his last sigh and soothe his dying agony; but she, [judge the treasure he possesses in the wife of his with woman's intuitive tenderness, hastened to the bosom, until he has passed with her through the fiery wounded stranger, and endeavoured, though fruitlessly, furnace of affliction :"to assuage his torment, whilst she whispered words of consolation in his car: "A peasant girl that royal head upon her bosom laid, And, shrinking not for woman's dread, the face of death survey'd. Alone she sat,-from hill and wood red sunk the mournful sun; Fast gushed the fount of noble blood-treason its worst had done! With her long hair she vainly pressed the wounds, to staunch their tide. Unknown, on that meek humble breast, imperial Albert died!”— The assassin and his guilty associates fled from the scene of slaughter, but whither could they turn their footsteps? It was as if they had borne upon their foreheads the brand of the first murderer, Cain ;-all shrank from them, and the towns, even those which had been oppressed by Albert, magnanimously refused shelter to his assassins. Many of them perished from want, whilst others underwent the extreme penalty of the law the murderer himself, after awhile, obtained absolution from the Pope, on condition of passing the remainder of his existence in acts of devotion and penance. He accordingly entered a monastery where the discipline was of the strictest character, and wore out the days that closed his guilty life in the severest mortifications. Meanwhile, the empress Elizabeth, the widow of the murdered Albert, with her children, Leopold Duke of Austria, and Agnes Queen of Hungary, offered fearful sacrifices to his manes. They seemed to breathe but slaughter, and on the slighest suspicion of an individual having even tacitly connived at the late conspiracy, his doom was irrevocably sealed; and the innocent, as well as the guilty, were the victims of their insatiable thirst of revenge. Castles were pillaged and demolished; whilst their unhappy owners, if they survived the conflagration of their homes, and the desecration of their household gods, were sent forth to wander as outcasts through the land which by right was their own, none daring to succour or relieve them, for fear of incurring the same dread sentence. 66 First in this "bad pre-eminence" stands Agnes, Queen of Hungary, who has been well styled the royal hyena;" it was at the feet of this disgrace to her sex that the young and beautiful Irene, the wife of Rudolf, Baron Von der Wart, knelt and implored the life of her beloved husband, on whom the taint of suspicion had fallen. Agnes heeded not the total absence of all proof that the baron had been an accomplice in the murder of her father; his own solemn protestations of innocence-the agonizing supplications of Irene- were alike disregarded. Agnes spurned with her foot the gentle suppliant, whose shrieks of despair were heart-rending; and condemned Rudolf to be broken upon the wheel, and exposed, while yet alive, to the vultures. The horrible sentence was executed-but the inexorable Agnes little deemed how greatly those tortures would be alleviated by the untiring love of the devoted wife; she knew not that "man can but partially "For woman's love is a holy light, And when 'tis kindled ne'er can die." Agnes knew not-how should she know?-she in whose cold breast no feeling of sympathy ever existed, that "When the pale hand Draws the black foldings of the eternal curtain those who have dearly, fondly loved in this life, And none have heard the knell That smites the soul in that wild sound- Even when expiring on the rack, words of undying affection continued to drop from the lips of Rudolf, as the heart-broken Irene bent over his mangled form, and softly whispered in his ear her accents of deep love—thus through that long and fearful night she soothed his dying agony, until the last drops of existence were wrung from his tortured heart. This noble instance of conjugal devotion has been recorded by our lamented countrywoman, Mrs. Hemans, in some exquisite lines, which in their own beautiful simplicity narrate the sad tale; to add aught to them would but be adding perfume to the violet. "Her hands were clasped-her dark eyes raised-the breeze threw back her hair; but numerous observations have satisfactorily proved that they do. Flies move all their legs at brisk and distinct sounds; and spiders will quit their prey, and Three years after the death of the emperor, the stately convent of Königsfelden, an imperial sepulchre, arose, to point out the spot where his tragical fate had overtaken him. It was erected under the aus-retire to their hiding places. Insects that live in pices of Agnes, sanctioned by her mother; and shortly afterwards, the former quitted her royal state, and sought within its cloisters that repose and peace which a guilty conscience can never know. She assumed the veil, and in the garb of penitence and humiliation, endeavoured to attract pilgrims to the shrine; but beneath that garb still beat the proud heart of the stern and cruel Agnes;-and that the illustrious trophy of her miscalled filial piety might be admired, and she, its foundress, revered, were now her highest aspirations. But the remembrance of her unparalleled vengeance and barbarity was too deeply engraven in the minds of the people, and the calamities she had inflicted were too recent and their effects yet too severely felt, for even a magnificent monument like this to erase their impression; although, in those days of comparative darkness, the foundation of a religious house was generally considered a sufficient compensation for any outrage. Desirous of gaining, if possible, the suffrage of Berthold Strebel, who was then in high repute for his extraordinary learning and sanctity, Agnes one day led the conversation to her favourite topic, spoke of her devotion to the cause of religion, and instanced the zeal which had prompted her to erect this costly structure; when the Friar of Oftringen, struck with a pious horror of her enormities, boldly exclaimed:-" Hearken to this, O woman, as the voice of Heaven!