6 



The anniversaries of national disenthralment and 

 renown are stirring and patriotic in themselves — but 

 the very achievements they celebrate^ have been 

 won by the blood of patriots and the sufferings of a 

 whole people— the laurel and the willow entwine 

 the chaplet on the hero's brow ; and many a tear 

 for the gallant dead^ saddens the ^flowing bowP in 

 which their deeds ^are freshly remembered.' In 

 other lands less favoured and free than our own^ the 

 waving of banners — the falchion's gleam, and the 

 roar of cannon, proclaim too often the sanguinary 

 triumph of power over civil liberty — and the proud 

 pageant is darkened by the retrospect of battles — the 

 sack of cities — the burning of villages and the flight 

 and massacre of thousands, before the conqueror's 

 sword. Even in the earlier days of chivalry and 

 romance, with the tilt and the tournament w^here 

 was sung and commemorated, 



'Knighthood's dauntless deed, 

 And beauty's matchless eye' — 



there, alas, so servile and degrading a barrier sepa- 

 rated the lord from the serf— that it robbed these 

 heroic jubilees of that freshness and attraction which 

 freedom alone bestows. 



But this, your anniversary, simple and unosten- 

 tatious, though it be, is, compared with those, the 

 refreshing shower, and the balmy air, after the 

 thunder-cloud has burst, and the summer heat has 

 passed away. It is the union of all that is useful 



