as a gun-barrel, sinewy and strong, with that alertness of
movement which comes of early familiarity with saddle, gun, canoe, and
minuet. His teeth, too, were perfect. His eyes, which were of
hazel-gray, were beaming and expressive.
His home, Shadwell Farm, was a hundred and fifty miles to the north-west
of Williamsburg among the mountains of central Virginia. It was a plain,
spacious farmhouse, a story and a half high, with four large rooms and a
wide entry on the ground floor, and many garret chambers above. The farm
was nineteen hundred acres of land, part of it densely wooded, and some
of it so steep and rocky as to be unfit for cultivation. The farm was
tilled by thirty slaves.
And Thomas Jefferson, this student of seventeen, through the death of
his father, was already the head of the family, and under a guardian,
the owner of Shadwell Farm, the best portion of his father’s estate.
His father, Peter Jefferson, had been a wonder of physical force and
stature. He had the strength of three strong men. Two hogsheads of
tobacco, each weighing a thousand pounds, he could raise at once from
their sides, and stand them upright. When surveying in the Wilderness,
he could tire out his assistants, and tire out his mules; then eat his
mules, and still press on, sleeping alone by night in a hollow tree to
the howling of the wolves, till his task was done.
From this natural chief of men, Thomas Jefferson derived his stature,
his erectness, and his bodily strength.
_James Parton_ (_Arranged_)
A CHRISTMAS GUEST
Shadwell Farm was a good farm to grow up on. Thomas Jefferson and his
noisy crowd of schoolfellows hunted on a mountain near by, which
abounded in deer, turkeys, foxes, and other game. Jefferson was a keen
hunter, eager for a fox, swift of foot and sound of wind, coming in
fresh and alert after a long day’s clambering hunt.
He studied hard, for he liked books as much as fox-hunting. Soon he
began to be impatient to enter college. Then, too, he had never seen a
town nor even a village of twenty houses, and he was curious to know
something of the great world. His guardian consenting, he bade farewell
to his mother and sisters, and set off for Williamsburg, a five days’
long ride from his home.
But just before he started for college, he stayed over the holidays at a
merry house in Hanover County, where he met, for the first time, a
jovial blade named Patrick Henry, noted then only for fiddling, dancing,
mimicry, and practical jokes.
Jefferson and Henry became great friends. Jefferson had not a suspicion
of the wonderful talent that lay undeveloped in the prime mover of all
the fun of that merry company. While as little, doubtless, did Patrick
Henry see in this slender sandy-haired lad, a political leader and
associate.
Yet only a few years later, in May 1765, Patrick Henry was elected a
member of the House of Burgesses, and Jefferson was become a brilliant
law student.
In 1775, Jefferson was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress,
that declared the Independence of the United States of America.
_James Parton_ (_Arranged_)
THE AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION
The English settlers of Virginia, brought with them English rights and
liberties. The settlers and their descendants were “forever to enjoy all
liberties, franchises, and immunities enjoyed by Englishmen in England.”
They received from England the right to make their own laws, if not
contrary to the laws of England.
It was a Governor of Virginia who summoned the first representative
Assembly that ever met in America, the first American Colonial
Legislature. This happened about a year before the Pilgrim Fathers
reached the New World, and drew up the Mayflower Compact.
It was not strange, therefore, that Thomas Jefferson, born and reared in
the atmosphere of Virginia Freedom, should have been a Patriot who
fearlessly defended American Liberty.
He was also a man of unusual intellectual power and a writer of elegant
prose. So when Congress appointed a Committee to draft the Declaration
of Independence, he was made a member of that Committee.
When the Committee met, the other members asked Thomas Jefferson to
compose the draft. He did so. The Committee admired his draft so much,
that with but few changes, they submitted it to Congress.
After a fiery debate, some alterations being made, Congress adopted
Thomas Jefferson’s draft, as the Declaration of Independence of the
United States of America.
PROCLAIM LIBERTY
_July 4, 1776_
The Declaration was signed! America was free!
