Part 4

A great lawyer in the sister kingdom, when asked by the viceroy, what Captain Keppel meant by his "_Personal_ Travels in India, &c." replied, that lawyers were wont to use this word in contradistinction to "_Real_."

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It is said that the intestines of the Carolina parrot are an instantaneous poison to cats.

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CHINESE DUNNING.

When a debtor refuses payment in China, the creditor, as a last resource, threatens to carry off the door of his house on the first day of the year. This is accounted the greatest misfortune that could happen, as in that case there would be no obstruction to the entrance of evil genii. To avoid this consummation, a debtor not unfrequently sets fire to his house on the last night of the year.

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During the times of Catholicism in Scotland, _Fishing_ was prohibited from the Sabbath after vespers, till Monday after sunrise. This was termed _Setterday's Slopp_.

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THE TOWER OF BABEL,

says a recent traveller in the east, now presents the appearance of a large mound or hill, with a castle on the top, in mounting to which, the traveller now and then discovers, through the light sandy soil, that he is treading on a vast heap of bricks. The total circumference of the ruin is 2,286 feet, though the building itself was only 2,000, allowing 500 to the stadia, which Herodotus assigns as the side of its square. The elevation of the west side is 198 feet. What seems to be a castle at a distance, when examined, proves to be a solid mass of kiln-burnt bricks, 37 feet high, and 28 broad.

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SPANISH LITERATURE.

The Spaniards are particularly averse to borrowing from the intellectual treasures of other nations. They glean the field of their own muses to the very last ear, and then commence the same labour over again.

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EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER.

Here is a well-turned reply to plaintiff's counsel, available in all suits and times. It occurred in the trial of Lord Danby, in the time of Charles II. "If the gentleman were as just to produce all he knows for me, as he hath been malicious to show what may be liable to misconstruction against me, no man could vindicate me more than myself."

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In modern education there is a lamentable lack of veneration for the great masters of English literature. Spenser, Milton, and Dryden are altogether less familiar to the present generation than they were to that which preceded it. "We will not say that our Shakspeare is neglected, for his age is ever fresh and green, and he comes reflected back to us from a thousand sources, whether in the tranquillity of home, the turbulent life of capitals, or the solitude of travel through distant lands."--_Edin. Rev._

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RISE AND FALL.

What an idea of the dismantling of our nature do the few words which Roper, Sir Thomas More's son-in-law, relates, convey! He had seen Henry VIII. walking round the chancellor's garden at Chelsea, with his arm round his neck; he could not help congratulating him on being the object of so much kindness. "I thank our lord, I find his grace my very good lord indeed; and I believe he doth as singularly favour me as any subject in his realm. However, son Roper, I may tell thee, I have no cause to be proud thereof, for if my head would win a castle in France, it would not fail to be struck off."--_Edinburgh Review._

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There is not only room, but use, for all that God has made in his wisdom--a use not the less real, because not always tangible, or immediate.--_Ibid._

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Nicholas Brady, (the coadjutor of Tate, in arranging the New Version of Psalms,) published a translation of the Æneid of Virgil, which (says Johnson,) when dragged into the world, did not live long enough to cry.

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Blue appears to be the most important of all colours in the gradations of society. A licensed beggar in Scotland, called a bedesmen, is so privileged on receiving a _blue_ gown. Pliny informs us that blue was the colour in which the Gauls clothed their slaves; and _blue_ coats, for many ages, were the liveries of servants, apprentices, and even of younger brothers, as now of the Blue Coat Boys, and of other Blue Schools in the country. Women used to do penance in _blue_ gowns. Is it not unseemly that blue which has hitherto been the colour of so many unenviable distinctions, should be the adopted emblem of liberty--_English True Blue!_

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SONG.

By JOANNA BAILLIE.

The gliding fish that takes his play In shady nook of streamlet cool, Thinks not how waters pass away, And summer dries the pool.

The bird beneath his leafy dome Who trills his carol, loud and clear, Thinks not how soon his verdant home The lightning's breath may sear.

Shall I within my bridegroom's bower With braids of budding roses twined, Look forward to a coming hour When he may prove unkind?

The bee reigns in his waxen cell, The chieftain in his stately hold, To-morrow's earthquake,--who can tell? May both in ruin fold.

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The Gatherer.

"A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." SHAKSPEARE.

CATS _(again.)_

Charles James Fox walking up Bond-street from one of the club-houses with an illustrious personage, laid him a wager, that he would see more cats than the prince in his walk, and that he might take which side of the street he liked. When they got to the top, it was found that Mr. Fox had seen thirteen cats, and the prince not one. The royal personage asked for an explanation of this apparent miracle; Mr. Fox said, "Your royal highness took, of course, the shady side of the way, as most agreeable; I knew that the sunny side would be left for me, and cats always prefer the sunshine."

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VAUXHALL WEATHER.

It having happened for several successive summers, that wet weather took place just as the Vauxhall season commenced, Tom Lowe, Tyers's principal vocal performer, accidentally meeting the proprietor, expressed an anxious desire to know when he meant to open his gardens. "Why are you so particular, Mr. Lowe?" said Jonathan. "I have a very good reason, sir, and should like to know the very day." "Why, why?" reiterated Tyers, impatiently. "That I may bespeak a great coat to sing in; for you know we shall be sure to have rain."

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LAME SINGING.

A few days since, a musicsellers's boy was sent to the publisher's for a number of copies of the song "I'd be a Butterfly, arranged for _two trebles;_" when, on being desired to repeat his order, he replied, "I'd be a Butterfly, arranged for _two cripples._"

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LAUGHTER.

Democritus, who was always laughing, lived one hundred and nine years; Heraclitus, who never ceased crying, only sixty. Laughing then is best; and to laugh at one another is perfectly justifiable, since we are told that the gods themselves, though they made us as they pleased, cannot help laughing at us.

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_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, London; Sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic, and by all Newsmen and Booksellers._