lt that for these reasons it would
possess a greater interest.

"The Butterfly's Ball" first appeared in the November number of the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, where it is said to have been written by William
Roscoe--M.P. for Liverpool, the author of "The Life of Leo X.," and well
known in the literary circles of his day--for the use of his children,
and set to music by order of their Majesties for the Princess Mary.
When the verses were subsequently published in book form, the text
and pictures were engraved together on copperplates. An edition, with
pictures on separate pages, appeared early in the next year, which is
the one here reproduced.

In this edition there are many variations from the previous one. The
allusions to "little Robert"--evidently William Roscoe's son--do not
occur in the former, and many slight improvements, tending to make the
verses more rhythmical and flowing, are introduced. The whole passage,
"Then close on his haunches" (p. 7) to "Chirp his own praises the rest
of the night," &c. (p. 10), is an interpolation in this later edition.
It is, I believe, certain that the verses were written by Roscoe for
his children on the occasion of the birthday of his son Robert, who was
nearly the youngest of his seven sons. No doubt when they were copied
out for setting to music the allusions to his own family were omitted by
the author. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_--who is, I believe,
a niece of the late Sir George Smart--says, in reference to the question
of the setting of the verses to music, that--

"The MS., in Roscoe's own handwriting, as sent to Sir G. Smart
for setting to music, is in a valuable collection of autographs
bequeathed by the musician to his daughter. The glee was written
for the three princesses--Elizabeth, Augusta, and Mary--daughters
of George III, and pupils of Sir George, and was performed by them
during one of their usual visits to Weymouth."

"The Peacock at Home" and "The Lion's Masquerade" were, as the
title-page puts it, written "by a Lady," and we should most likely
have remained in ignorance as to who the lady was if there had not
been published in 1816 another little book of a somewhat similar
character, entitled "The Peacock and Parrot on their Tour to discover
the Author of 'The Peacock at Home,'" which, the Preface tells us, was
written immediately after the appearance of "The Peacock at Home,"
but from various circumstances was laid a