ORIGIN OF DUELLING. Montesquieu clearly proved that Duelling originated in the barbarity of feudal manners, and gave a ludicrous picture of the extravagances of feudal jurisprudence. "The accuser (he says) commenced by declaring before the judge, that such a person had committed such an action: the accused party replied by asserting the accuser to be a liar: upon which the judge ordered a duel to be fought by them. Thus it became a legal maxim, that when any one had been told he lied, a duel must follow as matter of necessity." (Spirit of Laws.) TROY WEIGHT Takes its name from the ancient town of Troyes, the capital of the modern department of the Aube, in France. It appears that Troyes was celebrated in the middle ages for its great fairs, at which merchandise was sold by a peculiar weight here current, and which from hence was spread throughout Europe under this denomination. TOLERATION INJUSTICE. Man has no right to TOLERATE the way, To each, the globe around, by God 'twas given, What fiends shall write fell PERSECUTION's name? Author of blood!-of every spirit the worst ; More brutish than the beasts, than demons more accurst. NEARCHUS. CONSEQUENCE OF DISJOINING LINES IN POETRY. When Sternhold and Hopkins' version of the Psalms was commonly sung in churches, it was usual for the clerk to give out the lines singly, and they were thus sung by the congregation : this is a practice, upon which there is still room to say, that it were 66 more honoured in the breach than in the observance.") A sailor stepping into a church one Sunday, heard the clerk give out the line,-with a full nasal pause at its termination,一 "The Lord will come, and he will not.". Upon which he stared: and next hearing the words,-delivered with corresponding solemnity of tone,— "Keep silence, but speak out:" the honest tar left the church, judging the people to be out of their senses. Reading the two lines together, would have saved all his wonderment. PRESERVING THE BALANCE IN IRELAND. Irish miles are longer than English ones, by a difference that is very readily appreciated by the weary and foot-sore pedestrian. An English soldier, travelling on a sultry day, laden with his arms and accoutrements, along one of the worst roads in the county of Kerry, was at once struck with this peculiarity in the country, and greatly bothered to account for it. In fact, he was just arriving at the conclusion, that the mile-stones in the sister-kingdom were as liable to blunders as the people, when he met a peasant. Accosting him in no very gentle tone, he demanded why the miles were so plaguy long in Ireland?" The Irishman acutely replied: "Plase your honour, the roads, you see, are but bad-but we give good measure!” 66 IMPROMPTU TO A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WHO HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO LOSE HER TEMPER. Lady! lady! change thy mood, Or else thy plight's a sad one : None ever lost a temper good, But soon acquired a bad one. SALE OF EFFECTS-AND A WIFE. "1822. Received of Edw. Gale, the sum of Four Pounds Ten shillings, for goods and chattels, and also a black mare and Mrs. Naish, as parting man and wife. Agreed before witness Dec. 8. 1822. Witness the mark of Edw. Pulling X The X of Mary Gale and George Lansdown The X of Edw. Gale. Settled the whole concern by the X of John Naish." [On Friday, July 11th, 1823, the Buyer made application to the Bathforum magistrates, stating the circumstances of the case, and that Naish wanted his wife back again, notwithstanding that he, the said Buyer, liked her very well, and did not wish to part with her. The magistrates told him he had no legal claim to the woman, and advised him to give her up to the husband; to which he very reluctantly consented.] Inscription on a board in the grounds of a Naval Officer on the Rochester road. This is the best world we live in, To lend, to spend, or to give in. But to borrow, or beg, or get a man's own, It is the worst world that ever was known. A wit was asked, "What is the best way to make all the Women run after you?" He replied, "Run away with their looking-glasses.” Boileau said that the best epigrammatic epitaph upon record, was the old French one"Cy gist ma femme: ah! qu'elle est bien Pour son repos, et pour le mien." Which may be thus freely translated: Here lies my wife:-I can't repine : THE MUSE'S WREATH. SONG. (ALTERED FROM PARNELL.) My days have been so wondrous free, With careless ease from tree to tree, Ask gliding waters, if a tear Of mine increased their stream? Or ask the flying gales, if e'er But now soft tremors in my breast The fair Emilia stands confessed, The favorite of my soul. Each charm, each grace, her heart that binds, In city or the grove, And gentle echoes, breezy winds, And zephyrs, whispering love, With all of nature, all of art, Assist the dear design: O, teach a young, unpractised heart, To make her ever mine. The very thought of change I hate; My truth shall never err: Nor wish I to be rich or great, |