d rebels have been taught to feel
The force of British might.

"And now in humble terms they sue,
To know thy high command,
And here stand I these lists to claim,
For a fair lady's hand.

"For Mary's love, and chivalry,
I dare the world to fight,
And foul and bitterly he lies,
Who dares deny my right"

"No, no, brave Clifford," Edward said,
"No lists to-day for thee,
Thy gallant deeds beside the Loire,
Well prove thy chivalry.

"Sir Guy, Sir Henry, and the rest,
Have well acquit their arms,
But Edward's thanks are Clifford's due,
As well as Mary's charms."

"My lord, you are her sire," he said,
"Give kind consent and free,
And who denies our Clifford's right,
Shall ride a tilt with me."

Gay spake the prince, gay laughed the throng,
And Mary said not nay,
And bright with smile, and dance, and song,
Went down the festal day.

And when Lord Clifford to the board
Led down his Mary fair,
A knot of pinks was in his cap,
A knot was in her hair.

For it had been their sign of love,
And loved by them was still,
Till death came quietly on their heads,
And bowed them to his will.

And now, though years have passed away,
And all that years have seen,
And Clifford's deeds and Mary's charms,
Are as they ne'er had been,

Some wind, as if in memory
Has borne the seeds on high,
To deck the ruin's crumbling wall,
And catch the passing eye.

It tells a tale to those who hear;
For beauty, strength, and power,
Are but the idols of a day,
More short-lived than a flower.

Joy on, joy on, then, while ye may,
Nor waste the moments dear;
Nor give yourself a cause to sigh,
Nor teach to shed a tear.

AN OLD MAID'S FIRST LOVE.

From Chamber's Edinburgh Journal.

I went once to the south of France for my health; and being recommended to
choose the neighborhood of Avignon, took my place, I scarcely know why, in
the diligence all the way from Paris. By this proceeding I missed the
steam-voyage down the Rhone, but fell in with some very pleasant people,
about whom I am going to speak. I travelled in the _interieur_, and from
Lyon had no one for companion but a fussy little lady, of a certain age,
who had a large basket, a parrot in a cage, a little lapdog, a bandbox, a
huge blue umbrella, which she could never succeed in stowing any where