In the meanwhile Sir George Herrick and Henry Lisle had fought to the last in the cause of their king; and their zeal-like that noblest of human energies, hope-had grown but the stronger under the pressure of misfortune and distress. Amongst the various chances of the civil war, five times had the day been appointed for the union of Henry Lisle with Margaret Herrick, and five times had some unforeseen mishap intervened to delay what all so much desired. The last time the marriage was suspended was on the fatal call to Worcester field, where Sir George Herrick fell; and Henry Lisle only escaped to bear his companion's last request to Margaret-that without further pause or delay, without vain ceremonies or useless tears, she would give herself at once to her promised protector. Their wedding was a sad one—no glad peal, no laughing train, announced the union of the two lovers; and ere the day of their bridal was spent, Henry Lisle was a prisoner, journeying towards the Tower of London. His trial was delayed some time; but when it took place it was soon decided. No evidence was wanting to his full conviction of loyalty to the king; and the block and axe was the doom pronounced upon him. A brief three days lay between him and death. * * * * * It was in Westminster Hall on the 16th day of December, 1653, that with the clangour of trumpets and all the pomp and splendour both of military and civil state, a splendid procession moved forward to a chair or throne raised on some ornamented steps at the further extremity of the building. Judges in those solemn robes intended to give dignity to the judgments they pronounce, and officers dressed in all that glittering panoply destined to deck and hide the rugged form of war, moved over the echoing pavement between two long ranks of soldiers, who kept the space clear from the gazing and admiring multitude. But the principal figure of the whole procession, on which all eyes were turned, was that of a stout, broad-built man, with a dingy weather-beaten countenance, shaggy eyebrows, and a large red nose. His countenance was as unprepossessing as can be conceived; nor was his dress, which consisted of black velvet, at all equal to those which surrounded him. But there was something in his glance and carriage that spoke of the consciousness and confidence of power. Passing onward through the hall, he ascended the steps to the chair of state, and, turning round, stood uncovered before the people. The two keepers of the great seal, standing on his right and left, read a long paper called the Institute of Government, by which, among other things, Oliver Cromwell was named "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England." The paper was then signed, an oath was administered, and, putting on his hat, the Lord Protector sat down amidst the acclamations of the people, whilst the rest continued to stand around uncovered. Various other ceremonies were performed; and then the new ruler, rising from his seat, led back the procession towards the door of the hall; but scarcely had he traversed one half of its extent, when a woman, who had been whispering to one of the soldiers that lined the way, pushed suddenly past and cast herself at Cromwell's feet. "An act of grace, Lord Protector, to bring a blessing on the power have assumed." you "What wouldest thou, woman?" demanded Cromwell; "somewhere I have seen thy face before: what wouldest thou?" "When Colonel Cromwell failed in his attack on Farringdon House," said Lady Herrick-for it was she who knelt before him," and when General Goring surprised and cut to pieces his troops at night near Warnham Common," (Cromwell's brow darkened, but still she went on,) "he fled from a disaster he could not prevent, and was cast from his horse, stunned, at the door of a widow woman, who gave him shelter. Henry Lisle, who interposed to save your life that night, is now under sentence of death. I now ask the life of Henry Lisle in return for the life he saved." Cromwell's brow was dark as thunder; and after gazing on her for a moment in silence, his only reply was, "Take her away; the woman is mad.” Put out of the hall by the soldiers, her last hope gone, her heart nearly broken for her child and her child's husband, Lady Herrick wandered slowly on towards that sad place where she had left all that was dear to her. Before she had threaded many of the solitary streets, robbed of their population by the attractive ceremony of the day, a single trooper galloped up, gazed on her a moment, and rode on. At the Tower no formalities were opposed to her immediate entrance of the prisoner's chamber-she was led to it at once; the door itself was open; an unsealed paper lay upon the table. Henry held Margaret in his arms; and tears, which she never before had seen in his eyes, now rolled plentifully down his cheeks, and mingled with those of his bride; but, strange to say, smiles were shining through those tears, and happiness, like the rainbow-sun, beamed through the drops of sorrow. "Joy, mother, joy!" were the first and only words: "joy, mother, joy! Henry is pardoned !"-[Abridged from the narrative of the well-known novelist, G. P. Rainsford James.] THE SANDAL-TREE. THE best revenge is love :-disarm Give water to thy thirsting foe: The sandal-tree, as if to prove How sweet to conquer hate by love, [STAFFA AND IONA are two small islands on the west of Scotland. Iona is interesting to us as being the first place in Scotland where Christianity was introduced; and Staffa is equally interesting for the curious natural excavation known as Fingal's Cave.] MERRILY, merrily, goes the bark On a breeze from the northward free; And all the group of islets gay That guard famed Staffa round. There all unknown its columns rose, And the shy seal had quiet home, And weltered in that wondrous dome, Nature herself, it seemed, would raise That mighty surge that ebbs and swells, 5 That Nature's voice might seem to say Thy humble powers that stately shrine “ 'Weltered, etc.-Rolled about in the waves of the cave under its dome or arched roof. 2 As to shame.-As if to shame. "A minster.-A cathedral. A look at the picture will show what the poet meant by Nature raising a minster. A theme.-A subject; and the subject here meant is the praise of the Creator. Iona's holy fane.-A church was built on Iona by Columba, the first great SIR WALTER SCOTT. missionary to Scotland; and here was afterwards erected a cathedral, whose ruins still remain. This is the "holy fane" spoken of. That stately shrine.-A "shrine" is a case in which something sacred is deposited; here it is applied to the cathedral on Iona. "Witness mine.-Look at the cathedral which I (Nature) have erected, and see how much grander is mine than yours. PETER THE GREAT. RUSSIA, at the present day, is the largest and one of the most powerful empires of the globe. The founder of its greatness was Peter the Great, who ascended the throne in 1682, when a boy of ten years. At the age of seventeen he took the reins of government into his own hands, and soon showed his resolution to effect a thorough reform in the manners of his subjects, and to raise his country to a high place among the nations of Europe. When Peter began to reign, Russia was but a poor, halfcivilized country, without manufactures, without a navy, and with only Archangel for a seaport. As the first step in working out his plans, Peter began to form an army, drilled and |