Newspaper Page Text
From the Boston Notion.
Lecture by a Loafer.
NO. 11.
SIGNS OF TIIE TIMES.
We have deemed it fitting to preface
Bn official report of the second lecture
delivered by Leno Lankside, Esq., before
the Association of Male and Female
Loafers, with a portrait of that gentle
man as he appeared before a crowded
[auditory in the Subterranean Hall, Ann
Street, on the evening of Wednesday
| last. Mr. Lankside is a thorough loafer
—he would have been one in the days
of Ishmael, the first of his fraternity, and
among the Ancient Greeks he would
have lived in a tub like Diogenes, and
poured forth his cynic lucubrations like
that classic loafer. Deeply does he feel
the poetry of loafing—the poetry of its
gloom and its glory—its sunshine and
its shadow. Whether basking in a sun
beam on a cellar-door or standing on the
platform at the Hall, he is true to his
line of life. lie never loses his individ
uality—never merges in foreign man
ners the characteristics of his caste.
He is fast becoming popular, and the
low price of admission to his lectures
twenty-five cents a hundred, ensures him
large audiences. It was his original in
tention, in obedience to his spirit of the
age, to issue his lectures in a collective
pamphlet form at the exceedingly low
rate of two cents a copy, but we have
secured the exclusive privilege of pub
lishing his lucubrations in the Notion by
the payment of no less a sum than 75
cents a lecture, and though Mr. Lank
side half fears that he has been exorbi
tant with us, we can assure our readers
that we consider that we have got the
best of the bargain. With these prefato
ry remarks we commence the report. At
1-2 past 7 o’clock precisely, on Wednes
day evening last, a gentleman in whity
brown ducks and tarpaulin, snuffed the
candles with his fingers, with which he
immediately caressed his ‘continuations,’
and on this signal, Mr. Lankside mount
ed the rostrum, blew his nose in the
same manner that his friend had snuffed
the candles, and nodding in a friendly
manner, commenced
Ladies and Gentlemen
Os the Association of Male and Fe
male Loafers—the world has made a
vast number of resolutions since the
eventful night of my fust going into a
theater, to which I procured admission
by appropriatin’ the check-ticket of a
gentleman in liquor, who had left the
Tremont for a few minutes, to indulge
his diaphragm in fermented liquors in a
little bar-room dost to Mr. Kimball’s
Museum. I don’t know what the play
was—for what with the lights, and the
fiddles, and the smell of orange-peel, and
the lovely creters in the boxes vinkin
their eyes at me, and the novelty of eve
rything, my brain danced a Scotch reel
in my head, and I felt aleetleall overish.
But I recollect seein’ a venerable old
buster on the stage, who looked as if a
little balm of Columby would do no harm
to his head, and who carried a long stick
in his hand, and was addressed by some
of the other covies round him by the
rayther singular and mysterious name of
Prospero. lie lived on Enchanted Oil,
was very thick with Bennett’s Ariel, and
had a Cannibal to do his chores, who
looked as if a shower bath of Gourand’s
Depilatory would’nt a hurt him a bit.
The old gentleman was a sort of Signor
Blitz, and after conjurin’ a spell, conclu
ded to give up Legerdemain, and made
some very sensible remarks, which made
4i daugerreotype impression of my mem
ory. He said
The night-capped towers, the gorger's palaces,
The sugar temples’, Blair’s great Globe itself,
And every mother's loafer shall dissolve,
And like the basest tooting' of a fish-horn,
Leave but a wreck behind
meanin’ doubtless by the last line a ref
erence to his whity-brown tights which
was in a worry bad condition and like a
sorry tenant, in arrears of rent.
Whether that are speech of the old
buffer’s was original—out of his own
head—or whether it was somebody els’s
I don’t know, and I don’t keer, but l be
lieve that what he said was true as Gos
pel. The world’s a goiu’ to bust up
and no mistake. We’ve had signs and
warnin’s, and we’d ought to be sent to
the Asylum for the Blind, or spend our
tin in buyin’ ear trumpets if we won’t
see and hear the tokens of the approach
in’ “yd” of the Universe.
