And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder peal on peal, afar
And near; the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While throng'd the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering with white lips—"The foe! they come! they come!"
Battle's magnificently stern array!
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold.
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown!
Hand to hand, and foot to foot:
Nothing there, save death, was mute;
Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry
For quarter or for victory,
Mingle there with the volleying thunder.
Veni, vidi, vici.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
In bello parvis momentis magni casus intercedunt.
In war events of importance are the result of trivial causes.
The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave,
And charge with all thy chivalry.
Campbell—Hohenlinden.
WAR
La Garde meurt, mais ne se rend pas.
The guard dies but does not surrender.
Attributed to Lieut. Gen. Pierre Jacques,
Baron de Cambronne, when called to surrender by Col. Hugh Halkett. Cambronne disavowed the saying at a banquet
at Nantes, 1835. The London Times on the
Centenary of the battle of Waterloo published a letter, written at 11 p. m. on the
evening of the battle, by Capt. Digby
Mackworth, of the 7th Fusiliers, A. D. C.
to Gen. Hill. In it the phrase is quoted as
already familiar. Fournier in L'Esprit
dans I'histoire, pp. 412-15, ascribes it to a
correspondent of the Independant, Rougemont. It appeared there the next day, and
afterwards in the Journal General de France,
June 24. This seems also improbable in view
of the above mentioned letter. See also
Victor Hugo—Les MiserabUs. Waterloo.
War will never yield but to the principles of
universal justice and love, and these have no
sure root but in the religion of Jesus Christ.
Wm. Ellery Channing—Lecture on War.
Sec. II.
O Chryste, it is a grief for me to telle,
How manie a noble erle and vadrous knyghte
In fyghtynge for Kynge Harrold noblie fell,
Al sleyne on Hastyng's field in bloudie fyghte.
Chatterton—Battle of Hastings.
Bella suscipienda sunt ob earn causam, ut sine
injuria in pace vivatur.
Wars are to be undertaken in order that it
may be possible to live in peace without molestation.
Cicero—De Officiis. I. 11.
Parvi enim sunt foris anna, nisi est consilium
domi.
An army abroad is of little use unless there
are prudent counsels at home.
Cicero—De Officiis. I. 22.
Helium autem ita suscipiatur, ut nihil aliud,
nisi pax, quaesita videatur.
Let war be so carried on that no other object may seem to be sought but the acquisition of peace.
Cicero—De Officiis. I. 23.
Silent leges inter anna.
The law is silent during war.
Cicero—Oratio Pro Annio Milone. IV.
Pro aris et focis.
For your altars and your fires.
Cicero—Oration for Roscius. Ch. V. Also
used by Tiberius Gracchus before this.
Nervi belli pecunia infinite.
Endless money forms the sinews of war.
Cicero—Philippics. V. 2. 5. Libanius—
Orations. XLVL Photius—Lex. S. 5.
Rabelais—Gargantua. Bk. I. Ch. XXVI.
("Corn" for "money.
