THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF.

But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale
When the heavens look'd dark, is gone,-
As an angel's wing, through an open cloud,
Is seen, and then withdrawn.

The Pilgrim exile,-sainted name!
The hill, whose icy brow

Rejoiced when he came, in the morning's flame,
In the morning's flame burns now.

And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night
On the hill-side and the sea,

Still lies where he laid his houseless head ;-
But the Pilgrim-where is he?

The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest :
When summer's throned on high,

And the world's warm breast is in verdure dress'd,
Go, stand on the hill where they lie.

The earliest ray of the golden day

On that hallow'd spot is cast;

And the evening sun, as he leaves the world,
Looks kindly on that spot last.

The Pilgrim spirit has not fled-
It walks in noon's broad light;

And it watches the bed of the glorious dead,
With their holy stars, by night.

It watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
And shall guard this ice-bound shore,

Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay,
Shall foam and freeze no more.

PIERPONT

15

X. THE GRAVE OF THE INDIAN CHIEF.

"THE most uncivilized of the savage tribes of America do not apprehend death as the extinction of being. All entertain hopes of a future and more happy state, where they shall be for ever exempt from the calamities which embitter human life, in its present condition. This future state they conceive to be a delightful country, blessed with perpetual spring, whose forests abound with game, whose rivers swarm with fish, where famine is never felt, and uninterrupted plenty shall be enjoyed without labour or toil. they imagine, that departed spirits begin their career anew in the world whither they are gone, that their friends may not enter upon it defenceless and unprovided, they bury together with the bodies of the dead, their bow, their arrows, and other weapons used in hunting or war: they deposit in their tombs the skins or stuffs of which thev

***

As

make garments, Indian corn, manioc, venison, domestic utensils, and whatever is reckoned among the necessaries in their simple mode of life."-Robertson's History of America.

THEY laid the corse1 of the wild and brave
On the sweet fresh earth of the new dug grave,
On the gentle hill, where the wild weeds wave,
And flowers and grass were flourishing.

They laid within the peaceful bed,
Close by the Indian chieftain's head,
His bow and arrows; and they said

That he had found new hunting grounds.

Where bounteous nature only tills
The willing soil; and o'er whose hills,
And down beside the shady rills,
The hero roams eternally.

And these fair isles to the westward lie,
Beneath a golden sun-set sky,
Where youth and beauty never die,

And song and dance move endlessly.

They told of the feats of the dog and gun,
They told of the deeds his arm had done,
They sung the battles lost and won,
And so they paid his eulogy."

And o'er his arms, and o'er his bones,
They raised a simple pile of stones;
Which, hallowed by their tears and moans,
Was all the Indian's monument.

And since the chieftain here has slept,
Full many a winter's winds have swept,
And many an age has softly crept
Over his humble sepulchre.*

1. Any other mode of spelling this word?

2. The object of "laid"?

PERCIVAL.

INDIAN NAMES.

17

XI. INDIAN NAMES.

"How can the red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes, and rivers are indelibly stamped by names of their giving?"

Describe the position, and, as far as possible, give the derivations of the "Indian

names" in the poem.

YE say they all have passed away,

That noble race and brave;

That their light canoes have vanished
From off the crested wave;

That, mid the forests where they roamed,
There rings no hunter's shout;
But their name is on your waters,
Ye may not wash it out.

"Tis where Ontario's billow

Like ocean's surge is curled,

Where strong Niagara's thunders wake

The echo of the world,
Where red Missouri bringeth

Rich tribute from the west,
And Rappahannock sweetly sleeps
On green Virginia's breast.

Ye say their conelike cabins,
That clustered o'er the vale,
Have disappeared, as withered leaves
Before the autumn's gale;

But their memory liveth on your hills,
Their baptism on your shore,
Your everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore.

Old Massachusetts wears it
Within her lordly crown,

And broad Ohio bears it

Amid his young renown.
Connecticut hath wreathed it

Where her quiet foliage waves,
And bold Kentucky breathes it hoarse
Through all her ancient caves.

Wachusett hides its lingering voice
Within its rocky heart,

And Alleghany graves its tone
Throughout his lofty chart.
Monadnock, on his forehead hoar,
Doth seal the sacred trust.

Your mountains build their monument,

Though ye destroy their dust.

L. H. SIGOURNEY.

XII. CASABIANCA.

IN the battle of the Nile, the admiral of the L'Orient ordered his son Casabianca (a lad about 13 years of age) not to quit his post, until he told him. In the course of the action, the admiral was killed, the ship caught fire, and was blown up. The boy, unconscious that his father was dead, remained at his post, and permitted himself to be launched into eternity, rather than disobey his father's orders. See Alison's History of Europe.

Distinguish between the following words, and put them into sentences:

THE boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but him had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck'
Shone round him o'er the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;

A creature of heroic blood,

A proud though childlike form!

The flames roll'd on-he would not go
Without his father's word;

That father, faint in death below,
His voice no longer heard.
He call'd aloud:-" Say, father! say
If yet my task is done ?"

He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.

HELLVELLYN.

"Speak, father!" once again he cried,
"If I may yet be gone!

And"-but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.
Upon his brow he felt their breath,*
And in his waving hair,

And look'd from that lone post of death
In still yet brave despair!

And shouted but once more aloud,

My father, must I stay?"

While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way;

They wrapt the ship in splendour wild,"

They caught the flag on high

And streamed above the gallant child,
Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound-
The boy-oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds, that far around
With fragments strewed the sea!
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,
That well had borne their part-
But the noblest thing which perished there
Was that young faithful heart!

1. Why battle's wreck?

⚫. Meaning of faint here?

3. What task?

4. Whose breath?

5. Why brave?

HEMANS.

6. Meaning of splendour wild?

19

XIII. HELLVELLYN.

In the spring of 1805, a young gentleman of talents, and of a most amiable disposition, perished by losing his way on the mountain Hellvellyn. His remains were not discovered till three months afterwards. when they were found guarded by a faithful terrier, his constant attendant, during frequent solitary rambles through the wilds of Cumberland and Westmoreland.