ory about the boyhood of
Isaac which has been told as follows. He took precociously to rhyming:
like Pope, he lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. It happened that
this practice was very offensive to his father, a practical man, who,
finding his admonitions useless, resolved to stop it in an effectual
manner. He accordingly, after the practice of his profession--being a
schoolmaster--assailed with a leathern thong, duly prepared, the cuticle
of that portion of the body which has from time immemorial been devoted
to such inflictions. Under torture, the divine songster abjured his
propensity in the following very hopeful shape--

"Oh, father, do some pity take,
And I will no more verses make."

It is not likely that this simple domestic scene has been engraved
either for the Divine Hymns, or the Improvement of the Mind. The
illustrator will therefore require to get a picture of it for his own
special use, and will add immensely to the value of his treasure, while
he gives scope to the genius of a Cruikshank or a Doyle.

We are yet, it will be observed, only on the threshold. We have next to
illustrate the substance of the poetry. All kinds of engravings of bees
Attic and other, and of bee-hives, will be appropriate, and will be
followed by portraits of Huber and other great writers on bees, and
views of Mount Hybla and other honey districts. Some Scripture prints
illustrative of the history of Samson, who had to do with honey and
bees, will be appropriate, as well as any illustrations of the fable of
the Bear and the Bees, or of the Roman story of the _Sic vos non vobis_.
A still more appropriate form of illustration may, however, be drawn
upon by remembering that a periodical called The Bee was edited by Dr
Anderson; and it is important to observe that the name was adopted in
the very spirit which inspired Watts. In both instances the most
respected of all winged insects was brought forward as the type of
industry. Portraits, then, of Dr Anderson, and any engravings that can
be connected with himself and his pursuits, will have their place in the
collection. It will occur, perhaps, to the intelligent illustrator, that
Dr Anderson was the grandfather of Sir James Outram, and he will thus
have the satisfaction of opening his collection for all illustrations of
the career of that distinguished officer. Having been aptly called the
Bayard of the Indian service, the collector who has exhausted him and
his servi