charms of this book--The Journal that did not command success--Its boast:
"Instruction combined with Amusement"--Problem: say what should be
considered instructive and what amusing--A popular game--Expert opinion
on English law--Another of the charms of this book--A hackneyed tune--Yet
a third charm of this book--The sort of wood it was where the maiden
lived--Description of the Black Forest.

A story is told of a Scotchman who, loving a lassie, desired her for his
wife. But he possessed the prudence of his race. He had noticed in his
circle many an otherwise promising union result in disappointment and
dismay, purely in consequence of the false estimate formed by bride or
bridegroom concerning the imagined perfectability of the other. He
determined that in his own case no collapsed ideal should be possible.
Therefore, it was that his proposal took the following form:

"I'm but a puir lad, Jennie; I hae nae siller to offer ye, and nae land."

"Ah, but ye hae yoursel', Davie!"

"An' I'm wishfu' it wa' onything else, lassie. I'm nae but a puir ill-
seasoned loon, Jennie."

"Na, na; there's mony a lad mair ill-looking than yoursel', Davie."

"I hae na seen him, lass, and I'm just a-thinkin' I shouldna' care to."

"Better a plain man, Davie, that ye can depend a' than ane that would be
a speirin' at the lassies, a-bringin' trouble into the hame wi' his
flouting ways."