* They placed him next Within the solemn hall, Where once the Scottish kings were throned But there was dust of vulgar feet And perjured traitors filled the place 'Now, by my faith as belted knight, And by the bright Saint Andrew's cross, 'There is a chamber far away Where sleep the good and brave, For truth and right, 'gainst treason's might, And ye raise it up for a witness still In the eye of earth and heaven. Then nail my head on yonder tower Give every town a limb And God who made shall gather them: I go from you to Him!' The morning dawned full darkly, The rain came flashing down, And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt The thunder crashed across the heaven, Yet aye broke in, with muffled beat, There was madness on the earth below, And young and old, and rich and poor, Ah, God! that ghastly gibbet! The great tall spectral skeleton, The ladder and the tree! Hark! Hark! it is the clash of arms The bells begin to toll- The clouds are cleared away, And the glorious sun once more looks down Amidst the dazzling day. He is coming! he is coming! Like a bridegroom from his room, Came the hero from his prison To the scaffold and the doom. Though the cheeks of all were wan, He mounted up the scaffold, And he turned him to the crowd; But they dared not trust the people, So he might not speak aloud. But he looked upon the heavens, And they were clear and blue, And in the liquid ether The eye of God shone through: Yet a black and murky battlement As though the thunder slept within- The grim Geneva ministers With anxious scowl drew near, Around the dying deer. He would not deign them word nor sign, And veiled his face for Christ's dear grace, Then radiant and serene he rose, And cast his cloak away : A beam of light fell o'er him, A hush and then a groan ; The work of death was done! AMERICA TO GREAT BRITAIN.-W. Allston. ALL hail! thou noble land, Our father's native soil! O'er the vast Atlantic wave to our shore, For thou, with magic might, Canst reach to where the light Of Phoebus travels bright The world o er. The genius of our clime, From his pine-embattled steep, Shall hail the great sublime; While the Tritons of the deep With their conch the kindred league shall proclaim, Though ages long have passed Since our fathers left their home, Their pilot in the blast, O'er untravelled seas to roam, Yet lives the blood of England in our veins ! That blood of honest fame, While the language free and bold How the vault of heaven rung, Round our coast; While the manners, while the arts, Between let ocean roll, Our joint communion breaking with the sun: Yet, still, from either beach, The voice of blood shall reach, More audible than speech, 'We are one!' OH! it is excellent To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous > MOSES.-J. H. Newman. MOSES, the patriot fierce, became To show us how love's quick'ning flame Moses, the man of meekest heart, To show, where Grace has done its part, Thou, who hast taught me in Thy fear, O grant me loss with Moses here, ALMA.-Archbishop Trench. THOUGH till now ungraced in story, scant although thy waters be, Alma, roll these waters proudly, proudly roll them to Yesterday unnamed, unhonoured, but to wandering Now thou art a voice for ever to the world's four corners In two nations' annals graven, thou art now a deathless name, And a star for ever shining in their firmament of fame. and shrine, Little streamlet, knows no magic, boasts no potency like thine; Cannot shed the light thou sheddest around many a living head, Cannot lend the light thou lendest to the memories of the dead. Yea, nor all unsoothed their sorrow, who can, proudly mourning, say When the first strong burst of anguish shall have wept itself away |