"STRIKE FOR YOUR ALTARS AND YOUR FIRES; STRIKE FOR THE GREEN GRAVES OF YOUR SIRES."-HALLECK. 232 66 THE PURPOSE FIRM IS EQUAL TO THE DEED."-YOUNG. THE BATTLE OF IVRY. He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye; Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing, "And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may— Press where ye see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war, And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre !" Hurrah! the foes are moving! Hark to the mingled din And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre ! Now God be praised! the day is ours! Mayenne hath turned D'Aumale + hath cried for quarter; the Flemish Count is Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a Biscay gale; * A species of ancient cannon. †The Governor of Paris. Count Egmont, commander of the Flemish troops sent by Philip II. SWEET ARE THE PLEASURES THAT TO VERSE BELONG."-KEATS. "WILD AMBITION LOVES TO SLIDE, NOT STAND, AND FORTUNE'S IT PREFERS TO VIRTUE'S LAND "-DRYDEN. "ALONE THAT WORN-OUT WORD, SO COLDLY SPOKEN, AND SO IDLY HEARD !"-LORD LYTTON. 66 HOW BLESSINGS BRIGHTEN AS THEY TAKE THEIR FLIGHT!"-YOUNG. And then we thought of vengeance; and all along our van, Down, down with every foreigner! but let your brethren go." Ho! maidens of Vienna-ho! matrons of Lucerne, Weep, weep, and rend your hair for those who never shall return; Ho! Philip, send for charity thy Mexican pistoles, That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's Ho! gallant nobles of the League, look that your arms be Ho! burghers of Saint Genevieve,† keep watch and ward to- For our God hath crushed the tyrant, our God hath raised the And mocked the counsel of the wise and the valour of the brave. * Philip II., of Spain. [LORD MACAULAY.] † Paris, St. Genevieve being the patron saint of the city. The battle of Ivry (near Evreux, in the north-west of France) was fought on the 14th of March 1590, between the Huguenot forces, under Henry IV., and the army of the Roman Catholic League, led by the Duke of Guise. Henry of Navarre won a complete victory. "6 THE CHOICE AND MASTER-SPIRITS OF THIS AGE. -SHAKSPEARE. "STILL IN THY RIGHT HAND CARRY GENTLE PEACE, TO SILENCE ENVIOUS TONGUES."-SHAKSPEARE, "I SEE THEM WALKING IN AN AIR OF GLORY, WHOSE LIGHT DOTH TRAMPLE ON MY DAYS."-VAUGHAN. 234 "THUS WOE SUCCEEDS A WOE, AS WAVE a wave."-HERRICK. HANNIBAL'S OATH. HANNIBAL'S OATH. ND the night was dark and calm, There was not a breath of air, Only a moaning sound Came from the distant sea; It had no tranquillity. A warrior and a child Passed through the sacred wood, Around the temple stood. The warrior's brow was worn The child was young and fair, They entered in the temple, And stood before the shrine; It streamed with the victim's blood, With incense and with wine. "THE POWER OF THOUGHT, THE MAGIC OF THE MIND."-BYRON. "A VOICE THAT, IN THE DISTANCE FAR AWAY, WAKENS THE SLUMBERING AGES."-H. TAYLOR. AND FOR A CLOAK, WHAT IS THERE THAT CAN BE THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST. 235 The ground rocked beneath their feet, The thunder shook the dome; Eternal hate to Rome. There's a page in history O'er which tears of blood were wept, How that oath of hate was kept.* [L. E. LANDON (Mrs. MACLEAN), an English poetess and novelist, born 1802, died 1838, at Cape Coast Castle, on the west coast of Africa, under sorrowful circumstances. Her best works are, "The Improvisatore," "Ethel Churchill," and "Francesca Carrara.' She is best known as L. E.L.] "TIS STRANGE TO THINK, IF WE COULD FLING ASIDE THE MASK AND MANTLE THAT LOVE WEARS FROM PRIDE, HOW MUCH WOULD BE, WE NOW SO LITTLE guess, deEP IN EACH HEART'S UNDREAMED, UNSOUGHT RECESS."-L. E. LANDON. THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST. ITTLE Ellie sits alone, 'Mid the beeches of a meadow, Doubles of their leaves in shadow While she rocketh to and fro. * Hannibal was only nine years old when he accompanied his father, Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general, to Spain, and was made to swear upon the altar eternal hostility to Rome, the enemy of his country. "The story was told by Hannibal himself, many years afterwards, to Antiochus, and is SO DIFFICULT TO PIERCE AS GAIETY ?"-L. E. LANDON. "THE OLD MAN MAY WEEP FOR HIS TO-MORROW, WHICH IS LOST IN LONG ago."-e. B. BROWNING. 236 "THE OLD WOUND, IF STRICKEN, IS The sorest : THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST. Little Ellie sits alone; And the smile she softly uses Fills the silence like a speech, For her future within reach. Little Ellie, in her smile, Riding on a steed of steeds; The swan's nest among the reeds. "And the steed shall be red-roan; "And the steed it shall be shod And the mane shall swim the wind; THE OLD HOPE IS HARDEST TO BE LOST."-E. B. BROWNING. "NOW TELL THE POOR YOUNG CHILDREN, O MY BROTHERS, TO LOOK UP TO HIM AND PRAY."-E. B. BROWNING. |