_To Brixton, Ottery, Honiton._—O hold up our goings in thy paths, that our footsteps slip not. _To Otterton, Sidmouth, A. D. 1743._—O that our ways were made to direct, that we might keep thy statutes. _To Budleigh._—Make us to go in the paths of thy commandments, for therein is our desire. _A Bogus Dragon._ A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden of Oxford, England, occurs in one of Grey's notes to _Hudibras:_ "He made a dead rat resemble the common picture of a dragon, by altering its head and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin on each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon, and one of them sent an accurate description of it to Dr. Magliabecchi, librarian to the Grand Duke of Tuscany; several fine copies of verses were written on so rare a subject. At last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat; however, it was looked upon as a master-piece of art, and, as such, was deposited in the museum." _Donation to a Fair._ On one occasion Oliver Wendell Holmes sent a letter to the post-office of a ladies' fair at Pittsfield. On the first page he wrote— "Fair lady, whoso'er thou art, Turn this poor leaf with tenderest care, And hush, Oh hush, thy breathing heart— The _one_ thou lovest will be there." On turning the "poor leaf" there was found a one dollar bill with the subjoined verse— "Fair lady, lift thine eyes and tell If this is not a truthful letter? This is the one (1) thou lovest well, And nought (0) can make thee love it better." _Confectionery Decorations._ Probably the ancients exceeded us in the art of decorating confectionery. After each course in solemn feasts there was a "subtilty." Subtilties were representations of castles, giants, saints, knights, ladies and beasts, all raised in pastry, upon which legends and coat-armor were painted in their proper colors. At the festival, on the coronation of Henry VI., in 1429, there was a "subtilty" of St. Edward and St. Louis, "armed, and upon either his coat-armor, holding between them a figure of King Henry, standing also in his coat-armor, and an inscription passing from both, saying, 'Beholde twoe perfecte kynges vnder one coate-armoure.'"—_Fabyan-Dallaway's Heraldic Inq._ _Superscription to a Letter._ A letter upon which the following was written, passed through the Atlanta (Ga.) post-office:— "Steal not this for fear of shame— There is no money in the same; True, it does a check contain, But 'tis for baggage on a train." _In Search of a Looking-Glass._ "When I was last in Lisbon, a nun made her escape from the nunnery. The first thing for which she inquired, when she reached the house in which she was to be secreted, was a looking-glass. She had entered the convent when only five years old, and from that time had never seen her own face."—_Southey._ _Bleeding for Nothing._