tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. 12. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I begun, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment,independence now, and INDEPENDENCE FOREVER! DANIEL WEBSTER. LV. JOAN OF ARC'S FAREWELL TO HOME. F 1. AREWELL, ye mountains, ye beloved glades, Ye lone and peaceful valleys, fare ye well! Who sang'st responsive to my simple strain, II. Ye scenes where all my tranquil joys I knew, III. For who in glory did on Horeb's height IV. "Thou in rude armor must thy limbs invest, Ne'er with the bride-wreath shall thy locks be dressed, But war's triumphant glory shall be thine; V. "For when in fight the stoutest hearts despair, VI. The heavenly Spirit promised me a sign; He sends the helmet, it hath come from him. Its iron filleth me with strength divine, I feel the courage of the cherubim; SCHILLER. LVI-CROMWELL'S EXPULSION OF THE L' PARLIAMENT. EAVING the military in the lobby, Cromwell entered the House and composedly seated himself on one of the outer benches. His dress was a plain suit of black cloth, with gray worsted stockings. For a while he seemed to listen with interest to the debate; but when the Speaker was going to put the question, he whispered to Harrison, “This is the time; I must do it ;" and rising, put off his hat to address the House. 2. At first his language was decorous, and even laudatory. Gradually he became more warm and animated; at last he assumed all the vehemence of passion, and indulged in personal vituperation. He charged the members with self-seeking and profaneness, with the frequent denial of justice, and numerous acts of oppression; with idolizing the lawyers, the constant advocates of tyranny; with neglecting the men who had bled for them in the field, that they might gain the Presbyterians who had apostatized from the cause; and with doing all this in order to perpetuate their own power and to replenish their own purses. But their time was come; the Lord had disowned them; he had chosen more worthy instruments to perform his work. 3. Here the orator was interrupted by Sir Peter Wentworth, who declared that he had never heard language so unparliamentary-language, too, the more offensive, because it was addressed to them by their own servant, whom they had too fondly cherished, and whom by their unprecedented bounty they had made what he was. 4. At these words Cromwell put on his hat, and, springing from his place, exclaimed, "Come, come, sir, I will put an end to your prating!" For a few seconds, apparently in the most violent agitation, he paced forward and backward, and then, stamping on the floor, added, "You are no parliament; I say you are no parliament; bring them in, bring them in." Instantly the door opened, and Colonel Worsley entered, followed by more than twenty musketeers. 5. “This,” cried Sir Henry Vane, "is not honest; it is against morality and common honesty." "Sir Henry Vane," replied Cromwell; "O, Sir Henry Vane! The Lord deliver me from Sir Henry Vane! He might have prevented this. But he is a juggler, and has not common honesty himself!" 6. From Vane he directed his discourse to Whitelock, on whom he poured a torrent of abuse; then pointing to Chaloner, "There," he cried, "sits a drunkard;" next to Marten and Wentworth, "There are two dissolute knaves;" and afterwards selecting different members in succession, described them as dishonest and corrupt livers, a shame and scandal to the profession of the gospel. Suddenly, however, checking himself, he turned to the guard and ordered them to clear the House. 7. At these words Colonel Harrison took the Speaker by the hand and led him from the chair; Algernon Sidney was next compelled to quit his seat, and the other members, eighty in number, on the approach of the military, rose and moved towards the door. 8. Cromwell now resumed his discourse. "It is you," he exclaimed, "that have forced me to do this. I have sought the Lord both day and night that he would rather slay me than put me on the doing of this work." 9. Alderman Allan took advantage of these words to observe that it was not yet too late to undo what had been done; but Cromwell instantly charged him with peculation, • nd gave him into custody. 10. When all were gone, fixing his eye on the mace, "What," said he, "shall we do with this fool's bauble? Here, carry it away." Then taking the act of dissolution from the clerk, he ordered the doors to be locked, and, accompanied by the military, returned to Whitehall. JOHN LINGARD. LVII-THE LIGHTHOUSE. I. HE scene was more beautiful far to my eye II. The murmur rose soft as I silently gazed On the shadowy waves' playful motion: From the dim distant hill, the lighthouse fire blazed, III. No longer the joy of the sailor-boy's breast Was heard in his wildly-breathed numbers; The sea-bird had flown to her wave-girdled nest, The fisherman sunk to his slumbers. IV. One moment I looked from the hill's gentle slope; All hushed was the billows' commotion: And I thought that the lighthouse looked lovely as Hope, That star on life's tremulous ocean. V. The time is long past, and the scene is afar, VI. In life's closing hour, when the trembling soul flies. O then may the seraph of mercy arise Like a star on eternity's ocean! THOMAS MOORE. |