Never more at trump to waken-
He, the very first one
taken

From that bough so sorely shaken
In that vintage-time of death.

7. In a moment, in a twinkling,

He was gathered to his rest,
In the time for which he'd waited;
With his gallant heart elated,
Down went Nolan-decorated—
With a death-wound in his breast.

8. Onward still the squadrons thunder,
Knightly hearts were theirs, and brave!
Men and horses without number
All the furrow'd ground encumber,
Falling fast to their last slumber-
Bloody slumber-bloody grave!

9. Here a noble charger stiffens,
There his rider grasps the hilt
Of his saber, lying bloody
By his side, upon the muddy
Trampled ground, which, darkly ruddy,
Shows the blood that he has spilt.

10. And the sleepers-ah! the sleepers
Made a Westminster that day,
'Mid the seething battle's lava;
And each man who fell shall have a
Proud inscription, Balaklava,
Which shall never fade away.

11. Of that charge at Balaklava-
In its chivalry sublime-
Vivid, grand, historic pages
Shall descend to future ages;
Poets, painters, hoary sages

Shall record it for all time.

LESSON CXLVI.

THE LESSON TAUGHT

BY THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

Trochaic Measure.-ARCHBISHOP TRENCH.

[The charge of the Light Brigade was evidently a blunder-a reckless, and, in a military point of view, a useless waste of life; but the following reflections are designed to show that "the offering was not in vain," and that an exalted moral lesson is taught by this noble example of unquestioning obedience to duty.]

1. MANY a deed of faithful daring may obtain no record here, Wrought where none could see or note it, save the one Almighty seer. 2. Many a deed a while remembered, out of memory needs must fall, Covered, as the years roll onward, by oblivion's creeping pall:

3. But there are which never, never to oblivion can give room,

Till in flame earth's records perish―till the thunder-peal of doom: 4. And of these, through all the ages married to immortal fame, One is linked, and linked forever, Balaklava, with thy name.

5. O our brothers that are sleeping, weary with your great day's strife On that black Crimean headland, noble prodigals of life

6. Eyes which ne'er beheld you living, these have dearly mourned you dead, All your squandered wealth of valor, all the lavish blood ye shed.

7. In our eyes the tears are springing, but we bid them back again;
None shall say, to see us weeping, that we hold your offering vain :
8. That for nothing, in our sentence, did that holocaust arise,
With a battle-field for altar, and with you for sacrifice.

9. Not for naught; to more than warriors armed as you for mortal fray,
Unto each that in life's battle waits his Captain's word, ye say :-
10. "What by duty's voice is bidden, there where duty's star may guide,
Thither follow, that accomplish, whatsoever else betide."

11. This ye taught: and this your lesson, solemnly, in blood ye sealed ; Heroes, martyrs, are the harvest Balaklava's heights shall yield.

OUR DUTY.

POSSESSIONS vanish, and opinions change,
And passion holds a fluctuating seat;
But, subject neither to eclipse nor wane,
Duty remains.-WORDSWORTH.

WHEN it was rumored that the old Duke of Wellington was about to marry the young and rich heiress, Miss Angelina Burdett Coutts, some wag wrote the following:

"The duke must in his second childhood be,
Since in his doting age he turns to A B C."

II. AN ANAGRAM.

The following very happy anagram was written by William Oldys himself, the well-known bibliographer, and found among his manuscripts after his death:

"In word and WILL I AM a friend to you,

And one friend OLD IS worth a hundred new."

III. JOHNSON'S STYLE.

Dr. Johnson is noted for the high-sounding words which he used, and the pompous style of all his writings. Goldsmith remarked to him one day, "Doctor, if you were to write a fable about little fishes, you would make them all talk like whales."

IV. LORD BROUGHAM.

Lord Brougham was noted for the satirical, waspish manner with which he treated his opponents in debate. Sydney Smith, on seeing his carriage go past, having on the panel the letter B, surrounded by a coronet, remarked to a friend, "There goes a carriage with a B outside, and a wasp within."

V. BLUE INK.

You ask me, Edward, what I think
Of this new fashionable ink'?
I'll answer briefly, Ned.
Methinks it will be always blue;
At all events, when used by you,
It never will be red.

VI. MASCULINE AND FEMININE.

In England, rivers are all males-
For instance, Father Thames:
Whoever in Columbia sails,

Finds them ma'amselles or dames.

Yes, there the softer sex presides,
Aquatic, I assure ye;
And Mrs. Sippy rolls her tides
Responsive to Miss Souri.

VII. WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

As late the Trades' Unions, by way of a show,
O'er Westminster Bridge strutted five in a row,
"I feel for the bridge," whisper'd Dick, with a shiver;
"Thus tried by the mob, it may sink in the river."
Quoth Tom, a crown lawyer, " Abandon your fears;
As a bridge, it can only be tried by its piers."

VIII. A SUBLIME PUN.

The following anecdote, although a pun upon words, is sublime in thought and language:

A gentleman had been engaged in a duel: the ball of his antagonist struck his watch, and remained there. The watch was afterward exhibited, with the ball remaining in it, in a company where Judge Parsons was present. It was remarked by several that it was a valuable watch. "Yes," said Parsons," very excellent; it has kept Time from Eternity."

LESSON CXLVIII.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS.

I. GOD'S LOVE TO US.-GRIFFIN.

Declarative: Repetition.

THERE's not a flower that decks the vale,
There's not a beam that lights the mountain,
There's not a shrub that scents the gale,
There's not a wind that stirs the fountain,
There's not a hue that paints the rose,
There's not a leaf around us lying,
But in its use or beauty shows

God's love to us, and love undying!

II. HE LIVES LONG WHO LIVES WELL.-RANDOLPH.

Wouldst thou live long? The only means are these,
'Bove Galen's diet, or Hippoc'ratēs':

Strive to live well; tread in the upright ways,
And rather count thy actions than thy days;
Then thou hast lived enough amongst us here;
For every day well spent I count a year.
Live well, and then, how soon soe'er thou die,
Thou art of age to claim eternity.

But he that outlives Nestor, and appears

To have passed the date of gray Methuselah's years,
If he his life to sloth and sin doth give,-

I say he only was-he did not LIVE.

"Now" is the syllable ever ticking from the clock of time. "Now" is the watchword of the wise. "Now" is on the banner of the prudent. Let us keep this little word always in our mind; and whenever any thing presents itself to us in the shape of work, whether mental or physical, let us do it with all our might, remembering that "Now" is the only time for us. It is, indeed, a sorry way to get through the