that France, however rich she may be, would be exposed to complete ruin?...

'General Morillo has himself said to General Hill that it was impossible to prevent the mischief; that there was not a single soldier or officer in the Spanish army who had not received letters from his family in which they were enjoined to take advantage of the occasion and to fill their pockets in France. It is, therefore, my place to stop these disorders; and all that I regret is that the Spanish Generals will not understand that all the measures that I have taken were strictly and absolutely necessary.'

61. THE PARROTS.

A tradesman, who had a shop in the Old Bailey, London, opposite the prison, kept two parrots, a green and a grey. The green parrot was taught to speak when there was a knock at the street-door; the grey, whenever the bell rang; but they only knew two short phrases of English. The house in which they lived had an old-fashioned projecting front, so that the firstfloor could not be seen from the pavement on the same side of the way; and, on one occasion, they were left outside the window by themselves, when some one knocked at the streetdoor. 'Who is there?' said the green parrot. 'The man with the leather,' was the reply; to which the bird answered: 'Oh! oh!' The door not being opened, the stranger knocked a second time. 'Who is there?' said green poll. 'Who is there?' exclaimed the man. 'Why don't you come down?' 'Oh! oh!' repeated the parrot. This so enraged the stranger, that he rang the bell furiously. 'Go to the gate,' said a new voice, which belonged to the grey parrot. 'To the gate?' repeated the man, who saw no such entrance, and who thought that the servants were bantering him. 'What gate?' he asked, stepping back to view the premises. New-gate,' responded the grey, just as the angry applicant discovered who had been answering his summons.-Goldsmith.

62. THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.

Riding one day with Mr. Commissary Marriott, the Duke of Marlborough was overtaken by rain. The commissary asked his servant, who rode behind him, to give him his cloak; and

the servant gave it to him. The Duke also asked for his cloak; his servant did not bring it, and he asked for it a second time. The man, who was arranging his saddle, answered him in an angry tone, ‘If it were raining stones, you must wait till I can get it.' The Duke merely turned to Mr. Marriott, saying: 'I would not have that fellow's temper for the world.'—Mrs. Thomson.

63. INSURED.

The engine of an ordinary railway train broke down midway between two stations. As an express train was momentarily expected to arrive at the spot, the passengers were urgently called upon to get out of the carriages. A countryman in leather breeches and top-boots, who sat in a corner of one of the carriages, comfortably swathed in a travelling blanket, obstinately refused to budge. In vain the porter begged him to come out, saying the express would reach the spot in a minute, and the train would in all probability be dashed to pieces. The traveller pulled an insurance ticket out of his breeches pocket, exclaiming, 'Don't you see I've insured my life;' and with that he set up a horse laugh, and sank back into his corner. They had to force him out of the train, and an instant afterwards the express ran into it.

64. NO TREASON, BUT FELONY.

Dr. Heyward had written a work on the dethronement of Richard II., in which he expressed sentiments highly displeasing to Queen Elizabeth. She sent him to the Tower, and might have sent him to the scaffold, thinking that the book was more important than it really was. She asked Lord Bacon if it did not contain treason. 'No,' replied Bacon, wishing to save his friend, not treason, but a great deal of felony.' 'Felony !' exclaimed the Queen, 'how so?' 'Because,' said the lawyer, 'he has stolen most of his expressions and thoughts from Tacitus.' The Queen laughed and pardoned.—London Prisons.

65. ACQUITTED ON HIS OWN CONFESSION.

A notorious thief, on being tried for his life, confessed the robbery he was charged with. The judge hereupon

directed the jury to find him guilty on his own confession. The jury having laid their heads together, declared him not guilty. The judge bade them consider of it again; but still they brought in their verdict not guilty. The judge asked the reason. The foreman replied, 'There is reason enough, for we all know him to be one of the greatest liars in the world.'.

