The faith that clings with a deathless hold Take back your gifts," the wanderer said"And leave at last to me That far land's love-for ye cannot part They said "Thine isle is a land of slaves; No banner broad on its breezes sent No name to the lists of fame; Thy home still stands by its winding shore, For a stranger bears her name— And, bright though her smile and glance may be, "I know that my country's fame hath found In the home of my thousand dreams;— One beckoning light-'tis the glancing sheen My gaze and one so fair! That passed from life's misty hills away!" So spake the Greek, but the tempter said "Why seek'st thou the flowers of summer fled? The years that have made thy kindred strange Have they not breathed with the breath of change On thine early chosen too? They have bound the wealth of that flowing hair- From whose undreaming view There rose a cloud in his clear dark eye, Like the mist of coming tears Yet it passed in silence, and there came To seek the hosts of some Christian land- THE LAST FRIENDS.1 I come to my country, but not with the hope That brightened my youth like the cloud-lighting bow, For the vigour of soul, that seemed mighty to cope With time and with fortune, hath fled from me now; And love, that illumined my wanderings of yore, more But the hills of my country they welcome me yet! The hue of their verdure was fresh with me still, When my path was afar by the Tanais' lone track; From the wide-spreading deserts and ruins, that fill The lands of old story, they summoned me back; They rose on my dreams through the shades of the West, They breathed upon sands which the dew never wet, For the echoes were hushed in the home I loved best But I knew that the mountains would welcome me yet! The dust of my kindred is scattered afar— They lie in the desert, the wild, and the wave; For serving the strangers through wandering and war, The isle of their memory could grant them no grave. 1 One of the United Irishmen, who lately returned to his country after many years of exile, being asked what had induced him to revisit Ireland when all his friends were gone, answered: "I came back to see the mountains." And I, I return with the memory of years, Whose hope rose so high, though in sorrow it set; They have left on my soul but the trace of their tears But our mountains remember their promises yet! Oh, where are the brave hearts that bounded of old? And where are the faces my childhood hath seen? For fair brows are furrowed, and hearts have grown cold, But our streams are still bright, and our hills are still green; Ay, green as they rose to the eyes of my youth, When brothers in heart in their shadows we met; And the hills have no memory of sorrow or death, For their summits are sacred to liberty yet! Like ocean retiring, the morning mists now Roll back from the mountains that girdle our land; And sunlight encircles each heath-covered brow, For which time hath no furrow and tyrants no brand: Oh, thus let it be with the hearts of the isle- WHAT HATH TIME TAKEN? What hath Time taken? Stars, that shone On the early years of earth, And the ancient hills they looked upon, Where a thousand streams had birth; Forests that were the young world's dower, With their long unfading trees; And the halls of wealth, and the thrones of powerHe hath taken more than these. He hath taken away the heart of youth, The shrines of an early hope and love, What hath Time left us? desolate He hath left us a lesson of the past, In the shades of perished years; But there's hope for the earth and her children still, And a heritage of rest for all, Thou hast left us these, oh Time! SIR GARNET JOSEPH WOLSELEY. [Distinguished and remarkable as has been the career of Sir Garnet Wolseley, the notice of him in a literary work must necessarily be short, for his incursions into the domain of literature have been few and far between. Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley, K. C. B., G.C.M.G., is the son of Major G. J. Wolseley, and was born at Golden Bridge House, near Dublin, on June 4, 1833. He entered the army in 1852, and was engaged in that and the following year in the Burmese war. In the Crimean campaign he distinguished himself by almost reckless bravery; was wounded severely; and received the Legion of Honour and the order of the Medjidie. He next took part in suppressing the Indian mutiny, and was mentioned in despatches and raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During the Chinese campaign he acted as quartermaster-general. | When the expedition was organized to the Red River in 1870, Sir Garnet was given the chief command. The success with which he carried out the operations of this campaign established his reputation; and from that time forward he has been selected on such occasions as demanded great military skill and high qualities as a leader. He was the successful commander of the