But thought how wide the world, the times How fairly to his mind.

And to his sword he would have said,
"Do thou my sovereign will enact
From land to land through half the earth!
Judge thou of law and fact !

"T is fit that we should do our part;
Becoming, that mankind should learn
That we are not to be surpassed
In fatherly concern.

"Of old things all are over old,

Of good things none are good enough :-
We'll show that we can help to frame
A world of other stuff.

'I, too, will have my kings that take
From me the sign of life and death :
Kingdoms shall shift about like clouds,
Obedient to my breath."

And, if the word had been fulfilled,
As might have been, then, thought of joy!

France would have had her present boast,
And we our brave Rob Roy!

O, say not so ; compare them not;
I would not wrong thee, champion brave!
Would wrong thee nowhere; least of all
Here standing by thy grave.

For thou, although with some wild thoughts, Wild chieftain of a savage clan!

Hadst this to boast of; thou didst love

The liberty of man.

And, had it been thy lot to live

With us who now behold the light,
Thou wouldst have nobly stirred thyself,
And battled for the right.

For thou wert still the poor man's stay,
The poor man's heart, the poor man's hand!
And all the oppressed who wanted strength
Had thine at their command.

Bear witness many a pensive sigh
Of thoughtful herdsman when he strays

Alone upon Loch Veol's heights,

And by Loch Lomond's braes!

And, far and near, through vale and hill,
Are faces that attest the same;

And kindle, like a fire new stirred,
At sound of Rob Roy's name.

m

THE FOUNTAIN.

A CONVERSATION.

E talked with open heart, and tongue
Affectionate and true,

A pair of friends, though I was young,
And Matthew seventy-two.

We lay beneath a spreading oak,

Beside a mossy seat ;

And from the turf a fountain broke,

And gurgled at our feet.

"Now, Matthew! let us try to match

This water's pleasant tune
With some old border song, or catch,

That suits a summer's noon.

"Or of the church-clock and the chimes

Sing here beneath the shade,

That half-mad thing of witty rhymes

Which you last April made!"

In silence Matthew lay, and eyed
The spring beneath the tree;
And thus the dear old man replied,
The gray-haired man of glee :

"Down to the vale this water steers;
How merrily it goes!

'T will murmur on a thousand years, And flow as now it flows.

"And here, on this delightful day,

I cannot choose but think

How oft, a vigorous man, I lay

Beside this fountain's brink.

"My eyes are dim with childish tears,

My heart is idly stirred,

For the same sound is in my ears

Which in those days I heard.

"Thus fares it still in our decay ;* And yet the wiser mind

Mourns less for what age

takes away

Than what it leaves behind.

"The blackbird in the summer trees, The lark upon the hill,

Let loose their carols when they please, Are quiet when they will.

"With Nature never do they wage
A foolish strife: they see

A happy youth, and their old age
Is beautiful and free;

"But we are pressed by heavy laws,

And often, glad no more,

We wear a face of joy because

We have been glad of yore.

"If there is one who need bemoan

His kindred laid in earth,

The household hearts that were his own,

It is the man of mirth.

"My days, my friend, are almost gone,

My life has been approved,

And many love me; but by none
Am I enough beloved."