Persons: Mary, daughter of Henry VIII.-Mary, sister to Henry VIII.-Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk-John Colet -Thomas More-Thomas Wolsey.

Dates: Accession of Henry VIII., 1509-Battles of Spurs and Flodden Field, 1513.

FROM the sharp ridges of the hill,
All downward to the banks of Till,' 1

1 Till.-James IV. had his army posted on a hill called Flodden Edge. He lost his advantage by letting Lord Surrey cross the river Till unattacked, so as to get between him and Scotland. Then he charged down the hill. His horsemen gained some advantage at first, but they pursued the English force whom they had defeated too far. Meantime, the Highlanders were broken by Lord Stanley, who

THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN.

Was wreathed in sable smoke.
Volumed' and vast and rolling far,
The cloud envelop'd Scotland's war,
As down the hill they broke;

Nor martial shout, nor minstrel tone,
Announced their march; their tread alone,
At times one warning trumpet blown,
At times a stifled hum,

Told England, from his mountain-throne
King James did rushing come.-

Scarce can they hear or see their foes,
Until at weapon-point they close.—
They close, in clouds of smoke and dust,
With sword sway, and with lance's thrust;
And such a yell was there,

Of sudden and portentous birth,
As if men fought upon the earth,

And fiends in upper air.

Oh! life and death were in the shout,
Recoil3 and rally, charge and rout,
And triumph and despair.

Wide raged the battle on the plain;
Spears shook and falchions" flashed amain;
Fell England's arrow flight like rain ;

17

then came to the help of the main body of the English, and this charge decided the victory, though the remnant of the Scots stood manfully till night closed the scene.

1 Volumed, in large rolling clouds. 2 Portentous, full of wonder.

Rally, recovering and going forward.

Recoil, giving back.

Falchions, swords,

Crests rose, and stooped, and rose again.
Far on the left, unseen the while,
Stanley broke Lennox and Argyle,
Though there the western mountaineer
Rushed with bare bosom on the spear,
And flung the feeble targe1 aside,

And with both hands the broadsword plied:
'Twas vain :--but fortune, on the right,
With fickle smile cheered Scotland's fight.

Let Stanley charge with spur of fire,
With Chester charge, and Lancashire,
Full upon Scotland's central host,
Or victory and England's lost.

By this, though deep the evening fell,
Still rose the battle's deadly swell,
For still the Scots, around their king,
Unbroken, fought in desperate ring.
Where's now their victor vanward wing,
Where Huntly, and where Home?
Oh, for a blast of that dread horn,3
On Fontarabian echoes borne,

That to King Charles did come,
When Rowland brave, and Olivier,
And every Paladin and peer,

On Roncesvalles died!

1 Targe, shield.

2 Vanward, forward.

3 Horn.-Alluding to the story of a defeat of the rear of the army of Charles the Great in the pass of Roncesvalles in the valley of Fontarabia, when a blast of the horn of Count Roland was said to have been heard a great way off.

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THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN.

Such blast might warn them, not in vain,
To quit the plunder of the slain,
And turn the doubtful day again,
While yet on Flodden side

Afar, the Royal Standard flies,

And round it toils, and bleeds, and dies,
Our Caledonian pride!

The English shafts in volleys hail'd,
In headlong charge their horse assailed;
Front, flank, and rear, the squadrons sweep
To break the Scottish circle deep,

That fought around their King.

But yet, though thick the shafts as snow, Though charging knights like whirlwinds go, Though bill-men ply the ghastly blow,

Unbroken was the ring;

The stubborn spearmen still made good
Their dark impenetrable wood,

Each stepping where his comrade stood,
The instant that he fell.

No thought was there of dastard1 flight;
Groom fought like noble, squire like knight,
As fearlessly and well;

Till utter darkness closed her wing

O'er their thin host and wounded king.

Then skilful Surrey's sage commands

Led back from strife his shattered bands;
And from the charge they drew,

As mountain-waves, from wasted lands,
Sweep back to ocean blue.

! Dastard, coward.

Then did their loss his foemen know;
Their King, their lords, their mightiest, low,
They melted from the fields as snow,

When streams are swoll'n and south winds
blow,

Dissolves in silent dew.

Tweed's echoes heard the ceaseless plash,

While many a broken band,
Disordered, through her currents dash,
To gain the Scottish land;

To town and tower, to down and dale,
To tell red Flodden's dismal tale,
And raise the universal wail.
Tradition, legend, tune, and song,
Shall many an age that wail prolong:
Still from the sire the son shall hear
Of the stern strife and carnage drear,
Of Flodden's fatal field,

Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield!

From SCOTT's Marmion.

IV. THE ROYAL SUPREMACY.

(i.)

1. THE new King of France, Francis I., was a vain ambitious man, and when the Emperor of Germany died, he endeavoured to get himself chosen in his place. When Charles, the young King of Spain, was elected, Francis was greatly angered, and sought