The freshening breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massy fold, The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold: Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea; Such night in England ne'er had been, nor ne'er again shall be. From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford Bay, 35 That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day; For, swift to east, and swift to west, the ghastly war-flame spread High on St. Michael's Mount it shone-it shone on Beachy Head: Far on the deep the Spaniards saw, along each southern shire, Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire. 40 The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamar's glittering waves, flew, He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge the rangers of Beaulieu. Right sharp and quick the bells rang out all night from Bristol town; 45 And ere the day three hundred horse had met on Clifton Down. 35 Eddystone, a reef of rocks in the 41 Tamar, a river in Devonshire, Mendip, a range of hills ia Longleat, Longleat House and Cranbourne's Oaks, the forest 45 Bristol, a city in the two counties Clifton Down, near Bristol. The sentinel on Whitehall gate look'd forth into the night, Then bugle's note and cannon's roar the death-like silence broke, 55 And the broad streams of pikes and flags dash'd down each roaring street: And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din, went; And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent:60 Southward, from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those bright couriers forth; High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor, they started for the north; And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still; All night from tower to tower they sprang; they sprang from hill to hill; Till the proud Peak unfurl'd the flag o'er Darwin's rocky dales; 65 Till, like volcanoes, flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales; Whitehall Gate, the gate of 50 The Royal City, London. the river on which London stands. 55 Wards, divisions of the City. 65 Peak, a high hill in Derbyshire. Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely height; Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest of light; CHARLES DICKENS.-Born, 1812; Died, 1870. Charles Dickens, the most popular novelist of this generation, was the son of an under official in the Navy Pay Department. Dickens began life as a parliamentary reporter, which his father had become, but at the age of twenty-four had made himself famous by the appearance of the first parts of "The Pickwick Papers." His industry, kindheartedness, and high motives in his subsequent writings, as well as their exquisite genius, found a fitting recognition by his burial in Westminster Abbey, among the great ones of our race. THE IVY GREEN. Or, a dainty plant is the ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old! Of right choice food are his meals, I ween, Malvern's height, the highest of a range of hills in Worcester and Herefordshires. The Wrekin, a hill in Shropshire. Ely's stately fane, Ely (Cambridgeshire) Cathedral. 70 Belvoir, Belvoir Castle, Leicester. Lincoln, county town of Lincolnshire. Trent, a river which rises in Staf- Gaunt, &c., Lancaster Castle. The walls must be crumbled, the stones decayed, To pleasure his dainty whim; And the mouldering dust that years have made Is a merry meal for him. Creeping where no life is seen, A rare old plant is the ivy green. Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings, How closely he twineth, how tightly he clings Whole ages have fled, and their works decayed, For the stateliest building man can raise Creeping on where time has been, BOBERT BROWNING.-Born, 1812; still alive. Robert Browning was born at Camberwell in 1812, and educated at the London University. He has written numerous dramas and poems of high merit. The following verses allude to an incident in the great war of Dutch Independence, fought against Philip II. of Spain, which ended in the triumph of the "Seven United Provinces," in 1579. HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS 1 I SPRANG to the stirrup, and Joris, and he; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three ; Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace 'Twas moonset at starting; but, while we drew near |