And speak the truth of thee on glorious themes Before the Judge, who thenceforth bid thee rest, And drink thy fill of pure immortal streams. The last of our immortal bard's compositions, which you will hear to-day, is considered by some persons of exquisite taste as the finest sonnet in our language.

SONNET ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT.

AVENGE, O Lord, thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones
Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold;
Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones,
Forget not;-in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll'd
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubl'd to the hills, and they

To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow
O'er all th' Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple tyrant: That from thee may grow
A hundred-fold, who having learn'd thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.

William.-I know that massacre signifies the murder of a great many people, and I could point, in a moment, to Piedmont on the map; but I should be glad to hear something more than Milton says about the "slaughtered

saints."

Eliza. And so should I, Mamma. How cruel to roll "mother with infant down the rocks!"

Mamma.-The murdered people belonged to a small community of hardy resolute men, who have continued to maintain their religious independence, against the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, for more than

a thousand years. They were first called Waldenses or Vaudois, because they lived in the valleys which extend along the eastern foot of the Cottian Alps; but that name has since been employed to distinguish them as a Church or religious body. Some time hence, you may read an account of the dreadful persecutions they endured on account of their religion.

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Emily. Will you be so good, Mamma, as to tell us a little about the barbarities Milton referred to, that we may understand his sonnet better?

Mamma. During the persecution to which our poet alludes, England took a most active and spirited part in behalf of the Vaudois. Milton was the person to whom they were principally indebted; for his great influence with Oliver Cromwell was constantly employed in urging him to espouse their cause. You know that Oliver Cromwell, who was called the Protector, governed England between the reigns of Charles the First and Charles the Second. I will read

to you part of a letter he wrote on this subject to the Duke of Savoy :

"Most Serene Prince,

"WE are informed by letters received from several places in the vicinity of your dominions, that the subjects of your Royal Highness, professing the Reformed Religion, have been commanded by an edict, published by your authority, to quit their habitations and lands, within three days after the promulgation of the said edict, under pain of death, and the confiscation of their property, unless they shall enter into an engagement to abjure their own, and to embrace the Roman Catholic faith, before the end of twenty days. We have learned also, that, regardless of their humble petitions to your Highness, your army fell upon them, cruelly slaughtered great numbers, imprisoned others. and drove the rest to fly for refuge to desolate places, and to mountains covered with snow, where hundreds of families are reduced to such extremity, that it is to be feared, they will all shortly perish with cold and hunger."

Cromwell thus dates his letter:

"Given at our Court at Westminster, May, 1655."

CHAPTER XII.

Eliza.-I like very much to be acquainted with the signification of words; not merely what can be learned from a common dictionary. You understand me, Mamma; I know Poet is a writer of poems, but I am not satisfied with that:-What is the meaning of the word?

Mamma.-Poet literally signifies Maker. A learned man is of opinion, that the appellation was originally given to writers of this description, because they framed or made verses: But as, among the ancients, invention was universally considered the principal part of poetry, and as the power of raising images or resemblances of things, giving hem life and action, and presenting them, as it were, before our eyes, was thought to have something in it like creation, the first authors of such works were probably, for this fabling part, called poets, or makers.

Eliza-Thank you, Mamma; I think this is more likely to be correct than the opinion of the first man you mentioned; for I have

heard you say it is possible to write good lines, according to the laws of versification, without being a poet. I suppose, however, such verses never cause the same kind of delight in the heart, which one feels when listening to real poetry. I did not tell you, Mamma, that during your absence last week, I learned three of Milton's sonnets; and that they may not slip out of my memory, like many pieces of poetry which I have taken the pains to learn, I intend to repeat them frequently, as you advised me.

If Emily and William were at home, today, I should remind you of a promise you made some time since: You said, when we had heard the story of Paradise Lost, you would read to us many beautiful passages from the poem.

Mamma.-I think, my dear, your brother and sister are scarcely capable yet of enjoying more of the poetry than they have heard. A year hence, I purpose relating the story again, with large additions; but, if you wish it, I will now read a few pages to you, which I omitted, fearing they would be tedious to children so young as Emily and William.

Eliza.-Pray do, Mamma: You cannot give me greater pleasure; for I am becoming