This he said with a smile, that danced in his eyes, as the sunbeams Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish again in a moment. Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Captain continued: 45 "Look! you can see from this window my brazen howitzer' planted High on the roof of the church, a preacher who speaks to the purpose, Steady, straightforward, and strong, with irresistible logic, Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the hearts of the heathen. Now we are ready, I think, for any assault of the Indians: 50 Let them come, if they like, and the sooner they try it the better, Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, sachem, or pow Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or Tokamahamon!"'" Long at the window he stood, and wistfully gazed on the landscape, Washed with a cold gray mist, the vapory breath of the east wind, 55 Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel-blue rim of the ocean, Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shadows and sunshine. Over his countenance flitted a shadow like those on the land scape, Gloom intermingled with light; and his voice was subdued with emotion, 1 A short, light cannon designed to throw large projectiles with comparatively small charges. The planting of the howitzer on the meeting-house occurred some time after the time of this poem. The settlement was fortified by five guns mounted on a platform on a neighboring hill. 2 A sachem was chief of a tribe; a sagamore, of a lower rank; and a pow-wow, a medicine man and conjuror. 3 These names were taken by the poet from the early histories of the colony. Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause he proceeded: 60 "Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, lies buried Rose Stan dish; Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me by the wayside! She was the first to die of all who came in the Mayflower!' Green above her is growing the field of wheat we have sown there, Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves of our people, 65 Lest they should count them and see how many already have Sadly his face he averted, and strode up and down, and was thoughtful. Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of books, and among them Prominent three, distinguished alike for bulk and for binding; Barriffe's "Artillery Guide," and the "Commentaries of Cæsar," 70 Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge' of London, And, as if guarded by these, between them was standing the Bible. Musing a moment before them, Miles Standish paused, as if doubtful Which of the three he should choose for his consolation and comfort, 1 The colonists suffered terribly during the first winter here referred to (1620-21), and about fifty out of a hundred of them died. Dr. Abiel Holmes, in his Annals of America, records how the survivors buried the dead on a hill near the beach and left the graves unmarked, so that the weakness of the colony might not be perceived by the Indians. 2 Colonel William Barriffe's Militarie Discipline; or, The Young Artillery Man, a work containing a system of tactics for gunners, musketeers, and pikemen. The author was a Puritan and added to the title of his book an appropriate passage of ScripturePsalms, cxliv. 1. 3 Arthur Golding (1536?-1605?), an English writer and friend of Sir Philip Sidney. He is remembered for his translations of Ovid, Cæsar, and De Mornay. Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous campaigns of the Romans, 75 Or the artillery practice, designed for belligerent Christians. Finally down from its shelf he dragged the ponderous Roman, Seated himself at the window, and opened the book, and in silence Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where thumb-marks thick on the margin, Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the battle was hottest. 80 Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling, Busily writing epistles important, to go by the "Mayflower," Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day at latest,' God willing! Homeward bound with the tidings of all that terrible winter, Letters written by Alden, and full of the name of Pris cilla,' 85 Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden Priscilla! II. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP. NOTHING was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling, Or an occasional sigh from the laboring heart of the Captain, Reading the marvellous words and achievements of Julius Cæsar. After a while he exclaimed, as he smote with his hand, palm downwards, Heavily on the page: "A wonderful man was this Cæsar! 5 You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but here is a fellow 1 The ship sailed on April 5, 1621, taking only her crew on the homeward.voyage. This line fixes definitely the time of the story. 2 Among the emigrants on the "Mayflower" are mentioned: "Mr. William Mullines and his wife and two children, Joseph and Priscilla; and a servant, Robart Carter." Who could both write and fight, and in both was equally Straightway answered and spake John Alden, the comely, the youthful: 66 Yes, he was equally skilled, as you say, with his pen and his weapons. Somewhere have I read, but where I forget, he could dictate 10 Seven letters at once, at the same time writing his memoirs." "Truly," continued the Captain, not heeding or hearing the other, "Truly a wonderful man was Caius Julius Cæsar! Better be first, he said, in a little Iberian village, 2 Than be second in Rome, and I think he was right when he 15 said it. Twice was he married before he was twenty, and many times after; Battles five hundred he fought, and a thousand cities he con quered; 3 He, too, fought in Flanders, as he himself has recorded; 20 When the rear-guard of his army retreated, the front giving way too, 1 Iberia was an ancient name of Spain. 2 Plutarch thus relates the incident: "In his journey, as he was crossing the Alps and passing by a small village of the barbarians with but few inhabitants, and those wretchedly poor, his companions asked the question among themselves by way of mockery if there were any canvassing for offices there; any contention which should be uppermost, or feuds of great men one against another. To which Cæsar made answer seriously, 'For my part I had rather be the first man among these fellows, than the second man in Rome."" - Cæsar, in Lives of Illustrious Men, translated by Dryden, etc., vol. ii., page 511. 3 Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 B.C.), a Roman soldier, statesman, and scholar. He was in turn an adherent of Pompey and Cæsar, became governor of Cisalpine Gaul and afterwards City Praetor. He was induced by Cassius, on the plea of patriotism, to take part in the assassination of his friend Cæsar. After his defeat in the second battle at Philippi, he committed suicide. And the immortal Twelfth Legion' was crowded so closely together There was no room for their swords? Why, he seized a shield from a soldier, Put himself straight at the head of his troops, and commanded the captains, Calling on each by his name, to order forward the ensigns; 25 Then to widen the ranks, and give more room for their weapons; So he won the day, the battle of something-or-other.' That's what I always say; if you wish a thing to be well done, You must do it yourself, you must not leave it to others!" All was silent again; the Captain continued his reading. 30 Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling Writing epistles important to go next day by the "Mayflower," Filled with the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden Priscilla; Every sentence began or closed with the name of Priscilla, cilla! Finally closing his book, with a bang of the ponderous cover, Sudden and loud as the sound of a soldier grounding his musket, Thus to the young man spake Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth: 1 A Roman legion, the most perfect fighting machine of ancient times, was, in the first century B.C., composed of about 6,000 men, divided into ten cohorts, each of these into three maniples, and these in turn into two centuries. 2 Cæsar's Commentaries, Book II., chap. x. |