culous light indicates her heavenly parentage. She is thine."

Brahmanandita was delighted.

"But remember," the hermit went on, "that privilege may turn to penalty, blessings may change to curses; whatever may occur, you must bear with holy resignation and steadfast faith."

"I will," said Bramanandita.

"No hard thought must enter your heart; no harsh word escape your lips; you must neither be indignant nor indifferent, doubtful nor daring, but with diligence and devotion attend to the happiness of this heaven-born spouse."

Brahmanandita was about to protest his willingness to do anything, but the hermit impatiently waved his hand for silence, and called to the mysterious lady to come forth.

O Beautiful! O Ecstacy! O Glorious! never was form so graceful nor face so fair; never had every perfection been so united in one person. Her hair! her eyes! her lips! Brahmanandita fell on his knees and worshipped.

The hermit assured the blushing girl-it was an irresistible blush-that Brahmanandita sought her in all fidelity to be the partner of his life. Brahmanandita endeavoured to offer some Oriental compliment, but the hermit commanded him to be silent. Wilt thou have this man? Wilt thou have this woman? Who would not? So they were married, and Brahmanandita and his new wife sealed the holy compact with a kiss.

III.

There was a revolt in the harem of Brahmanandita. Green-eyed jealousy had crept in on the skirts of the new bride, and set the harem in an uproar. The ladies were at first disposed to be civil to the last arrival-number one hundred and one-and she, all gentleness, received their good offices so kindly that they absolutely admitted she was neither dwarfed nor ugly, and certainly possessed some taste, my dear, in the arrangement of her coiffeur. There were two things, however, about which they knew nothing. First, that she, by Heaven's decree, was to be queenmother. Second, that under her beautiful kirtle she had hind's feet. Now that she was amongst ordinary mortals, the lotus flowers no longer sprang up at her step; nor was the miraculous light emitted from her person. But the two secrets were discovered. Rumour whispered that the decree of the gods had been reversed in her favour. Curiosity ascertained her pedal peculiarity; jealousy fanned the fire into a flame, and Brahmanandita found himself reduced to a condition awful to contemplate. Two hundred scornful eyes shot angry glances at him whenever he approached. Two hundred lips curled in contempt when he came in. One hundred tongues denounced him as a monster of perfidy. A thousand nails were seen to move convulsively, or two hundred fountains of tears were opened at once and fell in copious showers.

Brahmanandita endeavoured to pacify the ladies of his household, but in vain. He was gentle and affectionate, and did all that man could do to conciliate and tame them. He

tried to terrify them into submission, but this only roused them up the more, and precipitated a result which he had feared. They turned the full tide of their wrath on the lotus bride; and it became essential to her personal safety that she should be placed in a separate establishment. A splendid pagoda, with a verandah overhanging the Ganges, was fitted up for her reception. Eunuchs and guards were placed around her; everything was done to make her happy, and Brahmanandita impatiently awaited the consummation of his hopes.

The auspicious day arrived. Prayers were offered up in every pagoda and sacrifices in every temple. There was a great festival in all the principal towns, and heralds announced throughout the length and breadth of the empire that a son was born to Brahmanandita. IV.

Twilight was deepening into night. The feasters were as merry as could be expected of those who had been enjoying themselves all day. But there was an anxious heart amongst those who sat at the royal board. As yet Brahmanandita was strange to his child; he had not yet looked upon the face of his little one; and from certain wistful glances he had noticed, and half-uttered words he had heard, a secret fear was in his bosom that all was not right. Had life been taken when life was given? Was the child itself alive, or was it that mother and babe were dead together? As soon as etiquette would allow he rose from his seat, and, preceded by drummers and torchbearers, advanced to the queen's pavilion. He entered it alone.

"My love, my life,-dearer to me than ever in this hour; my wife-the mother of my child-look on me and smile."

She looked up, but there was no smile; tears were on her cheeks. Brahmanandita bent over her, and kissed them away.

"You are weak," he said, "and in pain, my love; but think of our child-our heaven-sent child-that shall sit on its father's throne, and give to our land a race of kings mightier than all the monarchs of earth."

"It shall do so," she answered, "it shall do so; but faith is weak, and blind are those who boast that they see clearly."

He sat beside her for a few moments, and played with her hands, and then asked her: May I not see our child ?"

"It is there," she answered, pointing to a couch of silver and diamonds, " and it sleeps soundly."

