"When VIRTUE her example drew in heaven Four of the seven: but FAITH five precepts gains: And in the virtue of PERFECTION dwells." The Unjust Steward, by Charles, Duke of Richmond, 1667. "In a White hall there once were stewards three- This lampoon is highly characteristic of the times, and the manners; the house-steward, means himself; at the palace of Whitehall, the head-steward, King Charles II., and the fairesteward, the beauteous grand-daughter of Walter Steward, Lord Blantyre; the three were related. The duke was first struck with Miss Stuarts charms, at one of Queen Catharine's masquerades, in 1664. When the queen was at one time given over by her physicians, it is said she named this young lady to Charles as her successor, she wished to adorn the throne. On Catharine's recovery, Lord Clarendon took a fancy that his royal master might seek a divorce, in order to offer his hand to this maid of honour: he, therefore, promoted her marriage with the Duke of Richmond. When this was suspected, the duke was banished from court. Miss Stuart, like a true hearted lover, eloped with him, and was married, 1667. The circumstances were soon forgiven, and the young Duchess was appointed lady of the bedchamber, by her kind mistress; and she also became immortalized, by having her figure, as being so beautiful, put upon the coins. EPIGRAMS. "A college of witte crackers cannot flout mee Out of my humour-dost thou think I care for a The following one is by some learned gallant of the law, on the fair sex: A DECLARATION IN LAW. "Fee simple, and a simple fee, And all the fees intail, Are nothing, when compared to thee, From Sir John Harrington to his wife, for striking her dog from his "Your little dog that bark'd as I came by, Sir John's notion of the marriage state, seems to agree with that of Bishop Taylor, who says: "A husband's power over his wife is paternal and friendly, not magisterial and despotic." HAYDEN'S EPIGRAM ON THE LETTER H, 1566. "H is the worst letter in the crisse crosse row, For if thou find him either in thine elbowe, In thine arm, or leg, in any degree, In thine head, or toe, or teeth, or knee, Into whatever place H may pike him, Where'er thou find ache, thou shalt not like him." This epigram shows that the word we now pronounce ake, was pronounced formerly ache. During the time when Cromwell lay with his army at Perth, in Scotland, a rich old miser in that town-named Mundayhanged himself on account of the fall of grain. Oliver, who was by no means a greedy man, offered a premium for the best epigram on old hunks; several were sent to the protector on the occasion, but he was only pleased with the following, from an old Cobbler, who received the premium : EPIGRAM. Blessed be the Sabbath dey, For Monday's hang'd his self! A person of Oliver's staff, upon reading these lines, perceived the cobbler supposed that Monday was the first day, wrote the following lines: What country came the cobbler frae, That Monday 'gan the week wha' wot; Forsooth he is a Hottentot. The following four lines, from a collection of "Rump songs, by the most eminent wits from 1639 to 1661," if not very sparkling, give a "short and sweet" view of their sentiments. "Wise men suffer, good men grieve, Knaves devise, and fools deceive; Else knaves and fools will quite undo us." ANAGRAMS. "Thy genius calls thee not to purchas fame, THIS ingenious way of transposing a name, occupied much of the attention both of the witty and the wise; many cynical people censure these things, certainly the great part of them are trifles, but many of our present sedentary amusements are trifling. The writer does not wish to set himself up as an arbiter of taste, but perhaps may be permitted to ask, whether transposing the letters of a name, or writing an acrostic, is not quite as well as shuffling about fifty two pieces of stiff paper, or moving some round pieces of wood, on a chequered board! "To the pure, all things are pure." However, some of my readers may expect a few. I give two about the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, which contain much historic truth, point, and brevity; and contain severe reflections on her enemies ; Maria Stevarta, Veritas Armata. Truth in arms! Maria Stewarda, Scotorum Regina, Trusting in the hospitality of the kingdom, I fall by a bitter death. The last, on the unfortunate Mary, is so good and so true, that it will serve to contrast with the following, on Queen Elizabeth. Elizabetha, Regina Anglia, To England a lamb, to Spain a lioness. Her resistance to Spain was praiseworthy, but her lamb-like qualities to England the statute book strongly refutes; and to Ireland she acted like a tigress. There is the following on King James : Charles James Stewart The following is good on Waller, the poet: "His brow need not with laurel to be bound, Since in his name with laurel he is crown'd !" On William Noy, attorney general to Charles I.; he was a very laborious man. I moyl in Law; it was owing to this indefatigable moyller in law, that this unfortunate king was induced to strain the prerogative in the enforcing of ship money, which the equally indefatigable John Hambden so successfully and nobly opposed. AN ANAGRAM VERSUS ACROSTIC AND TELESTICK.-General Phipps, undertook to find two words of opposite meanings, yet spelled with exactly the same letters, which was to form a Telestick; that is, the letters beginning the lines-when united -were to give one of his words, and the letters at the end were to produce the other; both these novelties were accomplished as follows: "Five letters, rightly placed, will give A word to lovers dear, When they in wedlock's bands would live, For many a happy year. But when their quarrels bitter grow, If otherwise combined, The self same letters serve to show How they relief may find." Thus: "U-nite and untie are the same-so say yo-U In the year 1702, there was published, "The Ancient Cold Bathing, an Essay to prove its being both Safe and Useful," by Sir John Floyer, Knt., M. D., of Litchfield; he states: "Im mersion was practised for 1000 years, till James I.'s reign, when the people grew peevish with all ancient ceremonies, and through love of novelty and niceness of parents, under pretences of modesty, they laid aside immersion, which was never abrogated by any of the canons." The English people do not bathe enough, they are not aware how necessary it is for health, by keeping up a due insensible perspiration through the pores of the skin. The writer, a few years past, was cured of a troublesome herpes by warm bathing in the depth of winter, without taking any medicine at the recommendation of Dr. James Campbell, of Warren street, in this city. Wherever there are steam engines, how easily there may be added conveniences for either warm or cold bathing, at a very cheap rate, all the year round, and without shocking the most fastidious delicacy. VALUE OF MONEY. "Above all things, good policie is to be used, that the treasures and moneyes in a state be not gathered into few hands."-BACON. On several pages of these vols., I have given the prices of wages, rent of lands, prices of provisions, and amount of lawfines, &c. &c.-See App. p. 347. But these statements will be of little avail to the reader, without he has a scale to know the value of money at those periods, compared with the value at the present time: "For what is worth in any thing But so much money as 't will bring ?"-HUDIBRAS. Yes, thou witty abstracter, but on what the comparative value may be, thy jocose muse is silent. This all-important subject I will endeavour to lay before the reader; for if "history is philosophy teaching by example," of what use are good examples, except we follow them; or bad ones, unless we avoid them? My own impression, founded on many years' close observation, much reading, and reflection, was, that it now, (1843,) takes three pounds to purchase as much of any useful thing, as one pound did in 1603. But as I did not choose to rely upon my own opinion on so weighty a subject, I wrote to a gentleman at Liverpool, whom I knew was competent from his longer |