A wearied pilgrim I have wandered here, Herrick. 1 Bate, to abate, lessen, subtract. 2 Lustres, periods of five years. WORK IS HOLY. Work while life is given, Faint not although 'tis hard: Work is the will of heaven, What though thy lot be hidden, And proud ones pass thee by! Feel duty as God-bidden, Act as beneath His eye- Cleave to thy humble place, Make fruitless cumberers feel Work while life is given, Nor shrink though hardship scars, True suffering fits for heaven, There sin alone debars For work is holy! Angels' ears now listen Thy earth-spurned plaintive tale, Angels' eyes shall glisten While they thy scars unveil- They'll know these are the proof Nor idly stood aloof, While other brave ones fell! Work, while life is given, Pine not although 'tis hard, Work is the will of heaven, And peace is the reward. All work is holy ! Thomas Knox. CASABIANCA1 The boy stood on the burning deck, 56 CASABIANCA. Yet beautiful and bright he stood, As born to rule the storm- A proud, though childlike form. The flames rolled on-he would not go He called aloud: 'Say, father! say He knew not that the chieftain lay 'Speak, father!' once again he cried, Upon his brow he felt their breath, And in his waving hair, And looked from that lone post of death In still, yet brave despair; And shouted but once more aloud: 'My father! must I stay?' While o'er him fast through sail and shroud The wreathing fires made way. They wrapt the ship in splendour wild, They caught the flag on high, And streamed above the gallant child Like banners in the sky. Then came a burst of thunder-sound- With fragments strewed the sea With mast and helm and pennon fair, 1 L'Orient, the vessel which Admiral Brueys himself commanded at the battle of the Nile, was equipped with one hundred and twenty guns. Some time after darkness set in, it was seen to be on fire. Mrs Hemans. Nelson gave orders that the crew should be saved by English boats. Many were thus rescued, but the commodore Casabianca and his brave little son, only ten years of age, were among the dead. THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS. King Francis1 was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport; And one day, as his lions fought, sat, looking on, the Court;" The nobles filled the benches round, the ladies by their side, And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed ; And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning showValour and love and a king above, and the royal beasts below. Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws ; They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams-a wind went with their paws: With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another, Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother; The bloody foam above the bars came whizzing through the air; Said Francis then: Faith! gentlemen, we're better here than there!' De Lorge's love o'erheard the king-a beauteous lively dame, With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same. 58 THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S ARMY. She thought: 'The Count my lover is brave as brave can be He surely would do wondrous things to shew his love of me: King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine! I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine !' She dropped her glove to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled; He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild. The leap was quick, return was quick-he has regained the place Then threw the glove-but not with love-right in the lady's face. 'In truth,' cried Francis, 'rightly done!' and he rose from where he sat ; 'No love,' quoth he, 'but vanity, sets love a task like that!' 1 King Francis, Francis I. of France, who obtains a niche in English history as the royal compeer of Henry VIII. on the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold.' Leigh Hunt. 2 Sat, looking on, the Court. The Court sat looking on. 3 Royal beasts, so styled because the lion is held to be the king of the beasts. THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S1 ARMY. Like the leaves of the forest, when summer is green, For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, |