Heavily the low sky raining Over towered Camelot; Down she came and found a boat And round about the prow she wrote And down the river's dim expanse- Did she look to Camelot. And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain, and down she lay; The broad stream bore her far away, The Lady of Shalott. Lying, robed in snowy white She floated down to Camelot : Heard a carol, mournful, holy, And her eyes were darkened wholly, For ere she reached upon the tide Under tower and balcony, By garden-wall and gallery, Out upon the wharves they came, Who is this? and what is here? Died the sound of royal cheer; And they crossed themselves for fear : But Lancelot mused a little space; JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY was born in Dorchester, now a part of Boston, Mass., on the 15th of April, 1814. His parents belonged to old New England families, and John never tired of hearing their stories of the early settlers. His great-grandfather was killed by the Indians, and his grandmother, who was a little child at the time of the attack, would have lost her life or been taken prisoner, if the maid servant had not hidden her under a large tub in the cellar. John was a bright boy, truthful, and with a quick sense of honor. He was very fond of reading and was seldom seen without a book in his hand. He had a talent for declaiming, and one of his younger brothers 20 remembers being wrapped in a shawl, and kept quiet with sweetmeats, to represent the dead Cæsar, while John delivered the speech of Antony over his body. His father's house was a large, homelike dwelling, and the children were allowed the freedom of the garret 25 and garden. Many a treasure was stowed away in trunks under the eaves, and John and his playfellows, among them Wendell Phillips, who afterward became a famous orator, often arrayed themselves in long cloaks and plumed hats, and acted plays or scenes from history. John was sent to school at Northampton when he 5 was about ten years old. He was a brilliant scholar and gained a great reputation among the boys because of his ability to declaim. One of his teachers was George Bancroft, the historian, who little thought that his clever pupil would some day rank with himself as 10 an author. At the age of thirteen, the future historian entered Harvard College. He was the youngest member of his class, and his reputation as a scholar and his handsome person attracted much attention. During his first year 15 in college, young Motley held the second or third rank in his class. He led a very pleasant life, receiving his friends in his handsomely furnished room, roaming about the old, historic town, and spending his leisure time in reading and writing sketches and poems for his own 20 amusement. After completing his college course, he went to Germany and spent two years at the Universities of Berlin and Göttingen. One of the friends made at this time. was Prince Bismarck, who was one of his fellow25 students at Göttingen. The two young men lodged in the same house and spent much time together. On his return to America, Motley studied law. He was married when he was twenty-three to Mary Benjamin, and two years later his first work, a novel called "Morton's Hope," was published. This book contains many scenes drawn from the life of the author. In 1841 Mr. Motley was sent by the government to fill an office in Russia. He spent several months in St. Petersburg, but found the climate so trying that 5 he was unwilling to take his family to that country, so resigned his position and returned to America. Mr. Motley's first historical work was an article on "Russia" and "Peter the Great," which appeared in the North American Review." It was a brilliant essay 10 and gave the author a place among the foremost writers of the day. After the success of this article, Mr. Motley determined to devote his time to historical writing, and he began reading for a history of the Dutch Republic. 15 Meanwhile his second novel, "Merry-Mount," had been published. This was a romance of the Massachusetts Colony, and received more attention than the story of "Morton's Hope." After working for several years on the Dutch his- 20 tory, Mr. Motley decided that in order to make his work complete he must consult the libraries of Europe. He took his family abroad, and started his work anew, visiting the scenes which he was describing, and searching in the libraries for old letters and documents. 25 He so lived in his work that to his imagination, Brussels seemed peopled with the kings and heroes of bygone days. For ten years he labored upon this history, and then |