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3. But to return to the Coliseum'; we went up under the conduct of a guide, upon the walls and terraces, or embankments which supported the ranges of seats. The seats have long since disappeared'; and grass overgrows the spots where the pride, and power, and wealth, and beauty of Rome sat down to its barbarous entertainments. What thronging life was here then! What voices, what greetings', what hurrying footsteps upon the staircases of the eighty arches of entrance! and now, as we picked our way carefully through the decayed passages, or cautiously ascended some moldering flight of steps, or stood by the lonely walls-ourselves silent, and, for a wonder, the guide silent, too-there was no sound here but of the bat, and none came from without, but the roll of a distant carriage, or the convent bell from the summit of the neighboring Esquiline.

4. It is scarcely possible to describe the effect of moonlight upon this ruin. Through a hundred lonely arches, and blackened passage-ways, it streamed in, pure, bright, soft, lambent, and yet distinct and clear, as if it came there at once to reveal, and cheer, and pity the mighty desolation. But if the Coliseum is a mournful and desolate spectacle as seen from within—without, and especially on the side which is in best preservation, it is glorious. We passed around' it; and, as we looked upward, the moon shining through its arches, from the opposite side, it appeared as if it were the coronet of the heavens', so vast was it—or like a glorious crown upon the brow of night.

5. I feel that I do not and can not describe this mighty ruin. I can only say that I came away paralyzed, and as passive as a child. A soldier stretched out his hand for "un dono," as we passed the guard'; and when my companion said I did wrong to give, I told him that I should have given my cloak, if the man had asked it. Would you break any spell that worldly feeling or selfish sorrow may have spread over your mind, go and see the Coliseum by moonlight.

LX.-ON MODULATION.

FROM LLOYD.

1. 'Tis not enough the voice be sound and clear, 'Tis modulation' that must charm the ear.

When desperate heroes grieve with tedious moan,
And whine their sorrows in a see-saw tone,
The same soft sounds of unimpassioned woes,
Can only make the yawning hearers doze.
The voice all modes of passion can express,
That marks the proper word with proper stress:
But none emphatic can that speaker call,
Who lays an equal emphasis on all.

2. Some o'er the tongue the labored measure roll,
Slow and deliberate as the parting toll;

Point every stop, mark every pause so strong,
Their words like stage processions stalk along.

3. All affectation but creates disgust;

And e'en in speaking, we may seem too just.
In vain for them the pleasing measure flows,
Whose recitation runs it all to prose;
Repeating what the poet sets not down,
The verb disjointing from its favorite noun,
While pause, and break, and repetition join
To make a discord in each tuneful line'.

4. Some placid natures fill the allotted scene
With lifeless drawls, insipid and serene;
While others thunder every couplet o'er,
And almost crack your ears with rant and roar;
More nature oft, and finer strokes are shown
In the low whisper, than tempestuous tone;
And Hamlet's hollow voice and fixed amaze,
More powerful terror to the mind conveys,
Than he, who, swollen with impetuous rage,
Bullies the bulky phantom of the stage.

5. He who, in earnest, studies o'er his part,
Will find true nature cling about his heart.
The modes of grief are not included all
In the white handkerchief and mournful drawl:
A single look more marks the internal woe,
Than all the windings of the lengthened Oh

Up to the face the quick sensation flies,

And darts its meaning from the speaking eyes:
Love', transport', madness', anger', scorn', despair';
And all the passions', all the soul is there.

LXI.-COMBAT AT A TOURNAMENT.

FROM WALTER SCOTT.

TOURNAMENT; (pro. turn'a-ment.) Formerly, when the chief business of mankind was war, it was customary for knights to try their courage and skill, in mock-fights, armed with their usual weapons, the lance and sword. When several knights were engaged it was called a tournament; when but two, a joust.

The challenge to combat was given, by touching the shield of the knight whom the challenger wished to encounter. The challenge to a contest with headless or blunt lances, was given by touching the shield gently with the reversed spear, while a blow with the point denoted a challenge to mortal conflict.

List; the inclosure within which the tournaments were held.
Bois Guilbert; pro. Bwah Guil-bare'.

Gra-mer'cy; many thanks.

