"EVENING STAR" SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT OF ENTERTAINING READING.

$o. 56.]

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1876

[Price; ONE PENNY,

Poetry.

THE POPULAR CREDO.

m,. following YO«es,entitled 'The Popular Crodo,' v^rtsP Hninw, Pittsburgh, Pa., were published *7 » with Ms other poems, in 1852-at the very time sen *in9«csn insii utious were so much Bought dollar*! dollars »nfl dimes ! Vn empty pocket's Uio worst r.f crimes ! If i nn.us down, give him a thi'ust— Trwnpl'' tta- bsggiir into dust! Presumptuous poverty.* quite appMling— Knr-k him ov,t ? fiiolc him for /ailing ! If a man'H up, oh ! lift aim h gher— \v,,rs .tf'sfur sale, and he's* Duyer,_ }) nw and dollar.:, dollars and dimes. ,«n empty pocket's ;h wo:st of crimes. I a pO'j'r but a W< rthy youth, Whose hopea .ire built en a maiden's truth. But the maiden will braak her vo>vs wtth ease, For a woaer Cometh w'jgsr claims are those : — A hollow heart ana a empty head, ' Afice well tinged with the brandy red, A soul, well tralcoJ in viilaiuy s sch-ol Antl cosh —sweat easts ; ha Jmowoth tin rue— Dimes and dollars, dollars and dimes Aa empty pocket's the worst of crimes. ; T know a bold j-.nci * hmest man Who strlvr-8 to liv-< on the Christian plan ; But noor ha is. and poor will bo— A scorned and hated wretch ia he Ath»mtjhi) tneeteth a starving wife ; Aboa'i he Itaacth tha Jeper's life. Ttieysfrng£fl° s^anst a fearful odds Who will net bow to the c p!o ' gods— Dimes da'i uoliars, dollar* aud dimes AU empty potket's the w.jrat of orients. So get ye W3t.!th—uo nutter how— ' No qu -stious asked of ths lich I trow ; Steal by niglit and f-tia) by day (Doins' it a;l id a Jegai wiy) Join tbo Church, and. never foi'sske her ; Lo-an to cant And insult your Maker ; Be hvpocrit-3, liar, knave, and fool, JsUt doa'l be poor ?—Remember the rule- Dimes and dollar*, doliars and dimes. An empty poclcct s tha worst of crimes. Q

TO MY LOVE ANNIE.

Soft of voice and li*hi of hand as tb.6 f*ire«r. In the Jancl — Who can rightly understand My Love Annie ?

Simple in her thoughts and ways, Trne in every word she says, ■"TFflosnali even dare to pr >iao My Lovo Annie ? Midst a muguty world, and judo, >"ov.;r in ungentlH mood ; Ndvo» iired Ol' being good— My love Annie, Ku-adreis of the wise and great, Mighi o'eriooh. her meek estate ; Bat on her good angels wait, My lovo Annie.

Many or few the loves that may Hhiua upon Her siient way, God will loye her nighL and day, jMj iovo Annie

WILD FLOWERS.

' Tiß fairt'> see our cultured buds their tthiuing tinis nnfold, la leaves iM wear tha sapphire's huo, or mock the sunset's go d; The lily's k/acq, the rose's blush, liavo drawa tad admiring g-iae, , _ . And w.-.n fara tnauy a miasjral h^rp the meod of Bjng And p aiae; Oh! Uny a-e moot for fesUl hill, or beauty s courtly bowers. ~, . For tho33 I love', t-ae wreath sh*ll bo, of wild ana woodiunci flowers !

Bright clustering in tha forut shades, or springing f.' om tiie sod, As flung from £dan, forth they ooaio, fresh from the haud ot God ! No human csre hath nurtured them ; the wild wind. paseeth by; They flonrigh in the eunhine gleam and tempest cloudea Bky ; And i.h! like every gift that He, tbo bjuntiful, bath given, Their treasures fill, alike to all, type of his promised haiven!

