did not feel that he had that hold on his congregation which he desired and which he usually obtained. There was a disturbing force, although he could not tell where. When the sermon was over, and not till then, he discovered that during the whole time of its delivery one of his soft thin silk gloves had been reposing on the crown of his head. It requires very little to distract the attention of a congregation. If the famous Dr. South were exhorting us, or our Canon at St. Paul's, or even St. Paul himself, their eloquence would be seriously impaired if a sparrow chanced to fly into the church. TO HIS MISTRESS. 'There is none, oh none but you, Whom mine eyes affect to view; Others' beauties others move : In you I all the graces find; Such are the effects of love, To make them happy that are kind. 'Women in frail beauty trust, Only seem you kind to me! Still be truly kind and just, For that can't dissembled be. 'Dear, afford me then your sight, That, surveying all your looks, And fill the world with envied books. 'Which, when after ages view, All shall wonder and despair,— Women, to find a man so true, And men, a woman, half so fair!' Robert, Earl of Essex (1567-1601). GOLOSHES AND SWINE. I am told that the Americans call their indiarubber goloshes their gums. A man would quite naturally say, 'My friend will be here directly; he is only wiping his "gums," on the mat.' The hogs in Illinois are, or used to be, so thin that it required two of them to cast a shadow. WIT. Heine says that wit in its isolation is worthless. Then only is wit tolerable, when it rests on an earnest basis; ordinary wit is no more than a sneeze of the reason. SWITZERLAND. 'Go out in the Spring-time among the meadows that slope from the shores of the Swiss lakes to the roots of their lower mountains. There, mingled with the taller gentians and the white narcissus, the grass grows deep and free, and, as you follow the winding mountain paths (beneath arching boughs, all veiled and dim with blossom, paths that for ever droop, and rise over the green banks, and mounds sweeping down in scented undulation, steep to the blue water, studded here and there with new-mown heaps, filling all the air with fainter sweetness), look up towards the higher hills, where the waves of everlasting green roll silently into their long inlets among the shadows of the pines.' John Ruskin. REPAR TEE. The Duke of Clarence, when Lord High Admiral of England, went down to Portsmouth to inspect the naval establishment. The first person he met was his jolly old messmate and friend Captain Jack Towers. The Prince took him by the hand, and laughingly said, 'Why, Jack, my boy, they tell me you are the greatest blackguard in all Portsmouth!' 'Oh,' quoth Towers, 'I hope your Royal Highness has not come down here to deprive me of my character I' BENEVOLENT TACT. Louis XIV., or some such mighty potentate, held a Court, and, what was most unusual with him, he broke it up suddenly, even abruptly. He afterwards privately explained his reason for so doing. He had observed M. de, - who was very poor, and for whom he had a considerable regard, pocket a handsome chronometer repeating watch; it only wanted a few minutes to the hour, and he was afraid that M. de would be discovered and disgraced, if he remained till the watch struck, so he decided to get rid of him as quickly as he could. CALCULATION. 'Jedediah Buxton could multiply nine figures by nine, in his head. The only good thing I heard come of this man's singular faculty of memory was the following: A gentleman was mentioning his (Buxton's) having been sent up to London, from the place where he lived, to see Garrick act: when he returned to the country he was asked what he thought of the player and of the play. 66 Oh," said Buxton, “I do not know; I only saw a little man strut about the stage, and repeat 7,956 words." We all laughed at this, but a person in the corner of the room, holding one hand to his forehead, and seeming mightily delighted, called out, "Ay, indeed, and was he found to be correct?" This was the supererogation of literal-matter-of-fact curiosity. Buxton's counting the number of words was idle enough, but here was a fellow who wanted someone to count them over again, to see if he was correct. "The force of dulness could no further go."' William Hazlitt (1778-1830). ST. TERESA. 'Since 'tis not to bee had at home, Sheel travell to a martyrdome. No home for her confesses shee, But where shee may a martyr bee. Sheel to the Moores, and trade with them, For this unvalued Diadem, Shee offers them her dearest breath, With Christ's name in't, in change for death. Sheel bargain with them, and will give For him sheel teach them how to dye. |