"In a sovereign's need," answered the youth, "it is each liegeman's duty to be bold."

"That was well said, my lord," said the Queen, turning to a grave person who sat by her, and answered with a grave inclination of the head and something of a mumbled assent. "Well, young man, your gallantry shall not go unrewarded. Go to the wardrobe-keeper, and he shall have orders to supply the suit which you have cast away in our service. Thou shalt have a suit, and that of the newest cut; I promise you, on the word of a princess."

"May it please your Grace," said Walter, hesitating, "it is not for so humble a servant of your Majesty to measure out your bounties; but if it became me to choose "

"Thou would'st have gold, I warrant me," said the Queen, interrupting him; "fle, young man! I take shame to say that in our capital, such and so various are the means of thriftless folly, that to give gold to youth is giving fuel to fire, and furnishing them with the means for self-destruction. If I live and reign, these means of unchristian excess shall be abridged. Yet thou may'st be poor," she added, or thy parents may be. It shall be gold if thou wilt, but thou shalt answer to me for the use of it."

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Walter waited patiently until the Queen had done, and then modestly assured her, that gold was still less in his wish than the raiment her Majesty had before offered.

"How, boy," said the Queen, "neither gold nor garment! What is it thou would'st have of me,

then ?"

"Only permission, madam-if it is not asking too high an honor-permission to wear the cloak which did you this trifling service."

"Permission to wear thine own cloak, thou silly boy!" said the Queen.

"It is no longer mine," said Walter. "When your Majesty's foot touched it, it became a fit mantle for a prince, but far too rich a one for its former owner."

The Queen again blushed; and endeavored to cover by laughing, a slight degree of not unpleasing surprise and confusion.

"Heard you ever the like, my lords? The youth's head is turned with reading romances - I must know something of him, that I may send him safe to his friends. What is thy name and birth?"

"Raleigh is my name, most gracious Queen, the youngest son of a large but honorable family in Devonshire."

"Raleigh?" said Elizabeth, after a moment's recollection; "have we not heard of your service in Ireland ?"

"I have been so fortunate as to do some service there, madam," replied Raleigh, "scarce, however, of consequence sufficient to reach your Grace's ears."

"They hear further than you think for," said the Queen, graciously, "and have heard of a youth who defended a ford in Shannon against a whole band of rebels, until the stream ran purple with their blood and his own."

"Some blood I may have lost," said the youth, looking down, "but it was where my best is due, and that is in your Majesty's service."

The Queen paused, and then said hastily, "You are very young to have fought so well and to speak so well. But you must not escape your penance for turning back Masters-the poor man hath caught cold on the river-for our order reached him when he had just returned from certain visits to London, and he held it a matter of loyalty and conscience instantly to set forth again. So hark ye, Master Raleigh, see thou fail not to wear thy muddy cloak, in token of penitence, till our pleasure be further known. And here," she added, giving him a jewel of gold in the form of a chessman, "I give thee this to wear at the collar."

Raleigh, to whom nature had taught intuitively, as it were, those courtly arts which many scarce acquire from long experience, knelt, and as he took from her hand the jewel, kissed the fingers which gave it.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

Biography.-For a biography of Sir Walter Scott, see page 209. Notes.-Deptford (Dět' furd) is a town on the south bank of the Thames, four miles below London Bridge.

The Shannon is the largest river in Ireland. It rises near the base of a mountain in the County Cavan, and, after flowing about 224 miles, empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Language. Select from the lesson an example of the different kinds of sentences-simple, compound, and complex.

Point out the subject and predicate in the simple sentence, and state what are the modifiers of each. If prepositional phrases occur, show the parts of which they are composed.

What is meant by the expression, "The youth's head is turned with reading romances"?

Composition. - The principal points in the biographical sketch of an author are:

1. The place and date of birth, and (if dead) the place and date of death; 2. Early life, and date and name of first publication; 3. Important events in the after life of the author; 4. Characteristics of style; 5. Principal works.

Let others write of battles fought,

Of bloody, ghastly fields,

Where honor greets the man who wins,
And death the man who yields;
But I will write of him who fights
And vanquishes his sins,

Who struggles on through weary years
Against himself, and wins.

He is a hero stanch and brave
Who fights an unseen foe,
And puts at last beneath his feet
His passions base and low;

Who stands erect in manhood's might,
Undaunted, undismayed,-

The bravest man who drew a sword

In foray, or in raid.

It calls for something more than brawn

Or muscle to o'ercome

An enemy who marcheth not

With banner, plume, or drum

A foe forever lurking nigh,

With silent, stealthy tread;

Forever near your board by day,
At night beside your bed.

All honor, then, to that brave heart,
Though poor or rich he be,

Who struggles with his baser part-
Who conquers and is free!

He may not wear a hero's crown,
Or fill a hero's grave;

But truth will place his name among
The bravest of the brave.

Elocution.-The tone of voice used in reading the different portions of this poem must be determined by the feeling indicated in the thoughts expressed. In the first four lines, disgust in a measure rules the manner of expression; in the last four lines of the stanza there is simply determination. Beginning with the second stanza, and continuing throughout the remainder of the poem, the feeling of admiration is exhibited, growing in intensity to the close of the last stanza. As to the manner of reading:- the tone used in the first stanza is not what is called conversational, nor does it approach the fullness and roundness necessary to the proper rendering of the last stanza-we will call it therefore a middle tone.

The three tones of voice used in reading will hereafter be spoken of as conversational, middle, and full.

In the lesson, we have an excellent opportunity to note the development of a full tone of voice. Beginning in the first stanza with a middle tone, the roundness or fullness of tone is increased until, in the last stanza, it rises to the intensity of expression suitable for an emotional utterance.

Language. The expression "weary years" in the first paragraph means the slow moving years-hence, it serves to show that for the person who struggles along through life, time passes very slowly.

The name applied to the figure just explained is transferred epithet, as the epithet "weary" is transferred from person to years. Other examples of the same figure are "happy years," "anxious care," "laughing eyes." It is perhaps as well to class all these expressions as metaphors.

The use of rhetorical figures increases the beauty of language by avoiding the ordinary forms of expression. These figures are peculiarly adapted to poetry. There is scarcely a stanza which does not contain one or more examples.

Select a specimen of good poetry and examine it carefully for examples of metaphor.