-No devotion can be pure in one who imbrues her hands in the blood of innocence, and founds eonvents with the plunder of orphans!" The haughty Agnes affected not to heed his words, but the remembrance of them pursued her to her dying day, and filled with remorse and anguish that heart which was too proud to avow its crimes, and too stubborn to repent them. The convent, majestic even in decay, is fast falling into ruins; the royal vault, until 1770 the mausoleum of many illustrious scions of the House of Hapsburg-the apartment occupied by Agnes, its royal foundress-and the choir of the abbey-church, with its superbly-stained windows, are now almost the only objects pointed out to the inquiring traveller;-but the deeds of Agnes are still remembered, and are, doubtless, recorded in that dread scroll, from which there shall be no appeal. NATURAL HISTORY OF INSECTS.-No. II. INSECTS, there is good reason to believe, are endowed with all the five senses of hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It was, indeed, formerly doubted, whether they possess that of hearing; society give notice of intended movement, or assemble their citizens for emigration, by a humming noise. Brunelli kept and fed several males of a not uncommon species of grasshopper in a closet: they were very merry, and continued singing all the day, but a rap at the door would stop them instantly. By practice he learned to imitate their chirping; when he did this at the door, at first a few would answer him in a low note, and then the whole party would take up the tune, and sing with all their might. He once shut up a male in his garden, and gave the female her liberty; but as soon as she heard the male chirp, she flew to him immediately. Messrs. Kirby and Spence consider that the antennæ of insects are analogous to ears; but they also imagine, that it is by these organs that insects are enabled to discover those alterations in the weather, which to them are so important, and which they seem so readily to perceive; bees, in particular, being evidently aware of the approach of a shower when we can perceive no indications of it; and hastily returning to their hives in time to avoid its approach. The sense of touch in insects, also supposed to reside in their antennæ, must be of the greatest delicacy, especially in spiders, from the nicety with which the majority fabricate their fragile webs. The eyes of insects do not turn in their sockets, like those of most other animals; but what is denied in motion, is amply compensated in number, for in one fly alone there have been reckoned no fewer than 16,000 eyes; in a scarabæus, 6,362; and in a butterfly, 34,650! These are, of course, no other than the interstices of those crossed or scored divisions, which any one will perceive upon looking at a common house-fly through an ordinary magnifier. Each of these, it has been shown, performs the office of a single eye, although they are collected into two packets, corresponding in outward appearance to the ordinary pair of eyes of vertebrate animals. The sense of smell resides in some organ in the vicinity of the mouth, and probably connected with the nose. M. Huber, desirous of ascertaining the seat of smell in bees, tried the following experiment with that view. These animals, of all scents abominate most that of the oil of turpentine. He presented successively to all the points of a bee's body, a hairpencil saturated with it; but whether he presented it to the abdomen, the trunk, or the head, the insect equally disregarded it. Next, using a very fine hairpencil, while the bee had extended its proboscis, he presented the pencil to it, to the eyes and antennæ, without producing any effect; but when he pointed it near the cavity of the mouth, above the insertion of the proboscis, the creature started back in an instant, quitted its food, clapped its wings, walked about in great agitation, and would have taken flight if the pencil had not been removed. That insects taste, no one hesitates to believe, although naturalists disagree as to the organ of that sense; but as they have a tongue, we may, with Cuvier, conclude that one of its primary functions is to taste their food. are not only endowed with a far greater portion of vitality than vertebrate animals possess, but that they are almost devoid of pain under inflictions which to the warm-blooded tribes would prove the most excruciating tortures. In all this we see not only a wise but a most merciful provision of the great Creator. Insects, above all other animals, are exposed to the greatest casualties, not merely from ordinary vicissitudes, but from others of a peculiar nature. The felling of a tree is sufficient to destroy whole communities to whom it is a home, giving shelter and food