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ONCE A WEEK.

Socrates, General Washington, Sancho Panza, or any other distinguished characters of by gone days. We are told, for instance, that the Poet Laureate has no need to fix his eyes upon anything; and, indeed, has been found sometimes to have seen the whole of an exquisite piece of landscape when appa rently looking inwardly, as in a walking dream, and lost to all around him. This astonished Mr. Moxon, on a certain tour with the Laureate, who naturally thought that the poet ought to have been looking earnestly on all sides to take in the whole scene. Hazlitt, the great essayist, had a peculiar gift of vision : he could see behind him. A good story is told with regard to Hazlitt in this respect. One day he went to see Northcote, the famous but penurious painter. It was in the depth of winter, and the room in which Northcote received his visitor was miserably cold. Hazlitt casually, during the conversation, placed some coals upon the fire. Presently afterwards, Hazlitt's back being turned while looking closely into a picture at the opposite side of the room, he saw Northcote stoop down to the tongs, take off the fresh coals one by one, and softly replace them in the scuttle. De scending from Tennyson and Hazlitt to less dignified characters, we will quote one more instance of this peculiar power of the eye, or instinct, whichever we may like to call it. A constable once reproached a cabman, the last on the stand, for not attending to his business.'1 "Oh, you're mistaken," re plied the cabman. "I'm attentive on all sides. I've one eye on my horse's head, and one eye for passengers. I could see a man eating oysters on one side of the street, and a woman pick up a pin on the other, and still never lose sight o' the horse's ears."

[June 24, 1871.

golia," by Mr. Parker, of H.B.M. Le gation at Peking, we learn a new use of sugar: —"We have been frequently asked for a white foreign sugar, and I had to make scrutinous inquiries before I could under stand what it was wanted for. At length, a very agreeable girl, about twenty, said they had no powder so white for the face; and, besides, ' it tasted nice when she was kissed.' I was sorry I could not oblige her with any sugar, but instead — horrible to relate — I gave her a dose of brandy and some English tobacco." To account for the use of laurels, we must go back to the Greeks. Austin and Ralph, in their "Lives of the Laureates," give a pretty explanation of the reason :—"What symbol so appropriate to indicate the im mortality of verse as the unfading laurel? A myth was readily supplied. The tree was at one time a nymph, seen and be loved by Apollo. The bashful Thessalian— that is, the nymph—fled before his eager pursuit; and, ere overtaken, an interposing power shielded her from harm, and the vir gin stood transformed into a bay tree. The disappointed god wreathed for himself a j garland from its boughs, and pronounced it , for ever sacred to himself." ! Umbrellas 1n th1s cl1mate of ours are a sine qua non—as bosom friends, to whom in a weak moment we happen to entrust our best " gingham," unfortunately often think; judging, at all events, by the "slow returns" which ensue. When, let us ask, were umbrellas first introduced into this country? One authority informs us that the first umbrella was seen at Bristol about the year 1780. This particular umbrella was a red one, and occasioned a great sensation, But we think we can go farther back than this. Our old friend, Michael Drayton, writing in 1630, says:— " Of doves I have a dainty pair, Which, when you please to take the air, About your head shall gently hover, Your clear brow from the sun to cover; And with their nimble wings shall fan you, 'That neither cold nor heat shall tan yon ; And, like umbrellas, with their feathers Shall shield you in all sorts of weathers."

When people are perversely rushing to their own destruction, it is common to use the expression—" Quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat." We may note, how ever, en passant, that this is not the correct reading, which is—"Quem Jupiter vult perdcre dementat prius." It is not, however, perhaps generally known that Drydcn has adopted the sentiment in his " Hind and Panther"— Every MS. must hone the name and address of the " For those whom God to ruin has designed, author legibly written on the first page. He f1ts for fate, and f1rst destroys their mind." Rejected MSS. will be returned to the authors on appli cation, ifstamps for that purpose are sent. vry; From a very interesting paper in the The Editor will only be responsible for their being " Phcenix," entitled " A Month in Mon sa/ely re-posted to the addresses given.