Europe -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
conduct, our feeling to them as a nation, etc., and set myself to work
hard to remove all this as far as I could. As he is a very energetic and
influential man it is worth taking any amount of trouble about, and I
think I succeeded. In the evenings the young folk sang a number of the
war songs, several composed by or for the negro soldiers, going to
famous airs, and full of humour and pathos. The March through Georgia is
very spirited, and a version of the “John Brown” March, which seems to
have superseded “We’ll hang Jef Davies,” etc., exceedingly touching--at
least I know it was so to me, as all the young folk sang--
He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He is sifting out the souls of men before His judgment seat:
Be swift, my soul, to welcome Him! be jubilant, my feet.
In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make them free.
Our God is marching on.
To think of what that sweet young woman had gone through (the news of
her husband’s death at the head of his brigade, was read by her in a
newspaper), and to see her sitting there calmly and trying to join
in the chorus, was quite too much for me. However, nobody noticed my
emotion. Our last morning, Tuesday, was spent in a famous wild ride over
the island. After breakfast we found seven very excellent riding horses
(three with sidesaddles) at the door. At home there would have been
three grooms, here each horse has a leathern strap fixed to the bit,
which you just buckle round his neck till you want to stop, and then
fasten it to the nearest tree or lamp-post. The whole turn-out is of
course rough, but I don’t wish to see nicer ladies’ hacks than the three
which the two Miss F------s and Mrs. P------ rode. We sailed back in the
yacht to another little port, a few miles north of New Bedford, F------
having provided us as a parting present with free passes over almost all
the Western railways, which will save me at least £20 I should think. He
is Chairman of several, and so can do it without any trouble. We found
the dear Lowells expecting us, and my second letter also waiting, so you
may think that I had a joyful evening. Next day, Wednesday, we drove to
Concord to dine with Judge Hoar, the late Attorney-General of the United
States, a very able, fine fellow. We passed over classic ground, the
very road along which the English troops marched in April 1776 to
destroy the stores, when the first collision of the War of Independence
took place at Concord Bridge and in the village of Lexington. You may
perhaps remember in the second series of the _Biglow Papers_ “Sumthin’
in the Pastoral Line,” in which old Concord Bridge and the monument
which has been put up to commemorate the fight, talk together over the
_Trent_ affair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account