1. THE music of the challengers breathed, from time to time, wild bursts, expressive of triumph or defiance; while the clowns grudged a holiday which seemed to pass away in inactivity; and old knights and nobles lamented the decay of martial spirit, and spoke of the triumphs of their younger days. Prince John began to talk to his attendants about making ready the banquet, and the necessity of adjudging the prize to Brian de Bois Guilbert, who had, with a single spear, overthrown two knights, and foiled a third.

2. At length, as the music of the challengers concluded one of those long and high flourishes with which they had broken the silence of the lists, it was answered by a solitary trumpet, which breathed a note of defiance, from the northern extremity. All eyes were turned to see the new champion which these sounds announced, and no sooner were the barriers opened than he paced into the lists.

3. As far as could be judged of a man sheathed in armor, the new adventurer did not greatly exceed the middle size, and seemed to be rather slender than strongly made. His suit of armor was formed of steel, richly inlaid with gold;

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and the device on his shield was a young oak-tree pulled up by the roots, with the single word "Disinherited.' He was mounted on a gallant black horse, and as he passed through the lists, he gracefully saluted the prince and the ladies, by lowering his lance. The dexterity with which he managed his steed, and something of youthful grace which he displayed in his manner, won him the favor of the multitude, which some of the lower classes expressed by calling out, "Touch Ralph de Vipont's shield, touch the Hospitaler's shield; he has the least sure seat; he is your cheapest bargain."

4. The champion, moving onward amid the well-meant hints, ascended the platform by the sloping alley which led to it from the lists, and, to the astonishment of all present, riding straight up to the central pavilion, struck with the sharp end of his spear the shield of Brian de Bois Guilbert, until it rang again. All stood astonished at his presumption, but none more so than the redoubted knight whom he had thus defied to mortal combat, and who, little expecting so rude a challenge, was standing carelessly at the door of his pavilion.

5. "Have you confessed yourself, brother," said the Templar Guilbert, "and have you heard mass this morning, that you peril your life so frankly?" "I am fitter to meet death than thou art," answered the Disinherited Knight; for by this name the stranger had recorded himself in the book of the tourney. "Then take your place in the lists," said De Bois Guilbert, "and look your last upon the sun; for this night thou shalt sleep in paradise." "Gramercy for thy courtesy," replied the Disinherited Knight; "and to requite it, I advise thee to take a fresh horse and a new lance, for, by my honor, you will need both."

6. Having expressed himself thus confidently, he reined his horse backward down the slope which he had ascended, and compelled him in the same manner to move backward through the lists, till he reached the northern extremity, where he remained stationary, in expectation of his antag onist. This feat of horsemanship again attracted the applause of the multitude.

7. However incensed at his adversary for the precaution

which he recommended, the Templar did not neglect his advice; for his honor was too nearly concerned to permit his neglecting any means which might insure victory over his presumptuous opponent. He changed his horse for a proved and fresh one of great strength and spirit. He chose a new and tough spear, lest the wood of the former might have been strained in the previous encounters he had sustained. Lastly, he laid aside his shield, which had received some little damage, and received another from his squires.

8. When the two champions stood opposed to each other at the two extremities of the lists, the public expectation was strained to the highest pitch. Few augured the possibility that the encounter could terminate well for the Disinherited Knight, yet his courage and gallantry secured the general good wishes of the spectators. The trumpets had no sooner given the signal, than the champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning, and closed in the center of the lists with the shock of a thunderbolt. The lances burst into shivers up to the very grasp, and it seemed, at the moment, that both knights had fallen, for the shock had made each horse recoil backward upon its haunches. The address of the riders recovered their steeds by the use of the bridle and spur; and having glared on each other, for an instant, with eyes that seemed to flash fire through the bars of their visors, each retired to the extremity of the lists, and received a fresh lance from the attendants.

9. A loud shout from the spectators, waving of scarfs and handkerchiefs, and general acclamations, attested the interest taken in the encounter. But no sooner had the knights resumed their station, than the clamor of applause was hushed into a silence so deep and so dead, that it seemed the multitude were afraid to breathe. A few minutes' pause having been allowed, that the combatants and their horses might recover breath, the trumpets again sounded the onset. The champions a second time sprung from their stations, and met in the center of the lists, with the same speed, the same dexterity, the same violence, but not the same equal fortune as before.

10. In the second encounter, the Templar aimed at the

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