And our sons unborn shall nerve them for some great deed to be done, By that Twentieth of September, when the Alma's heights were won. Oh! thou river; dear for ever to the gallant, to the free Alma, roll thy waters proudly, proudly roll them to the sea. (By permission of the Author.) THE SPECTRE PIG. O. W. HOLMES. Ir was the stalwart butcher man And oh it was the gentle pig Lay stretched upon the ground, They took him then, those wicked men, And through his heels a thong. And round and round an oaken beam Now say thy prayers, thou sinful man, And read thy catechism well, Thou sanguinary one. For if his sprite should walk by night, That thou were mouldering in the ground, It was the savage butcher then "Oh! father, father, list to me; It was the naughty butcher then "Oh! Nathan, Nathan, what's a pig, It was the butcher's daughter then, That sobbed as if her heart would break, And thus she spoke in thrilling tone,- Then did her wicked father's lips Ye need not weep, ye gentle ones, The bright sun folded on his breast And softly over all the west The shades of evening came. He slept, and troops of murdered pigs The clock struck twelve; the dead hath heard; He opened both his eyes, And sullenly he shook his tail To lash the feeding flies. One quiver of the hempen cord, One struggle and one bound, With stiffened limb and leaden eye, And straight towards the sleeper's house And hooting owl, and hovering bat, On midnight wing attended. Back flew the bolt, uprose the latch, Two hoofs upon the sanded floor, And they are breathing side by side, "Now wake, now wake, thou butcher man! Untwisted every winding coil; The shuddering wretch took hold, Till like an icicle it seemed, So tapering and so cold, "Thou com'st with me, thou butcher man!" And open, open, swung the door, Fast fled the darkness of the night, They called full loud, they knocked full long They did not waken him. Straight, straight towards that oaken beam, A ghastly shape was swinging there,- A SCENE FROM THE MARTYR OF ANTIOCH. THE VERY REV. HENRY HART MILMAN, D.D., [Dr. Milman is the youngest son of the late Sir Francis Milman, Bart., physician to George III. He was born Feb. 10, 1791, and educated at Dr. Burney's, Greenwich, at Eton, and at Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1817 he took orders, and was appointed Vicar of St. Mary's, Reading. Previously to this he had written his tragedy of "Fazio," in which the celebrated Miss O'Neill sustained the rôle of the heroine at Covent-garden Theatre. His subsequent works are "Anne Boleyn," "The Martyr of Antioch," and "Belshazzar" (an heroic poem in twelve books), "Samor" (1818), and "The Fall of Jerusalem," a poem (1820). Dr. Milman has also contributed largely to the "Quarterly Review;" and has written in prose a "History of Latin Christianity," a "History of the Jews," a "Life of Horace," and other works. As a poet he takes rank with Bowles and Keble, and has made a reputation "that the world will not willingly let die." Having been some years the Rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, he was presented with the deanery of St. Paul's in 1849.] MARGARITA'S REVELATION TO HER FATHER (CALLIAS, PRIEST of apollo) of hER CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. Callias. How? What? mine ears Ring with a wild confusion of strange sounds Thou dost, my child. Margarita. By Jesus Christ—by Him In whom my soul hath hope of immortality, Call. i Lightnings blast-not thee, But those that, by their subtle incantations, Have wrought upon thy innocent soul! Look there! Marg. Father, I'll follow thee where'er thou wilt: Thou dost not mean this cruel violence With which thou dragg'st me on. |