Death never partsSuch loving hearts.In thee, my choice,I do rejoice. 1677.A heart contentNeed ne'er repent.All I refuse,And thee I choose.In thee, dear wife,I find new life.This ring doth bindBody and mind.Joy day and nightBe our delight.Endless as this,Shall be our bliss. 1719.God aloneMade us two one.I change the lifeOf maid to wife.No gift can showThe love I owe.In love abide,Till death divide.
Death never partsSuch loving hearts.
In thee, my choice,I do rejoice. 1677.
A heart contentNeed ne'er repent.
All I refuse,And thee I choose.
In thee, dear wife,I find new life.
This ring doth bindBody and mind.
Joy day and nightBe our delight.
Endless as this,Shall be our bliss. 1719.
God aloneMade us two one.
I change the lifeOf maid to wife.
No gift can showThe love I owe.
In love abide,Till death divide.
Malone, the well-known editor of Shakespeare, possessed a curious volume—an account of the privy expenses of Charles II., kept by Baptist May. A few extracts from Malone's transcripts are here subjoined:—
The following editorial announcement is taken from the PhiladelphiaWeekly Mercuryof November 30th, 1752, because it is a novelty in its way, and also affords an insight into the degree of communication which existed at the time between large towns and the provinces:—
"On Monday next the Northern Post sets out from New York, in order to perform his stage but once a fortnight, during the winter quarter; the Southern Post changes also, which will cause this paper to come out on Tuesdays during that time. The colds which have infested the Northern Colonies have also been troublesome here; few families have escaped the same, several have been carry'd off by the cold, among whom was David Brintnall, in the 77th year of his age; he was the first man that had a brick house in the city of Philadelphia, and was much esteem'd for his just and upright dealing. There goes a report here that the Lord Baltimore and his lady are arrived in Maryland, but the Southern Post being not yet come in, the said report wants confirmation."
Among the local items of news in thePennsylvania Gazette,published in Philadelphia, and bearing date of November 4th, 1772, is recorded the following:—
"At the Mayor's Court, held in this city last week, John Underwood, for counterfeiting and passing counterfeit money, of this province, was ordered to be whipt, stand in the pillory, and have both his ears cut off and nailed to the post; others were ordered to be whipt and stand in the pillory for divers felonies, and five more to receive the discipline of the post, which was put in execution on Saturday last."
The following appears inBaker's Chronicle, sub anno 1524:
"In this yeere, through bookes of prognostications, fore-showing much hurt by waters and floods, many persons withdrew themselves to high grounds for feare of drowning; specially one Bolton, prior of St. Bartholomew's, in Smithfield, builded him an house upon Harrow on the hill, and thither went and made provision for two moneths. These great waters should have fallen in February, but, no such thing happening, the astronomers excused themselves by saying, that, in the computation, they had miscounted in their number an hundred yeeres."
From Sir J. Harrington's (the translator of Ariosto) rules for servants, we obtain a very clear conception of the internal government of a country gentleman's house in 1566—
A servant who is absent from prayers to be fined.
For uttering an oath, 1d.; and the same sum for leaving a door open.
A fine of 2d.from Michaelmas to Lady Day, for all who are in bed after seven, or out after nine.
A fine of 1d.for any bed unmade, fire unlit, or candle-box uncleaned, after eight.
A fine of 4d.for a man detected teaching the children obscene words.
A fine of 1d.for any man waiting without a trencher, or who is absent at a meal.
For any one breaking any of the butler's glass, 12d.
A fine of 2d.for any one who has not laid the table for dinner by half-past ten, or the supper by six.
A fine of 4d.for any one absent without leave.
For any man striking another, a fine of 1d.
For any follower visiting the cook, 1d.
A fine of 1d.for any man appearing in a foul shirt, untied shoes, or torn doublet.
A fine of 1d.for any stranger's room left for four hours after he has dressed.
A fine of 1d.if the hall be not cleansed by eight in winter and seven in summer.
The porter to be fined 1d.if the court-gate be not shut during meals.
A fine of 3d.if the stairs be not cleaned every Friday after dinner.
All these fines were deducted by the steward at the quarterly payment of wages.
The Hindoos regard the Ganges as a sacred river. It is a common practice in British Courts to "swear" Hindoo witnesses upon the waters of the Ganges, just as Christians are sworn upon the Bible.
