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But when their temples long have wore
The silver crown of tresses hoar,

As studious still calm peace to keep,
Beneath a flowery turf they sleep.

THE CRUSADE.-AN ODE.

Bound for holy Palestine,

Nimbly we brush'd the level brine,
All in azure steel array'd:

O'er the wave our weapons play'd,
And made the dancing billows glow;
High upon the trophied prow,
Many a warrior-minstrel swung
His sounding harp, and boldly sung:
"Syrian virgins, wail and weep,
English Richard ploughs the deep!
Tremble, watchmen, as ye spy

From distant towers, with anxious eye,
The radiant range of shield and lance
Down Damascus' hills advance:

From Sion's turrets, as afar

Ye ken the march of Europe's war!
Saladin,2 thou paynim3 king,

From Albion's isle revenge we bring!
On Acon's spiry citadel,

Though to the gale thy banners swell,
Pictured with the silver moon,
England shall end thy glory soon!
In vain to break our firm array,

Thy brazen drums hoarse discord bray:
Those sounds our rising fury fan:
English Richard in the van,

On to victory we go,

A vaunting infidel the foe!"

Blondel led the tuneful band,

And swept the lyre with glowing hand.
Cypress, from her rocky mound,

And Crete, with piny verdure crown'd,
Far along the smiling main

Echoed the prophetic strain.

Soon we kiss'd the sacred earth
That gave a murder'd Saviour birth!
Then with ardor fresh endued,

Thus the solemn song renew'd:
"Lo, the toilsome voyage past,
Heaven's favor'd hills appear at last!
Object of our holy vow,

We tread the Tyrian valleys now.

1 Richa 1 I., surnamed, from his valor, Cour de Lion.

2 The clef of the Mohammedans that defended Palestine against the Crusaders.

3 Pagai; it means here the professor of a false religion.

4 Anciently called Ptolemais; now St. Jean d'Acre.

The faithful minstrel of King Richard.

From Carmel's almond-shaded steep
We feel the cheering fragrance creep:
O'er Engaddi's' shrubs of balm
Waves the date-empurpled palm;
See Lebanon's aspiring head
Wide his immortal umbrage spread!
Hail Calvary, thou mountain hoar,
Wet with our Redeemer's gore!
Ye trampled tombs, ye fanes forlorn,
Ye stones, by tears of pilgrims worn;
Your ravish'd honors to restore

Fearless we climb this hostile shore!
And, thou, the sepulchre of God,

By mocking pagans rudely trod,

Bereft of every awful rite,

And quench'd thy lamps that beam'd so bright
For thee, from Britain's distant coast,

Lo, Richard leads his faithful host!

Aloft in his heroic hand,

Blazing like the beacon's brand,
O'er the far-affrighted fields,
Resistless Kaliburn2 he wields.

Proud Saracen, pollute no more

The shrines by martyrs built of yore!

From each wild mountain's trackless crown

In vain thy gloomy castles frown:

Thy battering-engines, huge and high,

In vain our steel-clad steeds defy;

And, rolling in terrific state,

On giant-wheels harsh thunders grate.
When eve has hush'd the buzzing camp,
Amid the moonlight vapors damp,
Thy necromantic forms, in vain,
Haunt us on the tented plain :
We bid those spectre-shapes avaunt,
Ashtaroth and Termagaunt!4
With many a demon, pale of hue,
Doom'd to drink the bitter dew
That drops from Macon's5 sooty tree,
'Mid the dread grove of ebony.
Nor magic charms, nor fiends of hell,
The Christian's holy courage quell.
"Salem, in ancient majesty
Arise, and lift thee to the sky!
Soon on the battlements divine

Shall wave the badge of Constantine.

Ye barons, to the sun unfold

Our cross, with crimson wove and gold!"

1 A mountain of Palestine.

2 The celebrated sword of the British king, Arthur, said to have come into the possession of King Richard, and to have been given by him, as a present of inestimable value, to Tancred, King of Sicily. 3 A Syrian goddess.

4 The ignorant old chroniclers believed that the Mohammedans were idolaters, and that they wor shipped some deity named Termagaunt.

6 This alludes to an oriental superstition respecting a poisonous tree.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON. 1721-1793.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON, the celebrated historian, was born at Bosthwick, in the county of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, on the 8th of September, 1721. At the early age of twelve he obtained admission into the university, where his subsequent progress in learning was rapid, in proportion to the astonishing acquirements of his childhood. On entering the ministry of the established church of Scotland. he performed the duties of his station with exemplary diligence; and in 1759, by the publication of the "History of Scotland," he commenced that series of admirable histories, which have justly placed him among the very first historical writers of his country. In 1769 he published his "History of Charles V.," which raised his then increasing reputation still higher, and which, from the general interest belonging to the subject, was very popular. The introductory part consists of an able sketch of the political and social state of Europe at the time of the accession of Charles V.,' a most important period, which forms the connection between the middle ages and the history of modern European society and politics. In 1777 he published his "History of America," and in 1791, "An Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India." After spending a life of equal piety, usefulness, and honor, he died on the 11th of June, 1793.

Most of the works of Dr. Robertson relate to that important period, when the countries of Europe were beginning to form constitutions, and act upon the political systems which were for centuries preserved. His style is easy and flowing, his language correct, his opinions enlightened, his investigation diligent, and his expressions temperate. Hume, notwithstanding the difference of their religious opinions, greatly extolled his History of Scotland; and Gibbon has borne ample testimony both to his accuracy and his style.2

RESIGNATION OF CHARLES V.

