mind, been celebrated.
The lady stared, then laughed, and asked, "What do you mean by 'maids of
honor?'"--"Dear me!" said Daly, "don't you know that this is so courtly
a place, and so completely under the influence of state etiquette, that
everything in Richmond is called after the functionaries of the palace?
What are called cheesecakes elsewhere, are here called maids of honor;
a capon is called a lord chamberlain; a goose is a lord steward; a
roast pig is a master of the horse; a pair of ducks, grooms of the
bedchamber; a gooseberry-tart, a gentleman usher of the black rod; and
so on." The unsophisticated lady was taken in, when she actually saw the
maids of honor make their appearance in the shape of cheesecakes; she
convulsed the whole party by turning to the waiter, and desiring him, in
a sweet but decided tone, to bring her a _gentleman usher of the black
rod_, if they had one in the house quite cold!

MCCX.V.--LORD CHATHAM.

LORD CHATHAM had settled a plan for some sea expedition he had in view,
and sent orders to Lord Anson to see the necessary arrangements taken
immediately. Mr. Cleveland was sent from the Admiralty to remonstrate on
the impossibility of obeying them. He found his lordship in the most
excruciating pain, from one of the most severe fits of the gout he had
ever experienced. "Impossible, sir," said he, "don't talk to me of
impossibilities": and then, raising himself upon his legs, while the
sweat stood in large drops upon his forehead, and every fibre of his
body was convulsed with agony, "Go, sir, and tell his lordship, that he
has to do with a minister who actually _treads_ on impossibilities."

MCCXVI.--"I CAN GET THROUGH."

IN the cloisters of Trinity College, beneath the library, are grated
windows, through which many of the students have occasionally, after the
gates were locked, taken the liberty of passing, without an _exeat_, in
rather a novel style. A certain Cantab was in the act of drawing himself
through the bars, and being more than an ordinary mortal's bulk, he
stuck fast. One of the fellows of the college passing, stepped up to the
student and asked him ironically, "If he should assist him?"--"Thank
you," was the reply, "_I can get through_!" at the same instant he drew
himself back on the outside.

MCCXVII.--MAKING FREE.

FORMERLY, members of parliament had the privilege of franking letters
sent by post. When this was so, a sender on one occas