AVERN, ETC.

Out of the tavern I've just stepped to-night
Street! you are caught in a very bad plight.
Right hand and left hand are both out of place;
Street, you are drunk, 'tis a very clear case.

Moon, 'tis a very queer figure you cut;
One eye is staring while t'other is shut.
Tipsy, I see; and you're greatly to blame;
Old as you are 'tis a terrible shame.

Then the street lamps, what a scandalous sight!
None of them soberly standing upright.
Rocking and staggering; why, on my word,
Each of the lamps is drunk as a lord.

All is confusion; now isn't it odd?
I am the only thing sober abroad.
Sure it were rash with this crew to remain,
Better go into the tavern again.

This is parodied or stolen by the clever author of the _Bon Gaultier
Ballads_, in one of his best pieces.

The famous Quaker _Anthony Benezet_, was accustomed to feed the rats in
the area before his house in Philadelphia. An old friend who found him so
engaged, expressed some surprise that he so kindly treated such pernicious
vermin, saying, "They should rather be killed and out of the way." "Nay,"
said good Anthony, "I will not treat them so; thou wouldst make them
thieves by maltreating and starving them, but I make them honest by
feeding them, for being so fed, they never prey upon any goods of mine."
This singular fact is very characteristic. When feeding rats, the
benevolent philosopher used to stand in the area, and they would gather
round his feet like chickens. One of the family once hung a collar about
one of them, which was seen for years after, feeding in the group.

DES CARTES fought at the siege of Rochelle, and after a variety of
adventures, established himself in Holland, where he composed most of his
works. These abound in singular theories and curious speculations, and
their spirit of independence aroused the same spirit wherever they were
read. Scholars and theologians vied with each other in battling the new
opinions. The followers of Aristotle and the followers of Locke arrayed
themselves against him. His novelties even drew the attention of women
from their fashions. "The ladies of quality here, of late," says a writer
from Paris, in 1642, "addict themselves to the study of philosophy, as the
men; the ladies esteeming their education defective, if they cannot
confute Aristotle and his disciples. The pen has almost supplanted the
exercise of the needle; and ladies' closets, for