He went towards it, looked surprised, anxious, terrified, and turning to her, hastily cried:

"Where, where is my child? why mock at my anxiety ?" Then gently, Forgive me, dearest-let my love plead my excuse-where is my child?"

She sobbed aloud.

"O tell me, is it dead ?-is it dying? Speak!"

"It is there," she cried; "there before you and may the gods have pity on us both!"

On the couch of silver and diamonds there lay a lotus flower; the king saw it—his eyes flashed, his face crimsoned.

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She answered not a word, but wept. "No tears," he said, can wash away this sin; no tears subdue the fire in my breast, nor melt my heart now turned to stone. Í was a fool to think the decrees of Heaven could change; to listen to the lying tongue of the treacherous hermit. The gods have punished me. But think not to escape: my love has turned to hate: I will crush thee as I crush this lotus flower."

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Oh, spare it! spare it!" she cried; for he had taken the flower in his hand. She knelt before him, clasped his knees, kissed his feet, besought him to take pity, but he gave her neither word of gentleness nor look of love."

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Pity," he said, "shall henceforth be strange to me. I banish from this moment every gentle thought. Accursed of heaven, I defy the gods! deluded by mortals, I will do vengeance on my race. I, the last of a long line of princes, will leave behind me a terrible name. No longer shall they call me Brahmanandita the Good, but Brahmanandita the Tyrant. And thou-thou shalt be the first to know how terrible my wrath can be!"

He spurned her as he spoke, and called out to the guards:

"Seize this panther-hearted enchantress! down with her to the lowest, blackest dungeon! Let her neither see the light nor hear a human voice; feed her on the bread of sorrow, let the water of affliction be her drink!" Oh! think, my lord," she said, "of what you do!" Take counsel with your reason, and let not the tyrant passion revenge a disappointment which Heaven has willed.'

"I will hear nothing!" he said; thy voice has lost its charm; thine eyes to me are worse than those of a blind crone; thy tears inflame my wrath, and thy smiles send my hand to my sabre. Away! I would not slay thee; not that I love thee, but that my hatred may be satisfied at the thought of thy perpetual misery!"

She rose up in all her beauty, and looked upon him with a tender, compassionate glance; then, taking the lotus flower from the couch, she went forward to the verandah, and hurled the flower into the stream. Then the guards seized her, and bore her away to the dungeon. Great was the sorrow of the people; great was the joy of the ladies of the harem; but their joy was turned to mourning when they found how changed, how cruel Brahmanandita had become.

At this time also a remarkable phenomenon became the talk of everybody. They dared not mention it in public, and had any scribe dared to write it in a book he would have been immediately sacrificed. The lotus flower which the queen had thrown into the stream had there expanded in size as it drifted down the river; its stem had arisen to an amazing height; a thousand leaves had unfolded themselves in the light, and as each leaf opened it disclosed,

aloud, lest the wrath of the king should be kindled.

So the lotus floated away on the Ganges until it finally quitted the territories of Brahmanandita.

V.

Twenty years elapsed. The kingdom of Vaicali was full of trouble. Its fields were barren; no stately vessels rode on its waters; its cities were desolate; Famine and his brother Pestilence were busy at work; Death was out a-reaping with a vengeance. Brahmanandita was still king, and ruled with an iron hand over his wretched subjects. He had widowed wives and orphaned children; he had plundered the wealthy and oppressed the poor; he had banished Justice and Mercy; had flooded the places of execution with the noblest blood in the country; had crowded the prisons to suffocation; had sported with human suffering in his mad merriment; had sought his own destruction in his moody melancholy; now terrible as an infuriated panther, now fractious as a froward child, he had passed his days in tyranny and his nights in fear.

Whether his lotus wife still lived he never asked, and none dared to allude to her. The women of the harem, reduced in number, and grown old and grey, whispered among themselves sometimes about the fate of that unhappy lady; but they were seldom on good terms with one another, and spent most of their time in a petty squabble on precedence or faded beauty. The king never entered the harem, neither had he made any addition to it since the fatal day of his disappointment.

At the end of the twenty years a rumour spread abroad that the rising fortunes of the King of Varanasi, the old enemy of Brahmanandita, had received immense assistance by the addition of a thousand youths, all of them brothers in arms. These youths were known for their strength and courage. Wherever they went they carried prosperity, whatever they attempted they accomplished, whomsoever they opposed they defeated; and when they went to battle they clashed their shields together, and cried to the wild birds of the air, "Come, eat of the feast of our providing!" and to the beasts of the forest, "Hunger no more, for there shall be meat in plenty!"

