S68 
AMERICAN AQRIGULTURIST. 
[September, 
PKISONEK AND HER PETS .—Engraved for the American. Agriculturist. 
This beaiiiiful iiicliire lells its own touching story of a 
lonely prisoner suflTerinii for companionsliip and sympa- 
tliy, and finding it wilh the little buds that she has taught 
by kind treiitrnent to confide in her. " Wliat is she sliut 
up for ?" Jisli the whole first class of Agriculturist read- 
ers, th;it is the liltle ones. We can not tell certainly. 
She does not look like a person who would commit 
any crime. In some countries men and wonien have 
been pnl in piisnn because they belonged to certain fam- 
ilies. Those who slnit them up were afraid if they lived 
they might become kingg or queens, or get some place 
away from those who confined ihem. You \\ill find many 
such iiccounls in the lii^tory of Enghinil, France, and 
other European countries. Probably tlie lady in the pic- 
ture, if she should ever be set free, would never want to 
see K bird shut up in a cage ; she would think of Ihe lone- 
ly hours; she herself had passed in confinement. If you 
have any doubts whetlier a bird loves liberty, just open 
the door of its cage, and it will soon show you how it 
feels. It is much pleasanter to tame the birds by feeding 
them. They can be made so familiar as to feed from a 
person's hand, if he will encourage their confidence by 
kind treatment day after day. If no one had ever injured 
the birds, they would never have had such fear of man, 
whom they novvvery justly look upon as Iheir enemy. 
The Judge's Exporiniciit. 
Many years ago it "as a common practice in Europe, 
to torture witnesses who were suspected of concealing 
the truth, and particularly supposed criminals who would 
not confess their guilt. The following account is given 
of its abolisliment in Portugal, the country where it was 
last practised : A certain judge greatly doubted wliether 
statements extorted from sufferers by the rack, were 
wortliy of belief, as many would be willing to confess to 
any thing to escape from the excruciating torments. He 
put the matter to test in the following manner. He gave 
the charge of his hor&e to a servant, requiring him to 
lodge in the stable, which was kept locked. One night 
the jndge himself unlocked the door, stole in carefully 
wliile the servant was asleep, and killed the horse. Then 
when the mischief was discovered, il v\as of course 
charged upon the servant. The punisliment for such a 
crime was death, and of course the poor fellow denied all 
knowledge of the act. But as appearances were so 
much against liim, he was put to the torture to make him 
acknowledge the crime, and in a short lime, he confessed 
himself guilty. Then the judge related the wliole cir- 
cumslances to the court, stating what weie his motives. 
Of course the man was acquitted, and the torture was 
abolished from that time. Although the act was a cruel 
one, much suffering was thereby saved to many others. 
Xlie Inventor ofllie Stocking' Fraiue. 
The history of William Lee, tlie Inventor of the first 
stocking knitting machine, is a remaikable instance of 
perseverance under difficulties and final v\ ant of person- 
al success, although he became a benefactor to his coun- 
try and tlie world. It is related that, when a young man, 
he paid his addresses to a lady wdio did not appear to fa- 
vor his attentions. Whenever he visited her she would 
always engage in knitting very industriously, and scarce- 
ly notice his conversation. At length he became disgust- 
ed, and declaied that instead of following her whims 
any longer, he v\ould invent sometliing to do away with 
her favorite employment of knitting. After three years 
study and patient labor, he was able to produce all of the 
stocking except the foot, but several months more ena- 
bled him to acctimplish this also. Now he thought his 
fortune Surely made, but upon applying for a paient, it 
was absuidly refused on the ground that it would take 
away the living of many poor persons to wlioin knitting 
gave employmer:t. Queen Elizabeth is said to have re- 
marked, that were it a machine for making silk stockings 
a patent might have been granted, as that would afl^ect 
but a small number of persons, but a monopoly of mak- 
ing stockings for the whole people, was too great a mat- 
ter for any one individual. He now set himself to over- 
coming this obstacle, and was helped by Lord Hunsden, 
a cousin of the Queen, who bound his own son to him as 
apprentice. After another long interval of patient labor 
he completed a frame for making silk stockings, but even 
then the Queen obstinately refused to grant him a pa- 
tent. Then he attempted to carry on the business of 
stocking making, keeping his machine a secret, and em- 
ploying his own relatives as workmen. But his patron, 
Lord Hunsden, and also Ids son, the apprentice, dying 
about this time, he was left without capital, and almost 
reduced to want. Then he determined to remove to 
France, where he was encouraged to set up his frames 
by iHe King, Henry IV, but just as he was about to com- 
plete extensive and favorable arrangements, the King 
was assassinated, and again his patron v\as lost, and he 
was left to work unaided. This entirely prostrated him, 
and he died of abroken heart the same year (IfilO).( Tlie 
stocking frame was finally pt-rfected and introduced by 
those who had learned its construction from Lee, and 
thus the country received the benefits of the invention 
wluch cost the inventor a life of unrequited labor. 
