Fatal banks, that gave to slaughter 4. There the hero, brave Alonzo, Fell a victim by his side. 5. Lo, where yonder Don Saavedra* Proud Seville his worth admires. 6. Close behind, a renegado Loudly shouts, with taunting cry, 7. "Well I know thee, haughty Christian; 8. "Well I know thy aged parents, 9. "May our prophet grant my wishes, Haughty chief, thou shalt be mine; 10. Like a lion turns the warrior, Vainly whizzing, through the air. • Don Saavedra is an imaginary personage, no nobleman of that name having really been engaged in the battle. 11. Back the hero, full of fury, Sent a deep and mortal wound; Mute and lifeless, on the ground. 12. With a thousand Moors surrounded, 13. Near him fighting, great Alonzo 14 Furious press the hostile squadron, 15. Where yon rock the plain o'ershadows, : 33. ST. PETER'S ENTRY INTO ROME. ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. Most Reverend JOHN HUGHES, D. D., first Archbishop of New York, horn in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1798. A few years after his ordination he was Drought before the American public by a controversy and oral discussion with Rev. Mr. Breckinridge, a Presbyterian minister, which established his reputation as one of the ablest controversialists of the day. Indeed, his life since then has been almost a continual controversy, owing to the perpetual attacks made upon the Church through him. Soon after he became Bishop of New York, he was called on to maintain, in a long-protracted struggle, the freedom of education. His "Debates on the School Question," his "Letters to Kirwan," and his "Letters to Brooks," on the management of church property, are excellent specimens of close reasoning, keen wit, and polished sarcasm. Innumerable lectures and letters on various subjects connected with Catholic interests have kept the Archbishop in the front rank of the champions of the Church. 1. Ir must have been during the latter portion of the reign of Tiberius Nero Drusus, or in the beginning of the reign of Nero, that a traveller, dressed in Eastern costume, was seen approaching one of the entrances of the imperial city of Rome. He was weary and wayworn. The dust of travel had incrusted itself on the perspiration of his brow He bore in his hand a staff, but not a crosier. His counterance was pale, but strik ng and energetic in its expression. Partially bald, what re mained of his hair was gray, crisp, and curly. 2. Who was he? No one cared to inquire, for he was only one of those approaching the gates of Rome, within the walls of which, we are told, the population numbered from three to four millions of souls. But who was this pilgrim? He was a man who carried. a message from God and his Christ, and who had been impelled to deliver that message in the very heart and centre of Roman corruption and of Roman civilization, such as it was. 3. His name at that time was Peter. His original name had been Simon, but the Son of God having called him and his elder brother, Andrew, from the fisherman's bank on the Sea of Galilee, to be His apostles, changed the name of Simon and called him in the Syriac language, Cephas, which in Latin and English is translated Peter. In Syriac the word signifies a rock, and our Saviour, by changing his name, declared the mission for which he was especially selected. 4. He said to him: "Thou art Cephas, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." He was an Apostle, like his brother and the other ten. But he was more-he was the Rock on which the Church was to be built-he was the prince of the Apostolic College. And this was the man who was approaching the gates of the city of Rome. Where he slept that night, whether on or under the porch of some princely palace, his tory has not informed us. But he soon began to proclaim the message which he had from God. To human view the attempt would appear to be desperate. Rome, at that pe riod, was divided into two principal classes-masters and slaves-both of the same colur, and, in many instances, both of the same country. 5. The higher class of those who were not slaves were, at that time, gorged to repletion with the wealth and the plunder which the triumphant armies of Rome had brought to the Imperial capital from the conquered tribes and nations of the then known world. These conquered nations, after having been plundered, as we might say, once for all, were still re tained as perpetual tributaries to the exchequer of the Cæsara and of their satellites. The superstitions and idolatries of those nations were all inaugurated in the pagan temples of the Imperial city. Their corruption of morals was also introduced, spreading from freemen to slaves, although such was the state of local morals that no imported corruption could add much to the universal depravity. 6. Such was Rome when this eastern stranger entered its inclosures. He preached the Word of Christ, and his preaching, even in that polluted atmosphere, brought forth many souls to acknowledge and adore the Crucified. He was subsequently joined by St. Paul, and both labored with a common zeal to propagate the doctrine of salvation. They had already made such an impression that the tyrant Nero had them arrested and condemned to death. 7. Peter was crucified, it is generally supposed, on the very spot on which St. Peter's church now stands. The cross was the instrument of punishment for the man of Hebrew origin. But Paul of Tarsus, having been born a Roman citizen, was entitled to a less ignominious death; and accordingly he was beheaded at a place called the Three Fountains, some distance from Rome. Nero made the distinction, which is now so popular, between what is called temporal and spiritual. The body was temporal; and Nero did not pretend to go farther than its destruction. 34 IF THOU COULDST BE A BIRD. FABER. 1. Ir thou couldst be a bird, what bird wouldst thou be? A frolicsome gull on the billowy sea, Screaming and wailing when stormy winds rave, Or anchor'd, white thing! on the merry green wave? 2. Or an eagle aloft in the blue ether dwelling, Who is up in the sunshine when we are in shower, 3. Or a heron that haunts the Wallachian edge And hears the rude waters through dreary swamp flowing, And the cry of the wild swans and buffaloes lowing? 4. Or a stork on a mosque's broken pillar in peace, 5. Or a murmuring dove at Stamboul, buried deep 6. Or a heath-bird, that lies on the Cheviot moor, Where the wet, shining earth is as bare as the floor; Who mutters glad sounds, though his joys are but fewYellow moon, windy sunshine, and skies cold and blue? 7. Or if thy man's heart worketh in thee at all, Perchance thou wouldst dwell by some bold baron's hall 8. Or a linnet who builds in the close hawthorn bough, Where her small, frighten'd eyes may be seen looking through; Who heeds not, fond mother! the ox-lips that shine |