"My father was a boatman, and so is my brother," said the boy. "Then call your brother to take me across the water as quickly as possible; there is not a moment to be lost, for I am pursued:" and as the woman spoke she looked with a terrified countenance toward the door. "My brother is absent," said the boy. "Then we are lost," she exclaimed, and sunk down exhausted on the stool from which the little boy had risen. The woman's cloak had fallen from her shoulders in her agitation, and disclosed to view a beautiful child of five or six years old, who, on finding his head liberated, replied to the woman's exclamation, "How lost, Petronille; are the robbers here?" "Robbers!" repeated the little peasant, laughing, and gazing with astonishment at the child. "Are there any in this country?" "The proof of it is that they are in pursuit of us; and if within an hour we are not on the other side of the water, they will rob me of my foster-child. where is your brother all this time?" But "I do not know where he is," replied the boy; "but if you only want to cross the water, you need not wait for him; I have taken passengers over before now. Edme Champion is well known here; so come along. "Then make haste," said the woman. And again covering up the child she hurried out of the cottage, followed by the boy, who carefully closed the door after him. At a short distance from the cottage there was a little creek, in which a boat was moored. The woman first stepped in, while Edme unfastened the rope and jumped after her; then giving a stroke to his little craft, it slid gently away upon the smooth and crystal stream. When the woman found herself at some distance from the shore her courage seemed to revive, and as if forgetting that it was quite a child she was addressing, she said: "My boy, you are saving the son of a great nobleman, and you shall be well rewarded for it." "Of boys like you, nothing, certainly: but like him! Child, you do not know who you are speaking to." The tone, the accent, even the appearance of this woman, who was of great height and commanding figure, brought to the recollection of little Champion the tales he had heard the countrywomen relate to the village children when they assembled round them in the evenings. Resting on his oars, he sat staring at her for some time; then remembering the beautiful child, whose velvet dress was richly embroidered, and his beaver hat adorned with feathers, he changed his former familiar mode of address, and said, in almost a tone of terror: You are not then what you appear to be, madam?” 66 "A countrywoman?" said the stranger, with a contemptuous smile. Certainly not, my little friend." "Perhaps you are a princess," said the little boatman. "No questions," she replied in a decisive tone; 66 as the prince said, I want to preserve my disguise." At these words Edme opened his eyes still wider, wondering what it could be that she and the prince were so anxious to preserve; but not daring to ask any more questions, he continued gazing at her in the hope that he might find out something by the search. Suddenly he saw that lofty countenance change; the woman trembled, and pointing with her finger to a distant part of the river, she whispered: "There, there; what is that?" Edme looked in the direction pointed out. "That," said he, "is the boat of Jean Carrouge." "And who are in it?" "Jean Carrouge himself, and three other men ; but I cannot distinguish them : to be sure the boat is a good way off, and it is not very light." "Take your oars and row quickly," said the woman, with every sign of extreme terror. "That will be of little use, madam; they must soon overtake us." 66 Boy," said the woman, in a low but "Are you afraid that he will be robbed quick voice, "this child is the son of a of his fine clothes ?" said Edme. nobleman; some villains have conspired to self," replied the woman. "I am afraid of being robbed of him- carry him off, in order to be revenged of his father for some supposed injury, which "Why, what could robbers want of little you cannot understand. We must save boys like him, or like me?" him." "How can we in the middle of the duced the germ of those virtues for which water?" said Edme, much agitated. "Hide him; O! hide him!" 66 Stay," said Edme, putting his hand to his forehead, as if considering some great design; "I am short and slight; let me change clothes with your child his are loose and will go on me; put mine upon him, and let him sit in my place. Cover me up under your cloak, and let them take me, and do you contrive to get to the other side the best way you can." While speaking, Edme was undressing himself; the woman, who understood the stratagem, did the same with her child, telling him not to cry, for it was done to save him. When the exchange was completed, she put her charge in Edme's place, and covered the latter up in her cloak, whispering to him as she did so, to come to Paris and to inquire for the Hôtel de Lauzun, rue Tiquetonne, where he would be well received. She had not long finished giving her directions when the boat of Carrouge came alongside that of Champion; one of the men immediately stepped into it, and without even looking at the boy, he tore the cloak, with the child wrapped in it, from the woman's arms, and returned with them into the other boat; after which he called out to her: "You may tell your master, that when he wants his heir, he may go and look for him in the forges of Pont d'Arroux." The two boats then separated: the one sped its way back to Châtel-Censoir; the other, containing the strange female and the young heir of Lauzun, reached the opposite shore, where a carriage was soon procured and conveyed them away. The boat of Jean Carrouge was not long in returning to Châtel-Censoir. Edme never stirred from the time of his seizure, but remained perfectly still under the large cloak in which he had been wrapped. The robbers, believing him to be either asleep or overpowered with terror, talked without