eard of the efficacy of the stone in the
toad's head, alluded to by Shakspeare,[2] for curing the cramp, &c. by
application to the afflicted part; but it was left for Dr. B---- to
discover the virtues of a toad's leg. Apropos, an eccentric friend of
mine, once gravely told me he intended to procure this precious Bufonian
jewel; and as probably some reader may feel a wish to possess it, I will
furnish him with the proper method of obtaining it, as communicated by
my scientific friend. Voici--Cut off poor bufo's head and enclose it in
a small box pierced with many holes; place it in an ant hill, and let it
remain some ten or twelve days, in which time, or a little longer, the
ants will have entered and eaten up every part except the stone. RURIS.

[2] "Sweet are the uses of Adversity,
Which, like a toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet, a precious jewel in his head."

* * * * *

"THE MORNING STAR."

(_For the Mirror_.)

Queen of celestial beauty! Morning Star!
Accept a humble bard's untut'red lay;
To him, thy loveliness, surpasseth far
The silv'ry moon, and eke the God of day.
The world with all its pride cannot display
A form so fair, so beautiful as thine;
Its glories fade, its proudest beauties die;
But you fair star! as first created shine,
In never fading immortality!
Like vice, from virtue's glance, yon clouds retire,
Before the smile of one benignant ray,
Sleepless and sad, my soul would fain aspire,
Promethean like, to snatch ethereal fire,
And draw relief from thee! bright harbinger of day!

JNO. JONES.

* * * * *

THE SKETCH-BOOK

* * * * *

SCHINDERHANNES, THE GERMAN ROBBER.

At the commencement of the French Revolution, and for some time after,
the two banks of the Rhine were the theatre of continual wars. Commerce
was interrupted, industry destroyed, the fields ravaged, and the barns
and cottages plundered; farmers and merchants became bankrupts, and
journeymen and labourers thieves. Robbery was the only mechanical art
which was worth pursuing, and the only exercises followed were assault
and battery. These enterprises were carried on at first by individuals
trading on their own capital of skill and courage; but when the French
laws came into more active operation in the seat of their exploits,
the desperadoes formed themse