LESSON IV.-ADDRESS OF LEONIDAS TO THE SPARTANS. 1. "WHY this astonishment on every face, Ye men of Sparta? Does the name of death 2. "Then speak, oh Sparta! and demand my life; And smiles on glorious fate. To live with fame In high acclaim to rend the arch of heaven; A reverential murmur breathes applause.-RICH. GLOVER. LESSON V. -THE SPARTANS NOBLY KEPT THEIR OATH. 1. 'Twas an hour of fearful issues, When the bold three hundred stood, By that old Thessalian flood When, lifting high each sword of flame, Did desperation urge the fight Till, torrent-like, the stream of blood And firmly was the fight maintained, They fell-TO DIE IS TO BE FREE!-GEO. W. DOANE. LESSON VI.-THE GLORY OF THEIR FALL THEY fell devoted, but undying; The very gale their names seem'd sighing; Claim'd kindred with their sacred clay: He points to Greece, and turns to tread, He looks to her, and rushes on Where life is lost, or freedom won.-BYRON. LESSON VII.—BATTLE OF SAL'AMIS, AND FLIGHT OF XERXES, 480 B.C. AFTER the fall of Leonidas, Xerxes ravaged Attica and burned Athens. He then made preparations to annihilate the power of the Grecians in a naval engagement, and sent his whole fleet to block up that of the Greeks in the narrow strait of Sal'amis. Proceeding thither with his army also, he drew up his countless thousands on the shore, and then caused a throne to be erected on one of the neighboring heights, where he might witness the naval battle, in which he was confident of victory; but he had the misfortune and the mortification to see his magnificent navy almost utterly annihilated. Terrified at the result, he hastily fled across the Hellespont, and retired into his own dominions, leaving his general Mardonius, at the head of three hundred thousand men, to complete, if possible, the conquest of Greece. I. DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS. From ÆSCHYLUS. 1. The Persian chief, Little dreaming of the wiles of Greece . Gave his high charge: "Soon as yon sun shall cease In three divisions your well-ordered ships, Of Salamis. Should Greece escape her fate, Advanced, each, trained to ply the dashing oar, Drawn by white steeds, bounds o'er the enlighten'd earth & 2. At once from every Greek, with glad acclaim, Burst forth the song of war, whose lofty notes The echo of the island rocks returned, Spreading dismay through Persia's host, thus fallen On daring battle; while the trumpet's sound Kindled the flames of war. But when their oars (The pæan ended) with impetuous force Dash'd the surrounding surges, instant all Rush'd on in view; in orderly array The squadron of the right first led, behind Rode their whole fleet; and now distinct was heard 4. " Advance, ye sons of Greece, from thraldom save Of Persia at the first sustain'd the encounter; 6. Breaks all the other's oars; with skill disposed, In fierce assault; and, rushing from its height, The sea no more II. THE FLIGHT OF XERXES. 1. I saw him on the battle-eve, When, like a king, he bore him— The warrior, and the warrior's deeds- 2. He looked on ocean-its broad breast On earth-and saw, from east to west, While rock, and glen, and cave, and coast, The thunder of their feet! He heard the imperial echoes ring- 3. I saw him next alone: nor camp Nor chief his steps attended; He stood alone, whom fortune high So lately seemed to deify; He, who with heaven contended, 4. He stood-fleet, army, treasure, gone But wave and wind swept ruthless on, And Xerxes, in a single bark, Where late his thousand ships were dark, Must all their fury dare. What a revenge-a trophy, this For thee, immortal Sal'amis !-MRS. JEWSBURY. LESSON VIII.-BATTLE OF PLATE'A, 479 B.C.:-END OF THE PERSIAN WARS. BULWER'S Athens. 1. AFTER the defeat of the Persians in the naval battle of Sal'amis, their army, which remained in Greece under the command of Mardonius, experienced a final overthrow in the battle of Plata'a. In this famous battle the Spartan general Pausanias had the chief command of the Grecian forces. We give the leading incidents of the battle as graphically described by Bulwer: 2. "As the troops of Mardonius advanced, the rest of the Persian armament, deeming the task was not now to fight, but to pursue, raised their standards and poured forward tumultuously, without discipline or order. Pausanias, pressed by the Persian line, lost no time in sending to the Athenians for succor. But when the latter were on their march with the required aid, they were suddenly intercepted by the Greeks in the Persian service, and cut off from the rescue of the Spartans. 3. "The Spartans beheld themselves thus unsupported with considerable alarm. Committing himself to the gods, Pausanias ordained a solemn sacrifice, his whole army awaiting the result, while the shafts of the Persian bowmen poured on them near and fast. But the entrails presented discouraging omens, and the sacrifice was again renewed. Meanwhile the. Spartans evinced their characteristic fortitude and discipline -not one man stirring from his ranks until the auguries should assume a more favoring aspect; all harassed, and some wounded by the Persian arrows, they yet, seeking protection only beneath their broad bucklers, waited with a stern patience the time of their leader and of Heaven. Then fell Callic'rates, the stateliest and strongest soldier in the whole army, lamenting, not death, but that his sword was as yet undrawn against the invader. 4. "And still sacrifice after sacrifice seemed to forbid the battle, when Pausanias, lifting his eyes, that streamed with tears, to the temple of Juno that stood hard by, supplicated Y |