nk I
would not have attended on the 27th of August a London _Matinee_. But
this is a thought, and nothing more. Believe me, dear _Mr. Punch_,
yours, more in sorrow than in anger,

A CRITIC, LURED TO TOWN FROM THE COUNTRY.

* * * * *

[Illustration: THE DOCTRINE OF "HINTERLAND."

THESE THREE GENTLEMEN DO NOT PLAY THE GAME, BUT WISH TO TAKE A MORNING
WALK BY THE SEA.]

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

The Baron has recently been reading a new work, disinterestedly
recommended to him by M. ROQUES, the French publisher and French
bookseller of Bond Street, entitled _L'Ame de Pierre_, by GEORGES
OHNET. It is a strangely fascinating story; the picturesque
descriptions transport us to the very places; and the studies of life,
are, specially of certain phases of French life, most interesting
to an English reader. The cosmopolitan Baron DE B.W. wishes that
Frenchmen, however manly they may be, were not so easily and so
constantly moved to tears. This however, is only a matter of taste.
What the purpose of the novel may be--for GEORGES OHNET has written
this with a purpose--is not quite evident. Whether it is intended
to chime in with the popular theme of hypnotism, and illustrate it
in a peculiar way, or whether it is merely illustrating _Hamlet's_
wise remark that, "There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt
of in your philosophy," the Baron is at a loss to determine. It
is psychological, it is materialistic, it is idealistic, it is
philosophical, it is ... French. The _Vacuus Viator_ may have a worse
companion on a long journey than _L'Ame de Pierre_.

Talking of materialistic, "let us," quoth the Baron, "be grateful to
Mrs. DE SALIS for a bookful of '_Tempting Dishes for Small Incomes_,'
published by LONGMANS & Co." First of all get your small income, then
purchase this book, for eighteenpence, or less with discount; or (a
shorter and a cheaper way) borrow it from a friend. Let the Small
Incomer cast his watery eye over Lobster cutlets, p. 19, and Lobster
pancakes: let him reduce his small income to something still smaller
in order to treat himself and family to a _Rumpsteak a la bonne
bouche_, a Sausage pudding, and a Tomato curry. The sign over a
Small-Income House is the picture of a Sheep's Head, usually despised
as sheepish: but go to p. 28, and have a _tete-a-tete_ (_de mouton_)
with Mrs. DE SALIS about _Sheep's head au Gratin_.

Rabbit batt