* * * * *

"To-day the man possesses a second tumb, serviceable for all
ordinary purposes."--_Belfast Evening Telegraph_.

In these days of restricted rations it seems a superflous luxury.

* * * * *

"Diamond Brooch, 15 cwt., set with three blue white diamonds; make a
handsome present; £9 9s."--_Derby Daily Telegraph_.

It seems a lot for the money; but personally we would sooner have the
same weight of coals.

* * * * *

THE WAY DOWN.

SYDNEY SMITH, or NAPOLEON or MARCUS AURELIUS (somebody about that time)
said that after ten days any letter would answer itself. You see what
he meant. Left to itself your invitation from the Duchess to lunch next
Tuesday is no longer a matter to worry about by Wednesday morning. You
were either there or not there; it is unnecessary to write now and say
that a previous invitation from the PRIME MINISTER--and so on. It was
NAPOLEON'S idea (or Dr. JOHNSON'S or MARK ANTONY'S--one of that circle)
that all correspondence can be treated in this manner.

I have followed these early Masters (or whichever one it was) to the
best of my ability. At any given moment in the last few years there have