U C C E ■ S 8 : 
 
 PS 3159 
 .W14 
 Copy 1 
 
 J. WILLIS WESTLAKE, A.M. 
 
 [Read at the Second Musical and Literary Soiree of the Young Men' 
 Christian Association, Washington, D. C, Dec. 21st, 1865.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
 V8 6.6. 
 
SUCCESS 
 
 &t 
 
 BY 
 
 J. WILLIS WESTLAKE, A.M. 
 
 [Read at the Second Musical and Literary Soiree of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association, Washington, D. C, Dec. 21st, 1865.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : ■ 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOT.T & CO. 
 1866. 
 
PS3I5CJ 
 1 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 The poetical essay herewith printed was written in com- 
 pliance with two very flattering invitations received at about 
 the same time: the one, to deliver the "Honorary Address" 
 at an Anniversary of the Normal Literary Society of the 
 State Normal School, Millers ville, Pa.; the other, to read an 
 essay at a "Musical and Literary Soir6e" of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association of Washington, D. C. On 
 both of these occasions it was read to very large and appre- 
 ciative audiences, and received with very generous and em- 
 phatic tokens of approbation. When, therefore, the Normal 
 Society, through Professor Brooks, requested a copy of the 
 poem for publication, the author, profoundly grateful for the 
 kindness with which his humble effort had been received, did 
 not feel it to be his duty to refuse. Accordingly, it is re- 
 spectfully, submitted to the Society, and, through them, to 
 the public, with the hope that it will be fairly and liberally 
 
 (iii) 
 
IV PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 judged, and that its influence, if it have any, will be on the 
 
 side of Truth and Eight. 
 
 The mere mention of the date, December, 1865, at which 
 
 the poem was written, will be sufficient, it is hoped, to save 
 
 the author from the suspicion of having been influenced by 
 
 any partisan feelings or intentions, in his mention of persons 
 
 and actions that have since become the subjects of heated 
 
 political .discussion. 
 
 J. W. W. 
 
 Washington, May, 1866. 
 
ItmjM. 
 
 True poesy — such strains as Spenser sung, 
 Or Milton, he of more than mortal tongue, 
 Or Avon's mighty bard, whose thoughts sublime 
 Shine planet-like in every age and clime ; 
 Such, too, as Wordsworth, Nature's favorite child, 
 Hymned in her ear, while lake and meadow smiled, 
 Or Scotia's Burns and Scott, or Erin's Moore, 
 Or laurelled Tennyson, or, passing o'er 
 A hundred names that shine on memory's page, 
 Our own loved Bryant who adorns his age, 
 Or Longfellow, sweet bard whose lays are sung 
 Where'er is spoke or read our mother tongue, — 
 Such poesy, I say, as these have wrought 
 From out the seething crucibles of thought, 
 Demands the highest powers to mortals given : 
 Imagination strong that soars to heaven, 
 A loving heart, a fancy light and free 
 That peoples with fair forms each flower and tree, 
 
 (5) 
 
6 SUCCESS: 
 
 A soul that talks with Nature, knows her moods, 
 
 Hears voices whispering in her solitudes, 
 
 Or muttering when her wrathful brow she shakes, 
 
 And o'er the hills her volleying thunder breaks. 
 
 To all these powers I do not make pretense ; 
 
 I use but common words and common sense ; 
 
 But write I must " for better or for worse," 
 
 And thoughts will sometimes form themselves in 
 
 verse, — 
 A wretched habit formed in youthful days, 
 When silly muses sang in boyish lays 
 The loves and longings of those dear old times, 
 And the heart spoke in adolescent rhymes. 
 Let this suffice by way of explanation, 
 In lieu of grand and lofty invocation 
 With which great poets call from fabled lands 
 Their favorite muse, and give their high commands. 
 
 The world was made to live in, and we live ! 
 
 This fact admitted, I proceed to give 
 
 Attention for a moment to the question, 
 
 What do men live for ? And the first suggestion 
 
 Is, that the objects, we in life pursue 
 
 Are various and unnumbered. Yery true ; 
 
 Some live to eat and drink, to dress and sleep ; 
 
 Love, Wealth, Ambition, Fame their vassals keep ; 
 
SUCCESS. T 
 
 While some men breathe and move with souls so 
 
 small 
 They scarcely can be said to live at all. 
 But howe'er low their aims or numberless, 
 Each strives for something that he calls success. 
 This, then, shall be my theme ; be it mine to scan 
 Some of the motives, means, and ends of man, 
 To drag forth cowering Error into view, 
 Condemn the false, commend the good and true, 
 And point the race that must by all be run 
 Ere Fortune's highest favors can be won. 
 
