The History of Virginia; from Its First Settlement to the Present Day Volume 3

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1805 edition. Excerpt: ... the nature of circumstances would permit, was garrisoned by a party of provincials, and called Pittsburgh in honour of the great stateman who now presided over the councils of Britain. Having accomplished those necessary objects, the army and their general were seized with the tender and pious sentiment of discharging tlie last sad duties to the remains of their countrymen, which lay scattered round the fort. Disfigured, mutilated by wounds inflicted in battle, or torn by birds and beasts of prey, they presented a spectacle horrible to the sight, disgust % ful to the imagination; whilst the masses of hare CHAP. and whitened bones furnished a melancholy asso '" nation of remote and recent disasters. Nothing could exceed the silent sublimity of feeling amongst the victors as they walked through this army of the dead: Now and then the silence was broken by the exclamation of some veteran, who had been present and had miraculously survived those calamities. The bones and bodies were collected with pious care, and buried in one common tomb; the whole army from the general to the lowest centinel assisting at the solemn ceremony. This scene suggests a parallel situation in Roman history, described by the masculine eloquence of Tacitus. " Not far hence lays the forest of Teutoburgium, and in it the bones of Varus and his legions, by report still unburied: Hence Germanicus became inspired with a tender passion to pay the last offices to the legions and their leader: the like tenderness likewise affected the whole army. They were moved with compassion, some for the fate of their friends, others for their relations, here tragically slain. They were struck with the doleful casualties of war, and the sad lot of humanity. Coecina was sent...