Persians, more scattered than the Athenians; without a head, without public order, conquered and stripped, lacerated, overrun by her foes, subjected to every form of spoliation. And though from time to time there has emanated from some one a ray of hope that he was the one ordained by God to redeem Italy, yet we have seen how he was so brought to a standstill at the very height of his success that poor Italy still remained lifeless, so to speak, and waiting to see who might be sent to bind up her wounds, to end her despoilment, the devastation of Lombardy, the plunder and ruinous taxation of the kingdom of Naples and of Tuscany, and to heal the sores that have festered so long. You see how she prays to God that he may send her a champion to defend her from this cruelty, barbarity, and insolence. You see her eager to follow any standard, if only there is some one to uprear it. But there is no one at this time to whom she could look more hopefully than to your illustrious house, O magnificent Lorenzo. which, with its excellence and prudence, favored by God and the Church, of which it is now the head, could effectively begin her deliver ance. You must not allow this opportunity to pass. Let Italy, after waiting so long, see her deliverer appear at last. And I cannot put in words with what affection he would be received in all the States which have suffered so long from this inundation of foreign enemies! with what thirst for vengeance, with what unwavering loyalty, with what devotion, and with what tears! What door would be closed to him? Who would refuse to obey him? What envy would dare to contest his place? What Italian would refuse him homage? This supremacy of foreign barbarians is a stench in the nostrils of all! CHARLES MACKAY. CHARLES MACKAY, a Scottish journalist and poet, born at Perth, March 27, 1814; died in London, Dec. 24, 1889. About 1834 he became connected with the London Morning Chronicle, and was subsequently editor of the Glasgow Argus. He published "The Salamandrine," a poem, in 1842; "Legends of the Isles" (1845); "Voices from the Crowd" (1846), including a popular song entitled "The Good Time Coming;" "Egeria, or the Spirit of Nature" (1850); "The Lump of Gold" (1856). In 1857 he came to the United States on a lecturing tour, and wrote "Life and Liberty in the United States." From 1862 to 1866 he was the New York correspondent of the London Times. He wrote largely for periodicals, and published numerous volumes of verse and prose, among which are "Voices from the Mountain" (1846); "Town Lyrics" (1848); "Under Green Leaves" (1857); "A Man's Heart" (1860); "Studies from the Antique" (1864); "Under the Blue Sky" (1871); "Lost Beauties of the English Language" (1874); "The Founders of the American Republic" (1885); "A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch" (1888). THE GOOD TIME COMING. THERE's a good time coming, boys, A good time coming: We may not live to see the day, But thought's a weapon stronger; There's a good time coming, boys, A good time coming: The pen shall supersede the sword, And Right, not Might, shall be the lord In the good time coming. Worth, not Birth, shall rule mankind, And be acknowledged stronger; The proper impulse has been given; · There's a good time coming, boys, A good time coming: War in all men's eyes shall be In the good time coming: To prove which is the stronger; There's a good time coming, boys, Shall not make their martyrs bleed There's a good time coming, boys, In the good time coming. Every child shall be a help, To make his right arm stronger; There's a good time coming, boys, In the good time coming; But shall play in healthful fields Till limbs and mind grow stronger; And everyone shall read and write;Wait a little longer. There's a good time coming, boys, A good time coming; The people shall be temperate, VOL. XIV.-17 |