kept by her husband, who was often drunk and incapable of doing his
work. Louth (Lincolnshire) boasted a female barber, who is said to have
shaved lightly and neatly, and much better than most men.

Many stories, which are more or less true, are related respecting
barbers. The following is said to be authentic, and we give it as
related to us. The Duke of C---- upon one occasion entered a small
barber's shop in Barnard Castle, and upon inquiring for the master was
answered by an apprentice of fourteen that he was not at home. "Can you
shave, then?" asked the duke. "Yes, sir, I always do," was the reply.
"But can you shave without cutting?" "Yes, sir, I'll try," answered the
youth. "Very well," said the duke, while seating himself, and loading
his pistol; "but look here, if you let any blood, as true as I sit here
I'll blow your brains out! Now consider well before you begin." After a
moment's reflection, the boy began to make ready, and said, "I'm not
afraid of cutting you, sir," and in a short time had completed the feat
without a scratch, to the complete satisfaction of the duke. In gentle
tones his grace asked, "Were you not afraid of having your brains blown
out, when you might have cut me so easily?"

"No, sir, not at all; because I thought that as soon as I should happen
to let any blood, before you could have time to fire I would cut your
throat."

The smart reply won from the duke a handsome reward. It need scarcely to
be added he never resumed his dangerous threats in a barber's shop. A
lesson was taught him for life.

The barber of an English king boasted, says a story, that he must be the
most loyal man in the realm, as he had every day the regal throat at his
mercy. The king was startled at the observation, and concluded that the
barbarous idea could never have entered an honest head, and for the
future he resolved to grow a beard as a precautionary measure against
summary execution.

With a barber's shop in Lichfield is associated an amusing story, in
which the chief figure was Farquhar, a dramatist, who attained a measure
of success in the eighteenth century. His manner was somewhat pompous,
and he resented with a great show of indignation the dalliance of the
master of the shop. Whilst he was fuming, a little deformed man came up
to him and performed the operation satisfactorily. The same day Farquhar
was dining at the table of Sir Theophilus Biddulph, when he noticed the
dwarf there. Taking the opp