The Washington herald., 1911-01-15

Whence all but he had fled;
The fame that lit the battles wrd,
Shore round him DER the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood.
A, born to rule the storm;
A creature Of heroic blood.
rroud though child like form.
The fames rolled on-he would not 60
Without his fathers word:
The father. faint in death tcIow,
His voice no longer heard
He called aloud: Say. father. say.
II vet my task is done!
He knew not that the chieftaln lay
Unconscious Of his son.
.S;eak. father! once again he cr1ed'
IF ] may yet be gone.
And but the booming shots replied.
And fast the flames rolled on.
Iron his brow he felt their breath.
And an his waving hair
And looked from that lone post OF dcatn
In still. ye. brave DESPAIR
And shouted but more aloud
My father must I stay:
While DER him fast through sail and shroud,
The wreathins fires made way.
They warped the ship in sp!endor Wild
They caught the flag en- high,
And streamcd above the gallant child
Like banners in the sky.
The,e came a burst of thunder sound
The hoy, oh. where was he:
Ask o. the winds that fa- around
With frauS1nents strewed the sea.
With mast and helm. and rennon iair.
That well had horne their part
But the notlest thing which perished there
Was that young faithful heart.
Mrs. Hemans' "Casabianca" has long
stood the test for popularity. and to-day
stands side by side with many nobier
motto fancies. but none whose sentiment
is more appealing The little Casabianca,
barely more than a dozen years old, VINO
far away from home sacrificed his youns
life in following out his principle Oh
obedience to his father, has always
touched the finer feelings of the reader.
The story of the adventure of the boy
is true one The poetess received the
for her work in the incident
of the Battle of the Nile, as related IN
French history written of that period.
Among the archives of the French gov
ernment. the surviving commanding Off
GERS told all the incidents of the struggle
in detail. and among their dispatches +
the one reldtiuS " tAS 'S -
Among the French vessels engaged In
tb. hattie OF the Nile was one called the
orient This vessel was commanded by
Admiral Casabianca. 1t bore the brunt
of the battle until its magazines exploded
and the ship was torn to fragments, with
very few Of its crew remaining to tell
the tale.
The admiral was wounded early in the
His son. who was the con-
slant companion of his father, whether
on-fand or on the sea. was great fav-
orite with the officers and sailors of the
Orient. He was not aware that his par
ent was injured. but he was stationed
among the guns and by his youth and re-
markable fortitude he lent much encour-
agement to the gunners and sailors The
French dispatches note that when the
firing happened to be irnpeded in the
heat Of the action. through excess of zeal
and agitation. he restored order and tran
auillity by a GOODNESS which was quite as
tonishing for his age. He made the gun
ners and sailors sensible of their inad-
vertencies, and took care that each gun
was served with cartridges suited to its
caliber."
BY and by the crisis came. YounG
was not aware that his father
was DeIOW l6uS wOuHNcu. IhV wa
too much engaged in looking after his
own work to notice the absence of the
admiral from the deck. and his serious
condition was kept from his son as vel
as the sailors generally. for fear OF th'
effect 1t would have upon them.
Finally fire broke out on the Orient
Conditions became so unbearable that ths
crew began to abandon the guns. Not
so young Casabianca. He stood at his
post. He saw one by one desert him
Finally this courageous child remained
by himself. He called loudly on his faith
er to tell him whether he could quit hi:
post like the rest without dishonor. HI
received no answer. The fire was making
dreadful ravages, yet he called repeated
ly to his father. and awaited his answer
In vain!
At length an old sailor informed hin
of the misfortune that had befallen th'
parent. and told him that he was orderet
to save his life by surrendertng. Casa
hlancA ran - the sun room. When ~