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"RICHES WE WISH TO GET, YET REMAIN SPENDTHRIFTS STILL (MATTHEW ARNOLD)

"AND BRIGHTEST IS THEIR GLORY'S SHEEN,

THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE.

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Then to their happy rest they pass;
The flowers upclose, the birds are fed,
The night comes down upon the grass,

The child sleeps warmly in his bed.
Calm Soul of all things! make it mine
To feel, amid the city's jar,
That there abides a peace of thine,
Man did not make, and cannot mar!
The will to neither strive nor cry,

The power to feel with others give!
Calm, calm me more! nor let me die
Before I have begun to live.

[From "Collected Poems," 1869.]

WE WOULD HAVE HEALTH, AND YET STILL USE our bodies ill."-MATTHEW ARNOLD.

William E. Aytoun.

He

[WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN was born in Edinburgh in 1813.
Having passed through the usual curriculum of study at the University of
Edinburgh, he visited Germany, where he completed his education.
was called to the Scottish bar in 1840. He had already distinguished himself
by the vivacity, humour, and genial power of his contributions to Black-
wood's Magazine; and in 1845 was appointed Professor of Rhetoric and
Belles Lettres in his maternal University. His literary services to the
Tory party were rewarded in 1852 by the post of Sheriff of Orkney. In
conjunction with Mr. Theodore Martin, he wrote the "Ballads of Bon
Gaultier," and translated the "Songs and Lyrics" of Goethe. His larger
works were "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers" (1849): “Firmilian, a Spas-
modic Tragedy" (1854); the novel of "Norman Sinclair," and the narrative
poem of " Bothwell" (1856). He died in 1867.]

THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE.

[James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, was one of the most enthusiastic partisans of Charles I., and opposed the forces of the Covenant (in alliance with the English Parliament) with dauntless bravery and unflagging

FOR GREATEST HAS THEIR LABOUR BEEN."-ARNOLD.

"E'EN TO THE DULLEST PEASANT STANDING BY, WHO FASTENED STILL ON HIM

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66 FOR, LET THE GODS SO SPEED ME, AS I LOVE

WILLIAM E. AYTOUN.

vigour. But being betrayed into the hands of his enemies by M'Leod of
Assynt, on whose estate he had sought shelter, he was summarily tried for
treason, found guilty, condemned to death, and executed at the Tolbooth of
Edinburgh on the 21st of May 1650. His demeanour in his last hour was
marked by a calm and noble dignity, which moved even his bitterest foes
to admiration.]

HE morning dawned full darkly,

The rain came flashing down,

And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt
Lit up the gloomy town:

The thunder crashed across the heaven,

The fatal hour was come;

Yet aye broke in with muffled beat

The 'larm of the drum.

There was madness on the earth below,
And anger in the sky;

And young and old, and rich and poor,
Came forth to see him die.

Ah, God! that ghastly gibbet!
How dismal 'tis to see

The great, tall, spectral skeleton,
The ladder and the tree!

Hark! hark! it is the clash of arms--
The bells begin to toll-
"He is coming! he is coming!
God's mercy on his soul !"
One last long peal of thunder-
The clouds are cleared away,
And the glorious sun once more looks down
Amidst the dazzling day.

"He is coming! he is coming!"

Like a bridegroom from his room

Came the hero from his prison

To the scaffold and the doom.

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THE NAME OF HONOUR MORE THAN I FEAR DEATH."-SHAKSPEARE.

A WONDERING EYE, HE SEEMED THE MASTER-SPIRIT OF THE LAND."-JOANNA BAILLIE,

METHINKS THAT WE SHOULD HAIL THEE, CHAMPION BRAVE!"WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

HONOUR, THAT KNOWS THE PATH, AND WILL NOT SWERVE."-WORDSWORTH.

THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE.

21

There was glory on his forehead,
There was lustre in his eye,.
And he never walked to battle
More proudly than to die:
There was colour in his visage,

Though the cheeks of all were wan;
And they marvelled as they saw him pass,
That great and goodly man.

He mounted up the scaffold,

And he turned him to the crowd;
But they dared not trust the people,

So he might not speak aloud.
But he looked upon the heavens,
And they were clear and blue,
And in the liquid ether

The eye of God shone through:
Yet a black and murky battlement
Lay resting on the hill,

As though the thunder slept within—
All else was calm and still.