The vital principle in some insects appears to be equally strong with that exhibited by the zoophytes, and many of the tortoises. Riboud stuck different beetles through with pins, and cut and lacerated others in the severest manner, without greatly accelerating death. Leeuwenhoeck had a mite which lived eleven weeks transfixed on a point for micro-to thousands: while the burning of a forest or the scopical investigation. Le Vaillant caught a locust at the Cape of Good Hope, and, after excavating the intestines, he filled the abdomen with cotton, and stuck a stout pin through the thorax, yet the feet and antennæ were in full play after the lapse of five months. A decapitated beetle will advance over a table, and recognise a precipice on approaching the edge. Colonel Pringle beheaded several dragonflies, one of which afterwards lived for four months, and another for six; and, which seems rather odd, he could never keep alive those with their heads on above a few days.1 Some curious particulars connected with this great tenacity of life are mentioned by Mr. Fothergill.2 A friend being employed one day in the pursuit of insects, caught a large yellow dragonfly, and had actually fastened it down in his insect box, by thrusting a pin through the thorax, before he perceived that the voracious creature held a small fly, which still struggled for liberty, in its jaws. The dragonfly continued devouring its victim with great deliberation, and without expressing either pain or constraint, and seemed totally unconscious of being pinned down to the cork, till its prey was devoured, after which it made several desperate efforts to regain its liberty. A common flesh-fly was then presented to it, when it immediately became quiet, and ate the fly with greediness; when its repast was over, it renewed its efforts to escape. This fact being mentioned to Mr. Haworth, the late well-known English entomologist, he confirmed the truth of it by relating an additional circumstance. Being in a garden with a friend, who firmly believed in the delicate susceptibility of these creatures, he struck down a large dragonfly, and in so doing unfortunately severed its long abdomen from the rest of its body. He caught a small fly, which he presented to the mutilated insect, by which it was instantly seized and devoured; and a second was treated in the same manner. Mr. Haworth then contrived to form a false abdomen, by means of a slender portion of a geranium; and after this operation was performed, the dragonfly devoured another small insect as greedily as before. When set at liberty it flew away with as much apparent glee as if it had received no injury. These facts, with numerous others which will occur to every naturalist, place it beyond doubt, that insects (1) Spallanzani's Tracts, translated by J. G. Dalyell, Esq. (2) Essay on Natural History. herbage of a plain, is the destruction of millions upon millions. It is further ordained that insects should be the food of nearly three-fourths of the whole feathered creation; and that numerous tribes of their own class derive their entire sustenance from preying upon those that are weaker or differently organized. Hence it is that the all-wise Creator has mercifully withheld from them that sense of pain and suffering, which is so prevalent among animals of a higher order; whose lives are, in all probability, much longer, but who feel at their death an agony which is really quite unknown to the "poor beetle that we tread upon." Insects exhibit various passions, and these are not only manifested in their actions, but expressed by gestures and noises, no doubt well understood by themselves. Thus, numerous beetles, when alarmed, utter a shrill cry, which has been compared to the feeble chirp of birds. The humble bee, if attacked, will give vent to the harsh tones of anger; and the hive bee, under the same circumstances, emits a shrill and peevish sound, which becomes doubly sharp when it flies at an enemy or intruder. A number of these insects being once smoked out of their hive, the queen, with many of her followers, flew away; upon this, the bees which remained behind immediately sent forth a most plaintive cry, which was succeeded by a cheerful humming when their sovereign was again restored to them. The passion of love, too, as well as fear, anger, and rejoicing, seems, in insects, as in birds, to be displayed in song. The grasshopper tribes are particularly famed for these amorous ditties, which are often so loud, monotonous, and deafening in warm countries during the meridian heat, as to be productive of anything but pleasure. These sounds, however, proceed only from the males; the females, fortunately, not being provided with the necessary apparatus for producing them. The affection of insects for their young is very conspicuous; but in the care which they take to lay their eggs in such substances as will afterwards afford them fitting sustenance, we shall discern more the effect of instinct than of maternal affection. Many instances, however, may be adduced, in which this natural passion is in full operation. The common sand-wasp, and others of the same species, having first dug a cylin drical cavity of the requisite dimensions, and deposited an egg at the bottom, encloses along with it one or more caterpillars, spiders, or other insects, as a pro HARRY SUMNER'S REVENGE. BY POLYDORE. CHAPTER XII. "As well I trust That fight he will, and fight he