II. was duly issued from the new office. NO. XVII. beheld _Mr.
Tatler's_ humiliation, in which, with fulsome apology and not very
credible assurances of respect and admiration, he disclaims the article
in question, and advertises a new issue of NO. XVI. with all
objectionable matter omitted. This, with pleasing euphemism, he terms in
a later advertisement, "a new and improved edition." This was the only
remarkable adventure of _Mr. Tatler's_ brief existence; unless we
consider as such a silly Chaldee manuscript in imitation of
_Blackwood_, and a letter of reproof from a divinity student on the
impiety of the same dull effusion. He laments the near approach of his
end in pathetic terms. "How shall we summon up sufficient courage," says
he, "to look for the last time on our beloved little devil and his
inestimable proof-sheet? How shall we be able to pass No. 14 Infirmary
Street and feel that all its attractions are over? How shall we bid
farewell for ever to that excellent man, with the long greatcoat, wooden
leg and wooden board, who acts as our representative at the gate of
_Alma Mater?_" But alas! he had no choice: _Mr. Tatler_, whose career,
he says himself, had been successful, passed peacefully away, and has
ever since dumbly implored "the bringing home of bell and burial."

_Alter et idem_. A very different affair was the _Lapsus Linguae_ from
the _Edinburgh University Magazine_. The two prospectuses alone, laid
side by side, would indicate the march of luxury and the repeal of the
paper duty. The penny bi-weekly broadside of session 1823-4 was almost
wholly dedicated to Momus. Epigrams, pointless letters, amorous verses,
and University grievances are the continual burthen of the song. But
_Mr. Tatler_ was not without a vein of hearty humour; and his pages
afford what is much better: to wit, a good picture of student life as it
then was. The students of those polite days insisted on retaining their
hats in the class-room. There was a cab-stance in front of the College;
and "Carriage Entrance" was posted above the main arch, on what the
writer pleases to call "coarse, unclassic boards." The benches of the
"Speculative" then, as now, were red; but all other Societies (the
"Dialectic" is the only survivor) met downstairs, in some rooms of which
it is pointedly said that "nothing else could conveniently be made of
them." However horrible these dungeons may have been, it is certain that
they were paid for, and that far