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DROPPING THE RENT.

A HANDSOME plump widow went to the landlord, a widower, in Cambridge, to complain that she was paying too high rent. He gazed at her, was smitten, and exclaimed-"You are to blame if you pay any rent again: marry me, and your difficulty is obviated ?" "Well, I will," said the sprightly fair one, and as soon as could be the nuptial knot was tied.

THE GLOWWORM.

Beneath the hedge, or near the stream,

A worm is known to stray:
That shews by night a lucid beam,
Which disappears by day.

Disputes have been and still prevail,
From what its rays proceed;
Some give that honour to his tail,
And others to his head.

But this is sure, the hand of might,
Which kindles up the skies,
Gives him a quantity of light,
Proportioned to his size.

Perhaps indulgent nature meant
But such a lamp bestowed,
To bid the traveller as he went
Be careful where he trod.

Nor crush a worm whose useful light
Might serve however small,

To shew a stumbling stone by night,
And save him from a fall.

Ye proud and wealthy, let this theme
Teach humbler thoughts to you,
Since such a reptile has its gem,
And boasts its splendour too.

SPEAKING.

THERE was a rule in an old debating society, which might be advantageously recommended to some of our public bodies," that any gentleman wishing to speak the whole evening should have a room to himself."

MILTON's description of a gentleman's great notoriety, on beholding his own offspring,—

Whence and what art thou execrable shape,

That dar'st though grim and terrible

Advance thy miscreated front athwart my way.

"WHY," asks the lantern, "is the rudder of a steam-boat, like a public hangman ?" and answers the question thus-" Because it is a stern duty to perform."

FASHIONABLE.

FASHIONABLE ignorance-" Oh! dear," exclaimed a fashionable girl, when she first beheld a cucumber, "I always thought such things grew in slices."

THE VACATION TERM TIME.

LAW.

THE Temple, Chancery Lane, Serjeants' Inn, and Lincoln's Inn even unto the Fields, are like tidal harbors at low water; where stranded proceedings, offices at anchor, idle clerks lounging on lop-sided stools, that will not recover their perpendicular until the current of Term sets in, lie high and dry upon the ooze of the long vacation. Outer doors of chambers are shut up by the score, messages and parcels are to be left at the Porter's Lodge by the bushel. A crop of grass would grow in the chinks of the stone pavement outside Lincoln's Inn Hall, but that the ticketporters, who have nothing to do beyond sitting in the shade there, with their white aprons over their heads to keep the flies off, grub it up and eat it thoughtfully. There is only one Judge in town. Even he only comes twice a-week to sit in chambers. If the country folks of those assize towns on his circuit could only see him now! No full-bottom wig, no red petticoats, no fur, no javelin-men, no white wands, merely a close-shaved gentleman in white trousers and a white hat, with sea-bronze on the judicial countenance, and a strip of bark peeled by the solar rays from the judicial nose, who calls in at the shell-fish shop as he comes along, and drinks iced ginger beer! The bar of England is scattered over the face of the earth. How England can get on through four long summer months without its bar-which is its acknowledged refuge in adversity, and its only legitimate triumph in prosperity is beside the question; assuredly that shield and buckler of Britannia are not in present wear.

NATURE AND ART.

A LECTURER, addressing a Hampshire audience, contended, with tiresome prolixity, that Art could not improve Nature; until one of his hearers, losing all patience, set the room in a roar, by exclaiming, "how would you look without your wig ?"

FEMALE'S PHRASEOLOGY.

IGNORANCE of female modes of speech often leads to misunderstanding. A lady, who says "I would not make a fright of myself," means generally, that she neglects nothing, however minute, to make herself attractive. While another, "to be decent," means to have a mass of most beautiful lace, and a little fortune in diamonds.

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MR. AND MRS. CHADBAND. MR. CHADBAND is a large yellow man, with a fat smile, and a general appearance of having a good deal of train oil in his system. Mrs. Chadband is a stern, severe-looking, silent woman. Mr. Chadband moves softly and cumbrously, not unlike a bear who has been taught to walk upright. He is very much embarrassed about the arms, as if they were inconvenient to him, and he wanted to grovel; is very much in a perspiration about the head; and never speaks without first putting up his great hand, as delivering a token to his hearers that he is going to edify them. "My friends," says he, what is this which we now behold as being spread before us? Refreshment. Do we need refreshment then, my friends? We do. And why do we need refreshment, my friends? Because we are but mortal, because we are but sinful, because we are but of the earth, because we are not of the air. Can we fly, my friends? We cannot. Why can we not fly, my friends? Is it because we are calculated to walk? It is. we walk, my friends, without strength? We could not. What should we do without strength, my friends? Our legs would refuse to bear us, our knees would double up, our ankles would turn over, and we should come to the ground. Then from whence,

Could

my friends, in a human point of view, do we derive the strength that is necessary to our limbs? Is it," says Chadband, glancing over the table, "from bread in various forms, from butter which is churned from the milk which is yielded unto us by the cow, from the eggs which are laid by the fowl, from ham, from tongue, from sausage, and from such like ? It is. Then let us partake of the good things which are set before us!"

