toned with gold; so that, to meet a priest in those daies, was to behold a peacocke that spreadeth his taile, when he danceth before the henne."

Herald.

THE INDEPENDENT TOAD.

"A miner near Houghton-le-Spring, a few days ago found a living toad in the middle of a solid block of stone. to have nostrils, but no mouth."

It was found Morning Chronicle, May 17.

We all have heard, and all have seen,
How John is made by taxes lean,

While others live on marrow-
No article escapes their touch;
And John is like, yes, very much,
A toad beneath a harrow.

O! happy toad, ay, by my troth,
Were he, like thee, without a mouth,

"Twere cause for mutual greeting;
For tho' by gagging his be closed,
That rulers may not be exposed,
It's open still to eating!

Were John but such a lucky toad,
Collectors then would cease to goad,
And vex him like a Nero;
For as to nostrils and all that,
And smelling now and then a rat,
He'd bear it like a hero.

Against his stomach then we know
The taxes would no longer go,
Those daily bread defeaters;
And only think in law and state
What space for all the truly great,
Were there no more toad-eaters*!

*This is to be read both ways, as Juvenal's
"Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus,”

unfortunately is in practice.

Chronicle.

REASONS FOR CONTENTMENT.

SKETCHES AT BOW-STREET.-No. XVI.

MR. DENNIS MACARTHY, a sprightly little Emeralder, was charged with having threatened the life of his own lawful wife "with a big knife that he has." The charge was not made by Mrs. Macarthy herself, but by Mr. Timothy Scroggins, their landlord; and Mr. Dennis Macarthy repelled it very indignantly, declaring it was all a bastely trick of Tim Scroggin's to get him out of his place.

The Magistrate said, "What is Mr. Timothy Scroggins?"-"He's the tailor overhead, yer Honor," replied Mr. Dennis Macarthy, "and little's the truth there is in him. Here Mary, love, and little Dennis, come forrut!"

Mrs. Mary Macarthy and little Dennis, her son, came forward from among the crowd at the lower end of the office, accordingly, and having done their manners to his Worship, Mr. Dennis Macarthy proceeded to question his beloved :

66

Mary, love, did I put a knife to ye 'at all last night?"-"No faith, didn't ye, Dennis."-" Did I put any thing else to you?"—" Nothing at all, Dennis, of any consequence."-" Did I ever bate ye, out of raason?"-" No indeed, Dennis, didn't ye-ounly he was a bit fractious with me last night. But ye didn't bate me at all, as I remember."-" Very well, then!" said Mr. Dennis Macarthy, triumphantly, "yer Worship sees the rights of it; and Tim Scroggins is a great black

guard, to be sending me to a could watch-house out of me oun warm place."

His Worship asked Mrs. Macarthy, whether Dennis was a good husband in general?" Indeed and he is, yer Wurtchip," replied Mrs. Macarthy, curtsying to the ground-" as nice a husband as any woman could wish for, barrin the licker, and it isn't often he gets it."-Upon this shewing, Dennis was discharged; and Mr. Timothy Scroggins was told, if he wished to get rid of a troublesome lodger, he must do it by legal means. Bell's Life in London.

ORIGIN OF THE LOG-BOOK.

Coelbren y Beirdd, or the Wood Memorial of the Bards, is what they formerly used to cut their memorandums upon; such as the ancient wooden almanacks were; or Staffordshire clogg, or log. Hence originated the log-book, which is used by the sailors. Also there is a similar thing called a tally, or a piece of wood cut with indentures, or notches, in two corresponding parts; of which one was kept by the creditor and the other by the debtor, as was formerly the common. way of keeping all accounts, and is still used by the brewers and milk-sellers. Hence, likewise, is derived the Tally Office (of the Exchequer, in London), and a teller, and probably a talisman, from the Welsh word talu, to pay; or from the French word taille...

Literary Chronicle.

THE ORIGIN OF CARDS.

WITHOUT enquiring whether any games with cards, which resemble those of our former times, were in use among the Greeks and Romans, Father Menestrier, in his "Bibliotheque Curieuse," confining himself to France, says, that it is only about four hundred years since games of cards were first known. This he demonstrates by a negative argument, drawn from an ordinance of Charles VI. in 1391, against the use of all such games as did not assist the military science; and in which, though the forbidden games are enumerated, there is no mention of cards. The following year, however, is that to which he gives their origin, as the occasion of their being invented. It was in 1392, when Charles VI. became disordered in his mind, the whole court was employed in contriving every possible method of diverting his melancholy.

The four suits are supposed to represent the two branches of the state-the church and the army; the city and the country. The hearts, or cœurs, and which should be choir-men, for the church, the Spaniards represent by copes, or chalices, instead of hearts. Spades, in French piques, signify pikes. In Spanish, swords are called spada, denoting the military order. Diamonds, carreaux, or squares; on Spanish cards, dineras, or coins, are expressive of the monied, or mercantile men of the city. Clubs, trefoil in French; in Spanish, casta, a club or rustic weapon, for the peasantry of the country.

The king and queen need no explanation; the knave may be intended as a sly stroke at the minister. The ace seems to be one distinguished character, selected from each rank, and elevated to honourable situation.

Mirror.

IMPROMPTU,

ON WITNESSING THE DECEPTIONS OF M. ALEXANDRE, THE CELEBRATED VENTRILOQUIST.

Of yore, in old England, it was not thought good

To carry two visages under one hood:

What should folks say to you, who bear faces such plenty,
That from under one hood you last night showed us twenty?
Stand forth, arch-deceiver, and tell us in truth,
Are you handsome or ugly, in age or in youth?
Man, woman, or child, or a dog, or a mouse?
Or are you, at once, each live thing in the house?
Each live thing, did I ask? each dead implement too!
A workshop in your person, saw, chisel, and screw?
Above all, are you one individual? I vow
You must be, at the least, Alexander and Co.
But I think you're a troop, an assemblage, a mob,
And that I, as the Sheriff, must take up the job;
And instead of rehearsing your wonders in verse,
Must read you the riot act, and bid you disperse.

Abbotsford, April 23, 1821.

WALTER SCOTT.

Examiner.