Rogues OntM^itted. 
A correspondent relates the following, which seems 
almost too good to be true. Ben Davis, as his neighbois 
call him, had a very fine melon patch. One afternoon 
while in the village store he overheard some boys plot- 
ting to help themselves to the fruit vvilhout being invited. 
Ben said nothing, but on his way home set his wits to 
work to head the-ra off. As he was passing along, a large 
black snake crossed his path, which Ben succeeded in 
capturing alive. He immediately went to his garden and 
selecting the very finest watermelon, cut it in two very 
carefully, scooped out the inside, and by means of pegs 
on the inside fastened it together so nicely that one could 
scarcely detectthe seam. He then plugged it, and forcing 
the snake in head first, made all secure, and left it in 
plain sight. That night of course he lay concealed near 
by to witness the sport. Shortly after nine o'clock, three 
boys came, and each selecting the finest melon he could 
find, started away, with Ben following at a safe distance. 
They proceeded to an outbuilding not far distant, struck a 
light, and prepared for a good time, Ben looking on 
through the cracks. Boy like, the largest one was taken 
first. " I guess its hollow," said the boy ripping through 
oneside with his jack-knife, " we'll soon see what's in it," 
continued he, turning it over, and then came a scream of 
terror from all the boys as the snake glided out among 
them, and away they scrambled, leaving the other mel- 
ons untouched, and it did not make them feel more com- 
fortable to hear the uproarious laughter of Ben as they 
took flight. The story spread through the village, and 
they soon found they had paid a dear price for their free 
melons. For weeks, wherever the boys saw the thieves, 
they would set up a hiss, and the culprits would be glad 
to retreat out of sight to hide their shame. 
This calls to mind the story of a clergyman who sus- 
pected one of Iiis neighbors of stealing hay from his barn. 
One night he provided himself wilh a daVk lantern, and 
watched for his coming. He saw the suspected man go 
to the barn, lake out as much hay as he could carry on 
his back and start for home. The clergyman stole up 
softly behind him. and opening his lantern set fire to the 
hay behind his back. Ji flashed up instantly and the man 
dropped it and ran away in the greatest terror. A few 
days after the culprit came to the clergyman and confes- 
sing the theft, asked forgiveness. He said tlial while he 
was carrying away some hay the fire of God came down 
upon it, and he could not rest until he was pardoned. 
Tlie clergyman fregiy forgave liim, but did not for a 
long time tell him how the hay came to take fire. 
Xlie Ka.ce* 
One of'our artists has evidently been leading about 
the Bull-frog Show, reported to take place this month, 
and has given us the above funny conceit from his pencil. 
He must liuve drawn upon his Jmaginalion, for what he 
has shown, could not happen, unless bull-frogs were 
larger, or boys were smaller, tlian they arc now-a-days. 
