a more decided--I wish I could add a more
amiable--character than at twenty. At twenty he loves sincerely and
devotedly; he respects the woman who has inspired him with the noblest
sentiment of which his soul is capable. At thirty his heart, hardened by
deceit and ill-requited affection, and pre-occupied by projects of worldly
ambition, regards love only as an agreeable pastime, and woman's heart as
a toy, which he may fling aside the moment it ceases to amuse him. At
twenty he is ready to abandon everything for her whom he idolises--rank,
wealth, the future!--they weigh as nothing in the balance against the
fancied strength and constancy of his passion. At thirty he coldly
immolates the repose and happiness of the woman who loves him to the
slightest necessity. I must admit, however--in justice to our
sex--provided his love does not interfere with his interest, nor his
freedom, nor his club, nor his dogs and horses, nor his _petites liaisons
des coulisses_, nor his hour of dinner--the lover is always willing to
make the greatest sacrifices for her whom he has honoured with his
regards. The man of thirty is, moreover, a man of many loves; he carries
on half-a-dozen affairs of the heart at the same time--he has his
writing-desk filled with _billets-doux_, folded into a thousand fanciful
shapes, and smelling villanously of violets, roses, bergamot, and other
sentimental odours. He has a pocket-book full of little locks of hair, of
all colours, from the light golden to the raven black. In short, the man
of thirty is the most dangerous of lovers. Let my fair readers watch his
approaches with distrust, and place at every avenue of their innocent
hearts

[Illustration: A WATCHFUL SENTINEL.]

[Illustration: Alph. Lecourt]

* * * * *

A DEER BARGAIN.

In consequence of an advertisement in the _Sporting Magazine_ for SEVERAL
OLD BUCKS, some daring villains actually secured the following venerable
gentlemen:--Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Palmerston, Sir Lumley Skeffington,
Jack Reynolds, and Mr. Widdicombe. The venison dealer, however, declined
to purchase such very old stock, and the aged captives upon being set at
liberty heartily congratulated each other on their

[Illustration: NARROW ESCAPE.]

* * * * *

OUT OF SCHOOL.

An attenuated disciple of the ill-paid art which has been described as one
embracing the "delightful task which teaches the young ide