Till broad and fierce the star came forth on Ely's1 stately fane,

And tower and hamlet 2 rose in arms o'er all the boundless plain;

4

Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln 5

sent,

And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale of Trent; 6

Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's em

battled pile,8

And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle.9

1 Ely's fane: Ely Cathedral, in Cambridgeshire, in the east of England 2 Tower and hamlet: castle and cottage.

8 Belvoir's lordly terraces: Belvoir Castle, on a height of that name in the east of England, about twenty-five miles southeast of Nottingham. 4 Sign: the flame of the beacon-fire.

5 Lincoln: a cathedral town in the east of England. It is situated on a commanding height.

6 Trent: the valley of the river Trent, in central England.

? Skiddaw: a mountain in Cumberland, in the northwest of England. 8 Gaunt's embattled pile: Lancaster Castle, a noble pile, standing on an eminence in Lancaster, Lancashire, in the northwest of England. In the fourteenth century the castle came into the possession of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who built large additions to it.

9 Burghers of Carlisle: the citizens of Carlisle. Carlisle is the county town of Cumberland.

IVRY.1

Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are!

And glory to our Sovereign Liege,2 King Henry of

Navarre!

Now let there be the merry sound of music and of

dance,

Through thy corn-fields green, and sunny vines, O pleasant land of France!

3

And thou, Rochelle, our own Rochelle, proud city of the waters,

Again let rapture light the eyes of all thy mourning daughters.

1 Ivry (E-vrě'): Henry III. ascended the throne of France in 1574 at a time when the kingdom was rent by a terrible civil war.

The two factions in the contest were the Catholics, led by Henry of Guise, and the Huguenots, or Protestants, under Henry of Navarre-so called because his mother, the queen of Navarre, held a small kingdom originally lying partly in Spain and partly in France.

Henry III. endeavored to reconcile the contending parties, but the Catholics distrusted his policy, and formed a league to defend the interests of their faith. Henry was assassinated in 1589. He named Henry of Navarre as his successor; but the Duke of Mayenne and the people of Paris disputed his right to the throne. In 1590 Henry gained the decisive battle of Ivry (a village about thirty miles west of Paris) over Mayenne.

Henry

Three years later he publicly embraced the Catholic faith. showed himself a wise and just ruler, and a true benefactor to his country. No sovereign in French history stands so high in the estimation of all parties, and he is justly entitled to be called "Henry the Great." 2 Liege: lord.

3 Rochelle: a city on the western coast of France; it was once the stronghold of the Huguenot, or Protestant party.

As thou wert constant in our ills, be joyous in our joy, For cold, and stiff, and still are they who wrought thy walls annoy.

Hurrah! Hurrah! a single field hath turned the chance of war,

Hurrah! Hurrah! for Ivry, and Henry of Navarre.

Oh! how our hearts were beating, when at the dawn of day

We saw the army of the League1 drawn out in long

array;

With all its priest-led citizens, and all its rebel peers,2 And Appenzel's 3 stout infantry, and Egmont's Flemish

spears.4

There rode the brood of false Lorraine,5 the curses of our land;

And dark Mayenne 6 was in the midst, a truncheon in his hand:

And, as we looked on them, we thought of Seine's empurpled flood,8

1 The League: the compact organized in defence of the Catholic faith. See note 1, on Ivry, p. 59.

"

2" Priest-led citizens and "rebel peers" (peers: lords): Macaulay here puts in the mouth of a Huguenot warrior the strong partisan expressions characteristic of the period.

3 Appenzel: the leader of the Swiss troops under Mayenne.

4 Egmont's Flemish spears: Philip, Count of Egmont, led a body of troops from Flanders to support the League.

5 Lorraine the Guise family, who were among the foremost supporters of the League, were originally from Lorraine, on the east of France.

6 Mayenne: the Duke of Mayenne, commander-in-chief of the army of the League. See note 1, on Ivry, p. 59.

7 Truncheon: staff of office.

8 Seine's empurpled flood: during the massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris (1572), it is said that so many bodies of the slain were cast into the river that the water was tinged with blood.

The massacre was an attempt of Catharine de Medici, the mother of Charles IX., to destroy all the Huguenot leaders of France.

And good Coligni's 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 armor drest,

And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant

crest.

He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye; He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern

and high.

Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled 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,

And be your oriflamme 2 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.3

1 Coligni (Ko-leen-ye'): the chief of the Huguenot party. He was murdered in the St. Bartholomew massacre.

2 Oriflamme (or'e-flăm): the ancient royal banner of France; it was purple, or red, with rays of gold.

8 Culverin: a kind of cannon.

The fiery Duke1 is pricking 2 fast across Saint André's 3

plain,

With all the hireling chivalry of Guelders and Al

mayne.5

Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of

France,

Charge for the golden lilies,

lance.

upon them with the

A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears

in rest,

A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snowwhite crest;

And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding star,

Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre.

Now, God be praised, the day is ours. Mayenne hath turned his rein.

D'Aumale hath cried for quarter. The Flemish count is slain.

Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a Biscay gale;

The field is heaped with bleeding steeds, and flags, and cloven mail.9

1 Duke: the Duke of Mayenne.

2 Pricking spurring, riding at full speed.

3 Saint André (An-dray').

4 Guelders: a part of Flanders, or the Netherlands.

5 Almayne: probably a poetical form for Allemagne, or Germany.

6 Golden lilies: the lilies on the royal arms and standard of France.

7 In rest in attitude of attack.

8 D'Aumale (Doh-mahl'): the Duke D'Aumale, one of the chiefs of the League. 9 Mail: armor made of links, or rings.