Some folks—and I has my eye on one
genkman in particular—l hate personal
ities, and I won’t call no names— but its
the genl’man with a horrible squint, and
a carbuncle in his nose, one of. the most
revoltin’ objects I ever sot my eyes on—
some folks imagines because the world’s
well built, and well lighted, except of a
dark night, and revolves upon its axis
with tol’able regularity, that its goin’ to
last forever. Did the genl'man with the
•carbuncle on his prominent feeter—l
can’t help bringin’ of it home to him
ever read that hymn of Dr. Watts writ
ten by Tom Moore
“All that’s fair must fade ?”
I think not—l believe not—l reckon
not I am rather inclined to think that
the gen’l’man with the extraordinary
countenance, cannot read : —but he has
beard my quotation—let him profit by
it. Why, I recollect that when I sported
my blue swaller-tail sixteen years ago, a
Averry fascinatin’ young woman, who
was in the brandy and cigar line, in this
Aery street, said it Avas so handsome, so
long-tailed, so deservin’ of immortality
tlict it would adtivallv last forever. It
<lid not last forever the garment was
human it was sublunary it was ma
terial —it wore out. The brass buttons
dropped off just as the stars will burn
out of the blue vault—(though why the
I leavings should lx: called a vault instead
V, 11 af,ic i) I never could understand.
*he tail was amputated by the hand of
nine, as a butcher’s cleaver shortens the
final vertebra; ol a < ai the seams open
ed the component parts dissolved part
nership— and it wouldn't pay to put it
on.
The regularity of the solar system!
It makes me laugh. Are shootin’ stars
regular 1 I should like my friend in the
carbuncle to answer me that. Are com
ets regular ? As chairman of this asso
ciation I pronounce ’em out of order.
A ou remember the recent comet. The
mathematical professors Avere at sword’s
points about it. Some said “ Comet!”
some said “go it !” some said it was a
soda-iacal light. I was nigh Avhen a
distinguished professor of a .neighborin’
university made an obsen'ution of that
body which 1 knew’d from the first to be
a comet —he looked at it Avith a patent
double back-action reflection telescope of
400 horse power. 1 can best describe
the catastrophe in the language of a
American poet :
I saw a tutor take a tube
The comet’s course to spy:
I heard a scream ; the gathered rays
Had stew’d the tutor's eye.
I looked; Iris curious optic rolled
Like a long-perished clam;
I listened : all I heard him say,
Was “parallax,” and “d—n.”
That comet is off on a flirt hut
mark my words; it’ll be back again.
The attraction of gravitation Avill bring
it hack into our sphere. That comet;
let Dr. Heirybery say what ho likes, will
bust up the universe. But leavin’ the
comet out of the question, the destruction
ol the earth is certain. Supposin’ we
adopt the theory of the Hindoos, that the
airth rests on the back of a mud-turtle;
does it seem reasonable to supjiose that
even a mud-turtle is agoin’ to support us
for ever ? Even if he was willin’, could
lie live for ever / wouid his shell hold
out ? won’t he either die and roll o\ r er on
his back, or scoot for deep water? Cer
tainly he Avill. Even by the theory of
Copernicus, about the revolution of the
airth on its axis, (which must he true, for
I’ve frequently found myself tumblin’
and staggerin’about the streets in conse
quence of the diurnal motion of the plan
et! is there no Avear out to the axletree?
The man who can believe in a axletree
that is to last forever, is a ass —a epithet
which 1 desire perticularly to apply to
my friend in the carbuncle.
Some evil-minded persons —some
mean, pitiful, contemptible cutaneous
eruptions ol humanity, have had the
crawlin’ infamy to assert that] had fixed
upon a day for the bust up. I'd like to
meet ’em in the street, with a good cow
hide in my hands woulJ l'd furnish
food for extras I warrant ye, I'd make
the town ring Avith the story of “another
important cowhiding!”
1 never sot no day neither the 23d
of April, nor the 24th of May; 1 said it
Avould happen sometime in the year
1843, and it will. 1 have no reason for
disguisin’ the truth. 1 ai’nt a goin’ to
save any of ye ! Money would’nt make
me doit —but I’m sate myself, for in
that orful day, when you’re a screamin’
and howlin’ for help,’ Mr. Hcnsin w ill
conic Ilyin over in his Ariel steam-car
riage, and he 11 pull up short and drop
me a line, with a four bushel basket at
the end of it, and haul me aboard, and l
shall sit in the stern sheets, and applying
my lingers to my nose thus —enjoy
for a moment your intolerable misery,
and then scoot away to some other plan
et. Avliere every loafer is a genTman.
