He found the most convenient way And many a gudgeon of the pond, Would own, with grief, the angler had One day, while fishing on a log, Alas! that day this fisherman 'Twas all in vain with might and main The jury gave their verdict, that Though one stood out upon a whim, And said the angler's slaughter To be exact about the fact- The moral of this mournful tale Too often to his bier: And he who scorns to "take the pledge," -JOHN G. SAXE. 28. THE THREE BLACK CROWS. Two honest tradesmen meeting in the Strand, "No! I'm surprised at that: Where I came from it is the common chat. "Impossible!"-"Nay, but it's really true: I had it from good hands, and so may you." "From whose, I pray?"-So, having named the man, Straight to inquire, his curious comrade ran. 66 66 Sir, did you tell," - relating the affair, Yes, sir, I did; and if it's worth your care, Ask Mr. Such-a-one; he told it me; But, by the by, 'twas two black crows, not three." Resolved to trace so wondrous an event, Quick to the third the virtuoso went. "Sir," -and so forth,—" "Why, yes, the thing is fact; Though, in regard to number, not exact : It was not two black crows; 'twas only one: The gentleman himself told me the case." 66 "Where may I find him?” — “ Why, in such a place." Away he goes, and having found him out,— "Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt." Then to his last informant he referred, And begged to know if true what he had heard. "Did you, sir, throw up a black crow?"-"Not I!" "Bless me! how people propagate a lie! Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one; And here I find, at last, all comes to none ! "Crow! - crow!- perhaps I might, now I recall -JOHN BYROM. 29. THE PHILOSOPHER'S SCALES. A monk, when his rites sacerdotal were o'er, In the depth of his cell with its stone-covered floor, Resigning to thought his chimerical brain, Once formed the contrivance we now shall explain; Perhaps it was only by patience and care, And, at length, he produced THE PHILOSOPHER'S SCALES. "What were they?" you ask; you shall presently see: These scales were not made to weigh sugar and tea; Oh no; for such properties wondrous had they, That qualities, feelings, and thoughts they could weigh; Together with articles small or immense, From mountains or planets to atoms of sense. Naught was there so bulky but there it would lay, The first thing he weighed was the head of Voltaire, Which retained all the wit that had ever been there; As a weight, he threw in a torn scrap of a leaf, Containing the prayer of the penitent thief; One time he put in Alexander the Great, With the garment that Dorcas had made, for a weight, And, though clad in armor from sandals to crown, |