KING HENRY V. AND THE HERMIT OF DREUX.-Southey.

While Henry V. lay at the siege of Dreux, an honest Hermit, urknown to him, came and told him the great evils he brought or Christendom by his unjust ambition, who usurped the kingdom of France, against all manner of right, and contrary to the will of God; wherefore, in his holy name, he threatened him with a severe and sudden punishment if he desisted not from his enterprise. Henry took this exhortation either as an idle whimsy, or a suggestion of the dauphin's, and was but the more confirmed in his design. But the blow soon followed the threatening; for, within some few months after, he was Bmitten with a strange and incurable disease.-Mezeray.

He pass'd unquestion'd through the camp,

Their heads the soldiers bent
In silent reverence, or begg'd

A blessing as he went;

And so the Hermit pass'd along,
And reached the royal tent.

2.

King Henry sat in his tent alone;

The map before him lay;

Fresh conquests he was planning there
To grace the future day.

"Repent thee, Henry, of the wrong
Which thou hast done this land!
O King, repent in time, for know
The judgment is at hand.

5.

"I have pass'd forty years of peace
Beside the river Blaise;

But what a weight of woe hast thou
Laid on my latter days!

6.

"I used to see along the stream
The white sail gliding down,
That wafted food, in better times,
To yonder peaceful town.

7.

"Henry! I never now behold

The white sail gliding down; Famine, Disease, and Death, and Thou, Destroy that wretched town.

8.

"I used to hear the traveler's voice

As here he pass'd along,
Or maiden, as she loiter'd home
Singing her even-song.

9.

"No traveler's voice may now be heard;

In fear he hastens by;

But I have heard the village maid

In vain for succor cry.

10.

"I used to see the youths row down

And watch the dripping oar,

As pleasantly their viol's tones Came soften'd to the shore. 11.

"King Henry, many a blacken'd corpse I now see floating down!

Thou man of blood! repent in time,
And leave this leaguer'd town."

12.

“I shall go on,” King Henry cried,
"And conquer this good land;
Seest thou not, Hermit, that the Lord
Hath given it to my hand?"

13.

The Hermit heard King Henry speak,
And angrily look'd down ;—
His face was gentle, and for that
More solemn was his frown.

14.

"What if no miracle from Heaven The murderer's arm control;

Think you for that the weight of blood Lies lighter on his soul?

15.

"Thou conqueror King, repent in time, Or dread the coming woe!

For, Henry, thou hast heard the threat,
And soon shalt feel the blow!"
16.

King Henry forced a careless smile,
As the hermit went his way;

But Henry soon remember'd him
Upon his dying dav

HUMOROUS DESCRIPTION OF THE VOYAGE OF THE

[FROM I. B.'s "

MAYFLOWER.

TRUE HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH.'| [This may be divided into parts for the purpose of declamation; and some slight changes made in the phraseology, to adapt it to that purpose.]

It fell out, that when the Mayflower was ready to sail, there were but one hundred, souls willing to make a third trial in her upon the waters, these being the cullings of the rest, just as larger coals remain in the rake, while the smaller slip through the teeth of the

same.

2. All things being thus ordered, and the new arrangements finished, there were sad leave-takings again, when the vessel hove anchor. But first they transferred the New England's symbol to her deck, with great pomp and circumstance, then bracing her yards, the Mayflower shook out her canvas for a sail upon the dangerous waters of eternal renown. This was in the early part of the month of September.

3. Although at a season of the year when the Atlantic is usually quiet, the Mayflower, all things being considered, made a good average passage of it, say, from ninety to one hundred days, which even now is sometimes imitated by many of our slow sailing merchant-men; although the pilgrim fathers were neither caught between icebergs, nor stranded upon Sable Island, yet this expedition was one of unusual hardship. At least we ought to believe so, and I consider it my duty to give it an extraordinary character if possible. And as coniecture

to the historian is what imagination is to the poet, I must avail myself of the only plausible incident which could add grandeur and solemnity to the voyage, and enhance the perils of this narrative by attempting to describe a storm at sea.

4. Oh, my reader! I know but little of navigation, never having been upon the briny deep, except to play props and catch haddock off Nahant; still less do I understand the vocabulary of nautical men. So I venture upon this part of my true history with unusual diffidence. If I do not use the proper phrases, my critics will discover my mistakes; it will all be the same a hundred years hence. Who cares? Here goes!

THE STORM.

5. The Mayflower had not been out of sight of land for many weeks, before the wind, which had hitherto been upon the leeward quarter, suddenly shifted around and began to blow a-port. Captain Jones immediately or dered all hands abaft, and shook a reef out of the studdin' sails, at the same time ordering a hauser to be rove through the main truck, and a couple of kedges made fast to the davits. These precautions, however, were in vain; the wind increased in violence, a long, low range of stratified clouds hung gloomily upon the skirts of the horizon, and the waves rolled their shaggy tops almost as high as the weather-cock on the mast-head. To add to the horror of the scene, the bilge-water began to rise in the hold, and upon taking an observation they found they had two feet in each pump. By this time many of the passengers had gone below to pack up, and the jolly boat was caulked and painted, to prepare for