Not Solomon in all his state

Was clad like Nature's simplest child:
Nor could the world combined create

Louis XI., being advised to destroy the tomb of John, Duke of Bedford, once Regent of France, who was buried in the cathedral of Rouen in Normandy, made this noble reply

"What honour shall it be to us or to you to break this monument, and pull out of the ground the bones of him dead, whom, in his lifetime, neither my father nor your fathers, with all their power, were once able to make fly one foot backwards; who, by his strength, policy, and wisdom, kept them all out of the principal dominions of the realm of France, and out of this noble Duchy of Normandy, where I say first, God save his soul, and let his body remain at rest, which, when it was alive, would have dismayed the proudest of us all. And as for his tomb, I assure you it is not so worthy or magnificent, as his honour and actions deserved."

94.-HINTS TO TRAVELLERS.

pre-dom-in-ant cir-cum-spec-tion

pre-dom-in-ant

cir-cum-spec-tion

ab-rupt-ly coil-ed ap-est-ure

Time and experience have convinced me that there is not much danger in roving amongst snakes and wild beasts, provided only that you have self-command. You must never approach them abruptly; if so, you are sure to pay for your rashness, because the idea of self-defence is predominant in every animal, and thus the snake, to defend himself from what he considers an attack upon him, makes the intruder feel the deadly effect of his poisonous fangs. The jaguar flies at you, and knocks you senseless with a stroke of his paw; whereas, if you had not come upon him too suddenly, it is ten to one but that he had retired, in lieu of disputing the path with you.

Snakes in these wilds are certainly an annoyance, though, perhaps, more in imagination than in reality, for you must recollect the serpent is never the first to

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offend. His poisonous fang was not given him for conquest; he never inflicts a wound with it, but to defend existence. Provided you walk cautiously, and do not absolutely touch him, you may pass in safety close by him. As he is often coiled up on the ground, and amongst the branches of the trees above you, a degree of circumspection is necessary, lest you unwarily disturb him. The labarri snake is very poisonous, and I have often approached within two yards of him without fear. I took care to move very softly and gently, without moving my arms, and he always allowed me to have a fine view of him, without showing the least inclination to make a spring at me. He would appear to keep his eye fixed on me, as though suspicious; but that was all. Sometimes I have taken a stick ten feet long and placed it on the labarri's back. He would then glide away without offering resistance. But when I put the end of the stick abruptly to his head, he immediately opened his mouth, flew at it, and bit it.

One day, wishful to see how the poison comes out of the fang of the snake, I caught a labarri alive. He was about eight feet long; I held him by the neck, and my hand was so near his jaw, that he had not room to move his head to bite it. This was the only position I could have held him in with safety and effect. To do so, it only required a little resolution and coolness. I then took a small piece of stick in the other hand, and pressed it against the fang, which is invariably in the upper jaw. Towards the point of the fang there is a little oblong aperture on the convex side of it. Through this there is a com

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munication down the fang to the root, at which lies a little bag containing the poison. Now, when the point of the fang is pressed, the root of the fang also presses against the bag, and sends up a portion of the poison therein contained. Thus when I applied a piece of stick to the point of the fang, there came out of the hole a liquor thick and yellow, like strong camomile tea. This was the poison, which is so dreadful in its effects, as to render the labarri snake one of the most poisonous in the forests of Guiana.

Waterton.

im-pede

im-pede

poise-d

poise-d

On Leven's banks while free to rove,
And tune the rural pipe to love,
I envied not the happiest swain
That ever trod the Arcadian plain.
Pure stream in whose transparent wave
My youthful limbs I used to lave,
No torrents stain thy limpid source,
No rocks impede thy dimpling course,
That sweetly warbles o'er its bed,

With white, round, polished pebbles spread;
While, lightly poised, the scaly brood
In myriads cleave thy crystal flood.

The springing trout in speckled pride;
The salmon, monarch of the tide ;
The ruthless pike, intent on war;
The silver eel, and mottled par.
Devolving from their parent lake
A charming maze thy waters make,
By bowers of birch, and groves of pine,
And hedges flowered with eglantine.
Still on thy banks so gaily green

May numerous herds and flocks be seen,
And lasses chanting o'er the pail,
And shepherds piping in the dale,
And ancient faith that knows no guile,
And industry embrowned with toil,
And hearts resolved, and hands prepared,
The blessings they enjoy to guard.

fa-tique pro-vis-ion jew-el

fa-tigue

pro-vis-ion

jew-el

The Spartans were a brave and hardy people, who despised everything that tended to make them deli