The Gleaner.GOOD MORNING.
GOOD MORNING.
Theeagle on its rocky height,He knows the hour of waking,And waves his pinions in the light,The midnight dew off-shaking:And I must shake off sleep and sloth,Since rosy day is dawning,And even as the eagle doth,Will wish the world good morning.The rose-bud in her woven bow’rAtwixt the leaves is peeping,And bares her bosom more and more,For ’tis no hour for sleeping:Then is it meet that I repose,When such as these give warning?—I’ll look abroad as doth the rose,And wish the world good morning.
Theeagle on its rocky height,He knows the hour of waking,And waves his pinions in the light,The midnight dew off-shaking:And I must shake off sleep and sloth,Since rosy day is dawning,And even as the eagle doth,Will wish the world good morning.The rose-bud in her woven bow’rAtwixt the leaves is peeping,And bares her bosom more and more,For ’tis no hour for sleeping:Then is it meet that I repose,When such as these give warning?—I’ll look abroad as doth the rose,And wish the world good morning.
Theeagle on its rocky height,
He knows the hour of waking,
And waves his pinions in the light,
The midnight dew off-shaking:
And I must shake off sleep and sloth,
Since rosy day is dawning,
And even as the eagle doth,
Will wish the world good morning.
The rose-bud in her woven bow’rAtwixt the leaves is peeping,And bares her bosom more and more,For ’tis no hour for sleeping:Then is it meet that I repose,When such as these give warning?—I’ll look abroad as doth the rose,And wish the world good morning.
The rose-bud in her woven bow’r
Atwixt the leaves is peeping,
And bares her bosom more and more,
For ’tis no hour for sleeping:
Then is it meet that I repose,
When such as these give warning?—
I’ll look abroad as doth the rose,
And wish the world good morning.
Sagacity of a Cat.It was only a few evenings ago that one of our worthy neighbors, who keeps a shop in Little Underbank, was much surprised at the conduct of his cat. He was standing in his shop, when pussy put her paw on his trowsers, and endeavored to pull him towards the cellar, leading out of the shop. He took no notice at first, but this she repeated three times; and in order to see what could be the cause of her thus troubling him, he took her in his arms, and carried her into the cellar, where he kept a large quantity of leather.
Pussy immediately sprang from him, and jumping upon a piece of leather, began to look underneath it, as if in search of something. Her master raised the leather, and he there found a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age concealed under it. On bringing the young rascal from his hiding-place, he naturally asked him what he was doing there. The reply was, that he had not money to pay for a lodging, and thought he would stay there till morning. The worthy shopkeeper made him remember that a feather bed was preferable to a leather one, byinflicting summary punishment on the offender. Thus the sagacity of this famous cat most probably saved the premises from being robbed, and its master, perhaps, murdered.—Stockport paper.
Coffee.The discovery of coffee, according to the Oriental writers, took place towards the close of the thirteenth century; and, like most other discoveries of importance, it is attributed to chance. An Arab chief, the Scheik Omar, was flying from the pursuit of his own tribe. Having, with a small body of his adherents, taken refuge in the mountainous part of the province ofYemen, all ordinary means of sustenance failed them. In his extremity, perceiving a coffee-bush, the famishing chief essayed to gnaw the berries; but finding them too hard for mastication, he hit upon the expedient of boiling them—drank the decoction—found himself not only refreshed but invigorated both in mind and body; and from him the virtue of the precious berry afterwards became famous throughout the world. But with all its claims to notice, it required upwards of two hundred years for coffee to make its way to general appreciation. Like a prophet in his own village, it long remained slighted and neglected by its own native land. Three centuries elapsed from the date of its first discovery before the use of coffee, as a beverage, was generally adopted in the neighboring state of Egypt and in Turkey; whilst in Europe, as we all know, the introduction of the sober berry is, comparatively of but modern date.
Motion.The common watch, it is said, beats or ticks 17,160 times an hour. This is 411,840 a day, 150,424,560 a year, allowing the year to be 365 days and six hours. Sometimes watches will run, with care, 100 years. In this case it would last to beat 15,042,456,000 times!