From the Washington Spectator.
The Republican party of New York
city, at a late large meeting at Tammany
Hall, unanimously declared for May
1844, the district system, and the vote
per capita. The presses in New York
friendly to Mr. Van Bnren suppressed
those resolutions. Such a contemptible
and dishonest policy on the part of pa
pers calling themselves Democratic, will,
in the end, break down and destroy the
Republican party if permitted arrogantly
to stifle the voice of the people. It is
disorganization in its Avorst form. The
efforts ot a few presses cannot crush pub
lic opinion ; it will find vent ; but the
attempt to do so, is so arrogant and un
just, it will re-act and prostrate those avlio
make it. To the friends of Mr. Calhoun,
above all other portions of the Republi
can party, union and harmony is desira
ble ; for they believe that he has a broad
foundation in the judgment and affec
tions of the people ; and they Avisli to sed
their favorite candidate elected as well as
nominated. They entertain the same
generous and cordial good Avill towards
other candidates and their friends, as is
entertained by Mr. Calhoun himself,
Which Ave shall allude to in our next
number.
The friends of Mr. Calhoun have no
thing to gain by sowing the seeds of dis
cord and dissension among brethren of
the same political creed. Hence their
desire to see equal and exact justice to
all men of the Republican party. Hence
their desire to have a fair and just con
vention of that party, both as regards
time and the mode of sending delegates,
that the great body of the people may be
truly and honestly represented. They
entertain no fears as to the result of such
a convention ; and the whole party will
unite asxme man upon the candidate se
lected, and render his election as sure as
that the sun rises. I low necessary then
to cultivate concord and unity of the
party previous to the convention, so that
all may go into it, and with a determi
nation to abide the result; then we may
hope to see our party aud our principle’s
triumphant.
‘ If you educate, you will make the peo
ple above their stations.’ Pardon me,
madam, for controverting your fallacy:
[ when all are educated, all will be com
j purntively equal: and hence, though the
! acquired knowledge will create a differ
, ' lit levl to that which at present exists
I yet it will lea level still.
From the Tennessee Guardian.
The Best iTeachei*.
It is an enquiry of much interest and
importance—what class of females seem
to lie best calculated to excel in teaching?
We do not hesitate to answer, Widows
who have daughters of their own to ed
ucate. There is ordinarily a sobriety, a
sedateness, —oftentimes a vigorous and
fruitful piety, eminently qualifying the
Avidow, “who is a AvidoAV indeed,” for
addressing heself to the duties of the
school room Avith an adequate concep
tion of the paramount dignity and im
portance of her profession. To secure
the full measure of her usefulness, it is
perhaps necessary that daughters of her
oAvn should form a of | her daily
charge; at least, the interest she takes in
her duties will be vastly increased in this
way.
The presence of such daughters in a
school will always be found to bring with
it an incidental benefit of no trifling im
portance. The ordinary spirit of a school—
and especially a southern school—
will not tacitly endure the least approach
to partiality and favoritism in its man
agement, or to any severity in the admin
istration of its discipline. The public
opinion of the little community thus
checking the slightest departure from
equity and impartiality on the part of
the tutoress, she has, in the warmth
of her parental feelings, a powerful ar
gument and incentive for blending all
possible kindness Avith every exercise of
her authority. It is hard to concede of
the possibility of school discipline becom
ing too rigid and severe, where any of
the pupils over whom it is exercised are
the children of the teachers. That the
Avholesome discipline of a school is ca
pable of degenerating into a petty tyran
ny, delighting in the infliction of pain
and penalties upon its unhappy subjects,
need not be said; nor is the parent to be
censured, avlio, aware of this humilia
ting infirmity in our nature, anxiously
seeks out the best securities for the kind
ness and parental wisdom of the authori
ty under Avhich he places his children.
