The Spanish Armada.

27

For our God hath crushed the tyrant, our God hath raised

the slave,

And mocked the counsel of the wise. and the valour of the

brave.

Then glory to His holy name, from whom all glories are, And glroy to our sovereign lord, King Henry of Navarre ! MACAULAY.

THE SPANISH ARMADA.

TTEND all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise,

I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in

ancient days,

When the great fleet invincible against her bore in vain
The richest stores of Mexico, the stoutest hearts of Spain.

It was about the lovely close of a warm summer's day,
There came a gallant merchant-ship full sail to Plymouth

Bay;

Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet beyond Aurigny's

isle,

At earliest twilight, on the waves lie heaving many a mile; At sunset she escaped their van, by God's especial grace; And the tall Pinta, till the noon, had held her close in chase. Forthwith a guard at every gun was placed along the wall; The beacon blazed upon the roof of Edgcumbe's lofty hall; Many a light fishing-bark put out to pry along the coast; And with loose rein and bloody spur rode inland many a post.

With his white hair unbonneted the stout old sheriff comes; Behind him march the halberdiers, before him sound the

drums;

His yeomen, round the market-cross, make clear an ample

space,

For there behoves him to set up the standard of her Grace.
And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells,
As slow upon the labouring wind the royal blazon swells.
Look how the lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown,
And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies down.
So stalked he when he turned to flight on that famed Picard
field,

Bohemia's plume, and Genoa's bow, and Cæsar's eagle shield:

So glared he when at Agincourt in wrath he turned to bay, And crushed and torn beneath his paws the princely hunters

lay.

Ho! strike the flag-staff deep, Sir Knight; ho! scatter flowers, fair maids:

Ho! gunners, fire a loud salute: ho! gallants, draw your blades;

Thou sun, shine on her joyously-ye breezes, waft her wide;
Our glorious SEMPER EADEM—the banner of our pride.
The freshening breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massive

fold,

The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of

gold;

Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea,Such night in England ne'er had been, nor ne'er again

shall be.

From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford

Bay,

That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day;

For swift to east and swift to west the warning radiance

spread:

High on St. Michael's Mount it shone-it shone on Beachy

Head.

The Spanish Armada.

29

Far on the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern

shire,

Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points

of fire;

The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamar's glittering waves, The rugged miners poured to war from Mendip's sunless

caves.

O'er Longleat's towers, o'er Cranbourne's oaks, the fiery herald flew ;

He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge, the rangers of Beaulieu.

Right sharp and quick the bells all night rang out from Bristol town,

And ere the day three hundred horse had met on Clifton

down,

The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the

night,

And saw, o'erhanging Richmond Hill, the streak of blood

red light.

Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the death-like silence

broke,

And with one start, and with one cry, the royal city woke.
At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires;
At once the loud alarum clashed from all her reeling
spires;

From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the voice of fear;

And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a louder

cheer:

And from the farthest wards was heard the rush of hurrying

feet,

And the broad streams of flags and pikes dashed down each roaring street:

And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din,

As fast from every village round the horse came spurring in: And eastward straight, from wild Blackheath, the warlike errand went,

And raised in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent.

Southward, from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those bright couriers forth;

High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they started for the North;

And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still,

All night from tower to tower they sprang-they sprang from

hill to hill,

Till the proud Peak unfurled the flag o'er Darwin's rocky dales

Till like volcanoes flared to Heaven the stormy hills of

Wales

Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely

height

Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest of

light

Till broad and fierce the star came forth on Ely's stately

fane,

And tower and hamlet rose in arms o'er all the boundless

plain;

Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln sent,

And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale of

Trent;

Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled

pile,

And the red glare of Skiddaw roused the burghers of CarMACAULAY.

lisle.

Battle of the Baltic.

31

BATTLE OF THE BALTIC.

F Nelson and the North

Sing the glorious day's renown,

When to battle fierce came forth

All the might of Denmark's crown,

And her arms along the deep proudly shone;

By each gun the lighted brand,

In a bold determined hand,

And the Prince of all the land

Led them on.

Like leviathans afloat,

Lay their bulwarks on the brine;
While the sign of battle flew

On the lofty British line:

It was ten of April morn by the chime:
As they drifted on their path,

There was silence deep as death;

And the boldest held his breath,
For a time.

But the might of England flushed
To anticipate the scene;

And her van the fleeter rushed

O'er the deadly space between.

"Hearts of oak!" our captain cried; when each gun

From its adamantine lips

Spread a death-shade round the ships.

Like the hurricane eclipse

Of the sun.