TALBOTE.

[3] The Manchester Courier, 25th July.

* * * * *


SIMPLICITY.

Major R---- was not long since riding near a building which presented
to his admiring gaze a fine specimen of antique Saxon architecture.
Desirous to learn something respecting it, he made some inquiries of
a man, who as it happened was the _souter_ of the village. This
learned wight informed the inquisitive stranger that the building in
question was reckoned a noble specimen of _Gothic_ architecture,
and was built by the _Romans_, who came over with Julius Caesar.
"Friend," said the Major, "you make anachronisms." "No, no, Sir,"
replied the man, "indeed I don't make _anachronisms_, for I never
made any thing but _shoes_ in my life."

The same gentleman, one day fitting on a new under-waistcoat, which he
had ordered to be made of a material that should resist rain and damp,
said to the tailor in attendance, "But are you sure that it is
impervious." "O dear, no, Sir," replied the man, with a look of
astonishment, "I certainly can't pretend to say that it is
_impervious_, for it is _wash-leather_."

M.L.B.