13. What seat was his favourite one, and why?

14. Through what instrument did he frequently look?

15. What had happened when he was under Smith?

16. Where and when were the naval battles fought?

17. When did his cheek glow with pride? 18. How many years of health had he in his cottage?

19. What disease at last made him bedfast?

20. Tell me how our poor old tar was when harvest came round.

21. What hour brings home the bird and the bee?

22. What was done to the brave old man then?

23. On what did he gaze when propped in his chair?

24. What came welcome to old Simon's cabin?

25. Was not Simon kind as well as brave?

26. Do we find cruelty of disposition and kindness often combined?

27. Tell me why it is we love men like old Simon?

XXIII. REMEMBRANCES.

I REMEMBER, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window, where the sun,
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day;-
But now I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!

I remember, I remember,
The roses red and white,
The violets and the lily-cups-
Those flowers made of light;
The lilacs where the robins built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum, on his birth-day-
The tree is living yet!

1 remember, I remember,

Where I was used to swing,

And thought the air would rush as fresh
As swallows on the wing;

My spirit flew in feathers, then,

That is so heavy now,

And summer pools could hardly cool

The fever on my

brow!

I remember, I remember,

The fir trees dark and high ;

I used to think their slender spires,
Were close against the sky!
It was a childish ignorance,-
But now 'tis little joy

--

To know I'm further off from heaven,
Than when I was a boy.

1. What says the poet of the house, the summer sun, &c.?

2. Did he weary of the long summer day

then?

3. How passes he the night now?

4. What says he of the flowers that grew around his youthful home?

Hood.

5. Why say the "tree is living yet"?
6. How did he enjoy the swing when a

boy?

What did his simple youthful mind imagine concerning the fir-trees?

8. Does his maturer knowledge on this point make him happier?

TREAD Softly-bow the head-
In rev'rent silence bow-

No passing bell doth toll,
Yet an immortal soul

Is passing now.

Stranger! however great,

With lowly rev'rence bow;
There's one in that poor shed-
One by that paltry bed-
Greater than thou.

Beneath that beggar's roof,

Lo! death doth keep his state,
Enter-no crowds attend-

Enter-no guards defend
This palace gate.

That pavement, damp and cold,
No smiling courtiers tread;
One silent woman stands,

Lifting with

meagre hands

A dying head.

No mingling voices sound-
An infant wail alone;
A sob suppressed-again
That short deep gasp, and then-
The parting groan.

Oh! change-oh, wondrous change,
Burst are the prison bars-
This moment there, so low,
So agonized-and now
Beyond the stars.

Oh! change stupendous change!
There lies the soulless clod;
The sun eternal breaks—
The new immortal wakes—
Wakes with his God.

1. How are we to enter the poor man's shed?

2. What is taking place within?
3. Why is the entrance to the pauper's
dwelling called a palace-gate ?

4. What king holds court within ?
5. Of what is Death called the king?
6. What human beings alone are within?
7. Who holds the dying head?
8. What sounds do we hear?

9. What has parted with that groan ?

Caroline Southey.

10. What prison bars are burst? 11. What was there a moment since in agony, and is now beyond the stars?

12. What only lies before us, on the wretched bed now?

13. In what glorious state does the soul feel itself now?

14. Do all souls pass immediately to glory in heaven at death?

15. What were Christ's words to the penitent thief on the cross?

XXVI.—THE SPANISH ARMADA,

The "invincible armada," as it was called, consisted of 132 vessels, most of them being of unusual magnitude, and mounted 3165 guns. It was navigated by 8766 seamen, and carried nearly 22,000 soldiers; a force which was to be augmented by 30,000 men assembled in the neighbourhood of Dunkirk. England now appeared animated with one sentiment. Exclusive of the levies furnished by the city of London, 132,000 men were speedily collected where the prospect of invasion was most imminent. The queen appeared on horseback in the camp at Tilbury, and haranuging the army, exhorted the soldiers to remember their duties to their country and their religion. "I am ready," she said, "to pour out my blood for God, my kingdom, and my people. I will fight at your head; and although I have but the arm of a woman, 1 have the soul of a king, and what is more, of a king of England." By such conduct and language she filled the people with enthusiasm. Her fleet, which consisted of only twenty-eight ships, was by the zeal of her people soon increased to a hundred and seventeen, having on board 11,120 men, placed under the orders of the High-admiral Lord Howard of Effingham, who was aided by Drake, Hawkins, Lord Henry Seymour, and Frobisher. The spirit of the Scotch was not inferior to that of the English; they raised troops for the defence of both kingdoms, and formed an association, whose object was to maintain their religion and government against all enemies, at home or abroad.

