ship in the harbour hoisted her colours. The mayor and corporation waited upon him with the freedom of the town, and accompanied him in procession to church, with all the naval officers on shore and the principal inhabitants. In London he was feasted by the city, drawn by the populace from Ludgate Hill to the Guildhall, and received the thanks of the Common Council for his great victory, and a gold-hilted sword studded with diamonds. Before he had been three months in England he separated from Lady Nelson. Some of his last words to her were: "I call God to witness, there is nothing in you or your conduct that I wish otherwise." This was the consequence of his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton. His truest friends remonstrated with him on this subject, but it had only the effect of making him displeased with them, and more dissatisfied with himself. Ye Mariners of England. YE E Mariners of England! native seas; Whose flag has braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze! Your glorious standard launch again And sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow- The spirit of your fathers Shall start from every wave!- While the stormy tempests blow- Britannia needs no bulwarks, Her march is o'er the mountain-waves, With thunders from her native oak When the stormy tempests blow- The meteor flag of England Till danger's troubled night depart, When the storm has ceased to blow— And the storm has ceased to blow. THOMAS CAMPBELL. A Practical Lesson. REMEMBER once (says Mr. Ireland) seeing a practical lesson of humanity given to a little chimney-sweeper, which had, I dare say, a better effect than a whole volume of instruction. The young soot-merchant was seated upon an ale-house bench, and had in one hand his brush and in the other a hot buttered roll. While exercising his white teeth with a perseverance that showed the keenest enjoyment, he observed a dog lying on the ground near him. He therefore called out to the dog, "Poor fellow poor fellow!" in a good-natured tone, upon which the animal went up to him, wagged his tail, and looked up with an eye of humble entreaty, asking a morsel of bread. The sooty tyrant held a bit of the roll towards him, but on the dog gently offering to take it, he struck him with his brush so violent a blow across the nose as nearly broke the bone. A gentleman who had seen this, unknown to the boy, put a sixpence between his finger and thumb, and beckoned the little sweep to the door where he stood. The lad grinned at the silver, but on stretching out his hand to receive it, the teacher of humanity gave him such a rap on the knuckles with a cane that made them ring. His hand tingling with pain, and tears running down his cheeks, he asked, "What that was for?” "To make you feel," was the reply. "How do you like a blow and a disappointment? The dog endured both. Had you given him a piece of bread this sixpence should have been the reward. You gave him a blow, I will therefore put the money in my pocket." Sir Thomas More. IN TWO PARTS. PART I. IR THOMAS MORE was born in Milk Street, Cheapside, in the year of our Lord 1480. He was the son of Sir John More, one of the justices of the Court of King's Bench. Sir John lived to be ninety years of age, dying in 1533, only two years before his son, who had so much reverence for him, that, when he was Chancellor of England, in passing through Westminster Hall to the Chancery, he never failed to fall on his knees and ask his father's blessing, if he saw the old man sitting in court. When he was fifteen years of age, young More was placed in the household of Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England. It was the custom of those days for the sons even of great noblemen to be sent to the houses of prelates to be brought up. The cardinal was fond of displays of wit and humour, and More frequently delighted him with exhibitions of his talents in this respect. He would often say him to the nobles who dined with him: "This child here, waiting at the table, whoever shall live to see it, man." of will prove a marvellous After remaining about two years with Cardinal Morton, More went to the University of Oxford, where he studied Greek, which was just then beginning to be taught in England. Here he became acquainted with Erasmus, a learned Dutch writer, with whom he continued on friendly terms as long as he lived. He was always fond of theology, and was for some time in doubt whether to devote his life to the church or to the law. he decided to embrace the same profession as his father. At last Soon after this, he resorted unto the house of Mr. Colte, a gentleman of Essex. This worthy gentleman had three fair daughters. More preferred the second, as being rather "the fairest and best favoured," but he took pity on the eldest, considering that it would be "great grief and some shame to her" to see a younger sister married first; and so he "framed his affections towards the eldest." But Jane Colte made him an excellent and loving wife, and he was fondly attached to her as long as he lived. More was considered one of the most eloquent speakers of his day. In the last parliament of Henry VII. he was a member of the House of Commons, where he opposed a subsidy or tax demanded by the king for the marriage of his eldest daughter Mary. A gentleman of the bedchamber, who had attended the debate in the Commons, told the king that a beardless boy had disappointed all his purpose. Hereupon there was much royal wrath; and "forasmuch as he nothing having, nothing could lose, his Grace devised a causeless quarrel against his father, keeping him in the Tower till he had made him pay a fine of one hundred pounds." After the accession of Henry VIII., More became a great favourite with that monarch, who delighted to have him at his table, on account of his great natural talent for wit and humour. His son-in-law writes: "And because he was of so pleasant a disposition, it pleased the king and Queen Catherine, after the court had supped-yea, at the time of their supper-to send for him to be merry with them." In 1516, More was admitted into the Privy Council, and it was at this time that he wrote his "History of Richard III.," and "Utopia, or the Happy Republic." In 1521, he was knighted, and made Treasurer of the Exchequer. In 1522, when the Emperor Charles V. paid his second visit to England, and was led into the city of London in triumph, More was selected, on account of his wit and scholarship, to welcome the emperor at the city gates; and there he delivered in choice Latin an eloquent oration. In the year 1523, More was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and in that capacity opposed Cardinal Wolsey, who came down to browbeat the Commons into instant obedience to the king's wishes. To show the absolute manner in which the king ruled the country at this time, it may be related that he sent for Montague, a leading member of the house; and on his falling down on his knees before the king, Henry clapped his hand upon his head, and exclaimed, “Ho! man, will they not suffer my bill to pass ? Get my bill passed by to-morrow, or else to-morrow this head of yours shall be off." The bill was passed, but not until the amount of the tax had been lessened. When Wolsey had fallen into disgrace over the king's marriage, in 1529, Henry made More Lord Chancellor. He discharged the duties of his new office with great impartiality and integrity. It has been asserted that during this time he caused persons to be burned for professing Protestant principles; but there seems to be no satisfactory evidence that such was the case. His application to business was so great, that on his retirement he left not a single cause waiting judgment in the Chancery Court. Hence the old epigram "When More some years had Chancellor been, No more suits did remain; The same shall never more be seen Till More be there again." The king being in the habit of visiting him at this time, his son-in-law congratulated him on his happiness in being so highly favoured. "I thank the Lord," said More, "I find his Grace a very good lord indeed; and I believe he doth as singularly favour me as any subject within the realm. However, son Roper, I may tell thee I have no cause to be proud thereof; for if my head would win him a castle in France, it would not fail to go." He was constant in his attendance at church, and, being a good musician, he always sang in the choir. The Duke of Norfolk coming on a time to Chelsea to dine with him, chanced to find him in the church with the choir, with a surplice on his back, singing; to whom, after service, as they went homeward |