It was reported all over the land of Vaicali that these brothers had resolved on its conquest. Brahmanandita heard the intelligence without dismay.

Truly," said he, as I must one day die, what matter whether it be to-day or tomorrow? But it were a shame to die without a struggle. Let the armies be assembled. Let it be published throughout my dominions that all slaves shall be freed, all prisoners liberated who join my ranks. Let walls and towers be built around our chief cities, stronger than those erected aforetime, and let the heralds proclaim our defiance to these thousand warriors."

Everything was done even as the king commanded: the army was assembled, the slaves were freed, the prisoners were loosed, the walls were built, but the hearts of the men of Vaicali melted with fear when they saw the cloud of dust approaching, and beheld the thousand youths appear. Their stature was terrible, their glance was terrible, their weapons were terrible, their words were terrible. The king sat alone in his divan and waited for the battle; as he thus sat, there suddenly appeared before him a female, veiled. He indignantly rose up and called to the guards to drag her hence and slay her; but as they rushed on her she lifted her veil, and disclosed the features of the Lotus Queen.

"I am in thy hand, O king," she said; "for twenty years I have pined in the dungeon, but the prison doors have this day been opened, and I hasten to warn and to entreat thee to stay thine hand. Let no arrow be shot, no sword unsheathed, no spear hurled against the thousand youths who have come up in battle array. Let a messenger of peace be sent, and let the gates be thrown open, and let my lord have patience with his handmaiden and faith in the decree of Heaven. The great Buddha is merciful; he will deal well with those who turn away from madness and folly and honour his holy name. The time is short, the necessity is urgent: let my lord speak."

Brahmanandita gazed in astonishment on the face of the Lotus Queen. She was still young, still beautiful; time had not wrinkled her face nor darkened the lustre of her eye. His heart softened. The thought of the wrong he had done came upon him with an overwhelming force; the prayers for mercy he had refused, the tears he had mocked, the blood he had shed, the homes he had made desolate-all was remembered, and his cheeks were suffused with tears.

"Oh, wronged and beautiful woman!" he cried, and prostrated himself before her; "how shall I atone for my injustice? how can I obtain forgiveness ? what sacrifice shall I offer before outraged Heaven? what oblation can I present to thee ? "

And she answered, "Obedience and love." "I am thy slave, thy willing servant: speak, and it shall be done."

they struck their shields together and raised a scornful cry.

"We will make no terms," said they, "neither will we show mercy. The wild birds shall feed on their slain, and the wild beast make its home in their city."

Bending their bows and preparing their slings, they waited the approach of the stranger. It was the Lotus Bride clothed in white garments, with a veil over her face. She lifted her hand as she came near, and there was a deep silence through the host as she spoke.

Put up your swords and bow the head before Brahmanandita. Heaven will be angry with the rebel and the parricide, and not one of those shall escape whose weapons are wetted with blood to-day."

One of the brothers advanced towards her, and asked by what right she dared dictate to those who set in battle array, and who had come up to destroy a tyrant and liberate an oppressed people.

'By a mother's right," she answered. "O my children, in me you behold your mother. I am the Lotus Queen."

"We know not of our mother," the youth answered, "nor of our people; but the lotus is our preserver and the lotus we adore."

"I am your mother," she said, "and from the day of your birth until now I have mourned in secret. I am the wife of King Brahmanandita, whose children you are."

"A fable! a fable!" cried the brothers: "this is the treachery of the tyrant, let us not listen to her words."

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Beware, O my children," she said, and lifted her veil and looked upon them, "beware how you tempt Heaven.”

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A sign! a sign!" they cried in answer. She knelt down and prayed. Then rising lifted her hand, unbared her bosom, and a thousand fountains of milk leaped into the air.

The brothers fell down before her crying: "This is, indeed, our mother-the gods bear witness to her words!"

Meanwhile the thousand youths had arrived and settled down before the devoted city. They were surprised to find the walls unmanned, and laughed at the supposed cowardice of the citizens. When the gates were thrown open they expected a sally, and prepared for defence; but when only one person appeared,

COMMON

SCORN not those rude, unlovely things,
All cultureless that grow,
And rank o'er woods, and wilds, and springs
Their vain luxuriance throw.

Eternal love and wisdom drew

The plan of earth and skies;

done to her. There were grand rejoicings in the city and throughout the land, and the rest of the life of the king was spent in repairing the evil he had done, and in consolidating the prosperity of his people. He lived to good old age in perfect happiness with his queen, who never lost her beauty. On the day of his death she was lost suddenly, and a silver cloud was seen rising in the heavens and melting in the azure sky. J. T.

