4. Keep it before the people! That the poor man claims his meed, The right of soil, And the right of toil, From spur and bridle freed ! The right to bear, And the right to share, With you and me, my brother! By God, from heaven, To one as well as another! LX.-A LEGEND OF "THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE," A. D. 1154-1864. J. G. WHITTIER. 1. A strong and mighty angel, Calm, terrible, and bright, 2. Two captives by him kneeling, 3. Dropping his cross-wrought mantle, 4. Then rose up John de Matha In the strength the Lord Christ gave, 5. The gates of tower and castle The drawbridge at his coming fell, 6. For all men owned his errand, 7. At last, outbound from Tunis, 8. But, torn by Paynim hatred, 9. "God save us!" cried the captain, 10. "Behind us are the Moormen ; 11. Then up spake John de Matha: 12. They raised the cross-wrought mantle, 13. "God help us!" cried the seamen, 14. Then up spake John de Matha: The Lord whose breath has filled her sail 15. So on through storm and darkness 16. And on the walls the watchers The ship of mercy knew- 17. And the bells in all the steeples 18. So runs the ancient legend 19. With rudder foully broken, 20. Before her, nameless terror ; 21. The hope of all who suffer, The dread of all who wrong, 22. But courage, O my mariners ! While up to God the freedman's prayers 23. Is not your sail the banner 24. Its hues are all of heaven The red of sunset's dye, 25. Wait cheerily, then, O mariners, 26. Sail on, sail on, deep-freighted 27. Behind you, holy martyrs 28. Take heart from John de Matha!- 29. Sail on! the morning cometh ; LXI. CHARLES V. AND MARTIN LUTHER. 1. In the early part of the 16th century, there appeared on the stage of action, in Europe, two characters whose names deserve a place in history. One was a monarch, whose power and influence were vastly greater than those of any other living prince. He ruled, with a sway all but absolute, over vast millions of the most industrious, enlightened, and opulent peoples of Europe. No other commander could bring such well-trained hosts into the battle-field; no other financier could command such untold sums of treasure. And Europe alone would not have equaled one-half the extent of his territories. 2. His name was pronounced with awe in all quarters of the globe. The swarthy East Indian and the copper-colored American, in their own distant but gorgeous homes, did homage to the mighty emperor. His tables were adorned and his treasury filled with gold wrung from the unwilling but feeble grasp of Inca and Aztec. The mines of Mexico and Peru swelled his shining stores to an unapproachable magnitude. 3. His men-of-war and merchant ships every where whitened the sea; the former invincible to his foes, and the latter groaning under their cargo of gold. Nor had his mind been left unfurnished. He had been thoroughly and carefully educated in all the wisdom of his time, both scholastic and practical. 4. He was an accomplished linguist, and possessed unrivaled skill in diplomacy. And his natural abilities were such as enabled him to shine in every department of kingcraft. He triumphed in war over the ablest sovereigns who chose to assail him, and at the council-board was none who could go beyond him in meeting emergencies. 5. The other, as he tells us himself, was a peasant, whose ancestors had always been genuine peasants before him. He was an obscure subject of the great emperor. His father toiled for a scanty living in the German iron mines. His mother worked in house and field through the weary hours |