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In the dearth of Parliamentary intelligence, the newspaper reader will
be startled by the appearance of an enormous gooseberry!
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He will, moreover, be interested in the remarkable longevity of three
old gentlemen resident in Stoke Pogis Workhouse, whose united ages
amount to 190 years; and in the singular coincidence of their all three
having been born in the same hemisphere.
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He will also be induced to remark upon the peculiar mildness of the
season. One of the phenomena attendant on which will be a shower of
frogs.
* * * * *
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The fact is, Winkinson has been going it rather, and the idea of
commencing three months' voyage in such a shaky state is out of the
question. It isn't every day a man leaves his mother country, and when
there's no prospect of your seeing each other again for years, it is
certainly excusable.
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You must consider that Winkinson's grandmother brought him up, and in
the ordinary course of things she can't last long, and his farewell must
be a final one. It would be downright cruelty not to spend a month with
the old lady previous to his departure.