Fair Janet sits beside her wheel; No maiden better knew To pile upon the circling reel An even thread and true; But since for Rob she 'gan to pine, She twists her flax in vain; 'Tis now too coarse,--and now too fine,-- And now--'tis snapt in twain! Robin, a bachelor profest, At love and lovers laughs, And o'er the bowl with reckless jest, His pretty spinster quaffs; Then, whilst all sobbing, Janet cries "She scorns the scornful swain!" With angry haste her wheel she plies, And--snaps the thread again! [The Publishers have obligingly enabled us to present the reader with three of the _smartest_ Cuts. The fun of these Cuts requires neither note nor comment. Altogether, we may recommend the _Offering_ as a really comic companion.] [Illustration: (Dandy Lion.)] [Illustration: (Pursuit of knowledge under difficulties.)] [Illustration: _Bob in_ for Eels.] THE AMULET [Is decidedly an improvement upon former years, and, taken altogether, plates, prose, and poetry, is the best book of the present season. The Editor, Mr. Hall, has judiciously maintained the original feature of his plan--that of "considering attractive tales and beautiful poems, however, essential to the interest and variety of the volume, as secondary to that which conveyed information and led to improvement." He then proceeds to enumerate a few of the papers to which he particularly refers, which have appeared in former volumes of the _Amulet_; as Dr. Walsh's Essay on Coins and Medals, illustrating the progress of Christianity: accounts of the American Christians at Constantinople, and of the Chaldean Christians, and a visit to Nicæa, by the same author: the Rev. Robert Hall's Essay on Poetry and Philosophy: Mr. Coleridge's Travels in Germany: An Essay on French Oaths, by Miss Edgeworth: the Rev. W.S. Gilly's Narrative of the Albigenses: Mr. Ellis's Account of the Austral Islands: Dr. Walsh's Account of the Aborigines of Canada; and Mr. Macfarlane's Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. These papers are entitled to special mention, and we think the Editor justified in his estimate of them. In the volume for the present year we have two contributions of this class; an Essay on Sneezing, a learned paper, by Dr. Walsh; and the following] * * * * * HISTORY OF THE HOLY CROSS.[2] _By Lord Mahon._ The supposed discovery of a religious relic, and the miracles attending it, are events so common in Roman Catholic legends as to deserve but little attention, even on the ground of curiosity; but the real changes and vicissitudes of one of these relics, for twelve centuries after its discovery, may perhaps excite some interest, more especially as its singular adventures, very distant in time, and recorded by different writers, have never yet been brought together, and formed into one connected narrative.