After fruitlessly petitioning King
Charles II. for permission to end his days in England, the illustrious
exile died at Rouen, in 1674, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.
[Illustration: STATUE OF LORD CLARENDON.]
* * * * *
OWLS.
[Illustration: Letter I.]
It is now generally known that the Owl renders the farmer important
service, by ridding him of vermin, which might otherwise consume the
produce of his field; but in almost every age and country it has been
regarded as a bird of ill omen, and sometimes even as the herald of
death. In France, the cry or hoot is considered as a certain forerunner
of misfortune to the hearer. In Tartary, the owl is looked upon in
another light, though not valued as it ought to be for its useful
destruction of moles, rats, and mice. The natives pay it great respect,
because they attribute to this bird the preservation of the founder of
their empire, Genghis Khan. That Prince, with his army, happened to be
surprised and put to flight by his enemies, and was forced to conceal
himself in a little coppice. An owl settled on the bush under which he
was hid, and his pursuers did not search there, as they thought it
impossible the bird would perch on a place where any man was concealed.
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