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THE ARMADA.

ATTEND, all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise:
I sing of the thrice famous deeds, she wrought in ancient days,
When that great fleet invincible, against her bore, in vain,
The richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts in Spain.
It was about the lovely close of a warm summer's day,
There came a gallant merchant ship, full sail to Plymouth bay ;
The crew had seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Aurigny's isle,
At earliest twilight, on the waves, lie heaving many a mile.
At sunrise 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 Edgecombe'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, unbonnetted, the stout old sheriff comes;
Behind him march the halberdiers, before him sound the drums.
The 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 claws, the princely hunters
lay,

Ho! strike the flagstaff 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 fresh'ning breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massy fold-
The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold.
Night sunk upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea;
Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again shall be.
From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford bay,
That time of slumber was as bright, as 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.

Far o'er 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 Tamer'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 rang out, all night, 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, that streak of blood-red

light.

The bugle's note, and cannon's roar, the deathlike 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 wild 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 rousing 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, for wild Blackheath, the warlike errand

went;

And roused, in many an ancient hall, the gallant squires of

Kent;

Southward, for Surrey's pleasant hills, flew those bright coursers

forth;

High on black 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, all night from hill to hill;

;

Till the proud peak unfurled the flag o'er Derwent's rocky dales ; Till, like volcanoes, flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's1o lonely height; Till streamed in crimson, on the wind, the Wrekin's crest of light.

A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

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Till, broad and fierce the star came forth, on Ely's stately fane, And town and hamlet rose in arms, o'er all the boundless plain : Till Belvoir's lordly towers the sign to Lincoln sent,

And Lincoln sped the message on, o'er the wide vale of Trent; Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burnt on Gaunt's embattled pile, And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle. MACAULAY.

1. Meaning of list, and how comes it to have that meaning?

2. What part of speech is about? 3. Any ellipsis here ?

4. Where is Edgecombe, and all the other places mentioned in this piece?

5. What does unbonnetted apply to? 6. "In all the public writs which Charles V. issued as king of Spain, he assumed the title of Majesty, and required it from his subjects as a mark of respect. Before that time, all the monarchs of Europe were satisfied with the appella

Derivations.

XX. A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

"WITHOUT a knowledge of geography we can neither describe the world to others nor form a proper conception of it ourselves. This knowledge was always necessary, but it is more so now than ever, on account of the increased information people in general possess, and the increased intercourse of nations."-Parley's Grammar of Geography.

Expanse.
Devastating.
Immense.
Immortal.

tion of Highness or Grace; but the vanity of other courts soon led them to imitate the Spanish. The epithet Majesty is no longer a mark of pre-eminence. The most inconsiderable monarchs in Europe enjoy it, and the arrogance of the greater potentates has invented no higher denomination."-Robertson.

Imparts.
Desecrated.
Refulgent.

7. Of what is semper eadem the motto? 8. What warning radiance?

9. For what is Stonehenge celebrated? 10. Name the twelve counties that can be seen from Malvern's lonely height.

Etymology •

Cold and wild.
Breaks.

Hail.

EMBLEM of eternity,
Unbeginning endless sea!

Let me launch my soul on thee.
Sail, nor keel, nor helm, nor oar,
Need I, ask I, to explore
Thine expanse from shore to shore.

Eager fancy, unconfined
In a voyage of the mind,
Sweeps along thee like the wind.
Where the billows cease to roll,
Round the silence of the pole,
Thence set out, my venturous soul.

Heroes.
Beauties.
Fairest.

See, by Greenland cold and wild,
Rocks of ice eternal piled;
Yet the mother loves her child.
Next on lonely Labrador,
Let me hear, the snow-falls roar,
Devastating all before.

But a brighter vision breaks
O'er Canadian woods and lakes;

These my spirit soon forsakes,
Land of exiled Liberty,
Where our fathers once were free,
Brave New England, hail to thee!
Pennsylvania, while thy flood
Waters fields unbought with blood,1
Stand for peace as thou hast stood.
The West Indies I behold,
Like the Hesperides of old,

Trees of life with fruits of gold!
No-a curse is on the soil:2
Bonds and scourges, tears and toil,
Man degrade, and earth despoil.3

Horror-struck I turn away,
Coasting down the Mexique bay;
Slavery there hath lost the day.
South America expands
Mountain-forests, river-lands,

And a nobler race demands;
And a nobler race arise,

Stretch their limbs, unclose their eyes,
Claim the earth, and seek the skies.

Gliding through Magellan's Straits,
Where two oceans ope their gates,
What a spectacle awaits!

4

The immense Pacific smiles.
Round ten thousand little isles,

-Haunts of violence and wiles.

But the powers of darkness yield,
For the Cross is in the field,
And the light of life reveal'd:

Rays from rock to rock it darts,
Conquers adamantine hearts,
And immortal bliss imparts.

A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

North and west, receding far
From the evening's downward star,
Now I mount Aurora's car,5-

Pale Siberia's deserts shun,
From Kamtschatka's headlands run,
South and east, to meet the sun.
Jealous China, strange Japan,
With bewildered thought I scan:

-They are but dead seas of man.
Lo! the eastern Cyclades,
Phoenix-nests, and halcyon seas;
But I tarry not with these.
Pass we now New Holland's shoals,
Where no ample river rolls;

World of undiscovered souls!
Bring them forth-'tis Heaven's decree;
Man, assert thy dignity;

Let not brutes look down on thee.

6

Mammon's plague-ships throng the waves;
Oh! 'twere mercy to the slaves,
Were the maws of sharks their graves.
Hercules, thy pillars stand,
Sentinels of sea and land;
Cloud-capt Atlas towers at hand.

D

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