Joyously the great bell in the steeple of the State House at
Philadelphia, swung its iron tongue and pealed forth the glad news,
proclaiming Liberty throughout all the land.
The tidings spread from city to city, from village to village, from farm
to farm. There was shouting, rejoicing, bonfires, and thanksgiving.
Copies of the Declaration were sent to all the States. Washington had it
proclaimed at the head of his troops; while far away in the Waxhaws,
nine year old Andrew Jackson read it aloud to an eager crowd of
backwoods settlers.
The great bell--the Liberty Bell--that had proclaimed Liberty, was
carefully treasured. To-day, it may be seen in Independence Hall, as the
old State House is now called.
Around the crown of the Liberty Bell are inscribed the words which God
Almighty commanded the Hebrews to proclaim to all the Hebrew People,
every fifty years, so that they should not oppress one another:--
_Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land,
Unto all the inhabitants thereof._
Twenty-three years before the Declaration of Independence was signed,
these prophetic words from the Bible had been inscribed upon the crown
of that great Bell.
ONLY A REPRIEVE
_Fondly do we hope,--fervently do we pray,--that this mighty
scourge of War may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it
continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred
and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every
drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn with
the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must
be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether.”_
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
There were two statements in the Declaration of Independence, which must
have profoundly disturbed its Signers:--
“All men are created equal,” and have the right “to Life, Liberty, and
the pursuit of Happiness.”
Many of the Signers were slave-holders.
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, the Framer of the Declaration, was an
Abolitionist, and an active one, throwing the weight of his great
influence against the institution of slavery.
He earnestly believed that all men--white and black alike--are born
equal. So, when he was asked to frame the Declaration of Independence,
he put into it a clause condemning the slave-trade, as an “assemblage of
horrors.” During the debate in the Convention, this clause was stricken
out.
Though Jefferson had his reasons for not freeing his own slaves, he
continued to speak and write against slavery as a violation of human
rights and liberties.
“This abomination must have an end,” he said.
There were other Americans who believed as he did.
George Washington, in his Will, left their freedom to his slaves, to be
given them after his wife’s death. He ordered a fund to be set aside for
the support of all his old and sick slaves, and he bade his heirs see to
it that the young negroes were taught to read and write and to carry on
some useful occupation.
Kosciuszko was Jefferson’s intimate friend, and like him a believer in
Freedom for all men, without regard to race or colour. Before he left
America, Kosciuszko made a will turning over his American property to
Jefferson, for the purchase of slaves from their owners and for their
education, so that when free, they might earn their living and become
worthy citizens.
From the time of Jefferson until the Civil War, slavery to be or not to
be, was the burning question. Men and women, specially those belonging
to the Society of Friends, devoted their lives to the abolition of
slavery.
Many of these Abolitionists were mobbed, and otherwise persecuted,
because of their humane efforts. William Lloyd Garrison was the great
leader of the Abolitionists. “The Quaker Poet” Whittier was also a
leader in the agitation against slavery.
But to go back to Thomas Jefferson: When the Missouri Compromise went
into effect, and “the house was divided against itself,” Jefferson was
deeply and terribly stirred. He looked far into the future.
“This momentous question,” he wrote, “like a fire-bell in the night,
awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell
of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a
_reprieve_ only--not a final sentence.”
And again he said:--
“I tremble for my Country, when I reflect that God is just; that His
justice cannot sleep for ever.”
First the reprieve! Then as the crime was continued, the execution of
the sentence! Nearly a hundred years of slavery passed after the framing
of the Declaration, then on North and South fell the terrible
retributive punishment of the Civil War.
ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
1826
It was the Fourth of July, the fiftieth anniversary of the Signing of
the Declaration of Independence.
In his home at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson had closed his eyes for ever
on the Fourth of July, the fiftieth anniversary of the Signing of the
Declaration of Independence.