expedition against the King of Ashantee in 1873-74; and on his return to England received the thanks of parliament and a grant of £25,000; and the Corporation presented him with the freedom of the city of London, and a sword valued at one hundred guineas. He was soon afterwards sent to Natal to arrange some difficulties of administration and colonial defence: in 1878 he was made administrator of Cyprus; and in 1879 he was despatched again to South Africa, to succeed Lord Chelmsford in the command of | immense value, and houses stored with silks, the forces engaged in the Zulu war, which he soon brought to a successful termination. Sir Garnet Wolseley has written a Narrative of the War with China in 1860, from which we give quotations; The Soldier's Pocket-Book, a work on field manœuvres; and he came forward in 1877 as the editor of a rather poor novel, styled Marley Castle. He has also written various articles in the magazines.] SACK OF THE SUMMER PALACE. satins, and embroidery, were open to them. Indiscriminate plunder and wanton destruction of all articles too heavy for removal commenced at once. When looting is once commenced by an army it is no easy matter to stop it. At such times human nature breaks down the ordinary trammels which discipline imposes, and the consequences are most demoralizing to the very best constituted army. Soldiers are nothing more than grown-up schoolboys. The wild moments of enjoyment passed in the pillage of a place live long in the soldier's memory. Although, perhaps, they did not gain sixpence by it, still they talk of such for years afterwards with pleasure. Such (FROM 'NARRATIVE OF THE WAR WITH CHINA.") a time forms so marked a contrast with the Upon the 7th of October, at daybreak, we fired twenty-one guns from the high earthen ramparts, near which we halted the evening before, and upon which we had kept large fires burning during the night. These measures were adopted for the purpose of intimating to our cavalry and the French the position we had taken up. A cavalry patrol, under an officer of the quartermaster-general's department, started, as soon as it became light, with orders to ascertain their position and communicate with the French, who were found to be at the Summer Palace, our cavalry being about two miles to their right. Sir Hope Grant, accompanied by Lord Elgin, rode thither in the course of the day for the purpose of seeing General Montauban, who said that as soon as he learned Sir Hope Grant's intention of marching upon Youen-ming-youen, he also made for that place, and fell in with our cavalry during his march, when both proceeded together until they reached the large village Hai-teen, which is situated close by the palace. Our cavalry brigadier, naturally disliking the idea of getting his men entangled in a town of which he knew nothing, skirted it to the eastward, whilst the French proceeded direct through it and reached the palace gates. About twenty badly armed eunuchs made some pretence at resistance, but were quickly disposed of and the doors burst open, disclosing the sacred precincts of his majesty's residence to what a Chinaman would call the sacrilegious gaze of the barbarians. A mine of wealth and of everything curious in the empire lay as a prey before our French allies. Rooms filled with articles of vertu, both native and European, halls containing vases and jars of ordinary routine of existence passed under the tight hand of discipline, that it becomes a remarkable event in life, and is remembered accordingly. I have often watched soldiers after the capture of a place wandering in parties of threes or fours through old ranges of buildings, in which the most sanguine even could scarcely hope to find anything worth having; yet every one of them bore about them that air of enjoyment which is unmistakable. Watch them approach a closed door; it is too much trouble to try the latch or handle, so Jack kicks it open. They enter, some one turns over a table, out of which tumbles perhaps some curious manuscripts. To the soldier these are simply waste paper, so he lights his pipe with them. Another happens to look round and sees his face represented in a mirror, which he at once resents as an insult by shying a foot-stool at it; whilst Bill, fancying that the "old gentleman" in the fine pictureframe upon the wall is making faces at him, rips up the canvas with his bayonet. Some fine statue of Venus is at once adorned with a moustache, and then used as an "Aunt Sally!" Cock-shots are taken at all remarkable objects, which, whilst occupying their intended positions, seem somehow or other to offend the veteran's eye, which dislikes the in statu quo of life, and studies the picturesque somewhat after the manner that Colonel Jebb recommends to all country gentlemen who are desirous of converting their mansions into defensible posts. The love of destruction