(_After Waller's "On a Girdle._")
["According to the evidence of the only two witnesses who sailed with
her, no Life-belts were forthcoming, when the Life-belts might have
given many of those on board a last chance of life."--_The "Times" on
the Inquiry into the Wreck of the "Roumania."_]
_Shipwrecked Passenger loquitur_:--
That which would give me ease of mind,
And hope of life, I cannot find.
No monarch but would give his crown
For a Life-belt, when ships go down.
It would relieve extremest fear,
That circlet light, that cork-lined sphere;
But in dark nooks below above,
The careless crew such trifles shove!
A narrow compass, and yet there
Dwells safety, but for want of care.
Give me the Belt, which can't be found,
And I might live, who must be drowned!
* * * * *
A certain noble Lord was supposed to have somewhat disparaged one of his
horses on sale by describing him as "a Whistler." JAMES MCNEILL, "of that
ilk," was of opinion that this description, supposing the animal to have
been "a genuine Whistler," ought to have increased its value considerably.
* * * * *
The Musical Coster Craze.
_Customer._ Have you a copy of COSTA'S _Eli_?
_Shopman._ No, Sir; we have none of CHEVALIER'S songs.
* * * * *
SUPERLATIVE!--The appointment of Mr. DUFF, M.P., to be Governor of New
South Wales is a "positive" good, seeing that they might have appointed "a
comparative Duffer."
* * * * *