ons, and the other over a
vast body of subjects or retainers. Both patriarch and feudal lord were
less restricted than the modern king, and the feudal lord, especially,
lived in a state of great magnificence.

15. Proofs. When matter is to be printed, a rough impression of it is
taken as soon as the type is set up, and sent to the editor or some other
authority for correction. These first sheets are called proofs.

"His Excellency" was the title applied to the governor.

CVIII. MINOT'S LEDGE.

Fitz-James O'Brien (b. 1828, d. 1862) was of Irish birth, and came to
America in 1852. He has contributed a number of tales and poems to various
periodicals, but his writings have never been collected in book form. Mr.
O'Brien belonged to the New York Seventh Regiment, and died at Baltimore
of a wound received in a cavalry skirmish.

1. Like spectral hounds across the sky,
The white clouds scud before the storm;
And naked in the howling night
The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form.
The waves with slippery fingers clutch
The massive tower, and climb and fall,
And, muttering, growl with baffled rage
Their curses on the sturdy wall.

2. Up in the lonely tower he sits,
The keeper of the crimson light:
Silent and awe-struck does he hear
The imprecations of the night.
The white spray beats against the panes
Like some wet ghost that down the air
Is hunted by a troop of fiends,
And seeks a shelter anywhere.

3. He prays aloud, the lonely man,
For every soul that night at sea,
But more than all for that brave boy
Who used to gayly climb his knee,--
Young Charlie, with his chestnut hair,
And hazel eyes, and laughing lip.
"May Heaven look down," the old man cries.
"Upon my son, and on his ship!"

4. While thus with pious heart he prays,
Far in the distance sounds a boom:
He pauses; and again there rings
That sullen thunder through the room.
A ship upon the shoals to-night!
She cannot hold for one half hour;
But clear the ropes and grappling hooks,
And trust in the Almighty Power!

5. On the drenched gallery he stands,
Striving to pierce the solid night:
Across the sea the red eye throws
A steady crimson wake of light;
And, where it falls upon the waves,
He sees a human head float by,
With long drenched curls of chestnut hair,
And wild but fearless hazel eye.

6. Out