458 "Am I too self-confident? Listen and you shall judge. If the king is tender-hearted to his poor subjects, there is all the more hope in what I propose to do." "But how can you do more than discover what justice requires, and carry that into effect?" "True; but the king can act only through commissioners; the king's commissioners must be men of rank and wealth, or the friends of such; and the justice of the king's commissioners may be very different from my justice or your justice. They will themselves be masters of servants, owners of bondmen. Think you that they are likely of their own free will to give servants and bondmen what they ask, seeing that to give is to impoverish themselves, to contract their own pleasures, to limit their own grandeur?" "Some of them would not yield," said Ralph. 66 Many of them," answered Simon: "most of them, and when it came to the pinch, they would act as one man to keep the bondmen down." "But they might be persuaded," said Ralph. "Yes," answered the merchant, "by fear. They may be persuaded by fear: against established and unconscious selfishness it is And it is by a stronger motive than love. Let fear that I propose to persuade them. them once see that the poor commons are to be feared, and they will yield. At present they are too contemptuous to make any concession to justice. And now you understand my plan. These hot-headed orators, whom you will presently hear, excite the storm which I and others are labouring to direct. Why did the Jacquerie fail? Only through want of union. We must give our poor commons union, and then their numbers will tell. At present the nobles and rich commons care no more for their wretched thralls than for swarms of flies." Ralph pondered for a little in silence. "But," he asked at length, "what if the storm raised should be too strong! The wind then instead of filling your sails might wreck your ship." 66 That is my fear," said the merchant. "And yet you persevere?" said Ralph, with some surprise. "What else can I do? If the king is with us, there is hope. His name is still a tower of strength. The inhuman pride of the nobles must somehow be broken." Ralph said nothing. The picture which the merchant had suggested to his mind of two opposed classes on the eve of deadly strife-the one contemptuous and overweening, the other stubborn, resentful, ready to give battle with the courage of despair and the savagery of hatred long pent up, filled him with a horror that kept him silent. Could nothing be done for peace? Was war inevitable? They had now reached the old camp at Wandlebury. Ralph looked round on the motley gathering, buzzing in groups on the breezy hill under the changeful September sky, as if he could read in their faces what was to come. So impressed was his imagination with the thought of savage and vindictive rebellion, that he was almost startled to see so many faces without any outward trace of sullen gloom or brooding hatred. Weatherbeaten faces were there in plenty, rough, tanned throats running up into shaggy matted hair; but the features in general had the grave, hard set of severe bodily labour and sober fare. A certain glisten in the eyes was the only visible sign of excitement, and it betokened rather vague curiosity and expectation than a fixed common purpose. The great bulk of the assembly consisted of peasants whose lives were spent in dull, hard routine, and who were not easily moved out of their hourly attitude of stolid, plodding endurance. Hard, monotonous work had taken all the vivacity out of them. But the crowd contained also many men in better dress, in clothes that were at least whole and unpatched, though made of homely materials, tradesmen mostly from the small towns, whom the extortions and vexatious interferences of overlords had driven to make Camcause with the peasants. bridge itself, with its standing disputes with the University and the religious houses, contributed a goodly proportion of this class. These more vivacious members of the meeting formed groups in which animated discussion went on of the rumours brought to the fair by visitors from a distance, the peasants standing by now hearkening with open mouth, now gazing inquiringly about with that peculiar glistening look of excited expectation. common 'These men cannot be such ungovernable savages," thought Ralph to himself. "They look honest and laborious and patient drudges, not easily goaded to violent courses." He had never seen this human sea except in a calm, and it was hard to believe that it He looked could ever be excited to a storm. over the assembly, wondering whether the merchant's alarm was justified, and considering in what terms he should report to Sir Simon Burley. He was roused from his reflections by suddenly hearing the merchant at his side exclaim in an excited voice: "Thank God. Here he comes!" At that very moment Ralph had caught sight of a familiar countenance in the crowd, with two great eyes directed at himself. Yes; it was Docket: Docket also had mastered the pass. Ralph was astonished to see Docket there, but the merchant claimed his attention before he could frame any speculation on the subject. "Thank God! Here he comes," said the merchant. "Who?" asked Ralph, catching something of his eagerness. The merchant pointed along the straight Roman road in the direction of Linton. Ralph saw, about a mile off, a black figure on a small pony trotting rapidly towards Wandlebury. "Who is it?" asked Ralph. "The priest of St. Mary's," answered the merchant, "our trusty shepherd John Ball. I am glad he has come. I sent a messenger to him as soon as Lawrence told me what you had said to him. We may now be able to keep the violent men in check.” (To be continued.) SONNET. LETHE. Lo! like a water-spirit in her car, We float in a dim river, you and I, But tho' so near, shall never be more nigh Till past all wondering where or what we are. For this stream is called Lethe, and when we Break from the crystal bondage of our shell Whose bubble strength and beauty's miracle Save for our frailty now would set us free, The Past and Future are Oblivion's fee For loosing us from Life's unquiet spell. MORLEY ROBERTS. IN the summer of 1888 the nation is called upon to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the defeat of the "Invincible Armada" of Spain, an event of the greatest significance to the English-speaking race. We are asked to commemorate that event in a manner which shall impress its importance upon the people of these realms, and especially upon the young, as well as to show to other nations that we are not unmindful of our obligations to the men of the Elizabethan age who nobly defended this land when