They bear to ua sweet memorks of childhood's happy years, Ere grief had wrung the heatt with pain, or dimmed the eye with tears ; They hava been twined with playfulness round many »tuaay hiow, We<e coatty psarls and Indian gams are proudly fhshi'-g now! But hiding many 3 lino of cars beneath the.'r gorgeous blnze, Thai luiked no; 'neath tlw wile flower wreata of youth's untroubled days! Oh! chide not at the simple theme that wake 3 the nibs-rel'rj lay. Earth were less bright without the flowers tnat blossom by the way : He at wh-jse word tiie universe her ancient mlgnt am 3 ield. Hath taugh: proud man a lesson from tao lilies of tne field. I tlisnk thee, God ! for every bosn Thy hand In mercy phowers, And oh, not leist among thy gifts, the beautiful wild flowers!

WHY.

Why do I love you ? I don't know ! T( ey say love nevor giv&a a reason ; But *hat ha has one I don't doubt, Do yoa ? Yon do ! That's downright treason Not slways, let me tell you, sir. Love practiced such excess of prudence ; 'l'was once ia custom to explain The why and wherefore to his students. Atid how to solve each pmzling case He taught by mie and illustrations ; But scepticj, such as you, havo made Lovs sby of giving demonstrations. Why fooliah mor:al3 love at all, Why we to hold each other dearest ; llow long twill last, and where 'twill end. You'd "like to know, you precious querist? You never will! I'll tell you that, Yet »till maintain my first assertion ; Lovo understands what he's about, And biads yon, first, for his diversion. Ah. why I love you ! If I knew, I w.-.uld not t<3) yon —no. no, never ! For scnls like yours are mad ■ to seek, And mine to hid", you sso, forever. Here's littlo., sir, you don's find out, But slnco that little makes life pleasant, Itui-dE I ii keep it secret still, And so keep jou, too, for tho present.

DISCONTENT.

A nun i- ( hisoirria?e w riding alonj? ; <Hj ki-ylv-drested wife by hin si'Je ; In k-.lin-i an*i lace*sue loofcedliko a qnocn. Anct he like c hiug in his pride A wood-saw-or Kto^rl on tho street as th?y p»3sea i The c^riisg > and con ale he eyed, And s\id as lie workfid with -i saw on his leg : I wisli I was rich aud ocuM ride, Th- man \a hU carriage saW to his wife : One -hinj i would give if I could— I wcu!d Rive all my Health tot tne strength ana health Of the ia«o viio is s-iwinj wood.

A little cirl was naked what was th^ meaning Oi tD6 wurd baopy t She roiiliefl: 'Itis to fesl as it you "ffantej to giyc up al! your thiug.i to your little sistar.

Strangely Betrothed.

' Going out, Ellen, are you ?' said my father, aa he tightened the rsin of his sturdy hill pony. ' Well, my dear, I have to face the heat, too, and shall envy you the Bhada of your favorite trees beside the big tank. That Malabar headman i spoke of, who haa brought over a gang of coolies from the mainland, has promised to meet; me in front of tho joss-house in the Nal Tanteo village, to see ii we can come to iermt). I shall b& back before tiffia-time, \ hope.' Aad with a kindiy nod and a smile, he rodo off an a brisk trot, his horsskeeper, a banfoou'd Cingala39 fad, easily keeping pace with the p ■r.y. and running swift and silent, like a bronu chadow, beside his master's stirrup.

Times had dhanged, anrl for the worse, since Mr. Travers had baen reckoned among the moat thriving coffee planters in Ceylon. Our ouce famous plantation, ctiilod Travera, after ths family that bad poasesßod it for two generations, was not now the source of profio that, in my grandfather's tune, it had bean. The rich soil, worn oat by overcropping and neglect, no Jonger yielded its heavy harvest of red brown berries ; while to reclaim fresh land from the jungle was both toilsome and costly. The estate gave us the means of a maintenance, and a littie more.

I was an only chiid, and my father was a widower ; sj that our actual necessities, in tuab cheap aad frugal country we-e easily provided for. .Nor should I have had a care in the world, save for tho old, old story of lovo, tho courae of which hard circumstances would not suffer to run smooth. Our nearest neighbor—and Christian neighbors, with white faces aud English-speaking tongues, were scarce in Northern Ceylon—was Mr. Forster, a planter, by far wealthier than we ?vera. .Sow, Oswald Forsier aad I were plighted lovers ; bun the very idea of an engagement between his only son aud the daughter of hi 3 embarrassed neighbor was gull aud wormwood to Oswald's father, a proud, strong-willed man, who managed ha thriving property so as to extract from every hecgah of arable land its utmost yield in silver rupees.

