It must be joy, in sooth`, to see
Yon monument* uprear'd to thee';
Piled granite and a prison-cell!
The land repays thy service well!

6. Go, ring the bells, and fire the guns,
And fling the starry banner out`;
Shout "Freedom!" till your lisping ones
Give back their cradle-shout;
Let boasted eloquence declaim
Of honor, liberty, and fame;
Still let the poet's strain be heard,
With "glory" for each second word,
And every thing with breath agree
To praise "our glorious liberty!"
7. And when the patriot cannon jars

That prison's cold and gloomy wall,
And through its grates the stripes and stars
Rise on the wind, and fall;
Think ye that prisoner's aged ear
Rejoices in the general cheer?
Think ye his dim and failing eye
Is kindled at your pageantry?
Sorrowing of soul, and chain'd of limb,
What is your carnival to him?

8. Down with the law that binds him thus!
Unworthy freemen, let it find

No refuge from the withering curse
Of GoD and human kind!
Open the prisoner's living tomb,
And usher from its brooding gloom
The victims of your savage code,
To the free sun and air of God!
No longer dare as crime to brand
The chastening of the Almighty's hand!

WHITTIER

1. *

**THE music of the challengers breathed, from time to time, wild bursts, expressive of triumph or defiance; while

*Bunker's Hill monument.

Formerly, when the chief business of all mankind was fighting, it was customary for knights to try their courage and skill, by fighting with each other with their usual weapons, the lance and sword. This was the favorite amusement of the times, and was called a tournament, (pronounced turn-a-ment.)

the clowns grudged a holiday which seemed to pass away in inactivity; and old knights and nobles lamented the decay of martial spirit, and spoke of the triumphs of their younger days. Prince John began to talk to his attendants about making ready the banquet, and the necessity of adjudging the prize to Brian de BoisGuilbert, who had, with a single spear, overthrown two knights, and foiled a third.

*

2. At length, as the music of the challengers concluded one of those long and high flourishes with which they had broken the silence of the lists, it was answered by a solitary trumpet, which breathed a note of defiance, from the northern extremity. All eyes were turned to see the new champion which these sounds announced, and no sooner were the barriers opened than he paced into the lists.

3. As far as could be judged of a man sheathed in armor, the new adventurer did not greatly exceed the middle size, and seemed to be rather slender than strongly made. His suit of armor was

formed of steel, richly inlaid with gold; and the device on his shield was a young oak-tree pulled up by the roots, with the single word "Disinherited." He was mounted on a gallant black horse, and as he passed through the lists, he gracefully saluted the prince and the ladies, by lowering his lance. The dexterity with which he managed his steed, and something of youthful grace which he displayed in his manner, won him the favor of the multitude, which some of the lower classes expressed by calling out, "Touch Ralph de Vipont's shield, touch the Hospitaller's shield; he has the least sure seat; he is your cheapest bargain."

4. The champion moving onward amid the well-meant hints, ascended the platform by the sloping alley which led to it from the lists, and, to the astonishment of all present, riding straight up to the central pavilion, struck with the sharp end of his spear the shield of Brian de Bois-Guilbert, until it rang again. All stood astonished at his presumption, but none more so than the redoubted knight whom he had thus defied to mortal combat, and who, little expecting so rude a challenge, was standing carelessly at the door of his pavilion.

5. "Have you confessed yourself, brother," said the Templar, Guilbert, "and have you heard mass this morning, that you peril

Pronounced Bwah Guil-bare.

List, the enclosure within which tournaments were held.

The challenge to combat was given, by touching the shield of the knight whom the challenger wished to encounter. The challenge to a contest with headless or blunt lances, was given by touching the shield gently with the reversed spear, while a blow with the point denoted a challenge to mortal conflict.

your life so frankly?" "I am fitter to meet death than thou art," answered the Disinherited Knight; for by this name the stranger had recorded himself in the book of the tourney. "Then take your place in the lists," said De Bois-Guilbert, "and look your last upon the sun; for this night thou shalt sleep in paradise." "Gramercy for thy courtesy," replied the Disinherited Knight, "and to requite it, I advise thee to take a fresh horse, and a new lance, for, by my honor, you will need both."

6. Having expressed himself thus confidently, he reined his horse backward down the slope which he had ascended, and compelled him in the same manner to move backward through the lists, till he reached the northern extremity, where he remained stationary, in expectation of his antagonist. This feat of horsemanship again attracted the applause of the multitude.

