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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,
They said what a goodly end he had made!

The crowd broke up and went their way;
All were gone by the close of day;
And Roprecht the Robber was left there
Hanging alone in the moonlight air.

The last who look'd back for a parting sight,
Beheld him there in the clear moonlight:
But the first who look'd when the morning
shone,

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
Were gone, but the rope was left on the tree.
A wonderful thing! for every one said
He had hung till he was dead, dead, dead;
And on the gallows was seen, from noon
Till ten o'clock, in the light of the moon.

Moreover the hangman was ready to swear,
He had done his part with all due care;
And that certainly better hanged than he
No one ever was, or ever could be.

Neither kith nor kin to bear him away,
And funeral rites in secret pay,
Had he; and none that pains would take,
With risk of the law, for a stranger's sake.

So 't was thought, because he had died so well,

He was taken away by miracle.
But would he again alive be found?
Or had he been laid in holy ground?

If in holy ground his relics were laid, Some marvellous sign would show, they said;

If restored to life, a Friar he would be,
Or a holy Hermit certainly,
And die in the odor of sanctity.

That thus it would prove, they could not doubt,

Of a man whose end had been so devout;
And to disputing then they fell
About who had wrought this miracle.

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That this corpse was too strong to be confined:

No weight of earth which they could lay
Would hold him down a single day,
If he chose to get up and ride away.

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,
Who should keep a careful watch and see
And setting a guard the gallows about,
Whether Witch or Devil it might be,
That helped him down from the triple tree.
For that there were Witches in the land,
Was what all by this might understand:
And they must not let the occasion slip
For detecting that cursed fellowship.
Some were for this, and some for that,
And never was such a commotion known
And some they could not tell for what:
In that great city of Cologne.

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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,
And have always paid the Church her due,
And kept short scores with Heaven and
you.

The Devil himself, though Devil he be,
Would not dare impute that sin to me;
He might charge me as well with heresy:
And if he did, here, in this place,
I'd call him liar and spit in his face!"

The Father he saw cast a gracious eye
When he heard him thus the Devil defy;
The wrath, of which he had eased his mind,
Left a comfortable sort of warmth behind,

Like what a cheerful cup will impart,
In a social hour, to an honest man's heart;
And he added, "for all the witchcraft here,
I shall presently make that matter clear.

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.
However, it needs must be confess'd,
And as it will set this people at rest,
To come with it at once was best :
Moreover, if I delayed, I thought
That some might perhaps into trouble be
brought.

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

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Because of the irons that he was in,

He was hanging, not by the neck, but the chin.

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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

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