Saturday has been a fatal day to the royal family of England during the last hundred and sixty years, as is shown by the following list:—
WilliamIII.died Saturday, March 18th, 1702.Queen Anne died Saturday, August 1st, 1714.GeorgeI.died Saturday, June 10th, 1727.GeorgeII.died Saturday, October 25th, 1760.GeorgeIII.died Saturday, January 29th, 1820.GeorgeIV.died Saturday, June 26th, 1830.Duchess of Kent died Saturday, March 16th, 1861.Prince Albert died Saturday, December 14th, 1861.Princess Alice died Saturday, December 14th, 1878.
An idea may be formed of the strictness with which all popular amusements were prohibited when the Puritans had the ascendency, from the fact that in 1656-7 Oliver Cromwell prohibited all persons called fiddlers or minstrels from playing, fiddling or making music in any inn, ale-house or tavern, etc. If they proffered themselves, or offered to make music, they were adjudged to be rogues and vagabonds, and were to be proceeded against as such.
Perhaps the shortest deed of land by a will in the world is the following:—
"I, John of Gaunt,Do give and do grantTo John of BurgoyneAnd the heirs of his loin,Both Sutton and PottonUntil the world's rotten."
"I, John of Gaunt,Do give and do grantTo John of BurgoyneAnd the heirs of his loin,Both Sutton and PottonUntil the world's rotten."
It is by this tenure, it is said, that the estates of Sutton and Potton, in the county of Bedford, England, are now held by the house of Burgoyne.
Mr. Tuke, of Wath, near Rotherham, England, who died in 1810, bequeathed one penny to every child that attended his funeral (there came from six to seven hundred); 1s.to every poor woman in Wath; 10s.6d.to the ringers to ring one peal of grand bobs, which was to strike off while they were putting him into the grave. To his natural daughter, £4 4s.per annum. To his old and faithful servant, Joseph Pitt, £21 per annum. To an old woman who had for eleven years tucked him up in bed, £1 1s.only. Forty dozen penny loaves to be thrown from the church leads at twelve o'clock on Christmas day forever. Two handsome brass chandeliers for the church, and £20 for a set of new chimes.
At Strasbourg they exhibit a large French horn, the history of which is as follows:—
About four hundred years ago the Jews formed a conspiracy to betray the city, and with this identical horn they intended to give the enemy notice when to attack. The plot, however, was discovered; many of the Jews were burnt alive; the rest were plundered of their money and effects, and banished the town. This horn is sounded twice every night from the battlements of the steeple in gratitude for the deliverance. The Jews deny the facts of this story, excepting the murdering and pillaging of their countrymen. They say the whole story is fabricated to furnish a pretext for the robberies and murders, and assert that the steeple of Strasbourg, as has been said of the monument of London,
"Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies."
"Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies."
In the fourteenth century it was the fashion to carry tooth-picks of silver suspended round the neck by a chain.
"The Magick of Kirami, King of Persia, and of Harpocration," printed in the year 1685, contains the following:—
"The hyena is a four-footed animal, savage and ambiguous; for this creature is born female, and, after a year, turns male, and then, for the next year, turns female again, and brings forth and gives suck; and the gall of this animal, being sweet, has efficacy for a miracle; and a great miracle is made of it; and this is the composition: Take the eyes of the fish glaucus, and the right eye of the said hyena, and all that is liquid of the said hyena; dissolve all together, and pot it up in a glass vessel, covering it well. If, therefore, you will show a great miracle, when you have set a light, mix the fat of any creeping thing, or four-footed beast you please, with a little of the foresaid composition; if you anoint the wick of the lamp or candle, they will think it is the beast of which it is the fat, whether of a lion, bull, serpent, or any other creature. If you put a little of the confection upon burning coals, in the middle of the house, the beast will appear whose fat you mixed with it. And you may do the same with birds. And if you mix a little sea-water with the composition, and sprinkle among the guests, they will all fly, thinking that the sea is in the midst of them."
The following curious law was enacted during the reign of RichardI., for the government of those going by sea to the Holy Land: "He who kills a man on shipboard, shall bebound to the dead body and thrown into the sea; if the man is killed on shore, the slayer shall be bound to the dead body and buried with it. He who shall draw his knife to strike another, or who shall have drawn blood from him, to lose his hand; if he shall have only struck with the palm of the hand, without drawing blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the sea."