it was so closely threatened by the invading hosts of Philip II., incited thereto by the Sovereign Pontiff. How this commemoration shall be carried out is still an open question; but that, in this age of anniversaries, it deserves to be so celebrated can scarcely be matter for doubt. True, it may be urged, and has already been suggested, that having just passed through all the exceptional excitement of a Jubilee year, the nation might be allowed to rest in peace for a while. But as the people of this country have no control over events and cannot choose the time when such historical anniversaries shall fall, we must be content to take them as they come, and carry them out to the best of our ability, even though, as this year, they come in double rank.1 1 Referring to the Armada tercentenary and the bicentenary of the Revolution of 1688. The proposal for an Armada celebration emanates from Plymouth, where, a while ago, a pardonable enthusiasm was evinced over the honoured memory of Sir Francis Drake, "first of England's vikings as a sailor."2 The historical town of Plymouth may be termed the home and nursery of the British navy from very early times, and around it are centred many of the most noteworthy incidents of national naval annals. Plymouth was the abiding-place (though not the birthplace)3 of Drake when he was not scouring the seas in quest of Spanish gold, or "singeing the King of Spain's beard." It was from hence he sailed in all his expeditions, and to which he returned from his memorable voyage when he "put a girdle round the earth." From hence also sailed Hawkins and Frobisher and Ralegh and many another Elizabethan hero; and in later days Plymouth witnessed the departure, in 1620, of the Pilgrim Fathers to found colonies in the New World; and it was from the same port that Captain Cook sailed on his eventful voyage of discovery in 1768. It was at Plymouth also that the fleet, under the command of Lord Charles Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake, awaited the coming of the Duke of Medina Sidonia and his "floating Babel" freighted with men, munitions, and 2 Burritt. 3 Drake was born at Crowndale, near Tavistock. instruments of torture intended for the invasion, subjugation, and conversion of this little island. Inasmuch, then, as the proposal to celebrate this national crisis comes from this fine old historic town, this mother of heroes, and mother of many another Plymouth up and down the wide world, it is but fitting that any demonstration such as that now proposed should there find its chief centre. It is therefore a sine quâ non that an Armada celebration should be held at Plymouth in July next. Α Various suggestions have been made as to the form the demonstration should take. great naval display has been proposed, but it is doubtful if the Government would be disposed to lend any assistance in the matter; also that a procession or pageant of representative historical scenes and personages- -on the lines of those at Heidelberg and other places on the Continent, and at Ripon a while ago in this country--a series of historical tableaux in the public hall of the town, with appropriate scenery, would be an interesting feature; and a marine pageant, in which the vessels of the port should take part, equipped as nearly as possible to represent the little craft of the Elizabethan days, in which, to quote the words of Froude, "the seamen from the banks of the Thames and the Avon, the Plym and the Dart, self-taught and self-directed, with no impulse but what was beating in their own royal hearts, went out across the unknown seas, fighting, discovering, colonising, and graved out the channels, paving them at last with their bones, through which the commerce and enterprise of England has flowed out over all the world" (Froude's Short Studies, Second Series, p. 297). It is also proposed that an exhibition of Armada and other relics, of pictures of the period, portraits of the great sea-captains of those days, and other curiosities should be organised, and it is believed that a collection of exceptional interest might be got together. Amongst other valuable suggestions of a more general character are these: additions to the statue of Drake on Plymouth Hoe, to form an appropriate Armada memorial; a tower or other structure on which the names of the Armada heroes and other particulars might be inscribed; a separate statue of Sir Walter Ralegh; a Drake Home for decayed sailors of the mercantile marine; an Insurance Company for the lives and property of fishermen, &c., &c. Such are a few of the proposals which have been made, and as the general scheme has been approved by the London and local journals, and has received considerable favour in the locality chiefly concerned, it is to be hoped that the authorities both naval and municipal may be induced to lend their aid to carry them out effectively and liberally. Of course it is not intended that the Armada celebrations shall be confined to the western seaport, although there undoubtedly should be the chief demonstration. The undertaking ought to be national in its character, even though the Government have no share in carrying it out; and doubtless other seaports would add their share of effort to give éclat to the occasion. There are other places, the rise and progress of which may be traced incidentally to the doings of those days, and it would be no difficult matter to arrange for a series of demonstrations all over the country in a similar manner to those which have taken place during the Jubilee year. A simultaneous firing of beacons, by a more preconcerted arrangement than that of Jubilee Day, might be carried out similar to that so graphically described by Macaulay: "Night sank upon the dusky heath, 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.” London, which contributed so nobly in ships, men, money, and munitions of war towards the defence of the country, and against which the aims of the Spaniards were largely directed, would without doubt prepare a monster pageant, in which the Queen and members of the Royal Family might be induced to take part, repeating in some measure the proceedings of her illustrious predecessor, Elizabeth, who, "attended by her privy council, by the nobility, and other honourable persons, as well spiritual as temporal, in great number, the French ambassador, the judges, the heralds, and trumpeters all on horseback, came in a chariot supported by four pillars and drawn by two white horses to St. Paul's Church, where, alighting at the west door, she fell on her knees and audibly praised God for her own and the nation's signal deliverance." The matter has been taken up warmly |