brown study_, in which she remained for some time. At length,
however, her eyes suddenly brightened, and, slapping one of her
companions on the shoulder, she exclaimed, triumphantly, "Dash my wig!
whoy he means my feyther!" and then, turning to the gentleman, she
added, "You should ha' ax'd for _Ould Blackbird_!"

CMXXIX.--A POSER.

FOOTE was once met by a friend in town with a young man who was flashing
away very brilliantly, while Foote seemed grave: "Why, Foote," said his
friend, "you are flat to-day; you don't seem to relish a joke!"--"You
have not _tried me_ yet, sir," said Foote.

CMXXX.--MINDING HIS CUE.

MR. ELLISTON was enacting the part of _Richmond_; and having, during the
evening, disobeyed the injunction which the King of Denmark lays down to
the Queen, "Gertrude, do not drink," he accosted Mr. Powell, who was
personating _Lord Stanley_ (for the safety of whose son _Richmond_ is
naturally anxious), THUS, on his entry, after the issue of the battle:--

Elliston (as _Richmond_). Your son, George Stanley, is he dead?

Powell (as _Lord Stanley_). He is, my Lord, and _safe in Leicester
town_!

Elliston (as _Richmond_). I mean--ah!--is he missing?

Powell (as _Lord Stanley_). He is, my Lord, and _safe in Leicester
town_!!

And it is but justice to the memory of this punctilious veteran, to say
that he would have made the same reply to any question which could, at
that particular moment, have been put to him.

CMXXXI.--EPIGRAM.

(On a little member's versatility.)

WHY little Neddy ---- yearns
To _rat_, there is a reason strong,
He needs be _everything by turns_,
Who is by nature _nothing long_.

CMXXXII.--LATE AND EARLY.

THE regular routine of clerkly business ill suited the literary tastes
and the wayward habits of Charles Lamb. Once, at the India House, a
superior said to him, "I have remarked, Mr. Lamb, that you come very
_late_ to the office."--"Yes, sir," replied the wit, "but you must
remember that I go away _early_." The oddness of the excuse silenced the
reprover.

CMXXXIII.--FAIR PLAY.

CURRAN, who was a very small man, having a dispute with a brother
counsel (who was a very stout man), in which words ran high on both
sides, called him out. The other, however, objected. "You are so
little," said he, "that I might fire at you a dozen times without
hitting, whereas, the chance is that you may shoot me at the first