* * * * *
_Scandal_.--It is as well not to trust to one's gratitude _after_ dinner.
I have heard many a host libelled by his guests, with his Burgundy yet
reeking on their rascally lips.--_Lord Byron_.
* * * * *
A lady with a well plumed head dress, being in deep conversation with a
naval officer, one of the company said, "it was strange to see so fine a
woman _tar'd_ and feathered."
* * * * *
_A Scolding Wife_.--Dr. Casin having heard the famous Thomas Fuller repeat
some verses on a scolding wife, was so delighted with them, as to request
a copy. "There is no necessity for that," said Fuller, "as you have got
the original."
* * * * *
_Bouts Rimés_ are words or syllables which rhyme, arranged in a particular
order, and are given to a poet with a subject, on which he must write
verses ending in the same rhymes, disposed in the same order. Menage gives
the following account of the origin of this ridiculous conceit. Dulot, (a
poet of the 17th century,) was one day complaining in a large company,
that 300 sonnets had been stolen from him. One of the company expressing
his astonishment at the number, "Oh," said he, "they are blank sonnets, or
rhymes (_bouts rimés_) of all the sonnets I may have occasion to write."
This ludicrous story produced such an effect, that it became a fashionable
amusement to compose blank sonnets, and in 1648, a quarto volume of _bouts
rimés_ was published.
* * * * *
_Poisoned Arrows_ used in Guiana are not shot from a bow, but blown
through a tube. They are made of the hard substance of the cokarito tree,
and are about a foot long, and the size of a knitting-needle. One end is
sharply pointed, and dipped in the poison of worraia, the other is
adjusted to the cavity of the reed, from which it is to be blown by a roll
of cotton. The reed is several feet in length. A single breath carries the
arrow 30 or 40 yards.
* * * * *
_Sterling Applause_.--Lord Bolingbroke was so pleased with Barton Booth's
performance of _Cato_, at Drury Lane Theatre, in 1712, that he presented
the actor with fifty guineas from the stage-box--an example which was
immediately followed by Bolingbroke's political opponents.
* * * * *
_Claret_ has been accused of producing the gout, but without reason.
Persons who drench themselves with Madeira, Port, &c. and indulge in an
occasional debauch of Claret, may indeed be visited in that way; because a
transition from the strong brandied wines to the lighter, is always
followed by a derangement of the digestive organs.
* * * * *
_Quarantine in America_.--Dr. Richard Bayley is the person to whom New
York is chiefly indebted for its quarantine laws. His death was, however,
by contagion. In August, 1801, Doctor Bayley, in the discharge of his duty
as health physician, enjoined the passengers and crew of an Irish emigrant
ship, afflicted with the ship fever, to go on shore to the rooms and tents
appointed for them, leaving their luggage behind. The next morning, on
going to the hospital, he found that both crew and passengers, well, sick,
and dying, were huddled together in one apartment, where they had passed
the night. He inconsiderately entered this room before it had been
properly ventilated, but remained scarcely a moment, being obliged to
retire by a deadly sickness at the stomach, and violent pain in the head,
with which he was suddenly seized. He returned home, retired to bed, and
in the afternoon of the seventh day following, he expired.
* * * * *
_Shaving_ is said to have come into use during the reigns of Louis XIII.
and XIV. of France, both of whom ascended the throne without a beard.
Courtiers and citizens then began to shave, in order to look like the king,
and, as France soon took the lead in all matters of fashion on the
continent, shaving became general. It is at best a tedious operation.
Seume, a German author, says, in his journal, "To-day I threw my powder
apparatus out of the window, when will come the blessed day that I shall
send the shaving apparatus after it."
* * * * *
_Book Morality_.--Dr. Beddoes wrote a history of Isaac Jenkins, which was
intended to impress useful moral lessons on the labouring classes in an
attractive manner. Above 40,000 copies of this work were sold in a short
time.
* * * * *
_The Bedford Missal_ throws even the costly scrap-books of these times
into the shade. It was made for the celebrated John, Duke of Bedford, (one
of the younger sons of Henry IV.) and contains 59 large, and more than
1,000 small miniature paintings.
* * * * *
_The Bedford Level_ was drained at an expense of £400,000. by the noble
family of Russell, Earls and Dukes of Bedford, and others; by which means
100,000 acres of good land have been brought into use.
* * * * *