Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-10-19
REVIEW.

United StGtes. BIZ Daniel Bryan 500 pp lo4
H. C. Carey 4. T. Lea, Philadelphia, 1926.
The late visit of General La Fayette to the
u. S. williong be remembered as an era III Inc
history of our country; and posterity VIII iond-
" revert to the 10th of August, 1924, as an e
noch at once honorable TO republican graft
tnds and glorious TO its ilfustrious object II
WAS ON that day that assembled thousands wit
messed the landing, on the soil he had so nobly
defended. ofthe champion of liberty and the
friend of Washington. Posterity will never
forget the young and gallant Frsnchman, who
eonsecrated his talents, his fortunes, and his ex-
err;ons. to their cause-who exposed his life
who shed his blood, that they might become
free and happy They will recollect with pro-
found emotions, so long as they remain worthy
of that liberty which will be theirs by inherl-
lance, that the "chivalrous boy came TO the
assistance Of their braye ancestors in the dark
est period Of their struggle-thathe linked his
fortune with theirs when theirs seemed almost
hopeless-that he shared in the dangers, prl-
yations, and sufferings of that bitter struggle,
nor Quilted them for a moment, till 1t was con-
summated ON the glorious field OF Yorktown
They will venerate his memory, as that OF
most honoured parent, and continue to refute
the SANDER that republics are always migrate
full to their benefactdrs.
Among the manifold ebullitions OF grateful
genius produced by this interesting event, the
Subject of this article holds conspicuous rank
the Lay of Gratitude comprises several poems
and odes adapted 10 the occasion and the at
tendant circumstances, and which appear 10
have emanated from heart glowing with graf
itude and patriotism. The first of these which
is entitled the "Gresting." contains fity-two
stanzas Of eight anapestic lines. This appears
in the character of an address to General La
, Fayelte, in the presence OF an immense assem-
bly convened on the plains of Yorktown, to eel
citrate the anniversary of the surrender, at that
place, of the British army, under Cornwaiils;
the glorious event which formed the closing
scene of The American revolution. 1t was here
that Fayerte, after an absence OF forty years,
met remnant of those gallant veterans who
! had partaken with him the dangers and the tri-
umphs of that ever-memorable day The poet
has, Gin our opinion very Judiolously,) adopted
the anapestic measure, as most. expressive OF
the lively and playful sensations of Joy and
gratitude which must, on that occasion, have
pervaded every bosom: for though this measure
has been much decr;ed by critics of the DID
school (who seemed to think that dignihed
idea could never be expressed except in dull
iambuses, it is now, thanks to Tom Moore,
the vehicle of every species Of poem except the
epic. The Greeting commences in the follow
ing style:
"In the name of our country, great Hero! we come
To welcome thee here on this day of thy gloryi
And we hail thee with music of cannon and drum,
On these plains with battle disfgured and CORY;
Where the flame of thy sword and the fash OF thy eye,
Victorys path through the clouds OF the conflict IL
When Liberty's banner displayed in the sky, iumed,
Proc ed that her Oe q OlSCOmtlt
Thy presence, like that of some guest from above
Descended TO minister blessings earth,
Enkindes the fervours OF reverence and love
Wherever the patriot emotions have birth;
But here, on this glorious arena OF Fame,
y Too feeble is language-our voices too faint
The transports that gush thro our breasts to proclaim;
No muse can depict them--no pencil can paint.
when the tempest of Tyranny hung on our shore,
Andthe peals of its vengeance continent shook;
When the white robes of Freedom were dripping with
gore SOCK
And She dropped as though Hope had her bosom for
Thy gallant young heart, with an ardor divine,
devotion as pure as e'er hallowed the soul,
Vowed to yield the last throb of its pulse at her shrine,
Or see her the standard of triumph unroL"
His portrait of that poetical parsonage so
well known as the Goddess of Liberty, is very
prettily drawn:
.sLo! the beautiful wood-nymph of Freedom appears!
Wreaths of blooming magnolia her foreheadjentwme,
Around her an evergreen mantle she wears,
And her eyes with illusions of tenderness shine:
Majestic and mild, the young Hero she meets,
And accepts his devotion with smiles of delight;
His heart her wishes responsively beats, Light
And she points where her yotaries sustain the dread
We regret that our limits viii not permit Of
more copious extracts from this beautiful pro-
duction; but the above will serve as specimen
of The style, sc, ofthe ''Greeting" The next in
order is poem of seven hundred and fifty lines
in iambic measure, and alternate rhymes, ent-
tied the "Haledctory." This is metrical YER
sion Of President Adams address to La Fay
cite, and the veterans reply. The following
extract is all we have room for:
when Pleasures brightest lures around thee pressed,
And wealth, and youth, and titled rank, conspired
To yield their potent charms augmented zest,
holer thy generous bosom fred
The cause of Freedom in u foreign landi
For this, from courtly pomp, homes loved charms,
Prom scenes entwined BY chiidhoods howery band,
And from blooming wfe's enrapturing arms!
my sPait bore thee, ere thy manhood's prime,
10 ad our iather's in this distant cline.