The Astronomer. 503 



" Do not, oh, do not blame me ; it is for them for my children." 

 But no I cannot torture myself by reading again that mournful, 

 miserable letter. It is enough to know that, worn out with long per- 

 secution, she had given way to despair, and seeing that her death be- 

 fore a divorce was obtained would secure her children from disgrace 

 and poverty, she put an end to that life which was now an obstacle to 

 their happiness. If to seethe a kid in the milk of its dam be forbid- 

 den, what must their guilt be who force a mother to suicide by the 

 strong workings of a mother's love ! 



About a year afterwards a coroner's inquest was held on a man 

 who had been thrown out of one of the low Hells in street in the 

 course of some ruffianly quarrel. I did not see the account until long 

 after the occurrence, when, observing that one of the many aliases 

 under which the deceased had gone was the name of Sherborne, I 

 made inquiries on the subject, and from all I could learn it seemed 

 highly probable that the unfortunate man was indeed Mrs. Sher- 

 borne's guilty husband ; and as neither Mrs. Winston nor myself 

 have ever been disturbed in our guardianship over the children, it may 

 be considered almost certain that the wretched gambler's life was 

 ended by a gambler's death. 



THE ASTRONOMER. 



BY ANDREW CROSSE, ESQ., OF BROOMFIELD. 



THERE was a man who sent out bills 

 Which told to all the neighbours, 



A wondrous sight they all might see, 

 The produce of his labours. 



The neighbours came accordingly 



(A long word fills my song), 



, They blunder up the dusty stairs 



And in the passage throng. 



They pop into a dismal room 



(It must be owned 'twas shocking), 



The light came from a pan of grease 

 And twisted cotton stocking. 



A scaffold rose at yonder end, 



Not much unlike a screen, 

 'Twas full of holes, and there appeared 



Some feeble rays between. 



A man I judge so by his voice, 



His face I could not see 

 Now came in front and made a speech 



Uninterruptedly. 



Uninterruptedly I say, 



For he was quite at home, 

 He told us what the comets do, 



And where the planets roam. 



