And with my cheek on one of those green stones
That, fleeced with moss, beneath the shady trees,
Lay round me, scatter'd like a flock of sheep.
I heard the murmur and the murmuring sound,
In that sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay
Tribute to ease; and, of its joy secure,
The heart luxuriates with indifferent things,
Wasting its kindliness on stocks and stones,
And on the vacant air. Then up I rose,

And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash

And merciless ravage: and the shady nook
Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower,
Deformed and sullied, patiently gave up
Their quiet being: and, unless I now
Confound my present feelings with the past,
Even, then, when from the bower I turn'd away
Exulting rich beyond the wealth of kings,

I felt a sense of pain when I beheld
The silent trees and the intruding sky.

Then, dearest maiden! move along these shades
In gentleness of heart: with gentle hand
Touch-for there is a spirit in the woods,

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1wallet, a kind of bag. tricked, adorned, dressed. husbanded, laid by, saved. motley accoutrement, a dress of various garments curiously assorted. 5 voluptuous, full of pleasure.

* luxuriates, gives itself up to pleasure.

STEPPING STONES ON THE RIVER 'DUDDON.
THE straggling Rill insensibly is grown
Into a brook of loud and stately march,
Crossed 2 ever and anon by plank or arch;
And, for like use, lo! what might seem a
Chosen for ornament,-stone matched with stone,
In studied symmetry, with interspace

For the clear waters to pursue their race

3 zone

Without restraint. How swiftly have they flown
Succeeding-still succeeding! Here the Child
Puts, when the high-swoln flood runs fierce and wild,
His budding courage to the proof; and here
Declining Manhood learns to note the sly
And sure encroachments of infirmity,

Thinking how fast time runs, life's end how near!

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1 Duddon, a pretty river in the Lake District, flowing into the Irish Sea near Walney Island. ever and anon, here and there. 3 zone, belt, girdle. symmetry, regular arrangement. encroachment, trying to enter on the rights or property of another. infirmity, weakness, especially that of old age.

Lemuel Gulliver suffers shipwreck, and is cast ashore on the Isle of Lilliput, which is inhabited by a curious race of very small beings, less than six inches in height. Being taken prisoner while asleep, he is bound and conducted before the Emperor, who orders him to be searched.

THE emperor desired I would not take it ill, if he gave orders to certain proper officers to search me; for probably

I might carry about me several weapons, which must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person. I said his majesty should be satisfied, for I was ready to strip myself and turn up my pockets before him. This I delivered, part in words, and part in signs. He replied that, by the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched by two of his officers; that he knew that this could not be done without my consent and assistance; that he had so good an opinion of my generosity and justice, as to trust their persons in my hands; that whatever they took from me should be returned when I left the country, or paid for at the rate which I would set upon them. I took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into my coat pockets, and then into every other pocket about me, except my two 1fobs, and another secret pocket I had no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessaries that were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my fobs there was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse. These gentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper about them, made an exact 2 inventory of everything they saw; and when they had done, desired I would set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is, word for word, as follows:- -

"Firstly, in the right coat pocket of the Great Man Mountain, after the strictest search, we found only one great piece of coarse cloth, large enough to be a foot-cloth. for your majesty's chief room of state. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest, with a cover of the same metal, which we (the searchers) were not able to lift. We desired it should be opened, and one of us, stepping into it, found himself up to the midleg in a sort of dust, some part whereof flying up to our faces, set us both a-sneezing for

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several times together. In his right waistcoat pocket we found a prodigious bundle of white thin substances, folded one over another, about the bigness of three men, tied with a strong 3 cable, and marked with black figures; which we humbly conceive to be writings, every letter almost half as large as the palm of our hands. In the left there was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long poles, resembling the palisadoes before your majesty's court; wherewith we 5 conjecture the Man Mountain combs his head; for we did not always trouble him with questions, because we found it a great difficulty to make him understand us. In the large pocket on the right side of his middle cover (by which they meant my trousers), we saw a hollow pillow of iron, about the length of a man, fastened to a strong piece of timber larger than the pillar; and upon one side of the pillar were huge pieces of iron sticking out, cut into strange figures which we knew not what to make of. In the left pocket, another engine of the same kind. In the smaller pocket on the right side were several round flat pieces of white and red metal of different bulk; some of white, which seemed to be silver, were so large and heavy that my comrade and I could hardly lift them. In the left pocket were two black pillars irregularly shaped; we could not, without difficulty, reach the top of them, as we stood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a piece; but at the upper end of the other there appeared a white round substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of these was enclosed a prodigious piece of steel; which, by our orders, we obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous engines. He took them out of their cases, and told us that in his own country, his practice was to shave his beard with one of these, and to cut his meat with the other,

There were two pockets which we could not enter; these he called his fobs; they were two large slits cut into the top of his middle cover, but squeezed close by the pressure of his body. Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was at the bottom of that chain; which appeared to be a globe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal; for on the transparent side we saw several strange figures circularly drawn, and thought we could touch them, till we found our fingers stopped by that lucid substance. He put his engine to our ears, which made an incessant noise, like that of a water-mill. And we conjecture it is either some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we are more inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us (if we understood him rightly, for he expressed himself very imperfectly) that he seldom did anything without consulting it. He called it his 'oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action of his life. From the left fob he took out a net, almost large enough for a fisherman, but contrived to open and shut like a purse, and serving him for the same purpose; we found therein several massy pieces of yellow metal, which if they be real gold, must be of immense value.

"Having thus, in obedience to your majesty's commands, diligently searched all his pockets, we observed a girdle about his waist, made of the hide of some prodigious animal; from which, on the left side, hung a sword of the length of five men; and on the right, a bag or pouch divided into two cells, each cell capable of holding three of your majesty's subjects. In one of these cells were several globes, or balls, of a most ponderous metal, about the bigness of our heads, and requiring a strong hand to lift them; the other cell contained a heap of