While sunbeams fell on jewels rare,

On gems of lustrous light,

Which sparkled mid the thousands there

As stars that stud the night,

While flowers were wreathed all around

The edges of the stalls,

And coloured mats and mantles fair

Adorned the lofty walls,

When gladiators had just begun

To act their fatal play,

Then, darting forth, a man was seen

To rush amid the fray,

An old and aged-looking man,

With hair and beard like snow,

Of reverent, patriarchal mien,

And eyes of winning glow.

Shouts, oaths, and cries-a horrid din,

Tumultuous, rent the air,

Yet, undisturbed by all of this,

He

gave it not a care,

But firmly set himself to stop

The barbarous, deadly sport,
Surrounded by the whole of Rome,
The Emperor and his Court.
And shall he thus the people brave,

Thus beard them in their den?

Attempt to stay the combat now

Of fierce, excited men?

No! Louder, deeper grew the cries,

As torrent in its fall,

So fell the people's wordy rage

On him who braved it all.

From words and curses, blows soon came,

And sticks and stones fell fast;

It seemed, indeed, that everyone

Some missile on him cast.

Beneath that rain of deadly blows
He closed his eyes in death,
Yet bravely spake against the games,
E'en with his latest breath.

And not in vain his life he gave,

His fellow-men to free

From such insatiate lust for blood,

Such savage slavery;

For when their wrathful ire was gone,

And peace again did reign,

Their Christian teaching brought remorse,

And racked their hearts with shame, Which deepened and increased more

As wide the rumour flew,

That he who fell beneath their ire

Was of the holy few

Who dwelt alone in barren wilds,

Afar from towns and menA hermit known as serving God

In desert, cave, and den.

He from those wilds that morning came

To see the city fair,

And join them in the festival

Which they were holding there.
Thus he became, though last of all,
The chief of those who gave
Their lives to suffer martyrdom,
The faith and man to save ;
For, from that day the blood of man,
For spectacle and show,

Within the Colosseum's walls

No more was seen to flow.

Such bravery and self-sacrifice
Can never, never die ;

But lives enshrined within the heart,

And guides our thoughts on high. Ay, long as ages shall endure,

On their swift-rolling tide, The record of that noble deed

Shall ever fragrant glide—

A triumph splendid for the Cross,
A lesson true and grand,

Which speaketh forth in accents clear

That all may understand.

Live near to God; have faith in Christ;

Deny thyself, and take Whatever work He giveth thee,

And do it, for His sake;

Link thou thyself in deed and thought,
With Him whom men despise ;
Thus showing forth to all the world
His love, thy dearest prize.
And should Temptation's mighty power

Thy weakness bribe to sin,

Oh, from thy heart forgiveness pray,

And pardon thou shalt win!

Thy path shall then be that of light,

Of peace and purest joy,

With friendship from the God of peace

That nothing can destroy.

Thus musing, from that fatal ground
I walked me slow away,-
As morning, clad in garments bright,
Proclaimed another day,

To greet the advent of the sun,

Now rising o'er the plain,

Fast flooding with its rosy light

The dewy earth again.

And thus methought both life and death

Will soon be overpassed,

And then shall dawn the endless life

When, safe at home at last,
Disciple, martyr, saint, and seer

Who here have served the Lord

Shall there for ever gain a bliss

His presence, their reward.

Composed at Brawby, November and December, 1888, after seeing a representation of the Colosseum and Roman games at Earl's Court, London, when the Italian Exhibition was held there. On the day I witnessed it I saw a man thrown out of a chariot and killed, and another severely injured.

MEMORIES OF BOYHOOD.

I.

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL.

A WEATHER-stained old building

Amid enclosed ground,

With orchards, fields, and hedgerows,

Encircling it around.

In front red railings and a gate,

Protecting plats of green,

Through which a pathway to the school,

From the village road was seen.