Go-tell this Man of Blood from me
I spurn the foul and false decree!
God send his mercenary slave

Some deed to fit a soldier more
Than brutalizing at the grave

He gluts his savage vengeance o'er! Now take me to the death-I'm ready,

And laugh the pangs you threat to scorn-
My conscience, like my step, is steady:

My fate let others judge, or mourn―
I cannot choose but bravely feel
The fame my sacrifice shall seal !"
Conspicuous amid the garish

Parade, the dark confessor trod :
"Thy blessing, Father, ere I perish :
Commend my erring soul to God!
Make firm my promised place above,
And whisper to my earthly bride
My parting soul was in the love

Which made me happy as I died!”

6.

Fair fell the day-the glorious sun
Enamelling all it looked upon :
It seemed too bright a world to hold
A corner for a deed of sin;
A place where Mercy could grow cold,
Or Guilt its guarded entrance win-
A day of promise, scene of beauty,

Such as each dawn beheld unfold
In Eden when the love of duty

Had hallowed both, in time of old!

7.

They chained him to the stake and wheel
Upon an hour like this, and gave
The death-blows whilst the cannons' peal
Roared o'er his agonies and grave!

THE QUEEN OF
OF THE FOREST.
(A Fairy Tale for Young People.)

CHAP. I.

BY ALBERT

Once upon a time, though a great many hundreds of years ago, there was a Baron who lived in a castle right in the middle of a great forest, in which giant oaks spread out their huge and knotted branches far and wide, where huge beech-trees rustled in mysterious murmurs to the wind, and where the tall evergreen and gloomy pine-trees raised their proud heads in solemn grandeur almost to the clouds, echoing back the wild sweeps and blasts of the storm, or the autumnal breeze, in hoarse thunder-like the angry billows breaking on the sounding shores of the ocean. As for the old castle itself, in sober truth it was quite an old castle, all overgrown with ivy, with large gloomy apartments, long sounding galleries, and heavy old carved stairs and balustrades of black oak, with space enough to drive up a coach and six, if the Baron had so pleased, and the horses were willing; and then quaint old turrets stuck up here and there, the abodes of bats and owls. And didn't the owls hoot at night? and didn't the wind, too-especially in autumn, when the nights grew long and troubled-rave, and wail, and bluster round the old walls; rumbling, with hollow moan, down the old chimnies; and rattling the time-worn casements as if ever so many people were striving to burst them open and rush in?

Now the Baron, who was a very worthy man for those times, had lost his wife, the Baroness, many years before; and he had but one child, a little girl, whose name was Hilda. But then Hilda was quite a little host in herself; so good and beautiful was she-the sweetest little thing, in short, that eyes ever beheld. Her hair hung

TAYLOR.

in golden ringlets right down to her waist; her eyes were blue, and softer than the dove's; and when she smiled, two dimples, like hearts of rosebuds, came in her cheeks; and as she smiled from morning till night, they might be said quite to live in her face. But the Baron, her father, was a minister at the court of the King of the country, and so was obliged to be almost constantly at the city, in attendance on his sovereign; very seldom finding time to visit his old castle in the forest: consequently the poor little Hilda was very much alone, without any companions, saving her dear old nurse, and a few old servants who had grown grey there, and of course was obliged to amuse herself as she best could, and left to wander at will through the gloomy apartments and long echoing galleries of the castle, or through the arched and leafy avenues of the old forest. But she cared not; her little heart was light and happy as a May morning; like a sweet flowerbud enshrined in dew. And she loved everybody and everything, and feared nothing but God; and every night and morning she knelt down and offered up her innocent prayers to Him, who she well knew could shield her from every harm. By day she looked up at the bright sun, and smiled, and said to herself, "The blessed sun is God's great eye, that He sees everything with;" and she bent her little head. Then at night she looked up at the stars, and said, "The blessed stars are God's little eyes, with which He sees everything by night;" and she bent her little head and was happy.

But although she had no companions of her own age and rank, yet among the wild denizens of the forest she had innumerable friends-among the blackbirds, and thrushes, and nightingales and robins; besides squirrels, fawns, with

would say, returning his kiss; and then he would seat her on his knee, and stroke her golden hair; and Hilda would look down on her fingers, blushing for pleasure, with the little dimples in her cheeks coming and going. Then she would look up again, and say, "Papa, do you love me?" and when he said "Yes," then she would say, "Then sing me the song about Now the erl-king and his children, papa." this was the only song the Baron could sing; but Hilda was never tired of hearing it. And the Baron would say, "About the erl-king, eh? Hum-hum!" and then sing:The Erl-king sits in the old oak tree,

And smokes from an acorn cup;

And round him-a beautiful sight to see—
Are his children, as busy each one as a bee,
At play till 'tis time to sup.

Miss Kilda, the brown, in a satin gown,

A squirrel has caught by the tail;
And crows like a cock, its squeals to drown,
As she pulls with her fingers the softest down,

To make her a dainty veil.