WEEDS.

And He the span of Heaven that threw,
Commands the weeds to rise.

Then think not Nature's schemes sublime,
These common things might spare;
For science may detect in time
A thousand virtues there.

CŒUR DE LION AND THE WILD BOAR. RICHARD THE FIRST, king of England, was one of the bravest warriors who ever wore a crown or grasped a sceptre. On all occasions of danger, he showed a courage so like that of the king of the forest that he has been known to posterity by the surname of Cœur de Lion.

At the opening of his reign, Richard went with a great army to the Holy Land, and had many struggles with Saladin, the great sultan of Egypt. At that time Saladin had taken Jerusalem from the Christians: Richard, being ambitious of recovering the Holy City, directed his march thither.

While Richard and his friends were on their way to Jerusalem, and marching through thickets and tall luxuriant herbage, which reached almost to the faces of the foot soldiers, many beasts of the forest leaped up from the thick copses and long grass.

Most of these animals were easily dealt with. One day, however, Cœur de Lion had an adventure, which caused some trouble to him, and created some alarm among his attendants.

It appears that as Richard was one day riding towards Ascalon, a fierce boar suddenly rose from its lair, and, placing itself in the king's way, regarded him with a look of defiance. Richard's attendants paused to remark on the enormous size and ferocious aspect of this grisly adversary; and the boar, foaming with rage at being disturbed, stood, with ears erect, and hair bristling, as if collecting all its strength to spring. He, however, using his lance as a huntingspear, rode towards the boar, determined either to kill the monster, or drive it from the field.

The approach of Coeur de Lion did not intimidate the boar. It quietly awaited his attack, and when he made a circuit, it turned round in a circle, but still keeping the place it first occupied. The king, with his lance in his hand, then moved forward to pierce his antagonist, but the boar, turning on one side, prepared for the encounter. Unfortunately, when the king and the boar closed, the lance, not being strong enough to bear the weight of both, was no sooner thrust against the animal's breast than it broke in two.

Now came the crisis of the fight. The boar, wounded and furious from pain, charged the king with all its might, and Richard, who had neither a moment nor an inch of room to turn away, was fain to put spurs to his steed, and leap right over his adversary. He accomplished the feat unharmed; and the boar, raging and foaming at the mouth, made another attack, but, impeded by the broken lance that transfixed its breast, it only tore away part of the trappings of the steed.

Undaunted by reverses, the boar again and again renewed its efforts to come to close quarters; but, impeded by the broken lance, it as often failed, and Richard, drawing his sword, smote it so heavily as he passed that it remained for a moment stunned and stupified. Availing himself of this circumstance, the king wheeled round, cut the boar's sinews, and consigned

the carcass to the care of his huntsmen.

THE STORY WITHOUT AN END.-In a certain district of the East there lived a king who had such trusty ministers that but little remained for himself to do, and in consequence of having so much leisure, found the time hang heavily on his hands. In order to while away the tedious hours, the king caused storytellers-those skilled in many words-to be brought before him, and in course of time became so much accustomed to this kind of amusement, that his craving for long tales knew no limits. Some of the story-tellers delighted the king with accounts of adventures, which took several days in their relation, and others, more ingenious, gave still greater satisfaction by legends which were spun out during the length of weeks and months, and one more famed than all, continued a story for upwards of a year. Notwithstanding, the king complained that all the tales

