return, in 1618, the King, under pretence of carrying out the sentence which had been passed so many years before, and which had been virtually annulled, basely ordered him to be executed. It was afterwards well known that James was led to this cruel step in order to appease the Spanish Ambassador. Raleigh was a man of great energy and extraordinary talent; he was distinguished not only by his military skill and courage, but also by his extensive acquaintance with the arts and sciences, which is evinced by the many learned works he wrote.] IF all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, Time drives the flocks from field to fold, When rivers rage and rocks grow cold; And Philomel becometh dumb, The rest complain of cares to come. The flowers do fade, and wanton fields Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs ; But could youth last, and love still breed, Tell potentates, they live Tell men of high condition Tell them that brave it most, They beg for more by spending, Who in their greatest cost, Seek nothing but commending: And if they make reply, Then give them all the lie. Tell zeal it wants devotion, Tell love it is but lust, Tell age it daily wasteth, Tell honour how it alters, Tell wit how much it wrangles Herself in over-wiseness : And when they do reply, Tell physic of her boldness, Tell law it is contention : So give them still the lie. Tell fortune of her blindness, And if they will reply, Then give them all the lie. Tell arts they have no soundness, Tell schools they want profoundness, And stand too much on seeming : If arts and schools reply, Give arts and schools the lie. Tell faith it's fled the city; Tell how the country erreth; So when thou hast, as I Commanded thee, done blabbing: Although to give the lie Deserves no less than stabbing; Stab at thee he that will, No stab the soul can kill.* *There can be but very little doubt that this is Raleigh's, although some critics attribute it to Sylvester. TIMES GO BY TURNS. BY ROBERT SOUTHWELL.-1560-95. [ROBERT SOUTHWELL was born at St. Faith's, in Norfolk, in 1560, and was educated in the English College at Douay, his family being Roman Catholic. He joined the Jesuits at Rome, and, on returning to England, became involved in the intrigues of their order. Consequently he was committed to the Tower, where he remained a prisoner for three years, at the end of which time he was tried, and executed at Tyburn, in 1595. Southwell's poetry, which is only of the second order, is sad and contemplative; and, as Campbell remarks, it is impossible to read it “without lamenting that its author should have been either the instrument of bigotry, or the object of persecution."] HE lopped tree in time may grow again, THE Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower; The sorriest wight may find release of pain, The driest soil suck in some moistening shower: Time goes by turns, and chances change by course, The sea of Fortune doth not ever flow; She draws her favours to the lowest ebb: Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web. Not always fall of leaf, nor ever spring, The roughest storm a calm may soon allay. |