That to every land and nation They are firmaments containing They the clouds abounding ever, Whence the rains of doctrine fall; They the Church's deep foundations, Lanterns of the Word, diffusing They the shepherds of the sheep-folds, Therefore, by their intercession, Amen. CHILDREN'S SONG BY THE SEA. WE who sing beside the shore, By our grand orchestral ocean, Tune our singing to his roar, Murmurous rest or loud emotion: Fresh as in our fathers' ears, Rings his olden endless story: Ancient monarch of the years, Young as in his primal glory! Double lessons doth he give Alternated for our learning Lessons how to love and live, Never trite, though still returning: None as he so free and strong- And to bravely bear disaster; So he teaches at the noon In his loud majestic splendour; This in murmurs on the shore, For the heart and head of life, These are lessons not for scorning; For the rest and for the strife, And our loyal hearts' devotion— S. J. STONE. PSALM CXXIX. (Sæpe Expugnaverunt.) MANY a time, many a time, When life was yet in its morning prime, They banded together to work me ill, The mark of the ploughshare is on me still; They made the furrows, but God sowed the seed, And He is righteous-He is indeed. Ye that would touch His children, beware! The little ones are the Father's care; M. C. SKETCHES FROM HUNGARIAN HISTORY. ་ BY THE AUTHOR OF 'COURAGE AND COWARDS;' 'IVON,' &c. VII. WARS WITH GREECE. A. D. 1141 TO A.D. 1160. BLIND Béla had left three young sons, the eldest of whom, Géza, was but ten years old; so again there was a child on the throne and a regency at the head of the state. Usually these were most disastrous circumstances, and foreboded much evil to Hungary; but in this instance, the country conferred the regency on wise men, who ruled with wisdom and moderation, and instead of separating into factions, gathered the whole strength of the nation closely round the Prince. It was perhaps fortunate that the Queen Ilona had died a few years before, as, maybe, the regency would have found her difficult to deal with. From her father she had inherited Bosnia, (Rama, as it was then called,) and this became the portion of her second son, László, while István, the youngest, inherited Sirmia. At the head of the regency was Duke Bélus, a Serb, brother-in-law of the late Queen, and Palatine of the kingdom. With him were associated the Archbishop of Grán and some of the Magnates; and for the first few years all went well. The nation took both king and kingdom under its protection, and managed both so well, that, when afterwards restored to one another, neither had anything to complain of. The young King found his kingdom strong without and prosperous within; while the nation could not but acknowledge that her youthful sovereign was both noble-minded and courageous. Those parts of Hungary which had been desolated by war, especially the Zips and Transylvania, were colonized by Saxons, invited into the land by Duke Bélus, who accorded them all sorts of freedoms and privileges, that they might the more easily be induced to forget their own country. These colonists were called indiscriminately 'Saxons,' but in reality, many of them are said to have come originally from Flanders, whence they had been driven by the inundations of the sea. However, they had come immediately from Saxony, and Saxons they continue to be called to this day, though there are many differences observable in the language and manners of those dwelling in the Zips, and those in Transylvania. The Wallacks, inhabiting the districts colonized by the Saxons, were made subject to them; and without the consent of the new-comers no Magyar or foreigner might settle in their territory. They brought with them from Germany their own manners, customs, and laws, and are even now a most singular example of colonists who have retained their national peculiarities for centuries. They took part with the Magyars and Szeklers in the Diet, paid a fixed yearly tribute to the government, and contributed a certain number of men to the army; but they were subject to none but the king or his appointed deputy, and chose their own priests and magistrates. These privileges belonged chiefly to the Saxons of Transylvania, who felt the benefit of them in later years, when, while religious persecution raged in other parts of Hungary, they enjoyed the full and undisturbed exercise of their religion. When the young King was eleven or twelve years old, he was betrothed to the Russian Princess Euphrosyne, whose pretty name we should hardly recognize under its Magyar equivalent of Fruzsinka. She came at once to Hungary to be brought up with her future husband, whose little sister, Adelheid, was at the same time sent away to the court of the Emperor Konrad, to be brought up with his son Heinrich, her betrothed. The betrothals of ancient days seem to have had little or no influence on the relations between the countries severally represented by the future bride and bridegroom; for, even when he received Adelheid at his court, Konrad had also a kind word of encouragement for Borics; and though he was disturbed by the rising excitement in Italy caused by the preaching of Arnold of Brescia, the Emperor found leisure to assist this most unfortunate of adventurers in an attack upon Hungary, which resulted indeed in the capture of Presburg, but was speedily avenged, in a great battle at Leerfelde, in which the Germans were defeated. The year following was distinguished by a new Crusade, preached by St. Bernard of Clairvaulx, which brought through Hungary Friedrich of Suabia (afterwards Barbarossa), Otto of Freisingen, (the son of the Duke of Austria, and a great chronicler of the period,) and Louis VII. of France. In the train of this latter came a less welcome visitor, who was for ever appearing where he was least expected and least wanted. This was no other than Borics, who, finding himself recognized, and fearing to be imprisoned, fled by night to Constantinople, where he was kindly received by Manuel Comnenus, who gave him a Grecian princess for his wife, thinking he might be a useful instrument wherewith to harass Hungary. Meanwhile, Hungary had become much attached to her youthful King and Queen; so much so indeed, that when Fruzsinka's brother was driven from Kiew by Dolgoruki, the powerful founder of Moscow, the nation determined to risk a Russian war to re-establish him in his capital and dry the Queen's tears. This might seem a motive scarcely strong enough to justify a foreign war; but Hungary remembered the time when Magyar blood and valour had before assisted in replacing the rulers of Russia on their several thrones, and the young King was burning with eagerness to lead the army to the assistance of his brotherin-law. Magyars and Circassians fought successfully beneath one banner; and Dolgoruki, after suffering several defeats, found himself obliged to surrender the town of Grodez and make peace. But no sooner |