And to their husbands bore a healthy race,
To take their fathers' place.

If e'er dispute or discord dared intrude,

'T was soon, by wisdom's voice, subdued; The wisest then was called to reign, The bravest did the victory gain:

The proud were made to feel

They must submit them to the general weal;
For to the proud and high a given way

Was marked, that thence they might not stray;
And thus was freedom kept alive.
Rulers were taught to strive

For subjects' happiness, and subjects brought
The cheerful tribute of obedient thought;
And 't was indeed a glorious sight

To see them wave their weapons bright:

No venal bands, the murderous hordes of fame; But freedom's sons, all armed in freedom's name.

ANTISTROPHE,

No judge outdealing justice in his hate,
Nor in his favor. - Wisdom's train sedate

Of books and proud philosophy

And stately speech, could never needed be,

While they for virtue's counsellings might look On Nature's open book,

Where bright and free the Godhead's glory falls ;Not on the imprisoning walls

Of temples; for their temple was the wood, The heavens its arch, its aisles were solitude. And then they sang the praise

Of heroes and the seers of older days:
They never dared to pry

Into the mysteries of the Deity;

They never weighed his schemes, nor judged his will,
But saw his works, and loved and praised him still;
Obeyed in awe, kept pure their hearts within,
For this they knew, -- God hates and scourges sin :
Some dreams of future bliss were theirs,

To gild their joys and chase their cares;
Aud thus they dwelt, and thus they died,
With guardian-freedom at their side,

The happy tenants of a happy soil,
Till came the cruel stranger to despoil.

EPODE.

But, O, that blessed time is past;
The strangers now possess our land;
Batavia is subdued at last,--

Batavia fettered, ruined, banned!
Yes! honor, truth, have taken flight

To seats sublimer, thrones more pure. Look, Julius! from thy throne of light,

See what thy Holland's sons endure;

Thy children still are proud to claim

Their Roman blood, their source from thee; Friends, brothers, comrades, bear the name,

Desert them not in misery!

Terror and power and cruel wrong

Have a free people's bliss undone ;

Too harsh their sway, their rule too long.

Arouse thee from thy cloudy throne; And if thou hate disgrace and crime, Recall, recall departed time.

Joost van den Vondel. Tr. John Bowring.

THE LEAK IN THE DIKE.

HE good dame looked from her cottage

THE

At the close of the pleasant day,

And cheerily called to her little son

Outside the door at play :

"Come, Peter, come! I want you to go,

While there is light to see,

To the hut of the blind old man who lives
Across the dike, for me;

And take these cakes I made for him,

They are hot and smoking yet;

You have time enough to go and come
Before the sun is set."

*

And now, with his face all glowing,
And eyes as bright as the day

With the thoughts of his pleasant errand,
He trudged along the way;

And soon his joyous prattle
Made glad lonesome place,
Alas! if only the blind old man
Could have seen that happy face!
Yet he somehow caught the brightness
Which his voice and presence lent;

And he felt the sunshine come and go
As Peter came and went.

And now, as the day was sinking,

And the winds began to rise,

The mother looked from her door again,

Shading her anxious eyes;

And saw the shadows deepen,

And birds to their homes come back,

But never a sign of Peter

Along the level track.

But she said: "He will come at morning,

So I need not fret or grieve,

Though it is n't like my boy at all

To stay without my leave.”

But where was the child delaying?

On the homeward way was he,

And across the dike while the sun was up
An hour above the sea.

He was stopping now to gather flowers,
Now listening to the sound,

As the angry waters dashed themselves
Against their narrow bound,

"Ah! well for us," said Peter,
"That the gates are good and strong,
And my father tends them carefully,
Or they would not hold you long!
"You 're a wicked sea," said Peter;
"I know why you fret and chafe;

You would like to spoil our lands and homes;
But our sluices keep you safe!"

But hark! through the noise of waters
Comes a low, clear, trickling sound;
And the child's face pales with terror,
And his blossoms drop to the ground.
He is up the bank in a moment,
And, stealing through the sand,
He sees a stream not yet so large
As his slender, boyish hand.

"T is a leak in the dike! He is but a boy, Unused to fearful scenes;

But, young as he is, he has learned to know
The dreadful thing that means.

A leak in the dike! The stoutest heart
Grows faint that cry to hear,

And the bravest man in all the land

Turns white with mortal fear.

For he knows the smallest leak may grow

To a flood in a single night;

And he knows the strength of the cruel sea

When loosed in its angry might.

And the boy! He has seen the danger,

And, shouting a wild alarm,

He forces back the weight of the sea

With the strength of his single arm!
He listens for the joyful sound

Of a footstep passing nigh:

And lays his ear to the ground, to catch

The answer to his cry.

And he hears the rough winds blowing,

And the waters rise and fall,

But never an answer comes to him,