 THE MERCHANT-JEW. 
 
 Success to most men wears a yellow hue ; 
 
 It is the " golden calf" that they pursue 
 
 And worship most devoutly, for they think, 
 
 Can they but seize it, it will turn to "chink." 
 
 The Merchant-Jew, on money-making bent, 
 
 The voice of conscience drowns with "shent per 
 
 shent;" 
 Talks solemnly of risks and ventures lost, 
 Assures you that he sells his goods "at cost," 
 The fabric is most fine, the colors rare, 
 In style and price none can with his compare ! 
 
8 SUCCESS. 
 
 Thu3 makes two sales — "sells" you and sells his 
 
 trash, 
 And inly chuckles while he counts your cash ; 
 Destroying thus his honor and his health, 
 To make huge profits and to heap up wealth, 
 Hoping at length to hear the world declare, 
 " There goes John Smith, the merchant millionaire 1" 
 
 SHODDY CONTRACTORS. 
 
 In the great war but lately passed away, 
 A class of beings held conspicuous sway, 
 Whose sole ambition, only aim was pelf; 
 Whose thoughts and feelings centred all in self; — 
 A tribe of vampyres fattening on the dead 
 And following where our noble armies led, 
 Glutting on others' woes, and coining gold 
 From out the dripping blood and woes untold 
 Of our dear country, struggling with the accursed 
 And venomous thing that she too long had nursed. 
 Yet all the while these men would melt to tears 
 Of sympathy, or crack their throats with cheers 
 For Freedom and the Union, and would prate 
 Of loyalty, and then, dissembling hate, 
 
SUCCESS. 
 
 All rebels damn to H — alifax — or worse, 
 
 The meanwhile filching from the public purse 
 
 The hard-earned treasures won by sweat and toil 
 
 From shop and loom and unpropitious soil, 
 
 Which Union-loving patriots freely gave 
 
 Treason to quell and liberty to save. 
 
 Contractors they were called, and their success 
 
 Was won by fraud and plunder, and distress 
 
 Followed them like their shadow ; they were paid 
 
 For what they did not furnish, and thus made 
 
 Enormous fortunes at the sad expense 
 
 Of those who battled for the law's defense. 
 
 The shivering soldier on his lonely beat, 
 
 With tattered garments and with shoeless feet, 
 
 Or lying cold, uncovered in his tent, 
 
 While round him roars the wintry element — 
 
 Mutters black curses on the harpy crew 
 
 Whose " shoddy" contracts he has cause to rue. 
 
 But what care they, while to their hearts they press 
 
 Their ill-got " greenbacks," and can sport and dress 
 
 Quite a la mode, and strut amid the glare 
 
 Of ball-room lamps, and on their persons wear 
 
 Rubies and diamonds — all the costly trash 
 
 That on the blase gambler gleam and flash ? 
 
 Call such men loyal ! Judas faithful call, 
 
 Call robbers, murderers, pirates, good men all ! 
 
10 SUCCESS. 
 
 They 're traitors ! — worse than any rebel knave 
 That ever shot a "Yank" or flogged a slave ! 
 
 PETROLEUM ARISTOCRACY. 
 
 The loathsome." shoddy " tribe have had their day, 
 
 For war, on which they fed, has passed away ; 
 
 And now succeeds the "golden age" of oil! 
 
 No more is wealth obtained by patient toil, 
 
 As in the good old-fashioned days gone by, 
 
 But, Geyser-like, it spouts up mountain high 
 
 From out Earth's teeming bowels ! — liquid gold — 
 
 More wonderful than e'er was sung or told 
 
 Of El Dorado or of India's sands, 
 
 Or all the fables told of fabled lands ! 
 
 Hence has the head of all this Yankee nation 
 
 Run raving mad with wildest speculation 
 
 In oil and stocks, and all the world have come 
 
 To bend the knee to King Petroleum ! 
 
 This mighty monarch sits in royal state 
 
 In Wall Street and Fifth Avenue ; round him wait 
 
 His knights and courtiers, gaudily arrayed 
 
 In richest velvets, satins, and brocade. 
 
 Our aristocracy of rank and race, 
 
 With lofty mind and manners full of grace, 
 
SUCCESS. 11 
 
 Cannot compete in gorgeousness of style 
 
 With this new aristocracy of "ile." 
 