is certainly inherent in man, and the more strictly men are prevented from indulging in it, so much the more keenly do they appear to relish it when the opportunity occurs. Such an explanation will alone satisfactorily account for the ruin and destruction of property which follows so quickly after the capture of any place; tables and chairs hurled from the windows, clocks smashed upon the pavement, and everything not breakable so injured as to be valueless henceforth. Soldiers of every nation under heaven have peculiarities common to all of the trade, and the amusements which I have just described are amongst them. The French most certainly are no exception to the rule. If the reader will imagine some three thousand men, imbued with such principles, let loose into a city composed only of Museums and Wardour Streets, he may have some faint idea of what Youen-ming-youen looked like after it had been about twenty hours in possession of the French. The far-famed palaces of a line of monarchs claiming a celestial relationship, and in which the ambassador of an English king had been insulted with impunity, were littered with the débris of all that was highly prized in China. Topsy-turvy is the only expression in our language which at all describes its state. The ground around the French camp was covered with silks and clothing of all kinds, whilst the men ran hither and thither in search of further plunder, most of them, according to the practice usual with soldiers upon such occasions, being decked out in the most ridiculous-looking costumes they could find, of which there was no lack, as the well-stocked wardrobes of his imperial majesty abounded in such curious raiment. Some had dressed themselves in richly-embroidered gowns of women, and almost all had substituted the turned-up mandarin hat for their ordinary forage-cap. Officers and men seemed to have been seized with a temporary insanity; in body and soul they were absorbed in one pursuit, which was plunder, plunder. I stood by whilst one of the regiments was supposed to be parading; but although their fall in was sounded over and over again, I do not believe there was an average of ten men a company present. Plundering in this way bears its most evil fruit in an army; for if when it is once commenced an effort is made to stop it, the good men only obey; the bad soldiers continue to plunder, and become rich by their disobedience, whilst the good ones see the immediate effect of their steadiness is to keep them poor. I do not believe that it is attended with such demoralizing effects in a French army as it is in ours. The Frenchman is naturally a more thrifty being than the careless Britisher, who squanders his money in drinking, and "standing drink" to his com rades. Three days afterwards, when the French moved into their position before Pekin, they seemed to have regained their discipline, and their men were as steady under arms as if nothing had occurred to disturb the ordinary routine of their lives. THE CITY OF NANKIN. Nankin is but the shadow of its former self. Barely a tenth part of the houses once standing are now in existence. Its walls are old, but massive, and are about 18 miles in circumference; but no more than a third of the inclosed space had ever been built upon, the other two-thirds being under tillage, or devoted to purposes of interment. The walls are of brick, with the lower portion in many places of sandstone; they average from 40 to 60 feet in height, and are generally about 40 feet in thickness. The city is nearly triangular in shape, the apex being towards the river. A small range of hills stand within the city, extending down the western face, in some places abutting upon the walls. There are now six gates, each defended by a triple line of ramparts, which at those places are over 100 feet in thickness. We were allowed to wander about the city unquestioned, the only difficulty ever experienced being at the gates, where the officers in charge occasionally stopped us, and put us to some annoyance in order to pass either in or out. Even Chinamen are not permitted to enter without a passport, which those employed as coolies, carrying in supplies, have sewed to the front of their jackets, so as to be visible at all times. Crowds of idlers invariably followed us, and the opprobrious epithet of fan-qui (foreign devil) was far more generally used than I expected to have found by a people professing to be our Christian brethren. When Kau-wan was asked how it was that the follower of the new dynasty persisted in retaining and using constantly the soubriquet which the imperialists had always had for the English, he said that these words were a sort of intonation natural to a Chinaman when he saw any foreigner; that, in fact, it was more an exclamation of astonishment than of intended rudeness. He hoped, however, that when all the people