r has broken loose in the Danubian
Principalities, and a large number of British bulldogs have been already
collected to worry him, unless he speedily retreats into his den.

* * * * *

A MISTAKEN MEASURE.

A Strike is generally supposed to be another name for a Bushel. It is,
however, a Sack, which certain workmen are so infatuated as to give
themselves.

* * * * *

[Illustration: ALL IS VANITY.

_Frederick._ "THERE, NOW, HOW VERY PROVOKING! I'VE LEFT THE PRAYER-BOOKS
AT HOME!"

_Maria._ "WELL, DEAR, NEVER MIND; BUT DO TELL ME, _IS MY BONNET
STRAIGHT_?"]

* * * * *

THE LOVER'S FAREWELL TO PALE ALE.

Farewell, my bright, my brisk, my Pale,
I cannot say, my Sweet,
For thou art Bitter, oh, my Ale!
With Hops--I trust--replete.

Henceforth thou art estranged from me;
And dost thou ask me why?
Thou wilt not suit my low degree,
Since thou hast got so high.

It was not wise to raise thee so,
'Tis what thou wilt not bear:
Better, hadst thou been brought more low,
And made "not Pale but Fair."

Go, travel o'er the Ocean brine,
To grace some Nabob's cup;
Thy figure will not do for mine,
So I must give thee up.

With chamomile the goblet fill,
The cold infusion pour,
I'll quaff the dose, the draught I'll swill,
And sigh for thee no more!

* * * * *

LITERATURE AT LOW WATER MARK.

A book with the odd title of "_A History of the Fountains of Europe_"
has recently appeared. The subject cannot possibly be a dry one, but
(without wishing to throw cold water on the author) we are bound to say
that we have no particular thirst for the knowledge he undertakes to
impart. We fear that amid the fountains of Europe our own Metropolitan
fountains must cut as sorry a figure in history as they do in Trafalgar
Square. We feel some curiosity to know what an author can possibly say
about the Charing Cross fountain, and whether he is satisfied with
merely a glance at it--which is the case with every one who sees it--or
whether he traces its biography from the cistern to the slop-basin, the
cradle to the grave. The historian of the Fountains of Europe prefaces
his work with an essay on raising the water, but we are inclined to
think he would have a far more numerous body of readers if he could
offer a few hints on the possibility of raisi