but those by whom it is used; and also that, if a candle in a dead hand be
introduced into a house, it will prevent those who may be asleep from
awaking! Under the influence of this superstition, a party, a few nights
since _armed with a dead man's hand_ and lighted candle, attacked the
house of Mrs. Leonard (the mother of the priest), in the town of Oldcastle,
county of Meath; but, unfortunately for the credit of the creed, the
inmates were alarmed, and the robbers fled, leaving the hand behind them.

* * * * *

EPIGRAMS.

"Upon his arrival at Perthshire, his Majesty is to be received by a band
of two hundred men, _entirely of the Mac clan_, arrayed in the ancient
national costume."--_Scotsman_.

In Scotia our king's to be blessed with a treat,
A _balle_ting one if the Scotch have their nacks,
For the papers put forth he's at Perthshire to meet,
Dressed in tartan and bonnet, _a band of all "Macs."_ (Almacks.)

Which wert thou, cruel Bishop Bonner,
A savage _wit_, or senseless _noddy_,
When to extinguish Ridley's faith,
Thou _mad'st a bonfire_ of his body?

Disdain'd by the Helen he fondly had wooed,
A love-stricken swain in a region _campestris_,
Thus "clerkly" gave vent to his sorrowful mood,
_Ah! vota si mea valíssent cum Vestris!_[3]