came to an end, and therefore ordered proclamation to be made throughout the land, that any one who could invent a story which would last for ever should have the king's daughter in marriage, and be raised to the next place of rank to him in the kingdom; but the proclamation also stated that if any one should undertake the telling of a story which should come to an end, the party so offending should have his head immediately separated from his body. Not heeding the danger, several undertook the invention of an endless story; but they all, after continuing for different lengths of time, came to an end, and the unfortunate defaulters were, in accordance with the terms of the proclamation, at once put to death. It fell out, however, that a tailor-a man gifted with a goodly and slow form of speech, and withal possessed of much discretion-presented himself before the king, and offered to undertake the task of relating a story which would last for ever, provided that he was allowed a certain time for the purposes of eating and sleeping. This necessary and somewhat important arrangement having been complied with, the tailor began as follows:-"O king, the famine having been sore in the land, a wise governor caused a vast granary to be erected as a storehouse for corn, in order that it might be ready for use in time of scarcity. This edifice was in length 20,000 paces, and in breadth 10,000 paces, and the height thereof was as the summit of a mountain. To this great house the governor caused corn to be brought from different countries, until it was quite filled, and then all the openings were closed up, and the grain kept until it might be required. As time passed on numbers of locusts gathered around the place, and notwithstanding all the care which had been taken, a hole was left in one part not larger than enough to allow a single locust to pass in and then come out again, and so a locust went in and brought out a grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn;" and in this manner the tailor continued, "and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust Wherecame, and took another grain of corn." upon the king suggested that it might be well to make an end of the locusts. This, however, the tailor declared was impossible, for it would be necessary to complete one part of the story before he could proceed to another, and as yet the locusts had barely carried away two handfuls of the corn. And then another locust came, and carried away another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and carried off another grain of corn." And so for six months the locusts continued to carry away the grains of corn until the story had been continued for six mouths, when the king again desired that an end might be put to the locusts; but the tailor again replied that it was impossible, for the locust part of the story must be completed before another portion could be commenced. So another year passed by, and the tailor was still repeating, "And then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn.' "Oh, weary me!" would oft exclaim the king; "I would that we were at an end of those locusts!" And so half a year more passed by, and then the king again inquired if the locusts were finished? "No, O king!" replied the tailor, "for we have not yet got rid of half a bushel of the corn; and so another locust came, and took another grain of corn; and then another locust came, and took another grain of corn; AND THEN ANOTHER LOCUST CAME, AND TOOK ANOTHER GRAIN OF CORN." Oh, man," then loudly exclaimed the king, "take my daughter, take alı I have, become next to me in the kingdom, only let me have no more of those locusts." And so the tailor married the king's daughter, and was arrayed in robes of state and honour, and became next the king in that nation.

THE summer-time has come again, With all its joy and mirth;

And June leads on the laughing hours
To bless the weary earth.

The sunshine lies along the street,
So dim and cold before,

And in the open window creeps,
And slumbers on the floor.

The country was so fresh and fine, And beautiful in May;

It must be more than beautiful-
A paradise to-day!

If I were only there again,
I'd seek the lanes apart,

And shout aloud in mighty words,
To ease my happy heart.

Rebellion

Дуолвном

Religion

Rebellion.

I am a word of eleven letters; my 10, 2, 8, is a domestic animal; my 3, 9, 6, 5, 11, is a daily newspaper; my 1, 7, 10, 5, is an ensign of authority; my 8, 4, 7, 6, 5, 11, is a river of England; my 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 7, is a state of the Peloponnesus; my 5, 1, 6, 7, is a woman's name; my 3, 5, 7, is a beverage; my 9, 11, 9, 11, a deity of the Egyptians; my 6, 5, 10, 10, 2, a city of Arabia; and my whole a science which Lord Palmerston lately at Glasgow specially recommended for the study of youth. F. J. C.

LE JUIF ERRANT.-No. 2.
Je traverse les mers,

Les rivières, les ruisseaux,
Les forêts, les deserts,
Les montagnes, les coteaux,
Les plaines et les vallons;
Tous chemins me sont bous.
J'ai vu dedans l'Europe,
Ainsi que dans l'Asie,
Des batailles et des chocs,
Qui coûtaient bien des vies.
Je les ai traversés
Sans y être blessé.
J'ai vu dans l'Amérique
(C'est une vérité),
Ainsi que dans l'Afrique,
Grande mortalité:

La mort ne me peut rien
Je m'en aperçois bien !

Je n'ai point de ressource
En maison ni en bien;
J'ai cinq sous dans ma bourse,
Voilà tout mon moyen.

En tous lieux, en tous temps,
J'en ai toujours autant.

Nous pensions comme un songe
Le récit de vos maux,
Nous traitions de mensonge
Tous vos plus grands travaux.
Aujourd'hui nous voyons
Que nous nous méprenions.
Vous étiez donc coupable
De quelque grand péché,
Pour que Dieu tout aimable
Vous ait tant affligé?

Dites-nous l'occasion
De cette punition.
[Metrical translations are invited.]

ENIGMA.

Not in Heaven, nor earth, nor air;
Not in danger, death, despair;
Not in streamlet, river, sea,
Can it rest or can it be.
With a friend it never dwelt,
In devotion never knelt;

Yet, though you may not find it there,
You breathe it in your every prayer.
SIDNEY SMITH CRISPO.