7.

With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord.-
The king shall have my service; but my prayers
For ever, and for ever, shall be yours.

Wol. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
In all my miseries; but thou hast forc'd me
Out of thy honest truth to play the woman.
Let's dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell;
And,-when I am forgotten, as I shall be;
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of,-say, I taught thee;
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,-
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in;
A sure and safe one, though thy master missed it.
Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By that sin fell the angels, how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by't?

8. Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee; Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,

Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Serve the king;
And,-Pr'ythee, lead me in:

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the king's: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell,
Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal
I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.

Crom. Good sir, have patience.

Wol.

So I have.

Farewell

The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell. -Shakespeare's Henry VIII.

an, if. So in the phrase-an it please your honour. Like if it is probably an imperative, meaning give or grant.

The Duke of Norfolk, after Wolsey's banishment from the court, took the Cardinal's place in the King's Council.

Lucifer, is a name applied in Isaiah xiv. 12, to the King of Babylon. From verses 13 and 14 it has come to be applied to Satan. With the words "Never to hope again," compare Milton's description of the abode of the fallen spirits :-

"Hope never comes,

That comes to all."

Cromwell (Sir Thomas), almost the only dependant of Wolsey who clung to him after his fall. To him when living at Esher in disgrace, Wolsey "made his moan," and Cromwell in return " comforted him the best he could." He afterwards became Henry's chief minister, but having incurred his master's displeasure he was executed in 1540.

More (Sir Thomas), "the foremost Englishman of his time" in the eyes of foreigners. Refusing to take the new oath of allegiance which required him to declare his belief in the validity of the divorce he was sent to the Tower, and in 1535 was executed on Tower Hill.

Cranmer (Thomas), favoured the king's wishes and was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. A week later he placed the crown on the head of Anne Boleyn. He broke with the Romish Church and died at the stake in Mary's reign.

The Lady Anne Boleyn, a lady of Henry's court for whose sake Catherine of Arragon was divorced. After having been queen for three years she died by the hands of the executioner.

SCENES IN PALMYRA.

1. I was shown to a different apartment from that in which we had supped, but opening into it. It was a portico rather than a room, being on two sides open to the shrubbery, with slender Ionic pillars of marble supporting the ceiling, all joined together by the light interlacings of the most gorgeous creeping plants. Their odours filled the air. A fountain threw up, in the most graceful forms, its clear water and spread all around an agreeable coolness.

2. Standing at those points where flights of steps led down to the walks and plots of grass and flowers which wound about the palace, the eye wandered over the rich scene of verdure and blossom which they presented, and then rested where it can never rest too often or too long -upon the glittering shafts of the Temple of the Sun. This morning prospect, from a single point, I thought was reward enough for my long voyage and hot journey over the desert.

3. In Palmyra all is bright and gay. The buildings of marble, the streets paved and clean, frequent fountains of water throwing up their foaming jets and shedding around a delicious coolness, temples and palaces of the nobles or of wealthy Palmyrene merchants-altogether present a more brilliant assemblage of objects than I suppose any other city can boast. Then conceive, poured through these long lines of beautiful edifices, among these temples and fountains, a population drawn from every country of the far East, arrayed in every variety of the most showy and fanciful costume, with the singular animals, rarely seen in our streets, but here met at every turn-elephants, camels, and dromedaries, to say nothing of the Arabian horses, with their jewelled housings, with

every now and then a troop of the queen's cavalry moving along to the sound of their clanging trumpets-conceive, I say, this ceaseless tide of various animal life poured along among the proud piles and choking the ways, and you will have some faint glimpse of the strange and imposing reality.

4. The shouts of the people and the braying of martial music and the confused sound of an approaching multitude showed that the queen was near. Troops of horse, variously caparisoned, each more brilliantly as it seemed than another, preceded a train of elephants and camels, these, too, richly dressed but heavily loaded. Then came the body-guard of the queen in armour of complete steel, and then the chariot of Zenobia, drawn by milk-white Arabians. So soon as she appeared the air resounded with the acclamations of the countless multitudes. Every cry of loyalty and affection was heard from ten thousand mouths, making a music such as filled the heart almost to breaking.

5. It was to me a moment inexpressibly interesting. I could not have asked for more than for the first time to see this great woman just as I now saw her. I cannot, at this time, even speak of her beauty, and the imposing yet sweet dignity of her manner; for it was with me, as I suppose it was with all, the diviner beauty of the emotions and sentiments that were working at her heart and shone out in the expressive language of her countenance, which took away all power of narrowly scanning complexion, feature, and form. Her look was full of love for her people. She regarded them as if they were her children. She bent herself fondly towards them, as if nothing but the restraints of form withheld her from throwing herself into their arms. This was the beauty which filled and agitated me. I was more than satisfied.

Questions on the lesson :-The portico spoken of-what of its two sides—how was it supported—what joined the pillars-what could be seen from it? What points of interest in the city itself are mentioned? What points regarding the population? How is the approach of the queen described? Her body-guard? The queen's chariot? Her reception by the people? Her own appearance? Her demeanour towards them?

AMERICA.

FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN 1775.

[Edmund Burke was born in Dublin in 1730, and died in 1797. He was one of the most brilliant orators of his time. "Who can withstand the fascination and magic of his eloquence? The excursions of his genius are immense. His imperial fancy has laid all nature under tribute, and has collected riches from every scene of the creation and every walk of art."]

We stand where we

1. It is good for us to be here. have an immense view of what is, and what is past. Clouds, indeed, and darkness rest upon the future. Let us, however, before we descend from this noble eminence, reflect that this growth of our national prosperity has happened within the short period of the life of man. It has happened within sixty-eight years.

2. There are those alive whose memory might touch the two extremities. For instance, my Lord Bathurst might remember all the stages of the progress. He was in 1704 of an age at least to be made to comprehend such things. Suppose, sir, that the angel of this auspicious youth, foreseeing the many virtues which made him one of the most amiable, as he is one of the most fortunate men of his age, had opened to him in vision that, when in the fourth generation, the third prince of the house of Brunswick had sat twelve years on the