t of
going to two Operas told on shattered frame, so staggered to Maiden
Lane, which, on account of its being the home for oysters, crabs,
and lobsters, should be renamed Mer-maiden Lane. Behold! good Dr.
BAYLIS "within the Rules" making up his evening prescriptions.
"_Quis supperabit?_" asked the learned Dr. B. "_Ego_," replied I,
like JEAMES, knowing the language. And "supper-a-bit" it was. "'84
_wachterum unum pintum frigidum sumendum cum_ '92 _chickeno_," &c. "My
benizon on thee!" said CRITICUS REDIVIVUS. "Dr. BAYLIS, I bay-_liss_
thee!" with the accent on the "_liss_." So home. After all the chops
and changes of this operatic life, I am with "chicken and champagne"
content. _Finis coronat opus._
* * * * *
MORE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ALCOHOLIC QUESTION.
(_A FEW REMARKS ON DR. ROBSON ROOSE'S ARTICLE IN NEW REVIEW._)
[Illustration: "'Neat' Handed Phyllis."
"A contribution to the Alcohol Question."]
1. Inebriates should be shut up in Alcoholloway Prison.
2. "_Food-accessory_" is a very pretty name for drink. Henceforth let
the butler go round as "the merry toast goes round." Let butlers and
footmen, in dining-rooms and places where they have various liquors,
be instructed to inquire of each and every guest "What food-accessory
will you take, Sir?"
3. "_The use of Alcohol dates from very early times._" But it is not
recommended by the faculty as a good thing to be taken at 7 A.M., or
at any time in the morning immediately on awaking.
As to when any one has had enough "alcohol," the old test first
put forward many years ago by _Mr. Punch_, still holds good. If
you can say "British Constitution" distinctly, and without effort,
so that it shall not be all in one composite word sounding like
"Bri'sh-conshushun," then, perhaps, you may go up-stairs (if you can)
and join the ladies.
4. "_The liver is very prone to become affected._" The question is,
first, Is "an evil liver" or "a good liver" here intended? But, apart
from this, any affectation in a liver, good or bad, is objectionable.
It must be taken for granted, in a serious discussion on the subject,
that "a slave to his liver" is a synonym for "a livery servant." The
one objection to a livery servant lies in this very fact; for a slave
to liver is rarely in a good humour, and is generally sulky, lazy, and
disobliging.
5. "_Wine comes in, rubs off the acerbities, and brings all down to
the same level of good humour._
|