Desirous to efface from Oswald's mind idea of marrying poor little Ellen Travers, Mr. Forster, with his wife's concurrence, proposed to send his son to Europe, confidant thai; foreign travel aad change of scene would sooa obliterate from hia memory tho image of tho lonely little girl beside the yreai; Tank of Minary.

And lio-.v a :vonl concerning tho Taak ifc seif, tho aamo of which, I fear, conv-.-ya to European readers but a very inadequate con csp'.ion of the Btupuudous reality. The Taak of Minnry, justly reckoned among the marvels winch the Isiaud of Ceylon has still to show, is perhaps she grandest of artficial lakes planned by mortal engineer. More than two th ;D3and years havo psssed since, before the Christian era, a Budaist king bade his subjects toil to erec; tho massive walls of huivn etona and tough chunau that eaviron that vase sheet of water, twenty-five miles in circuniforenca. With the Minary lake or Tank, which lay oloae to my own home, I had bee:i from childhood familiar ; and I dearly loved tho mirror-like expanss of its calm waters, studded with floating islands of the crimeon-blossomed loiua of India, the red flowers and green leaves of which covered many thousand acres of the surface. Strange riah "of brillitnt colors glided ia glittering shoaia through the deep, clear water, rarely disturbed b> prow or paddle. Bxigh.-, birda of every Hixa, from tho scarlet flamingo to fan siny oriole or liho towering adjutant, haunted it • and ali around grew in deasa profusion the mighty trees and flowering creepers of the virgin forest, whence came, ab times, the complaining cry of the mouutain-eat, the belling of the deer, the panther's snarl, or the crashing of cane and sapling as wild elephants forced heir way through the trackless re cesses of the juagle. I am bound to admit that there were other tenants of the lake and forest less attractive than cue bvhjht-plamigad birds and the pretty little lizards basking in the patches of yellow sunshine. Alligators were very common, snakes plentiful, and the scorpion, the ceuti psde, and the tree-leech were often to bo met with in more swampy and tangled track3_ of the woodlands. Bui; we, who were colonial bom, learn a disregard of Dhe creeping things that surrouud us which astonishes a new avaival from Europe, and I had never in my jife known what is was to feel fear of beast or reptila. I watched my father's retiring figure until ifc disappeared among the feathery bamboos that lined the path, and tnen, turning my back on the white house with its green verandahs, walked on under the shadow of the great; forest; trees till I reached the enbankmeat of the Minary Tank. Half an hour's walking brought me within sight or a ruinous Summer-house, built on the edge of the lake by some former Dutch proprietor, und yec surmounted by a large ball of gilded pith, perched on a pole. Near this Summer house it was my cub?om to meot Oswald, audit w.mUl b-j bus very aeldoaa this we were bo meet henceforth, since, poor fellow, he was to sail by the Loud Dalhousik, expected at Point de Galle on the 31at of the month. . On my way I paused now and then, fa miliar as was the prospect, to gaza upon the wide expanse of the lake, the silvery waters of which rolled away ao grandly that it was hard to conceive that what; seemed almost entitled to take rank as an inland sea, could be actually the work of human hands. Fioaks 'A wildfowl, With whJue wings and sbrill scrouin, hovered above tho swarms of gorgeously-tinted fish that swam around the hn»e weed beds; while here and there, emong the red lotus blossoms, appeared what; mi«ht have been easily mistaken for a floating

log, but which I knevv to bo an alligator drowsily basking in the glad sunshine.

The heavy heat seemed to render exertion oven for the natives difficult, for I saw no fisher as U3ual paddling his light canoe, or preparing his tough nets of cocoanut fiber. And the very Cingalese woodcutters had deserted their work, leaving behind them a great heap of hewn timber, in front of which, imbedded iv the spongy wood of a cypress. four or five short height axea remain sticking. Some few paoea from this heap vvae the ruin ous Summer-house, and beyond is ther.t towered alofo the talipot tree, >vith ibn va3t serrated Icavea, that serve the Cingalese foi1 B*il, and thatob, aud soreeu, beneath which Oswald aud I were accustomed to meet.

