Sadly 'twas heard by him who came

From the fields of his toil at night,

And who might not see his own hearth-flame
In his children's eyes make light.

Sternly and sadly heard,

As it quench'd the wood-fires glow,

Which had cheer'd the board with the mirthful word,
And the red wine's foaming flow!

Until that sullen boding knell
Flung out from every fane,
On harp, and lip, and spirit, fell,
With a weight and with a chain.

Woe for the pilgrim then,
In the wild deer's forest far!

No cottage lamp, to the haunts of men

Might guide him, as a star.

And woe for him whose wakeful soul,

With lone aspirings fill'd,

Would have lived o'er some immortal scroll,

While the sounds of earth were still'd!

And yet a deeper woe

For the watcher by the bed,

Where the fondly loved in pain lay low,

In pain and sleepless dread!

For the mother, doom'd unseen to keep
By the dying babe, her place,

And to feel its flitting pulse, and weep,
Yet not behold its face!

Darkness in chieftain's hall!

Darkness in peasant's cot!

While freedom, under that shadowy pall,

Sat mourning o'er her lot.

Oh! the fireside's peace we well may prize
For blood hath flowed like rain,

Pour'd forth to make sweet sanctuaries

Of England's homes again.

Heap the yule-fagots high

Till the red light fills the room!

It is home's own hour when the stormy sky
Grows thick with evening gloom.

INSCRIPTION FOR A COLUMN AT RUNNEMEDE. 11

Gather

ye round the holy hearth,

And by its gladdening blaze,

Unto thankful bliss we will change our mirth,
With a thought of the olden days!

HEMANS.

VII. INSCRIPTION FOR A COLUMN AT RUNNEMEDE.

"A CONFERENCE took place, June 15th, 1215, between the king and the barons at Runnemede, between Windsor and Staines; a spot ever since deservedly celebrated, and even hallowed by every zealous lover of liberty. There John, after a debate of some days, signed and sealed the famous Magna Charta, or Great Charter; which granted or rather secured very important privileges to every order of men in the kingdom-to the barons, to the clergy, and to the people."Russell's Modern Europe.

Distinguish between these words, and put them into sentences:

Plain and Plane.

Owe and Oh!

Born and borne.

THOU, who the verdant plain dost traverse here,
While Thames among his willows from thy view
Retires, O stranger, stay thee, and the scene
Around contemplate well. This is the place
Where England's ancient Barons, clad in arms
And stern with conquest, from their tyrant king
(Then render'd tame) did challenge and secure
The charter of thy freedom. Pass not on
Till thou hast blest their memory, and paid
Those thanks which God appointed the reward
Of public virtue. And if chance thy home
Salute thee with a father's honour'd name,
Go, call thy sons; instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors; and make them swear
To pay it, by transmitting down entire

Those sacred rights to which themselves were born.*

AKENSIDE.

It will be found a very profitable exercise, to make those who are sufficiently advanced, paraphrase this poem, bringing in the facts, as detailed in the introduc tory note, into their paraphrane.

VIII. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM.

BLENHEIM is a small village of Bavaria, on the Danube, famous in modern history as being the scene of the great battle fought August 13th, 1704, between the English and Imperialists, under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and the French and Bavarians, under Marshals Tallard and Marsin and the Elector of Bavaria. Each army consisted of nearly 80,000 men. The English and their allies gained a complete and decisive victory. Their enemies left above 10,000 men killed and wounded on the field; a vast number more were drowned in the Danube, and above 13,000 were made prisoners; among the latter were Marshal Tallard (whose son was killed) and many other officers of distinction. All the artillery, baggage, &c. of the French and Bavarians fell into the hands of the conquerors. The loss of the latter, though severe, was not greater than might have been expected, having amounted to about 5,000 killed and 8,000 wounded.-See Mc Culloch's Geographical Dictionary.

Etymology. Distinguish between the following words, and put them into sentences:

Rout and Route.

Field.

Little.

Fly and Flee.

Won, One, and Wan.
Head and Heed.

Died and Dyed.

It was a summer's evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun;
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.'

She saw her brother Peterkin2

Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet,

In playing there, had found:
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.

Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by ;

And then the old man shook his head,

And, with a natural sigh,

""Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory!

66

My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by ;"

They burn'd his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forc'd to fly:

So, with his wife and child he fled,

Nor had he where to rest his head.

"With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide;

And many a childing mother then

And new-born baby died.

But things like that, you know, must be

At every famous victory.

"They say it was a shocking sight

After the field was won;

For many thousand bodies here

Lay rotting in the sun.

But things like that, you know, must be

After a famous victory.

"Great praise the Duke of Marlborough won,

66

And our good prince Eugene."

Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!"

Said little Wilhelmine.

"Nay, nay, my little girl," quoth he,

"It was a famous victory!

13

"HAIL to thee, poor little ship' Mayflower,' of Delft Haven: poor common-looking ship, hired by common charterparty for coined dollars; caulked with mere oakum and tar; provisioned with vulgarest biscuit and bacon; yet what ship' Argo,' or miraculous epic ship, built by the sea gods, was not a foolish bumbarge in comparison !

Golden fleeces or the like, these sailed for, with or without effect; thou little Mayflower' hadst in thee a veritable Promethean spark; the life-spark of the largest nation on our earth; so we may already name the Transatlantic Saxon nation. They went seeking leave to hear sermon in their own method, these Mayflower Puritans; a most honest indispensable search; and yet, like Saul, the son of Kish, seeking a small thing, they found this unexpected great thing! Honour to the brave and true; they verily, we say, carry fire from heaven, and have a power that themselves dream not of."-Carlyle.

THE Pilgrim Fathers,-where are they?
The waves that brought them o'er
Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray,
As they break along the shore :

Still roll in the bay, as they roll'd that day,
When the Mayflower moor'd below,

When the sea around was black with storms,
And white the shore with snow.

The mists that wrapp'd the Pilgrim's sleep,
Still brood upon the tide ;

And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep,
l'o stay its waves of pride.