66. PERSEVERANCE.

Perseverance is a prime quality in every pursuit. Youth is, too, the time of life to acquire this inestimable habit. Men fail much oftener from want of perseverance than from want of talent and good disposition. As the race was not to the hare, but to the tortoise, so the success in study is not to him who is in haste, but to him who proceeds with a steady and even step. It is not to a want of taste, or of desire, or of disposition to learn that we have to ascribe the rareness of good scholars, so much as to a want of patient perseverance.— William Cobbett.

67. EXECUTION OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

The sheriff repulsed Sir Hugh Ceeston from the scaffold. 'Never fear,' said Raleigh to his old friend, 'I am sure to have a place.' A man, who was quite bald, advanced to look at the condemned hero, and to pray for him. Sir Walter took his own cap from his head and placed it on the head of the old spectator, saying: 'Take it, my friend; you will want it more than I.' Then, turning to some noble friends, he exclaimed: 'I have a long journey to make and must say good-bye.' On reaching the scaffold, he said quietly: 'Now I am going to God ;' and touching the axe, he added: "This is a sharp medicine, but it will cure all diseases.' The executioner shrunk from beheading the illustrious man, until the bold knight said to him: 'What dost thou fear? Strike, man!” A moment after he was dead.-Catherine Sinclair.

68. THE CAPITULATION OF BAYLEN.

General Castaños had grown old in a court, for which he was more adapted than for a camp. The hot weather and the baggage with which the French had encumbered themselves,

and the self-sufficiency of their commander, gained for him the victory of Baylen. He had the good sense and modesty to ascribe his success to those circumstances. The French general, Dupont, preserved his vanity even in his chagrin. When he delivered his sword to Castaños, he said: 'You may well be proud of this day, general. It is remarkable that I have never lost a pitched battle till now, I who have been in more than twenty and gained them all!' 'It is the more remarkable," replied drily the sarcastic Spaniard, because I never was in one before in my life.'-Lord Holland.

69. DISHONOUR A SUFFICIENT PUNISHMENT.

When the Empress Catherine received deputies from all the provinces of her vast empire, she asked two Scythians what laws they thought best adapted to their nation. Our laws are few,' said one of them, 'and we want no more.' 'What!" exclaimed the Empress, are theft and murder never found amongst you?' 'We have such crimes,' answered the deputy, 'and they are punished; the man who deprives another of life wrongfully is put to death.' 'But,' added the Empress, 'what is your punishment for theft?' 'How !' exclaimed the Scythian, is it not sufficiently punished by detection?'-Sir John Carr's Travels.

70. ETIQUETTE.

It is related, in a Book on Etiquette, that George IV., when he was Prince of Wales, one day bowed to everyone who saluted him in the streets, till he came to the man who swept the crossing, whom he passed without notice. The writer who relates this circumstance gravely discusses whether the Prince was right in making this exception, and decides in favour of His Royal Highness, saying: 'To salute a beggar without giving him anything would be a mockery, and to stop, in order to give him sixpence, would be like ostentation in a prince.'-C. Sinclair.

71. MARY'S PET LAMB.

Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

He went with her to school one day ;
That was against the rule;

It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.

So the teacher turn'd him out,
But still he linger'd near,
And waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear.

And then he ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm,
As if he said, I'm not afraid;
You'll keep me from all harm.

'What makes the lamb love Mary so?'
The eager children cry;

'why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,'
The teacher did reply.

Laurie's Graduated Series.

72. TAKING OF DELHI.

Delhi, the stronghold of the rebels, was assaulted on the 14th of September, 1857, and after a bloody contest, was completely subjugated on the 20th of the same month. The enemy had abandoned their camp beyond the walls. They were pursued by our troops, who killed a great number of them. The king and queen of Delhi were made prisoners. The two sons and a grandson of the king were also captured and immediately Our loss was great, and we have to regret among the heroes of that day the loss of General Nicholson, who died of his wounds. That siege is one of the most remarkable, as the number of the rebels was at least three times as great as that of the besiegers.

shot.

73. HAVELOCK'S GENERAL ORDER TO HIS TROOPS
AFTER THE BATTLE OF CAWNPORE.

Soldiers! Your general is satisfied and more than satisfied with you. He has never seen steadier troops.

But your

labours are only beginning. Between the 7th and the 16th