MAY 29
PATRICK HENRY
THE ORATOR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
_I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me
Liberty or give me Death!_
PATRICK HENRY
TO THE READER
_Whether (Independence) will prove a blessing or a curse will
depend upon the use our People make of the blessings which a
gracious God hath bestowed on us._
_If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a
contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteoutness alone can
exalt them at a Nation._
_Reader!--whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere
practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others._
PATRICK HENRY
PATRICK HENRY was born in Virginia, May 29, 1736
He was elected Governor of Virginia, 1776
He died June 6, 1799
THE ORATOR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
_A Surprise to All_
In 1765, there was an important meeting of the House of Burgesses of
Virginia, as the lawmaking body of that Colony was called. They had come
together to debate upon a great question, that of the Stamp Act passed
by the British Parliament for the taxation of the Colonies.
Most of the members were opposed to it, but they were timid and
doubtful, and dreadfully afraid of saying or doing something that might
offend the King. They talked all round the subject, but were as afraid
to come close to it as if it had been a chained wolf.
They were almost ready to adjourn, with nothing done, when a tall and
slender young man, a new and insignificant member whom few knew, rose in
his seat, and began to speak upon the subject.
Some of the rich and aristocratic members looked upon him with
indignation. What did this nobody mean in meddling with so weighty a
subject as that before them, and which they had already fully debated?
But their indignation did not trouble the young man.
He began by offering a series of resolutions, in which he maintained
that only the Burgesses and the Governor had the right to tax the
People, and that the Stamp Act was contrary to the Constitution of the
Colony, and therefore was void.
This was a bold resolution. No one else had dared to go so far. It
scared many of the members, and a great storm of opposition arose, but
the young man would not yield.
He began to speak, and soon there was flowing from his lips a stream of
eloquence that took every one by surprise. Never had such glowing words
been heard in that old hall. His force and enthusiasm shook the whole
Assembly.
Finally wrought up to the highest pitch of indignant Patriotism, he
thundered out the memorable words:--
“Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the
Third--”
“Treason! Treason!” cried some of the excited members.
But the orator went on:
“--_may profit by their example_. If _this_ be Treason, make the most of
it!”
His boldness carried the day. His words were irresistible. The
resolutions were adopted. Virginia took a decided stand.
And Patrick Henry, the orator, from that time was of first rank among
American speakers.
[Illustration: “‘TREASON! TREASON!’ CRIED SOME OF THE EXCITED
MEMBERS”]
A zealous and daring Patriot, he had made himself a power among the
People.
_A Failure that was a Success_
Who was this man that had dared hurl defiance at the King?
A few years before he had been looked upon as one of the most
insignificant of men, a failure in everything he undertook, an awkward,
ill-dressed, slovenly, lazy fellow, who could not even speak the king’s
English correctly. He was little better than a tavern lounger, most of
his time being spent in hunting and fishing, in playing the flute and
violin, and in telling amusing stories.
He had tried farming and failed. He had made a pretense of studying law,
and gained admittance to the bar, though his legal knowledge was very
slight. Having almost nothing to do in the law, he spent most of his
time helping about the tavern at Hanover Court House, kept by his
father-in-law, who supported him and his family, for he had married
early.
One day there came up a case in court which all of the leading lawyers
had refused. What was the surprise of the people, when the story went
around that Patrick Henry had offered himself on the defendants’ side.
His taking up the case was a joke to most of them, and a general burst
of laughter followed the news. Yet Patrick Henry won the case!
He was a made man. He no longer had to lounge in his office waiting for
business. Plenty of it came to him. He set himself for the first time to
an earnest study of the law. He improved his command of language, the
dormant powers of his mind rapidly unfolded. Two years after pleading
his first case, he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses.
We have seen how, in this body, he “set the ball of the Revolution
rolling.”
_Give me Liberty or Give me Death!_
Patrick Henry, in his spirit-stirring oration before the House of
Burgesses, had put himself on record for all time. His defiance of the
King stamped him as a warrior who had thrown his shield away and
thenceforward would fight only with the sword.
