Tantallon is the name of the Douglas castle at Bothwell, Scotland.

XLII.  THE PRESENT. (178)

Adelaide Anne Procter, 1825-1864, was the daughter of Bryan Waller Procter, known in literature as “Barry Cornwall.”  She is the author of several volumes of poetry, and was a contributor to “Good Words,” “All the Year Round,” and other London periodicals.  Her works have been republished in America. ###

Do not crouch to-day, and worship
  The dead Past, whose life is fled
Hush your voice in tender reverence;
  Crowned he lies, but cold and dead: 
For the Present reigns, our monarch,
  With an added weight of hours;
Honor her, for she is mighty! 
  Honor her, for she is ours!

See the shadows of his heroes
  Girt around her cloudy throne;
Every day the ranks are strengthened
  By great hearts to him unknown;
Noble things the great Past promised,
  Holy dreams, both strange and new;
But the Present shall fulfill them;
  What he promised, she shall do.

She inherits all his treasures,
  She is heir to all his fame,
And the light that lightens round her
  Is the luster of his name;
She is wise with all his wisdom,
  Living on his grave she stands,
On her brow she bears his laurels,
  And his harvest in her hands.

Coward, can she reign and conquer
  If we thus her glory dim? 
Let us fight for her as nobly
  As our fathers fought for him. 
God, who crowns the dying ages,
  Bids her rule, and us obey,
Bids us cast our lives before her,
  Bids us serve the great To-day.

XLIII.  THE BAPTISM. (180)

John Wilson, 1785-1854, a distinguished Scottish author, was born at Paisley.  When fifteen years of age, he entered the University of Glasgow; but, three years later, he became a member of Magdalen College, Oxford.  Here he attained eminence both as a student, and as a proficient in gymnastic games and exercises.  Soon after graduating, he purchased an estate near Lake Windermere, and became a companion of Wordsworth and Southey; but he soon left his estate to reside in Edinburgh.  In 1817, when “Blackwood’s Magazine” was established in opposition to the “Edinburgh Review,” he became chief contributor to that famous periodical.  In its pages, he won his chief fame as a writer.  In 1820, he succeeded Dr. Thomas Brown as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh; this position he held for thirty years.  His “Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life” was published in 1822.  This is a collection of pathetic and beautiful tales of domestic life in Scotland.  His contributions to Blackwood appeared over the pseudonym of “Christopher North,” or more familiarly, “Kit North.”  Professor Wilson was a man of great physical power and of striking appearance.  In character, he was vehement and impulsive; but his writings show that he possessed feelings of deep tenderness. ###