But we Avander from our purpose
Avhich was simply to commend the con
sideration of this subject to the class of
persons of Avhom Ave are speaking. There
are undoubtedly' many ladies decidedly
qualified for usefulness in the capacity
of teachers, whose attention has never
been directed to this subject AvidoAV la
dies, of intelligence and education, strug
gling perhaps Avith many difficulties for
a support, and oppressed Avith the live
liest fears that their orphan children may
never enjoy the blessings of an adequate
intellectual training. The employments
and means o£ supporting a family, ac
cessible to the widow whose circumstan
ces are restricted, are very few, more es
pecially in times of pecuniary distress
like the present, when the entire circula
tion of the country is reduced far below
its ordinary average, and even the weal
thy are compelled to resort to every suit
able means of diminishing their ordinary
expenses.
But truth and candor require us to say
that it is not every Avidow, even among
the Avell educated, that is qualified for
usefulness as a teacher. Ladies thus sit
uated, sometimes find themselves utter
ly unable to govern their own children,
but submit Avithout one effort at resist
ance to that most humiliating of all ty
rannies— the wayward and passionate
domineering of a child over its own mo
ther. Os the other classes, exhibiting
the strongest contrast to “ the widoAV in
deed,” we can only specify, the AvidoAV
gourmand, in whose weak mind the
physical appetites have gained an en
grossing ascendancy; the AvidoAV rouge,
Avhose mind equally Aveak, is filled with
the love of dress, extravagance and dis
play ; and lastly, the Avidow bewitched
Avithout any mind at all —to Avhom
years bring no discretion and age no ex
perience ; Avho is devout at church be
cause it is genteel, and is equally devo
ted to routs and assemblies, for the same
reason; the cycle of Avhose literature
embraces the New World and the Broth
er Jonathan ; Avhose glory and triumph
consists in making conquests of Avhich
she should feel ashamed, and Avhose fri
volity utterly disqualifies her for exerting
any other than a bad influence over the
young.
M ho, in his senses, would be n New York
Alderman?
Just listen to Bennett, of the Herald, on their ex
cruciations. By the way, that J. G. Bennett, is a
marvellous personage.
“ He’s so much wit and wickedness about him,
One cannot do well with him or without him.”
Webb would relinquish half his newly acquired
fame as knight of the pistol and ali bis prayers, to have
Bennett done to death in some fashion, or another —
Major Noah, all the Wall St. Harpies, and multis cet
eris would devoutly say Amen.
FItOGS IN THE KNEADING TROUGHS AGAIN.
The NeAv York Herald gives the fol
lowing sadly ridiculous picture of the
persecutions to which the new Common
Council are subjected:
THE NEW CORPORATION —OFFICE BEGGARS.
The Democratic Members of the New
Corporation, are completely overrun with
office-beggars of all descriptions. They
have got about five hundred offices to
distribute, for which there are, at the
most reasonable calculation, ten thousand
applicants. This mendicant army are
daily liesieging the doors of the Aider
men, asking if they are at home, thrust
ing their petitions in their faces, and go
ing through all the processes of solicita
tion which are so annoying to men avlio
have the gift of of lie's. But a small
number of offices have been disposed of,
aud the few Avhich have Ixxm arranged
have excited the most amusing jealousy
and dissatisfaction of the host of the dis
appomted.
On the morning of last week on which
we published the list of appointments
made in tin; secret caucus, one of tin;
most amusing scenes ever recorded in
Micred <»r profane history, occurred. The 1
wit the exciting incident—the pathos
the soul-speaking interest—were un
paralleled. Several of the Aldermen
narrowly escaped with their lives, in con
sequence of the pressure of the crowd of
office-beggars. The curiosity to know
the accuracy of our published statement
culminated to the very highest point.
The like of it was never known in all
the cities of Judea. As soon as the mon
arch of the day had tipped the summit of
the eastern hills, a whole battallion of of
fice-seekers besieged the house of Aider
man Purdy. In replying to the loud
and furious summons, the servant stated
that the Avorthy Alderman was not yet
out of bed—that he had been greatly fa
tigued by the protracted laliors of the
caucus of the previous evening. But
the crowd could not be put off. They
had no bowels of compassion for the
slumbering Alderman. They insisted on
seeing him, and, thronging up the stair
case, they invaded the sanctity of his
chamber. “ For God’s sake,” exclaimed
the startled dignitary, “do alloAV me to
pull on my boots and breeches! wait,
and I'll tell you all.” Whether the in
vading mob acceded to his request, utter
ed with all the good nature of his feeling
heart, we do uot say. That is one of the
secrets Avhich Ave choose not now to dis
close.
