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Verse Memorials.
Lamar was rather a man of action than of letters; but the following
verses speak for him as having true poetic appreciation of beauty and
power to express it.
THE DAUGHTER OF MENDOZA.
O lend to me, sweet nightingale,
Your music by the fountain,
And lend to me your cadences,
O rivers of the mountain!
That I may sing my gay brunette,
A diamond spark in coral set,
Gem for a prince's coronet--
The daughter of Mendoza.
How brilliant is the evening star,
The evening light how tender,--
The light of both is in her eyes,
Their softness and their splendor.
But for the lash that shades their light
They were too dazzling for the sight,
And when she shuts them, all is night,--
The daughter of Mendoza.
O ever bright and beauteous one,
Bewildering and beguiling,
The lute is in thy silvery tones,
The rainbow in thy smiling;
And thine is, too, o'er hill and dell,
The bounding of the young gazelle,
The arrow's flight and ocean's swell--
Sweet daughter of Mendoza!
What though, perchance, we no more meet,--
What though too soon we sever?
Thy form will float like emerald light
Before my vision ever.
For who can see and then forget
The glories of my gay brunette--
Thou art too bright a star to set,
Sweet daughter of Mendoza!
FRANCIS LISTER HAWKS.
~1798=1866.~
FRANCIS LISTER HAWKS was born at New Berne, North Carolina, and
educated at the State University. He became a clergyman of the
Episcopal Church in 1827 and was rector of parishes in New York, New
Orleans, and Baltimore. He was the first president of the University
of Louisiana, and declined three elections to the bishopric. See Life
by Rev. N. L. Richardson.
WORKS.
History of North Carolina.
History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.
History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Maryland.
Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
Auricular Confession in the Episcopal Church.
Egypt and Its Monuments.
Romance of Biography.
Cyclopædia of Biography.
Perry's Expedition to Japan.
Dr. Hawks was a distinguished pulpit orator as well as an able and
untiring writer. His ecclesiastical works are considered a valuable
contribution to the history of the church in the United States.
The book from which we quote, "History of North Carolina," was
undertaken as a labor of love for his native State, prepared in the
intervals of time allowed by "a laborious and responsible profession
in a large city: . . . he frankly confesses that he would undergo such
toil for no country but North Carolina. She has a claim upon his
filial duty. In her bosom his infancy found protection and his
childhood was nourished. He here lays his humble offering in her lap."
The story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke has been called "the tragedy
of American colonization."
THE FIRST INDIAN BAPTISM IN AMERICA.
(_From History of North Carolina._)
The colony [1587] was probably not without its clergyman, and the
faithful Manteo, who was among them, had by this time become in heart
an Englishmen. . .
The mother and kindred of Manteo lived on the island of Croatan, and
thither, very soon, a visit was made by the faithful Indian and a
party of the English, who endeavored, through the instrumentality of
the islanders, to establish friendly relations with the inhabitants on
the main land; but the effort was in vain. In truth, the greater
portion of the Indians around, manifested implacable ill-will, and
had already murdered one of the assistants, who had incautiously
strayed alone from the settlement on Roanoke island.
On the 13th of August, by direction of Raleigh, given before leaving
England, Manteo was baptized, (being probably the first native of this
continent who ever received this sacrament at the hands of the
English) and was also called Lord of Roanoke and of Dasamonguepeuk, as
the reward of his fidelity.
VIRGINIA DARE, THE FIRST ENGLISH CHILD BORN IN AMERICA.
A few days after, another event, not without interest in the little
colony, occupied the attention of all; and doubtless in no small
degree enlisted the sympathies of the female portion of the
adventurers. On the 18th of August, Eleanor, the daughter of Governor
White, and wife of Mr. Dare, one of the assistants, gave birth to a
daughter, the first child born of English parents upon the soil of the
United States. On the Sunday following, in commemoration of her
birth-place, she was baptized by the name of VIRGINIA.
THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE.
(_From the Same._)
Governor White remained but thirty-six days in North Carolina. . . .
Before he left, however, it seems to have been understood that the
colony should remove from Roanoke Island and settle on the main land:
and as, at his return, he might be at some loss to find them, it was
further agreed that in the event of their departure during his
absence, they should carve on some post or tree the name of the place
whither they had gone; and if in distress they were to carve above it
a cross, . . . [This was in 1587.]
It was not till the 20th of March, 1590, that Governor White embarked
[at London] in three ships to seek his colony and his children. . .
White found the island of Roanoke a desert. As he approached he
sounded a signal trumpet, but no answer was heard to disturb the
melancholy stillness that brooded over the deserted spot. What had
become of the wretched colonists? No man may with certainty say: for
all that White found to indicate their fate was a high post bearing on
it the letters CRO, and at the former site of their village he found a
tree which had been deprived of its bark and bore in well cut
characters the word CROATAN. There was some comfort in finding no
cross carved above the word, but this was all the comfort the unhappy
father and grandfather could find. He of course hastened back to the
fleet, determined instantly to go to Croatan, but a combination of
unpropitious events defeated his anxious wishes; storms and a
deficiency of food forced the vessels to run for the West Indies for
the purpose of refitting, wintering and returning; but even in this
plan White was disappointed and found himself reluctantly compelled to
run for the western islands and thence for England. Thus ended the
effort to find the lost colony; they were never heard of. That they
went to Croatan, where the natives were friendly, is almost certain;
that they became gradually incorporated with them is probable from the
testimony of a historian [John Lawson] who lived in North Carolina and
wrote [published] in 1714: "The Hatteras Indians who lived on Roanoke
Island or much frequented it, tell us," (says he) "that several of
their ancestors were white people and could talk in a book, as we do;
the truth of which is confirmed by gray eyes being found frequently
amongst these Indians and no others."
GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE.
~1802=1870.~
GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE was born in Preston, Connecticut, and was a
teacher and lawyer in early life. In 1830 he went to Kentucky, and a Previous Next |