They had known the Major
to be a great man: but not till now--not perhaps until that last
solemn sentence fell on their ears--had they understood his
greatness.
I have heard that the silence which followed was broken by a sob.
Certainly the meeting dispersed in choking silence.
At length Troy realised its loss.
From that moment the figure, hitherto remembered in the clear
outlines of affection, begun to grow, loom, expand, in the mists of
awe. It ceased to be familiar, having put on greatness. Men began
to tell how, on that last fatal expedition, the Major had turned
single-handed and held a whole squadron of Dragoons at bay.
In his garden, by the brink of the fish-pond, Mr. Basket reared a
stone with the following inscription:
ATTEND
O PASSER BY!
ON THIS
SPOT AS NEARLY AS CAN BE ASCERTAINED
SOLOMON HYMEN, ESQUIRE
SEVEN TIMES MAYOR OF TROY
IN CORNWALL
RELINQUISHED HIS HONOURS
FOR HIS COUNTRY'S NEED
AND RESOLUTELY SACRIFICED
EASE, FRIENDSHIP, FAME
TO EMBARK HIS SOLE MANHOOD
IN HER DEFENCE
AMID THE SURROUNDING MEMORIALS
OF GREECE AND ROME
CHALLENGING
THE SEVEREST VIRTUES OF ANTIQUITY
WITH A BRITON'S RESOLUTION
CHAPTER XIX.
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