The following curious historical coincidence has been remarked in the life of Thomas a-Becket, who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by HenryII.:—
The dignity was conferred upon him on a Tuesday; Tuesday brought him face to face with the peers of Northampton; he was banished from England on a Tuesday; he had a celestial visit on a Tuesday, foretelling his "martyrdom;" he came home from exile on a Tuesday; he was slain at the altar on a Tuesday, and was canonized as a saint on a Tuesday.
One of the most celebrated peals of bells in London is that of St. Mary-le-bow, Cheapside, which forms the basis of a proverbial expression meant to mark emphatically a London nativity. Brand speaks of a substantial endowment by a citizen for the ringing of Bow-bells every morning to wake up the London apprentices.
In the books of Darlington parish church, the following items appear, which show that, in the olden time, provision was made for comforting the inner man:—
"Six quarts of sack to the minister who preached when he had no minister to assist, 9s.; for a quart of sack bestowed on Jillett, when he preached, 2s.6d.; for pint of brandy when George Bell preached here, 1s.4d.; for a stranger who preached, a dozen of ale. When the Dean of Durham preached here, spent in a treat in the house, 3s.6d."
It is not generally known that the custom of keeping birthdays is many thousand years old. It is recorded in the fortieth chapter of Genesis, twentieth verse: "And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants."
An Act of Parliament was passed to "put down" the flower pots, "which were accustomed to topple on thewalkers'heads, from the windows of houses wherein flower-fanciers dwelt."
In Sir Henry Slingsby's diary is the following entry respecting the election at Knaresborough, in 1640: "There is an evil custom at such elections, to bestow wine on all the town, which cost me sixteen pounds at least."
In the year 1200 the Council of Lateran ordered the monks to shave off their beards, "lest in the ceremony of receivingthe sacrament, the beard might touch the bread and wine, or crumbs and drops fall and stick upon it."
One meets with curious things in the old church registers of England. The subjoined, in the Record Office of Winchester Cathedral, dated 1182, is certainly unique. It is a bill for work done:—
Riddles are of the highest antiquity. The oldest one on record is in the book of Judges,xiv.14-18. We are told by Plutarch that the girls of his time worked at netting or sewing, and the most ingenious made riddles. The following riddle is attributed to Cleobolus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, who lived about 570 years before the birth of Christ:—
"There is a father with twice six sons; these sons have thirty daughters apiece, parti-colored, having one cheek white and the other black, who never see each other's faces, nor live more than twenty-four hours."
In the State Lottery of 1739, tickets, chances and shares were "bought and sold by Richard Shergold, printer, at hisoffice at the Union Coffee-house over and against the Royal Exchange, Cornhill." He advertised that he kept numerical books during the drawing, and a book wherein buyers might register their numbers at sixpence each; thatfifteen per cent. was to be deductedout of the prizes, which were to be paid at the bank in fifty days after the drawing. The heavy percentage demanded occasioned the following epigram:—
"This lottery can never thrive,"Was broker heard to say,"For who but fools will ever giveFifteen per cent. to play?"A sage, with his accustomed grin,Replied, "I'll stake my doom,That if but half the fools come inThe wise will find no room!"
"This lottery can never thrive,"Was broker heard to say,"For who but fools will ever giveFifteen per cent. to play?"
A sage, with his accustomed grin,Replied, "I'll stake my doom,That if but half the fools come inThe wise will find no room!"
Advertisement.—BE IT KNOWN, thatSix Fair Pretty Young Ladies, with two sweet and engaging young children, lately imported from Europe, having roses of health blooming on their cheeks and joy sparkling in their eyes, possessing amiable manners and highly accomplished, whom the most indifferent cannot behold without expressions of rapture, are to be RAFFLED FOR next door to the British gallery.Scheme:Twelve ticketsat twelve rupees each; the highest of the three throws takes the most fascinating, &c., &c.—Calcutta Newspaper of September 3rd, 1818.
In 1612, King JamesI., "in special favour for the plantation of English colonies in Virginia, granted a Lottery to be held at the west end of St. Paul's; whereof one ThomasSharplys, a taylor of London, had the chief prize, which was four thousand crowns in fair plate."—Baker's Chronicles.