Charles resolved to resign his kingdoms to his son, with a solemnity suitable to the importance of the transaction; and to perform this last act of sovereignty with such formal pomp, as might leave an indelible impression on the minds, not only of his subjects, but of his successor. With this view, he called Philip out of England, where the peevish temper of his queen, which increased with her despair of having issue, rendered him extremely unhappy; and the jealousy of the English left him no hopes of obtaining the direction of their affairs. Having assembled the states of the Low Countries, at Brussels, on the 25th of October, 1555, Charles seated himself, for the last time, in the chair of

1 Charles V., Emperor of Germany, (1519-1555,) and King of Spain, (1516—1555,) was the most Influential and prominent monarch of the period in which he flourished. Some of the sovereigns contemporary with him were, Henry VIII. of England, (1509-1547,) Francis I. of France, (1515— 1547,) Gustavus Vasa of Sweden, (1523—1560,) and Soliman the Magnificent, of the Ottoman Empire, (1520-1566,) under whom the Turkish power attained its highest pitch.

2 "The perfect composition, the nervous language, the well-turned periods of Dr. Robertson, in flamed me to the ambitious hope that I might one day tread in his footsteps: the calm philosophy. the careless, inimitable beauties of his friend and rival, Hume, often forced me to close the volume with a mixed sensation of delight and despair."-Gibbon's Memoirs, Chap. v

state; on one side of which was placed his son, and on the other his sister, the Queen of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands; with a splendid retinue of the grandees of Spain, and princes of the empire, standing behind him. The president of the council of Flanders, by his command, explained, in a few words, his intention in calling this extraordinary meeting of the states. He then read the instrument of resignation, by which Charles surrendered to his son Philip all his territories, jurisdiction, and authority in the Low Countries; absolving his subjects there from their oath of allegiance to him, which he required them to transfer to Philip, his lawful heir, and to serve him with the same loyalty and zeal which they had manifested, during so long a course of years, in support of his government.

Gharles then rose from his seat, and, leaning on the shoulder of the Prince of Orange, because he was unable to stand without support, he addressed himself to the audience, and, from a paper which he held in hand, in order to assist his memory, he recounted with dignity, but without ostentation, all the great things which he had undertaken and performed since the commencement of his administration. He observed, that, from the seventeenth year of his age, he had dedicated all his thoughts and attention to public objects; reserving no portion of his time for the indulgence of his ease, and very little for the enjoyment of private pleasure: that, either in a pacific or hostile manner, he had visited Germany nine times, Spain six times, France four times, Italy seven times, the Low Countries ten times, England twice, Africa as often, and had made eleven voyages by sea: that while his health permitted hin to discharge his duty, and the vigor of his constitution was equal, in any degree, to the arduous office of governing such extensive dominions, he had never shunned labor, nor repined under fatigue: that now, when his health was broken, and his vigor exhausted by the rage of an incurable distemper, his growing infirmities admonished him to retire; nor was he so fond of reigning as to retain the sceptre in an impotent hand, which was no longer able to protect his subjects, or to render them happy: that, instead of a sovereign worn out with diseases, and scarcely half alive, he gave them one in the prime of life, accustomed already to govern, and who added to the vigor of youth all the attention and sagacity of maturer years that if, during the course of a long administration, he had committed any material error in government; or if, under the pressure of so many and great affairs, and amidst the attention which he had been obliged to give to them, he had either neglected or injured any of his subjects; he now implored their forgiveness that for his part, he should ever retain a grateful sense of their fidelity and attachment, and would carry the remembrance of it along with him to the place of his retreat, as his

sweetest consolation, as well as the best reward for all his services; and, in his last prayers to Almighty God, would pour forth his ardent wishes for their welfare.

Then turning towards Philip, who fell on his knees and kissed his father's hand, "If," says he, "I had left you, by my death, this rich inheritance, to which I have made such large additions some regard would have been justly due to my memory, on tha account: but now, when I voluntarily resign to you what I migh still have retained, I may well expect the warmest expressions of thanks on your part. With these, however, I dispense; and shal consider your concern for the welfare of your subjects, and your love of them, as the best and most acceptable testimony of your gratitude to me. It is in your power, by a wise and virtuous administration, to justify the extraordinary proof which I this day give of my paternal affection, and to demonstrate that you are worthy of the confidence which I repose in you. Preserve an inviolable regard for religion; maintain the Catholic faith in its purity; let the laws of your country be sacred in your eyes; en croach not on the rights and privileges of your people; and, if the time shall ever come, when you shall wish to enjoy the tranquillity of private life, may you have a son endowed with such qualities, that you can resign your sceptre to him with as much satisfaction as I give up mine to you."

As soon as Charles had finished this long address to his subjects, and to their new sovereign, he sunk into the chair, exhausted, and ready to faint with the fatigue of such an extraordinary effort. During his discourse, the whole audience melted into tears; some, from admiration of his magnanimity; others, softened by the expression of tenderness towards his son, and of love to his people; and all were affected with the deepest sorrow, at losing a sovereign who had distinguished the Netherlands, his native country, with particular marks of his regard and attachment.

A few weeks afterwards, Charles, in an assembly no less splendid, and with a ceremonial equally pompous, resigned to his son the crowns of Spain, with all the territories depending on them, both in the Old and in the New World. Of all these vast possessions he reserved nothing for himself, but an annual pension of a hundred thousand crowns, to defray the charges of his family, and to afford him a small sum for acts of beneficence and charity.

The place he had chosen for his retreat, was the monastery of St. Justus, in the province of Estramadura. It was seated in a vale of no great extent, watered by a small brook, and surrounded by rising grounds, covered with lofty trees. From the nature of the soil, as well as the temperature of the climate, it was esteemed the most healthful and delicious situation in Spain. Some months before his resignation he had sent an architect thither to add a new

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