John Boyle O’Reilly was born in Dowth Castle, County Meath,
Ireland, June 28, 1844. Entering the British army at the age of
eighteen, he was detected in a Fenian plot, and sentenced to
twenty years penal servitude in Australia. He escaped in an open
boat, was picked up by an American whaler, and brought to this
country. Settling in Boston, his ability won for him speedy
recognition, and he was made editor of the _Pilot_, a position
which he held at the time of his death, which occurred on the 10th
of August, 1890. His most notable contribution to poetry was his
“Songs of the Southern Seas.”
The disaster at Williamsburg, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, took
place on the 16th of May, 1874. The Mill River dam, which burst, covered
one hundred and twenty-four acres to the average depth of twenty-four
feet. Nearly two hundred lives were lost in the villages of
Williamsburg, Skinnerville, Haydenville and Leeds.
=l. 73.= =Curtius= (Mettus, or Mettius), a young Roman who sacrificed his
life for his country’s welfare, B.C. 362. A chasm had opened in the
forum, and the soothsayers declared that it could only be filled by
casting into it that which was most precious in Rome. Curtius appeared
on horseback, clad in full armor, and leaped into the abyss, crying as
he did so, “Rome has no greater riches than courage and arms!” According
to tradition, the chasm at once closed over him.