In his suit of irons he was hung, They sprinkled him then, and their psalm they sung; And turning away when this duty was paid, The crowd broke up and went their way; The last who look'd back for a parting sight, Saw in dismay that Roprecht was gone! 2. The stir in Cologne is greater to day Than all the bustle of yesterday; Hundreds and thousands went out to see; The irons and chains as well as he Moreover the hangman was ready to swear, Neither kith nor kin to bear him away, So 't was thought, because he had died so well, He was taken away by miracle. If in holy ground his relics were laid, Some marvellous sign would show, they said; If restored to life, a Friar he would be, That thus it would prove, they could not doubt, Of a man whose end had been so devout; That this corpse was too strong to be confined: No weight of earth which they could lay There was no keeping Vampires underground; And bad as a Vampire he might be found, Pests against whom it was understood Exorcism never had done any good. But fire, they said, had been proved to be The only infallible remedy: So they were for burning the body outright, Which would put a stop to his riding by night. Others were for searching the mystery out, At length it came out, that in the affair Of Roprecht the Robber he had some share; The Confessor then gave a start in fear"God grant there have been no witchcraft here!" Pieter Snoye, who was looking down, But the moaning was presently heard again, And we knew it was nothing ghostly then; 'Lord help us, father!' Piet Pieterszoon said, 'Roprecht for certain is not dead!' So under the gallows our cart we drive, With something between a smile and a And, sure enough, the man was alive; frown, Felt that suspicion move his bile, And look'd up with more of a frown than a smile. "Fifty years I, Pieter Snoye, Have lived in this country, man and boy, The Devil himself, though Devil he be, The Father he saw cast a gracious eye Like what a cheerful cup will impart, Though I am, as you very well know, Fa ther Kijf, A peaceable man, and keep clear of strife, Its a queerish business that now I've been in; But I can't say that it's much of a sin. Under the seal I tell it you, And you will judge what is best to do, That no hurt to me and my son may en Because of the irons that he was in, He was hanging, not by the neck, but the chin. THE STUDY OF BOTANY RECOMMENDED TO THE FAIR SEX. WE happily live in a country where the influence of Christianity has elevated woman into the proper dignity of her sex; and, in an age too, when female education does not profess to end in making women either the slaves or the playthings of men. How far, amidst the general recognition of these higher and sounder principles of a rational education, the best means are adopted, or the best ends secured, is no part of my present consideration ;-it is enough here to observe, and I have indulged in these remarks for the pleasure of observing, that the education of women is professedly directed with reference to securing the largest portion of rational acquirements during the common probation of a boarding school nonage. Music, dancing, drawing, geography, astronomy, and languages, although the principal accomplishments, do not constitute the only branches of knowledge, in which almost every young lady is expected to take a degree, who would aspire to graduate with credit through any respectable establishment in the kingdom. Besides these standard items of female learning, it is well known that several of the more popular branches of experimental philosophy, and natural history, are superadded; among which are the sciences of chemistry, geology, entomology, and botany. It is with the view of recommending the study of the last-mentioned of these, that I address these present remarks to my fair readers. The first trait which presents itself, in connexion with the science of botany, as a recommendation to the sex, appears to be this: that it is admirably appropriate to the most interesting characteristics of feminine study. Between the loveliness, the delicacy, the sweetness, and the estimability of woman, and the beauty, the fragrance, and the appreciation of flowers, poetry has long delighted to trace analogies, which have but rarely been so mis managed as to be inappropriate. From the daisy, the primrose, the cowslip, and the bluebell of the fields or the woods, to the hyacinth of the drawing-room-or that queen of flowers, the rose of the garden, nearly the entire train of popular flowers have been, in one way or other, appropriated by the fair. And it is obvious, that there is a natural tendency, if I may so speak, in the dispositions of the sex, towards the cultivation of flowers, either in the garden or the house. Botany, however, is not merely thus amiable in its natural aspect, but it exhibits, in its scientific arrangements, as well that sort, as that degree, of intellectual and sensible combination, which appears at once calculated to stimulate and reward the researches of the aspirant, without taxing too heavily the mind, or fatiguing the attention. I speak now in general terms, and of course with reference to those of the "softer sex," who neither feel the ambition, nor possess the means, of becoming learned women, in the stern sense of that loose phrase. Many persons, it may be remarked, however, so love flowers, and even devote themselves to floriculture, who have no taste for botany. And it is quite notorious, that the two pursuits may exist perfectly independent of one another; indeed, it hardly need be asserted, that an ardent admiration for the almost illimitable varieties of cultivated roses, for instance, is quite a different thing from the interest which may be felt in detecting and examining the chara tomentosa, which is neither beautiful nor common, but which presents the first, of the very few exemplars of monandria monogynia (the first class and order of the Linnæan classification) found in this country. It is not, therefore, to the mere flower-fancier, however enthusiastic, that the curious and elaborate structures of the botanic system can present many attractions: but to the ingenious female, whose mind is |