Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/221

Rh To every race she gives a home,

And creeds and laws enjoy her shade,

Till, far beyond the dreams of Rome,

Her Cæsar's mandate is obeyed.

She blends the virtues they impart,

And holds, within her life combined,

The patient faith of Asia's heart—

The force of Europe's restless mind.

She bids the nomad's wanderings cease;

She binds the wild marauder fast;

Her ploughshares turn to homes of peace

The battle-fields of ages past.

And, nobler yet, she dares to know

Her future's task, nor knows in vain,

But strikes at once the generous blow

That makes her millions men again!

So, firmer based, her power expands,

Nor yet has seen its crowning hour—

Still teaching to the struggling lands

That Peace the offspring is of Power.

Build, then, the storied bronze, to tell

The steps whereby this height she trod—

The thousand years that chronicle

The toil of Man, the help of God!

And may the thousand years to come—

The future ages, wise and free—

Still see her flag and hear her drum

Across the world, from sea to sea!—

Still find, a symbol stern and grand,

Her ancient eagle's wings unshorn;

One head to watch the Western land,

And one to guard the land of morn.'

"Bear in mind," said Frank, after pausing at the end of the lines, "that the millennial celebration took place not long after the edict of emancipation was issued by Alexander II. This is what Mr. Taylor refers to in the third line of his poem.

"To go on with the story, let me say that Rurik and his descendants ruled the country for more than two centuries. They made war upon their neighbors, and were generally victorious, and in their time the boundaries of Russia were very much enlarged. Rurik and his sons were