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Haymarket Theatre, he was invited with F and some other performers to dine with Mr. Anow an eminent silversmith, but who at that period followed the business of a pawnbroker. It so happened that A was called out of the parlour at the back of the shop during dinner. Mathews, with wonderful celerity altering his air, countenance, hat, &c., took a large gravy-spoon off the dinner-table, ran instantly into the street, entered one of the little dark doors leading to the pawnbroker's counter, and actually pledged to the unconscious Ahis own gravy-spoon. Mathews contrived with equal rapidity to return and seat himself (having left the street-door open) before A—— re-appeared at the dinner-table. As a

matter of course this was made the subject of a wager. An éclaircissement took place before the party broke up, to the infinite astonishment of Rabelais never accomplished a neater practical joke than this.

A

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.

RUNNING the gauntlet is a very frequent punishment for soldiers in the Austrian army. It consists in making the offender, who is naked to the waist, walk up and down a street formed of two rows of men, each of whom carries a switch of birch in his hand. The pace is left to the choice of the sufferer, who generally prefers the ordinary marching time. The street of men is about one hundred yards long, and consisting of two rows of one hundred and fifty men in each, facing one another. The offences for which this terrible punishment is inflicted are chiefly desertion and theft, though it may be ordered by a court-martial for other grave offences.

For the first desertion, the offender is generally made to pass four times up and four times down the street; for the second offence, ten times—and this is the greatest number ever ordered. One hundred blows with the corporal's stick are considered equal to running the gauntlet ten times. This shows the severity of the ordinary every-day punishment of twenty-five blows, which every captain of a company is authorised, at any moment, to order, without report or liability to be called to account. The colonel of the regiment (not the lieutenant-colonel) is the only officer who has authority to order the punishment of the gauntlet without a court-martial; and he cannot order the offender to run more than three times down a street formed of one hundred instead of one hundred and fifty men on each side.

HOME.

From Songs of Home, and Lays of Married Life.
How cheering and sweet in a cold world like this,
Where joys melt away like the shore-driven foam,
To feel that one's heart is a planet of bliss
Revolving in light round the centre of home!

The soul may pursue the bright meteor of fame,
The phantoms of glory, ambition, or pride;
But their glitter is false as their pleasures are tame,
Compared with the bliss of one's own fire-side.

All joys are delusive save those of the heart,

The grass may be green while it grows on a tomb; But the verdure of feeling can never depart,

When the soil where it springs is the garden of home.

The world may have pleasures all sparkling and gay, As the crystals of snow which the branches adorn; But the first breath of sorrow will sweep them away, While the heart like the tree is left bare and forlorn. Oh! then when that bosom has cares which annoy, And the fair sky of life becomes chequer'd with gloom, How blissful to think that a fountain of joy

As a well-spring of pleasure is gushing at home!

TEA 170 YEARS AGO.

"HOME, and there find my wife making of tea; a drink which Mr. Pelling, the potticary, tells her is good for her cold and defluctions."

AN American, talking of an ugly woman with a very large mouth, said to me, "Why, sir, when she yawns, you can see right down to her garters;" and another, speaking of his being very sea-sick, declared, "that he threw everything up, down to his knee-pans."

MAXIMS.

A PERSON'S understanding is as much known by the books he reads as his taste and morals are by his company. Those who take pains to be singular have only themselves to blame if they should be accounted ridiculous.-To imagine that a weak enemy cannot injure you, is to believe that a spark of fire cannot cause combustion.-Our temper is tried more by trifling crosses than by great losses. -To read without reflecting is like eating without digestion. A sixpence honestly earned is worth a shilling found.-Our tastes are often checks as powerful as our principles.-A good understanding should always be able to overcome the irregularities of an uneven temper.-Solitude is only benefi

cial to the wise and good.-Ignorance and indolence are the invariable concomitants of vice and wickedness.-The friendships of the world are often confederacies in vice or leagues of pleasure.-Joy of heart, from whatever occasion it may arise, is the best of all nervous medicines. He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances.-Unlimited leisure is apt to induce a listless indolence, which cherishes procrastination and subdues our mental vigour.-If you search the annals of conjugal infelicity, you will find that, nine times out of ten, the fault is in the husband.—Impertinence in discourse is a habit of talking much, without thinking.

WHEN Oliver Cromwell first coined his money, an old cavalier, looking on one of the new pieces, read this inscription on one side, "God is with us!" on the other, "The commonwealth of England." "I see," said he, God and the common

wealth are on different sides."

MAXIMS OF AN OLD STAGER.

cabin;

CALL steward; inquire the number of your he will tell you No. 1, perhaps. "Ah, very true, steward; here is half a sovereign to begin with; don't forget it is No. 1. This is the beginning of the voyage, I shall not forget the end of it." He never does lose sight of No. 1, and you continue to be No. 1 ever after; best dish at dinner, by accident, is always placed before you, best attendance behind you, and so on.-I always do this. If you are to have a chum, take a young one, and you can have your own way by breaking him yourself.-I always do. If the berths are over each other, let

the young fellow climb, and do you take the lowest one; it is better that he should break his neck than you. I always do. All the luggage not required for immediate use is marked "below." Don't mark yours at all, and you have it all in your own cabin, where you know where to find it when you want it. It is not then squeezed to death by a hundred tons of trunks. If you have not room in your cabin for it all, hint to your young chum he has too much baggage, and some of it must go "below."-I always do. Never speak to a child, or you can't get clear of the nasty little lap-dog thing ever afterwards.—I never do. Always judge your fellow-passengers to be the opposite of what they strive to appear to be. For instance, a military man is not quarrelsome, for no man doubts his courage; a snob is. A clergyman is not over strait-laced, for his piety is not questioned; but a cheat is. A lawyer is not apt to be argumentative; but an actor is. A woman that is all smiles and graces is a vixen at heart; snakes fascinate. A stranger that is obsequious and over-civil without apparent cause is treacherous; cats that purr are apt to bite and scratch. Pride is one thing, assumption is another; the latter must always get the cold shoulder, for whoever shows it is no gentleman; men never affect to be what they are, but what they are not. The only man who really is what he appears to be, is-a gentleman.-I always judge thus. Keep no money in your pockets; when your clothes are brushed in the morning, it is apt-ahem-to fall out.—I never do. At table see what wine the captain drinks; it is not the worst.-I always do. Never discuss religion or politics with those who hold opinions opposite to

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