To my surprise, and perhup3 chagrin, I did nos at firot soe .him for whom I looked, and began to fear that he had forgotten to "keep his wontvd tryst ; but, on drawing nearer I beheld a sight that for the; moment froze my very veins with horror, and c-.u'wrl the cry of anguish that rose upon my lips to die away. Oswald -lying on the turf among the roots of the gigantic palniiree — seamed to be asleep, overcome, probably by the nriusftl heat, while around him was loosely coikd something that resembled a stout rope, curiously streaked with black, and orange, and white —something that cause* tho withered leaves and crisp graan to ra-tle as it stirred.

I had never seen a living fcic-palunga, but I knew at the firbt glance that tlie snake before my eyes was no Olher than a l'irge specimen of that dreaded reptile, which in Ceylon takes the position chat in Continental India belongs to the cobra, and for the bite of which there is no known remedy. T*vice within the last threo years laborers ou ray father's plantation bad been brought ia dying from the venom of '.ho tie-palunga, but in each instance lh", skill of the native snake charmer had led to the capture of the reptile, and it waa not believed that any of this species had buen left alive in our immediate neighborhood. This, however, was unquest ionably a tie-palunoa many feet long, and it had wrapped its curs, aa though iv liu?enu* sport, around v'swald's iimba aa he lay there unconscious. The ereat, flai head of the enormous anake rested ou the ground aiming the fluWttra and fores. I could sea its oyes. bright as jewels, fixed upon me. It showed for t;he moment, however, no particular signs of auger or of distrust, but contented itaeiE by quietly con templating the in trudcr on ii;s haunis. A^i I stood gazing on my Bleeping lover, and the monstrous creature that lay wakeful bub quiescent so near ho him, »'l the stories of snnko'i thai; I have over hoard or read curm crowding in upon my quickened memory. I knew th it the tic-palunga, in common with most of the 'venomous varieties of its race, seldom employed its poison-fangs unless when attacked or annoyed. Bub I also knew the hardiest; elephant-hunter of the forests would sooner confront; the charge of a herd of incensed tuskers than face the lanos-like dart and rancorous bite of this dread denizou of of the jungle. The tic-palunga, unlike the boa and the python, rarely, if ever, preys upon the larger auiinala, suah as deer or cattle, confining its diet for the uiogh part to birds and frogs and lizards. Somo caprice most likely had caused it to twine a part of its eupplo con volutions around Oswald aa he lay, and, ao long as he remained asleep and motionless, there w*s littia probability that the serpent would harm him. My groat fear wm iear, he should «vafc», an.-f, iv awaking, by oomo hasty unvomenti arouse the ire of tao reaisuless fos. Oswald was bravo nud atrong, but is was a moekory to speak of courage when so terrible an antagonist was in question.

Suddenly, as if it had been a, whisper f rom heaven, there came to ray mind a thought that promised hope, even in that dL-e extremity of need. I had often seen harm less snakes kept tame in colonial houfa hoid.s, and w=i3 Avvans of their habits and of their love for certain kiuda of food, and, above all. for raiSk. Could I but hnug fco thai spot a supply of milk and place i:, before Oswald ahould awake, fcemptiogly nsar to tha tic-palung.i, all might yet bo well. Aud yet to desert him -pour follow in such terrible company, seemed cruel; yet it was for hit', sake, and I felt that I mu9b go. Very slowly, then, lest my foot steps should disturb tae sleeper, or irritate the hugs reptile that kept wacch be3ide him, I stole away, and, when at n safe distance, liew, rather than ran, along the foreat-path. The nearest European dwelling was Os wald's own home. There were Cingalese huts nearer, no doubt, where dwelt some of Mr. Eorster's hired men ;but I should cot be .•ible to procure what I sougat save from the planter's! house. Ab another time I should not havo vvilliugiy trespassed on tha domains of Oswald's father ; bap this waa no occasion for sorupie or punctilio. Life and death, aa 1 I knew, depended on my speed. | There, at length, ro*e up before 100 the '■ miikthorn hedge, the'impenetrable thorns of ! which are often useful in keeping ouo leopard I and jaokal, which surrounded x,ho pJaaiet's | homestead, and, pasaiDg turough an open 1 gate, I entered the compound. The lirst j servant ih-ifc I met, and who lifted hia hand to his snow-white turban with a polite I ' Salaam ' and a atniifs that showed i;ha white :: teeth between his bearded lips, was a man : whom I knew—a Mahratfca groom who had formerly been in my father's service., and ; whoaa child i had aursed torough aa attack jof the Ceylon fever _ i ' Lali bingh !' I gasped our., panting for ' breath, 'do me a kindness, for t! so sake_ of old br&ad aud sale. Got me coma froth miik quiokly. for the love of God, but auk no questions —bhsi!' Something in my tone nnpressea the Malifer^fcfei, for without a woi-d lie hurried off,

