laintiff met the Defendant, who formed a strong
attachment for her, at which he (the learned Counsel), did not
wonder."--_Extract from a recent Report._]

The Plaintiff she was very fair--
I'd very gladly make a verse on
Her face, her smile, her eyes, her hair,
Her comely and attractive person.
Last year a gentleman had stormed
Her heart and swore that nought should sunder
The strong attachment he had formed,
At which you said you "_did not wonder!_"

Oh! tell me was it quite the thing,
Of prudence shamelessly defiant,
In such a pointed way to sing
The praises of your pretty client.
Had she been ugly--yes, or plain,
Would you have reckoned it your duty
To say how much it caused you pain
To look and mark her lack of beauty?

Perhaps you meant the words you said,
'Twould be amusing to discover
If she had really turned your head,
And in her lawyer found a lover.
Yet even should this be the case,
You cannot well escape supporting
This statement--that it's not the place
In open Court to go a-courting.

When next a lady comes to say
That He and She at last have parted,
And that she'll make the villain pay
For having left her broken-hearted,
You'll recollect that in the Breach
Of Promise Case, you must not blunder,
But mention in your opening speech
That at his love you _do not wonder_.

* * * * *

[Illustration: RECOGNITION OF MERIT.

_The M Dougall, L.C.C._ (_to Cambridge Don_). "WELL DONE! THE SPINSTER
TO THE SPINNING HOUSE! You ARE INDEED A PROCTOR AND A BROTHER!"]

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

_The Quiet Mrs. Fleming_ is very nearly being a good novel of the kind
with which "once upon a time" Mr. F.C. PHILIPS used to delight us. Mr.
RICHARD PRYCE's _Quiet Mrs. F._ might perhaps be placed in the same
category with F.C.P.'s. _Little Mrs. Murray_, which was not by any
means the Author's best. The story, like the Consols, is good enough
for those who don't want much interest for their money. It may be
safely recommended as a pleasant companion during a railway journey.
The Baron does not consider that _The Quiet Mrs. F._ will make much
noise in the novel-reading world.

A coloured leaflet, of autumnal tint, commands me, in the tone of
a Wellington dispatch, to "order early" a new "Family Magazine,"
entitled, _Golden Gates_, edited by