A monk ap

feathers, and who uttered the remarkable prophecy, that when white and red hats were in fashion, a period of general calamity would commence. Like Lazarus Aigner, the waggoner did not tell all he had seen immediately, but kept it a secret till the time of his death approached. The 180 dozen ducats neither increased nor diminished. The manikins of the Untersberg not only receive but also pay

visits. At a village wedding near Salzburg, one of them made his appearance, joined the party, danced with such grace as to win the admiration of every body, and gave three batgen to the bridegroom, and as many to the bride, telling them they would be provided for as long as they lived if they put the coins with their other money. He gave three pfennige of simiJar virtue to a ferryman who rowed him from the spot, together with a little stone which was to secure him against drowning And sure enough the ferryman afterwards tumbled into the water, and lay beneath its surface for a quarter of an hour without receiving the least damage, while his three coins multiplied so fast that in a single day he had a trough fuil.

These stories of the manikins, and their liberality, are closely connected with others about the enchanted treasures in the Untersberg. One of the most striking of these relates to a citizen of Salzburg, named Hans Gruber, who once eating his supper by the side of a brook near a spot called the “stone wall,” saw an iron door in this wall suddenly open. peared, and asked him three times to go in, but Hans stoutly declined the invitation. The monk then offered him a gold chain which he wore upon his arm, but Hans still refused to enter the door, while at the same time he begged a link of the chain as a present. Liberality is the order of the day in the Untersberg, and the monk flung not one link, but three, which Hans caught in his hat. And lucky it was he was so expert a hand at catching, for if he had made a miss, he would never have been able to stir from the spot. At least, so said the monk. Hans just caught a glimpse of something like a new world, or some such trifle, through the door before the monk slammed it in his face, and three days afterwards was highly delighted to find his three links multiplied into three and thirty pounds of gold.

Nor was this the only adventure which befel Hans Gruber in the Untersberg. One day he came to a stone crag, from which gold-dust was falling as in a stream. Putting a pitcher underneath, he filled it with the precious metal, and on this occasion, also, saw an open door, which for a moment revealed to him a new world, illuminated by a daye light of its own.

Near the “stone wall,” rendered so illustrious by the discovery of Hans Gruber, two woodmen once saw a heap of charcoal shining in the sun. As this was no spot for charcoal-burners, each of them took a few pieces as a curiosity. Passing by a pond on the way home, one of them idly flung his charcoal into the water, and did not a little regret it, for, in a moment, he saw the surface of the water glittering, as though it had been overlaid with liquid gold. The other woodman had observed this phenomenon, and prudently took his charcoal safe home; when, lo! into pure gold every bit of it was turned. The first woodman, perceiving his comrade's felicity, hurried back to the stone wall, but found in the place of the charcoal-heap, a heap of snakes, who looked upon him as indignantly as our readers will look at us, if we inflict upon them any more of the wild tales of the Untersberg.

Jun.-VOL. LXXXII. No. cccxxv.

F

THE ASTRONOMER'S LECTURE.

A LEGEND OF OXFORD.

BY TIE REV. ANDREA DE SANTA CROCE, M.A.*

I.
ALL Oxford gazed upon the bills!

And each man told his neighbours,
And the student laid aside his books

And the artisan his labours.

Howa new light dawned upon Oxford.

II.

And how the same was incontinently followed by great and small.

Albeit, with divers reasons and intentions.

And the “boating man" gave up his oar,

And the “ batting man" his cricket,
And fellows came down in cap and gown,
Every man for his ticket.

III.
The ignorant, they went to learn,

The learned went to scoff;
One went to put his knowledge on,
And one to show it off.

IV.
But sing, oh Muse! the cause that drew

From shops, and stalls, and attics,
The town, and members of the U.
niversity of Oxford, too,
From Greek and mathematics.

v.
It was a lecture ! one that taught

Of sun's and world's elysian !
How comets by the tail were caught
By the professor's power of thought

And telescopic vision!

Invocation to the muse, prayiog for information.