Fair Elfin swings on the topmost bough,
Where the soft night wind doth blow;

Miss Kilda sits still, and eats her fill;

Fair Elfin eateth small;

But Nip, with a mouth like a parrot's bill,
He stuffs away with right good will,
And fairly beats them all.

Thus the years rolled on in the same quiet manner with Hilda, until she was nearly fifteen, though she remained the same innocent, childlike creature, with a form maturing into the most graceful swell of womanhood; the while her beauty grew more and more every year; when, one day it came to pass, that on returning from one of her forest rambles, she found the whole castle in unwonted bustle, and was told | that the Baron, her father, had arrived, and had been loudly calling for her. Well, Hilda ran eagerly to the state drawing-room, where she was informed he was, and was not a little astonished to find a tall, stately, dark lady, dressed quite superbly, seated by his side, and likewise a dark, proud-looking young lady, of about seventeen, standing beside his chair; and after the Baron had kissed Hilda, he informed her that the dark, tall lady was her new mother, his wife, and the younger lady, whom he introduced by the name of Brunehaut, her daughter, and Hilda's new sister, and he bade her kiss, and welcome them home; which poor Hilda did very affectionately, although they returned her kisses very coldly, eyeing her from head to foot, the while, in a very supercilious manner; so that poor Hilda's heart felt quite chilled and oppressed, as if by coming evil; and the moment she could escape from the room, she flew to her own little chamber and had a good cry, because she felt so sad.

Well, after spending a few days at the castle, the Baron was obliged to return to court; and at parting from them all, said to his wife, the new Baroness:

“Mind that you are kind to my little Hilda, love; she is growing quite into a woman, and I must look out for some young lord at court for a husband for her-and that won't be difficult, because she is heiress, by right of descent, to all these lands and the castle-to say nothing of her great beauty."

"Be still, and circumspect, my darling," returned the proud mother, who sat brooding over the evil thoughts of her heart; "be not afraidthe castle and lands shall be yours, rest assured. That pale-faced thing shall not long stand in your way; only we must go to work with the greatest circumspection; so be guarded, and profess great love for her."

Brunehaut made a wry face, but nodded her head.

Now, the first thing these two wicked creatures did, was to dismiss Hilda's poor old fond and faithful nurse. Poor Hilda begged, on her knees, and with mournful tears, that the kind old creature, who had been a second mother to her, might still be near her; but in vain. The Baroness packed the sorrowful woman off to a distant place, where she died in a few days of a broken heart. In like manner, one by one, she dismissed the few old grey-headed servants, and filled their places with creatures of her own.

Now, there was one wing of the old castle that had long been shut up, because there was a haunted room in it, as was well known; and whoever slept in that room-so the saying waswas always found dead the next morning; or had disappeared, and was never seen more; or something or other.

"Now," said the Baroness to Brunehaut, "we have nothing to do but to take the hateful Hilda to that room to sleep, lock her in, and so doubtless we shall get rid of her for ever. The fairies will take her, or the Cobold-it matters not which."

"O yes, dear mother, that's famous," returned the cruel Brunehaut, with sparkling eyes, clapping her hands for joy; "yes, let the fairies take the hateful white cat, and we can make up some tale about her death to her father."

Well, so one night-a lovely night it was, too, and the moon shining at the full-just as poor innocent Hilda was wishing them good night, in her usual sweet, affectionate way, the haughty Baroness seized her by the arm, saying, "I have got a new bedroom for you, Miss; you must come with me.” And they hurried poor Hilda Well, the cunning Baroness promised every--who made not the smallest resistance, nor thing, and the Baron departed; but the words of the Baron had sunk deep into the cold, selfish hearts of mother and daughter, and scarcely was the Baron out of sight, than their malevolence burst forth.

"All the lands and castle to go to her! Mother, did you hear that?" began the proud Brunehaut, with flashing eye. "The hateful young minx! and what am I to do? She marry a great lord, indeed-and I suppose anybody is good enough for me! And her great beauty, too-the insipid snail! I like that, mother; as if she were half so beautiful as I am. O how I wish she were dead-dead-dead; and then the castle and all the wide lands would be minemine-mine! O I wish I could crush her like a snail!" And the evil-hearted Brunehaut ground her teeth, and stamped her foot on the ground, like a fiend as she was.

breathed a murmur-up a long disused flight of stairs, and down a long, lonely, hollow-sounding passage, which led to the haunted chamber, the door of which, after some trouble, had been opened that day by a faithful but wicked servant of the Baroness. We'l, they pushed poor Hilda into the room with a fiendish laugh, shut and locked the door outside, and went back again as fast as they could, bearing the taper with them.