The Patriot leaders welcomed him. He worked with Thomas Jefferson and
others upon the Committee of Correspondence, which sought to spread the
story of political events through the Colonies. He was sent to
Philadelphia as a member of the first Continental Congress. In fact, he
became one of the most active and ardent of American Patriots.
It was in 1775 that Patrick Henry, in a convention, presented
resolutions in favour of an open appeal to arms. To this the more timid
spirits made strong opposition. The fight at Lexington had not yet taken
place, but Henry’s prophetic gaze saw it coming. In a burst of flaming
eloquence, he laid bare the tyranny of Parliament and King, declared
that there was nothing left but to fight, and ended with an outburst
thrilling in its force and intensity:--
“There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are
forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is
inevitable--and let it come!
“I repeat it, sir, let it come! It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the
matter! Gentlemen may cry Peace, peace! but there is no peace. The war
is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the North, will bring
to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in
the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What
would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at
the price of chains and slavery?
“Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as
for me, give me Liberty or give me Death!”
_Charles Morris_ (_Condensed_)
FACING DANGER
It was the last day of August, 1774. The Potomac was flowing lazily past
Mount Vernon. The door of the large mansion on the high river-bank stood
open. Before it were three horses saddled and bridled. Three men came
out of the house.
One was George Washington, large, handsome, resolute, dressed for a long
journey. With him, was a tall, angular, raw-boned man, slightly
stooping, carelessly dressed, whose dark, deep-set eyes flashed with
peculiar brilliance. The third man was equally striking in appearance,
well-proportioned and graceful, his face serene and thoughtful.
The tall raw-boned man with deep glowing eyes, was Patrick Henry; the
elegant stranger, Edmund Pendleton. They were two of Virginia’s most
devoted Patriots.
As the three vaulted into their saddles, Washington’s wife stood in the
open doorway, trying to conceal her anxiety for him under a cheerful
manner. Her heart was very heavy. But as the three gave spurs to their
horses, she called out:--
“God be with you, Gentlemen!”
And so they rode away. It was dangerous business on which they were
bent, as Martha Washington well knew. They were going to attend the
First Continental Congress at Philadelphia. They were about to defy
England.
But the three rode away from Mount Vernon fearlessly, with her words
ringing in their ears:--
“God be with you, Gentlemen!”
JUNE 9
FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA OF VENEZUELA
THE FLAMING SON OF LIBERTY
_He took part in three great political movements of his age:--the
Independence of the United States of North America; the French
Revolution; and the Independence of South America._
_From an inscription to Miranda, by the
Venezuelan Government_
_The Prince of Filibusters, the Chief of the Apostles of
Spanish-American Independence, and one of the founders of the
Republic of Venezuela, Francisco de Miranda will long live in song
and story._ ...
_The career of this Knight-Errant of Venezuela has fired the
imagination of many filibusters and revolutionists._
WILLIAM SPENCE ROBERTSON
MIRANDA was born in Venezuela, June 9, 1756
Flew Venezuela’s first flag of Freedom, the Red, Yellow, and Blue,
March 12, 1806
Signed the Declaration of Independence of Venezuela, July 5, 1811
He died in Spanish chains, July 14, 1816
THE SPANISH GALLEONS
I
Have you ever read the voyages and adventures of the handsome young
Amyas Leigh, who sailed the Spanish Main with the Seawolf, Sir Francis
Drake? Have you read of Ayacanora the Indian Princess with the blowgun,
of Salvation Yeo, of the lost Rose of Devon, of the old _Mono_ of
Panama, and how Amyas and his fellows seized a gold pack-train and
captured a Spanish Treasure-Galleon?
One of the most thrilling tales of adventure, of Spanish Gold and
Spanish Galleons, is “Westward Ho!” the story of Amyas Leigh. But before
the days of Amyas, Knight of Devon, and of the English Seawolves, the
Spanish Treasure Ships began to sail upon the Spanish Main.
These Galleons were like huge floating castles, and were manned by armed
Spaniards. They were filled with bars of glittering gold and silver and
with other treasure of the New World.