length he was seized with one of his periodical fits of rage, broke from his fetters, and running through the market, put the crowd to flight, and among others this woman, who in her haste forgot a little child she had brought with her. The animal gratefully recollecting the spot where his benefactress was wont to sit, laid aside his fury, and taking up the infant gently in his trunk, placed it safely on a stall before a neighbouring house.*

*

HORSE.

The horse is universally acknowledged to be one of the noblest members of the animal kingdom. Possessing the finest symmetry, and unencumbered by those external appendages, which characterise many of the larger quadrupeds, his frame is a perfect model of elegance and concentrated energy. Highly sensitive yet exceedingly tractable, proud yet persevering, naturally of a roaming disposition, yet readily accommodating himself to domestic conditions, he has been one of the most valuable aids to human civilization-associating with man in all phases of his progress from the temporary tent to the permanent city. Courage and unshrinking firmness have ever been attributes of the horse.*

Professor Kruger of Halle relates the following instance of sagacity and fidelity :—

"A friend of mine was one dark night riding home through a wood, and had the misfortune to strike his head against the branch of a tree, and fell from the horse stunned by the blow. The horse immediately

© From Chambers's Miscellany.

returned to the house which they had left, about a mile distant. He found the door closed, and the family gone to bed. He pawed at the door, till one of them, hearing the noise, arose and opened it, and to his surprise saw the horse of his friend. No sooner was the door opened than the horse turned round, and the man, suspecting there was something wrong, followed the animal, which led him directly to the spot where his master lay on the ground in a faint." *

A king hunting in a dense forest and becoming very thirsty, looked about for water, and at last saw something dripping from the top of a tree. Thinking it to be rain-water which had fallen into a cavity of the tree, he stood up on the back of his horse, and caught the drops in a small cup. But it was not rain-water. His horse knew better. A huge cobra on the top of the tree was dashing its fangs against it, and its poison was falling in drops. And when the king was about to drink from the cup, the horse, to save his master, so moved about that the cup fell from his hand to the ground. The king with his sword struck the horse on the neck, and killed his faithful steed.†

On one occasion a farmer was returning home from a jovial meeting, where he had been very liberal in his potations, which destroyed his power of preserving his equilibrium, and rendered him at the same time somewhat drowsy. He had the misfortune to fall from his saddle, but in so easy a manner that it had not the effect

From Chambers's Miscellany.

† From Lâl Behâri Day's Folk-tales of Bengal, from Clouston's Popular Tales and Fictions.

of rousing him from his sleepy fit; and he felt quite contented to rest where he had alighted. His faithful steed, on being eased of his burden, instead of scampering home as one would have expected from his habits (which were somewhat vicious) stood by his prostrate master, and kept a strict watch over him. The farmer was discovered by some labourers at sunrise, very contentedly snoozing on a a heap of stones by the roadside. They naturally approached to replace him on his saddle; but every attempt to come near him was resolutely opposed by the grinning teeth and ready heels of his faithful and determined guardian.*

THE COUNCIL OF HORSES.

Upon a time, a neighing steed,
Who graz'd among a num'rous breed,
With mutiny had fired the train,
And spread dissension through the plain.
On matters that concern'd the state
The council met in grand debate.
A Colt, whose eye-balls flam'd with ire,
Elate with strength and youthful fire,
In haste stepp'd forth before the rest,
And thus the list'ning throng address'd:
Good Gods! how abject is our race!
Condemn'd to slavery and disgrace !
Shall we our servitude retain,

Because our sires have borne the chain ?

Consider, friends, your strength and might;

'Tis conquest to assert your right.
How cumbrous is the gilded coach!
The pride of man is our reproach.

From Chambers's Miscellany.

Were we design'd for daily toil,

To drag the ploughshare through the soil,
To sweat in harness through the road,
To groan beneath the carrier's load?
How feeble are the two-legg'd kind!
What force is in our nerves combined!
Shall then our nobler jaws submit
To foam and champ the galling bit?
Shall haughty man my back bestride?
Shall the sharp spur provoke my side?
Forbid it, Heavens! Reject the rein;
Your shame, your infamy disdain.
Let him the lion first control,
And still the tiger's famish'd growl.
Let us, like them, our freedom claim,
And make him tremble at our name.

A general nod approv'd the cause,
And all the circle neigh'd applause.
When lo! with grave and solemn pace,
A Steed advanc'd before the race;
With age and long experience wise,
Around he cast his thoughtful eyes;
And to the murmurs of the train,
Thus spoke the Nestor of the plain :

When I had health and strength like you,

The toils of servitude I knew;

Now grateful man rewards my pains,
And gives me all these wide domains.
At will I crop the year's increase,
My latter life is rest and peace.
I grant, to man we lend our pains,
And aid him to correct the plains;
But doth not he divide the care,
Through all the labours of the year?

How many thousand structures rise,
To fence us from inclement skies!
For us he bears the sultry day,
And stores up all our winter's hay.
He sows, he reaps, the harvest's grain,
We share the toil, and share the gain.
Since ev'ry creature was decreed
To aid each other's mutual need,
Appease your discontented mind,

And act the part by Heaven assign'd.

The tumult ceas'd. The Colt submitted :

And, like his ancestors, was bitted.

-GAY.

The master's eye makes the horse fat.

LION.

Androclus, a Roman slave, was condemned to encounter a lion; but when the lion was let loose he couched at the feet of Androclus, and began licking them. The reason was this Androclus one day had taken a thorn out of the lion's foot; and the beast recognised its benefactor.*

:

THE LION OF FLORENCE.

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, a lion escaped from the menagerie of the Grand Duke of Florence, and ran through the streets of that city, spreading everywhere terror and dismay. A woman flying from his fury, with her infant in her arms, dropped it in her flight, when it was immediately seized upon by the lion. Frantic at the disaster, she threw

From Rev. Dr. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.