called, children of honour, danced a morris before the king. On
another occasion, in the presence of the court, an artificial forest
was drawn in by a lion and an antelope, the hides of which were
richly embroidered with golden ornaments; the animals were harnessed
with chains of gold, and on each sat a fair damsel in gay apparel. In
the midst of the forest, which was thus introduced, appeared a gilded
tower, at the end of which stood a youth, holding in his hands a
garland of roses, as the prize of valour in a tournament which
succeeded the pageant!"

* * * * *


EPITOME OF COMETS.

(_For the Mirror_.)

"Hast thou ne'er seen the Comet's flaming flight?"

YOUNG.


Comets, according to Sir Isaac Newton, are compact, solid, fixed, and
durable bodies: in one word, a kind of planets, which move in very
oblique orbits, every way, with the greatest freedom, persevering in
their motions even against the course and direction of the planets; and
their tail is a very thin, slender vapour, emitted by the head, or
nucleus of the comet, ignited or heated by the sun.

There are _bearded_, _tailed_, and _hairy_ comets; thus, when the comet is