Gleanings.

AN EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE OF ROMANTIC CHASTITY.

་་་་་་·

CANDAULES, king of Lydia, was so much enamoured of his wife, that his vanity could not be satisfied, while her beauties were revealed to him alone. Among the courtiers of Candaules was one of the name of Gyges, to whom he was chiefly attached, and in whom he placed the most unlimited confidence. In one of their private conversations boasting as usual on the beauty of his wife, the king contended that Gyges could not have an adequate idea of her charms while so much of them was concealed by the incumbrances of dress; and. to convince him of the truth of what he asserted, insisted that he should have ocular demonstration, by concealing himself in the chamber where she undressed to go to bed.

It was in vain that Gyges remonstrated against the indiscretion of his royal master; in vain he laid before him the probabi lity of a discovery, and the sanctity and veneration in which female modesty should be held; the king remained inexorabie, and Gyges reluctantly consented. This highly-favoured courtier was conducted by his master to the place of concealment, and in security and at leisure he contemplated the naked beauties of his royal mistress. In retiring, however. he did not escape the notice of the queen; who, aware of this peculiar foible of her royal husband, immediately suspected the contrivance; but neither gave an alarm, nor indicated her indignation by any token whatever.

The following day, however, Gyges received a message to attend the queen; and unsuspecting what was to be the nature of the conference, immediately obeyed The queen briefly explained the reasons why she had commanded his attendance, and concluded with offering him a choice, either to kill Candaules and possess himself of her and the empire, or to die himself: for said she- The man who betrayed and exposed me, must he sacrificed; or you, who have witnessed my shame and dishonour."

·

Astonished and confounded at the boldness of the proposal, Gyges attempted by every possible means to pacify and divert the anger of the princess; but her design was too deeply rooted to be shaken by the rhetoric of the courtier. She gave him to understand, that his refusal was in vain ; and that, if he persisted, he must not hope to escape the fate which awaited such a resolution. The virtue. or rather the policy. of Gyges yielded to the plea of self-preservation; he murdered Candaules, and pas sessed his empire and his queen.

EFFECTS OF ABSENCE OF MIND.

ONE day I got off my horse to kill a rat, which I found on the road only half killed. I am shocked at the thoughtless cruelty of many people:-yet I did a thing soon after, that has given me considerable uneasiness, and for which I reproach myself bitterly. As I was riding homeward, I saw a waggon standing at a door, with three horses: the two foremost were eating their coin from bags at their noses; but I observed the third had dropt his on the ground, and could not stoop to get any food. However I rode on, in absence, without assisting him. had got nearly home, I remembered what I had observed in my absence of mind, and felt extremely hurt at my neglect; and would have ridden back had I not thought the waggoner might have come out of the honse and relieved the horse. A man could not have had a better demand for getting off his horse, than for such an act of humanity. It is by absence of mind that we omit many duties.

But when L

This paragraph shews a good man-a good mind, in a most honourable light. It is not merely compassion that we see in it, but tenderness, though under different circumstances, and therefore under different ways It was no less humane to put the shortest period possible to the sufferings of a dying animal, than to regret the absence of mind, by which all the good possible, that could have been done, though the subject of that good was an animal.

Absence of Mind of a very different description.

By a curious fact, given in the Memoirs of Anne of Austria, it appears that Charles consulted with his Queen on the means of arresting the five Members of the Popular Party. When he had gone to perform this Coup d'Etat, her Majesty, looking on her watch.every minute, and waiting anxiously for the news, said to Lady Carlisle, Rejoice! by this time I hope the King is Master in his own dominions, and such and such persons must now be arrested!" Lady Carlisle contrived to leave her Majesty, dispatched a letter to one of the Members, and acquainted him with the contrivance. When the King entered the House, it was too late. The birds, I see. are flown!" said Charles. The Queen lamented all her life her indiscretion, which in a few minutes undid the King.

CITY BULL.

THE following is said to be a fact:At a great dinner given at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor, in compliment to M. Otto the French ambassador, who was present, gave, as a toast, "The Three Consuls:" but the crier, in repeating the toast aloud to the company, threw the whole room into a convulsion 0. laughter, for he bawled out" Gentlemen, the Three per Cent Consols!"

Poetry.

AN ADDRESS TO READING.

