But where were the flags and the tall rank grass,
And the stepping-stones smooth for his feet to pass ?
Were they swept away? Did he wake or dream ?
A bridge that he knew not spanned the stream;
Though under its archway he still could hear
The journeying water purling clear,

Benedicite.

Where had he wandered? This never could

Be the spot where the Abbey orchard stood!
Where the filberts once mellowed, lay tumbled blocks,
And cherry stumps peered through tares and docks ;
A rough plot stretched where in times gone by
The plump apples dropped to the joyous cry,

Benedicite.

The gateway had vanished, the portals flown,
The walls of the Abbey were ivy-grown ;
The arches were shattered, the roof was gone,
The mullions were mouldering one by one;
Wrecked was the oriel's tracery light

That the sun streamed through when they met to recite

Benedicite.

Chancel and choir and nave and aisle
Were but one ruinous vacant pile.
So utter the havoc, you could not tell
Which was corridor, cloister, cell.
Cow-grass, and foxglove, and waving weed,
Covered the scrolls where you used to read
Benedicite.

High up where of old the belfry towered,
An elder had rooted and whitely flowered:
Surviving ruin and rain and wind,

Below it a lichened gurgoyle grinned.

Though birds were chirping and flitting about,
They paused not to treble the anthem devout,
Benedicite.

Then he went where the Abbot was wont to lay
His children to rest till the Judgment Day,
And at length in the grass the name he found
Of a friar he fancied alive and sound;
The slab was hoary, the carving blurred,

And he rather guessed than could read the word

Benedicite.

He sate him down on a fretted stone,

Where rains had beaten and winds had blown,
And opened his office-book and read

The prayers that we read for our loved ones dead,
While nightfall crept on the twilight air,

And darkened the page of the final prayer,

Benedicite.

But to murkiest gloom when the gloaming did wane,

In the air there still floated a shadowy strain.

'Twas distilled with the dew, it was showered from the star,

It was murmuring near, it was tingling afar ;

In silence it sounded, in darkness it shone,

And in sleep that is deepest it wakeful dreamed on,

Do

Benedicite.

you ask what had witched Brother Benedict's ears? The bird had been singing a thousand years:

Sweetly confounding in its sweet lay,

To-day, to-morrow, and yesterday.

Time? What is time but a fiction vain

To him that o'erhears the eternal strain,

Benedicite.

A. AUSTIN.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

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12. The Flower and the Leaf' of Chaucer.-The Flower and the Leaf, though generally attributed to Chaucer, is looked upon as spurious by some of the highest authorities, on account of its violating the laws of rhyme observed by the poet in his genuine works. It is, however, doubtful whether this test of rhyme can be regarded as infallible.

17. Andalusia. --A large and fertile province in the south of Spain. 20. (1) Fribourg.-A town in the canton of the same name in the west of Switzerland. The canton is bounded by the Canton Berne on the east, and by the Canton Vaud (with the Lake of Neufchatel) on the north, west, and south. The river Saane, on which the town is situated, falls into the Aar, a little below Berne.

(2) The Bernese Oberland.-A mountainous district in Switzerland, most of which is contained in the southern part of the Canton Berne, the Lakes of Thun and Brienz bounding it on the north, and the Rhone valley on the south. Some of the grandest scenery in the Alps is to be found in this district. 23. The Simmenthal.-A valley in the south-east of the Canton Berne. The river Simmen flows into the Lake of Thun.

25. Elysian.-Heavenly. The Elysium of ancient mythology was a place where the souls of the good were supposed to dwell after death.

26. Bradley, Selborne, and Alresford. -Villages in the east of Hampshire. Gilbert White, the author of the book from which this passage is taken, lived at Selborne.

28. (1) Wolmer Forest.-A hilly woodland district in the east of Hampshire, close to the borders of Surrey and Sussex.

(2) Bishop's Waltham.-A market town in the south of Hampshire, about ten miles to the south-east of Winchester.

(3) William of Wykeham (1324-1404).-Bishop of Winchester and founder of Winchester College. Died at Waltham. 31. Ware.-A town in Hampshire about twenty miles north of London.

Hoddesdon is on the Ware road, about three miles nearer London.

Tottenham is on the same road, about five miles from London.

328

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33. Lucian.-A celebrated satirist and humourist of antiquity. Born in Syria. Travelled in Greece, Italy, and Gaul. Flourished in the 2nd century A.D.

