That scarce the train with might and main could bring their lord along.

Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his gown;

Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:

And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the

yell

"Tribunes! we will have Tribunes!"

louder swell:

rose with a

And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered

sail

When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,

When the Calabrian sea-marks 1 are lost in clouds of

spume,2

And the great Thunder-Cape 3 has donned his veil of inky gloom.

One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath

the ear;

And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.

His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with

pride,

Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to side;

And when his stout retainers had brought him to his

door,

1 Calabrian sea-marks: rocky heights or other landmarks on the coast of Calabria, in Southeastern Italy.

2 Spume: froth, or foam.

8 Thunder-Cape: a rocky promontory on the coast of Greece, opposite Southeastern Italy.

4 Mount Palatine: one of the seven hills of Rome.

His face and neck were all one cake of filth and clotted

gore.

1

As Appius Claudius 1 was that day, so may his grandson

be!

God send Rome one such other sight, and send me there to see!

LORD MACAULAY.

1 Appius Claudius: The appeal of Virginius to the army (see p. 43, note 2) led to the overthrow of the "Wicked Ten." The haughty Appius was cast into prison, where rage and shame caused him to kill himself.

THE ARMADA.1

ATTEND, all ye who list2 to hear our noble England's praise;

1 Arma'da: an armed fleet. Before it sailed it was boastfully styled by the Spaniards the "Invincible Armada."

The Armada was a fleet of 130 ships, carrying about 2500 cannon and 20,000 soldiers, which Philip II. of Spain sent to conquer England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The Armada entered the English Channel the last of July, 1588. The ships were large, were all slow sailers, and were not easily managed.

The English vessels were small, but efficient, and were under the command of Lord Howard, Sir Francis Drake, and Lord Seymour. The Spanish fleet was first seen off Plymouth, where Lord Howard and Drake were on the lookout for them. The fight began soon after the Armada passed that point on the way to Holland to get re-enforcements of soldiers before making the attempt to land on the English coast. The battle between the unwieldy ships of Spain and the small, quick-moving vessels of England was like a contest between a bear and a swarm of wasps. Followed in this way, the Armada put into the friendly French port of Calais. Thence the English drove them out by setting fire to several of their own vessels, and letting them drift at night among the enemy's fleet. The Spaniards, in alarm, cut their cables and put to sea. The English followed, and destroyed many vessels off the coast of Holland, and if their ammunition had not given out, they would have utterly defeated the Armada in the North Sea.

The dispirited Spaniards, finding the weather against them, determined to give up the attack on England and retreat to Spain. The storm prevented their going directly back, and they undertook to return by sailing round the north of Scotland and Ireland. Many of the ships were wrecked, with great loss of life, and only fifty-five out of the original one hundred and thirty vessels succeeded in reaching Spain. In the defence of England Catholics and Protestants had united, it was a national triumph. In commemoration of it Queen Elizabeth ordered a medal to be struck, bearing the motto, "God blew with his wind, and they were scattered."

2 List: desire, wish.

I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in ancient

days,

When that great fleet invincible against her bore in vain The richest spoils of Mexico,1 the stoutest hearts of Spain.

It was about the lovely close of a warm summer day,

There came a gallant merchant-ship full sail to Plymouth

Bay; 2

Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Aurigny's isle,5

At earliest twilight, on the waves lie heaving many a mile."

At sunrise she escaped their van,' by God's especial

grace;

And the tall Pinta,8 till the noon had held her close in

chase.

Forthwith a guard at every gun was placed along the wall; 9

1 Spoils of Mexico: perhaps because the plunder of Mexico had enabled Spain to fit out the Armada.

2 Plymouth Bay, on the southwest coast of England. Here Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake, with a small fleet, were stationed, watching for the appearance of the Armada.

3 Castile: a political name for Spain, which was formed from the union of the two kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

4 Black fleet: black is the common color for ships of all classes.

5 Aurigny's isle (Ō-reen-ye'): Alderney, one of the English Channel islands.

6 Many a mile: the Armada, when first seen, was said to be in the form of a crescent, and to extend about seven miles from tip to tip.

7 Van: the foremost part of the fleet.

8 Pinta: one of the vessels of the Armada.

9 The wall: the sea-wall of Plymouth.

The beacon1 blazed upon the roof of Edgecumbe's lofty hall; 2

Many a light fishing bark put out to pry along the coast, And with loose rein and bloody spur rode inland many

a post.3

With his white hair unbonneted, the stout old sheriff

comes;

Behind him march the halberdiers; 5 before him sound the drums;

His yeomen round the market-cross make clear an ample space;

For there behooves him to set up the standard 9 of Her Grace.10

And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gayly dance the bells,

As slow upon the laboring wind the royal blazon 11 swells.

1 Beacon: here, a signal-fire.

2 Edgecumbe's lofty hall: the residence of the Earl of Edgecumbe, on a height about seventeen miles northwest of Plymouth. Mount Edgecumbe can be seen from the "Hoe" (Height) in Plymouth, where, according to tradition, Sir Francis Drake and Lord Howard were playing a game of bowls (or ten pins), when news of the approach of the Armada was brought. See Kingsley's "Westward, Ho!"

3 Post: here, a special messenger, one sent to ride with all haste through the country and give the alarm.

4 Unbonneted: the bonnet was originally a cap worn by men.

5 Halberdiers: guards armed with halberds, the halberd being a combined axe and spear.

6 Yeomen: countrymen, but here equivalent to stout followers.

7 Market-cross: it was customary in early times to erect a stone cross in the market-place of the chief towns. The remains of such crosses may still be seen in several cities (e.g. Chichester) on the south coast of England. 8 Behooves him: it is his duty.

9 The standard: the great royal flag, having the arms of England on it. 10 Her Grace: Queen Elizabeth.

11 Blazon: the arms of England emblazoned on the standard.