and soon returned, bearing a jar of milk and a drinking vessel, or iota, which would contain something less than a pint, and which at a sign from me, he filled with milk. This very act, siighfc as it may seem, was no small compliment, for ife was, doubbless, his own driuking-cup that Lall Biugh was giving me, wnd s shonid any lip not be loiisinu; to ono of pure Hindoo desosnt touch its burnished cim, it would hereafter be unfit; for uso. However, 1 acarcoiy waited to uvr.er a worri of fchn/iks, but sn^ched uo hra^s iot;j and darter) our-.

It; m*y be though? singular itufi I had nob given tue alarm to the household tit Mr. Former's plantation ; bur. I had m«olvfd that; 1 would not;, it; 1 could do my errand unqaestionde, create a turmoil which might; bring about tho very evil apainst which I was striving. Oswald's mother ami sister lo^ed him ; but i;heir nerv«s wero not; of the shronuosS, pud their out-cries, had they heard tho news, would have had the effect of Bumrnoaing a score of servants and cooJics, and to seal Oswald's fase by EGodiug n noisy posse of volunteers to fcht> place whore he lay at the auabe's mercy. As if on winged feet, yet carrying tho precious draught of milk with jealous care, I hurried baok to ?.i..e epoc where, at the foot; of the hn«;e talipot-tree, lay Oswald, y<-5 aslo«p. Tho snake, however, as if uu e;.sy wa beginning no stir. Iks monstrous head wagged slowly fro a aide to sHo the wild flowers, and its slender tongue protruded from between its grim jaws Bur, 1 was in time, and, aa T poured fcbe milk, or rat.her a portion of it, on the ground, so that a tral should ?e d to the spov vvhare I s»t down thi brass drinkini»-cup, with what of its contents remained, I was careful to avoid, by any abrupt gesture, incensing ths ticpalunga. Then como s minute or two of agonized oxpectanoy. and *;ben, to my gre ■.!"/ joy, I s>tw the reptile flowly uncoil him'lf, ov> deatly tuuKin^ for fihe milk. i'irss one wreath and then another of the snake's lioiber length was uutwiued, hik 1 tho grr-afe sorpunt, brushiug through tho forest gr&en and flov?ereiF, stoouad ifs broad head to drink. As I saw Oswald thus frond, and

'.ns unsuspected for; dr-.w fnrcber ar>d far ther :»way from fiio place vvhere ho reposed, I felt rhu Ssront(th which had bi'herr.o Bupporrod me suddenly become weakness. My nerves boiii;» uo longer braced by the sense of Oswald's mortal peril, tho iuatinc tivo terror and disgaat which I hud from ohildhoml l-it for fcna serpent tribe over powered rue, and I grow dizzy aud weak, and I coui'-J scraculy Btand and Boarcaly se«

