The Duke having occasion to stop, and as the officer would reach a certain town several hours before him, he requested that the veteran would take the trouble of ordering dinner for him, at the principal inn. The old officer made his bow of assent, and proceeded on his mission.

When he arrived, he walked up to the landlord, and in rather a loud tone said, 'I am desired to order dinner here, and by the way, I had better state who for.'-Then calling for pen, ink, and paper, he presented the astonished and delighted host with a list of his forthcoming illustrious guests..

'What a noble company,' exclaimed the host, in extacy. He then began to tell them

over.

One Prince-Three Dukes-One Marquis—A Marshal General of France-An English Governor An English Lord Lieutenant -The master General of the Ordnance and Two English Colonels-Six Field Marshals -One Grandee of the Highest Class-A Capt. General of Spain-Twelve Knights and a Doctor of Civil Laws!!

'Mon Dieu!' again exclaimed the hostThirty-two Great Personages !!'

All the provision of the town, all the delicacies of the season, and all the celebrated wines were immediately put in requisition for the illustrious company, in expectancy.

At last the Duke of Wellington arrived, and was ushered into a spacious dining room where a cloth was laid with thirty-two plates, &c.

The person of the Duke was unknown to the inn-keeper, who, full of important preparations for the thirty-two Great Personages, thought of nothing else.

'I ordered dinner here,' said his Grace.

'Mon Dieu!' responded the inn-keeper, ‘are you one of the thirty-two Great Personages ?' presenting the list at the same time.

His Grace glanced his eye over it. They are all here!' said he, 'so send up the dinner immediately.'

The inn-keeper stood aghast with amazement. At last finding utterance, he ventured to express a hope that his Grace would be pleased to take into consideration, that he had, at great trouble and expense, provided a most sumptuous entertainment for thirty-two Great Personages. The devil take the thirty-two Great Personages,' exclaimed the Duke, 'send up the dinner and your bill.'

"Thus I must pay the penalty', said he, 'for not having invited the old veteran to be of the party!'

This anecdote finely illustrates the titles of the Duke, at the beginning of the chapter.

ANECDOTE OF PETER PINDAR.

WHEN this celebrated satirist was on his death-bed, and very near his end, he was visited by a friend, who had stuck to him through life, and who, being greatly affected at the gradual decay of the poet, inquired if there remained any thing for the hand of friendship to perform? At once the vital spark of life seemed to be rekindled; Peter roused himself, and, with peculiar emphasis, exclaimed, 'Give me youth again.'

WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE.

'Each change of many-coloured life he drew,
Exhausted worlds, and then imagined new ;
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
And panting time toiled after him in vain ;
His powerful strokes presiding truth impressed,
And unresisting passion stormed the breast.'

THIS immortal, divine, and inspired poet, the pride of England and the glory of the English language, was born April 23, 1564, at Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire, a small town about 90 miles distant from London. His father, John Shakspeare, was a considerable dealer in wool, and was at one time possessed of a small patrimonial estate; but from losses in trade, or from other misfortunes, his circumstances became much reduced.

Dr Johnson has thus accurately drawn the character of Shakspeare, as a dramatic writer: Shakspeare is, above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful

mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpractised by the rest of the world; by the peculiarities of studies or professions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient fashions or temporary opinions; they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion. In the writings of other poets, a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakspeare, it is commonly a species.

"It is from this wide extension of design that so much instruction is derived. It is this which fills the plays of Shakspeare with practical axioms and domestic wisdom. It was said of Euripides, that every verse was a precept; and it may be said of Shakspeare, that from his works may be collected a system of civil and economical prudence. Yet his real power is not shown in the splendour of particular passages, but by the progress of his fable, and the tenor of his dialogue; and he that tries to