ed her 'neath the azalea tree;
And the burnished blue butterflies flicker and hover,
And the rosy pink petals fall lightly above her.

* * * * *

A Bloodthirsty Critic.

_The Nation_ on _Saint Augustin_, by LOUIS BERTRAND:

"The student of Church history will do well to take Dr. Bertrand's
Life."

* * * * *

[Illustration: _First Sportsman (on the way home after dinner)._ "HI!
LOOK OUT WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

_Second Sportsman._ "LOOK OUT YOURSELF! YOU'RE DRIVING, AREN'T YOU?"

_First Sportsman._ "NO, I THOUGHT YOU WERE."]

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

(_By Mr. Punch's Staff of Learned Clerks._)

I doubt if Messrs. ASQUITH, CHURCHILL, EDMOND, LLOYD GEORGE, or even
Colonel SEELY have leisure these days for novel-reading, and, if they
have, they might be reluctant to devote it to _The Ulsterman_
(HUTCHINSON). It does not treat of their favourite subject and, so far
from offering any solution of extant difficulties, adds yet another
complication to the Home Rule question. Everything from revenue to
religion having been discussed, no one but Mr. F. FRANKFORT MOORE has
thought to deal with the love interest. What is to be done, the tale
suggests, for the young lovers in the North whose families are loyal to
different sovereigns? _Ned_ was the son of a stalwart, if somewhat
snobbish, adherent of His Majesty KING GEORGE THE FIFTH; _Kate_ was the
daughter of a would-be subject of the Divine DEVLIN, and things could
never have gone well with them had it not been for the intervention of
_Ned's_ uncle, who had been so long out of Ireland that he had ceased to
cherish any keen feelings in the dispute, and had been so used by his
brother in the past that he was only too glad of the opportunity of
spiting him by getting his son married to a Papist. But there are other
cases, where no such facilities are at hand, and, if Mr. MOORE'S picture
is a true one, it must go hard with such couples. What is to be done for
them? Are they to be told to wait six years and see? I hope not, for
whatever they might see in the period could have no interest for them?
This matrimonial difficulty is one, at any rate, which, as all must
agree, even that reputed panacea, the General Election, cannot be
expected to cure.

* * * * *

I think I never met a book more "racily" written--in a special sens