And when their statues are placed on high, The American soldiers' Temple of Fame; THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. GOOD NEWS TO AIX. (Extract.) I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris and he; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three ; "Good speed!" cried the watch as the gate-bolts undrew, "Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through. Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast. Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace,· Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place; I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, 'T was moonset at starting; but while we drew near And from Mecheln church-steeple we heard the half So Joris broke silence with "Yet there is time!" At Aerschot, up leaped of a sudden the sun, 66 " and the (But "Roos "" Roan fell dead on the way; the latter, when Aix was in sight!) And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight Then I cast loose my buff-coat, each holster let fall, Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer; good, Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood. And all I remember is, friends flocking round As I sat with his head 'twixt my knees on the ground, Ghent. ROBERT BROWNING. DYING IN HARNESS. Only a fallen horse, stretched out there on the road, Stretched in the broken shafts, and crushed by the heavy load; Only a fallen horse, and a circle of wondering eyes Watching the 'frighted teamster goading the beast to rise. Hold! for his toil is over - no more labor for him; See the poor neck outstretched, and the patient eyes grow dim ; See on the friendly stones now peacefully rests his Thinking, if dumb beasts think, how good it is to be dead; After the burdened journey, how restful it is to lie With the broken shafts and the cruel load-waiting only to die. Watchers, he died in harness - died in the shafts and Fell, and the great load killed him; one of the day's mishaps One of the passing wonders marking the city road Passers, crowding the pathway, staying your steps awhile, What is the symbol? "Only death? why should you cease to smile At death for a beast of burden?" On through the busy street That is ever and ever echoing the tread of the hurrying feet! What was the sign? A symbol to touch the tireless will. Does he who taught in parables speak in parables still? The seed on the rock is wasted- on heedless hearts of men, That gather and sow and grasp and lose labor and sleep — and then Then for the prize! A crowd in the street of everechoing tread The toiler, crushed by the heavy load, is there in his harness dead. JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY. PLUTARCH'S HUMANITY. For my part, I cannot but charge his using his servants like so many beasts of burden, and turning them off, or selling them when they grew old, to the account of a mean and ungenerous spirit which thinks that the sole tie between man and man is interest or necessity. But goodness moves in a larger sphere than justice. The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind, but kindness and beneficence should be extended to creatures of every species; and these still flow from the breast of a well-natured man, as streams that issue from the living fountain. A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but when old and past service. Thus the people of Athens, when they had finished the temple called Hecatompedon, set at liberty the beasts of burden that had been chiefly employed in the work, suffering them to pasture at large, free from any other service. It is said that one of these afterwards came of its own accord to work, and, putting itself at the head of the laboring cattle, marched before them to the citadel. This pleased the people, and they made a decree that it should be kept at the public charge so long as it lived. The graves of Cimon's mares, with which he thrice conquered at the Olympic games, are still to be seen near his own tomb. Many have shown particular marks of regard, in burying the dogs which they had cherished and been fond of; and amongst the rest Xantippus of old, whose dog swam by the side of his galley to Salamis, when the Athenians were forced to abandon their city, and was afterwards buried by him upon a promontory, which to this day is called the Dog's Grave. We certainly ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household goods, which, when worn out with use, we throw away; and were it only to learn benevolence to humankind, we should be merciful to other creatures. For my own part, I would not sell even an old ox that had labored for me; much less would I remove, for the sake of a little money, a man grown old in my service, from his usual lodgings and diet; for to him, poor man! it would be as bad as banishment, since he could be of no more use to the buyer than he was to the seller. But Cato, as if he took a pride in these things, tells us, that when consul, he left his war-horse in Spain to save the public the charge of his conveyance. Whether such things as these are instances of greatness or littleness of soul, let the reader judge for himself. From "Cato the Censor," in the "Lives." THE HORSES OF ACHILLES. The gentleness of chivalry, properly so called, depends on the recognition of the order and awe of lower |