Paris Correspondence [pp. 267-272]

i84~.]
Fro~`o~r Parts Corr~p@su1ent.
267
Court ye patiently for ever
Yon antarctic ire?
Shall the mariner for ever
Double the impeding capes,
While his longsome and retracing
Needless course he shapes?
What was daring for our fathers,
To defy those billows fierce,
Is but tame for their descendants;
We are bid to pierce.
We that fight with printing armies,
Settle sons on forlorn track
As the Re mans flung tl'eir eagles,
But to win them back;
Who, undoubting, worship boldness,
And, if baffled, bolder rise,
Should`or lag when Grandeur beckons
To this good emprise?
Let the vastness not appal us;
Greatness is thy destiny;
Let the rioubters not recall us;
Venture suits the free.
Like a seer, I see her throning,
Winland,* strong in freedom's health,
Warding peaceon both the waters,
Widest CommonwealthCrowned with wreaths that still grow greener,
Guerdon for untiring pain,
For the wise, the stout and steadfast:
Read the land in twain
Cleave America asunder,
This is worthy work for thee;
Hark! The seas roll up imploring "Make the ocean free."
*May I not for once bestow upon our nameless country
this good and plain Saxon name, which was given to it by
its first and Teutonic discoverers, long before Columbus
and Vespucius? The poet, and all who desire to speak
with fervor and brevity, stand in need of a name mnr~ coml)rehensive and concise than that which conveys the idea
of a mere political relation. Above all, they stanrl in need
of a name for the country, and not only of an official designation, however`honorable or historical-a name around
which cluster associations of the heart as well as of political and international transaction& When the heroic Nel.
son felt that he must animate his fleet to the highest ~itch
of battle-work, his signals di~ not proclaim "The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or, Nis Majesty
King George the Third, expects every man to do his duty,"
but the flag-ship signalled: "England this day ex'l,ects every man to do his duty;" and in that brief dissyllable, Beglend, centered every thing that could stir the men and swell
the breasts of officers-honor, wives, sweethearts, parliameat, newspa~ers, ~elds, farms, foa-hunting, peerage, habeas corpus, bwwn stout. pudding, Christmas merriment,
and all. Columbia, which has become in some sort the
poetic name 4,r the U~ited States, is not sufficiently specific; and Alleghania, which has been proposed, has, besides its unwelcome similarity with alligator, a character of
aewn~s with@ut ~eshr'ass, like whitewashed`walls or a
shining hat. ~h sounds inade, and as if made, too, for a
school geography; yet, why should we take evea a book~ame from that small and very partial riitge of bil,ucks?
We have gone too far beyond it. ~~le name of W?'nland,
on the,ontrary, is old, idiomatic, simple, and requiresonly
to be resumed; it would ada1>t itself to all the needed grammatical formations, {or as the late Mr. Duponceau would
finely have said, is malle~ble;) it is brief, and seems every
way sound.
FROM OiJR PARIS CORRESPONDENT
PARtS, March 20th, 1845.
One night last week a pull at the bell of my
outer door startled me from profound slumber.
Waiting a moment that another pull migh4 assure me it was uo dream, the next moment foun?
me en ro~ de chambre hastily seized, gropitig m~
way to within speaking distance of my unseasonable visiter.
With hand upon the key, but before turning
the bolt, I demanded "Who's there?"
"Are you M. M —?" replied a voice from
the other side, without answe ing my question.
"Yes."
"It is I!" replied my interlocutor, without farther hesitation, now that he was assured of my
identity-" It is I, Andr~, from the barnere de
F oistainebl e
"Ah! bien! come in," and I opened the 4oor
"They have commenced preparations at the
Rond Point," continued Andr~. "The workmen arrived about two hours ugo! I have been
talking with one of them. He says it will be all
over by six o'clock!"
"What o'clock is it now?"
Almost three. Make haste, Monsieur, you
have not`auch time to spare: the harnere do
Fontaineblean is full three miles off."
"I know it is. Here, let me conduet you to a
seat: then I'll dress, and be with you in a very
few minutes."
I had not yet seen my visitor, having hastened
to the door in answer to his summons before lighting a candle: and it was impossible to discern
even the outline of a human form amid the cornlActe obscurity in which the apartment was involved. But I had recognized him to be a man
of the lower orders whom I had seen once before, ~ome four or five weeks ago and whom I
expected to see once again upon a certain occasion which we knew would soon occur; but knew
not exnctly when.
The occasion had now arrived.
Taking hold of his blouse-a sort of blue overshirt almost universally worn by men of his class,
I conducted him to a seat.
My toilet was 4uickly made and we descended
into the street. The night was dark. It was
not raining, but low thick clouds brooded heavily
over the city, so that not a star was visible. All
was 9;874;2081]still. The stillness of a mighty city is more
impressive perhaps than that of the forest. Not
a sound was heard but the rumbling of a heavy
carriage over the Place do Ia Concorde upon the
other side of the Seine. From the midst of the