 What though their hands are large, ditto their feet, 
 
 Their features coarse as any on the street, 
 
 "Vulgar their speech and unrefined their gait ? — 
 
 For these slight drawbacks oil can compensate ! 
 
 Their oily head is crowned with oily hat, 
 
 Their oily bones are cased in oily fat, 
 
 Their oily eyes shed forth petroleum tears, 
 
 And oily jewels hang from oily ears ; 
 
 On oily fingers oily diamonds flash, 
 
 And oily wallets swell with oily cash ; 
 
 They live in oily mansions ; love declares 
 
 In oily words its passion ; oily prayers 
 
 Ascend from oily lips, while in their dreams 
 
 They bathe their oily limbs in oily streams ! 
 
 Of exquisite attractions these are some 
 
 That grace thy followers, Petroleum ! 
 
 No higher aim than riches they possess, 
 
 It is their summum bonum, their success. 
 
12 SUCCESS. 
 
 THE FASHIONABLE MAN. 
 
 Still lower are the coxcomb's aspirations ; 
 
 The realms of thought, the soul's sublime creations, 
 
 Are as unknown to him as are the caves 
 
 Where mermaids sport beneath the ocean's waves ; 
 
 His thoughts no lower than his boots dive down, 
 
 Nor higher rise than to his "beaver's" crown; 
 
 At Fashion's shrine he worships night and day — 
 
 Stern goddess, whose behests the world obey ! 
 
 'T is said, " Fine feathers make fine birds," you know, 
 
 And so he strives to make a " stunning" show; 
 
 His highest aim to "cut a mighty swell," 
 
 And be the beau of every reigning belle. 
 
 See how his dyed moustache he pets and twirls, 
 
 The pride, he thinks, and wonder of the girls ! 
 
 How shine his boots upon his pinched-up feet ! 
 
 His kids how fine ! his "butterfly" how "sweet !" 
 
 With what a grace he fondles his cigar, 
 
 And blows its wreaths of fragrant smoke afar ! 
 
 He sometimes goes to church — if fair the day, 
 
 For 't is the fashion ; but oftenest, they say, 
 
 Is seen at theatre, where, with opera- glass, 
 
 He ogles every object, lad and lass, 
 
SUCCESS. 13 
 
 In pit and dome, dress-circle and parquette. 
 
 The drama he "adoahs," he says, but yet 
 
 He most admires the kind that 's called "sensation;" 
 
 Don't like the higher works of mind's creation ; 
 
 Such tragedies as Richard III., Macbeth, 
 
 King Lear and Hamlet, "boah" him most to death. 
 
 The club and ball-room are his chief delight, 
 
 Where dance and revel wear away the night ; 
 
 And seldom does he totter home to bed 
 
 Till morn advancing paints the sky with red. 
 
 Virtue he scoffs at, chastity is "greenness," 
 
 Labor is "low," economy is "meanness;" 
 
 Fast women and fast horses, cards and wine, 
 
 Bound his ambition and his thoughts confine ; 
 
 "Fast" is his life, his style is "gay" and "flashy;" 
 
 The literature he loves is worse than trashy, — 
 
 Such stuff as fills the ten-cent novelette, 
 
 The Wish-wash Weakly and the Sport Gazette. 
 
 Should "the old man" (so called) send him to college 
 
 To cram his empty " calabash " with knowledge, 
 
 He "ponies," "fizzles," "bolts," and wriggles through, 
 
 As shirks and pampered dunces often do, 
 
 Cheats the Professors, gets his great "A. B.," 
 
 Which means "A Blockhead" two times out of three, 
 
 Then struts abroad that all the world may scan 
 
 This model gent, this fashionable man! 
 
14 SUCCESS. 
 
 THE MODERN BELLE. 
 
 Lest I should give offense by such a slight 
 To the dear ladies who are here to-night, 
 I must not fail a moment here to dwell 
 Upon the picture of a modern belle. 
 
