"
_Franking Letters_.--The Princess Augusta asked Lord Walsingham for
a frank; he wrote one for her in such detestable characters that, at the
end of a week, after having wandered half over England, it was opened,
and returned to her as illegible. The Princess complained to Lord
Walsingham, and he then wrote the frank for her so _legibly_, that at
the end of a couple of days, it was returned to her, marked
"FORGERY."--_The Town_.
_Epigram from Scarron_.
A Confessor was caugh t'other day rather jolly,
Who observed, "When a man has committed a folly,
If he has any sense left, hastens straightway to me,
When, confessing his guilt, I can soon set him free;
But how hard is my fate! for when wrong I have done,
Absolution's denied me by every one;
In which case, that I may from conscience escape,
Take refuge from thought in the juice of the grape."
M.T.
_Signs_.--To trace the origin of signs would be an amusing relaxation
for the Society of Antiquaries. Who could have imagined that "bag o'
nails," was a corruption of the Bacchanals, which it evidently is from
the rude epigraph still subjoined to the fractured classicism of the
title? In the same manner the more modern "Goat and compasses" may be
identified with the text of "God encompasseth us," which was a favourite
motto amongst the ale-house Puritans.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70