7. However incensed at his adversary for the precaution which he recommended, the Templar did not neglect his advice; for his honor was too nearly concerned to permit his neglecting any means which might insure victory over his presumptuous opponent. He changed his horse for a proved and fresh one of great strength and spirit. He chose a new and tough spear, lest the wood of the former might have been strained in the previous encounters he had sustained. Lastly, he laid aside his shield, which had received some little damage, and received another from his squires.

8. When the two champions stood opposed to each other at the two extremities of the lists, the public expectation was strained to the highest pitch. Few augured the possibility that the encounter could terminate well for the Disinherited Knight, yet his courage and gallantry secured the general good wishes of the spectators. The trumpets had no sooner given the signal, than the champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning, and closed in the center of the lists with the shock of a thunderbolt. The lances burst into shivers up to the very grasp, and it seemed at the moment, that both knights had fallen, for the shock had made each horse recoil backward upon its haunches. The address of the riders recovered their steeds by the use of the bridle and spur; and having glared on each other, for an instant, with eyes that seemed to flash fire through the bars of their visors, each retired to the extremity of the lists, and received a fresh lance from the attendants.

9. A loud shout from the spectators, waving of scarfs and handkerchiefs, and general acclamations, attested the interest taken in the encounter. But no sooner had the knights resumed their station, than the clamor of applause was hushed into a silence so

*Many thanks.

deep and so dead, that it seemed the multitude were afraid to breathe. A few minutes' pause having been allowed, that the combatants and their horses might recover breath, the trumpets again sounded the onset. The champions a second time sprung from their stations, and met in the center of the lists, with the same speed, the same dexterity, the same violence, but not the same equal fortune as before.

10. In the second encounter, the Templar aimed at the center of his antagonist's shield, and struck it so fairly and forcibly, that his spear went to shivers, and the Disinherited Knight reeled in his saddle. On the other hand, the champion had, in the beginning of his career, directed the point of his lance toward BoisGuilbert's shield; but changing his aim almost in the moment of encounter, he addressed to the helmet, a mark more difficult to hit, but which, if attained, rendered the shock more irresistible. Fair and true he hit the Templar on the visor, where his lance's point kept hold of the bars. Yet even at this disadvantage, Bois-Guilbert sustained his high reputation; and had not the girths of his saddle burst, he might not have been unhorsed. As it chanced, however, saddle, horse, and man, rolled on the ground under a cloud of dust.

11. To extricate himself from the stirrups and fallen steed, was to the Templar scarce the work of a moment; and stung with madness, both at his disgrace, and the acclamations by which it was hailed by the spectators, he drew his sword, and waved it in defiance of his conqueror. The Disinherited Knight sprung from his steed', and also unsheathed his sword'. The marshals of the field', however, spurred their horses between' them, and reminded them, that the laws of the tournament did not, on the present occasion, permit this species of encounter', but that to the "Disinherited Knight"" the meed of victory was fairly and honorably awarded'.

WALTER SCOTT.

LESSON LI.S1

PULASKI'S

BANNER.

Pulaski fell at the taking of Savannah, during the American revolution. His standard of crimson silk was presented to him by the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

And the censer burning swung,
Where, before the altar, hung

That proud banner, which, with prayer,
Had been consecrated there,

And the nun's sweet hymn was heard the while,
Sung low in the dim, mysterious aisle.

2. "Take thy banner`!-may it wave
Proudly o'er the good and brave,
When the battle's distant wail
Breaks the Sabbath of our vale,
When the clarion's music thrills
To the heart of these lone hills,
When the spear in conflict shakes,
And the strong lance shivering breaks.

3. Take thy banner!-and beneath
The war-cloud's encircling wreath,
Guard it-till our homes are free;
Guard it-God will prosper thee.
In the dark and trying hour,
In the breaking forth of power,
In the rush of steeds and men,
His right hand will shield thee then.

4. Take thy banner! But when night
Closes round the ghastly fight,
If the vanquished warrior bow,
Spare him!-by our holy vow,
By our prayers and many tears,
By the mercy that endears,

Spare him!-he our love hath shared,
Spare him!-as thou would'st be spared.

5. Take thy banner!-and if e'er

Thou should'st press the soldier's bier,
And the muffled drum should beat

To the tread of mournful feet,
Then this crimson flag shall be
Martial cloak and shroud for thee."

And the warrior took that banner proud',
And it was his martial cloak' and shroud.

LONGFELLOW.

the

*According to the measure, the word "the" would require a prominence which its proper relation to the other words forbids. It should, however, be passed over slightly, and the vowel in "war" should be prolonged. That is to sayletter "e" in "the" is short, and must continue so, while, to make up the quantity required by the poetry, the "a" in "war" must be lengthened.