The watch is made of hard metal; but I can tell you of a curious machine, which is made of something not near so hard as brass or steel—it is not much harder than the flesh of your arm—yet it will beat more than 5000 times an hour, 120,000 times a day, and 43,830,000 times a year. It will sometimes, though not often, last 100 years; and when it does, it beats 4,383,600,000 times. One might think this last machine, soft as it is, would wear out sooner than the other; but it does not. I will tell you one thing more. You have this little machine about you. You need not feel in your pocket, for it is not there. It is in your body, you can feel it beat; it is—your heart!
Anecdote of Lord Kenyon.Soon after Lord Kenyon was appointed master of the rolls he was listening very attentively to a young clerk, who was reading to him, in the presence of a number of gentlemen of the long robe, the conveyance of an estate, and on coming to the word “enough,” he pronounced it “enow.” “ Hold! hold!” said his honor, immediately interrupting him, “you muststandcorrected. Enough is, according to the vernacular custom, pronounced ‘enuff’ and so must all other English words which terminate in ‘ough,’ as, for example, tough, rough, &c.” The clerk bowed, blushed, and proceeded for some time; when coming to the word “plough,” he, with a loud voice, and penetrating look at his honor, called it “pluff.” The great lawyer stroked his chin, and with a smile candidly said, “Young man, Isitcorrected.”
Carrier Pigeons, A. D. 1099. The secret of turning to account the peculiarinstinct of these birds would appear to have been known and practised in the east at an early period. Maimbourg, in his history of the crusades, relates a curious anecdote on this subject:—“As the Christian army continued its march, by the narrow passage which is between the sea and Mount Carmel, they saw a dove, which, having escaped from the claws of a bird of prey, who had let go his hold at the great noise made by the soldiers, fell half dead at their feet. There was found, tied beneath his tail, a small scroll of paper, in which the emir of Ptolemais wrote to the emir of Cæsarea, to do all the harm in his power to the army of dogs who were about to pass through his territories, as he, more easily than the former, could hinder their passage.”
Power of Music.Prince Cantimir, in his account of the transactions of the Ottomans, relates that Sultan Amurath, having besieged Bagdad and taken it, ordered 30,000 Persians to be put to death, though they had yielded and laid down their arms. Amongst these unfortunate victims was a musician, who besought the executioner to spare him one moment that he might speak to the emperor. He appeared before the sultan and was permitted to give a specimen of his art. He took up a kind of psaltery, which resembles a lyre, and has six sides, and accompanied the sounds of the instrument with his voice. He sung the taking of Bagdad and the triumph of Amurath; its pathetic and exulting sounds melted even Amurath, who suffered the musician to proceed, till, overpowered with harmony, tears of pity gushed from his eyes, and he revoked his cruel orders. Influenced by the musician’s powerful talent, he not only ordered the lives of the prisoners to be spared, but restored them to liberty.
Coleridge.Coleridge was very fond of music, and he has left us an interesting remark or two upon it:—“An ear for music,” he observes, “is a very different thing from a taste for it. I have no ear whatever; I could not sing an air to save my life; but I have the intensest delight in music, and can detect good from bad. Naldi, a good fellow, remarked to me once at a concert, that I did not seem much interested with a piece of Rossini’s, which had just been performed. I said, ‘it sounded to me like nonsense verses;’ but I could scarcely contain myself when a thing of Beethoven followed.”
Instinct.Smellie mentions a cat, which, being confined in a room, in order to meet its mate of the other sex, learnt of itself to open the latch of a door; and I knew a pony in the stable here, that used both to open the latch of the stable, and raise the lid of the corn-chest—things which must have been learnt by himself from his own observation, for no one is likely to have taught them to him. Nay, it was only the other day that I observed one of the horses taken to grass in a field through which the avenue runs, open one of the wickets by pressing down the upright bar of the latch, and open it exactly as you or I do.—Lord Brougham.
A Long Chimney.The largest chimney in the world is at the Soda Ash Manufactory of James Musprat, near Liverpool. It is the enormous height of 406 feet above the ground, 45 feet diameter inside at the base, 9 feet ditto at the top; and contains nearly 4,000,000 bricks.
When Donatello, an Italian sculptor, had put his last finishing touch to his bust of Byron, he cried out to it—“Speak!”