So I told them in rhyme,
For of rhymes I had store;
And 'twas in my vocation
For their recreation
That so I should sing;
Because I was laureate

To them and the king.

2.

From its sources which well
In the tarn on the fell;

From its fountains

In the mountains, Its rills and its gills;

Through moss and through brake, It runs and it creeps

For a while, till it sleeps

In its own little lake.

And thence at departing,
Awakening and starting,
It runs through the reeds,
And away it proceeds
Through meadow and glade,
In sun and in shade,

And through the wood-shelter,
Among crags in its flurry,
Helter-skelter,

Hurry-skurry,

Here it comes sparkling,
And there it lies darkling;
Now smoking and frothing
Its tumult and wrath in,
Till in its rapid race,
On which it is bent,
It reaches the place
Of its deep descent.

3.

The cataract strong
Then plunges along,

Striking and raging,
As if a war waging

Its caverns and rocks among:

Rising and leaping,

Sinking and creeping,
Swelling and sweeping,
Showering and springing,
Flying and flinging,
Writhing and wringing,

Eddying and whisking,

Spouting and frisking,
Turning and twisting,
Around and around,
With endless rebound;
Smiting and fighting,
A sight to delight in ;
Confounding, astounding,

Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.

4.

Collecting, projecting,
Receding and speeding,
And shocking and rocking,
And darting and parting,
And threading and spreading,
And whizzing and hissing,
And dripping and skipping,
And hitting and splitting,
And shining and twining,
And rattling and battling,
And shaking and quaking,
And pouring and roaring,
And waving and raving,

And tossing and crossing,
And flowing and going,
And running and stunning,
And foaming and roaming,
And dinning and spinning,
And dropping and hopping,
And working and jerking,
And guggling and struggling,
And heaving and cleaving,
And moaning and groaning;

5

And glittering and frittering,
And gathering and feathering
And whitening and brightening,
And quivering and shivering,
And hurrying and skurrying,
And thundering and floundering;

6.

Dividing and gliding and sliding,
And falling and brawling and sprawling,
And driving and riving and striving,

And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling,
And sounding and bounding and rounding,
And bubbling and troubling and doubling,
And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,
And clattering and battering and shattering;

7.

Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
Recoiling, turmoiling, and toiling and boiling,

And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,

And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,
And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping.
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;
And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending,
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,
And this way the water comes down at Lodore.

COMBAT OF THE COA.1-SIR W. NAPIER.

Sir William Napier was born in 1785, and served in the war in Spain, under Wellington, till severely wounded. In later life he wrote the "History of the Peninsular War," from which this extract is taken. It is a book of the highest rank. He died in 1860.

1. A STORMY night ushered in the 24th July. The troops, drenched with rain, were under arms before daylight, expecting to retire, when a few pistol shots in front, followed by an order for the cavalry reserves and the guns to advance, gave notice of the enemy's approach; and as the morning cleared, twenty-four thousand French infantry, five thousand cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery, were observed marching beyond the Turones.2 The British line was immediately contracted and brought under the edge of the ravine; but meanwhile Ney,3 who observed Crawford's false disposition, came down with the swoop of an eagle. Four thousand horsemen and a powerful artillery swept the plain. The allied cavalry gave back, and Loison's division coming up at a charging pace, made towards the centre and left of the position.

2. While the French were thus pouring onward, several ill-judged changes were made on the English side: part of the troops were advanced, others drawn back, and the 43rd most unaccountably placed within an inclosure

of solid masonry, at least ten feet high, situated on the left of the road, with but one narrow outlet about halfmusket shot down the ravine. While thus imprisoned, the firing in front redoubled; the cavalry, the artillery, and the caçadores successfully passed by in retreat, and the sharp clang of the 95th rifle was heard along the edge of the plain above. A few moments later and the 43rd would have been surrounded; but that here, as in every other part of the field, the quickness and knowledge of the battalion officers remedied the faults of the general. One minute sufficed to loosen some large stones, a powerful effort burst the enclosure, and the regiment, reformed in column of companies, was the next instant up with the riflemen; there was no room to array the lines-no time for anything but battle; every captain carried off his company as an independent body, and joining as he could with the 95th or 52nd, the whole presented a mass of skirmishers, acting in small parties, and under no regular command; yet each confident in the courage and discipline of those on his right and left, and all regulating their movements by a common discretion, and keeping together with surprising vigour.

3. It is unnecessary to describe the first burst of French soldiers. It is well known with what gallantry the officers lead, with what vehemence the troops follow, and with what a storm of fire they waste a field of battle. At this moment, with the advantage of ground and numbers, they were breaking over the edge of the ravine, their guns, ranged along the summit, played hotly with grape; and their hussars, galloping over the glacis of Almeida, poured down the road, sabring everything in their way. Ney, desirous that Montbruns should follow this movement with the whole of the French cavalry, and so cut off the troops from the bridge, sent five offi