At all events, Alderman Hatfield, avlio
is King Caucus, and the other prominent
members of the New Board, are obliged
to disguise themselves, and exert all their
ingenuity, to escape the persevering ef
forts of the mendicants. By the bye-
Avays and least frequented streets of the
city they seek, by stealth, their places of
business, nor are they always successful.
Ever and anon a glimpse of their persons
is caught by their pursuers, ever on the
alert, and then God help the victims!
they are caught and hurried to the near
est grog shop, and for hours they are
kept imprisoned. Never was there
known such an ample illustration of the
fable of Actaeon and his pursuing
hounds ! Two or three of the Aldermen
are actually laid up —sick—unable to
appear abroad at all—and if the rush of
office-beggars continue, Ave should not
be surprised to hear of several deaths.
The iron constitution of Alderman Pur
dy is the only thing thaC has saved his
life thus far.
Extract from the Family Guardian, Colum
bia, Tenn.
The just views, high and honorable principles, and
earnest honesty, pervading Col. | Tarpley’s letter in
reference to the vexed and exciting question, Missis
sippi Repudiation, induce us to place the extract be
fore our readers. Would to God such sentiments
and such principles were found generally character
izing our public men, and exerting a controlling in
fluence over the whole population. The too gener
al absence of these influences, is after all, the mas
ter, the crushing evil that curses our country, and
the most fearful augury that menaces the permanence
of its glorious institutions —for if the Bible contains
the oracles of the? Eternal if llio voice of history
may be relied on —if the deliberate and sorrowing
convictions of those who disentercstedly love the
people, and whose hearts yearn for their happiness
and elevation in the scale of being, are to be trusted,
none but God fearing people, are capable of enjoy
ing or sustaining a Republican Government, in any
sense of the phrase, worthy of a moment’s considera
tion.
At moie leisure we shallattempt to trace to its prin
cipal causes, the Upas growth of sin and folly, that has
for the list twenty-five years been creeping over the
land, ant at times almost overshadowing it.
Repudiation.
The Vicksburg Whig, under the head
of “aDemocrat’s opinion of Repudiation,”
presents some extracts from a letter of
Col. C. S. Tarpley, a Democratic
Bond-payer, in reply to charges made
against him by a political opponent,
Avhich Avill not fail to interest our read
ers:
“ I can only say that I differ Avith the
Major upon that subject, and if a viola
tion of public faith, a disregard of the
sacred obligations resting upon commu
nities to perforin their contracts, a pros
titution of the principles of honor and
every thing that men have heretofore es
teemed high and holy, and pure, are to
become a test of democracy in Mississip
pi, then am I no democrat according to
that definition of the word, nor do I en
vy the gentleman the high honor Avhich
he claims for himself of being the father
of a doctrine at Avar Avith all my precon
ceived notions of honor and integrity.
It is not the fund-mongers of Europe
Avho have brought ruin and disgrace up
on the State, as the gentleman supposes.
No ; it is a set of demagogues, a class of
little Avould-be-great-men, Avith neither
principle nor understanding to support
great pretensions, fit only to be the hacks
or Avhippers in of a party —not the ad-
A’oeates of sound principles, with talents
and information fitted for political emer
gencies. These are the men Avho have
made the proud standard of this gallant
State trail in the dust until her once high
and chivalrous name has become a stench
in the nostrils of the civilized world.”
Skimming theMilk. —ln hot weath
er the milk may be alloAved to curdle be
fore this operation is performed, but if it
be delayed any longer, a thin, watery
fluid will form between the milk and the
cream, after Avhich the good qualities are
inevitably destroyed. It is necessary,
in mid-summer, to skim the milk every
morning and night. This point must
receive the strictest attention. Neglect
of it often gives a streaked or mottled ap
pearance to butter; as well as impairs
its flavor.
