There rode the brood of false Lorraine', the curses of our land; And dark Mayenne 2 was in the midst, a truncheon in his hand : And as we look'd on them, we thought of Seine's empurpled flood, 3 And good Coligni's 3 hoary hair, all dabbled with his blood; And we cried unto the living God, who rules the fate of war, To fight for his own holy name, and Henry of Navarre. The King is come to marshal us, in all his armour drest, And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest. He look'd upon his people, and a tear was in his eye; He look'd upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high. Right graciously he smiled on us, as roll'd from wing to wing, Down all our line, a deafening shout, "God save our lord the King." "And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may, For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray, Press where ye see my white plume shine, amidst the ranks of war; 4 And be your oriflamme to-day, the helmet of Navarre." Hurrah! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled din, Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring culverin. 5 6 The fiery Duke is pricking fast across Saint Andre's plain, With all the hireling chivalry of Gueldres and Almayne. 7 ders, the leader of the Flemish cavalry. Flanders at this time was under the dominion of Philip II., king of Spain. Egmont had brought from the Low Countries, shortly before the battle, considerable reinforcements to Mayenne. 1 Lorraine, the family of Guise. The second son of the Duke of Lorraine was the first Duke of Guise. He was made so by Francis I., king of France. Mayenne, the brother of Henry, the third Duke of Guise, who had been assassinated by orders of Henry III. 3 Coligni was admiral of France, and one of the most famous of the "Now, by the lips of those you love, fair gentlemen of France, Charge for the golden lilies! upon them with the lance!" A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest, A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest. And in they burst, and on they rush'd, while, like a guiding star, Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre. Now God be praised! the day is ours: Mayenne hath turn'd his rein D'Aumale hath cried for quarter 1 the Flemish 2 Count is slain : Their ranks are breaking, like thin clouds before a Biscay gale; The field is heap'd with bleeding steeds, and flags, and cloven mail. And then we thought on vengeance; and, all along our van, "Remember Saint Bartholomew !"3 was pass'd from man to man: But out spake gentle Henry, "No Frenchman is my foe; return. Ho! Philip, send, for charity, thy Mexican pistoles ❝, That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's souls! 1 D'Aumale, the brother of Mayenne and governor of Paris. Flemish Count, Count Egmont, the commander of the Flemish troops, which had been sent by Philip II. of Spain. 3 St. Bartholomew. On the night of 24th August, 1572, there was a general massacre in Paris of the Protestants by the Roman Catholics. The tocsin was sounded at two in the morning. The royalists broke into the houses of the Hugonots, and massacred them without distinction of age or sex. The same horrors were enacted simultaneously in several of the provinces. Charles, the king, armed with a gun, stationed himself in a tower, and fired upon those fugitives that attempted to escape across the river Seine. Hence the allusion to "Seine's empurpled flood." The massacre lasted for eight days and nights. 4 The sisters, wives, &c., of the German and Swiss soldiers are here meant. Vienna, the capital of Austria; Lucerne, a canton and town in Switzerland. Philip II. of Spain, who powerfully assisted the Roman Catholics of France. 6 Pistole, a gold coin. Mexico, noted for its gold, at this time belonged to Spain. Ho! gallant nobles of the League, look that your arms be bright! Ho! burghers of Saint Geneviève ', keep watch and ward to night! For our God hath crush'd the tyrant, our God hath raised the slave, And mock'd the counsel of the wise, and the valour of the brave. Then glory to His holy name, from whom åll glories are; And glory to our sovereign lord, King Henry of Navarre. "ROOM for the leper! sym'-bol, sign; type Room!" And as he came, The cry pass'd on "Room for the leper! Room!" Sunrise was slanting on the city gates Rosy and beautiful, and from the hills The early-risen poor were coming in, Duly and cheerfully, to their toil, and up Rose the sharp hammer's click, and the far hum And all that in a city murmur swells, Unheard but by the watcher's weary ear, Hailing the welcome light, and sounds that chase The death-like images of the dark away. 1 Paris, St. Geneviève being the patron saint of the city. The citizens were warm partisans of the Guises. And aside they stood, "Room for the leper!" "Twas now the depth Of the Judæan Summer, and the leaves, His skin grew dry and bloodless, and white scales, "And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean." - Lev. xiii. 45. Circled with livid purple, cover'd him. Day was breaking When at the altar of the temple stood The holy priest of God. The incense lamp Burn'd with a struggling light, and a low chant His costly raiment for the leper's garb, Waiting to hear his doom: Depart! depart, O child Of Israel, from the temple of thy God; From all thou lovest, away thy feet must flee, Depart! and come not near The busy mart, the crowded city, more; "And when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy ; and the priest shall pronounce him unclean." -Lev. xiii. 3. "When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests."— Lev. xiii. 2. 3 "All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone without the camp shall his habitation be.” Lev. xiii. 46. See also Numb. v. 2. |