appreciating their own critical posi- gration, induced one tribe to seek a tion, and the number and valour of the new settlement for their growing nestrangers, or in perceiving that who- cessities, and to penetrate still further ever gained such powerful assistance to the north. must eventually vanquish their oppo. This tribe ascended the Borysthenes nents, and therefore eagerly solicited for four hundred miles to its septenthe alliance of the Avars. The latter trional source, and from thence conwere not disinclined to avail them. tinued its adventurous pilgrimage to selves of an offer so conducive to their the banks of the Volkoff, which it folown designs. The destruction of the lowed to the shores of Lake Ilmen. Gepidæ was the result of the union ; In this remote region its wanderings and before ten years the Chagan of terminated,* and the foundation of the Avars could boast that his camps Novgorod the great has been a lasting were seated on the Danube and the memorial of the enterprise of the Elbe.

Roxolani, or “the 'Pws:"7 The Selavonic tribes had been thus For more than a hundred years, successively oppressed by the Ostro- during which the dearth of records is goths, and by the Huns and Bulga- but ill-supplied by the traditions of an rians, yet, on the final retreat of Attila, illiterate people, we find that under they recovered a partial independence, various changes of fortune, consequent until they were again harassed be- on the convulsions of a barbarous age, tween the Longobards and the Gepi- the settlers on the Volkoff, as well as dæ, when the Roxolani, the Jazyges, their brethren on the Borysthenes or and the greater part of the Sclavi, Dnieper, preserved their independence collected into Dacia, on the northern until the ninth century; and we can shores of the Danube.

This esta- discover that shortly after the Roxoblishment in Dacia was probably lani had established themselves on the aniong the reasons that induced Jus north of Lake Ilmen, they became intinian to encourage the Avars, whose volved in hostilities with the Ruotzi, cruel devastations surpassed all that the inhabitants of Ryssaland, who the wild tribes bad ever suffered or afterwards, however, became lastingly inflicted. Many a Sclavonian name incorporated with them, when Ruric was obliterated from the earth; some was invited to assume the sovereignty of them were forcibly retained under of the Novgorodians. the standard of the Chagan, and the But the Ruotzi, who possessed the more fortunate abandoned the Dacian modern districts of Petersburg and dwellings, and tled from the Danube Revel, f gained, at this period, but to the north,

little advantage over the Sclavonian The retreating Sclavi passed the colony, being themselves defeated by Hierassus, or Pruth, they lingered on the Varangians, or corsairs from Scanthe banks of the Denastris; but the dinavia, and driven back to their pri. memory of the persecuting Avars mitive territories on Lake Ladoga. still urging their course, they gradual- Those Varangians were a warlike mully spread themselves to the Borysthenes, titude of the Northmanni, or Norand wandering up that river, retraced mans, composed of Danes, Swedes, the course down which their fore- and Norwegians, who being perpe fathers had once accompanied the vic- tually in quest of adventures, gained torious march of the Goths. They from their exploits the ancient and halted below the conflux of the first renowned distinction of “sea kings." great tributary, and here they re- The Roxolani gladly received the mained at a distance from the dreaded Yarangians as auxiliaries against the scourge, until, after a dark period of Ruotzi; but the corsairs, soon acquir. a century and a half; they had so far ing the dominion of a people they had emerged from their ancient rudeness protected, subjected their allies to vas. as to resign the huts of the wilderness salage and tribute, in common with and to construct the nucleus of the the numerous aboriginal tribes of the city of Kief. But the great increase northern mainland. of the original colony, and the success The tyrannies and exactions of the which had attended their forced emi. sea-kings at length became so intolera

* Procopius, lib. iv. ca 25.

+ Cassiodorus, 1-12.

* Tooke, t. p. 214.

ble, that the 'Pws entered into a league thers Sineus and Truvor, and the with the surrounding tribes, their whole host of his warriors, at the companions in oppression, and by a mouth of the Volkoff. vigorous and sudden effort defeated Ruric was immediately elected su. and expelled the Varangians. Imme- preme ruler, and assumed the chief, diately after, for the purposes of future or rather sole authority, as “ Vilikie defence and security, they formed Kniæs,” or Grand Prince, the peculiar themselves, in conjunction with those title long borne by his descendants. tribes, into a federative republic, of Autocrat, indeed, might have applied which they themselves would naturally to him, though self or sole ruler does be the most influential portion, having not fully translate the Russian word their rising city for the capital and " Samoderjetz, " compounded of centre of the state.

