Sir David Lamb, so well esteemed,
But saved he could not be.

And the Lord Maxwell, in like case,
Did with Earl Douglas die ;
Of twenty hundred Scottish spears,
Scarce fifty-five did fly.

Of fifteen hundred Englishmen,
Went home but fifty-three;

The rest in Chevy Chace were slain,
Under the greenwood tree.

Next day did many widows come,
Their husbands to bewail;

They washed their wounds in brinish tears,
But all would not prevail.

Their bodies, bathed in purple gore,

They bore with them away;

They kissed them dead a thousand times,
Ere they were clad in clay.

The news was brought to Edenborrow,
Where Scotland's king did reign,
That brave Earl Douglas suddenly

Was with an arrow slain :

"Oh heavy news!" King James did say.

"Scotland can witness be,

I have not any captain more

Of such account as he."

Like tidings to King Henry came,

Within as short a space,

That Percy of Northumberland

Was slain in Chevy Chace.

"Now God be with him," said our king,

"Sith 'twill no better be;

I trust I have within my realm,
Five hundred as good as he.

"Yet shall not Scots nor Scotland say
But I will vengeance take:

I'll be revengèd on them all

For brave Earl Percy's sake."

This vow full well the king performed,
After, at Humbledown.

In one day fifty knights were slain,
With lords of high renown;

And of the rest of small account
Did many hundreds die.--

Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy Chace,
Made by the Earl Percy.

God save the king! and bless this land,
With plenty, joy, and peace;

And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
'Twixt noblemen may cease.

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NOTES.-Chevy Chace Cheviot Chace, a hunting ground in Northumberland, then Scottish territory; sent present word=sent immediately; quarry=place where the game would be met with in largest numbers, or an enclosure of dead game; Tividale=the vale of the Teviot, a tributary of the Tweed; we list not we care not, or we are not disposed; offence scandal or crime; bent = the slope of the hill, the declivity; ware= =cautious, wary; wode=wild, perhaps from Woden; load-heavily; cloth-yard, a yard by the standard measure for cloth-the yard was not then a term in the common length measure. "This fight did last from break of day till setting of the sun." In the eighth stanza we are told the huntsmen had dined before the fight began. Probably the "fight" is used for the march and the hunt as well as the fray itself. Evening bell, the old

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song has it evensong (or vesper) bell; doleful dumps, the alliteration here is very expressive-in sadness or sorrow; clad in clay=buried ; Edenborow = Edwin's-burgh, Edinburgh the burgh or borough founded by Edwin of Northumberland; sith-sithence since or because that; debate=strife of any kind, blows as well as words-now confined to words.

It may be noted that in this English version, fifty-five Scotch are made to flee, while only fifty-three English return as victors; and again, on the news being told the Scottish king, James (Robert III.) bemoans his loss as irretrievable, while the English king (Henry) says he has 500 good as he.

EXERCISES.-I. Write briefly an account of the incidents that preceded the fight on Chevy Chace. 2. Write an account of the fight itself. 3. Make a list of the persons introduced in this ballad, and write a short account of each. 4. Give any data for determining the time of the event narrated.

We trust that in the foregoing lessons on Ethics we have shown clearly that it is both wise and profitable to act under the guidance of reason, conscience, and law. Nay, more; we think we proved that, as a rule, the at tempt to use liberty as a licence for wrong-doing results in the loss of the misused liberty itself. And now some of you are perhaps thinking, "Yes, all this is quite true; the ways of transgressors are hard, while those of truth and righteousness are pleasantness and peace."

This being so, the question naturally arises,-How, then, comes it to pass that we see so many breaches of law-so many actions that are contrary to reason and conscience? The question is certainly a very important one. A complete reply to it would involve other questions touching the nature of man and the influences to which he is subject, both material and spiritual, which for various reasons cannot here be considered; and must therefore be deferred for a wider range of knowledge and a riper judgment. Notwithstanding this, we may and can give a partial answer to the question, and to this we now apply ourselves.

Perhaps the best course will be to let the wrong-doers answer for themselves, in the excuses which they most habitually make when confronted with the question, "Why have you done such and such a thing, seeing that you knew it was wrong?" A pretty long experience has made us only too familiar with a reply that runs somewhat thus,-"Yes; I should have known it was wrong if I had thought about it, but I did it without thinking."

Before weighing the excuse itself, it may perhaps be well to say that the plea is not always strictly true and genuine. It is sometimes used to hide an intention to do the wrong, and because of that resolve, the thought that came was hurriedly put aside, and the deed done. In such a case the use of the plea is but adding the mean sin of untruthfulness to the original wrong. But we will let that pass, and accept the excuse, "I did it without thinking," as a true statement of the fact.

The power to think is that by which human beings are raised above the brutes. The lower animals act promptly, and by instinct alone. Now, if we neglect to use the higher faculties, and those by which we are distinguished

from the brutes, we reduce ourselves to their level. All agree in saying that it is wrong to waste anything, and most of all is it wrong to waste talents so past all calculable value as reason and conscience.

But again you reply, "Yes, this is true; but it requires time to think, and one acts in a moment." Now, here you must be reminded that however rapid action may be, thought is more rapid. Indeed, the common phrase, "quick as thought," shows the common belief on that point. Moreover, the question of right or wrong acting is more frequently one of conscience than even of pure thinking. And although it may sometimes happen that a process of thinking and weighing circumstances is demanded before action, yet such cases so seldom occur to young persons that they may fairly be dismissed; and where they do occur the excuse cannot apply, for in these cases the action is presumed to be waiting the result of the thinking.

Suppose a child, alone in a room, has by pure accident broken a valuable piece of furniture. In course of time the fact is discovered, and the question is asked of the culprit, Did you do this? The child, looking away from the question itself to the possible consequences of a truthful answer, falters "No." But with this false utterance of the lips the parent notes the averted eye and flushed cheek. Now what do these show? Verily this: That the conscience that first whispered a truthful reply, being mastered by the will in the spoken untruth, now speaks promptly, involuntarily, and truly, in that flushed cheek and downcast eye.

It is, we think, pretty plain that in the majority of cases the plea of thoughtlessness has very little value : and, at the best, can only be admitted as a mere child's