XII.

The Captain of the "Leapfrog" to the Secretary of the Universal Entomological Society.

It is with the greatest grief that I take up my pen to communicate, through you, to your honourable body the tragic fate which has befallen two of the most valued members of the Universal Entomological Society. You will at once guess that I allude to Messrs. Jos. T. Lensburgh and Phineas H. Beetleman, whom I had the honour of conveying to the island Onogo in the U.S. steamer Leapfrog. Alas, they are no more. They died as they had lived, martyrs in the cause of science. For a rare beetle, or a new kind of moth, either of these brave, devoted, and able men would have gone any where. I could tell of sleepless nights passed in the woods of Onogo, of midnight watches in the forest of Pahlevu. "The man," I have heard Mr. Lensburgh say, and Mr. Beetleman warmly approved of the observation, "who discovers two genera of gnats where only one genus was known before, is a benefactor to his species." They had no prejudices. It was only necessary to be an insect in order to enlist at once their sympathy and their attention.

And to think that they were destined to perish by each other's hands! They had been friends in youth, and for thirty years had not exchanged an angry word; and yet a dispute about an insect,-an attractive little parasite, not much larger than an animalculum,-was the cause of a quarrel which could only be settled by means of fire-arms. Mr. Lensburgh discovered it on a dead pigeon, which he picked up somewhere between Onogo and Pahlevu, and named it "Formosa," by reason of its excessive beauty,-a beauty which to me, who have seen the animal, but am unable to look upon it with the eye of a naturalist, is, I confess, by no means apparent. It turned out that the pigeon on which the socalled Formosa was found had been shot by Mr. Beetleman, who maintained that the bird, with all that belonged to it, was his property. Mr. Lensburgh, on the other hand, argued that but for him, the pigeon would never have been discovered; moreover, that Beetleman had shot it for culinary, and not for entomological purposes; and, finally, that even if Beetleman had picked up the pigeon, he would, in all probability, never have observed the very original and charming insect which lay half concealed in the plumage of its neck. Letters passed between the disputants; general scientific reproaches were followed by acerbities of quite a personal character, and ultimately a duel was proposed and accepted.

It may be some consolation to your learned society to hear that both combatants were excellent shots. The precision of aim on each side was very remarkable; and, however much I may deplore the conduct of Messrs. Lensburgh and Beetleman as Christian men, I cannot but admire their skill as duellists.

Her majesty Queen Tamaroo, who entertained for Phineas H. Beetleman a warm affection resembling love, desired that he might be interred in the royal burial-ground. Her majesty's wish has been complied with. Jos. T. Lensburgh reposes by the side of his friend. Swarms of gnats hover above their grave, making a music which, in life, would have filled our unfortunate entomologists with delight.

I have written to the Governor of our colony to ask his advice with respect to Formosa. Shall the little creature be carefully packed up and sent to the museum of your estimable society, or, as having caused the death of two excellent men, shall she be thrown into the sea? Such is the question I have submitted to the Governor, and to which I am now awaiting his reply. In the mean while I have rendered Davis, the second mate, responsible for the life and safety of Formosa. He keeps her in his cotton nightcap.

XIII.

The Governor of the Colony to the Captain of the " Leapfrog." Your narrative fills me with horror. Throw Formosa into the sea.

XIV.

From Our own Correspondent to the Editor of the "Ohio Courant."

Poor Formosa was thrown into the sea yesterday at mid-day. At half-past eleven all hands were called on deck to witness the execution. Queen Tamaroo had signified her intention of being present, and came on board at a quarter to twelve, attended by her three husbands, her ministers, and all the chief dignitaries of state. Her majesty wore the black satin vest of Phineas H. Beetleman above her royal robes. She was received by the captain of the Leapfrog, whom she embraced.

At five minutes to twelve, Davis, the second mate, removed Formosa from his cotton nightcap and placed her with great solemnity in the handsome paper box originally prepared for her reception by Jos. T. Lensburgh, and which was now to become her coffin. A file of marines led the way to the quarter-deck. Davis followed, bearing the victim, and the mournful cortège was closed by the sailors of the steamer, who walked hat in hand. The captain, the Governor of the colony, Queen Tamaroo, with her domestic establishment, and her court, were already assembled at the place of execution.