34. Montaigne (1533-1592).—A famous French essayist and moral philosopher.

36. The son of Dædalus.—Icarus, who was said to have borrowed his father's wings and flown so near the sun that the wax by which his wings were fastened on was melted, and he fell into the sea.

38. (1) Cleopatra.

- Queen of Egypt in the 1st century B.C. Famous for her beauty and extravagance.

(2) Marc Antony (83-30 B.C.).-One of the leading men at Rome after the death of Julius Cæsar. He was so captivated by the charms of Cleopatra that he took up his abode with her, and lived for some years in a most extravagant and voluptuous manner. He died at last by his own hand, having been conquered by his rival Octavian (afterwards the Emperor Augustus). (3) Xenophon (445-359 B.C.). An Athenian general and historian. The Cyropædia, a story of the education of Cyrus the Elder-a romance-was one of his chief works.

(4) Cyrus (the Elder).-Founder of the ancient Persian monarchy. Flourished in the 6th century B.C. Conquered the greater part of Western Asia from the river Indus to the Mediterranean Sea.

41. (1) Macrobius.—A Latin grammarian of the 5th century A.D.

(2) Varro (116–28 B.C.).—A Roman author famous for his learning and for the number and variety of his writings.

42. (1) St. Jerome.-One of the most learned and eloquent of the Latin fathers of the Christian Church. Flourished in the 4th century A.D.

(2) Livy (60 B.C.-20 A.D.).—One of the greatest of the Roman historians. Wrote a history of Rome from its supposed founda. tion down to his own age. He was neither an accurate nor a critical writer, but as a story-teller he has never been surpassed.

(3) Tully (106-43 B.C.).-Better known by his third nameCicero. An active politician, an able administrator, an eloquen moralist, and one of the greatest orators that the world has ever known.

(4) Virgil (70–19 B.C.).—The greatest of the Roman poets. His Eneid, or story of the adventures of Æneas-the legendary ancestor of the Roman people--is one of the greatest epics that have ever been produced.

47. The Borough.-A portion of London on the south or Surrey side of the river. The Strand is a long street on the north side,

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running near to and parallel with the river. Fleet Street is a continuation of the Strand towards the east.

49. The Valley of the Loire.-The places mentioned in this narrative are all situated in the middle part of the valley of the Loire (the longest of the French rivers). Orleans is about seventy miles south-west of Paris. Tours is about seventy miles from Orleans by road, and is lower down the river. Blois is about half-way between Tours and Orleans. Mer is between Orleans and Blois. The castle of Chambord is about twelve miles from Blois and four from the river. Amboise is on the river between Blois and Tours. Chenonceau is about ten miles from Amboise, and stands on the Cher, a tributary of the Loire.

52 (1) Had followed the imperial eagle across the Alps and the Pyrenees and the burning sands of Egypt.-Allusion is here made to Napoleon's campaigns (1) in the north of Italy-1796, 1797, and 1800; (2) in Spain-1808 (his marshals carried on the war in the Peninsula till 1813); and (3) in Egypt-1798, 1799.

(2) Vieille moustache.-Old moustache, i.e. old soldier. In many countries every soldier is required to wear a moustache.

(3) The Little Corporal.-The title by which Napoleon was commonly known among his soldiers. He was exceptionally short in stature; hence the epithet 'little.'

55. (1) Erancis the First (1494–1547).—Ascended the throne of France in 1515. Waged frequent wars in Lombardy, Savoy, and else. where, chiefly against the Emperor of Germany (Charles V., also king of Spain). Francis was a gay and voluptuous monarch, with an insatiable thirst for glory and a passion for military adventure. (2) Hugh Capet.-Founder of a line of kings which lasted for nearly 400 years. He was elected king of France by the army, and consecrated at Rheims, 987 A.D.

56. (1) Catherine de Medici (1529-1589).-Queen of Henri II. of France. On the death of her eldest son, Francis II., in 1559, and accession of her younger son Charles IX., the government fell entirely into her hands, and an era of intrigue, strife, and bloodshed was inaugurated which was most disastrous to France. The massacre of the Protestants on St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, was the most atrocious of her many crimes.

(2) Henry the Fourth (1553–1599).-King of Navarre and afterwards of France. Leader of the Protestant party in the religious wars which so long desolated France. Succeeded Henry III.in1589. Won the battle of Ivry in 1590. Professed himself a member of the Church of Rome in 1593, in order to disarm the hostility of the Catholic factions. Restored peace to his country, and