The grim Geneva ministers

With anxious scowl drew near,
As you have seen the ravens flock
Around the dying deer.

He would not deign them word nor sign;
But alone he bent the knee,

And veiled his face for Christ's dear grace
Beneath the gallows-tree.

Then radiant and serene he rose,

And cast his cloak away;

For he had ta'en his latest look

Of earth and sun and day.

"A GARLAND FASHIONED OF THE PURE WHITE ROSE."-WORDSWORTH.

"WHO NEVER DID TO FORTUNE BEND THE KNEE; WHO SLIGHTED FEAR."-WORDSWORTH,

"WITH A CALM DISDAIN, THAT ROSE TO RECONCILE HIM WITH HIS FATE."-BYRON.

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THE HAUGHTY SPIRIT OF THAT HUMBLE CLAY."-BYRON.

WILLIAM E. AYTOUN.

A beam of light fell o'er him,

Like a glory round the shriven ;
And he climbed the lofty ladder
As it were the path to heaven.
Then came a flash from out the cloud,

And a stunning thunder-roll;
And no man dared to look aloft,

For fear was on every soul.
There was another heavy sound,

A hush, and then a groan;
And darkness swept across the sky-

The work of death was done!

[From "The Execution of Montrose," stanzas xiii. to xvii.]

"SPIRITS ARE NOT FINELY TOUCHED, BUT TO FINE ISSUES."-SHAKSPEARE.

THE BURIAL-MARCH OF DUNDEE.

[John Grahame of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, remained faithful to
the cause of James II., after the latter had quitted England and taken
refuge at the French Court. His renown and influence were sufficient to
attract to his standard a numerous body of gallant Highlanders; and with
these he boldly marched against the Royal forces, commanded by General
Mackay, and encountered them on the meadow ground above the Pass of
Killiecrankie, July.27, 1689. He won a complete victory, but received his
death-wound in the battle.]

IN the heights of Killiecrankie,*
Yestermorn our army lay:
Slowly rose the mist in columns
From the river's broken way,
Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent,
And the Pass was wrapt in gloom,
When the clansmen rose together

From their lair amidst the broom.

* Claverhouse was advancing upon Blair-in-Athol, when he was met by the Royal forces near this romantic defile, which has long been famous for its rugged grandeur.

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'THEY CAUSE HIS FAME TO BE THE FURTHER BLOWN."-WITHER.

"IT IS NOT THE MERE PUNISHMENT, BUT CAUSE, THAT MAKES A MARTYR."-BEN JONSON.

"FOND MAN, THAT LOOKS ON EARTH FOR HAPPINESS,

THE BURIAL-MARCH OF DUNDEE.

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Then we belted on our tartans,

And our bonnets down we drew,
And we felt our broadswords' edges,

And we proved them to be true;
And we prayed the prayer of soldiers,

And we cried the gathering-cry,
And we clasped the hands of kinsmen,
And we swore to do or die!
Then our leader rode before us

On his war-horse black as night-
Well the Cameronian rebels

Know that charger in the fight!—
And a cry of exultation
From the bearded warriors rose

For we loved the house of Claver'se,
And we thought of good Montrose.
But he raised his hand for silence,—
"Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:
Ere the evening-star shall glisten
On Schehallion's lofty brow,*
Either we shall rest in triumph,
Or another of the Græmes
Shall have died in battle-harness
For his country and King James!
Think upon the Royal Martyr,
Think of what his race endure-
Think of him whom butchers murdered
On the field of Magus Muir: +
By his sacred blood I charge ye,

By the ruined arch and shrine-
By the blighted heart of Scotland,
By your injuries and mine—

* A mountain which rises on the south side of the Tummel vale.

+ Archbishop Sharp, cruelly murdered by the Covenanters, May 3, 1679.

AND HERE LONG SEEKS WHAT HERE IS NEVER FOUND!"-FLETCHER.

"HIS VALOUR IS THE SALT TO HIS OTHER VIRTUES; THEY ARE ALL UNSEASONED WITHOUT IT."-JONSON.

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