Part 34 (2/2)

The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago, And the brier-rose and the orchis died aoldenrod, and the aster in the wood, And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood, Till fell the frost froue on one, frolen

And nohen comes the calm mild day, as still such days will come, To call the squirrel and the bee fro nuts is heard, though all the trees are still, And twinkle in the sht the waters of the rill, The south wind searches for the flohose fragrance late he bore, And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more

BRYANT

'TIS THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

'Tis the last rose of su alone; All her lovely coone; No flower of her kindred, No rosebud is nigh, To reflect back her blushes, Or give sigh for sigh

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!

To pine on the ste, Go, sleep thou with them

Thus kindly I scatter Thy leaves o'er the bed, Where thy arden Lie scentless and dead

So soon may I follow, When friendshi+ps decay, And froems drop away

When true hearts lie withered, And fond ones are flown, Oh! ould inhabit This bleak world alone!

MOORE

A ROMAN'S HONOUR

The Roulus, a faed into Carthage where the victors feasted and rejoiced through half the night, and testified their thanks to their God by offering in his fires the bravest of their captives

Regulus himself was not, however, one of these victi and sickening in his loneliness; while, in the meantiained by the Roed, and resolved to ask terht that no one would be so readily listened to at Roulus, and they therefore sent hi first made him swear that he would come back to his prison, if there should neither be peace nor an exchange of prisoners They little kne much more a true-hearted Roman cared for his city than for himself--for his word than for his life

Worn and dejected, the captive warrior caates of his own city and there paused, refusing to enter ”I aer a Roman citizen,” he said; ”I aive audience to strangers within the walls”

His wife, Marcia, ran out to greet him, with his two sons, but he did not look up, and received their caresses as one beneath their notice, as a mere slave, and he continued, in spite of all entreaty, to reo to the little farm he had loved so well

The Roman Senate, as he would not cona

The a up, said, as one repeating a task: ”Conscript fathers, being a slave to the Carthaginians, I co peace and an exchange of prisoners” He then turned to go aith the aht not be present at the deliberations of the Senate His old friends pressed hiive his opinion as a senator, who had twice been consul; but he refused to degrade that dignity by claiinianhis seat

Then he spoke He told the senators to persevere in the war He said he had seen the distress of Carthage, and that a peace would be only to her advantage, not to that of Roly advised that the war should continue Then, as to the exchange of prisoners, the Carthaginian generals, ere in the hands of the Roth, whilst he hiain; and, indeed, he believed that his eneiven hi Thus he insisted that no exchange of prisoners should be made

It onderful, even to Roainst himself; and their chief priest came forward and declared that, as his oath had been wrested from him by force, he was not bound by it to return to his captivity But Regulus was too noble to listen to this for a moment ”Have you resolved to dishonour norant that death and the extre for me; but what are these to the shauilty e, I have still the spirit of a Roo; let the Gods take care of the rest”

The Senate decided to follow the advice of Regulus, though they bitterly regretted his sacrifice His ept and entreated in vain that they would detain him--they couldcould prevail with him to break his word, and he turned back to the chains and death he expected, as cal to his home This was in the year BC 249