MIRCEA IN BATTLE. By D. BOLENTINEANU (1826-1872). Countless hosts of Magyars desolate the lands, E'en the sun in terror sees their roving bands; But the aged Mircea, firm and undismayed, With his braves, a handful, meets the furious raid. Knows, full well, to save the homestead's all but vain, Calmly still determines duty to maintain. Ah! the days of heroes surely now are fled, When, at duty's summons, Roumains nobly bled! Speaks the hoary chieftain: 'Hearken, brothers all, 'Tis the will of God, as Roumain I should fall.' Dedicate thy life-blood, saviour of a nation; 'Tis a puny flamelet in a conflagration. What is one poor lifetime in th' eternal day? 'Tis a single blossom in a gorgeous May. Ere the noble falcon to the Jäger yields, Casts he nest and offspring down into the fields. Ere our arms or ankles should be locked in chains, Lot us fall as heroes, die as free Roumains. Ah! the days of heroes surely now are fled, When, at duty's summons, Roumains nobly bled. [Footnote 129: His full title was 'Mircea, D.G. Voivode of Wallachia, Duke of Fogaras and Omlas, Count of Severin, Despot of the lands of Dobrudscha and Silistria,' and, making allowance for the exaggerations of a conqueror, it is clear that he must have ruled over an extended territory.] [Footnote 130: The substance of this treaty, which was reaffirmed in later ones, will be found in Appendix II., with some data concerning its history, for which, along with much other valuable information, we are indebted to Prince Jon Ghika, the Roumanian Ambassador at St. James's, and to Mr. White, our own Minister at Bucarest.] [Footnote 131: The word 'boyard' originally meant soldier or warrior.] [Footnote 132: One of his corps of cavalry were called 'Scutelnici' (or substitutes), a term which we shall find applied to government serfs later on; and Vaillant (vol. i. p. 185) says the term 'scutage' in England was derived from the same source (_scutum_, a shield).] IV.