The sultan comforted the man, and said,

"Go home, and I will send thee wine and bread," (For he was poor), "and other comforts. Go;

And, should the wretch return, let Sultan Mahmoud know."

In three days' time, with haggard1 eyes and beard,
And shaken voice, the suitor re-appeared,

And said, "He's come.'

Mahmoud said not a word,

But rose and took four slaves, each with a sword,

And went with the vexed man. They reach the place, And hear a voice, and see a woman's face,

That to the window fluttered in affright.

"Go in," said Mahmoud, "and put out the light;
But tell the females first to leave the room;
And when the drunkard follows them, we come."

The man went in. There was a cry, and hark!
A table falls, the window is struck dark:
Forth rush the breathless women; and behind
With curses comes the fiend in desperate 2 mind.
In vain the sabres 3 soon cut short the strife,

:

And chop the shrieking wretch, and end his hateful life.

"Now light the light," the sultan cried aloud.
'Twas done. He took it in his hand, and bowed
Over the corpse, and looked upon the face;

Then turned, and knelt, and to the Throne of Grace
Put up a prayer, and from his lips there crept
Some gentle words of pleasure, and he wept.

4

In reverent silence the beholders wait,

Then bring him at his call both wine and meat;
And when he had refreshed his noble heart,

He bade his host be blessed, and rose up to depart.

2

1Haggard, wild. Desperate, mad, furious. 3 Sabre, a short sword. Reverent, respectful, humble.

The man amazed, all mildness now and tears,
Fell at the sultan's feet with many prayers,
And begged him to vouchsafe1 to tell his slave
The reason first of that command he gave
About the light; then, when he saw the face,
Why he knelt down; and, lastly, how it was
That fare so poor as his detained him in the place?

The sultan said, with a benignant eye,2
"Since first I saw thee come, and heard thee cry,
I could not rid me of a dread that one

By whom such daring villanies were done

Must be some lord of mine,-aye, e'en, perhaps a son.
Whoe'er he was, I knew my task, but feared
A father's heart, in case the worst appeared:
For this I had the light put out. But when
I saw the face, and found a stranger slain,
I knelt and thanked the Sovereign Arbiter,s
Whose work I had performed through pain and fear;
And then I rose, and was refreshed with food,

The first time since thy voice hath marred my solitude."

0

LOVE THY MOTHER.-T. Hood.

LOVE thy mother, little one!

Kiss and clasp her neck again,—

Hereafter she may have a son

Will kiss and clasp her neck in vain.

Love thy mother, little one!

Vouchsafe, condescend, deign. Benignant, kind, gracious. Arbiter, a judge. Sovereign Arbiter, God-the Judge of all. ♦ Marred, injured, spoiled.

4

Gaze upon her loving eyes,

And mirror back1 her love for thee,—
Hereafter thou may'st shudder sighs
To meet them when they cannot see.
Gaze upon her loving eyes!

Press her lips the while they glow
With love that they have often told,—
Hereafter thou may'st press in woe,
And kiss them till thine own are cold.
Press her lips the while they glow!

Pray for her at eve and morn,

That Heaven may long the stroke 2 defer,3-
For thou may'st live the hour forlorn,
When thou wilt ask to die with her.
Pray for her at eve and morn!

0

THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM.5-Southey.

Ir was a summer evening,

Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he, before his cottage door,
Was sitting in the sun;

And by him sported on the green

His little grandchild, Wilhelmine.

She saw her brother Peterkin

Roll something large and round,
That he beside the rivulet

In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,

That was so large, and smooth, and round.

Mirror back, return. 2 Stroke, the stroke of death. Defer, put off. Forlorn, comfortless, unhappy. 5 Battle of Blenheim, a victory gained over the French and Bavarians at Blenheim in Bavaria, by Marlborough, commander of the English forces, and Prince Eugene, in the year 1704.

Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant1 by;

And then the old man shook his head,
And with a natural sigh-

""Tis some poor
fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.

"I find them in the garden,

For there's many 2 here about;
And often, when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out:
For many a thousand men," said he
"Were slain in that great victory."

"Now tell us what 'twas all about,"
Young Peterkin, he cries;
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes:
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they killed each other for."

"It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout;5
But what they killed each other for,
I could not well make out:
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.

"My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by.

They burned his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;

So with his wife and child he fled,

And knew not where to rest his head.

3

1 Expectant, waiting in hope. 2 There's many, for there are many. Many a thousand. It is said that 36,000 men were left killed and wounded after the battle. 4 Wonder-waiting, waiting to hear wonderful things. 5 Rout, defeat.

"With fire and sword the country round
Was wasted far and wide;

And many a loving mother then,
And tender infant died:

But things like that, you know, must be
At every famous victory.

They say it was a shocking sight,
After the field was won,

For many thousand bodies there

Lay rotting in the sun:

But things like that, you know, must be
After a famous victory.

"Great praise the Duke of Marlborough won,
And our good Prince Eugene."
"Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!"

Said little Wilhelmine.

"Nay, nay, my little girl," quoth he;

"It was a famous victory;

"And everybody praised the duke, Who such a fight did win."

"But what good came of it at last ?" Quoth little Peterkin.

"Why, that I cannot tell," said he, "But 'twas a famous victory."

THE HAPPIEST LAND.-Longfellow.

THERE sat one day in quiet,

By an alehouse on the Rhine,1
Four hale and hearty fellows,
And drank the precious wine.

The landlord's daughter filled their cups,
Around the rustic board;

Rhine, see p. 85. 2 Rustic plain, rough