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Rh had ever dreamt that such a thing existed, or had ever been. All the old folks of the family were consulted; they knew nothing about it. Great search was made, however, and at last we found a silver tankard, on which was engraved a coat of arms. It was carried by common consent that these must be the family arms, so they were painted on the carriage, and looked very handsome. The carriage went on very well with them, and it was not till six months afterwards, that we found out that the tankard had been bought at a sale." [11]

A young chaplain of Lord Mulgrave's had preached a sermon of great length before his lordship. "Sir," said Lord Mulgrave, bowing to him, "there were some things in your sermon of to-day I never heard before." "Oh, my lord," said the flattered chaplain, "it is a common text, and I could not have hoped to have said anything new on the subject. What did you hear for the first time?" "I heard the clock strike twice," said Lord Mulgrave. [15]

At a duel the combatants discharged their pistols without effect, whereupon one of the seconds interfered and proposed that the duellists should shake hands. To this the other second objected as unnecessary. "Their hands," said he, "have been shaking this half-hour."

It is related of Sydney Smith that once on entering a drawing-room in a West End mansion, he found it lined with mirrors on all sides. Finding himself reflected in every direction, he said that he "supposed he was at a meeting of the clergy, and there seemed to be a very respectable attendance."

A gentleman was one day, in the old coaching times, travelling by a coach which moved at a very slow pace. "Pray," said he to the guard, "what is the name of this coach?" "The Regulator," was the reply. "And a very appropriate name, too," said the traveller, "for I see all the other coaches go by it."

One of the parishes of the county of Somerset failing to be as closely attended by its spiritual shepherd as was his duty, one