short one.

With respect to character, energy, and courage, Lamartine has few
equals. He has not risen to power by those crafty combinations which
destroy a man's moral greatness in giving him distinction. "Greatness"
was, indeed, "thrust upon him," and thus far he has nobly and
courageously sustained it. He neither courted power, nor declined it.
When it was offered, he did not shrink from assuming the
responsibility of accepting it. He has no vulgar ambition to gratify,
no insults to revenge, no devotion to reward. He stands untrammeled
and uncommitted to any faction whatever. He may not be able to solve
the social problem of the age; but will, in that case, surrender his
command untarnished as he received it, and serve once more in the
ranks.

SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.

BY HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

[When the wind abated and the vessels were near enough,
the admiral was seen constantly sitting in the stern,
with a book in his hand. On the 9th of September he was
seen for the last time, and was heard by the people of
the Hind to say, "We are as near Heaven by sea as by
land." In the following night the lights of the ship
suddenly disappeared. The people in the other vessel
kept a good look out for him during the remainder of
the voyage. On the 22d of September they arrived,
through much tempest and peril; at Falmouth. But
nothing more was seen or heard of the admiral.
_Belknap's American Biography_, I. 203.]

Southward with his fleet of ice
Sailed the Corsair Death;
Wild and fast, blew the blast,
And the east-wind was his breath.

His lordly ships of ice
Glistened in the sun;
On each side, like pennons wide,
Flashing crystal streamlets run.

His sails of white sea-mist
Dripped with silver rain;
But where he passed there were cast
Leaden shadows o'er the main.

Eastward from Campobello
Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed;
Three days or more seaward he bore,
Then, alas! the land wind failed.

Alas! the land wind failed,
And ice-cold grew the night;
And nevermore, on sea or shore,
Should Sir Humphrey see the light.

He sat upon the deck,
The book was in his hand;
"Do not fear! Heaven is as near,"
He said "by water as by land!"

In the first watch of the night,
Without a signal's sound,
Out of the sea, mysteriousl