“ Sam," self, and “ Derju," I hold, But discordant nations of bar. which would signify self holder, and barians, ignorant and impatient of dis- may be better rendered by uncontrola cipline or government, require the lable ; but if the English language is most dexterous management, and even “expressive and energetic,” it is often the subsistence of a multitude, the inflexible. greater part of whom had hitherto T'he sovereigns of Russia, however, been supported by the precarious were not styled by that high-sounding chances of the chase, must have al- appellation of arbitrary power, nor ways been a matter of considerable even by the dignity of Czar, or of difficulty. The defects of a hasty or- Emperor, for many succeeding ages. ganisation soon became visible; dif. Thus was Ryssaland, from Riga to ferent and, perhaps, unfriendly tribes Archangel, added to Novgorod and did not easily amalgamate; dissimilar the territories of the confederate tribes, customs were not to be regulated by which, extending to Kostroma, to uniform laws; baughty and jealous Vladimir and Smolensko, have ever chiefs could only be ruled by the steady constituted « Russia Proper," or the hand of superior power; intestine dominions of the 'Pes, or Russians, divisions led to violence and conten. though sone have allowed a secondary

and the republié was threatened claim to the Ruotzi, in originating with ruin by its own disorders from the appellation of the subsequent emwithin, and the consequent successes pire. of its enemies from without.

But the “ Bertinian Annals” speak The Varangians especially took ad- of the Novgorodians as Russians, vantage of their calamities, and con- at a date (839) long before the dytinually harassed them with their de.

nasty of Ruric; and though Mr. predations, until Gostomisel, the most Tooke, in alluding to the emigration eminent of the Sclavonian leaders, of the Dacian Sclavi to the Borys. prevailed on the confederation to caú thenes, and from thence to the Volin unanimously their first and strongest koff (and particularly remarking, that enemies, the Ruotzi, and to offer the under the name of Sclavonians were sovereignty of the Commonwealth to only known those who lived about a prince of that nation, as being un- Novgorod), is silent as to the name of connected with their jealousies, and as the adventurous tribe; yet the geoa preponderating power, most likely to grapher of Ravenna places the Roxotranquillise and defend them.

lani or the 'Pws; on the shores of Lake Their embassy was received by Ilmen, A.D. 886. The 'Pws were Ruric, the martial chief of the Ruotzi, identical with Russians to the Grecian who willingly accepted the offer of so annalist,t and the learned and accurate materially extending his sway, and, D'Anville gives the former to the latA.D. 862,* he appeared, with his bro- ter for progenitors.

tion ;

LADY CLARE.

BY XARY C. F. MONCK.

GOLDEN Autumn/ ruddy Autumn! ardent-eyed and auburn-tressed,
With his crimson robes and purple floating backward from his breast;
And his amber-flooded sunsets throbbing in the burning West.

Down the mountains came he laughing_never brought he clearer skies,
Never sweeter gusts of odours to the West-wind's low-breathed sighs ;
Never robed the forest beeches with more rich and wondrous dyes.
Oh, the splendour-laden dawnings of those lovely farewell days!
Mellow with the shimmering softness of the blue transparent haze,
And be-starred with diamond dewdrops, trembling in the morning rays.
Floating couches meet for fairies, sailed the thistle-down in air,
Over plant and tree the spider wove her web like silken hair,
And the silver cbime of singing streams made music everywhere.

Oh, the noons of warmth and fragrance ! rich in more than Summer's bloom,
Fraught with such a wealth of beauty that the heart could find no room
For the thought that this perfection nearer brought the time of doom.

Who could sigh for what had withered from the hedgerows and the bowers, Pale things born of fitful suns, and nursed by cold capricious showers, When the land was like a garden with the gorgeous Autumn flowers ?

Dragon-flies of blue and opal, emerald, and yellow light,
Through the green reeds quivering darted in their swift and headlong flight,
And in thyme and purple heather hummed the bees from morn to night.
From the vines upon the trellis heavy bloomy clusters swung,
Downy, blushing, luscious peaches on their boughs in thousands hung,
And the gold and crimson apricots, close 'mid their dark leaves clung.

Hazel boughs, with ripe nuts laden, drooped above the orchard well,
Where the gem-like plums and apples on the short grass softly fell,
And the busy wasps were swarming on the topaz jargonel.

All the upland slopes were tawny with the fields of ripened corn,
Where the reapers and the gleaners toiled and sung from early morn-
Sung with voices loud and jocund, as if earth held none forlorn.

As if earth held none forlorn ! and yet in hearing of their song,
Warring vainly with repinings, sad and lone the whole day long,
Mourned one whose heart had yet to learn “to suffer and be strong."
Her's are lordly halls and manors, oak-crowned hills and fertile meads
Her's a lineage not more noble in its names than by its deeds ;
Her's a wealth that knows not limit, yet she hath not that she needs.
Fruits and blooms that never wither glow and ripen 'neath lier tread,
On the moss-decp velvet carpets on her lonely chambers spread;
And their tints are more than rivall: ? by the painted roofs o'erhead.