In October, 1735, a child of James and Elizabeth Leesh, of Chester-le-street, in the county of Durham, wasplayed for at cards, at the sign of the Salmon, one game, four shillings against the child, by Henry and John Trotter, Robert Thomson and Thomas Ellison, which was won by the latter two and delivered to them accordingly.—Syke's Local Records, page 79.
The change in public opinion respecting lotteries is strikingly illustrated by the following entry in the day-book kept by the Rev. Samuel Seabury, father of the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop in the United States: "June, 1768. The ticket number 5866, by the blessing of God, in the Lighthouse and Public Lottery of New York, appointed by law, Anno Domini, 1763, drew in my favor £500 0s.0d., of which I received £425 0s.0d., which, with the deduction of fifteen per cent., makes £500, for which I now record to my Posterity my thanks and praise to Almighty God the giver of all good gifts. Amen!"
This popular legend was a disguised recital of the reported murder of his young nephews by RichardIII.Throughout the tale there is a marked resemblance to several leading facts connected with the king and his brother's children, as well as a correspondence with historical details. In an old black-lettercopy of the ballad there is a rude representation of a stag, which is significant, because a stag was the badge of the unfortunate EdwardV.
This expression comes from Ecclesiastesx.20: "For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter."
From the "Gentleman's Magazine" (1736), we learn that at some of the taverns where the poorer classes drank to excess, the signs bore the following inscription: "Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, clean straw for nothing." This record gives reality to the inscription in Hogarth's print of "Gin-lane."
On the 30th of March, 1809, the destruction of the city of Bath was to have been effected by a convulsion of the earth, which should cause "Beaconhill to meet Beechen Cliff." This inauspicious juncture was said to have been foretold by an old woman who had derived her information from an angel. This reported prophecy rendered many of the inhabitants uneasy, and instigated crowds of visitors to quit the city. The portentous hour—twelve o'clock—passed, and the believers were ashamed of their credulity. The alarm is said to have originated with two noted cock-feeders, who lived near the before-mentioned hills; they had been at a publichouse, and, after much boasting on both sides, made a match to fight their favorite cocks on Good Friday; but fearing the magistrates might interfere, if it became public, they named the cocks after their respective walks, and in the agreement it was specified that "Mount Beacon would meet Beechen Cliff, precisely at 12 o'clock on Good Friday." The match was mentioned with cautions of secresy to their sporting friends, who repeated it in the same terms, and with the same caution, until it came to the ears of some credulous beings, who took the words in their plain sense; and, as stories seldom lose by being repeated, each added what fear or fancy framed, until the report became a marvellous prophecy, which in its intended sense was fulfilled; for the cocks of Mount Beacon and Beechen Cliff met and fought, and left their hills behind them on their ancient sites, to the comfort and joy of multitudes who had been disturbed by the epidemical prediction.—Hone.
An old gentleman by the name of Page, having found a young lady's glove at a watering place, presented it to her with the following couplet:—
"If you from your glove take the letter G,Your glove leaves love, which I devote to thee."
"If you from your glove take the letter G,Your glove leaves love, which I devote to thee."
To which the lady returned the following answer:—
"If from your page you take the letter P,Your page is age, and that won't do for me."
"If from your page you take the letter P,Your page is age, and that won't do for me."
Dean Swift was applied to, at a late hour on a stormy night, after he had gone to bed, by a run-away couple, to be married.He answered the call from his upper chamber window. He told them that as he was undressed, the weather very threatening, and they, he presumed, in a hurry, he would marry them as they stood. After asking the necessary questions, he said—
"Under this window, in stormy weather,I marry this man and woman together;Let none but Him who rules the thunderPut this man and woman asunder."
"Under this window, in stormy weather,I marry this man and woman together;Let none but Him who rules the thunderPut this man and woman asunder."
In olden times the guide-posts not only pointed out the road, but furnished texts and maxims upon which to meditate. The following inscriptions were upon guide-posts in Devonshire, England:—
Hand pointingTo Woodbury, Topsham, Exeter.— Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Hand pointingTo Brixton, Ottery, Honiton.— O hold up our goings in thy paths, that our footsteps slip not.
Hand pointingTo Otterton, Sidmouth, A. D. 1743.— O that our ways were made to direct, that we might keep thy statutes.
