may safely say so, adding humbly, "A poor thing, but mine
own."

Yours, L.S. PRIT D'ESCALIER.

* * * * *

ACCIDENTAL JOKE.--When does an explosion do no harm? When a husband
blows his wife up--and she deserves it.

* * * * *

INFRA DIG.

Sweet, in a sordid age, it is to find
_One_ Abdiel to enticement bravely blind,
_One_ class not thrall to Plutus. But, hurroo!
England rejoice aloud, for thou hast _two_.
Sweet are the uses of--Advertisement,
To huckster souls, whose god is Cent-per-cent.
The Mart, the Forum, and--alas!--the Fane.
Self-trumpeting, in type, cannot restrain;
The leaded column and the poster smart
Seduce the Histrio; e'en the thrall of Art
Bows to the modern Baal of Pot and Paste,
That deadly foe of Modesty and Taste.
The Poet poses publicly, the Scribe
Knows how to vaunt, to logroll, and to bribe.
But there be those share not the general taint;
The pestle-wielding Sage, the silk-gowned Saint.
Redeem our fallen race from the dark shade
That would confuse Professions with mere Trade.
No, briefs and bills of costs _may_ loom too big,
_Harpagon_ hide beneath a horsehair wig,
_Sangrado_ thrive on flattery and shrewd knack.
And _Dulcamara_, safe in silence, quack;
But--chortle, oh ye good, rejoice, ye wise!--
Physic and Law will never--_Advertise_!

* * * * *

"THE PARIAH."--In the latest copy to hand of that wonderful penn'orth
of gossip and information, _Sala's Journal_, Vol. I. No. 16, and in
the very first line of the light and leading article, our "G.A.S."
asks "Is Woman a Pariah?" Of course she is not, we reply, not even if
she be the very masculinest of females. Some, if they are "Riahs" at
all, are "Ma-riahs." "Riah," it may be remembered, is the abbreviated
form of the name as in the once popular Coster's song of "_What cheer
Riah?_" Whether spelt with or without an "h" is of no consequence, the
Coster not being particular.

* * * * *

TO DR. LOUIS ROBINSON.

(_Who said at the British Association that a Baby was an
animal as interesting as any which had been brought from the
uttermost parts of the Earth_.)

Quite right, Dr. ROBINSON, perfectly right,
No longer the need to repair to the Zoo;
No longer we'll see with increasing delight
The quarrelsome Monkey, the blithe Kangaroo.
But