said: "Do not think there is anything wonderful in my conduct; I do but my simple duty; I plead for my father's life!" "Yes, I am her father," said the old man, moved by a sudden determination. "And I am something more. 5 My lord duke, behold the man on whom you have sworn to have revenge. I am he who defended the city so long against you. Now let me die!" At this a multitude of people broke from the line in which they had been ranged, and, surrounding the gov- 10 ernor and his daughter, made a rampart of their bodies about them, exclaiming, "Let us die for him! We will die for our good governor!" All the better part of the rude Charles's nature was roused. Tears were in his own eyes, his voice was 15 shaken by emotion. "Neither shall die!" he cried. “Old man! fair maiden! I spare your lives and, for your sake, the lives of all these people. Nay, do not thank me; for I have gained in this interview a knowledge which I could never have acquired through years 20 of conquest that human love is greater than kingly power, and that mercy is sweeter than vengeance!' Well would it have been for the rash Charles could he have gained that knowledge earlier, or have shaped his future life by it even then. Still fired by ambition 25 and love of power, he went forth to fight Duke René, who now appeared with an army to relieve his fair city of Nancy. A battle ensued, in which Charles was defeated and slain; and in the midst of joy and thanksgiving, the rightful duke entered and once more took possession of the town. Warmly as he was welcomed, there were two who shared with him the honors of that happy day-the 5 old man who had defended Nancy so long and well, and the young girl whose heroic conduct had saved from massacre one-tenth of all its inhabitants. HUMANITY. WILLIAM COWPER. I WOULD not enter on my list of friends Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. AN ICEBERG. RICHARD H. DANA, JR. RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR., was born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1815, and died in 1882. He was educated at Harvard College. During his course there his eyesight became affected, and he was obliged to leave college for a time. Being advised to take a sea voyage, he shipped for California and spent two years as a common sailor. On his return he published an account of his adventures, entitled "Two Years before the Mast." This book became popular both in England and America. It is still widely read. Mr. Dana was admitted to the bar when he was twenty-five years old, and always held a prominent position as a lawyer and writer. 10 THIS day the sun rose fair, but it ran too low in the heavens to give any heat, or thaw out our sails and 15 rigging; yet the sight of it was pleasant, and we had a steady" reef-topsail breeze" from the westward. The atmosphere, which had previously been clear and cold, for the last few hours grew damp and had a disagreeable, wet chilliness in it; and the man who came from 20 the wheel said he heard the captain tell the passenger" that the thermometer had fallen several degrees since morning, which he could not account for in any other way than by supposing that there must be ice near us, though such a thing was rarely heard of in 25 this latitude at this season of the year. 66 At twelve o'clock we went below, and had just got through dinner when the cook put his head down the scuttle and told us to come on deck and see the finest sight that we had ever seen. "Where away, doctor?" 5 asked the first man who was up. "On the larboard bow." And there lay, floating in the ocean, several miles off, an immense, irregular mass, its top and points covered with snow, and its center of a deep indigo color. This was an iceberg, and of the largest 10 size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern Ocean. As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was of a deep blue color, the waves running high and fresh, and sparkling in the light; and in the midst lay this immense mountain-island, its cavities 15 and valleys thrown into deep shade, and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun. All hands were soon on deck looking at it, and admiring, in various ways, its beauty and grandeur. But no description can give any idea of the strangeness, splen20 dor, and really the sublimity of the sight. Its great size, for it must have been from two to three miles in circumference, and several hundred feet in height, its slow motion, as its base rose and sank in the water and its high points nodded against the clouds; the dash25 ing of the waves upon it, which, breaking high with foam, lined its base with a white crust; and the thundering sound of the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling down of huge pieces, together with its nearness and approach, which added to a slight element of fear, all combined to give to it the character of true sublimity. The main body of the mass was, as I have said, of an indigo color, its base crusted with foam, and, as it grew thin and transparent towards the edges and top, 5 its color shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of snow. It seemed to be drifting slowly towards the north, so that we kept away and avoided it. It was in sight all the afternoon, and when we got to leeward of it the wind died away, so that we lay to quite near it 10 for a greater part of the night. Unfortunately there was no moon; but it was a clear night, and we could plainly mark the long, regular heaving of the stupendous mass, as its edges moved slowly against the stars, now revealing them and now shutting 15 them in. Several times in our watch loud cracks were heard, which sounded as though they must have run through the whole length of the iceberg, and several pieces fell down with a thundering crash, plunging heavily into the sea. Towards morning a strong 20 breeze sprang up, and we filled away, and left it astern, and at daylight it was out of sight. From Two Years before the Mast." |