 From the morning of life she is taught that to dress 
 Is the chief end of woman, her highest success 
 Consists in achieving the pride and renown 
 Of being the stylishest lady in town. 
 Before she arrives at discretion (an age 
 Which some never reach, I am sorry to say), 
 She is sent to some " Institute " then all the rage 
 Among the haut ton, where, for plenty of pay, 
 Some Professor Genteel or some Madame Precise 
 Engages to finish her off very nice, 
 According to order, and thus puts her through 
 The "regular course" — hie hsec hoc — parlez-vous p 
 To draw and embroider, to simper and sing, 
 To talk by the hour and not say anything, 
 Thro' polka, quadrille, and cotillion to dash on, 
 To be, in a word, your fine lady of fashion, 
 But not a true woman, equipped for real life, 
 For the duties and trials of mother or wife ; 
 
SUCCESS. 15 
 
 She can chat in the parlor or shine at a ball, 
 With ribbons and flounces and huge "waterfall;" 
 But pantry and kitchen has never explored, 
 And labor of all kinds is wholly ignored. 
 Her charms are but shams, her learning pretense ; 
 She has common follies but not common sense ; 
 She lives like the insect, to nutter and shine, 
 To flirt and be flattered — for pleasure, in fine; 
 Or, if she can be said to have motive or plan, 
 'T is to play the coquette or to capture a man. 
 
 LIFE IN ITS HIGHEST SENSE. 
 
 Away with such perversions of success, 
 Such grovelling aims, such soulless selfishness, 
 Such base subservience to the things of time, 
 Such disregard of all that is sublime 
 And glorious in manhood — all that lifts 
 The thunder- clouds of sin, and shows us rifts 
 That let in on our world of moral night 
 Bright gleams of beauty and immortal light ! 
 Soul was not made to wait on Passion's fires, 
 A slave to fleshly lusts and base desires ; 
 To grovel 'mid the sordid things of earth, 
 Like one of gentle blood and noble birth 
 
16 SUCCESS. 
 
 Doomed to the galleys, or like eagle bound, 
 
 Condemned for aye to nutter on the ground 
 
 With draggled plumage, never more to rise 
 
 On flashing pinions to his native skies ;— 
 
 'Tis heaven -born and immortal, made to climb 
 
 The scale of being to those heights sublime 
 
 Where truth's bright beams in warm effulgence glow, 
 
 To guide and gladden all the world below. 
 
 And he who yields to all the world's temptations 
 
 And checks the spirit's heavenward aspirations, 
 
 Dwarfs all the soul's diviner attributes 
 
 And sinks below the level of the brutes. 
 
 Though one should pile up riches mountain high, 
 And shine in all the pomp that wealth can buy ; 
 Though he should run the whole gay round of plea- 
 sure, 
 And earthly power be his beyond all measure ; 
 Yet, truly weighed, his life must pass for nought 
 Unless the mind is stored with wealth of thought, 
 The soul enlarged by charity and love 
 And fitted for that higher life above. 
 One grand idea of great Newton's mind 
 Transcends all values of material kind ; 
 One jewel sparkling in Baconian lore 
 Outshines the brilliance of the Koh-i-noor. 
 
SUCCESS. H 
 
 As God than man is higher, heaven than earth, 
 And as the great Forever time transcends, 
 
 So mind outvalues matter, so in worth 
 
 The Immortal dwarfs all earthly aims and ends. 
 
 To breathe, to eat, to wander up and down 
 
 Through the great world, in country and in town, 
 
 To heap up wealth while others want and weep, 
 
 Or sport and revel ere the final leap 
 
 Into the great Unknown — this is not life, 
 
 'T is but its semblance, but the carnal strife 
 
 Of sense and appetite, in which the aim 
 
 Of man, beast, bird and insect is the same. 
 
 Life has a meaning holier and higher, 
 
 An end to which all noble souls aspire. 
 
 To elevate, inform, enlarge the mind, 
 
 To combat wrong, to benefit mankind, 
 
 To guide aright the erring steps of youth, 
 
 To banish error and unfold the truth, 
 
 To think great thoughts, to execute and plan 
 
 Deeds that shall honor God, ennoble man, 
 
 To love and be beloved, to feel and know 
 
 The joy of ministering to others' woe, 
 
 Of pouring balm into the wounded breast, 
 
 Giving the hungry food, the weary rest, — 
 
18 SUCCESS. 
 
 The generous thrill of human sympathy, 
 
 The blessedness of godlike charity ; 
 
 This 't is to truly live, — and they who press 
 
 Toward these high aims are sure to reap success. 
 
