comparison with the
great performances of European war, were scarcely less important; and
which, if they sometimes transcend belief, must yet always delight the
imagination. His adventures have given a rich coloring to fable, and
have stimulated its performances. The language of song and story has
been employed to do them honor, and our children are taught, in lessons
that they love, to lisp the deeds and the patriotism of his band.
"Marion"--"Marion's Brigade" and "Marion's men", have passed into
household words, which the young utter with an enthusiasm much more
confiding than that which they yield to the wondrous performances of
Greece and Ilium. They recall, when spoken, a long and delightful series
of brilliant exploits, wild adventures, by day and night, in swamp
and thicket, sudden and strange manoeuvres, and a generous, unwavering
ardor, that never found any peril too hazardous, or any suffering
too unendurable. The theme, thus invested, seems to have escaped the
ordinary bounds of history. It is no longer within the province of the
historian. It has passed into the hands of the poet, and seems to scorn
the appeal to authentic chronicles. When we look for the record we
find but little authority for a faith so confiding, and seemingly so
exaggerated. The story of the Revolution in the southern colonies has
been badly kept. Documentary proofs are few, bald and uninteresting.
A simple paragraph in the newspapers,--those newspapers issued not
unfrequently in cities where the enemy had power, and in the control of
Editors, unlike the present, who were seldom able to expatiate upon the
achievement which they recorded;--or the brief dispatches of the Captain
himself, whose modesty would naturally recoil from stating more than the
simple result of his performances;--these are usually the sum total of
our authorities. The country, sparsely settled, and frequently overrun
by the barbarous enemy, was incapable of that patient industry and
persevering care, which could chronicle the passing event, give place
and date to the brilliant sortie, the gallant struggle, the individual
deed of audacity, which, by a stroke, and at a moment, secures an
undying remembrance in the bosoms of a people. The fame of Marion rests
very much upon tradition. There is little in the books to justify the
strong and exciting relish with which the name is spoken and remembered
throughout the country. He was not a bloody warrior. His battle fields
we