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IOUR MISCELLANY. -....-

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OUR MISCELLANY. KING'S DAUGHTERS.—Under the state of man. ners supposed to prevail in the days of the fairies, the road to a matrimonial union with Royalty was not so intricate or so narrow as during more historical periods. Indeed, whenever a king wanted some object to be carried out-a dragon to be killed, or a magical apple to be plucked—his very first expedient was to offer the hand of his daughter to any one who satisfied his wish, without regard to birth or social position. Competition, indeed, was not quite unlimited, a threat of decapitation in case of failure, which was faithfully carried out, exactly answering the purpose of a modern Civil Service examination in thinning the number of candidates for promotion.—" Venetian Tales," in All the Year Round. A LONG PEDIGREE.—This morning the Alvi- zoreh came to pay us a visit, attended by 24 ferashes to clear the way for him. He seemed a portly, good- natured, olive-complexioned man, talking no European language, so that Mr. Abbott kindly undertook the office of interpreter, though our conversation was not marked by any particular brilliancy, beginning with the compli- ments, and merging into the weather and the compara- tive antiquity of English and Persian families Our friend stated that one family, whose title of nobility extended back 3,000 years, was just extinguished through failure of heirs. Something like our Welsh pedigrees "About this time the flood occurred." -Half Round the Old World. By Viscount Pollinqton, M.A., F.R.G.S. WHAT THE ARMY IS MADE OF.—No sensible person can expect a better class of men for our army until better terms are offered them. Raise the social status of the soldier by holding out to him the prospect of a commission, if he can qualify by passing a certain educational test, and exhibit a proficiency in the details of drill and discipline bestow clerkships in the civil service on properly qualified military candidates on terms of equality with civilians; treat the soldier generally with the same respect and consideration you would bestow on any honest, persevering, and intelligent man in the nation; and then, but not till then, will men of a better stamp enter the ranks of the army to risk life, limb, health, and reputation and not till then will the discontent arising out of army grievances cease, and the country feel safe in having again a numerically efficient army to rely upon in any hour of need.-Once a Week. JEFFREYS AND THE FIDDLERS. Though Jeffreys delighted in music, he does not seem to have held its professors in high esteem. In the time of Charles II. musical artists of the humbler grades liked to be styled musitioners and on a certain occasion, when he was sitting as recorder for the city of London, George Jeffreys was greatly incensed by a witness, who, in a pompous voice, called himself a musitioner. With a sneer the recorder interposed, A musitioner I thought you were a fiddler." "I am a musitioner" the violinist answered stoutly. Oh, indeed!" croaked Jeffreys. "This is very important-highly important -extremely important! And pray, Mr. Witness, what is the difference between a musitioner and a fiddler 1" With fortunate readiness the man answered, "As much, sir, as there is between a pair of bagpipes and a re- corder.—JeaffrcsorC s Book about Lawyers. SUNDAY AFTERNOONS.—As for Sara, in her reflections on the subject, it occurred to her as very pro- bable that Mr. Powys was coming early, and she stayed in-doors accordingly. She put herself into her favourite corner by the window-tbat window which was close to the CLmde-and took a little pile of books with her. Sunday afternoon, especially when one is very young, is a difficult moment. One never knows exactly what one ought to read. Such, at least, was Sara's experience. Novels, except under very rare and pressing circum- stances, were clearly inadmissible-such circumstances, for instance, as having left your heroine in such a harrowing position that common charity required you to see her through it without delay. Any real good books-those books which it is a merit to read-were out of Sara's way.—" The Brownlows," in Blackwúod's Magazine. TRICKS UPON RAILWAY TRAVELLEP.S.-By way of speaking a word in due season, let me tell my readers what happened to a traveller on the Brighton line. A year or two back this gentleman had occasion to go to Brighton, and, on arriving at the ticket plat- form, the collector came as usual to the door of the carriage. Upon this the traveller in question, as one often does, received the tickets from the remaining in- mates and gave them to the official. "Only nine here, sir," said the man, and there's ten in the carriage." Oh, indeed; I didn't count them," returned the gentleman. Then, looking smilingly round, he con- tinued- who hasn't given me a ticket ?" A dead silence was the reply. Come, sir," urged the col- lector; "I can't stop here all day." "Well, but, my good fellow," exclaimed the passenger, the nature of the dilemma beginning to dawn upon him, somebody has got a ticket, or else hasn't got a ticket. Did you give me yours, sir ? He repeated this question all round, the collector growing more impatient, and finally bad to pay his own fare all the way from London, besides being suspected of a desire to defraud the company. Some crafty one had speculated on this handing up the tickets taking place, and the unlucky gentleman suffered for his politeness-which, I presume, he has never since re- peated.-Cassell's Magazine. ST. JAMES'S-PARK ON A MAY MORNING.—Two perambulators only were circling round the Ornamental Water the blue-nosed babies scowled at one another as they passed, and the red-wristed propellers gave each other a glance of sulky sympathy, as fellow martyrs to mistresses' insanely insolent oppression. A small per- centage of the usual sad and seedy occupants of the park benches sat upon them as usual in sombre silence —the only expression in their lack-lustre, hopeless eyes, intimating an intention, apparently, of going on sitting there-poor shabby Theseuses-for ever upon one, a pair of idiotic lovers billed and cooed with chat- tering teeth; but otherwise they were untenanted, the sparse representatives of the general public foolish enough to frequent the park on such a day having for the most part, nevertheless, sense enough left to keep themselves warm by taking active exercise. The woman in charge of the wire and wooden chairs, artfully arranged to lure the inexperienced into a belief that they are provided by a paternal Government for the gratui- tous accommodation of its lieges, now lurked in corners, and now made zig-zag dashes like a hungry spider, in faint hope that some weary fly might fall, or had fallen, into her web. Angrily she shook the courier's bag dangling at her side, which returned no grateful clink of clashing coppers. A smoking bricklayer's labourer, a solemn guardsman, a tailor on strike, Mid three small children, hung over the Suspension-bridge, stolidly watching a wherry, eccentrically pulled by two little bare and bullet-headed Bluecoat boys, with alternate strokes, two hobbydehoys in two other boats doggedly fouling each other without the interchange of a syllable, and a Cockney canoeman somewhat splash- ingly playing his paddle and poetically fancying himself —as indeed, so far as climate was concerned, he might have done without any great stretch of imagination-& Red Indian afloat upon a Canadian lake. The other craft, which on bright days skim the dimpled pond like dragon-flies, were all clustered at the hiring- places, chafing their sides as if to keep themselves warm, and giving one another spiteful pokes with their sharp converged noses. The black swans sulked as if they wished themselves back in Australia. The other water-fowl tucked up their toes, and held a meeting of the unemployed" under the lee of the boom that stretches across the pond. A sour-looking old gentleman in muffetees and a comforter was the only one upon the banks who made a show of crumbs, and he was a deceiver. He beguiled the ducks ashore by proffers of biscuit, and then threw it over their heads to the sparrows, who carried it off to the trees in triumph, whilst the quacking waddlers toiled after them in vain. A clammy grey mist hung over the water, the flower beds, and the lawns clumps of trees, only a few yards off, dipped their branches in an upper lake of vapour which covered half their stems.-Argosy, for August.

..-V, TTHE COURT. 0 -

POLITICAL GOSSIP. .

[No title]

THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &e.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES.

FACTS AND FACETIAE. .

HINTS UPON GARDENING. +i

AGRICULTURE. *

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