n the generous bag
of his mouth, whereat he clapped my back very cordially, advising me to
abstain for the future from a super-abundance of frills, since the
character of a diligent legal native student was a precious lily that
needed no princely gilding, and adding that he was indebted to me for a
most entertaining and mirthful evening. This I do not understand, as I
had not uttered any of the facetious puns and conceits wherewith it is
my _wont_--when I _will_[1]--to set the table in a simper.

But possibly I may have spoken rather humorously unawares, and it is
proverbial that these exalted legal luminaries are pleased with a
rattle and tickled by a straw.

On my return I did omit to mention Miss WEE-WEE to JESSIMINA; but, after
all, _cui bono_?

FOOTNOTE:

[1] This is a fairly sample specimen, though I have frequently surpassed
it in waggish drollery.--_H. B. J._

XVI

_Mr Jabberjee makes a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Shakespeare._

I have frequently spoken in the flattering terms of a eulogium
concerning my extreme partiality for the writings of Hon'ble WILLIAM
SHAKSPEARE. It has been remarked, with some correctness, that he did not
exist for an age, but all the time; and though it is the open question
whether he did not derive all his ideas from previous writers, and even
whether he wrote so much as a single line of the plays which are
attributed to his inspired nib, he is one of the institutions of the
country, and it is the correct thing for every orthodox British subject
to admire and understand him even when most incomprehensible.

Consequently I did cock-a-hoop for joy on receiving an invitation from
my friend ALLBUTT-INNETT, Jun., Esq., on behalf of his parents, that I
should accompany them on an excursion by rail to Stratford-upon-Avon,
where the said poet had his domicile of origin.

And so great was my enthusiasm that, during the journey, I declaimed,
_ore rotundo_, certain select passages from his works which I had
committed to memory during the salad days of my schoolboyishness, and
with such effect that Miss WEE-WEE ALLBUTT-INNETT (who is excessively
emotional) was compelled, at times, to veil her countenance in the
recesses of a pocket-handkerchief.

Having at length arrived at that hallowed and sacred spot, the very name
of which sends a sweet and responsive thrill through every educated
bosom, our first proceeding was to partake of a copious cold tiffin.

This repast we ordered