Men can no more become wise merely
by desiring it, than they can reach the
summit of Mont Blanc, merely by view
ing its misty crown through their tele
scopes ; in both cases arduous labor is
requisite; exertion being as the turnpike
which is erected at the commencement
of the road to sw-revs, and at which we
must pay heavy dues for blierty to pass.
Literature.
LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME.
SV THOMAS B MACAULAY.
A volume of poetry, from one of the most
accomplished critics and eloquent writers of
the age, i-> an event in literaiure worthy of
especial notice. Some early poetical pro
ductions of Mr. Macaulay lull of fire and
spirit have been thrown into the shade
by the brilliancy of that splendid series of
disquisitions, which, when they come to be
collected, must take a place amongst the
classics of the language ; but the present
volume proves that the author has suffered
nothing from disuse in the “ accomplishment
of verse.” The lays)of ancient Rome have
the vital warmth and force of true poetry.
!t seems tous, however, that Mr. Macaulay
lias placed himself at great disadvantage by
giving to his ballads a character which com
pels the reader to look beyond their poetical
merits.
The early history of Rome, according to
the opinion now received, is mythical, and
was derived by the Roman historians di
rectlv or indirectly from popular ballads,
which are lost. This early history, so full
of deeds of personal heroism and lofty virtue,
has been felt to contain the only poetry of
genuine Roman growth, that Home in'the
ages of literature possessed. Almost to the
latest times it inspired high sentiment and
moulded character, as popular ballads have
always done in countries possessing them.
This native Roman poelry has so long
charmed the world in the vivid and gruceful
narratives of Livy, that it is now difficult to
admire it so much in any other dress. Mr.
Macaulay lias attempted to transform some
of these narratives hack into the poems from
which they were probably derived, and it is
somewhat strange that a critic so acute and
so learned should not have felt the utter im.
possibility of success in such an attempt. A
modern poet can compose a ballad in the
spirit and manner of those which have come
down to us from the romantic ages; hut no
man can show forth with any confidence
the kind of thing a Roman ballad was. The
later Roman poetry gives no clue to it; be
ing, except in satire, of Greek origin. But
though we can say little positively on the
point, wo can say something negatively.
We can say with some confidence that those
early utterances of the Roman muse had
little resemblance to the “ Cid,” or “ Chevy
Chase,” and still less to the “Lady of the
Lake.” They were also probably as re
mote from the early/poetry 0 f Greece as
from that of Modern Europe.
Mr. Macaulay, however, has cast his
compositions in the furm of the romantic
ballad ; borrowing, as he candidly confesses,
from cur own old ballads, and still more
from Scott. He seems to think that he
owes still greater obligations to the Iliad;
but the perusal of the poem* does not leave
this impression. We are reminded con
stantly, not of Homer, but of the battle
scenes of Scott ; and the Homeric similes
or images introduced "have, perhaps neces
sarily, the manner of the modern poet. The
exact description of the wounds and death
blows savors of Homer, and also the addi
tion occasionally of a sort of biographical
line on the appearance or death of a chief;
but it the preface did not lead us to look for
imitations of the Iliad, they might have cs
caped notice, so decidedly modern and ro
mantic is the general character of the
“ Lays.”
Setting aside the consideration of their
pretensions to be considered compositions of
early Roman minstrels, the “ Lays” are
poems of a high order. They are pictures
full of hold forms and striking lights. They
breathe the fierce spirit of a
ple, and stir the blood like a trumpet-call.
A few extracts will convey a better notion
of them than any description. The first is
upon the defence of the hr dge by (ioratius,
against the army of Porsenna. Having,
with his two companions, maintained his
ground, while the Romans on the other hank
are loosening the props of the bridge he
is recalled.
“But meanwhile axe and lever
Have manfully been plied ;
And now the bridge hangs tottering
Above the boiling tide.
‘ Come back, come back Horatius !’
Loud cried the Fathers all.
‘ Back, Lartius ! hack, Hermiuius !’
Back, ere the ruin fall!”
“ Back darted Spurius Lartius j
Herminius darted back:
And, its they passed, beneath their feet
They felt the timbers crack.
But when they turned their faces,
And on the farther shore
Saw brave Hora’ius stand alone,
They would have crossed once more.