scruple of the success of their enterprise and of their future plans. Edme was thus made acquainted with the cause of the woman's fears, and though he was endowed with courage and energy far beyond his years, he could not but feel a little uneasy as to his future fate. He had, however, been blessed with a pious mother, who had early instructed him where to put his trust, and the good seed she had sown already pro he afterward became so conspicuous. Instead of giving way to childish fears, Edme raised his heart in prayer to God, that he would deliver him out of the hands of those wicked men. A woman From their conversation he learned that the Duke de Lauzun, who had been absent from his country in the service of the King of France, had left his only child at one of his châteaux, near Sens. He had now returned, and desired that his son should be brought to him. These wicked men, who had some enmity to the duke, had entered into a conspiracy to seize his child on the way, and to carry him off to the forges of Pont d'Arroux, near Autun, which was their chief haunt, and then to extort a large sum of money from the duke as a ransom for his son. By one of those interpositions of Providence, which we are too apt to call chance, this conspiracy was discovered. The men met to hold one of their consultations in the village church-yard, where they sat concealed behind some tombstones. had also entered the church-yard, and overheard a part of their discourse; this woman was no other than the nurse of little Lauzun, who, in strolling round the pretty church-yard, and reading some of the epitaphs, was alarmed by the sound of voices, and pausing to listen, was soon made aware of the plot, which was to be put in execution that evening. Without taking time to consider the best means of averting the threatened danger, this woman, who was both strong and courageous, took the child in her arms, and hastened with him across the fields, hoping to reach Châtel-Censoir and cross the river unperceived by the robbers. The remainder has been related; and, by the quick thought and presence of mind of little Champion, the duke's son reached the opposite side of the stream in safety. When Carrouge's boat came to land, one of the men having lifted Edme, handed him to the boatman to take out, who was not a little surprised at hearing his own name pronounced. "Who calls me ?" said he, turning his head from one side to the other; for although the voice seemed to proceed from the bundle he held in his arms, yet he could not believe that a child whom he had never seen could know him. "It is I," said the same voice; and, throwing off the cloak in which he was enveloped, Edme displayed his well-known features to the boatman. "Ho! ho!" said he, "what are you doing here?" Before Edme had time to answer, the men were all landed, and came up close to him. THE HOMES OF OUR FOREFATHERS. THER HE list may be soon made-for it was scanty enough-of the household furniture of our forefathers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. That large class called "cabinet goods" were wholly unknown, and the carpenter supplied the "Ah!" said one of them, "are you tables-then merely long boards placed on awake now?" 66 Do you know this boatman ?" inquired another, surprised at the apparent recognition between him and the child. "What farce is this? To be sure we know one another," said Carrouge. "And where did you become acquainted with little Lauzun?" inquired the third. "I know nothing about little Lauzun," replied the boatman. 66 Come, no more words," said the first who had spoken, leading up a horse, on which he was going to lift the child. "Let me alone, will you!" said he, struggling to get away. "What! you are going to rebel!" said another; "you had better come quietly, I can tell you;" and he approached Edme in a threatening manner, but the boatman Carrouge came between them. "Stop a moment," said he; "do as you please with little Lauzun; I know nothing about him, and it is no business of mine; but as to this boy, it is quite another affair: he is a neighbor's son, and belongs to this place; any one who touches him will have to fight me and every inhabitant of the village." But our tressels, and the benches and joint-stools. 66 "What!" exclaimed one of the men, the tradesmen there valued at from ten to fifteen shillings each of the present money, while in inventories and wills of a later period, we meet with household linen, evidently of a superior kind, in great abundance. Few notions have been more ridiculous than the common one, that a feather bed was a luxury almost unknown to our forefathers-a notion which not only the most cursory glance at the homeliest Saxon illumination would disprove, but the mere exercise of common sense. While abundant flocks of wild geese haunted every fen, and scores of tame geese fed on every common-when the goose was the appropriate dish for both Michaelmas and Martinmas days, and the feather of the gray goose winged the shaft of the bowman, is it possible that our forefathers con "Let us go home, and I will explain everything to you," said Edme. Then, turning to the robbers, he said: "Thus, gentlemen, your wicked plots have been frustrated; and the good God has made use of one of the weakest of his creatures to baffle the efforts of the strong. Little Lauzun is now in safety." Edme went to Paris subsequently; but tented themselves with straw beds and a more hereafter. log for their pillow?