relations who lives a few miles off, where | And with boyish love I hung it where the my brother said that he should anxiously await my arrival. BINGEN ON THE RHINE. A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears; bright light used to shine, On the cottage wall at Bingen, calm Bingen on the Rhine. "Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head, When the troops come marching home again with glad and gallant tread, But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye, But a comrade stood beside him, while his For her brother was a soldier, too, and not life-blood ebbed away, afraid to die; And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in he might say. my name The dying soldier faltered, and he took that To listen to him kindly, without regret or comrade's hand, shame, And he said, "I nevermore shall see my own, And to hang the old sword in its place (my my native land; father's sword and mine) Take a message, and a token, to some distant For the honor of old Bingen,-dear Bingen friends of mine, For I was born at Bingen,—at Bingen on the "Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around, To hear my mournful story, in the pleasant vineyard ground, That we fought the battle bravely, and when the day was done, Full many a corpse lay ghastly pale beneath the setting sun; And, mid the dead and dying, were some grown old in wars,— The death-wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars; And some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline, And one had come from Bingen,-fair Bingen on the Rhine. "Tell my mother that her other son shall comfort her old age; For I was still a truant bird, that thought his home a cage. For my father was a soldier, and even as a child My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild; on the Rhine. "There's another,-not a sister; in the happy You'd have known her by the merriment that O friend! I fear the lightest heart makes Tell her the last night of my life (for, ere the moon be risen, My body will be out of pain, my soul be out of prison), I dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yel. low sunlight shine On the vine-clad hills of Bingen,-fair Bingen on the Rhine. "I saw the blue Rhine sweep along,-I heard, or seemed to hear, The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear; And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill, The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still; And when he died, and left us to divide his And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we scanty hoard, passed, with friendly talk, I let them take whate'er they would, but Down many a path beloved of yore, and wellkept my father's sword; VOL. X. remembered walk! 242 (By permission of Harper Bros., copyright.) [Lewis Wallace, an American novelist and tors, composed of citizens who desired only to witness the chariot-race, availed themselves of the recess to come in and take their reserved seats; by so doing they thought to attract the least attention and give the least offence. Among these were Simonides and his party, whose places were in the vicinity of the main entrance on the north side, opposite the consul. As the four stout servants carried the merchant in his chair up the aisle, curiosity was much excited. Presently some one called his name. Those about caught it and passed it on along the benches to the west; and there was hurried climbing on seats to get sight of the man about whom common report had coined and put in circulation a romance so mixed of good fortune and bad that the like had never been known or heard of before. Ilderim was also recognized and warmly greeted; but nobody knew Balthasar or the two women who followed him closely veiled. The people made way for the party respectfully, and the ushers seated them in easy speaking distance of each other down by the balustrade overlooking the arena. In providence of comfort, diplomatist, was born in Fountain county, Indiana, in they sat upon cushions and had stools for 1827, being son of Governor Wallace, of that State. He served in the Mexican war as lieutenant, practiced law, became a member of the State Senate, and adjutantgeneral at the beginning of the civil war. He was a major-general in the Union army, commanding a brigade at Fort Donelson, and an army corps in Virginia. From 1881 to 1885 General Wallace was U. S. Minister to Turkey. He wrote The Fair God (1873), and Ben-Hur (1880), a graphic picture of life in Judea in the guise of fiction, which has had a remarkable popularity. From the latter we make extract.] About three o'clock, speaking in modern style, the programme was concluded except the chariot race. The editor, wisely considerate of the comfort of the people, chose that time for a recess. At once the vomitoria were thrown open, and all who could hastened to the portico outside where the restaurateurs had their quarters. Those who remained yawned, talked, gossiped, consulted their tablets, and, all distinctions else forgotten, merged into but two classes-the winners, who were happy, and the losers, who were grum and captious. Now, however, a third class of specta 1 See Biog., Vol. I., p. 278. foot-rests. The women were Iras and Esther. Upon being seated, the latter cast a frightened look over the circus, and drew the veil closer about her face; while the Egyptian, letting her veil fall upon her shoulders, gave herself to view, and gazed at the scene with the seeming unconsciousness of being stared at, which, in a woman, is usually the result of long social habitude. The new-comers generally were yet making their first examination of the great spectacle, beginning with the consul and his attendants, when some workmen ran in and commenced to stretch a chalked rope across the arena from balcony to balcony in front of the pillars of the first goal. About the same time, also, six men came in through the Porta Pompa and took post, one in front of each occupied stall; whereat there was a prolonged hum of voices in every quarter. See, see! The green goes to number four on the right; the Athenian is there." And Messala-yes, he is number two." 64 |