* * * * *

ANCIENT VALENTINES.

(_For the Mirror_.)

The earliest poetical Valentines remaining, are those preserved in the
works of Charles Duke of Orleans, father to Louis XII. of France. He was
taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, and remained in England
twenty-five years, and called his mistress his _Valentine_. In the royal
library of MSS. now in the British Museum, there is a magnificent volume
containing his writings whilst in England; it belonged to Henry VIII. for
whom it was copied from older MSS. It is illuminated: one painting
represents the duke in the White Tower, at a writing table. This MSS. also
contain some of the compositions of Eloisa.

S.K.

* * * * *

THE COSMOPOLITE.

SUPERSTITIONS, FABLES, &C. RELATIVE TO ANIMALS.

(_Continued from page_ 171.)

The fore-foot of a _Hare_ worn constantly in the pocket, is esteemed by
certain worthy old dames as a sure preventive of rheumatic disorders.

The _Lynx_ was believed by the ancients, from the acuteness of its sight,
to have the power of seeing through stone walls; and amongst other
absurdities then gravely maintained were these: that the _Elephant_ had no
joints, and being unable to lie down, was obliged to sleep leaning against
a tree; that _Deer_ lived several hundred years; that the _Badger_ had the
legs of one side shorter than those of the other; that the _Chameleon_
lived entirely on air, and the _Salamander_ in fire; whilst the sphynx,
satyr, unicorn, centaur, hypogriff, hydra, dragon, griffin, cockatrice, &c.
&c. &c. were either the creations of fancy, or fabled accounts of
creatures of whose real form, origin, nature, and qualities, but the most
imperfect knowledge was afloat.

The flesh of the _Rhinoceros_, and almost every part of its body, is
reckoned by the ignorant natives of countries where it is found, an
antidote against poison.

That the _Jackal_ is the "Lion's Provider," entirely, is an erroneous idea;
but it is true that the terrific cry of this animal when in chase, rouses
the lion, whose ear is dull, and enables him to join in the pursuit of
prey. Many stories are told respecting the generosity of the _Lion_, and
it was once confidently believed that no stress of hunger would induce him
to devour a virgin, though his imperial appetite might satiate itself on
men and matrons. The title of King of the Beasts, given at a period when
strength and fero