must." Marmion, Canto VI. As Mr. Browne was not of the party on its return, it was arranged, much to the satisfaction of Mr. Perigord and disappointment of his wife, that he should occupy the Duchess of Haroldweir's carriage in solitary grandeur, and that his own carriage should con vision for the young one when hatched, and sufficiently abundant to nourish it until it has attained its full growth. Baron de Geer tells us of a species of field-bug which conducts her family, (which generally consists of thirty or forty young ones,) as a hen does her chickens. She never leaves them; and as soon as she begins to move, all the little ones closely follow, and, whenever she stops, assemble in a cluster around her. One species of spider lays her eggs in a little silken bag, attached to the extremity of her body; and this treasure she carries about with her every where, appearing in the greatest distress if in any way deprived of it. Bonnet put this wonderful attach-vey to Hyde Park Gardens the rest of the party. As ment to an affecting and decisive test. He threw a spider, with her bag, into the cavern of a large antlion, when the distressed mother, although she might have escaped by relinquishing the bag, preferred being buried alive, to giving up that treasure which was dearer to her than existence. The care which is taken of their young by such insects as live in societies, is well known; but it is not, perhaps, generally understood, that, among ants, as soon as ever the female has begun to lay her eggs, she tears off the four wings, which before were her chief ornament, and devotes herself entirely to the increase and preservation of her family. M. P. Huber was more than once witness to this extraordinary proceeding. Lastly, if an ant's nest should be disturbed, the whole community may be instantly seen flocking towards a heap of little white oblong bodies, whose safety they put every nerve in motion to secure. These bodies are the embryo young; and, as a proof of the devoted attachment which is exhibited for them, an observer, on one of these occasions, having cut an ant in two, the poor mutilated animal did not relax in its affectionate exertions. With that half of the body to which the head remained attached, it contrived to carry off ten of these white masses into the interior of the nest, before itself expired!! Mr. Perigord's pair of greys whirled them through the brilliantly-lighted streets of the metropolis, Harry Sumner maintained an uninterrupted flow of conversation, which kept the two young ladies in paroxysms of laughter; her grace being fast asleep. Lady Emma was altogether bewildered. She could with difficulty bring herself to believe, that she was listening to the same individual who sat next to her at dinner. It wanted but this addition to his graceful exterior and polished manners, to blow into a flame an emotion, the sparks of which had probably fallen into Lady Emma's heart at an earlier part of the day. Pique is almost as prolific a source of love as pity in the bosom of the female sex. Harry Sumner's indifference and abstraction during dinner, prepossessing as was every thing else about him, had given rise to sensations in a lady of a jealous and vain temperament, which the profoundest homage would possibly have failed to kindle. What a strange fellow you are, Harry!" said his sister, as she subsided from a hearty laugh, “Hamlet's melancholy seems to have taken yours away. To have seen you an hour or two ago, one would have thought that laughing was not in your list of capabilities. I thought you never were going to laugh again." and purple, and all manner of sober hues; give him a shake, and lo! crimson, and yellow, and scarlet, and blue, and colours so bright that one can scarcely look at them. A sentiment for Hamlet, eh! Lady Emma ?” "I do not know what to think," replied that lady; "but this I know, that Mr. Sumner at the dinnertable, and Mr. Sumner now, are two different persons." Insects experience anger as well as love; and, sur- 'Tis strange," he replied, "the reaction of the prising as it may seem, their little bodies are frequently mind, I suppose, after deep dejection. Man is a twoexercised in cruelty. The orator mantis is of so un-legged kaleidoscope-at one moment black, and brown, natural a disposition, that, if in a state of captivity, it will actually destroy and devour its own species, fighting with the utmost fury, until death shall terminate the battle. Roesel, who kept some of these insects, observes that, in their mutual conflicts, their manœuvres very much resemble those of hussars fighting with sabres; and sometimes one cleaves the other through at a single stroke, or severs the head from the body. The manners of the scorpion are equally fierce and revolting. Not only is it dangerous to its enemies, but also terrible to its own species; so that, out of one hundred of these insects, which Maupertuis enclosed together in a vessel, such was the bloody seene that ensued, that, in a few days, only fourteen remained alive, having killed and devoured the rest of their companions! (1) Kirby and Spence. Introd. to Entem. Q. Q. "And which of the two do you prefer ?" he inquired. Lady Emma turned her head away, and replied, "Neither!" Mrs. Perigord had now fallen into a fit of musing; and a vision had presented itself to her brother's memory, which would probably have checked the current of his conversation for a while, leaving