What whs this? before lny (linfiay^s? '>'i>:: v7el!-h»ow;i por<sl« of tbe Dut-ch cr>!oni?n's aumraer-housG. ovorgrowa by trailing creep er*, and :;il but choked by tall weerts. Mechanicaliy I eufcerod, and sinkii.ig down oa h raolderimg wooden Beat, once decked vvinh silken cuaiiions and gold-leaf, I grad ually regained the physical strength which had'deserted mo, and with io the oap&Olty for thought. Is is curious how, iv such cases of extreme exhaustion, the benumbed mind slowly resumes some abandoned train of thought, and thus it was with rao. By do grees I remembered Oswald's clanger, my own efforts to save him, and

What waa that itutlinj? among the sterna, ami leaves, and buds of the luxurious pants that fescooned tho shatterd wiudows of the Summor-h'>usß, in all -he ranis profusion

fcheir tropical growth? SnrcJy, turoly no the rippiiDg, mi-.iuiauog tnotioo with wL-icf a hngo sriako drags himself through tha brekea and junjile-grasa ! my feard wore but tou true ; for thsre, in tho op-ti window-Bp'ice -t-hc- b.-oken traliiswork of which had been replaced by wild vines and dangling orchids appeared, at a height of six or seven feet above the ground, the hideous head of the serpent that had lately menaced Oswnld, and now confrouted me.

An.l 'hrtti it fiatih-'d apo.i me th»»t this de- Sitted kiosk wan probably the r^p iie's actual home, and rhut. aa thuu^h in vpry irony of terror, I had veulured to intrude into the vrtrv lair of fcao borfihlo creature, from tho sight of which I hid—once tha,fc Oswald's safety seemed assured— rar-led dizziiy away. I had often hoard of the strange taste which snakes evince for an abundoned dwelling, and how frequently they haunt the out buildings of Europeans' abode, and the hubs of the natives ; aad yet hero had I rashly strayed inio the hiding-place of the deadliest guardian cf the Ceylon jungle. That the snnko wrts perturbed, thero could be no doubt, It curved ifca graceful neck like that of a swan, and hissed slightly while its broad jaws were partly opened I fancied that I could see the curved poison fauga—more to be dreaded than ever was Malay creese or Muori-h dagger - while iha jewel-bright eyes glittered oroinously. Oub vsild, piercing nhrick I coulu noo repress ; and then the futility of reaUtAnofl or of flight fo>ced itself upon me, and I s;ood, motionless as a marble s!«tue <>f embodied fear, gazing at the eraera!dine eyes, fixad wiih 80 pitiless a f<tare on mine, Tito subtle, Buffoeafcing odor which large fiotponis exhale when angry, reached me ; but already I gave myself up fur lost, and waited passive till the tic-paiunga should m»ke his i&V'A data.

The sibiiano noise from the snake's haif shufc jaws had louder, and the bright, balefai eyi.s more menacing, while the g<im head towered high aloft, rc-ily to strike— when sudaouiy, KOinething bright flashed through the flow rn^ viao^ of ihe creeping piai\t, :ii:d she sau,..<.-;;'s hideout) heaii »Jid iithe borly disappsared, as i£ by vaugia. Then fdlow^ii ti.e souiida of a fierce struggle, repeated blows, trampiug foeu, snapptrg boughs, and tlio aco^n^s of human voice* ; and then Oswald came leapfeg through the doorwayj clasped me in his arias, aad bore g;0 oilfc into the broad light of ihe day. wh^re lay writhing yet, the carcass of tho dead snake,

hewn through by the sharp-outting axe which Oswald still grasped in his right hand. 1 Shabash !' exclaimed Lall Singh, whose swarthy face gleamed with delight as he spurned the body of the vanquished reptile. 'It was well that the first blow went home, or it; would have fared but badly with the young aahib when this accursed slayer of men turned on him. Wan ! I'd sooner have fauced a ttger '

To Lall Singh I was indeed, ia no alight degree indebted for nay safeoy. Convinosd, f>ona tiu3 agitation of njy manner, than gome thing was wrong, he had followed me, and w^iu fcho act of arouning Oswald from his (slumber, when the piercing snriak which fear had wrung from me re-echoed through the woods, aud called attention to the imminence of the peril. Then Oswald had snatched up one of fche keen short axes which the native woodcutters had left sticking in a tree-trunk, and had been fortunate enor.gh to disable the a > take at the first blow.

