Resignation. THERE is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there! There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, The air is full of farewells to the dying, The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Let us be patient! these severe afflictions, But oftentimes celestial benedictions Assume this dark disguise. We see but dimly through the mists and vapours, Amid these earthly damps. What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers, May be heaven's distant lamps. There is no death! What seems so is transition; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb to the life elysian, Whose portal we call death. She is not dead,-the child of our affection, But gone unto that school Where she no longer needs our poor protection, And Christ Himself doth rule. In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion, Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution, Day after day we think what she is doing Year after year, her tender steps pursuing, Behold her grown more fair. Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbroken The bond which nature gives, Thinking that our remembrance, though unspoken Not as a child shall we again behold her; In our embraces we again enfold her, She will not be a child; But a fair maiden, in her Father's mansion, And beautiful with all the soul's expansion And though at times impetuous with emotion, The swelling heart heaves moaning like the ocean, We will be patient, and assuage the feeling We may not wholly stay; By silence sanctifying, not concealing, The grief that must have way. THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY (LORD MACAULAY). BORN 1800. DIED 1859. —0— PRINCIPAL WRITINGS:- Lays of Ancient Rome (Horatius, Battle of the Lake Regillus, Virginia, The Prophecy of Capys); Ivry, a Song of the Huguenots; The Armada; Essays; History of England. —0— Horatius. DEFENCE OF THE BRIDGE. We have very little precise information respecting the kings and early consuls of Rome, and much of the history of those days is fabulous or legendary. Lord Macaulay has put together, and, as it were, recast some of these legends under the title of "Lays of Ancient Rome." The seventh and last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, was banished from Rome B.C. 509. Lars Porsena, the king of Clusium in Etruria (Tuscany), determined to do all he could to restore the house of Tarquin, and accordingly led an army against Rome, which was now governed by the consuls, (1) Valerius and (2) Horatius Pulvillus. They led forth the Roman army to repulse the assailants. and crossed the river Tiber to the Fort Janiculum, which was the only fortified place possessed by the Romans on that side of the river; but they were soon driven back by Porsena: and, in order to prevent the passage of the enemy over the wooden bridge leading from Janiculum to the city, it was determined to destroy the bridge. Three of the principal citizens stationed themselves on the Fort side of the bridge to arrest the progress of the enemy. These were(1) Horatius Cocles (nephew of the consul), (2) Titus Herminius, and (3) Spurius Lartius. Herminius and Lartius fought for a long time, but were recalled by their friends when the bridge was about to fall, and crossed the bridge in safety; leaving Horatius alone, gallantly defending himself and keeping the Tuscans at bay until the bridge fell. Horatius now, wounded and faint from loss of blood, jumped into the river and with difficulty got to the other side, where he was received by the Romans with great demonstrations of joy. A statue was erected to him in the temple of Vulcan. BUT the Consul's brow was sad, And the Consul's speech was low, "Their van will be upon us Before the bridge goes down; And if they once may win the bridge, Then out spake brave Horatius, "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, I, with two more to help me, In yon strait path a thousand Now who will stand on either hand, Then out spake Spurius Lartius; And keep the bridge with thee." *RAMNIAN.-The three Patrician tribes of Rome were-(1) The Ramnës, (2) The Titiës, (3) The Lucerës. These were the original settlers, and were free-born citizens. They constituted the populus Romanus or Roman burghers. And out spake strong Herminius: "I will abide on thy left side, And keep the bridge with thee." "Horatius," quoth the Consul, "As thou sayest, so let it be." Spared neither land nor gold, Meanwhile the Tuscan army, Right glorious to behold, Came flashing back the noonday light, As that great host, with measured tread, But meanwhile axe and lever Have manfully been plied; |