A stone was tied to the box containing Formosa; three guns were fired, and at the third explosion the unfortunate insect was launched into eternity. At the same moment Queen Tamaroo howled forth one of her native laments, in which she was joined by her three husbands and the whole of the courtiers. The effect of this performance will not soon be forgotten. A general distribution of rum and biscuit then took place, in

which her majesty condescended to share. Her grief at the loss of Beetleman is most acute, and her majesty's husbands are quite unable to console her. To honour his memory, she has run a shark's tooth into her left arm, and still suffers horribly from the wound.

I have only to add that, after the execution, Davis delivered a short address, in which, after describing Formosa's brief but brilliant existence until she fell into the hands of men, he touched upon the vanity of earthly things, spoke of the perils of beauty, and showed that those only who were good deserved to be happy. The toughest seamen were moved to tears, and Davis himself wept plentifully.

The Legend of Roses.

"For als moche as a fayre Mayden was blamed with wrong and sclaundred, . for whiche cause sche was demed to the Dethe, and to be brent in that place to the whiche sche was ladde. And as the Fuyer began to brenne aboute hire, sche made hire Preyeres to oure Lord, that als wisely as sche was not gylty of that Synne, that he wold helpe hire, and make it to be knowen to alle men, of his mercyfulle grace. And whan sche hadde thus seyd, sche entred into the Fuyer:-and anon was the Fuyer quenched and oute; and the Brondes that weren brennynge, becomen rede Roseres; and the Brondes that weren not kyndled, becomen white Roseres fulle of Roses. And theise weren the first Roseres and Roses, bothe white and rede, that evere ony Man saughe."-Travels of Sir John Maundeville, Kt. (1322).

THE space is cleared: around the murmuring crowd
Stand stricken with such awe, that few aloud

Dare speak the thought that springs in each man's breast,
So are his senses and his heart opprest

With the stern conflict, that must ever be

When the lawgivers issue a decree,

'Fore which the voice of Nature in man's heart
With strong resistance rises to take part
Against injustice, sanctioned though it be
By time, use, law, and high authority.

For there, upon that slowly-kindling pile,
Whose lurid vapour dulls the daylight's smile,
There shall be bound, amid the pitiless flame,
To die a death of torture and of shame,
A woman-still a child almost in years—
Whose passionate denials and whose tears
Can naught avail to save her, or to prove
Aught 'gainst the charge, that says a guilty love
Has stained her-marked her as a thing to be
Doomed to slow death and endless infamy.

And now they lead her forth. Through all the throng

A tremor passes as she wends along,

Without a word, a tear, while in her eyes

A strong, deep, tranquil spirit calmly lies.

She knows the time to pray to man is gone;
She knows that hope from earthly aid is flown:
Life is behind, Eternity before;

And as she nears the dark, tremendous door,
Death holds the key to let her through, within
Her soul casts off all weakness, fear, and sin;
And these subdued, the tie that God has given,
Binding the denizens of earth and Heaven
In a communion man hath often riven,
VOL. V.

D

But never God, that tie, that vital spark,
Glows with transcendent radiance through the dark,
And light and glory shine where once was gloom,
Honour and life where a disgraceful tomb

But lately yawned.

Before the pile she stands;

To Heaven she lifts her soul, her eyes, her hands:
"Hear me, Creator, for to Thee is known
My every act, my every thought.

Thine own
Divinest teaching, from my earliest youth,
Hath kept my footsteps in the path of truth.

Hear me, my Saviour, Thou, the Man of Woes,
Whose life from its beginning to its close

Was one long course of suffering; for that men,
Having conceived an error, turned their ken
With desperate revolution from the truth,
Till savage grown, and destitute of ruth,

They craved Thy blood, Thou Holy One, Thou Just,
Trampling Thine honour in the common dust.

Hear me; Thou know'st that from this most foul,
Most loathed charge revolts my inmost soul:
Hear me, my Saviour, hear me, ere I die!
Not life I crave, but that from infamy
My innocent name be rescued;-send a sign
To show this people I am truly Thine,-
Thine unpolluted!"

Then her head she bowed,

And, while a shudder thrilled the gasping crowd,

Advanced, and 'mid the flames sublimely silent stood.
The flames? the flames?-behold, what meets the gaze!-
Down like a stricken creature drops the blaze;
The scattered brands divide to left and right,
And the first Roses greet the people's sight,-

Red from the kindled brands, from the unkindled, white!

MARGUERITE A. Power.