Is to the inner world a thing as vague
As the obscure and twilight line that bounds
The dim horizon? for the mind can make,
By its own magic powers, worlds fairer far
Than this one!
[He pauses.]

Yea* it must, it must be so !

A beauteous land is passing now before me,
And there are glorious Alps, whereon the sun,
Oft, in his journey, pauses to look back
Upon the paradise he leaves behind him!
And there are valleys, basking in his beams,
Starred with white cottages, and orange-bowers,
And vine-groves, where the light guitar is swept,
To charm the golden fruitage.-I behold
Lakes blue as morning, where, at eve, the star
Delights to lave its far descending rays,
And ancient forests, giant-like, advancing
With towering strides, up to the high hill tops.
And ever and anon I hear the sounds,
The mighty sounds of avalanches rolling,
The crash of forests and the roar of waters;
But in the vales the maiden's free voice rings,
And on the hills the bold-eyed mountaineer
Looks proudly up to heaven, and children sport
Like swallows on the lea, and ancient sires
Within the trellised porch serenely sit,
And grandams read their missals in the sun,
Which AUSTRIAN† banners dare not now obscure.
I cannot be mistaken;-'tis my COUNTRY!

O Switzerland! and shall it be a dream—
A wild, imaginative dream? No, no!
Thou shalt be FREE, thy fetters rive in twain ;
The voice of Prophecy is on me now!

Back roll the volumy clouds, the mighty mists

That veil the future, roll, at my bidding, back!
Come forth! It comes! the sun of Freedom comes,
With its refulgent canopy of clouds,

* Animation somewhat increases; the speaker should look forward during the delivery of this Vision, with a fixed countenance, as if he actually saw what he is describing.

+ Disdain

Increased energy.

And in its radiance Switzerland's banners sparkle;
Helvetic swords its beams are multiplying;

Ten thousand stars upon their spear-points tremble:
Ten thousand voices roll their living thunders,
And all cry" LIBERTY!" It is no dream!
They shout again, and my own name they shout;
A Tell, a Tell! they cry. I come, I come!
Thou shalt be FREE; thy fetters rend asunder,
Thus, as I rend my own.

WALLACE.

Cursed be the fatal day when Edward came,
In crested pride, to urge a lawless claim;
Cursed be the day. Lett weeping History tell
How fought the brave, and how the noble fell;
When, slowly swelling, roll'd the battle-tide
On Falkirk's field of death, and Carron's side.—-
The beam of morn, that rose on eastern height,
Danced on the plume of many a gallant knight;
The ray that lingered on the ocean-wave,
Kiss'd the red turf of many a soldier's
Dark as the torrent's desolating flow,
And drear as winter was that time of woe,

grave:

Yet droop'd not Hope; shes turn'd her azure eyes
Where, heaven-ward, Caledonia's mountains rise,
And deep embosom'd in the gloom of night,
A star was seen to shed a lonely light;
It burn'd afar, with lustre pale and sweet,
To mark the spot of Freedom's last retreat.
There, on a rock, unmov'd and undismay'd,
The sable plumage waving o'er his head,
Stern Wallace stood. With high uplifted hand

*Firm and strong tone of voice, with a feeling of anger.

+ Relaxes into a calmer manner, with much solemnity and earnestness. Plaintive utterance, with a low tone.

The tone and manner become more animated and cheerful, with a calm and serene expression of countenance.

Firm and impressive manner, in order to reflect the courageous deportment of Wallace.

He shook the gleamy terrors of his brand,
Glanc'd proudly on th' embattled host below,
And mock'd the menace of a conquering foe-
And long had mock'd,*-but Heaven untimely frown'd,
And pluck'd the fairest flow'r on Scottish ground.
It was no falchion rais'd in mortal strife,

That snatch'd thee, Wallace, from the light of life;
No arrow glided on the wings of death

To drink thy blood, and steal away thy breath ;
There were no honors of a glorious grave,
The patriot's boast, the birth-right of the brave;
Far other fate thy generous zeal repaid,
Torn from thy country, by thy friend betray'd.-
Methinks+ I see thee led in sullen state,
High in thy fall, and e'en in fetters great;
And view thee, dragg'd in all the pomp of woe,
A sport of impotence, a public show.