"But with a crash like thunder
Fell every loosened beam,
And, like a dam, ths mighty wreck
Lay right athwart the stream .
And a long shout of triumph
Rose from the walls of Rome,
As to the highest turret-tops
Was splashed the yellow foam.
“ And like a horse unbroken
When first he feels the rein,
The furious river struggled hard,
And tossed its tawny mane ;
And burst the curb, and hounded,
Rejoicing to be free ;
And whirling down, in fierce career,
Battlement, and plank, and pier,
Rushed headlong to the sea.
“ Alone stood brave Horatius,
But constant still in mind ;
Thrice thirty thousand foes before
And the broad flood behind.
‘Down with him !’ cried false Sextus,
With a smile on his pale face.
‘Now yield thee,’ cried Lars Porsenna,
* Now yield thee to our grace.’
“ Round turned he, as not deigning
Those craven ranks to see ;
Nought spake he to Lars Porsenna,
To Sextus nought spake he;
But he saw on Palatinus
The white porch of his home ;
And he spake to the noble river
That rolls by the towers of Rome.
“Oh, Tiber! father Tiber!
To whom the Romans pray,
Amman’s life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day !,
So he spake, and speaking, sheathed
The good sword by his side,
And, with his harness on his back,
Plunged headlong in the tide.
“ No sound of joy or sorrow
Was heard from either bank:
But friends and lues in dumb surprise,
With parted lips and straining eyes, '
Stood gazing wltera he sank ;
And when above the surges
They saw his crest appear,
All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
And even the ranks of Tuscany
Could scarce lurbenr to cheer.
“ But fiercely ran the current,
Swollen high by monthsof ruin:
And fust Ins blood was (lowing;
And he was sore in pain,
And heavy with hts armour,
And spent with changing blows.
And oft they thought linn sinking,
But still again he rose.. ,
“ Never, I ween, did swimmer,
In sueh ari evil case,
I Struggle through such a raging flood
t Safe to the landing place.
But his limbs were borne up bravely
By the brave heart within.
And our good lather Tiber
Bare bravely up his chin.
“Curse on him !” quoth false Sextus;
“ Will not the vilfain drown !
But for this stay, ere close the day
We should have sacked the town !’
“ Heaven help him!” quoth Lars Porsenna,
‘And bring him safe to shore;
For such a gallant feat of arms
Was never seen before.’
“ And now he feels the bottom ;
Now on dry earth he stands,
Now round him throng the Fathers
To press his gory hands ;
And now with shouts and clapping,
And noise of weeping loud,
He enters through the River gate,
Borne by the joyous crowd.
The second lay is on the banks of the
Lake Regillus, in which the Romans were
supposed to be assisted by Castor and Pol
lux. An incident of Tarquin, recorded by
Livy, and c!os-ly resembling, ns Mr. Mac
aulay po.nls out, one in the 3d book of the
Iliad.
“ Fnlsc Sextus rode out foremost •
His look was high and bold ;
His corslet was ol bi -on’s hide.
Plated with steel and gold.
As glares the famished eagle
From the Digentian rock,
On a choice lamb that bounds alone
BeEue Buiidusia’s flock,
Herminius glared on Sextus,
And came with eagle speed ;
Herminius on back Auster,
Brave champion on brave steed;
In his right hand the broadsword
That kept the bridge so well,
And on his helm the crown he won
When proud Fidelia: fell.
Wo ro the maid whose lover
Shall cross his path to-day !
False Sextus saw, and trembled,
And turned and lied away.
As turns, as flies, the woodman
In the Calabrian brake,
When thro’ the reeds gleams the round eye
Os that fell painted snake;
So turned, so fled false Sextus,
And hid him in the rear,
Behind (lie dark Laviniau ranks.
Bristling with crest and spear."
A ulus, the Roman Dictator, sends Tor
help to Herminius. The mes-enger’s ride
ncro- a the battle-field is vividly presented
by a few touches :
“ So Aulus spake, and turned him
Again to that fierce strife ;
And Cams Cossus mounted,
And rode for death and life.
Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs
* The helmets of the dead,
And many a curling pool of blood
Splashed hint from heel to head."