 It matters not though few should be our days, 
 Though scant our honor and unsung our praise ; 
 The shortest life is longest if 't is best ; 
 'T is ours to work — to God belongs the rest. 
 Our lives are measured by the deeds we do, 
 The thoughts we think, the objects we pursue. 
 A fair young life poured out upon the sod 
 In the high cause of freedom and of God, 
 Like youthful Dahlgren's — riding to his doom 
 That liberty might nourish o'er his tomb, — 
 Though all too short its course and quickly run, 
 Is full and glorious as the orbed sun ; 
 While he who lives to hoary-headed age 
 
 Oft dies an infant — dies and leaves no sign ; 
 For he has writ no deed on history's page, 
 
 And unfulfilled is being's great design. 
 Highest success attends not fickle Luck, 
 But must be won by industry and pluck. 
 Who falls a prey to fiery Passion's power, 
 Or lingers long in Pleasure's rosy bower ; 
 
SUCCESS. 19 
 
 Who scorns not luxury, avarice, and pride, 
 And all the foes that tempt his steps aside, 
 Can never hope for glorious renown, 
 Wisdom's high honors and the victor's crown. 
 
 THE REFORMER. 
 
 See the reformer, with what constant blows 
 
 He hews at hoary Error, — how he throws 
 
 His barbed shafts of truth, with might and main, 
 
 'Mong Superstition's unbelieving train ! 
 
 The fool may jeer, the bigot may deride, 
 
 And Prejudice may thrust his truths aside ; 
 
 But not in vain are all his arrows cast — 
 
 A few will stick; truth must prevail at last. 
 
 Thus labored Garrison from year to year — 
 Of Liberty's great work the pioneer; 
 Thus Beecher wrought with quick Titanic knocks 
 On crumbling Error's adamantine blocks ; 
 Thus fiery Phillips — bright, erratic star — 
 'Gainst Slavery's kingdom waged defiant war, 
 Bore every insult hellish hate could fling, 
 Braved foul detraction, suffered falsehood's sting : 
 
20 SUCCESS. 
 
 "Strike, but first hear!" they cried, "Jehovah reigns, 
 "And He will break Oppression's galling chains, 
 "And let the oppressed go free !" 
 
 All hell was stirred, 
 And Southern Moloch trembled when he heard 
 The voice prophetic. Then he mounts his car 
 And calls his warrior vassals from afar, 
 Musters his legions, rank on rank arrayed, 
 With arms and banners terribly displayed, 
 And then with threatening brow and clenched hand 
 Sends back this answer from the Southern land : 
 "Ye 'Northern mudsills,' cease your pious rant! 
 " Too long I 've borne your Puritanic cant ! 
 "Ye race of cowards, formed of baser clay, 
 "'T is ours to rule, yours only to obey! 
 "We know no 'higher law' than our own will; 
 " Our slaves we yet will call from Bunker Hill ; 
 " The thing you hate shall flourish o'er the land 
 " From the Penobscot to the Rio Grande !" 
 
 Liberty heard and put her armor on ; 
 
 Thro' all her realms the tyrant's threat had gone, 
 
 And at her call a million freemen arm 
 
 And rush to shield her sacred head from harm. 
 
 They march, they form, they meet the battle's shock, 
 
 Great, like the sea, unshaken as a rock. 
 
SUCCESS. 21 
 
 Long was the struggle, terrible the strife, 
 Unnumbered heroes yielded up their life, 
 But Slavery's hosts at last are overthrown, 
 The war's red bolts have broken every chain, 
 And now again, o'er valley, hill, and plain, 
 Justice prevails, and Freedom rules alone. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 Not mine the task to picture and rehearse 
 The deeds of heroes in melodious verse, 
 To paint Achilles raging to destroy 
 The Trojan race and lofty walls of Troy, 
 Or Agamemnon proud, or Hector bold ; 
 Great Homer's muse these warlike acts has told, 
 And the sweet song by graceful Virgil sung 
 Along the sounding centuries has rung. 
 But could my humble muse ascend so high, 
 Would heaven to me the godlike power supply, 
 I 'd sing such deeds of arms and martial glory 
 As ne'er were told in ancient song or story ; 
 I 'd tell of chieftians more illustrious far — 
 Greater in peace and mightier in war, 
 Of greater battles fought and victories won 
 Than e'er were known before since time begun. 
 
