There"s many hereabout; And often, when I go to plough,The ploughshare turns them out; For many thousand men, " said he, " Were slain in the great victory. ""Now, tell us what "twas all about, " Young Peterkin he cries;And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes; "Now tell us all about the war,And what they killed each other for. " "It was the English, " Kaspar cried,"That put the French to rout; But, what they killed each other for,I could not well make out.
But everybody said, " quoth he, "That "twas a famous victory.
"My father lived at Blenheim then, Yon little stream hard by,They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;
So, with his wife and child he fled,
Nor had he where to rest his head.
"With fire and sword, the country round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a grieving mother then, And new-born baby died.
But things like that, you know, must be At every famous victory.
"They say it was a shocking sight
After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here Lay rotting in the sun;But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.
"Great praise the Duke of Marlboro" won, And our good Prince Eugene. ""Why, "twas a very wicked thing ! "
Said little Wilhelmine.
"Nay-nay-my little girl, " quoth he; "It was a famous victory.
"And everybody praised the Duke
Who such great fight did win. "
"But what good came of it at last? " Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why, that I cannot tell, " said he; "But "twas a famous victory. "Robert Southey
General.-Blenheim (the last syllabic rhymes with crime) is a village on the Danube in Bavaria. Here, in 1704, the English and the Allies (Dutch, Germans, Austrians) under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy won a great victory over the French and Bavarians under Marshal Tallard. Who are the persons described in the poem? Why did the old man think it was a famous victory? Why did Wilhelmine think it a very wicked thing? What is the answer to Peterkin"s question in the last stanza? What bodies of people are at present trying to do away with "famous victories "? Write an essay on the subject.
Lesson 85
THE FEATHER
A Story of Peace and Good-Will
The children of Easton township liked their wooden meeting-house, although it was made only of rough-hewn logs. To begin with, the logs did not fit quite close together; and, if a boy or a girl happened to be sitting in the corner seat, he or she could often see through a chink right out into the woods. Moreover, open spaces had been left for windows and a door. These would be closed when the next cold weather came; but, at present, the summer air blew in softly, laden with fragrant scents of the flowers and the pine-trees. The children, as they sat in meeting, always hoped that, some fine day, a butterfly might find its way in.
On a bright summer morning in the year 1775, there were traces of anxiety on the faces of many friends. At the head of the meeting sat Friend Zebulun Hoxie, the grandfather of many of the children present. Beside him sat a stranger, Robert Nisbet, who had just arrived. The children did not know why he had come, but they fixed their eyes intently on him when he rose to speak. They liked his kind, open face as soon as they saw it. They liked even better the sound of his rich, clear voice,as he said :-
William Penn, founder of the Quaker State of Pennsylvania, receiving his Charter from Charles II"You have done well, dear Friends, to stay on valiantly in your homes when all your neighbours have fled. You did well to ask to be permitted to use your own judgment, to say to the authorities, in all courtesy and charity, " You are clear of us, in that you have warned us," and to stay on in your dwellings, and carry on your accustomed work. I have come on foot through the wilderness country these thirty miles to meet with you to- day, and to bear to you two messages-"The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him," and "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.""Little Dinah Hoxie was thinking, "I do wish a butterfly would come in at the window just for once, or a little bird, with blue, and red, and pink, and yellow feathers. " She turned in her corner seat, and looked through the slit in the wall. Why,there were feathers close outside, red, and yellow, and blue, and pink! But, when she looked again, they had disappeared- nothing was to be seen but a slight trembling of the tree branches in the woods at a little distance.
In the meanwhile, her brother Benjamin was also thinking of what the stranger had said. "He said it was a valiant thing to do to stop on here, when all the neighbours had left. I did not know Friends could do valiant things. I thought only soldiers were valiant. But, if a scouting party really did come, then even a Quaker boy might have a chance to show that he is not necessarily a coward because he does not fight. " Benjamin"s eyes strayed out of the open window. It was very hot and still in the meeting-house. Yet the bushes were trembling. How strange that there should be a breeze there, and not here!
Then gentle Mrs. Hoxie in her turn looked up and saw the same three tall feathers creeping above the sill of the open window-frame. For just one moment, her heart seemed to stand absolutely still. She looked across to where her husband sat-an urgent look. He met her eyes, read them, and followed the direction in which she gazed. Then he too saw the feathers, three, five, seven, nine, all sticking up in a row. Another instant, and a dark-skinned face, an evil face, appeared beneath them, looking over the sill. An Indian chief was looking in, showing his teeth in a cruel grin. In his hand he held a sheaf of arrows, arrows only too ready to fly and kill by day.