Hand pointingTo Budleigh.— Make us to go in the paths of thy commandments, for therein is our desire.
A curious anecdote of Jacob Bobart, keeper of the physic garden of Oxford, England, occurs in one of Grey's notes toHudibras:"He made a dead rat resemble the common picture of a dragon, by altering its head and tail, and thrusting in taper sharp sticks, which distended the skin on each side till it resembled wings. He let it dry as hard as possible. The learned immediately pronounced it a dragon, and one of them sent an accurate description of it to Dr.Magliabecchi, librarian to the Grand Duke of Tuscany; several fine copies of verses were written on so rare a subject. At last Mr. Bobart owned the cheat; however, it was looked upon as a master-piece of art, and, as such, was deposited in the museum."
On one occasion Oliver Wendell Holmes sent a letter to the post-office of a ladies' fair at Pittsfield. On the first page he wrote—
"Fair lady, whoso'er thou art,Turn this poor leaf with tenderest care,And hush, Oh hush, thy breathing heart—Theonethou lovest will be there."
"Fair lady, whoso'er thou art,Turn this poor leaf with tenderest care,And hush, Oh hush, thy breathing heart—Theonethou lovest will be there."
On turning the "poor leaf" there was found a one dollar bill with the subjoined verse—
"Fair lady, lift thine eyes and tellIf this is not a truthful letter?This is the one (1) thou lovest well,And nought (0) can make thee love it better."
"Fair lady, lift thine eyes and tellIf this is not a truthful letter?This is the one (1) thou lovest well,And nought (0) can make thee love it better."
Probably the ancients exceeded us in the art of decorating confectionery. After each course in solemn feasts there was a "subtilty." Subtilties were representations of castles, giants, saints, knights, ladies and beasts, all raised in pastry, upon which legends and coat-armor were painted in their proper colors. At the festival, on the coronation of Henry VI., in 1429, there was a "subtilty" of St. Edward and St. Louis, "armed, and upon either his coat-armor, holding between them a figure of King Henry, standing also in his coat-armor, and an inscription passing from both, saying,'Beholde twoe perfecte kynges vnder one coate-armoure.'"—Fabyan-Dallaway's Heraldic Inq.
A letter upon which the following was written, passed through the Atlanta (Ga.) post-office:—
"Steal not this for fear of shame—There is no money in the same;True, it does a check contain,But 'tis for baggage on a train."
"Steal not this for fear of shame—There is no money in the same;True, it does a check contain,But 'tis for baggage on a train."
"When I was last in Lisbon, a nun made her escape from the nunnery. The first thing for which she inquired, when she reached the house in which she was to be secreted, was a looking-glass. She had entered the convent when only five years old, and from that time had never seen her own face."—Southey.
"Whereas, the majority of Apothecaries in Boston have agreed to pull down the price of Bleeding to sixpence, let these certifie that Mr. Richard Clarke, Apothecary, will bleed anybody at his shop, gratis."—Stamford Mercury, March 28th, 1716.
A curious instance occurred of a witness confounding a counsel, at Gloucester, England, some years ago. The witness, on being asked his name, gave it as Ottiwell Woodd.The learned counsel did not seem to catch it, though it was several times pronounced. "Spell it, sir, if you please," he said, somewhat angrily. The witness complied as follows: "O-double t-i-double you-e-double l-double you-double o-double d." The spelling confounded the lawyer more than ever, and in his confusion, amid the laughter of the court, he took the witness aside to help him to spell it after him.
In England, in 1764, the Rev. Mr. Hill was killed in a duel by Cornet Gardener, of the carbineers. The Rev. Mr. Bates fought two duels, and was subsequently created a baronet, and preferred to a deanery after he had fought another duel. The Rev. Mr. Allen killed a Mr. Delany in a duel in Hyde Park, without incurring ecclesiastical censure, though the judge, on account of his extremely bad conduct, strongly charged his guilt upon the jury.
On the 13th of February, 1746, as the records of the French criminal jurisprudence inform us, one Jean Marie Dunbarry was brought to the scaffold for murdering his father; and, strangely enough, on the 13th of February, 1846, precisely one hundred years later, another Jean Marie Dunbarry, a great-grandson of the first-mentioned criminal, paid the same penalty for the same crime.
