er that the clubhouse is not an official
establishment, but one intended for luxurious accommodation, and that it
would have admitted of much more florid embellishment. At the same time,
although we quarrel with the frigidity of the exterior, we do not
question the warmth of its kitchens, or the potency of its cellars;
neither do we affect any knowledge of the latter--nay, not even enough
to weave into a "fashionable" novel.

A new mansion is building for the United Service Club, on the site of
Carlton House, under the superintendance of Mr. Nash, and which, with
another new clubhouse for the Athaenaeum, will form an entrance to the
new square opposite Waterloo-Place. The taste of the sword and pen does
not, however, agree, and their buildings are dissimilar. In the United
Service Club are two rooms of 150 feet by 50, the floors of which are
constructed of cast-iron girders. At the back of these club-houses will
be a large ornamental garden.

* * * * *

FUNERAL GARLANDS.

(_For the Mirror_.)

The primitive Christians censured a practice prevalent among the Romans,
of decorating a corpse, previous to interment or combustion, with
garlands and flowers. Their reprehension extended also to a periodical
custom of placing the "first-fruits of Flora" on their graves and tombs.
Thus Anchises, in Dryden's Virgil,_Aeneid,_ book 6, says,

"Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring,
Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring;
Let me with _funeral flowers_ his body strew--
This gift, which parents to their children owe,
This unavailing gift I may bestow."

Notwithstanding the anathemas of the church, these simple, interesting,
and harmless (if not laudable) practices still remain. The early customs
and features of all nations approximate; and whether the following
traits, which a friend has kindly obliged me with, are relics of Roman
introduction, or national, I leave the antiquary to decide.

On Palm Sunday, in several villages in South Wales, a custom prevails
of cleaning the grave-stones of departed friends and acquaintances, and
ornamenting them with flowers, &c. On the Saturday preceding, a troop of
servant girls go to the churchyard with pails and brushes, to renovate
the various mementos of affection, clean the letters, and take away
the weeds. The next morning their young mistresses attend, with the
gracefulness of innocence in their countenances, and the roses of health
a