Page images
PDF
EPUB

third time by their officers, whose gallantry, on this occasion, deserved a better fate, in a better cause. Generals Gibbs and Kean were carried away, severely wounded; the former mortally. The plain between the front of the British, and the American lines, was strewed with dead; so dreadful a carnage, considering the length of time, and the numbers engaged, was perhaps never witnessed. Two thousand, at the lowest estimate, pressed the earth, besides a number of the wounded who were not able to escape. The loss of the Americans did not exceed seven killed, and six wounded. General Lambert was the only general officer left upon the field; being unable to check the flight of the British columns, he retired to his encampment.

6. In the mean time, the detachment under colonel Thornton succeeded in landing on the right bank, and immediately attacked the intrenchment of general Morgan. The American right, believing itself outflanked, abandoned its position, while the left maintained its ground for some time; but find ing itself deserted by those on the right, and being outnumbered by the enemy, they spiked their guns and retired. Colonel Thornton was severely wounded, and the command devolved on colonel Gobbins, who seeing the fate of the assault on the left bank, and receiving orders from general Lambert, re-crossed the river.

7. On the return of general Lambert to his camp, it was resolved, in consultation with admiral Cochrane, to retire to their shipping. This was effected with great secrecy; and during the night of the eighteenth, their camp was entirely evacuated. From the nature of the country, it was found impossible to pursue them; they left eight of their wounded, and fourteen pieces of artillery. Their loss in this fatal expedition was immense; besides their generals, and a number of valuable officers, their force was diminished by at least five thousand men. It was in vain, as in other instances, to conceal the truth of the affair; and the sensations which it produced in Great Britain, are not easily described; the conduct of the ministry was regarded as shamefully dishonorable, in thus stretching forth one hand to receive the olive, which was tendered by America, and at the same time secretly wielding a dagger with the other.

What was the loss of the Americans at the battle of New Orleans? What British officers were killed?How great was the British loss?

THE MISERIES OF WAR.

1. THOUGH the whole race of man is doomed to dissolution, and we are all hastening to our long home; yet at each successive moment, life and death seem to divide between them the dominion of mankind, and life to have the larger share. It is otherwise in war; death reigns there without a rival, and without control. War is the work, the element, or rather the sport and triumph of Death, who glories not only in the extent of his conquest, but in the richness of his spoil. In the other methods of attack, in the other forms which death assumes, the feeble and the aged, who at the best can live but a short time, are usually the victims; here they are the vigorous and the strong.

2. It is remarked by the most ancient of poets, that in peace children bury their parents, in war parents bury their children; nor is the difference small. Children lament their parents, sincerely indeed, but with that moderate and tranquil sorrow, which it is natural for those to feel who are conscious of retaining many tender ties, many animating prospects. Parents mourn for their children with the bitterness of despair; the aged parent, the widowed mother, loses, when she is deprived of her children, every thing but the capacity of suffering; her heart, withered and desolate, admits no other object, cherishes no other hope. It is Rachel, weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not.

3. But to confine our attention to the number of slain would give us a very inadequate idea of the ravages of the sword. The lot of those who perish instantaneously may be considered, apart from religious prospects, as comparatively happy, since they are exempt from those lingering diseases and slow torments to which others are liable. We cannot see an individual expire, though a stranger, or an enemy, without being sensibly moved, and prompted by compassion to lend him every assistance in our power. Every trace of resentment vanishes in a moment; every other emotion gives way to pity and terror.

4. In these last extremities we remember nothing but the respect and tenderness due to our common nature. What a scene then must a field of battle present, where thousands are left without assistance and without pity, with their wounds

exposed to the piercing air, while the blood freezing as it flows, binds them to the earth, amidst the trampling of horses, and the insults of an enraged foe! If they are spared by the humanity of the enemy and carried from the field, it is but a prolongation of torment. Conveyed in uneasy vehicles, often to a remote distance, through roads almost impassable, they are lodged in ill-prepared receptacles for the wounded and the sick, where the variety of distress baffles all the efforts of humanity and skill, and renders it impossible to give to each the attention he demands. Far from their native home, no tender assiduities of friendship, no well known voice, no wife, or mother, or sister, is near to sooth their sorrows, relieve their thirst, or close their eyes in death! Unhappy man! and must you be swept into the grave unnoticed and unnumbered, and no friendly tear be shed for your sufferings or mingled with your dust?