HAIL! Sweetest charmer of my soul,
Ev'n when a stripling green!
Nor hath a rival gain'd thy power,
Which riper years have seen.

No flowery banks, nor vocal groves,
No sweetly murm'ring rill,
Not Nature's charms. combin'd, my soul
With greater raptures fill.

For thee I sigh'd for hours of rest!
Yet shunn'd the sportive throng,
To taste thy more refin'd delights
The silent shades among.

For thee, thro night's dark lonely hours
Oft have I vigils kept.

To follow some wild winding tale,
While others senseless slept.

For thee I pour'd contempt on wealth,
Its pomp. its pride, and ease :
Nor rich repast, nor vestments gay,
Could e'er my soul so please.

For thee I spurn'd the noisy crowd,
That quaff'd the sparkling bowl;
And Beauty's gay seducing train
Were hateful to my soul.

For what are all the joys of sense,
Compar'd with those of mind;
And poor the soul, when such outweigh
Thy pure etherial kind.

Full oft thou tak'st me by the hand,

And plac'd by thee on high,

The present busy bustling scene
Comes bursting on my eye.

Even hoary Time at thy command,
Brings his strange deeds to view;
Whilst mould'ring myriads spring to life,
And act their parts anew.

By thee the heaven-inspired Bards
Their magic numbers roll;

When lo! the powerful passions wake,
And agitate the soul,

By thee we sail the ocean thro',
And traverse realms unknown;
And Nature's strange mysterious lawa
Are to thy vot'ries shewn.

And by thy aid the Word of Truth, (Bright Sun of mental light!) Makes all futurity unveil'd,

Burst on our ravish'd sight.

No more we sigh with bounded views;
Our souls enraptur'd soar,

To these blest scenes where good men rest,
When life's short ills are o'er.

'Tis hence thou art the choicest bon,

Bestow'd on man below;

The source of every hope sublime;
The balm of every woe.

Tis thine to sow the precious seeds,
From whence the Graces spring;
And, with'ring. nip the noxious weeds,
Corruption's gardens bring.

The sweetest hours of social bliss

We owe to thee alone;

The tie that binds congenial souls,
That tie is all thy own.

Without thy aid the haughtiest Thane
Is but a vulgar clown;
And by thee ev'n the lowly poor
Have gain'd a high return.

So e'er I quit thy dear delights,
My soul shall cease to think;
And, in the dark'ning mists of age,
My powers of vision sink.

JULY, 1817.

If with the clash of arms,

And joining furious in host rush on host,

savage strife.

Lay thousands lifeless-fir'd with the bloody scenes
The Bard will rise and o'er the field of horror,
Pouring forth his fairy streams of feeling
And of fancy cheat the revolting eye..
Into an admiration of its glare

Yea, paint it with such skill, that even she
Who shudders at the very name of woe,
Will take her stand amidst the din of war,
Watching with steady eye its varying tide,
Till in the peal of victory is drown'd
Eousands.

The feebler

groan

Will they all this-and will not one step forth
To bid a wel ome to the bounteous year,
Loaded with Nature's gifts? Ungrateful man
The feathered songster of yon deep recess
Is chiding thy delays Soon as the noontide heat
Has yielded to the cool of eve, he com
comes,
And perching on the topmost bough, pours forth
His little hymn of gratitude and joy.
Who with a heart untouched, can look around
On all the teaming store of life and hope!
And who that feels it, will refuse to join d
His note of praise to Nature's hum of joy

Come, and on Fancy's wing, begin thy flight
O'er all the varied fulness of the land!
Mark how the sturdy ox, sated with food,
Stalks slowly o'er the field; tneanwhile his mates,
Urg'd by the heat repair to yonder shade,"
And dash into the deepest of the stream.
Does not the branching oak arise, and spread
In more than wonted beauty? Here no ray
Dare penetrate; tili when the setting sun,
Slat ting his beams athwart the knotted trunk,
Kuns o'er the avenue in streams of gold.
Behold the fields ! no darkling spot is there;
All all are clothed in one unvaried robe
Of lively green, save where the cheerful crowd
Are busy turning to the smiling sun
The fragrant produce of yon sloping plain.
Already bursting from its parent cell,
The ear o'ertops the blade, bringing to man
Its hundred fold return; cheering his heart
With hope of plenty; bidding the pallid labourer
Hush all his fears, and patiently await