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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.