My story ia now told, and I have only to add that I was overwhelmed with praises and oareasaa by the Forster family—hitiherto so oald and that, on rhe foiiowing day, Mr. Forsrer inmsulf rode ovur to my father's house, to entroat Mr. iravers, fromijwhom he had of iite bueu esfccitnged, to accept his renewed freadship, aa.l fco ask for my band on behalf of hia sun. Oswald lo<*t his passage on the homeward-bound steamer chat was to touch at Point de Gale, and, when he did visit Hkuope, he took with him Ellen Travers as his wif«.

We have loug beeu happily Settled -far from the tropic juugles aad their danger ous habitant hut never have either my husbaud or myself forgotten those few iustanta of bitter anguish and alarm besidej the Tank of Minary.

Lamartine's Wife.

Tnra :i-ory cf the marriage of Lamartinc, the great French p>et and utafcesniun, is one of romantic interest.. The lady wa3 of an English family canted Bach, j*ud very weal ,h>. >Sh« licat full in love with the yo«t from reading hU ' Meditations Poe-iques.' She was slightly pa'jt the b!o('m of youth, but still yr-uiv; aud fcir. She read and reftead. the 'Mcditatioue,' and nurs«d the tender saLitiincnd in secret;. At length she sa»v !,acnarT.ine in Genoa, and her iove became a pare of her very life. Not long after this she was made acquiauted withjthe fact that the poet was BuO'oring, even to utihappiness, from tue emos.rresstd state of hi 3 pecuniary affairs. Miss Birch was not long in deciding upon her courae. She would not

iiiov the happlaeea of a lifetime to slip froua h:;r if she could prevent it. Siie wrote, to Ui2 poo-, ti frank and wo-uanly letter, acknowledging hoi1 deep intyresfc aad pro found respect, and offering him the bulk of her fortune, if ho were vviliiag to accept it. Of couTße, Lamardne could not but suspect the truth. Deeply iouciisd by her generosity he called upou her, and found her to be not orsly fait1 to look upon, but a woman of a brilliant, literary, and artistic education. He made au oftor of his hand and heart, aud was promp&ly and gladly accepted, and in after years Alfonse de Lamartine owed not more to his wife's wealth than to her «ustaining lovo and inspiring enthusiasm.

An expensive wife makes a pensive husband.

Marriage is described by a French cynic as a l iresome book witu a very fine preface. Why is 'naming the daj ' for the wed ding iike a siaval battle? Because it's a marry-time engagement.

There are doubtless many women who have never intrigued or flirted, but such must load a dull existenc, and dying, will leave a world the positive joys of which they have never fully experienced.

liaron Bramvretl, at the Liverpool Assizas recently, expressed a hope that actions for breach of promise would be abol ished, that men need not be goaded into marrying women they did not like.

A woman has spread dismay among her fashionable Newburyport relatives by ap pearing among them wearing the same bonnet she wore when she married and went to Texes 25 years ago. Somebody having stated that the "Woman's Pavalion at the Centennial is illo-red to get very dirly, the 'Rochester Democrat ; aske3 in indignant tones if one can strike for fredom and do housework at the same time.

: Tha sexton of a parish chircb in county Armagh was about to lose his wife. Sue begged him to bury h/r m Tyrone, among her own kindred, forty miles away. ' In deed, Peggy,' said he • I'Jl thry ye here first; but if ye give ony trouble I'll take ye up and bury ye in Tyrone.' •Tones is sum« for a divorce from his wife, who has deceived Him He could not help, after discovering her guilt, rating her soundly for it. ' The idea,' she said, bursting into tears. * The idea of treating me so brutally, when i had givon myself so much trouble to keep you from knowing anything; of ie so as not to worry you ! And this is the thanks I get V

Bashful spooney (on his honeymoon) : ' Larry, my wiie and I have both noticed that th« towns people stare ar us very hard. 1 hope you haven't been telling anybody that we are newly married p' Larry (the faithful faciotum) : ' Me tell 'em sor-P Is it likely o'id go agin my c^prcoo o»rii\<irc ». Why, whinever anybody thryed to ptimp me, sor, o'ive towled 'em you wasn't in&t-< ried at all.'