Robert Southey

“ The most triumphant death is that of the martyr; the most awful that of the martyred patriot; the most splendid that of the hero in the hour of victory: and if the chariot and horses of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson's translation, he could scarcely have departed in a brighter blaze of glory. He has left us, not indeed his mantle of inspiration, but a name and an example which are at this hour inspiring thousands of the youth of England: a name which is our pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our strength. ”

“ Alive to penitence alone; my rule
He hath himself prescribed, and hath infused [34]
A passion in this woman’s breast, wherein
All passions and all virtues are combined;
Love, hatred, joy, and anguish, and despair,
And hope, and natural piety, and faith,
Make up the mighty feeling. Call it not
Revenge! thus sanctified and thus sublimed,
’Tis duty, ’tis devotion. Like the grace
Of God, it came and saved me; and in it
Spain must have her salvation. In thy hands
Here, on the grave of all my family,
I make my vow.
She said, and kneeling down,
Placed within Roderick’s palms her folded hands. ”

“ Could never equal: wandered thro’ its halls
A numerous train; some with the red-swoln eye
Of riot, and intemperance-bloated cheek;
Some pale and nerveless, and with feeble step,
And eyes lack-lustre.
Maiden? said her guide,
These are the wretched slaves of Appetite,
Curst with their wish enjoyed. The epicure
Here pampers his foul frame, till the pall’d sense
Loaths at the banquet; the voluptuous here
Plunge in the tempting torrent of delight,
And sink in misery. All they wish’d on earth,
Possessing here, whom have they to accuse,
But their own folly, for the lot they chose? ”

“ Sir Thomas More.—Is there not a danger that these principles may bear down everything before them? and is not that danger obvious, palpable, imminent? Is there a considerate man who can look at the signs of the times without apprehension, or a scoundrel connected with what is called the public press, who does not speculate upon them, and join with the anarchists as the strongest party? Deceive not yourself by the fallacious notion that truth is mightier than falsehood, and that good must prevail over evil! Good principles enable men to suffer, rather than to act. ”

“ The Enchantress well that evil nature knew, The accursed Spirit hath his prey in view, And thus, while all their separate hopes pursue, All work, unconsciously, the will of Fate.
16. Fate work'd its own the while. A band Of Yoguees, as they roam'd the land, Seeking a spouse for Jaga-Naut their God, Stray'd to this solitary glade, And reach'd the bower wherein the Maid abode. Wondering at form so fair, they deem'd the power Divine had led them to his chosen bride, And seiz'd and bore her from her father's side. ”

“ Why had there been that disgraceful delay before our troops were sent to Spain? Why had not some of our Princes of the blood been appointed to lead our armies? all those illustrious persons had been bred to arms, and for what purpose, if they were not to be employed? Why had not the Portugueze been called into action? He knew them well; they were as brave a people as any upon the continent of Europe, and under British officers would have presented an undaunted front to the enemy. Ministers ought to have known their value, and if they did not, their ignorance was inexcusable. ”

“ WAR's varied horrors, and the train of ills
That follow on Ambition's blood-stain'd path
And fill the world with woe; of France preserv'd
By maiden hand, what time her chiefs subdued,
Or slept in death, or lingered life in chains,⁠5
I sing: nor wilt thou Freedom scorn the song.
Sunk was the sun: o'er all the expanse of air
The mists of evening deepening as they rose
Chill'd the still scene; when thro' the forest gloom,
Rapt on with lightning speed, in vain Dunois [1] ⁠10
Now check'd with weaker force the unheeded rein,
Now rais'd the unheeded voice. ”

“ They have profaned our temples, they have massacred our brethren, they have assailed our wives; more than 2000 of the people of Madrid, of that city where they had been so hospitably received, they have murdered in cold blood, for no other cause than for having defended their families and themselves. To arms! to arms!... Will you bend your necks to the yoke? Will you allow yourselves to be insulted by injuries the most perfidious, the most wicked, the most disgraceful, committed in the face of the whole world? Will you submit to the humiliating slavery which is prepared for you? ”

“ The soul itself is its own witness; the soul itself is its own refuge; offend not thy conscious soul, the supreme internal witness of men! . . The sinful have said in their hearts, none see us. Yes, the gods distinctly see them, and so does the spirit within their breasts . . The guardian deities of the firmament, of the earth, of the waters, of the human heart, of the moon, of the sun, and of fire, of punishment after death, of the winds, of night, of both twilights, and of justice, perfectly know the state of all spirits clothed with bodies. ”

“ Amid this general havoc, nothing was more shocking than the number of horses, asses, and mules, which the French, when their strength failed, had hamstrung, and left to suffer a slow death. To have killed them at once would have been mercy, but mercy was a virtue which this army seemed to have forsworn: it even appeared, by the manner in which these poor creatures were grouped, that Massena’s troops had made the cruelties which they inflicted a matter of diversion to themselves! Every day the bodies of women were seen whom they had murdered. ”

“ You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
⁠And pleasures with youth pass away,
And yet you lament not the days that are gone,
⁠Now tell me the reason I pray.
In the days of my youth, Father William replied,
⁠I remember'd that youth could not last;
I thought of the future whatever I did,
⁠That I never might grieve for the past.
You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
⁠And life must be hastening away;
You are chearful, and love to converse upon death! ”

“ Spaniards, think not that the Junta speak thus to excite you by the arts of language; what need of words, when things speak for themselves? Your houses are destroyed; your churches demolished; your fields laid waste; your families dispersed and wandering through the country, or hurried into the grave. Have we made so many sacrifices, have the flames of war consumed half Spain, that we should abandon the other half to the far more deadly peace which the enemy prepares for it? For no one will beguile himself with the insidious parade of the improvements which the French hold out. ”

“ Curate.
Poor old woman!
What can you fear from her?
Father.
What can we fear?
Who lamed the Miller’s boy? who rais’d the wind
That blew my old barn’s roof down? who d’ye think
Rides my poor horse a’nights? who mocks the hounds?
But let me catch her at that trick again,
And I’ve a silver bullet ready for her,
One that shall lame her, double how she will.
Nathaniel.
What makes her sit there moping by herself,
With no soul near her but that great black cat?
And do but look at her!
Curate.
Poor wretch! ”