Then of the locks which, dark and large, o'er his broad shoulders hung; That streamed war-pennons in the charge, yet like caressings clung In peace around his forehead high, which, more than diadem, Beseemed the curls that lovingly replaced the cold hard gem; He cut him one for wife-for child-'twas all he had to will; But, with the regal wealth and state, he lost its heartless chill! The iciness of alien power, what gushing love may thaw ? -The agony of such an hour as this-thy last-Murat! "Comrade-though foe!—a soldier asks from thee a soldier's aid, They're not a warrior's only tasks that need his blood and blade That upon which I latest gaze—that which I fondest clasp, When death my eye-balls wraps in haze, and stiffens my hands' grasp ! With these love-locks around it twined, say, wilt thou see them sent Need I say where ?-Enough!-'tis kind !-to death, then, I'm content! O! to have found it in the field, not as a chained outlaw! No more!-to destiny I yield-with mightier than Murat! They led him forth-'twas but a stride between his prison room And where, with yet a monarch's pride, he met a felon's doom. "Soldiers !—your muzzles to my breast will leave brief space for pain. Strike to the heart!"-His last behest was uttered not in vain. He turned him to the levelled tubes that held the wishedfor boon; He gazed upon some love-clasped pledge,-then vollied the platoon; And when their hold the hands gave up, the pitying gazers saw, In the dear image of a wife, thy heart's best trait, Murat! Thomas Atkinson. 6. How was he employed in 1812 ? 7. Why did he join Napoleon's enemies? 8. How did he act after this, and what was his fate ? 9. Repeat the words that Murat wrote 5. The throne of what kingdom did he to his wife. ascend? 10. Name his children. A MARINER, whom fate compelled Lived in yon cottage on the mount, With ivy mantled o'er ; He placed yon vane upon the roof, And in his spot of garden ground, Models of cannoned ships of war, Rigged out in gallant style; Pictures of Camperdown's1 red fight, And Nelson at the Nile, Were round his cabin hung,—his hours, When lonely, to beguile. 1 Camperdown, a village of the Netherlands 27 miles N. W. of Amsterdam, in the North Sea, celebrated for Admiral Duncan's victory over the Dutch fleet 11th Oct, 1797. And there were charts and soundings, made Old Simon had an orphan been, E'en from his childhood was he seen Four years on board a merchantman He knew, from pastoral St. Lucie, But sterner life was in his thoughts, Through forty years of storm and shine, To where frost rocks the Polar Seas, I recollect the brave old man Methinks upon my view He comes again-his varnished hat, 2 Two islands in Windward group, West Indies. Oft would he tell, how, under Smith, And when he told, how, through the Sound, To quell the Dane in fight,— His veteran eye with light! But chiefly of hot Trafalgar The brave old man would speak; While his eye filled-for wound on wound Ten years in vigorous old age, Tranquil as falls the snow on snow Life's lot to him was dealt; 1 Lord Nelson, a celebrated English Admiral, born in 1758, entered the navy when 12 years of age, rapidly gained distinction, and was in 1797 made Rear-Admiral. He annihilated the fleet which had conveyed the French into Egypt, in the bay of Aboukir, 1799. He as Vice-Admiral conducted the fleet against Copenhagen, 1801. He destroyed the united French and Spanish fleets at Cape Trafalgar, 21st Oct., 1805, but paid for the victory with his life. But came infirmity at length, We missed him on our seaward walk. "Twas harvest time ;-day after day Thus did he weaken and he wane, He made them prop him in his couch, And now he watched the moving boat, As ray by ray the mighty sun Welcome as homestead to the feet Death to old Simon's dwelling came, And, breathing peace to all around, 1. Why did our tar build his cottage on the mount? 2. Why placed he a vane on the roof? 3. What plants were found in his garden? 4. What were hung round his cabin ? 5. Name the three celebrated navigators? 6. What curiosities had he collected? 7. Give us the history of Simon when a boy. Moir. 8. Where sailed he when serving his time? 9. What "sterner life" is meant ? 11. Into what climes had he sailed during the forty years? 12. Give the appearance of the brave old man, |