AN AUNT JANE STORY, 



CURIOUS STONES. 



"Aunt Jane, do come up into the 

 attic and see what a collection of stones 

 we have made/' said Bird one day when 

 it was too rainy for the children at 

 Woodland to be off on one of their fre- 

 quent rambles. 



"Do, do," John added, "for we have 

 designs on you for a talk about historic 

 stones. Our collection is of common, 

 every-day stones and pebbles, that one 

 can pick up almost anywhere, but we 

 want to know something about famous 

 stones, and we are sure you will tell us. 

 Now won't you?" 



"John, you forget," cried Howard, 

 "that we have a few stones by no means 

 common. There is Edith's Agate from 

 Agate Island in Lake Superior, which is 

 as large as a hen's tgg and a beauty, too, 

 and then there is Alice's curious gray 

 stone with a face on it in white that 

 looks like a cameo of some old Greek 

 philosopher." 



There was a merry scramble up the 

 attic stairs, a dilapidated rocker was of- 

 fered Aunt Jane, and after she had duly 

 examined and commented on the geo- 

 logical collection she said: 



"Children, when John Herschel was a 

 boy he asked his father, William, what 

 was the oldest of all things. The great 

 astronomer is said to have picked up a 

 stone and replied, 'Here, my child, is 

 doubtless the oldest thing that I cer- 

 tainly know.' The commonest rock has 

 a history of its own, full of interest, es- 

 pecially to one well versed in geology. 

 But there are other stones, around which 

 cling legendary and historic associa- 

 tions." 



"Are there any of these here in our 

 own country?" Alice inquired. 



"Yes, in the memorial room in Lin- 

 <!:oln's monument at Springfield, Illinois, 

 there is a stone some two and a half feet 

 wide by three feet long, from the wall of 

 Scrvius Tullius, sent to Lincoln from 

 Rome in 1865. It bears this inscrii)lion : 

 1'o Abraham Lincoln, President for the 



second time of the American Republic, 

 citizens of Rome present this stone from 

 the wall of Servius Tullius, by which 

 the memory of each of these brave as- 

 serters of liberty may be associated, 

 A. D. 1865. No doubt this gift from 

 Rome will long be preserved by the 

 American people as has the stone known 

 as Jacob's Pillar or the Stone of Des- 

 tiny by the English." 



"That stone given to Lincoln is one 

 we may all easily see," cried Edith. "I 

 am so glad; I mean to read all about 

 Servius Tullius and see if he was any- 

 thing like as great as our own Lincoln, 

 if he was a Roman." 



"Tell us about the Stone of Destiny," 

 cried John, "I like the sound of that 

 word, destiny !" 



"It is a dark-colored stone, streaked 

 with red and is only some twenty-six 

 inches long, sixteen inches wide and 

 eleven inches thick, Avith surface de- 

 faced and scratched. Its legendary his- 

 tory is that it was preserved in the tem- 

 ple, taken to Egypt by Jeremiah, carried 

 thence to Ireland by a princess, taken 

 next to lona and thence to Scotland at 

 Scone. Here for four hundred and 

 fifty years it remained, and Scottish 

 Kings were crowned upon it. Then it 

 was carried to England by Edward I., 

 and for five hundred years England's 

 Kings have been crowned upon it, as it 

 is under the coronation chair in West- 

 minster." 



"Is there any writing on it?" Madge 

 asked. 



"Yes, the inscription seems prophetic 

 as Queen Victoria is descended from 

 James of Scotland. It is this: 



'Where e'er is found this sacred stone 

 The Scottish race shall reign.' 



Another stone of curious history is the 

 'Moabite Stone,' portions of which are 

 preserved in the Louvre." 



"How is it inscribed ?" Howard asked 

 eagerly. 



"It contains the oldest alphabetical 



