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had been the officer, told them off with authority, and with that way which makes men feel sure all is right and is going to be right. And he finished loading the gun with his own hands, aimed it, and bade the men fire. And there he stayed, in command of that gun, keeping those fellows in spirits, till the enemy struck. The captain walked forward by way of encouraging the men, and Nolan touched his hat and said:

17. "I am showing them how we do this in the artillery, sir."

18. "I see you are, and I thank you, sir; and I shall never forget this day, sir, and you never shall, sir," said the captain.

19. And after the whole thing was over, and he had the Englishman's sword, in the midst of the state and ceremony of the quarter-deck, the captain said:

20.

here."

"Where is Mr. Nolan? Ask Mr. Nolan to come

21. And when Nolan came, he said: "Mr. Nolan, we are all very grateful to you to-day; you are one of us today; you will be named in the dispatches."

22. And then the old man took off his own sword of ceremony, and gave it to Nolan, and made him put it on. Nolan cried like a baby, and well he might. He had not worn a sword since that wretched day at Fort Adams.

23. The captain did mention him in the dispatches. It was always said he asked that Nolan might be pardoned. He wrote a special letter to the secretary of war, but nothing ever came of it.

24. My own acquaintance with Philip Nolan began six or eight years after the English war, on my first voyage after I was appointed a midshipman. We had him to dine in our mess once a week, and the caution was given

that on that day nothing was to be said about home. I did not ask why; there were a great many things which seemed to me to have as little reason.

25. I first came to understand about "the man without a country" one day when we overhauled a dirty little schooner which had slaves on board. An officer was sent to take charge of her, and, after a few minutes, he sent back his boat to ask that some one might be sent who could speak Portuguese. Nolan stepped out and said he should be glad to interpret, as he understood the language. 26. "Tell them they are free," said Vaughan.

27. Nolan put that into such Portuguese as the negroes could understand. Then there was a yell of delight, leaping and dancing, kissing of Nolan's feet.

28. "Tell them," said Vaughan, well pleased, “that I will take them all to Cape Palmas."

Cape Palmas was far and their interpreters Vaughan asked Nolan

29. This did not answer so well. from the homes of most of them, instantly said, "Ah, non Palmas." eagerly what they said. The drops stood on poor Nolan's white forehead, as he said:

30. "He says, 'Not Palmas.' He says, 'Take us home, take us to our own country, take us to our own house, take us to our own pickaninnies and our own women.' He says he has an old father and mother who will die if they do not see him. And this one says he left his people all sick, and paddled down to Fernando to beg the white doctor to come and help them, and that they caught him in the bay just in sight of home, and that he has never seen anybody from home since then. And this one says," choked out Nolan, "that he has not heard a word from his home in six months, while he has been locked up in a barracoon."

31. As quick as Vaughan could get words, he said: "Tell them yes, yes, yes; tell them they shall go to the Mountains of the Moon, if they will. If I sail the schooner through the Great White Desert, they shall go home!"

32. And after some fashion Nolan said so. And then they all fell to kissing him again, and wanted to rub his nose with theirs.

33. But he could not stand it long; and getting Vaughan to say he might go back, he beckoned me down into our boat. As we lay back in the stern sheets and the men gave way he said to me: "Youngster, let that show you what it is to be without a family, without a home, and without a country. And if you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put a bar between you and your family, your home, and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home, boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to your thought, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back to it when you are free, as that poor black slave is doing now. And for your country, boy," and the words rattled in his throat, "and for that flag," and he pointed to the ship, "never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens to you, no matter who flatters you or abuses you, never look at another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country, herself, your Country, and that you belong to her as you belong to your own mother."

34. I was frightened by his calm, hard passion; but I blundered out that I would, by all that was holy, and that I had never thought of doing anything else. He hardly seemed to hear me; but he did, almost in a whisper, say: "Oh, if anybody had said so to me when I was of your age!"

35. When we parted from him at the end of our cruise, I was more sorry than I can tell. I was glad to meet him once more in 1830, but after that I never saw him again. And now it seems the dear old fellow is dead. He has found a home at last, and a country.

36. Since writing this, I have received a letter which gives an account of Nolan's last hours. Here is an extract from the letter:

LEVANT, 2° 2' S. 131° W.

DEAR FRED: - I try to find heart and life to tell you that it is all over with dear old Nolan. I could see that he was not strong, but I had no idea the end was so near. He had let the doctor come and see him as he lay there- the first time the doctor had been in the stateroom - and he said he should like to see me. Well, I went in, and there, to be sure, the poor fellow lay in his berth, smiling pleasantly as he gave me his hand, but looking very frail. I could not help a glance round, which showed me what a little shrine he had made of the box he was lying in. The stars and stripes were triced up above and around a picture of Washington, and he had painted a majestic eagle, with lightnings blazing from his beak and his foot just clasping the whole globe, which his wings overshadowed. The dear old boy saw my glance, and said, with a sad smile, "Here, you see, I have a country!"

And he said, "Look in my Bible, when I am gone And I went away. I had no thought it was the end. But in an hour, when the doctor went in gently, he found Nolan had breathed his life away with a smile.

We looked in his Bible, and there was a slip of paper at the place where he had marked the text:

66

They desire a country, even a heavenly: wherefore God is not

ashamed to be called their God for He hath prepared for them a city."

On this slip of paper he had written :

66 'Bury me in the sea; it has been my home, and I love it. But will not some one set up a stone for my memory at Fort Adams or at Orleans, that my disgrace may not be more than I ought to bear? Say on it:

"IN MEMORY OF

"PHILIP NOLAN

"Lieutenant in the Army of the United States

"He loved his country as no other man has loved her;
but no man deserved less at her hands."

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I. Songs of our land, ye are with us forever!

The power and the splendor of thrones pass away; But yours is the might of some deep-rolling river, Still flowing in freshness through things that decay. Yet treasure the voices of long-vanished ages;

Like our time-honored towers, in beauty ye stand; Ye bring us the bright thoughts of poets and sages, And keep them among us, old songs of our land!

2. The bards may go down to the place of their slumbers,
The lyre of the charmer be hushed in the grave;
But far in the future the power of their numbers
Shall kindle the hearts of our faithful and brave.
It will waken an echo in souls deep and lonely,
Like voices of reeds by the winter wind fanned;
It will call up a spirit of freedom, when only

Her breathings are heard in the songs of our land.

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