22 SUCCESS. 
 
 O for a spark of old Promethean fire, 
 My soul to kindle and my muse to inspire ! 
 That I might honor one immortal name,— 
 Might sound abroad the virtues, and proclaim, 
 In soug unperishing as adamant, 
 The high achievements of illustrious Grant ! 
 By duty summoned to the tented field, 
 For Freedom's holy cause his sword to wield, 
 He ever kept his Country's good in view, — 
 To right aud justice as to friendship true. 
 With skill to plan and courage to perform 
 The greatest acts, he broke in fire and storm . 
 Upon his country's foes, till shock on shock 
 Made Treason's empire on its basis rock. 
 His is the genuine Anglo-Saxon pluck; 
 High were his aims, and to those aims he stuck ; 
 To doubts and dangers paying little heed, 
 Onward he pressed, determined to succeed. 
 And did he not succeed ? Let history tell 
 How hard he fought, how wisely and how well ; 
 How, step by step, from rank to rank he rose, 
 How he o'ercame his own and Freedom's foes, 
 And how he won a great historic name, 
 Precious alike to honor and to fame. 
 
 'T is not my purpose here to number o'er 
 The fields he won, the trophies that he bore, — 
 
SUCCESS. 23 
 
 Let it suffice a moment to digress, 
 To celebrate his final grand success : 
 
 He sat at midnight in his tent, 
 
 In silence, save the sentry's tread, 
 While darkness wrapped the firmament 
 
 And March howled drearily o'erhead ; 
 And stretching southward far away 
 The Army of Potomac lay, 
 While yonder where the North Star flames 
 Is camped the Army of the James. 
 Here has he called from North and West 
 His trustiest warriors and his best — 
 Two hundred thousand* men as brave 
 As ever fought their land to save — 
 To strike one last terrific blow, 
 And lay the head of Treason low. 
 
 Ere morning's beams shall paint the land, 
 Great Sheridan, that flaming brand, 
 Who, like a thunderbolt from heaven, 
 Old Early's host had struck and riven 
 And chased thro' Shenandoah's vale 
 With sulphurous fire and leaden hail, — 
 
 * The numbers given here, and on pp. 24, 30, though larger 
 than the official figures, are sufficiently exact for poetical pur- 
 poses. 
 
24 SUCCESS. 
 
 Shall mount his steed and dash away 
 With twice ten thousand cavalry, 
 
 To ope the battle's bloody fray 
 
 And strike the martial hosts of Lee. 
 
 The hour is come, the order passed ; 
 They^arm and mount and muster fast, 
 But all in silence save the tramp 
 Of horses through the forest damp. 
 Then Warren with his gallant corps, 
 Proud of the honors that they bore, 
 Rose in the morning cold and dank 
 And followed after by the flank. 
 Then Humphreys and the noble " Second," 
 Who foremost were where duty beckoned, 
 Stretched their long columns to the west, 
 Where fiery Sheridan had pressed ; 
 While all along, from left to right, 
 The hosts make ready for the fight.. 
 
 Startled, the brave and wily foe 
 On Warren fell with stunning blow ; 
 The first line broke, but, succor nigh, 
 The rebels soon were forced to fly. 
 Then fell they with prodigious force 
 Upon our gleaming lines of horse, 
 
SUCCESS. 25 
 
 Who strove in vain to stem the flood, 
 And crimsoned all the plain with blood ; 
 Till Warren came, whose stern array 
 Rolled back the tide, and won the day 
 Which the Five Forks historic made 
 And bravery sublime displayed. 
 
 Meanwhile our chief with eager eye 
 Watched, like some eagle perched on high, 
 The varying fortunes of the day ; 
 And when the stubborn foe gave way, 
 And Sheridan had turned his flank, 
 Rushing upon him rank on rank, 
 Then flashed the sunshine from his eye, 
 
 And triumph lighted up his face, 
 As when the darkness flees the sky 
 
 And to Aurora's smile gives place ; 
 And 'long the lines the word goes forth : 
 "Strike, now, to avenge the bleeding North I 
 " Strike to o'erwhelm the traitor Lee ! 
 " Strike for the banner of the free !" 
 
 Then rises Meade, who oft had met the foe, 
 And who at Gettysburg had struck the blow 
 That saved us from destruction and despair 
 And hurled Rebellion howling to his lair,— 
 
26 SUCCESS. 
 
 Thunders, while all his face with rapture shines : 
 " Forward ! my boys, now charge the rebel lines I" 
 
 Then up rise our legions with cheer upon cheer 
 And straight for the foe's frowning battlements steer ; 
 O'er moat and escarpment they clamber, they run, 
 While destruction leaps forth from each thunder- 
 voiced gun; 
 They swarm over parapet, leap over wall, — 
 Alas ! that so many brave heroes should fall ! 
 The roar of the cannon, the screaming of shell, 
 The roll of the musketry, swell upon swell, 
 The shouts and the curses, exulting, defying, 
 The shrieks of the wounded, the groans of the dying, 
 The sulphurous smoke turning day into night, — 
 God ! what a picture ! How awful the fight I 
 
 But now, at length, a sound there swells 
 That sweeter seems than marriage bells ! 
 The noble " Sixth " has broken through, 
 Led on by Wright the brave and true ; 
 Victory ! victory ! is the cry ! 
 See, how the rebels break and fly ! 
 Soon, too, the gallant Ord's command 
 Defeats and routs the rebel band ; 
 
SUCCESS. 2.T 
 
 Then Parke, the intrepid, with his corps, 
 
 The opposing ramparts rushes o'er ! 
 
 The day is won, Rebellion dead ; 
 
 The great arch-traitor, Davis, fled ! 
 
 Richmond and Petersburg are ours, 
 
 And Freedom's banner crowns their towers 1 
 
 I need not tell how hot the chase- 
 Relentless as the storm -vexed sea ; 
 
 Nor need I name the time and place 
 
 Where Grant received the sword of Lee ; 
 
 Nor name the terms the victor gave,— 
 
 He is magnanimous as brave, 
 
 Nor ever does he stoop to throw 
 
 Insult upon a fallen foe. 
 
 In all things great, the trump of fame 
 
 Ne'er sounded forth a prouder name. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN. 
 
 Great Sherman, too, has shed unbounded glory 
 
 Upon our arms, and in our country's story 
 
 No brighter name shall shine, save Grant's alone, 
 
 Through all the wondering centuries, than his own. 
 
 Wise in the council, brilliant in the field, 
 
 With iron will that knew not how to yield, 
 
28 SUCCESS. 
 
 Stern and severe, but just and generous too, 
 Quick to perform what conscience bade him do ; 
 Fitted was he to shine on history's page, 
 And to adorn his country and his age. 
 Think how he pushed the wily Johnson back, 
 Pressing on front and flank, mid rifle's crack 
 And cannon's boom and shells' convulsive scream, 
 From fort to fort, o'er mountain, hill, and stream, 
 Until at last his summer's work was done, 
 His foe defeated and Atlanta won. 
 Then came that march renowned thro' every land, 
 
 When, like a meteor thro' the nightly gloom, 
 From Northern Georgia to the Atlantic's strand 
 
 He swept resistless, sealing Treason's doom. 
 
 The chieftain sat on his well-tried steed, 
 
 And his face was bronzed and grim, 
 And his bright gray eye glanced proudly around, 
 
 And his army looked proudly on him ; 
 For they had triumphed wherever he led — 
 
 That army so valiant and strong, 
 And well they knew that their leader was true, 
 
 As Sherman went marching along. 
 
 Around him his generals proudly rode — 
 His generals brave and true ; 
 
SUCCESS. 29 
 
 There were Slocum the valiant and Howard the good 
 
 Awaiting his orders to do ; 
 And Blair the intrepid and Logan the bold 
 
 And others — a glorious throng, — 
 Their steeds how they thundered, their arms how 
 they rang, 
 
 As Sherman went marching along. 
 
 The flames of cities illumined their track 
 
 And shot forth a lurid glare ; 
 For the proud must be humbled in ashes and dust, — 
 
 'T were folly the traitor to spare ; 
 Now vengeance shall visit their slave-cursed land 
 
 And blot out their giant wrong ; 
 And destruction shall sweep like the hurricane's 
 wrath 
 
 Where Sherman goes marching along. 
 
 The white folks fly in terror and dread, 
 
 For their conscience confesses their sin ; 
 But the blacks turn out with welcome and shout 
 
 And broad and comical grin ; 
 For they know that our flag is the flag of the free, 
 
 And they hail it with rapture and song, 
 And our boys join in with uproarious din, 
 
 As Sherman goes marching along. 
 
30 SUCCESS. 
 
 Through swamp and morass our legions pass, 
 
 O'er bayou and swollen stream ; 
 And the moping owl is scared from the tree 
 
 By the musket's silvery gleam ; 
 And our boys in blue so noble and true, 
 
 A hundred thousand strong, 
 Fright the depths of the forest solitudes 
 
 As Sherman goes marching along. 
 
 At length Savannah is reached and won 
 
 And the ships in Ossabaw Sound, 
 Then northward they press old Hardee to chase 
 
 And to fight him if ever he 's found. 
 O'er the Combahee and the proud Santee 
 
 And the Pedees they press and throng, 
 Till they grasp by the hand brave Schofield's band, 
 
 As Sherman goes marching along. 
 
