V.

Meanwhile the axe and lever

Have manfully been plied,

And now the bridge hangs tottering
Above the boiling tide:
"Come back, come back, Horatius!"
Loud cried the Fathers* all;

"Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!
Back, ere the ruin fall!”

VI.

Back darted Spurius Lartius;
Herminius darted back;

And, as they passed, beneath their feet
They felt the timbers crack.
But when they turned their faces,

And on the further shore

Saw brave Horatius stand alone,

They would have crossed once more.

But, with a crash like thunder,

Fell every loosened beam,

And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
Lay right athwart the stream;
And a long shout of triumph
Rose from the walls of Rome,

As to the highest turret-tops
Was splashed the yellow foam.

VII.

Alone stood brave Horatius,

But constant still in mind:
Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
And the broad flood behind.
"Down with him!" cried false Sextus,

With a smile on his pale face;
"Now yield thee!" cried Lars† Porsena,

"Now yield thee to our grace."

* The Roman Senators were called Fathers, or Conscript Fathers. In the Etruscan language Lars meant "mighty chief," or lord.

VIII.

Round turned he, as not deigning

Those craven ranks to see;
Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
To Sextus naught spake he;
But he saw on Palatinus

The white porch of his home;
And he spake to the noble river
That rolls by the towers of Rome:
"O Tiber! Father Tiber!

To whom the Romans pray!
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day!"
So he spake, and, speaking, sheathed
The good sword by his side,
And, with his harness on his back,
Plunged headlong in the tide.

IX.

No sound of joy or sorrow

Was heard from either bank; But friends and foes, in dumb surprise, With parted lips and straining eyes, Stood gazing where he sank; And when above the surges

They saw his crest appear,

All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
And even the ranks of Tuscany
Could scarce forbear to cheer.

X.

'Out on him!" quoth false Sextus; "Will not the villain drown?

But for this stay, ere close of day

We should have sacked the town!" "Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena, "And bring him safe to shore; For such a gallant feat of arms Was never seen before."

VIII.

Round turned he, as not deigning
Those craven ranks to see;
Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
To Sextus naught spake he;
But he saw on Palatinus

The white porch of his home;
And he spake to the noble river
That rolls by the towers of Rome:
"O Tiber! Father Tiber!

To whom the Romans pray!
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day!".
So he spake, and, speaking, sheathed
The good sword by his side,
And, with his harness on his back,
Plunged headlong in the tide.

IX.

No sound of joy or sorrow

Was heard from either bank; But friends and foes, in dumb surprise, With parted lips and straining eyes, Stood gazing where he sank; And when above the surges

They saw his crest appear,

All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
And even the ranks of Tuscany
Could scarce forbear to cheer.

X.

'Out on him!" quoth false Sextus; "Will not the villain drown?

But for this stay, ere close of day

We should have sacked the town!"

Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,

"And bring him safe to shore;

For such a gallant feat of arms
Was never seen before."

DECLARATION INDEPENDENCE

Borne by the joyous crowd.

LORD MACAULAY (1800-1860).

SELECT ETYMOLOGIES.-Constant: L. con'stans, p. p. of con'sto, I stand firm: v. DESTITUTE. . .. Consul: L.; fr. con'sulo, consul'tum, to consider, to take counsel; h., consult, counsel. ... Lever: L. lev'o, I raise: v. RELIEF.... Palace: L. palatium; fr. Palatium (Mount Palatine), one of the seven hills on which Rome was built, and on which stood the house of Augustus Cæsar. . . . Ruin: L. rui'na; fr. ru'o, ru'tum, to fall with violence. Silent: L. sil'ens, p. p. of sil'eo, I am silent. . . . Triumph : L. triumphus; fr. the G. thriam'bos, a procession in honor of Bacchus.... Turret: L. tur'ris, a tower.... Villain: L. L. villa'nus; fr. L. villa, a country-house, a villa; h., village. A villain was originally a feudal tenant of low degree.

...

XXXVIII.-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, July 4, 1776.