5. We must remember, however, that as a very small proportion of a military life is spent in actual combat, so it is a very small part of its miseries which must be ascribed to this source. More are consumed by the rust of inactivity than by the edge of the sword; confined to a scanty or unwholesome diet, exposed in sickly climates, harassed with tiresome marches and perpetual alarms; their life is a continual scene of hardships and dangers. They grow familiar with hunger, cold, and watchfulness. Crowded into hospitals and prisons, contagion spreads amongst their ranks, till the ravages of disease exceed those of the enemy.

6. We have hitherto only adverted to the sufferings of those who are engaged in the profession of arms, without taking into our account the situation of the countries which are the scene of hostilities. How dreadful to hold every thing at the mercy of an enemy, and to receive life itself as a boon dependent on the sword! How boundless the fears which such a situation must inspire, where the issues of life and death are determined by no known laws, principles, or customs, and no conjecture can be formed of our destiny, except as far as it is dimly deciphered in characters of blood, in the dictates of revenge, and the caprices of power!

7. Conceive but for a moment the consternation which the approach of an invading army would impress on the peaceful villages in our own neighborhood. When you have placed yourselves for an instant in that situation, you will

learn to sympathize with those unhappy countries which, have sustained the ravages of arms. But how is it possible to give you an idea of these horrors? Here you behold rich harvests, the bounty of Heaven, and the reward of industry, consumed in a moment or trampled under foot, while famine and pestilence follow the steps of desolation. There, the cottages of peasants given up to the flames, mothers expiring through fear, not for themselves but for their infants; the inhabitants flying with their helpless babes in all directions, miserable fugitives on their native soil! In another part you witness opulent cities taken by storm; the streets where no sounds were heard but those of peaceful industry, filled on a sudden with slaughter and blood, resounding with the cries of the pursuing and the pursued; the palaces of nobles demolished, the houses of the rich pillaged, and every age, sex, and rank, mingled in promiscuous massacre and ruin!

THE HISTORIAN'S REFLECTIONS.

1. THROUGH the long period of five thousand years, the eye of the historian wanders among innumerable millions, and descries people, nations, and languages, who were once active in the busy scenes of time, but are now reaping the retributions of eternity. The great nations which enjoyed universal empire are now silent in the dust. And, as objects subtend a less angle in proportion to their distance, so a century, buried deep in the vale of antiquity, appears but as an hour, and the duration of a nation but as a day. In the morning its infancy is weak; and its chief defence is in its obscurity or insignificance, or in the weakness of others. It gathers strength by adversity, and at length acquires a vigorous youth. At mid-day it acquires a strong and lofty attitude; it basks for an hour in the beams of prosperity, and drinks deep the inebriating draughts of luxury and pleasure. And now its beauty fades; its strength decays; its glory perishes; and the declining day hastens a night of storms, and clouds, and everlasting darkness.

2. The nations of men resemble the perpetually rolling and conflicting waves of the ocean. If a billow rise high,

it is but to sink as low; if it dash its neighboring billow, it is but to be dashed in its turn; if it rage and foam, it is but to exhaust itself the sooner; if it roll tranquilly on the bosom of the deep, it is but to sink for ever by its own gravity. It is thus with all nations, with all human institutions, and with all the noblest inventions and works of art.

"The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,·
The solemn temples, the great globe itself;
Yea, all which it inherits, shall dissolve,
And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a wreck behind."

3. And, alas! the ravages of time, though rapid and resistless, are too slow to satisfy the furious rage of restless mortals! They must share the empire of destruction. To them, the work of death is most pleasant; and to cultivate the art of killing and destroying, has been their chief pride and glory in all ages, though while employed in that dreadful work, they sink in destruction themselves. Unhappy children of men! When will you learn to know and prize your true interest? When will you be convinced of that, than which nothing is more certain, that war adds infinitely to the number and weight of your calamities? that it fills the world with misery, and clothes all nature in mourning? that it covers your souls with crimson, inexpiable guilt, and brings upon you the wrath and curse of Heaven?

4. Is there to be no change in this tragic, this direful scene of blood and slaughter? Shall brotherly love and cordial affection never become universal, and peace never wave her white banner throughout the earth? Is there no durable institution, founded in virtue, and permanent as the eternal rules of justice! Is there no firm ground of hope? no rock, on which truth and reason may build a fabric, that shall never fall? Yes, there is a kingdom; its foundations were laid of old; its King is the God of heaven; its law is perfect love; its dominions are wide, for they extend to the wise and virtuous in all worlds; all its subjects are safe, for they are defended by almighty power; and they shall rise to eternal prosperity and glory, when all earthly kingdoms shall vanish like a shadow or a dream.

[ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »