Four-and-twenty little maids The bird was on the brier! double chorus of forty-eight are all engaged in suppliance to the whispering boy to reveal his secret, which he does not do; and there is a fine artistic touch in the shadowy hint given of the figure of the choregos, or chorus-leader, "Artful Alice," quite exciting to the reader's imagination. There are other tales, too, quite as good. "FrodNow, that is an exercise in moral logic gedobbulum's Fancy is excellent in its for children as well as a very jolly little bit way, containing a very fine lesson on the of absolute nonsense. There is a deal more advantages of early education, as illustrated philosophy in teaching a child that if the by the great self-possession and sang-froid order of everything were inverted he would which little Marjorie's perfect command not know it, because the disorder would of the French language gives her in the then be his notion of order, than in teach- presence of Frodgedobbulum. Better still, ing him that if twice two is four, then half perhaps, is the poetical legend of the origin four is two, besides the advantage that of the coloured Admirals, Admiral of the the one can be taught in nonsense verses, Red, and Admiral of the Blue; while and the other only in technical language. "Shock-Headed Cicely and the Two Bears' And what a delightful and perfect sense is a completely fresh form of the Cinderella of anarchy is produced by taking the trou- type of legend, and one that will go straight ble to revolutionize the old nonsense verses to the heart of that healthy childish public on "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a opinion that is always so strong in favour pie," "cross patch," and other equally im- of untidy infancy, the infancy which is portant subjects! Derange time-honoured not self-conscious enough, and does not care nonsense, and it shakes the foundations of enough for elderly praise, to wish to look things far more than any attempt to dis-"nice" and pretty in the eyes of drawing. pute the authenticity of time-honoured room opinion. The scene is really dra truths. Even a lunatic would usually keep matic:his nonsense verses as he learned them and it is anarchy going down to the very depth of things, when you turn the four and twenty blackbirds into the little maids that were in the garden, and make them hang out their own pie, instead of-but we must break off, our head already whirls with the unwonted chaos, and we can only say, with the mother of the Modern Gracchi, that "if indeed there be, O gasping One!" any real pie, or birds, or maids, " is a question soul-entrancing, light-abandoned, and far too vast to enter on at present, at this unlooked-for crisis." But if the pure nonsense of this little book is good, the merry little tales are quite as good, if not better. "The Wonderful Toy of the Whispering Boy" is a most creditable little mystery, which is of that kind that children will think and think about it and never find it out, for the excellent reason that there is nothing to find out. And yet there are plenty of details to excite the imagination, a good deal of dramatic action, and a very effective éclaircissement, which throws no light at the end, when the whispering boy is caught whispering his secret in his sleep, though not telling it. There is a chorus in it of four-andtwenty little men and four-and-twenty little women, as in old Greek plays; indeed, it might fairly be called the Supplices, for the Just then was heard a double roar, It was a roar, it was a growl; Sir Hildebrand for silence begs The dark girls tore their hair of sable; But most of them could scream and screech- The bears looked hard at Cicely Then Cicely, filling two plates of gold "Welcome to you! and to you Mr. Bear! Sir Hildebrand strode up to see, Almost before they could understand, Her hair was as rough as a parlour broom, Sir Nicholas kissed her on the face, The nuptials soon they did prepare, And in that beautiful bridal show Shock-Headed Cicely's sudden and frank assumption of the attitude of a hostess to Sir Nicholas Hildebrand's bears, and her generosity with his golden plates of cherries, will take even the generous imagination of children by surprise. But there is in this little book a still rarer element of attraction than even the we flower, gay buoyancy of its movement in narrative, O Robin, sweet Robin! do you know the power and one quite as sure to be permanently That comes to the heart with the fall of the and deeply fascinating to children;mean the touches of real poetry in the short pieces on nature. What can be simpler, truer, and more graphic in flower-painting than this? THE FIRST of June. The wind to the west is steady, Shakes out her yellow hair. Magnolia like a stranger, Stands stiffly all alone; I think a word would change her The solid Guelder roses Are white as dairy cream; The odour of winds, and the shredding of trees, seas ? There may, perhaps, be a touch more of older sentiment in that, than all children will quite like. It may make them feel uncomfortable and shy, if they are told to learn it or repeat it aloud, but if they are left to their own reading, it is a piece which will make its impression, and of which even Wordsworth would not have been ashamed. And the South wind in coming and going was loud, And odorous and moist like the breath of a cloud, is in his happiest manner, as is, indeed the They tell me sea-air's tonic; They bid me seek the briny ; Dip my head till I am stifled, Rub my body, till I'm shiny. Bu I've no taste for sewage, Diluted though it be, And that's the sort of brewage Supplied us - by the sea! The papers come in late, The poulterer is surly. The fish comes down from London, 'Gainst the cheating of the natives If longer here I linger, Or sea anemoné, My wife may call me selfish,.. And read me Caudle-lectures, On my private grounds for bolting Indulge in harsh conjectures : Blest if I stand it longer In town to-night I'll be, Better London in September, Than a week more by the sea. - Punch. POETRY: Doves in Peacocks' Feathers, 322. The Arrest of Sinalunga, 322. Pan Anglican, 322, 384. Are the Children at Home? 339. Chanson without Music, 384. Preparing for Publication at this Office THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS. By the author of "Heir of Redclyffe." THE BROWNLOWS. By Mrs. Oliphant. LINDA TRESSEL. By the author of "Nina Balatka." THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY. By Charles Lever. ALL FOR GREED. PHINEAS PHINN, THE IRISH MEMBER. By W. Trollope. THE TENANTS OF MALORY. By J. S. Le Fanu. 50 cents. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY LITTELL & GAY, BOSTO N. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. FOR EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the Living Age will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. But we do not prepay postage on less than a year; nor where we have to pay ommission for forwarding the money. Price of the First Series, in Cloth, 36 volumes, 90 dollars. Second The Complete work " "" 20 66 50 " Any Volume Bound, 3 dollars; Unbound, 2 dollars. The sets, or volumes, will be sent at the expense of the publishers. DOVES IN PEACOCKS' FEATHERS! 'Gainst From White crêpe bonnets, azure-trimmed, Quakers true ! en SOUR" for Rise, fainéant JOHN BRIGHT, But ah- -on nearer view Thou wear'st a collar, too, a brim of carnal breadth on thy hat hast stoop'd to show! Oh, woe and well-a-day, For Friends thus fall'n away the strait path in apparel to the carnal "A Wedding AT A FRIENDS' MEETING En suite for carnal persons, but HOUSE. A Wedding of a very fashionable character took place on Wednesday at the Friends' Meeting House, Quaker's Friars, Bristol, the contracting parties being MISS MARIANA LOUISA RAKE, youngest daughter of MR. JoSEPH RAKE, and MR. DAVID FRY, youngest son of MR. Jos. FRY. The nuptial party arrived at the meeting house in eleven or twelve carriages, several of which were And driven by pairs of greys, with postilions in scarlet liveries. * * * The bride was elegantly attired in a rich train of white corded silk; small fashionable bonnet, almost confined to a wreath or chaplet of orange blossoms, from which fell in graceful folds a long veil of tulle edged with pearls. The five bridesmaids were uniformly attired in dresses of white grenadine, the skirts of which were neatly edged with blue; white crêpe bonnets, trimmed with blue; and gracefully-formed peplum jackets, with blue trimmings en suite. MRS. F. J. FRY, sister of the bride, wore an exceedingly handsome dress of pink satin, covered with white grenadine muslin; bonnet of white crêpe, with white forget-me-nots and ostrich feather, and bridal veil pending from the back. MISS WINDHAM, a friend of the bride, wore a white grenadine muslin dress tastefully trimmed with pink; white and pink bonnet with flowers to match.". - Bristol Paper. And minded road! Farewell meekness, mildness, peace, with close-caps and poke-bonnets be in Punch. lavender bestowed! THE ARREST OF SINALUNGA. "More in sorrow than in anger." SAD and yet stern, a firm but reverent hand Italy lays upon her hero's arm, Whose love for her spurns Prudence's command, And sees in policy less help than harm. In sorrow, not in wrath, she bids him pause, Reminds him how e'en love law's rule must own: How subjects must be subjects, be their cause With love that thus love's urging countermands, She honours her great prisoner, and his crime "NON PAN-ANGELI, SED PAN-ANGLICANI." THERE was a big Synod of seventy-two Bishops so bothered they didn't know what to do: So to do what was wanted they drew to a head, Shut their doors, said their prayers, and - did nothing instead. - Punch. |