became more accustomed to our presence it would be entirely discontinued. The Tartar quarter formed a regular forti fied keep, resting upon the south-eastern face, | unfortunate refugees, who endeavour to supor base of the triangle, in which the city had port life by fishing, or by any other local embeen originally laid out. The victorious Tar- ployment which they can obtain. In all such tars when establishing their garrisons through- places as we had an opportunity of visiting out the empire seemed to have carefully the distress and misery of the inhabitants avoided placing them in the centres of cities, were beyond description. Large families were evidently preferring commanding positions crowded together into low, small, tent-shaped somewhere along the original walls of the wigwams, constructed of reeds, through the place, where they then constructed a small thin sides of which the cold wind whistled at city for themselves, from which they domi- every blast from the biting north. The denineered over the Chinese quarter. At Nankin zens were clothed in rags of the most loathall the buildings of the dominant race have some kind, and huddled together for the sake been completely destroyed; their débris is now of warmth. The old looked cast down and being used in the construction of the king's unable to work from weakness, whilst that palaces, which are the only public works now eager expression peculiar to starvation, never in progress. Nankin is surrounded by gently to be forgotten by those who have once witsloping hills, which, towards the north-east-nessed it, was visible upon the emaciated feaward, assume a rugged appearance, with pointed rocks and high cliffs showing themselves here and there. On some of these the rebels have constructed ridiculous outworks, which are incapable of defence if regularly attacked, and, if even cut off from communication with the garrison of the city, must surrender from want of water. To the north the ground between the city walls and the low slopes of the hills is mostly covered with water and deep marshes, which, strange to say, abound with pheasants. I have seen as many as thirty birds get up from a small piece of water-covered ground not more than fifty yards square. WITH THE REBELS AT NANKIN. All the rebel soldiers that we saw were badly armed, the universal weapon being a long bamboo with a pike on the top-a very small proportion having old muskets, matchlocks, or pistols; a few fowling-pieces and rifles. Every second man carried a huge flag, and some carried swords;-altogether it is impossible to imagine a more undisciplined or inefficient mob. Wherever they go they plunder and destroy. Civilization, and even animal life, seems to disappear before them, and their march may be tracked by the bodies of murdered peasants and the ruined habitations which they leave behind them. The country people, far and wide, fly from contact with them, transporting their little all to some place which they deem safer. On the banks of the river, beyond the territories thus laid waste, numbers of large straw-built villages are now to be seen, hastily thrown up by the tures of the little children. With most it was a mere question of how many days' hunger they might drag on their weary lives, whilst even the very moments of many seemed already numbered. The rebel ranks are swelled in two ways: the first by the capture of unwilling men, and, secondly, by those who, being deprived of all they have in this world by the invading marauders, have, as their only alternative, either to starve or join their spoilers themselves. The destructive policy of the rebels in this way serves them well. As we steamed from Nankin up the river, how we desired that all those good people at home who wish the Tein-wanists well, and pray daily for their success, could but make a similar voyage, and thus have an opportunity of judging for themselves regarding the two rival powers who are struggling for mastery. When once you have passed clear from the last rebel outpost and got some distance within the still imperial territory, the contrast around could scarcely be believed without seeing it. The river which near the rebels is a great deserted highway, is there to be seen wellcovered with trading craft; highly cultivated farms stretch down to the water's edge, whilst neatly built and snug-looking villages and hamlets are scattered along both banks. In the neighbourhood of Hankow, where the blackened house-gables show the traveller that it also had one time shared in the misfortunes of Nankin, the work of rebuilding is going on steadily, and is likely to continue, as the exertions and the energy of the present viceroy inspire an ever-increasing confidence in those whom he governs. The local authorities laugh at the notion of the rebels taking the place whilst they have, as they assert, 30,000 men in arms there. |