He was wont to say that he had nearly survived the good manly words of assent and denial, the yes and no of our ancestors, and could now hear nothing but "unquestionably," "certainly," "undeniably," or "by no means," and "I rather think not;" forms of speech to which he gave the most odious and contemptuous names, as effeminate and emasculated, and would turn into ridicule, by caricaturing the pronunciation of the words. Thus he would drawl out 'unquestionably", in a faint childish tone, and then say, "Gracious God! does he mean yes? Then, why not say so at once, like a man?" As for the sliplsop of some fluent talkers in society, who exclaim that they are "so delighted," or "so shocked," and speak of things being pleasing or hateful "to a degree;" he would bear down upon them without mercy, and roar out, "To what degree? Your word means any thing, and every thing, and nothing."-Brougham.

แ

POPE'S COMPLIMENTS.

Nothing ever exceeded Pope's compliments, in delicacy or elegance. Charles Lamb said they were the finest ever paid by the wit of man; that each of them is worth an estate for life.

What can be finer, or more artfully constructed, than that to Lord Conbury:

"Would ye be blessed? despise low joys, low gains;

Disdain whatever Conbury disdains;

Be virtuous, and be happy for your pains."

And that masterly one to Lord Mansfield:

'Conspicuous scene! another yet is nigh,

(More silent far,) where kings and poets lie;

Where Murray, (long enough his country's pride,)
Shall be no more than Tully or than Hyde."

And with what a fine turn of indignant flattery, he addresses Lord Bolingbroke:

Why rail they then, if but one wreath of mine,

Oh! all accomplished St. John! deck thy shrine?"

Discoursing of the "ruling passion," he says to

Lord Cobham:

And you,

brave Cobham! to the latest breath,

Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death;

Such in those moments, as in all the past,

'Oh! save my country, Heaven!' shall be your last.”

Speaking of his grotto, (one of Pope's miserable affectations), he takes occasion to pay two very pretty compliments to Bolingbroke and Lord Peterborough.

"There my retreat the best companions grace,
Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place:
There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl,
The feast of reason and the flow of soul:

And he, whose lightning pierc'd th' Iberian lines,
Now forms my quincunx, and now ranks my vines;
Or tames the genius of the stubborn plain,

Almost as quickly as he conquered Spain.

Can there be any doubt, after reading these, whether Pope was a great poet or not?

INTELLECT IN TALL MEN.

Ofttimes such who are built four stories high, are observed to have very little in their cockloft.-Fuller.

WHITEFIELD.

Somebody inquired of Lady Townsend, whether it were true that Whitefield had recanted: "No," said she, "he has only canted."

ASTONISHING PERSONS.

A man that astonishes at first, soon makes people impatient if he does not continue in the same andante key.-Walpole.

ORIGINALITY.

To mind the inside of a book is to entertain one'sself with the forced product of another man's brain. Now, I think, a man of quality and breeding may be much amused by the natural sprouts of his own.The Relapse.

NOTHING TO DO.

Positively, the best thing a man can have to do is nothing, and, next to that, perhaps, good works.-Lamb.

MIND AND BODY.

Old Sir James Herring was remonstrated with for not rising earlier-"I can make up my mind to it,” said he, “but cannot make up my body."

HOLY BULLIES.

How true it is of too many preachers, that which Sydney Smith says of Dr. Rennel, "that he is too apt to put on the appearance of a holy bully, as if he could carry his point against infidelity, by big words and strong abuse, and kick and cuff men into Christians."

ANECDOTE OF POPE, THE ACTOR.

Pope, the actor, well known for his devotion to the culinary art, received an invitation to dinner, accompanied by an apology for the simplicity of the intended fare a small turbot and a boiled edge-bone of beef. "The very thing of all others that I like," exclaimed Pope; "I will come with the greatest pleasure." And come he did, and eat he did, till he could literally eat no longer; when the word was given, and a haunch of venison was brought in, fit to be made the subject of a new poetical epistle-

"For finer or fatter,

Never ranged in a forest, or smoked in a platter,
The haunch was a picture for painters to study,

The fat was so white, and the lean was so ruddy."

Poor Pope divined at a glance the nature of the trap that had been laid for him, but he was fairly caught, and after a puny effort at trifling with a slice of fat, he laid down his knife and fork, and gave way to a hysterical burst of tears, exclaiming "a friend

of twenty years' standing, and to be served in this manner.”—Quarterly Review.

CURIOSITY.

Curiosity is a kernel of the forbidden fruit, which still sticketh in the throat of a natural man, sometimes to the danger of his choking.-Fuller.

WANT OF A PURSUIT.

A man without a predominant inclination is not likely to be either useful or happy. He who is every thing is nothing.-Sharp.

BRANDY-AND-WATER.

Of this mixture Charles Lamb said that it spoiled two good things.

LOVE OF THE WONDERFUL.

What stronger pleasure is there with mankind, or what do they earlier learn or longer retain, than the love of hearing and relating things strange and incredible. How wonderful a thing is the love of wondering and of raising wonder! 'Tis the delight of children to hear tales they shiver at, and the vice of old men to abound in strange stories of times past. We come into the world wondering at every thing; and when our wonder about common things is over, we seek something new to wonder at. Our last scene is to tell wonders of our own, to all who will believe them. And amidst all this, 'tis well if truth comes off but moderately tainted.-Shaftesbury.