correspondence, artfully contrived by Pickwick with a view to his contemplated desertion, and which I am not in a condition to explain? And what does this illusion to the slow coach mean? For aught I know, it may be a reference to Pickwick himself, who has most unquestionably been a criminally slow coach during the whole of this transaction, but whose speed will now be very unexpectedly accelerated, and whose wheels, gentlemen, as he will find to his cost, will very soon be greased by you!"

Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz paused in this place, to see whether the jury smiled at his joke; but as nobody took it but the green-grocer, whose sensitiveness on the subject was very probably occasioned by his having subjected a chaise-cart to the process in question on that identical morning, the learned serjeant considered it advisable to undergo a slight relapse into the dismals before he concluded.

"But enough of this, gentlemen," said Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz; “it is difficult to smile with an aching heart; it is ill jesting when our deepest sympathies are awakened. My client's hopes and prospects are ruined, and it is no figure of speech to say that her occupation is gone indeed. The bill is down-but there is no tenant. Eligible single gentlemen pass and repass-but there is no invitation for them to inquire within or without. All is gloom and silence in the house; even the voice of the child is hushed; his infant sports are disregarded when his mother weeps; his 'alley tors' and his 'commoneys' are alike neglected; he forgets the long familiar cry of 'knuckle down'; and at tip-cheese, or odd and even, his hand is out. But Pickwick, gentlemen-Pickwick, the ruthless destroyer of this domestic oasis in the desert of Goswell Street-Pickwick, who has choked up the well, and thrown ashes on the sward-Pickwick, who

comes before you to-day with his heartless tomato sauce and warming-pans-Pickwick still rears his head with unblushing effrontery, and gazes without a sigh on the ruin he has made. Damages, gentlemen-heavy damages-is the only punishment with which you can visit him, the only recompense you can award to my client. And for those damages she now appeals to an enlightened, a high-minded, a rightfeeling, a conscientious, a dispassionate, a sympathising, a contemplative jury of her civilised countrymen."

With this beautiful peroration, Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz sat down, and Mr. Justice Stareleigh woke up.

-"Pickwick Papers."

William Aytoun

Idées Napoléoniennes

COME, listen all who wish to learn

How nations should be ruled,

From one who from his youth has been
In suchlike matters school'd;
From one who knows the art to please,
Improve, and govern men—

Eh bien! écoutez aux Idées
Napoléoniennes!

To keep the mind intently fixed
On number One alone;

To look to no one's interest,
But push along your own,
Without the slightest reference
To how, or what, or when-
Eh bien! c'est la première Idée
Napoléonienne.

To make a friend, and use him well,
By which, of course, I mean
To use him up until he's drain'd
Completely dry and clean

Of all that makes him useful, and
To kick him over then

Without remorse-c'est une Idée

Napoléonienne.

To sneak into a good man's house
With sham credentials penn'd;
To sneak into his heart and trust,
And seem his children's friend;
To learn his secrets, find out where
He keeps his keys, and then
To bone his spoons-c'est une Idée
Napoléonienne.

To gain your point in view; to wade
Through dirt, and slime, and blood;
To stoop to pick up what you want
Through any depth of mud;
But always in the fire to thrust

Some helpless cat's-paw, when

Your chestnuts burn-c'est une Idée Napoléonienne.

To clutch and keep the lion's share;

To kill or drive away

The wolves, that you upon the lambs May, unmolested, prey;

To keep a gang of jackals fierce

To guard and stock your den, While you lie down-c'est une Idée Napoléonienne.

To bribe the base; to crush the good,

And bring them to their knees;

To stick at nothing, or to stick

At what or whom you please;

To stoop; to lie; to brag; to swear;
Forswear, and swear again;

To rise-Ah! voilà des Idées
Napoléoniennes.