Standard Catholic Readers Author:Mary E. Doyle Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: But thy sounds were sweeter than the dome of Peter Flings o'er the Tiber, pealing solemnly. O! the bells of Shandon Sound far more grand on The pleasant waters o... more »f the River Lee. There's a bell in Moscow; while on tower and kiosk, O! In St. Sophia the Turkman gets, And loud in air calls men to prayer, From the tapering summits of tall minarets. Such empty phantom I freely grant them; But there's an anthem more dear to me; 'Tis the bells of Shandon, That sound so grand on The pleasant waters of the River Lee. — Francis Mahony. The glories of our blood and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armor against fate, Death lays his icy hand on kings. Scepter and crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade. — James Shirley (1660). A STORY OF OLD ROME It is a youth full of grace and sprightliness that comes forward with light and buoyant steps towards the inner hall; and we shall hardly find time to sketch him before he reaches it. He is about fourteen years old, but tall for that age, with elegance of form and manliness of bearing. His bare neck and limbs are well developed by healthy exercise; his features display an open and warm heart, while his lofty forehead, round which his brown hair naturally curls, beams with a bright intelligence. A bundle of papers and vellum rolls fastened together, and carried by an old servant behind him, shows us that he is just returning home from school. While we have been thus noting him, he has received his mother's embrace, and has sat himself low by her feet. She gazes upon him for some time in silence, as if to discover in his countenance the cause of his unusual delay, for he is an hour late in his return. But he meets her glance with so frank a look,...« less