Wet not thy burning lip

In streams that to a human dwelling glide;
Nor rest thee where the covert fountains bide:
Nor kneel thee down to dip

The water where the pilgrim bends to drink,
By desert well, or river's grassy brink.

And pass not thou between

The weary traveller and the cooling breeze,
And lie not down to sleep beneath the trees
Where human tracks are seen;

Nor milk the goat that browseth on the plain,
Nor pluck the standing corn, or yellow grain.
And now depart! and when

Thy heart is heavy, and thine eyes are dim,
Lift up thy prayer beseechingly to Him
Who from the tribes of men

Selected thee to feel his chastening rod.
Depart, O leper! and forget not God!

And he went forth-alone; not one, of all
The many whom he loved, nor she whose name
Was woven in the fibres of the heart

Breaking within him now, to come and speak
Comfort unto him. Yea, he went his way,
Sick, and heart-broken, and alone to die;
For God hath cursed the leper!

It was noon,
And Helon knelt beside a stagnant pool
In the lone wilderness, and bathed his brow,
Hot with the burning leprosy, and touch'd
The loathsome water to his parched lips,
Praying that he might be so bless'd-to die!
Footsteps approach'd, and with no strength to flee,
He drew the covering closer on his lip,
Crying, "Unclean! Unclean!" and, in the folds
Of the coarse sackcloth, shrouding up his face,
He fell upon the earth till they should pass.
Nearer the stranger came, and bending o'er
The leper's prostrate form, pronounced his name,
"Helon!". the voice was like the master-tone
Of a rich instrument-most strangely sweet;
And the dull pulses of disease awoke

And for a moment beat beneath the hot
And leprous scales with a restoring thrill.
"Helon, arise!" and he forgot his curse,
And rose, and stood before him.

Love and awe
Mingled in the regard of Helon's eye
As he beheld the stranger. He was not
In costly raiment clad, nor on his brow
The symbol of a princely lineage wore;
No followers at his back, nor in his hand
Buckler, or sword, or spear;-yet in his mien
Command sat throned serene, and, if he smiled,
A kingly condescension graced his lips,
The lion would have crouch'd to in his lair.
His garb was simple, and his sandals worn;
His stature modell'd with a perfect grace;
His countenance, the impress of a God,
Touch'd with the open innocence of a child;
His eye was blue and calm, as is the sky
In the serenest noon; his hair, unshorn,
Fell on his shoulders; and his curling beard
The fulness of perfected manhood bore.
He look'd on Helon earnestly awhile,

As if his heart was moved, and stooping down,
He took a little water in his hand,

And laid it on his brow, and said, “Be clean!"
And lo! the scales fell from him, and his blood
Coursed with delicious coolness through his veins,
And his dry palms grew moist, and on his brow
The dewy softness of an infant's stole.
His leprosy was cleansed, and he fell down
Prostrate at Jesus' feet, and worshipp'd him.

Tarquinius, the last of the Roman kings, was banished on account of his tyranny, and the wickedness of his son Sextus. After many fruitless attempts to regain his former position, the banished tyrant applied to Lars Porsena, the most powerful prince of Etruria. "The Tuscan, fired at the idea of extending his sway beyond the Tiber, set his troops in motion. He suddenly appeared at the Janiculum; those who guarded it fled over the Sublician Bridge into the city. The Tuscans pursued, and reached the bridge; but Horatius Cocles', who had the charge of guarding it, and two other heroes, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, there met and withstood them. At the command of Horatius, those behind broke down the bridge. He forced his two brave mates to retire. The Tuscans raised a shout, and sent a shower of darts, which he received on his shield. They rushed on to force the passage; a loud crash and a shout behind told that the bridge was broken. Horatius, calling on Father Tiber to receive his soldier, plunged into the stream, armed as he was. In vain the Tuscans showered their darts; he reached the further side in safety. The citizens, though suffering at the time from famine, gave him each a portion of his corn; and the republic afterwards bestowed on him as much land as he could plough round in a day, and erected his statue in the Comitium."- Keightley.

HORATIUS.

Lars Porsena of Clusium 2

By the Nine Gods he swore
That the great house of Tarquin3
Should suffer wrong no more.
By the Nine Gods he swore it,
And named a trysting day,
And bade his messengers ride forth,
East and west and south and north,
To summon his array.