Centuries ago, the doors of taverns had an interior screen, similar to those in use at the present day. Lounging was justas much in vogue. In Clare's "Shepherd's Calender," we read—
"Now, musing o'er the changing scene,Farmers behind the tavern screenCollect; with elbow idly press'dOn hob, reclines the corner's guest,Reading the news, to mark againThe bankrupt lists, or price of grain,Puffing the while his red-tipt pipe,He dreams o'er troubles nearly ripe;Yet, winter's leisure to regale,Hopes better times, and sips his ale."
"Now, musing o'er the changing scene,Farmers behind the tavern screenCollect; with elbow idly press'dOn hob, reclines the corner's guest,Reading the news, to mark againThe bankrupt lists, or price of grain,Puffing the while his red-tipt pipe,He dreams o'er troubles nearly ripe;Yet, winter's leisure to regale,Hopes better times, and sips his ale."
Ages before the time of Judas, red hair was thought a mark of reprobation, both in the case of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the sceptre in Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar, who acquired it in expiation of his atrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this ill-omened visitation, according to the proverb of "wicked as a red ass." Asses of that color were held in such detestation among the Copths, that every year they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall.
Lightning-prints are appearances sometimes found on the skin of men or animals that are struck by lightning, and are currently believed to be photographic representations of surrounding objects or scenery.
At Candelaria, in Cuba, in 1828, a young man was struck dead by lightning near a house, on one of the windows of which was nailed a horse-shoe; and the image of the horse-shoe was said to be distinctly printed upon the neck of the young man. On the 14th of November, 1830, lightningstruck the Chateau Benatonière, in Lavendèe. At the time a lady happened to be seated on a chair in the salon, and on the back of her dress were printed minutely the ornaments on the back of the chair. In September, 1857, a peasant-girl, while herding a cow in the department of Seine-et-Marne, was overtaken by a thunder-storm. She took refuge under a tree, and the tree, the cow and herself were struck with lightning. The cow was killed, but she recovered, and on loosening her dress for the sake of respiring freely, she saw a picture of the cow upon her breast.
There is a curious law extant in England in regard to brass buttons. It is, by Acts of Parliament passed in three reigns, (WilliamIII., Anne and GeorgeI.), illegal for a tailor to make, or mortal to wear, clothes with any other buttons appended thereto but buttons of brass. The law was put in force for the benefit of the button-makers of Birmingham; and it further enacts, not only that he who makes or sells garments with any but brass buttons thereto affixed, shall pay a penalty of forty shillings for every dozen, but that he shall not be able to recover the price he claims, if the wearer thinks proper to resist payment. The Act is not a dead letter. Not more than thirty years ago a Mr. Shirley sued a Mr. King for nine pounds sterling due for a suit of clothes. King pleaded non-liability on the ground of an illegal transaction, the buttons on the garments supplied being made of cloth, or bone covered with cloth, instead of glittering brass, as the law directs. The judge allowed the plea; and the defendant having thus gained a double suit without cost, immediately proceeded against the plaintiff to recover his share of the forty shillings for every dozen buttons which the poor tailor had unwittingly supplied. A remarkable feature in the casewas, that the judge who admitted the plea, the barrister who set it up, and the client who profited by it, were themselves all buttoned contrary to law!
One may see in the shop-windows of a Fourth avenue confectioner, "Pies Open All Night." An undertaker in the same thoroughfare advertises, "Everything Requisite for a First-class Funeral." A Bowery placard reads, "Home-made Dining Rooms, Family Oysters." A West Broadwayrestaurateursells "Home-made Pies, Pastry and Oysters." A Third avenue "dive" offers for sale "Coffee and Cakes off the Griddle," and an East Broadway caterer retails "Fresh Salt Oysters" and "Larger Beer." A Fulton street tobacconist calls himself a "Speculator in Smoke," and a purveyor of summer drinks has invented a new draught, which he calls by the colicky name of "Æolian Spray." A Sixth avenue barber hangs out a sign reading "Boots Polished Inside," and on Varick street, near Carmine, there are "Lessons Given on the Piano, with use for Practice.", "Cloth Cutt and Bastd" is the cabalistic legend on the front of a millinery shop on Spring street; on another street the following catches the eye: "Washin Ironin and Goin Out by the Day Done Here."
"If thou wylt see that other men cannot see: Take the gall of a male cat, and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and anoint thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot see.