Still conscious virtue cheers thy latest hour,
Nor sinks thy spirit in the grasp of power.
Still, in the pangs of death, thy closing eyes
Speak the proud thoughts that in thy bosom rise!
And the last sigh, that gave the soul release,
Breath'd to thy Scotland LIBERTY and PEACE.

--

Os Wallace! if my voice can pierce the gloom,
And rouse the silent slumbers of the tomb,
O'er thy cold dust the Muse shall pour her strain,
To tell thee, that thou didst not fall in vain
Yes, honour'd Shade! though brief was thy career,
And not a stone records thy lowly bier;
E'en yet, thy native woods and wilds among,
Thy wreaths are verdant, and thy deeds are sung:
There, haply, as some minstrel tells thy tale
To many a mountain chief, and listening Gael,
Their kindling bosoms catch the patriot flame,
And learn the path to FREEDOM-and to FAME.

SMIRKE. Cambridge Prize Poem.

• Here is a transition to solemnity of manner, requiring much pathos. + Increased solemnity.

The tone of voice becomes somewhat less plaintive, and the manner rather more elated,

§ Most solemn and impressive manner, with a slow rate of utterance.

GENERAL WOLFE TO HIS ARMY, BEFORE QUEBEC.*

I congratulate you, my brave countrymen and fellow soldiers, on the spirit and success with which you have executed this important part of our enterprise. The formidable heights of Abraham are now surmounted, and the city of Quebec, the object of all our toils, now stands in full view before you. At perfidious enemy, who have dared to exasperate you by their cruelties, but not to oppose you on equal ground, are now constrained to face you on the open plain, without ramparts or entrenchments to shelter them.

You know too well the forces that compose their army to dread their superior numbers. A few regular troops from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who, when fresh, were unable to withstand BRITISH soldiers, are their general's chief dependence. Those numerous companies of Canadians, INSOLENT, MUTINOUS, UNSTEADY, and ILL-DISCIPLINED, have exercised his utmost skill to keep together to this time; and as soon as their irregular ardour is damped by one firm fire, they will instantly turn their backs, and give you no farther trouble but in the PURSUIT.

As for those savage tribes of Indians, whose horrid yells in the forests have struck many a bold heart with affright; terrible as they are, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to a flying and prostrate foe; you have experienced how little their ferocity is to be dreaded by resolute men, upon fair and open ground: you can now only consider them as the just objects of a severe revenge, for the unhappy fate of many slaughtered countrymen.

This day puts it into YOUR power to terminate the fatigues of a siege, which has so long employed your courage and patience. Possessed with a full confidence

*Firmness of manner, with a considerable degree of ardour, forms the principal characteristic of this address.

+ This requires a tone of indignation.

Contemptuous, disdainful manner.

of the certain success which BRITISH valour must gain over such enemies, I have led you up these steep and dangerous rocks, only solicitous to show you the foe within your reach. The impossibility of a retreat makes no difference in the situation of men resolved to CONQUER or DIE and believe me, my friends, if the conquest could be bought with the blood of your general, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country. ΑΙΚΙΝ.

THE BRITISH WARRIOR QUEEN'S ADDRESS TO

THE ROMANS.

Yes,* Roman! proudly shake thy crested brow
'Tis thine to conquer, thine to triumph Now;
For thee, lo! Victory lifts her

gory hand,
And calls the fiends of terror on the land,
And flaps, as tiptoe on thy helm she springs,
Dripping with British blood her eagle wings.

Yet, think not, think not long to thee 'tis given
To laugh at Justice and to mock at Heav'n,

Soon shall THY hand with blood-stained laurels crown'd
Stoop at the feet of VENGEANCE to the ground.
It see amid the gloom of future days
Thy turrets totter and thy temples blaze;
I see upon thy shrinking Latium hurl'd,
The countless millions of the northern world ;
I see, like vultures gathering to their prey,
The shades of states that fell beneath thy sway;
They leave their fallen palaces and fanes,
Their grass-grown streets, and ruin-scatter'd plains,
Where lonely long they viewless lov'd to dwell,
And mourn the scenes that once they loved so well;

* Solemn and dignified manner, with a strong expression of indig nution.

Increased degree of solemnity, with a low full tone of voice. During this vision the tone rises gradually, the eye of the speaker being fixed intently on space, the hand at the same time following the eye.