The lark sings loudly in the blue above,
The budding earth must magnify her God;
Let the old sorrows and old errors go
With the last snow!
[CONJURORS.]
By THOMAS FROST.
A French conjuror of the first of the present century, was Comte, who was as famous for his ventriloquil powers as for his legerdemain. Many anecdotes are current among continental conjurors of the consternation which Comte created on various occasions by the exercise of his powers as a ventriloquist off the boards. He once overtook near Nevers a man who was beating an overladen ass, and, throwing his voice in the direction of the poor brute’s head, reproached the fellow for his cruelty, causing him to stare at the ass for a moment in mingled surprise and awe, and then take to his heels. On another occasion, being in the marketplace of Mâcon, he inquired the price of a pig which a peasant woman had for sale, and pronounced it extortionate, a charge which the owner, with much volubility, denied.