Of Triumph, and Pride, and Hope, and Joy,
And thoughts that are only known to Boy,
And young Imaginings !

The note is near, the Voice comes clear,
And we catch its Echo on the ear,

With a feeling of delight;

And as the gladdening sounds we hear,
There's many an eager listener here,
And many a straining sight.

One moment, and ye see

Where, fluttering quick, as the breezes blow,

Backwards and forwards, to and fro;

Bright with the beam of retiring day,

Old Eton's flag, on its watery way

Moves on triumphantly;

But what, that Ancient Poets have told,

Of Amphitrite's Car of Gold

With the Nymphs behind, aud the Nymphs before,

And the Nerid's song, and the Triton's roar,

Could equal half the pride,

That heralds the Monarch's plashing oar,

Over the swelling tide?

And look!-they land, those gallant crews,

With their jackets light, and their bellying trews;

Yet e'en on this triumphant day

*

One thought of grief will rise;
And though I bid my fancy play,
And jest, and laugh through all the lay,
Yet sadness still will have her way,

And burst the vain disguise !

Yes! when the pageant shall have past,
I shall have look'd upon my last;

I shall not e'er behold again

Our pullers' unremitted strain;

Nor listen to the charming cry

Of contest or of victory,

That speaks what those young bosoms feel,

As keel is pressing fast on keel;

Oh! bright these glories still shall be,

But they shall never dawn for me.

504

EMINENT ETONIANS NOW LIVING.

I have purposely avoided giving any account in these two last Chapters of the general progress of the School in modern times, or of its present system. Etonians do not require it, and I could not make the subject intelligible to non-Etonians without going into details too minute and prolix for these pages. Suffice it to say, that Eton has continued to flourish, and never stood higher than she does now. I will only allude to three recent events ;— the munificent foundation of a Divinity and Classical Scholarship by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle in 1829, whereby a great stimulus was given to increased study throughout the School; the erection of new buildings for the accommodation of the Collegers, and the great ameliorations of their condition, which were effected in 1844; and to the recent institution by His Royal Highness Prince Albert of a prize for proficiency in modern languages.

If the province of the Memoir-writer were not limited to the biographies of the dead, I should now be very far from the conclusion of my work. Living Etonians are eminent in every rank of life, in every profession, in every department of literature and science. I will only name a few, but the list might be prolonged through several pages. Eton claims as her sons the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Winchester and Lichfield, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Denman, Lord Stanley, Lord Ellenborough, Lord Carlisle, Lord Lyttelton, and many more of the most eminent members of the British Peerage. Among the names of her most distinguished Commoners of the present day, that most readily occur to the memory, are those of Sir Stratford Canning, Mr. Justice Coleridge, Mr. Gladstone, Hallam, Milman, Moultrie, Mr. Justice Patteson, and Vice-Chancellor Shadwell. With heartfelt gratitude and pride I look on the time-honoured walls where so much of the worth of four centuries has been nurtured; and in confidence, as well as in sincerity, I repeat the old wish that so many lips have uttered, and which will be fervently breathed by so many thousands more,

FLOREAT ETONA!

BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.