Who in their feebleness propose
Against the Lord to fight.
For when the Archangel's trumpet sounds,
And all the dead shall hear,
And haste from earth's remotest bounds
In judgment to appear,--
When every work, and word, and _thought_,
Well known or hid from sight,
Before the Universe is brought
To blaze in lines of light,--
When by the test of _perfect_ law
Your '_glorious_' course is tried,
On what resources will you draw?--
In what will you confide?
For know that eyes of awful light
Burn on you from above,
Where nought but kindness meets the sight,
And all the air is love.
When all unused to such employ
As charms the angelic hands,
How can you hope to share their joy
Who dwell in heavenly lands?"

Such was the poem of Frederick Alexander Armstrong. After its
rehearsal, a young gentleman _read_ a prose Essay on Education. It was
clever, and indicated a mind of a high order, but was too playful; and
the performance was severely criticised. Here ended the "public
declamation."