And he lifted high his brawny hand On the iron glowing clear, Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers, Hurrah for the hand that shall wield them well, To Tubal Cain came many a one, As he wrought by his roaring fire, And each one prayed for a strong steel blade But a sudden change came o'er his heart, And Tubal Cain was filled with pain He saw that men, with rage and hate, Made war upon their kind, That the land was red with the blood they shed, The spear and the sword for men whose joy And for many a day old Tubal Cain And his hand forebore to smite the ore, And the red sparks lit the air; "Not alone for the blade was the bright steel made," And he fashioned the first plowshare. And men, taught wisdom from the past, Hung the sword in the hall, the spear on the wall, And sang: "Hurrah for Tubal Cain ! Our stanch good friend is he; And for the plowshare and the plow But while oppression lifts its head, CHARLES MACKAY. THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. [The battle of Blenheim in Bavaria was fought August 13, 1704. between the troops of the English and Austrians on one side, under the Duke of Mariborough and Prince Eugene, and the French and Bavarians on the other side, led by Marshal Tallart and the Elector of Bavaria. The latter party was defeated, and the schemes of Louis XIV, of France were materially checked thereby ] It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar's work was done, And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun; And by him sported on the green His little grandchild Wilhelmine. She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, Which he beside the rivulet, In playing there, had found; He came to ask what he had found That was so large and smooth and round. Old Kaspar took it from the boy, And then the old man shook his head, And, with a natural sigh, ""T is some poor fellow's skull," said he, "Who fell in the great victory. "I find them in the garden, For there's many hereabout; And often, when I go to plow, The plowshare turns them out; For many thousand men," said he, "Were slain in the great victory." "Now tell us what 't was all about," Young Peterkin he cries; And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes, "Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for." "It was the English," Kaspar cried, "Who put the French to rout; But what they fought each other for I could not well make out; But everybody said," quoth he, "That 't was a famous victory. "My father lived at Blenheim then, Yon little stream hard by; |