The combat Ixriwcen Herminius and the
Tusculau Mamilius, and the incidents which
followed : •
All round them paused the battle,
While met in mortal fray
The Roman and the Tusculan,
The horses black and gray.
Herminius smote Matniltus
Through breast-plate and thronghbreast;
And last flowed out the purple blood
Over the purple vest.
Mamilius smote Herminius
Through head-piece and through head ;
And side by side those chiefs ol pride
Together fell down dead.
Down fell they dead together
In a great lake of gore;
And still stood all who saw them fall
While men might count's score.
“Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning,
Tile dark-gray charger fled :
He burst through ranks of fighting meu;
He sprang o’er heaps of dead.
Ilis bridle far out-streaming,
His flanks all blood and loam,
He sought the southern-mountains,
The mountains of his home.
The pass was steep and rugged,
The wolves they howled and whined ;
But he ran like a whirlwind up the pass,
And he left the wolves behind.
Through many a startled hamlet
Thundered his flying feet :
lie rushed through the gate of Tusculum,
lie rushed up the long white street;
He rushed by tower and temple,
And paused not from his race
Till he stood before hts master’s door
In the stately market-place.
And straightway round him gathered
A pale and trembling crowd,
And when they knew hint, cries of rage
Brake forth, and wailing loud:
And women rent their tresses
For their great prince’s fail;
And old men girt on their old swords.
And went to man the wall.
But like a graven image,
Black Auster kept his place,
Aud ever wistfully he looked
Into his master’s face
The raven-man t’tai daily,
With pats c<iti iond (Stresses.
The young Hertninia waslted and combed,
And twined in even tresses,
And decked with coloured ribands
From her own gay attire,
Hung sadly o’er her father’s corpse
In carnage and in mire.
Forth with u siiout sprang Titus,
And seized black Auster’s rein.
Then Aulus sware a fearful oath,
And ran at him amain,
* The furies of thy brother . t
With me and mine abide,
If one of your accursed house
Upon black Auster ride!”
As on an alpine watch tower
From heaven comes down the flame,
Full on the neck of Titus
The blade of Aulus came :
And out the red blood spouted,
In a wide arch and tall.
As spo us a fountain in the court
Os some rich Capuan’s hall,
The knees of all the Latines
Were loosened with dismay
When dead, on dead Herminius,
The bravest Tarquin lay.”
We shall conclude witli the overthrow of
he Latines:
“ Behind them Rome’s long battle
Come rolling ”n the foe,
Ensigns dancin > wild above,
Bbides all in line below.
So comes the Po in flood-time
Upon the Celtic plain ;
So comes the squall, blacker than night.
Upon the Adrian main.
Now, by our Sire Qurinus,
It was a goodly sight
To see thtf thirty standards
Swept down the tide of flight.
So flies the spray of Adria
When the black squall doth Hsw:
So corn-sheaves in the flood time
Spin down the whirling Po.
False Sextus to the mountains
Turned first his horse’s head;
And first fled Ferentinum,
And fast Circeium fled,
The horsemen of Nomentum
Spurred hard out of the fray;
The footmen of Velitrae
Threw shield and spear away.
And under foot was trampled,
Amidst the mud and gore,
The banner of proud Tuscnlum,
That never stopped before :
And down went Flavius Fanstus,
IF ho led his staUlu ranks
From where the upjle blossoms wave
On Antio’s echoing banks.
And Tullus of Arpinu n,
Chief of the I'olscian aids,
And Mains with the long fair curls.
The love of Amur's maids.
And the white head of Vulso,
The great Arician seer.
And the Nrpos of Laurentum,
The hunter of the deer;
And in the black false Sextus
Felt the good Roman steel,
And wriggling in the dust he died,
Like a worm beneath the wheel
And flyers and pursuers
Were mingled in a mass;
And far away the battle
Went roaring down the pass "
The beautiful lines in italics are tho
roughly Homeric. The concluding coup,
lota of the extract will suggest to ©very one
the similar line* in the “Ludy of the Lake.”
The third lay ic on the subject of Virginia,
and the fourth on the prophecy in which
Capysis is suppri-cd to announce to Romulus
the victory of his descendants over I’yrr.
has.