 Then united and strong they still press on 
 
 Till Raleigh appears in view, 
 Where Johnson surrenders and lays down his arms 
 
 In sight of the Red, White, and Blue. 
 Then hail to our chieftain, the mighty and brave I 
 
 We will praise him in story and song; 
 For Liberty triumphed and Treason was slain 
 
 When Sherman went marching along. 
 
SUCCESS. 31 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Pause, O my muse ! a moment here to dwell 
 Upon the cherished name of one who fell 
 That Liberty might live ; whose high renown 
 Was made transcendent by the martyr's crown. 
 Oh ! Freedom's best and truest friend was dead, 
 When godlike Lincoln bowed his honored head. 
 
 It was not birth or wealth that made him great 
 
 And raised him to the highest post of state ; 
 
 'T was perseverance, honesty of heart, 
 
 The firm resolve to act a manly part 
 
 In life's great drama, and to dare and do 
 
 Whate'er was great and noble, just and true, — 
 
 A spotless character, not wealth, to gain, 
 
 And Freedom's cause forever to maintain. 
 
 It was for this that Slavery struck the blow, 
 
 By foul assassin's hand, that laid him low. 
 
 Peace to his sacred ashes ! Lightly tread 
 
 Over the ground where rests the sainted dead ! 
 
 'T is Freedom's shrine, and thro' all coming years 
 
 Her pilgrims here shall come to moisten it with tears. 
 
32 SUCCESS. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Among our country's honored sons and Fame's, 
 
 One other name a passing tribute claims: 
 
 An honest man, in whose great life we see 
 
 The ripened fruit of true democracy. 
 
 Not in the lap of luxury was he nursed, 
 
 But, poor and friendless, in a land accursed 
 
 By human bondage, was his boyhood spent ; 
 
 But cheerfully he labored, still intent 
 
 On overcoming prejudice and pride, 
 
 And winning Fortune's favors now denied. 
 
 In vain did Scorn and Ridicule employ 
 
 Their venomed shafts against the " Tailor Boy ;" 
 
 In vain did Poverty his path oppose, 
 
 And vainly, too, the voice of Envy rose ; 
 
 Fired by a brave ambition to excel, 
 
 With stern resolve to do his duty well, 
 
 To store his mind with wisdom, and to draw 
 
 Knowledge and power from science and from law 
 
 Grandly he rose till, mighty and sublime, 
 
 He towered among the greatest of his time. 
 
 When war's wild tempest o'er the nation flew, 
 
 Foremost he stood among the faithful few 
 
SUCCESS. 3c 
 
 Who in the South defied the Slave God's ire, 
 And swore 'neath Freedom's flag to triumph or ex- 
 pire. 
 But vain the task his honors to proclaim, 
 Or tell the deeds that consecrate his name ; 
 For all the world the noble acts may see 
 Of Andrew Johnson, ruler of the free ! 
 
 COMPLETE SUCCESS. 
 
 My tedious task is done, and all too long 
 
 My muse has lingered in the bowers of song. 
 
 Some eminent examples I have brought 
 
 To illustrate my meaning and my thought, 
 
 And useful lessons on the mind to impress 
 
 Touching the attributes of true success ; 
 
 And fain would I, if it did proper seem, 
 
 In other fields pursue the tempting theme, — ■ 
 
 To humble merit fitting tribute pay, 
 
 And modest Virtue's beauteous charms display 
 
 Point to the Teacher — patient, loving, true, — 
 
 Wearing his life out duty's work to do ; 
 
 To the Philanthropist, whose priceless gain 
 
 Is the great joy of soothing others' pain, 
 
34 SUCCESS.- 
 
 Of healing wounds, of comforting distress, 
 
 Of visiting the sick and fatherless — 
 
 In whom pure love and heavenly mercy shine, 
 
 And man and angel lovingly combine ; 
 
 To the good Minister, to whom 't is given 
 
 To guide the homeless wanderer up to heaven. 
 
 These follow not in Honor's dazzling train ; 
 
 But who shall say that they have lived in vain ? 
 
 The good they do we cannot fully see 
 
 But 't will be felt by millions yet to be. 
 
 The humblest Christian who has wisely trod 
 
 The path that leads to glory and to God, 
 
 Though poor and suffering and unrenowned, 
 
 In heaven at last shall be as victor crowned, 
 
 Reap the reward of virtue and of prayer, 
 
 And find complete SUCCESS— up there — up there. 
 
 THE END. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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