"If the hart, eye or brayne of a lapwyng or blacke plover be hanged upon a man's neck, it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnesse,and sharpeth man's understanding."—Black letter copy—very old.
The wearing of nankeen at one time was so popular among gentlemen in England, that it also became the fashion in France. English nankeen threatened to drive all French manufactured articles of summer wear out of the market. LouisXVI., however, was equal to the emergency. He ordered all the executioners and their assistants to perform their terrible office in no other dress but one made out of nankeen, which rendered the material so "infamous" that its use was discarded.
The military salute, which consists of the hand being brought to a horizontal position over the eyebrows, has a very old origin, dating, in fact, from the very commencement of the history of the English army. Its origin is founded on the tournaments of the Middle Ages, and was as follows: After the queen of beauty was enthroned, the knights who were to take part in the sports of the day, marched past the dais on which she sat, and as they passed they shielded their eyes from the rays of her beauty.
The process of keeping accounts among the Norway lumbermen is unique in style. The time-keeper, after comparing accounts with the workman, sends him to the cashier for his wages, with the amount due to him chalked on his back; and when the cashier has paid it, he takes his receipt by brushing off the chalk-marks.
The smallest post-office in the world is kept in a barrel, which swings from the outermost rock of the mountains overhanging the Straits of Magellan, opposite Terra del Fuego. Every passing ship opens it to place letters in or take them out. Every ship undertakes to forward all letters in it that it is possible for them to transmit. The barrel hangs by its iron chain, beaten and battered by the winds and storms, but no locked and barred office on land is more secure.
Some Frenchmen who landed on the coast of Guinea, found a negro prince seated under a tree on a block of wood for his throne, and three or four negroes, armed with wooden spears, for his guards. His sable majesty anxiously inquired: "Do they talk much of me in France?"
If this is slang, it is classical slang. Of the thousands who use the expression, very few know its origin or its primitive significance. Truly, it is a heroic thing to say of a man to call him a brick. The word so used, if not twisted from its original intent, implies all that is brave, patriotic and loyal. Plutarch, in his life of Agesilaus, King of Sparta, gives us the original of the quaint and familiar expression.
On a certain occasion an ambassador from Espirus, on a diplomatic mission, was shown by the king over his capital. The ambassador knew of the monarch's fame—knew that though only nominally king of Sparta, he was ruler of Greece—and he had looked to see massive walls rearing aloft their embattled towns for the defence of the town; but he foundnothing of the kind. He marvelled much at this, and spoke of it to the king.
"Sire," he said, "I have visited most of the principal towns, and I find no walls reared for defence. Why is this?"
"Indeed, Sir Ambassador," replied Agesilaus; "thou canst not have looked carefully. Come with me to-morrow morning, and I will show you the walls of Sparta."
Accordingly, on the following morning, the king led his guest out upon the plain where his army was drawn up in full array, and pointing proudly to the serried hosts, he said—
"There thou beholdest the walls of Sparta—ten thousand men, andevery man a brick!"
Although Punch was not originally French, he has always been greatly esteemed in France. The following entries are found in the registers of the royal treasury:—
"Paid to Brioché, the puppet-player, for sojourning at St. Germain-en-Laye, during September, October and November, 1669, to divert the royal children, 1365 livres."
"Paid to François Daitelin, puppet-player, for the fifty-six days he remained at St. Germain, to amuse Monseigneur le Dauphin (July and August, 1669), 820 livres."
Five successive months must almost have been enough of such amusement for the royal children of France.
On the 20th of November, 1746, fifty-one barbers were convicted before the commissioners of excise, and fined twenty pounds each, for having in their custody hair-powder not made of starch, contrary to Act of Parliament.
In Ireland, in the taverns by the road-side, in which illicit whiskey can be obtained, the traveler is informed of the fact by a piece of turf unobtrusively placed in the window. In the Middle Ages, road-side ale houses in England were indicated by a stake projecting from the front of the house, from which some object was suspended. Sometimes a garland was hung upon the stake, to which occasional reference is made in Chaucer's poems. The bush, however, was more common than the stake, and was often composed of ivy. The saying "Good wine needs no bush," no doubt originated from this custom.
Years ago it was the custom for watch-makers to put their business cards inside of the case. These cards were sometimes enlivened with a couplet or a verse, of each of which we subjoin a sample—