One morning, by break of day, old Josiah, who lived in the little cottage he had built, on the borders of the Great Forest, found his wife awake long before him–indeed she had scarcely closed her eyes that night; and she was ready to speak the moment his eyes opened; for she had promised their […]

CHAPTER 1. NOTES FROM PRINGLE RUSHFORTH’S SEA LOG. A LETTER TO BROTHER HARRY, AT ETON. It has become a reality, dear Harry. I feel very strange–a curious sensation in the throat, just as if I was going to cry, and yet it is exactly what I have been longing for. You know better than any […]

CHAPTER ONE. THE PROTESTANT LOVERS–A RIVAL–DIEDRICH FINDS HIS FOOTSTEPS DOGGED– FINDS A FRIEND IN THE FERRYMAN–THREATENED WITH THE INQUISITION–FLIES TO SEA. Not far from the broad and slow-flowing river Meuse stands the town of Brill. Flanders, in which it is found, formed at the period to which we refer a province of the dominions belonging […]

THE NORTH SEA FLEET–SUNDAY AT THE FISHING GROUND–THE MISSIONARY SERVICE–THE GALE–A MISHAP TO THE SEA-GULL AND HER CAPTAIN–A CRASH– THE CAPTAIN’S DEATH–ALL LOST BUT TWO BOYS–DOING ONE’S DUTY–MORNING– ALONE WITH A DEAD MAN–BREAKFAST–TO THE PUMPS–SAVED AT LAST. A fleet of a hundred vessels or more lay together, dotting the surface of the German Ocean, or […]

THE MUTINY AT SPITHEAD–AN EXCEPTION–VALUE OF A CHRISTIAN CAPTAIN–THE MUTINY BREAKS OUT AT SHEERNESS–ANOTHER LOYAL SHIP–THE MUTINY QUELLED. In the year 1797 an event occurred connected with the navy of England, which cannot even now be thought of without sorrow and shame. The crews of most of the ships of the Channel fleet then anchored […]

THE SMUGGLER’S WIFE–HANSON STARTS ON HIS TRIP–HIS WIFE’S ANXIETY–THE REVENUE OFFICERS APPROACH–THE SMUGGLERS TAKE TO THE WATER–THE FIGHT–A FEARFUL END. “Good-bye, Susan–good-bye, my wife. I’ll bring thee over a silk gown, and such Brussels lace as you’ve never yet set eyes on. It will make a lady of you; and you’re not far off being […]

THE HALF-BREED TRAPPER LA TOUCHE–HIS WIFE KAMELA–THEIR CHILDREN–THEY ARE SENT ON AN EXPEDITION–THE ENCAMPMENT–ATTACKED BY BLACKFEET, AND THE MEN SLAIN–THE YOUNG WIDOW FLIES–ALMOST CAPTURED–BACK TO THE FORT–THE REFUGE DESTROYED!–WOLVES–FURTHER FLIGHT–REFUGE AT LAST. Great Britain possesses the sovereignty over a rich extent of country, extending from the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the […]

A BIG SCAMP AND A TRUE MAN–ELLIS VISITED BY HIS SWEETHEART–READS HIS BIBLE ON BOARD SHIP–TRIALS AND PERSECUTIONS–ELLIS KNOCKS JONES DOWN– DANGER–JONES SHIRKS AND ELLIS ENCOUNTERS IT–A CHRISTIAN WOMAN’S TEST– A TERRIBLE PREDICAMENT–THE MIDDY SAVED BY ELLIS–AND THE SAILORS ASCRIBE IT TO THE POWER OF PRAYER. I was many years ago, first-lieutenant of the Rainbow […]

NED BURTON LOSES HIS MOTHER, AND IS LEFT PENNILESS–WALKS TO PORTSMOUTH, AND IS DISHEARTENED–IS CHEERED, DIRECTED, AND HELPED BY OLD MOLL–GETS ON BOARD THE TRAINING SHIP–AND MAKES A FRIEND–BUT IS REJECTED FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO READ–COMFORTED BY BILL HUDSON–BILL’S SHIPMATES HELP NED TO FIELD LANE–BILL TAKES HIM THERE–HE IS KINDLY RECEIVED–IS MADE A SAILOR […]

NIAGARA–ITS GRANDEUR AND DANGERS–FANNY REJECTS FRANK BECAUSE HE IS NOT A HERO–SCARCITY OF HEROES–FANNY’S NEPHEWS GET INTO A BOAT–THEY DRIFT AWAY–NO HOPE–HELP AT THE LAST–A FEARFUL STRUGGLE–FANNY FINDS FRANK IS A HERO AFTER ALL. Niagara, the father of waters! The name is significant of something grand; words are inadequate to describe the mighty cataract. The […]

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, And, with his sickle keen, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, And the flowers that grow between. “Shall I have nought that is fair?” saith he; “Have nought but the bearded grain? Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, I will give […]

I heard the trailing garments of the Night Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light From the celestial walls! I felt her presence, by its spell of might, Stoop o’er me from above; The calm, majestic presence of the Night, As of the one I love. I heard […]

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, “Life is but an empty dream!” For the soul is dead that slumbers. And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; “Dust thou art, to dust returnest,” Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not […]

I My great ambition as a boy was to be a sailor; the idea of becoming one occupied my thoughts by day and influenced my dreams by night. I delighted in reading naval histories and exploits and tales of the sea, and I looked upon Rodney, Howe, Nelson, and Saint Vincent, as well as Duncan, […]