BOROUGH INTEREST CURIOUSLY MAINTAINED. THE late Lord Sandwich, having the privilege of appointing a chorister to Trinity College, Cambridge, sent them one not only ignorant of music, but who croked like an old raven, because the fellow had a vote for the borough of Huntingdon. This gave rise to the following epigram:

A singing man and cannot sing;

From whence arose your patron's bounty?
Give us a song. "Excuse me, sir,

My voice is in another county."

A DISMAL IDEA.

"IF all the world were blind, what a melancholy sight it would be," said an Irish clergyman to his congregation.

GOOD ADVICE.

Put your

WHEN your wife begins to scold, let her have it out. feet up cozily over the fire place-loll back in your chair-light one of your best cigars-and let the storm rage on. Say nothing.

A PROUD HEART.

MATTHEWS, whose powers of conversation, and whose flow of anecdote, in private life, transcended even his public efforts, told a variety of tales of the Kingswood colliers (Kingswood, near Bristol), in one of which he represented an old collier looking for some of the implements of his trade, exclaiming, "San, what's thee mother done with the new coal sacks ?" "Made pillows on 'em," replied "Confound her proud heart," rejoined the collier, "why could not she take th' ould ones ?"

the son.

ASTRONOMY.

When the black tempest sweeps the sea,
And rocks deceitful lurk below,

The sailors boldly trust to me,

And safely through the ocean go:
I steer the vessel through the deep,
Manage the helm with steady hand,
At distance from the breakers keep,
And shun the peril of the sand.

And to the farmer on the plain,

My knowledge is of equal worth,
At my command he trusts his grain,
Into the bosom of the earth:

I teach him when to shear his fleece,
Or reap the produce of his field,
When to expect the rich increase,
Which pasturage and tillage yield.
I guide the sage historian's pen,
Point out a long connected plan,
And help him clearly to explain,

The active scenes of busy man.
Cæsar by me reformed the year,
And Newton regulated time;
While planet, comet, eclipse, star,

Are punctual seen in every clime.
Nor are the tunes for worship made
Secure without the light I bring;
The festivals require my aid,

The fasts from my direction spring:
The Jews expect to know from me,
When to assemble round the lamb;
Easter, without my aid might be

A torch to kindle hostile flame.

WHAT IS MAN?

A THING to waltz with, to flirt with, to take you to the theatres, to laugh at, to be married to, to pay one's bills, and to keep one comfortably. "We are sorry," says an American paper, "to be obliged to say, that many young ladies of the present day, consider

this a true definition."

OMNIBUS ENGLISH

"OUR busses," said a conductor in our hearing, " runs a quarter arter, art, arter, quarter to, and at!" In English, this means "every quarter of an hour."

A GLANCE AT ALEXANDRIA.

EGYPT.

PASSING through the streets where the bazaars are held, we were again fascinated by the imposing variety of costume. A mosque was dismissing, too, and the moonshee with his floating robes, mingled among the crowd. The only unbecoming dress is that of the soldier, which is white fustain, made into jacket and trousers; so that, were it not for the tarboush, the dress of the Turkish soldier would be precisely that of our mechanic. As through suffocating heat, irritation from mosquito bites, and the prevalence of fleas, I sleep almost none; I have had opportunities of making observations, not exclusively astronomical, during the watches of the night; and may here relate my experience of the night side of Alexandria. From ten till twelve, the ear is assailed with barking, howling, yelling of dogs; with a large intermixture of caterwauling from twelve till two, with serenading of all sorts, harmonious and otherwise, with a spice of the cats and dogs between hands; from two till four, cock crowing incessant-not an interval of rest to the ear, but, crow, crow, crow-shrill, harsh, far, near, young, old, unabated crowing; from four till six, donkeys braying, camels lowing, men shouting and cursing, a very Babel of sounds, that it is impossible to convey by any language. As some compensation, however, the stars are truly magnificent, and the milky way, much more brilliant than it is with us. By six o'clock all the world is up. The young Egyptian girl is in the okella with her flock of milk goats; and the Nubian maids are waddling down the stairs, and along the passages, to get milk for the morning coffee; and the Lavantine lady, with her long hair, hanging down her shoulders, is weaving it into plaits; or this piece of the toilet furnished, is leaning over the balcony, with her kerchief tied round her head, and her cup of black coffee in her hand; or may be, she is away to matins, with her great silk cloak wrapped around her, and on her feet her bright yellow boots.

DELICATE ATTENTIONS.

IN the tenth century, to eat out of the same plate, and drink out of the same cup, was considered a mark of gallantry, and the best possible understanding between a lady and gentleman.

RAGGED LITTLE GIRL-Ha! penny candle, please, and be quick, for mother wants her tea. POLITE SHOPKEEPER-Oh! yes, of course Miss; could we send it any where for yer ?

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