the snores of the duchess the sole disturbers of the silence, when, fortunately, the carriages drew up at Mr. Perigord's door. The absence of the ladies, who had withdrawn in order to disencumber themselves of their out-of-doors ap-emotion. "You do not mean to say he has been so parel, afforded Mr.Perigord the opportunity of renew-foolish!" he exclaimed, interrupting the military ing with his brother-in-law the after-dinner conversa- | second. tion. "Were you serious," he inquired, "in refusing to stand for Bribeworth ?" Quite," replied Sumner; "but supposing I do, what about my examination? The election will be almost on the same day with it.” True; that was an unlucky accident of yours, Sumner. How did you contrive it? I made certain of your first." "Perigord!" said Sumner sternly, "you will seriously oblige me by never mentioning that subject. Information which I keep from my sister and mother, I am not likely to communicate to any one else." "You're young, Summer-you're young,” replied Mr. Perigord; you will not have been in parliament many months, before you will have discovered, that there are many subjects which it is the part of wisdom to keep from women, which it would be both wise and expedient to confide to a friend of the other sex." Harry Sumner regarded his wise brother-in-law for a second or two with a scrutinizing and thoughtful gaze. At length he said slowly, and in a tone of voice slightly impassioned, "I would as soon confide my dearest secret to your wife, Perigord, as to the warmest male friend I ever had; ay--and a great deal sooner." “Well, well,” he replied, "wisdom comes with years; genius is in the cradle. You will think differently one day." 'No, Perigord, never," was his reply-" never; and if you do not agree with me, I pity you-and I pity A loud double knock at the street door prevented the conclusion of this sentence. | "There is nothing foolish in defending one's honour-hem!" replied the Colonel; “I believe-did you not apply-some offensive epithets-I may say insulting-to my friend Mr. Browne? He has placed his honour in my hands-and, hem!-I think it is my duty-at least-hem! I have no option-I am to require you to name some friend with whom I may communicate on your behalf." "Do you mean that Mr. Browne insists on a meeting ?" inquired Sumner. "I fear he is immovably resolved-unpleasant business," replied the Colonel. "Has he explained to you fully the circumstance?" 'Fully;-pert and vulgar,' were the expressions." "Did he tell you that he had the moment before applied the self-same expressions, and most untruly, to a lady ?" "Untruly!-hem!-did you say untruly? He did not quite mention all those particulars. But, if you are disposed to retract and apologize, Mr. Sumner— hem !-perhaps I might. "Do not mistake me, Colonel," interrupted Sumner; "I have no intention of shrinking from anything required of a gentleman. I cannot certainly arrange to stand in mortal combat with one whom I have known for several years, with indifference. I would do anything to avoid so miserable an alternative. But, I am really unable to retract, under the circumstances. If Mr. Browne will withdraw the expressions he applied to a lady, I will tell him that I am extremely sorry for having said anything offensive to him; and that it is farthest from my wish to do anything of the sort." "I am sure, Mr. Sumner," replied the Colonel, my friend will not be satisfied with that. May I beg "Who can be coming here at this hour?" exclaimed Mr. Perigord; "It must be some message" from the premier. Am I then to understand that you to name your friend?" you will be a candidate for Bribeworth 222 "If at liberty to vote according to my conscience." "That of course," said Mr. Perigord. "Are you walking, Colonel Flint ?" inquired Sumner. "My cab is at the door," replied the Colonel; "if The servant now entered the room, and handed a you would like to see your friend this evening, and card to Harry Sumner, informing him that the gentle- will do me the honour of accepting a seat by my man wished the honour of seeing him about some-side, I shall be happy to drive you wherever you may thing very particular. "Excuse me for a few minutes, Perigord," said Sumner, as he followed the servant to the presence of his unknown visitor. The visitor into whose presence Harry was ushered, did not leave him to commence the conversation. "Mr. Sumner, I presume," he observed. "I am that gentleman. Pray be seated, Colonel Flint." “Thank you; my business will not detain me many minutes. The fact is-hem!-devilish unpleasantuncommonly sorry to make your acquaintance in so unpleasant a business: but, my friend Mr. Browne Sumner started as soon as the name of his college acquaintance fell upon his ears, and betrayed a visible direct." "Thank you," said Sumner; "I will do myself the pleasure of accepting your offer; I think we shall find a gentleman at the House whom I will put in possession of the circumstances, and you must settle it between you." Not many minutes had elapsed before the Colonel and his companion reached St. Stephen's. Sumner got down at the House, and entered in search of Mr. D'Aaroni. The Colonel drove to the Parliament Hotel, and awaited the arrival of Summer's friend in the coffee-room. Why, you must both of you be mad!" exclaimed Mr. D'Aaroni, as soon as he had heard the particulars from Sumner. "You do not mean to tell me you are going to fight upon such a pretext as this!" |