On the 29th of May 1588, the Spanish armada, under the Duke of Medina, sailed from Lisbon; but a furious tempest next morning drove it back into harbour, and it did not reach the Channel before the 19th of July. Here it was attacked by the English squadron, which proved victorious in five successive engagements. The duke finding he could not form a junction with the troops at Dunkirk, meditated a return to Spain, when a storm arose, which destroyed the greater part of his fleet on the shores of Orkney and Ireland, so that only 53 ships reached home, and these in a

shattered condition. The event was celebrated in this country with great rejoicings and a medal struck in commemoration, bearing the inscription, Deus aflavit et dissipantur, (God blew and they are scattered). The destruction of the armada was a fatal blow to Spain; English cruisers covered all the seas, ravaged her coasts, and plundered her colonies.-White's Universal History.

ATTEND all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise:
I sing of the thrice famous deeds, she wrought in ancient days,
When that great fleet invincible, against her bore in vain,
The richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts in Spain.
It was about the lovely close of a warm summer's day,
There came a gallant merchant ship, full sail to Plymouth bay;
The crew had seen Castile's' black fleet, beyond Aurigny's2
isle,

At earliest twilight, on the waves, lie heaving many a mile.
At sunrise she escaped their van, by God's especial grace;
And the tall Pinta, 3 till the noon, had held her close in chase.
Forthwith a guard, at every gun, was placed along the wall;
The beacon blazed upon the roof of Edgecombe's lofty hall;
Many a light fishing bark put out, to pry along the coast;
And with loose rein, and bloody spur, rode inland many a post.
With his white hair, unbonneted, the stout old Sheriff comes;
Behind him march the halberdiers, before him sound the
drums.

The yeomen round the market cross, make clear an ample space,

For there behoves him to set up the standard of her grace: And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells, As slow upon the labouring wind, the royal blazon swells. Look how the lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown, And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies down!

1 Castille, a former kingdom of Spain, and from its great importance as occupying the centre table-land, it frequently gives its name to the whole kingdom. The Spaniards are sometimes called Castillians.

2 Aurigny's isle,-Alderney, one of the Channel islands.

3 Pinta, a Spanish vessel of war built for fast sailing.

U

So stalked he when he turned to flight, on that famed Picard' field, Bohemia's plume, and Genoa's bow, and Cæsar's eagle shield: So glared he when, at Agincourt,2 in wrath he turned to bay, And crushed and torn, beneath his claws, the princely hunters lay,

Ho! strike the flagstaff deep, sir Knight! Ho! scatter flowers, fair maids!

Ho, gunners! fire a loud salute! ho, gallants! draw your blades!

Thou, sun, shine on her joyously! ye breezes, waft her wide!
Our glorious semper eadem !3 the banner of our pride!
The fresh'ning breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massy
fold-

The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold.

Night sunk upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea; Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again shall be. From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford

bay,

That time of slumber was as bright as busy as the day;
For swift to east, and swift to west, the warning radiance

spread

High on St. Michael's Mount it shone-it shone on Beachy Head.

Faro'er the deep, the Spaniard saw, along each southern shire, Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire,

The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamer's glittering waves, The rugged miners poured to war, from Mendip's* sunless

caves:

O'er Longleat's towers, o'er Cranbourne's oaks, the fiery herald flew

He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge—the rangers of Beaulieu.

1 Picard field,-Crecy or Cressy, a village in Picardy, famous for the great victory obtained by Edward III. over a large French army, Aug. 26th, 1346.

2 Agincourt, a villiage in France near which, 25th Oct., 1415, the English under Henry V. totally defeated a vastly superior force.

3 Semper eadem,-"always the same,"-Queen Elizabeth's motto.

4 Mendip's sunless caves,-coal and lead mines are worked in the Mendip hills, Somersetshire.

5 Stonehenge,-"balancing or hanging stone,"-the remains of a gigantic Druidic temple in the midst of Salisbury plain, Wiltshire.