-British Quarterly. high. It is said that no other building of HE Astor Library opens the present month; our engraving, drawn under the kind in the United States is formed, to so large an extent, of iron; there is hardly any wood in it. A published account of it says: the direction of Mr. Saeltzer, the architect, is apropos to the time. Our readers are doubtless familiar with the chief facts in the history of the institution. We need only refer to a few of them. The bequest of Mr. Astor for its establishment amounted to $400,000; of this munificent sum, $75,000 were appropriated to the erection of the edifice, $120,000 to the purchase of books and other contents of the library, and the remainder, after deducting the expense of the site, was to be permanently invested for its future uses. Mr. Saeltzer's plans for the building are admirable. Its style is Byzantine. It is of brown stone, and is one hundred and twenty feet long, sixty-five feet wide, sixty-seven feet "The truss-beams, supporting the principal weight of the roof, are constructed of cast-iron pipes, in a parabolic form, on the same plan as Europe, with a view to secure lightness and the iron bridges in France and other parts of strength. The Library Hall, which occupies the second floor, is one hundred feet high, and sixty wide, in the clear. The ascent from the front is by a single line of thirty-eight Italian marble steps, decorated on either side, at the entrance, by a stone sphinx. Upon nearing the summit of these steps, the visitor finds himself near the centre of this immense alcove, surrounded by fourteen brick piers, plastered and finished in imitation of marble, and sup porting iron galleries, midway between the floor and the ceiling. The side walls form one several domestics, among whom was one whose pale and anxious face displayed the terrors of his mind. The gentleman briefly stated that, being in Paris on business, he was surprised that morning by a visit from his gardener, with the report that his garden was bewitched, and that, if means were not taken to arrest the evil, his tenants feared the whole estate might be similarly cursed. "What leads you to suppose that your garden is bewitched," asked the Abbé. 66 continuous shelving, of a capacity sufficient for one hundred thousand volumes. This is reached by means of the main gallery, in connection with which are four iron spiral stairways and an intervening gallery, of a lighter and smaller description, connected by its eight staircases with the main gallery. The whole are very ingeniously arranged and appropriately ornamented, in a style corresponding with the general architecture of the building. At an elevation of fifty-one feet above the floor of the main hall, is the principal sky-light, fifty-four feet long and fourteen broad, formed of thick glass set in iron. Besides this, there are circular side sky-lights of much smaller dimensions. All needful light is furnished by these and by the windows in the front and rear walls. Free ventilation is also secured by iron fretwork, in suitable portions of the ceiling. In the extreme rear are the two rooms for the librarian, to which access is had by means of the main galleries. The first floor contains lecture and reading-rooms, with accommodations for five hundred persons. The latter are on each side of the building, and separated from the library-mended me to apply to you as more skillhall stairway at the front entrance by two corridors leading to the rear vestibule, and thence to the lecture-room, still further in the rear. The basement contains the keeper's rooms, cellars, coal-vaults, air-furnaces, &c. The floors are of richly-wrought mosaic work, on iron beams." It was a good fortune for the library, and therefore for the public, for whom it is designed, that Dr. Cogswell was selected to superintend the collection. He has made repeated and very advantageous" purchases in Europe. The rich display of the shelves is his best compliment. The outlay for books has thus far been about $100,000; the number of volumes is about 80,000. ONE NATURE'S WITCHCRAFT. NE of the most distinguished cultivators of science in Paris, in the middle part of the eighteenth century, was the Abbé Nollet. He was the first to give to his countrymen a popular account of the brilliant discoveries of Newton on Light; and he was associated with Dufay in researches on electricity, then occupying the attention of all Europe. His extensive acquirements in natural knowledge, his simple eloquence, and benevolent disposition, gained him general love and esteem. One day, at the beginning of July, 1736, he was seated in his study, preparing a lecture, when a country gentleman, a landowner of Andelis, a village on the Seine, was announced, requesting permission to ask the advice of the Abbé on a point of importance. He was accompanied by VOL. II, No. 5.-EE 'My gardener here," said the proprietor, "has brought me sundry rolls of leaves, which he says have been concealed here and there under the surface of the ground. I took them to my physician, who, though a very skillful man in his profession, was unable to explain the matter; but recom ed in such things than himself."> "Let us see these rolls of leaves," said the Abbé. Whereupon the gardener produced a small box, which he opened, and turned out upon the table some half-dozen rolls of leaves, curiously twisted into cylinders, two or three inches long. The Abbé looked at them attentively, and inquired when they were found. "The night before last, your reverence," said the gardener... 66 How did you happen to find them?" asked the Abbé. "Why, your reverence, I was cleaning up the garden, and, thinking the walks did not look so tidy as they ought to do, I determined to put down a little new gravel. While walking along them, and looking down, my attention was caught by a number of holes. Stooping down to see the cause, I saw something green, like a leaf, sticking out. The gravel about it was very loose, and on removing some of the pebbles I saw one of these rolls. I had not to search far before I found a good many more." "And you think these rolls are the work of a witch ?" asked the Abbé. "Of a witch or a sorcerer," said the gardener, "and the abbé of our village thinks so too, and recommends holy water, and I don't know what." A slight blush and a smile passed over the Abbé Nollett's face at the latter remark. Perhaps he thought the Abbé of Andelis would not be a worse curé if he knew something of natural history. "And why |