Silken hangings, fringed and tasselled deep with silver and with gold,
Twine in amethyst and ruby coils round columns white and cold,
Lustrously from wall and window hang in many a heavy fold.
All the treasures wealth can purchase scorned, unheeded round her lie,
Stretched on yielding cushioned couches, ever prays she but to die ;
Ah! the heart needs other solace, solace gold can never buy.
And she said, “ All from the beggar to the monarch on his throne,
All have some on earth to love them-I and only I have none;
Unbeloved and upregarded, I must live and die alone.
“ Beauty ! choicest gift of heaven, queen of every heart on earth,
Ah, how changed my lot, and happy hadst thou smiled upon my birth;
With the bitterness that envy knows, I feel and own thy worth.
“Would I were a peasant maiden, toiling for my daily bread,
Seeking oft in vain for shelter where to screen my weary head,
So that thou thy light of gladness on my lowly path didst shed.

“Yet have the thing men point at even I have dared to dream,
In my solitude and madness, on one sweet engrossing theme;
Oh! for one draught of the waters of the fabled Lethe's stream!

“ I, the dwarfish, the distorted, loving one whose noble name,
One whose manly form and daring deeds are trumpeted by fame,
Where in all that wild delirium were my woman's pride and shame?

“Oh, I would that heaven bad made me poor and humble, if but fair!
Oh, I would the grave might cover in my anguish and despair!"
Thus in faint and broken murmurs long lamented Lady Clare.

Lo! the forest and the river seem of bronze and molten gold,
And along the marshy lowlands, up from rushy fen and wold,
In gigantic spiral columns, swift the evening mists are rolled.

2

Round and red as blood in heaven the great harvest moon shines bright;
Through the open oriel windows floateth in the breath of night,
Freighted with the subtle odours that elude the noonday light.
Throbbed the lady's burning forehead, aching feverishly and fast,
As she leaned beside her casement, and long earnest glances cast
Up the deep and shady woodpaths whence the twilight long had passed.
Slowly, slowly from the shadows to the broad and clear moonlight,
Lovers twain that loitered onward, often pausing, met her sight;
One was tall, and dark, and stately-ay-like one, in robes of white.

'Neath her window through the lime-grove went they, they so fond and fair,
And above them she, the heiress, she, the envied Lady Clare,
Writhing like a lost soul gasping in the anguish of despair.

Slowly, lingeringly, and softly, like two shadows, went they by ;
But the lady backward starteth, with a sharp and sudden cry,
For a trembling arm is round her, and an aged form stands nigh.
Bowed with age, a white-haired woman standeth weeping at her side,
Long, but all in vain, half angered, half ashamed, the lady tried
By a cold and firm denial, to veil agony with pride.

а
VOL. XLVI.NO. CCLXXIV.

21

Ah! but love hath wondrous magic that can charm the heart to rest, And with tenderness, but firmly, still her hand was closely presto Gentle words of kindness sinking deep the wbile within her breast. “I have heard thy words, my darling, I have wept to know thy pain ; But the will that ruleth all things sendeth never grief in vain; Cold distrust had come between us—now we shall be one again, “Ah, my nurseling and my treasure, life is never wholly bright, Never so in clouds enshrouded that it hath no gleams of lightFor the heart knows joy and sorrow as the world hath day and night. “ Murmur not in thankless sorrow, lest the justice that denied One drop to make thy cup o'erflow, one crowning wreath to swell pride, Should bereave thee of the blessings thou hast thoughtlessly decried. “Thou hast wealth and power unshackled, and the world is full of poe, Where the wrong too often triumphs o'er the needy and the lowLike an angel sent in mercy, forth amid the sufferers go.

“Sorrow hath a blessed errand, when it teaches us to seek
In the dark and dreary paths of life the helpless and the weak-
To abase the proud oppressor, and make glad the poor and meek.

“ But the grief we nourish idly maketh hard the heart it fills ;
Love of self grows strong and stronger, till the long indulgence kills
All of thought beyond the eircle of its own half-fancied ills.

“Thou hast dreamed-youth bas its visions, pining long, and sad, and sore, To behold its morning glories fade, the light of noon before; But be comforted and patient, once gone by, they come no more.”

Still the shortening days crept onward_death was brooding in the air-
Turbid were the swollen streamlets, and the forest branches bare,
And alone in the dim twilight, musing long, sat Lady Clare.

Now no longer idly dreaming, now no longer deaf and blind,
In her own dark veil of sorrow_felt she, toiled she for her kind,
With a firm and steadfast purpose that would cast no thought behind.

Now in secret and in silence, like the blessed sun and rain,
Came she in the darkest pathways of the wide world's grief and pain ;
For a purer and a holier fire burned in her bosom's fane.

a

But as stronger grew the spirit, weaker, weaker, day by day,
From the strife that never ceaseth, waxed its prison-house of clay;
And in silence, but too surely, life was wasting fast away.
When the snowdrifts bent to breaking the tall pine's funereal crest,
Then a glad triumphant spirit fearless entered into rest,
And the violets of Spring-time blossom'd o'er a quiet breast,