the
needle with the straightforward bluntness of the railway buffer. We
subjoin a few specimens:--

NOTE ON THE TRAGEDY OF DOUGLAS.

There is a passage in this play which has escaped the attention of all
critics who have preceded me; a passage which shows _Glenalvon_ to have
been of a social disposition. In one of the scenes with _Norval_,
_Glenalvon_ says (_aside_),

"His port I love."

And, from this remarkable passage, we get three facts: first, that
_Glenalvon_ liked port; secondly, that he had tasted _Norval's_ port;
and, thirdly, that the port in question was of a high character.

NOTE ON JULIUS CAESAR.

The character of _Casca_ has never yet had full justice done to it by
the critics; but there is one passage which may be compared to a perfect
thoroughfare for finding our way to _Casca's_ real condition. He
evidently belonged to the landlord or agrarian party in the State, and
there can be no doubt that the terms on which his tenants held of him
were exorbitant. The whole fact bursts in upon us like a thunderbolt
through the roof of an out-house, or a broker through the door of an
apartment with the rent in arrear, when we read the following line,
spoken by _Antony_ in the course of his funeral oration over _Caesar_:

"See what a rent the envious _Casca_ made!"

Now, this allusion to the rent made by _Casca_ proves either one of two
things: First, that he let lodgings at a high price; or, secondly, that
he derived a considerable income from a landed tenantry. I am inclined
to the latter supposition, for it is possible that had he let merely
lodgings, some of the lodgers would have been introduced into the play,
with that nice appreciation of the ludicrous for which SHAKSPEARE is
conspicuous. This not having been done, we are driven on the other
hypothesis, to which, on the whole, we give the preference.

The above specimens will suffice to show the public the addition that
may be shortly expected to a department and style of literature in which
the English language is already rich--excessively rich--in the opinion
of some of us.

* * * * *

PHILOSOPHY TEACHING BY CONUNDRUMS.

Why are diplomatic papers called Circular Notes?--Because they go round
about a subject without coming to any definite end! They are, moreover,
called Circular because they are seldom on the square.

* * * * *

EXPENSIVE SPIRITS.--The estimates of the charge of