TENNYSON. Thy verse is like rich music to the ear; DICKENS. Delightful Novelist! loved by youth and age, E nnobling humble worth and struggling poverty. Sweet sympathy pervades thy bright, thy glowing mind. OLIVER'S IMPROMPTU. OLIVER, a sailor and patriot, with a merited reputation for extempore rhyming, while on a visit to his cousin Benedict Arnold, after the war, was asked by the latter to amuse a party of English officers with some extemporaneous effusion, whereupon he stood up and repeated the following Ernulphus curse, which would have satisfied Dr. Slop* himself: Born for a curse to virtue and mankind, Earth's broadest realm ne'er knew so black a mind. Night's sable veil your crimes can never hide, E ach one so great, 'twould glut historic tide. Defunct, your cursed memory will live A lmighty vengeance sternly waits to roll Let hell receive you, riveted in chains, Tristram Shandy. ALLITERATIVE ACROSTIC. THE following alliterative acrostic is a gem in its way. Miss Kitty Stephens was the celebrated London vocalist, and is now the Dowager Countess of Essex :— S he sings so soft, so sweet, so soothing still That to the tone ten thousand thoughts there thrill; E lysian ecstasies enchant each ear Pleasure's pure pinions poise-prince, peasant, peer, Soul-stirring STEPHENS' skill, sure seraphs sing the same. CHRONOGRAMMATIC PASQUINADE. On the election of Pope Leo X., in 1440, the following satirical acrostic appeared, to mark the date MCCCCX L. Multi Coci Cardinales Creaverunt Cœcum Decimum (X) Leonem. MONASTIC VERSE. THE merit of this fine specimen will be found in its being at the same time acrostic, mesostic, and telestic. The following translation preserves the acrostic and mesostic, though not the telestic form of the original: In glory see the rising sun, Illustrious orb of day, Enlightening heaven's wide expanse, Expel night's gloom away. So light into the darkest soul, JESUS, Thou dost impart, THE figure of a FISH carved on many of the monuments in the Roman Catacombs, is an emblematic acrostic, intended formerly to point out the burial-place of a Christian, without revealing the fact to the pagan persecutors. The Greek word for fish is 7005, which the Christians understood to mean Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour,-the letters forming the initials of the following Greek words :— THE names of the male crowned heads of the extinct Napoleon dynasty form a remarkable acrostic : Napoleon, Emperor of the French. I oseph, King of Spain. Hieronymus, King of Westphalia. Louis, King of Holland. RACHEL. RACHEL, on one occasion, received a most remarkable present. It was a diadem, in antique style, adorned with six jewels. The stones were so set as to spell, in acrostic style, the name of the great artiste, and also to signify six of her principal rôles, thus: Wir Weiber Wollten Wohl Weiße Wäsche Waschen Wenn Wir Wüßten Wo Warm Wasser Wäre. MASONIC MEMENTO. The following curious memento was written in the early part of last century :- M-Magnitude, Moderation, Magnanimity. S-Silence, Secrecy, Security. O-Obedience, Order, Economy. N-Noble, Natural, Neighborly. R-Rational, Reciprocative, Receptive. Y-Yielding, Ypight (fixed), Yare (ready). Which is explained thus: Masonry, of things, teaches how to attain their just Magnitude. It makes us, to things indifferent, To what is absolutely necessary, perfectly Economy. Noble, Natural, Neighborly. Rational, Reciprocative, Receptive. Yielding, Ypight, And to do all that is truly good, most willingly Yare. NEWS-CABAL. THE word News is formed from the initials of the points of the compass, North, East, West, South. The word Cabal is similarly formed from the names of the unpopular ministry of Charles II., Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, Lauderdale. THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. How short a span Was long enough of old To measure out the life of man; In those well-tempered days his time was then Surveyed, cast up, and found but threescore years and ten. ALAS! What is all that? They come and slide and pass Before my tongue can tell thee what. The posts of time are swift, which having run Their seven short stages o'er, their short-lived task is done. OUR DAYS Begun, we bend To sleep, to antic plays And toys, until the first stage end; 12 waning moons, twice 5 times told, we give WE SPEND A ten years' breath What 'tis to live in fear of death; Our childish dreams are filled with painted joys How wretched is Poor man, that doth remain A slave to such a state as this! His days are short at longest; few at most; The secret springs That make our minutes flee On wings more swift than eagles' wings! Our life's a clock, and every gasp of breath Breathes forth a warning grief, till time shall strike a death. HOW SOON Our new-born light Attains to full-aged noon! And this, how soon to gray-haired night; |