erlin?
We would live at peace with all men, but "Destroy them!" is the cry,
Physiological assassins are not happy till we die.
With the rights of man acknowledged, can you wonder that we squirm
At the endless persecution of the much-maltreated germ.

We are ta'en from home and hearthstone, from the newly-wedded bride,
To be looked at by cold optics on a microscopic slide;
We are boiled and stewed together, and they never think it hurts;
We're injected into rabbits by those hypodermic squirts:
Never safe, although so very insignificant in size,
There's no peace for poor Bacillus, so it seems, until he dies.

It is strange to think how men lived in the days of long ago,
When the fact of our existence they had never chanced to know.
If the scientific ghouls are right who hunt us to the death,
Those who came before them surely had expired ere they drew breath:
We were there in those old ages, thriving in our youthful bloom;
Then there was no KOCH or PASTEUR bent on compassing our doom.

Men humanity are preaching, and philanthropists elate
Point out he who injures horses shall be punished by the State;
Dogs are carefully protected, likewise the domestic cats,
Possibly kind-hearted people would not draw the line at rats:
If all that be right and proper, why then persecute and kill us?
Lo! the age's foremost martyr is the vilified Bacillus!

* * * * *

WALK UP!

As far as Vigo Street, and see Mr. NETTLESHIP's Wild Beast Show at
the sign of "The Rembrandt Head." Here are Wild Animals to be seen
done from the life, and to the life; tawny lions, sleepy bears,
flapping vultures, and eagles, and brilliant macaws--all in excellent
condition. Observe the "Lion roaring" at No. 28, and the "Ibis flying"
with the sunlight on his big white wings against a deep blue sky, No.
36. All these Wild Animals can be safely guaranteed as pleasant and
agreeable companions to live with, and so, judging from certain labels
on the frames, the British picture-buyer has already discovered. Poor
Mr. NETTLESHIP's Menagerie will return to him shorn of its finest
specimens--that is, if he ever sees any of them back at all.

* * * * *

IN OUR GARDEN.

[Illustration]

It has occurred to me in looking back over these unpremeditated notes,
that if by any chance they came to be published, the public might gain
the impression that the Member fo