th and Wells became
vacant: the ministers recommended some learned and pious divines; to
whom the king answered, "No, none of them shall have it, I assure you.
What is the name of that little man at Winchester, that would not let
Nell Gwynne lodge at his house?"--"Dr. Ken, please your
majesty."--"Well, he shall have it then; I resolved that he should
have the first bishopric that fell, if it had been Canterbury."--Bishop
Ken every morning made a vow that he would not marry on that day. Mr.
Cherry used frequently, on entering the breakfast-room, to say, "Well,
my lord, is the resolution made this morning?"--"Oh, yes, sir, long
ago," was the constant reply. M.J.T.

_Accession of Territory without Bloodshed._--The Venetians, desirous
of possessing the island of Curzola, which belonged to the little
republic of Raguza, and was situate in their neighbourhood, made use
of a singular stratagem to render themselves masters of it. They
erected in one night, on a little rock, which belonged to them, very
near Raguza, a card-board fortress, painted of a brick-colour, and
armed with wooden cannons. The next day the Ragusans, alarmed at
seeing themselves so closely invested, entered into a negotiation with
the Venetian State, to which they ceded Curzola, in exchange for this
miserable rock, on which there was scarcely room for a moderately
sized dwelling. W.N.

_Excuses for not Marrying_.--Thales, who was ranked among the seven
wise men of Greece, declined involving himself by marriage in the
cares of a family, that he might devote his whole time and attention
to the study of philosophy,--alleging to his mother, who urged him to
marry, at an early age, "_it is too soon_," and at a more advanced
period, "_it is too late_." P.T.W.

* * * * *

_Epigram on Sir P----p F----n----s being bit by a cobracappo_:--

A serpent bit F---- ----s, that virulent knight;--
What then? 'twas the serpent that died of the bite.

_Anon._

_Latine._

Dente venenato stimulatur Zoilus Anguis,
Quid Tum? vivit adhuc Zoilus, Anguis obit.

E.B.I.

* * * * *

_Botanical A.B.C._--The A.B.C. Daria is a name given to a plant of the
camomile species. The appellation is designed to express the use made
of this plant by the black schoolmasters at Amboyna, who cause their
young pupils to chew the flowers and roots, either alone or with
beetlenut, in order that they may more easily pron