East and west and south and north
The messengers ride fast,
And tower and town and cottage
Have heard the trumpet's blast.

1 Cocles, the "One-eyed."

Lars Porsena, lord of Clusium, the most powerful prince of Etruria, or Tuscia. This portion of Italy was divided into two parts, one of which lay between the rivers Macra and Arno, and the other between the Arno and the Tiber. Clusium (Chiusi), at this period was the principal of the northern cities of Etruria.

3 Tarquin. Of this family were some of the kings of Rome. They were called by this name from Tarquinii, in Etruria. The last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus (the Proud). He and his family were exiled, chiefly on account of the wicked conduct of his youngest son, Sextus.

Shame on the false Etruscan

Who lingers in his home,
When Porsena of Clusium

Is on the march for Rome.

The horsemen and the footmen
Are pouring in amain

From many a stately market-place;
From many a fruitful plain;
From many a lonely hamlet,

Which, hid by beech and pine,
Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest
Of purple Apennine.1

Tall are the oaks whose acorns

Drop in dark Auser's 2 rill;

Fat are the stags that champ the boughs
Of the Ciminian 3 hill;
Beyond all streams Clitumnus 4

Is to the herdsman dear;
Best of all pools the fowler loves
The great Volsinian mere.5

But now no stroke of woodman
Is heard by Auser's rill;
No hunter tracks the stag's green path
Up the Ciminian hill;
Unwatch'd along Clitumnus

Grazes the milk-white steer;
Unharm'd the water-fowl may dip

In the Volsinian mere.

The harvests of Arretium",
This year, old men shall reap;
This year, young boys in Umbro7
Shall plunge the struggling sheep;

1 Apennines, a chain of mountains passing through Italy.

Auser, a river of Etruria: its modern name is Serchio. The town of Lucca stands on it.

3 Ciminian hill, a range of high ground, which anciently formed the boundary between Roman and independent Etruria.

4 Clitumnus, now called Maroggia, a river of Latium, one of the divi

sions of Italia Propria. The bulls sacrificed to Jupiter were bathed in it. Its sulphureous waters were supposed to render them of snowy white

ness.

5 Volsinian mere, a lake in Etruria (the Lake of Bolsena).

6 Arretium, now called Arezzo, a town of Etruria.

7 Umbro, now called Ombrone, a river of Etruria.

And in the vats of Luna',

This year, the must2 shall foam
Round the white feet of laughing girls,
Whose sires have march'd to Rome.

To eastward and to westward

Have spread the Tuscan bands;
Nor house, nor fence, nor dovecote,
In Crustumerium3 stands.
Verbenna down to Ostia4

Hath wasted all the plain;
Astur hath storm'd Janiculum 5,
And the stout guards are slain.

I wis, in all the Senate,

There was no heart so bold,
But sore it ached, and fast it beat,
When that ill news was told.
Forthwith uprose the Consul7,
Uprose the Fathers all;

In haste they girded up their gowns,
And hied them to the wall.

1 Luna, one of the principal towns of Etruria, between the Macra and Arnon. It produced the best wine in Etruria.

Must, wine pressed from the grape, but not fermented.

3 Crustumerium, a town of Sabinia, one of the divisions of Italia Propria.

Ostia, in Latium, so called from its being the port at the mouth of the Tiber.

5 Janiculum, a fort on the Tuscan side of the Tiber, opposite the Palatine Hill, the central hill on which Rome was built. The object of this fort seems to have been to command the road leading from Etruria to Rome, over the Sublician Bridge. The bridge was made of wood, and united the Janiculan Hill to the city of Rome.

6 The Senate was instituted by Romulus, the founder of the Roman state. He divided the whole people

into two orders: the first, which was composed of persons most distinguished for their merit, birth, and property, was denominated Patres (fathers); the other order was named the Plebes or Plebs (people). A hundred of the elders of the patres constituted the Senate. The number was afterwards increased. In the time of Julius Cæsar the number was 900.

7 The Consul was the supreme magistrate, and was at the head of the whole republic. "After the expulsion of the kings, two supreme magistrates were annually created with equal authority, that they might restrain one another, and not become insolent by the length of their command. They were anciently called Prætores; also, Imperatores; afterwards, Consules, either from their consulting for the good of the state, or from consulting the.senate and people, or from their acting as judges."Adam's Antiquities.