CHAP, xiv.] WAKEFULNESS OF THE BIRD. 445 



Procne and Philomela, like the modern Cenci, puzzle 

 one to say whether they were justifiable or not. It 

 was hard for Itys to have his Goose cooked in that 

 fashion ; otherwise, Tereus deserves no pity. But, I 

 presume, Philomel's rest is not so entirely broken now- 

 a-days, and the pagans merely meant to give us their 

 idea of the incompatibility between peace of mind and 

 a heavy weight of guilt. The ancient myth shadows 

 forth the unquietness of an evil conscience, and warns 

 us of what we learn from Scripture : " There is no peace, 

 saith my God, to the wicked." 



E.-A. Nightingales, during the period of their song, 

 are most untiring watchers, and it is difficult to know 

 when they do sleep at that time. Regular and periodic 

 rest they seem to have none. Their slumbers, if any, 

 must be snatches of a few brief intervals. The live- 

 long day, as well as the live-long night, do they pour 

 forth their intermitting bursts of song. If they make 

 any pause of longer duration, it seems to be towards 

 the close of the afternoon. The night's performance 

 does not weaken the display at early dawn. A just 

 emancipated schoolboy told, with high glee, how one of 

 his masters, an exiled Pole, used to rise early in the 

 morning to enjoy the song of the Nightingales in the 

 nursery gardens at Leamington Spa; and that the jest 

 of his going to hear a Morningale was sufficiently 

 good to create mirth amongst the youngsters for a 

 whole summer. 



C. It certainly illustrates the minute amount of wit 

 that suffices for schoolboys. Pliny, however, you may 

 remember, makes the Nightingale's punishment much 

 less severe than that assigned by Hesiod. " Lusciniis 

 diebus ac noctibus continuis quindecim garrulus sine 