The information given, and a hint of more information to come.

* Formerly of Brazennose College, and now Prov. Gen. of the Society of Jesus.

x. Uninterruptedly, I say,

For he was quite at home,
He told us what the planets do,
And where the comets roam!

XI.
He told us how the sun was round!

And made a monstrous blaze,
Whereat his hearers all agog.
Sat speechless in amaze!

XII.
But when he said the moon had seas,

And many a hill and river,
Why, they took him for a conjuror,
And their flesh began to quiver!

XIII.
But ah! our modern telescopes

Cut such romances shorter
We know she's but a rocky waste
Devoid of clouds and water.

XIV.
No harvest smiles. No ripening grape,

Puts forth its purple cluster,
But fierce volcanoes boil and glow,
And furnace breezes bluster.

XV.
I have a notion of my own

I'll publish by-and-bye,
About the uses which the moon

Is put to, in the sky,
Besides the lighting up of Earth
In Heaven's economy.

XVI.
I rather think the guardians

Of certain Unions here,
And many a workhouse master, too,

And many an overseer,
Will find in chaste Diana's orb
Their right and proper “sphere."

XVII.
And since but half her silver orbe

Is known to mortal eye,
Perchance the further hemisphere
In endless calm may lie.

XVIII.
And there may be the fabled fields

Plan for multiplying the man in the moon, and utilizing the moon herself.

Hints from Andover and to Somerset House.

An astronomical fact, whereon hangs a political and poetical theory.

The inhabitants dwell there in philosophic charity.

Touching the appointment of a queen, whom every reader may elect for himself.

And if the reader be a lady, she may place the crown on her own brow.

Concerning persons booked for something uncomfortable, and a new mode of cookery

Which is not to be found in Ude, Francatelli, or Mrs. Glasse.

XXI. And in their grand philosophy

This mighty truth they prove,
That human love and love divine
Are all the same above.

XXII.
And there-oh deeply loved ! thine own

Appointed place I see,
And the loveliest of that lovely band,
Shall yield the palm to thee.

XXIII.
And they shall follow in thy train,

From dewy morn till even,
And thou shalt shine 'mid the stars divine,
Like the moon in the midnight heaven.

XXIV.
But on the other side, methinks,

Some frightful fiends I know,
And on spits they are turning, and turning, and
In the molten lava's glow.

(turning, And a demon, in order to keep them from burning, Who bastes them from below.

XXV.
They are foes of mine and foes of thine-

But I name them not—and why ?
Thy tears would fall on the foulest of all,
And their sorrows would pass by.

XXVI.
The spits would cease their turning round,

The sulphur cease its flow,
And the demon would lay his ladle down,
And baste them no more below.

XXVII.
But nothing of this said the lecturer,

Though he lectured" like a brick,"
And had I said as much to him
He'd have called me a lunatic.

XXVIII.
And now a secret sign he gave,

And lo ! uprose the curtain,
It seemed a much worn blanket, but
Of this I can't be certain.

XXIX.
He coughed, to clear his tuneful throat,

And, with triumphant cry,
Shonted, “ Behold my grand, unique,
Transparent orrery.'

XXX.
Oh! what a grisly ring was there

Of beasts with aspect sour;
I thought at first the brutes had 'scaped
Their dungeons in the Tower.

XXXI.
The Ram was like a Guernsey cow,

Which the Bull came trotting after,
Driven by the Twins—two ragged boys-

With shouts of savage laughter.

How to stop the diabolical cookery aforesaid.

Showeth wherein the poet and the philosopher do

not coincide.

Progress of the lecture and freedom from interruptions.

Blaze of light and glory upon an astonished audience.

Zoological suspicions of pri. soners set at liberty.

How the Bull took the Nam for a Guernsey cuw, and ran after the same accordingly.

XXXII.

How the Lion wanted to catch the Crab.

Next crawled the Crab, a hideous thing,

Like Brobdignagian spider; And the little Lion roared behind,

As though about to ride her.