“And is the conflict o’er,” we cried, And lie we at your feet, “And dare you vauntingly decide The fortune we must meet? “A brighter day we soon shall see, Tho’ now the prospect lowers, And Conquest, Peace, and Liberty Shall gild our future hours.” The foe advanc’d—in firm array We rush’d o’er SABLA’S sands, And the red sabre mark’d our way Amidst their yielding bands. Then as they writh’d in death’s cold grasp, We cried, “OUR CHOICE is made! These _hands_ the sabre’s hilt shall clasp, Your _hearts_ shall have the blade!” As Carlyle’s version is although a spirited not a faithful one, the Editor is induced to present a literal translation, from _Translations of Ancient Arabian Poetry, by C. J. Lyall_, 1885, 8vo., p. 10. The contest was not a battle but one of the frequent skirmishes between neighbouring clans. _Sabla_ is Carlyle’s rendering of _Sahbal a Wady_, in Arabia, overlooked by twin peaks. Footnote 26: [W. H. Ireland, the Shakespeare forger.—ED.] Footnote 27: [The above ballad refers to an attempt by FRANCIS, fifth DUKE OF BEDFORD, to escape the payment of the Assessed Taxes upon twenty-five of his servants, on the plea that as the Helpers did not wear a Livery, and were engaged by the week, they were not liable to the duty. This defence was, however, unsuccessful.—ED.] Footnote 28: _Twaie coneynge Clerks._—_Coneynge_ is the participle of the verb to _ken_ or _know_. It by no means imports what we now denominate a _knowing one_: on the contrary, _twaie coneynge clerks_ means _two intelligent and disinterested clergymen_. Footnote 29: _Seely_ is evidently the original of the modern word _silly_. A _seely wight_, however, by no means imports what is now called a _silly fellow_, but means a man of simplicity of character, devoid of all _vanity_, and of any strange, ill-conducted ambition, which, if successful, would immediately be fatal to the man who indulged it. Footnote 30: _Good advisament_ means—_cool consideration_. Footnote 31: [FRANCIS, fifth DUKE OF BEDFORD, died after a severe surgical operation, March 2, 1802, at the early age of thirty-six. “The Duke of Bedford’s energetic and capacious mind,” says Lord Ossory, “his enlarged way of thinking, and elevated sentiments, together with the habits and pursuits of his life, peculiarly qualified him for his high station and princely fortune. He was superior to bad education and disadvantages for forming his character, and turned out certainly a first-rate man, though not free from imperfections. His uprightness and truth were unequalled; his magnanimity, fortitude and consideration, in his last moments, taken so unprepared as he was, were astonishing.”