It was the memorable 1st of June. A sea fight ever to be renowned in history was raging between the fleets of England and France. The great guns were thundering and roaring, musketry was rattling, round-shot, and chain-shot, and grape, and langridge, and missiles of every description, invented for carrying on the bloody game of […]

I We cannot boast of many fine evenings in old England–dear old England for all that!–and when they do come they are truly lovely and worthy of being prized the more. It was on one of the finest of a fine summer that Mr Frampton, the owner of a beautiful estate in Devonshire, was seated […]

When the warm sun, that brings Seed-time and harvest, has returned again, ‘Tis sweet to visit the still wood, where springs The first flower of the plain. I love the season well, When forest glades are teeming with bright forms, Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell The coming-on of storms. From the earth’s loosened mould […]

When winter winds are piercing chill And through the hawthorn blows the gale, With solemn feet I tread the hill, That overbrows the lonely vale. O’er the bare upland, and away Through the long reach of desert woods, The embracing sunbeams chastely play, And gladden these deep solitudes. Where, twisted round the barren oak, The […]

I have read, in some old marvellous tale, Some legend strange and vague, That a midnight host of spectres pale Beleaguered the walls of Prague. Beside the Moldau’s rushing stream, With the wan moon overhead, There stood, as in an awful dream, The army of the dead. White as a sea-fog, landward bound, The spectral […]

Yes, the Year is growing old, And his eye is pale and bleared! Death, with frosty hand and cold, Plucks the old man by the beard, Sorely,–sorely! The leaves are falling, falling, Solemnly and slow; Caw! caw! the rooks are calling, It is a sound of woe, A sound of woe! Through woods and mountain […]

When the hours of Day are numbered, And the voices of the Night Wake the better soul, that slumbered, To a holy, calm delight; Ere the evening lamps are lighted, And, like phantoms grim and tall, Shadows from the fitful firelight Dance upon the parlour wall; Then the forms of the departed Enter at the […]

The night is come, but not too soon; And sinking silently, All silently, the little moon Drops down behind the sky. There is no light in earth or heaven, But the cold light of stars; And the first watch of night is given To the red planet Mars. Is it the tender star of love? […]

Translation. Bell! thou soundest merrily, When the bridal party To the church doth hie! Bell! thou soundest solemnly, When, on Sabbath morning, Fields deserted lie! Bell! thou soundest merrily; Tellest thou at evening, Bed-time draweth nigh! Bell! thou soundest mournfully; Tellest thou the bitter Parting hath gone by! Say! how canst thou mourn? How canst […]

Translation. THE CELESTIAL PILOT. FROM DANTE’S PURGATORIO, II And now, behold! as at the approach of morning Through the gross vapours, Mars grows fiery red Down in the west upon the ocean floor. Appeared to me,–may I again behold it! A light along the sea, so swiftly coming, Its motion by no flight of wing […]

On sunny slope and beechen swell The shadowed light of evening fell: And, where the maple’s leaf was brown, With soft and silent lapse came down The glory, that the wood receives, At sunset, in its brazen leaves. Far upward in the mellow light Rose the blue hills. One cloud of white, Around a far […]

TRANSLATION. FROM THE DANISH OF JOHANNES EVALD. King Christian stood by the lofty mast In mist and smoke; His sword was hammering so fast, Through Gothic helm and brain it passed; Then sank each hostile hulk and mast, In mist and smoke. “Fly!” shouted they, “fly, he who can! Who braves of Denmark’s Christian The […]

I stood upon the hills, when heaven’s wide arch Was glorious with the sun’s returning march, And woods were brightened, and soft gales Went forth to kiss the sun-clad vales. The clouds were far beneath me;–bathed in light They gathered mid-way round the wooded height, And, in their fading glory, shone Like hosts in battle […]

There is a quiet spirit in these woods, That dwells where’er the gentle south wind blows; Where, underneath the whitethorn, in the glade, The wild flowers bloom, or, kissing the soft air, The leaves above their sunny palms outspread. With what a tender and impassioned voice It fills the nice and delicate ear of thought, […]

When the dying flame of day Through the chancel shot its ray, Far the glimmering tapers shed Faint light on the cowled head; And the censer burning swung, Where, before the altar, hung The blood-red banner, that with prayer Had been consecrated there. And the nuns’ sweet hymn was heard the while, Sung low in […]

There exists an extensive district on the west coast of Africa, about forty miles to the north of the far-famed river Niger, known as the Yoruba country. Sixty years ago it was one of the most thickly populated and flourishing parts of equatorial Africa, the inhabitants having also attained to a considerable amount of civilisation, […]

It was the early summer when one evening I came in sight of my home. The windows and doors were open. Without hesitation I walked up the steps, forgetting the effect which my sudden appearance might produce on my family. One of my youngest sisters was in the passage. I beckoned to her. “What do […]

NARRATED BY ADMIRAL M–. There was not a happier ship in the service, when I joined her towards the end of the year 1794, than the gallant San Fiorenzo, Captain Sir Harry Burrard Neale, and those were not days when ships were reckoned little paradises afloat, even by enthusiastic misses or sanguine young midshipmen. They […]

CHAPTER ONE. THE “NAIAD.” I GO TO SEA IN RATHER UNROMANTIC SURROUNDINGS. Have any of you made a passage on board a steamer between London and Leith? If you have, you will have seen no small number of brigs and brigantines, with sails of all tints, from doubtful white to decided black–some deeply=laden, making their […]

The captain of the Juno took every precaution to prevent her being surprised by the Indians. Boarding nettings were triced up round the ship every night, and the watch on deck had arms ready at hand. None of the natives were allowed to come on board, and only two or three canoes were permitted alongside […]