A moment poor forlorn Hilda stood pale and still as a statue in the middle of the haunted room, the large tears rolling down her poor sad face, for she saw their malice, and knew then that they wanted to have her dead. She heard their footsteps die away down the long sounding corridor; then all was still, save the beating of her heart, and an owl which hooted too-whit! too-whoo! from the lone turret overhead. But

strangest fashions, some in silks and satins, but in a style quite out of date: the women wore ostrich feathers, and high-heeled shoes, while the men had very full trousers, like little Dutchmen, with high steeple-crowned hats, in which were stuck peacock's feathers; and they were all as busy as bees, some sweeping the room, which they did as cleverly as possible, without raising the least dust; whilst others arranged the chairs and tables, and decked the mantelpiece with flowers, laughing and nodding to one another all the time in the strangest way possible. Then the little fairy girl that had sung skipped up to the wondering Hilda, and took her by the hand, and jumped her off the bed, and the rest all nodded kindly to her; and then they all began to dance, Hilda's partner being a smart little gentleman in green and gold, with a very long nose, and a peacock's feather in his hat a yard high. Two small little Dutchmen played bagpipes, but uncommonly sweet ones, quite ravishing indeed; and didn't they just foot it smartly to the music! right and left, up and down, cross hands and change partners; the men with their steeple-crowned hats stuck jauntily on one side, with their left arm a-kimbo, quite the genteel thing; whilst the ladies held their frocks spread out daintily with finger and thumb, slided gracefully here and there, and tossed their plumed heads, casting sidelong glances at the gentlemen, in a way not to be

she was not in the dark, for the beautiful full moon streamed right through the large gothic casement, full of richly-stained glass, so that the whole chamber was lighted up by its beams, which made everything as visible almost as at noonday. All of a sudden she heard a pleasant little chirp, and something settled on her hand; and it was her favourite tame robin, that had quietly followed them when they hurried her to the haunted room, and had slipped in first, and now came and settled on her hand with a merry little chirp, as much as to say, "be not afraid, dear mistress, I am with you." And Hilda felt comforted that one loving little heart was near her; and she kissed robin, and then with tearful eyes she knelt down and said, softly and meekly, "The good God sees me as well by night as by day; He will not suffer ought evil to harm me, for my trust is in Him." Then she rose with a cheerful heart, and gazed wonderingly round the room, of which she had often heard her poor old nurse relate such wonderful things. It was very large, with numerous ins and outs, and old-fashioned cupboards and cabinets; and in one corner stood an immense bed, with bedposts of solid carved oak, as thick as tall trees. At the top was a plume of ostrich feathers; but that, and the bed-quilt of quaint tapestry, and the cabinets, and old pictures, and the floor, were all covered with half an inch of dust; good reason, too, seeing that no one had been in the room for ages almost. Well, after staring at every-surpassed by the most fashionable people in the thing, Hilda turned down the dusty quilt, and without undressing, laid herself down on the bed in all her sweet innocence and beauty, and tried to sleep-but in vain! sleep she could not; and robin, too, seemed very uneasy, and put his head right and left, and pecked at the bed-posts, and then laid his little head close against her soft downy cheek; and so they remained till sleep began to weigh down the eyelids of both, when suddenly the distant castle clock boomed twelve-dong! one after the other; the hollow strokes fell on the night; and as the last heavy dong died quivering away, there was a strange noise in the room, like the opening of numerous little doors and cupboards, and then the rustling, as of many little feet pattering about. Hilda moved not, because she thought she was dreaming: but as she fixed her eyes on one of the huge bedposts, on which the light of the moon fell full, what was her surprise to see a little door open right in the middle of it, and a little head pop out, while these words, sung in a soft, sweet little female voice, fell on her astonished ears :

Hilda! Hilda! cease thy weeping,
See the moon is shining bright,

Leave to others care and sleeping,
"Tis our fairy revel night.
Thou art pure, and true, and holy,

Nought shall harm thee, darling, here'Tis the evil-minded solely

That have ought from us to fear.

Hilda started up in amazement, for lo! the room was quite full of little people, dressed in the

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world. And Hilda felt her spirits quite elevated, and danced away as merrily as possible, whilst her partner paid her all the most marked yet delicate attention that the most fastidious lady could desire. Even little Bobby, the robin, couldn't contain himself, but clapped his wings and chirped as merry as a grig; at which the fairies laughed, and seemed very much amused. Well, after dancing ever so long, until the ladies were quite warm, indeed, and began to fan themselves, they all clapped their hands, and suddenly, as quick as thought, the tables were covered with a dainty feast-cakes, jellies, and I don't know what all together with gold and silver goblets full of finest wine (where it all came from goodness only knows); however, they lost no time, but set to work upon it at once with exceilent appetite, helping Hilda to the best of everything; after which they began to dance again with fresh vigour. Now little Bobby, the robin, seeing them all busy dancing again, and observing a nice cup of wine on the table nearest to him, with a nice dainty sop in it too, thought that he might just as well help himself, since nobody had been polite enough to ask him to partake of the numerous dainties; so, without inore to do, he skipped on to the brim, and dipping his little beak in, had a good drink; and finding it very nice indeed, kept on drinking the wine and eating the sop, just like the Jenny Wren celebrated in story. Now it was a wonderful thing, but well known to be the fact, that any bird that had once tasted of fairy wine became quite enlightened, his tongue became loosened, and he immediately acquired the power