He was wont to say that he had nearly survived the good manly words of assent and denial, the yes and no of our ancestors, and could now hear nothing but "unquestionably," "certainly," "undeniably," or "by no means," and "I rather think not;" forms of speech to which he gave the most odious and contemptuous names, as effeminate and emasculated, and would turn into ridicule, by caricaturing the pronunciation of the words. Thus he would drawl out "unquestionably", in a faint childish tone, and then say, "Gracious God! does he mean yes? Then, why not say so at once, like a man?" As for the sliplsop of some fluent talkers in society, who exclaim that they are "so delighted," or "so shocked," and speak of things being pleasing or hateful "to a degree;" he would bear down upon them without mercy, and roar out, "To what degree? Your word means any thing, and every thing, and nothing.”—Brougham.

POPE'S COMPLIMENTS.

Nothing ever exceeded Pope's compliments, in delicacy or elegance. Charles Lamb said they were the finest ever paid by the wit of man; that each of them is worth an estate for life.

What can be finer, or more artfully constructed, than that to Lord Cornbury:

"Would ye be blessed? despise low joys, low gains;

Disdain whatever Cornbury disdains;

Be virtuous, and be happy for your pains."

And that masterly one to Lord Mansfield:

"Conspicuous scene! another yet is nigh,

(More silent far,) where kings and poets lie;
Where Murray, (long enough his country's pride,)
Shall be no more than Tully or than Hyde.”

And with what a fine turn of indignant flattery, he addresses Lord Bolingbroke:

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Why rail they then, if but one wreath of mine,
Oh! all accomplished St. John! deck thy shrine?”

Discoursing of the "ruling passion," he says to Lord Cobham:

"And you,

brave Cobham! to the latest breath,

Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death;

Such in those moments, as in all the past,

'Oh! save my country, Heaven!' shall be your last."

Speaking of his grotto, (one of Pope's miserable affectations), he takes occasion to pay two very pretty compliments to Bolingbroke and Lord Peterborough.

"There my retreat the best companions grace,
Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place:
There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl,
The feast of reason and the flow of soul:

And he, whose lightning pierc'd th' Iberian lines,
Now forms my quincunx, and now ranks my vines;
Or tames the genius of the stubborn plain,

Almost as quickly as he conquered Spain."

In his first Pastoral, written when but sixteen, he compliments his friend, Sir John Trumbull, then in

retirement, in these lines, which contrast strongly with the succeeding babble:

"You that too wise for pride, too good for power,

Enjoy the glory to be great no more,

And carrying with you all the world can boast,

To all the world illustriously are lost."

In the Prologue to the Satires, written long after, he recalls the other friends of his youth:

"Granville the polite,

And knowing Walsh, would tell me I could write;
Well-natured Garth inflamed with early praise,
And Congreve loved, and Swift endured, my lays;
The courtly Talbot, Somers, Sheffield, read,
E'en mitred Rochester would nod the head,
And St. John's self, (great Dryden's friend before,)
With open arms received one poet more.

Happy my studies, when by these approved,

Happier their author, when by these beloved!

From these the world will judge of men and books.”

In another place he pays "well-natured Garth" a well-deserved (which cannot be said of all) compliment of surpassing excellence:

"Farewell Arbuthnot's raillery on every learned sot

And Garth, the best good Christian he, although he knows it not."

What noble lines are the following!

"God knows I praise a courtier when I can.
When I confess there is who feels for fame,
And melts to goodness, need I Scarb'row name?

*

E'en in a bishop I can spy desert;—
Manners with candor are to Benson given,
To Berkeley every virtue under heaven.
But does the court a worthy man remove,
That instant I declare he has my love.
I shun his zenith, court his mild decline,-
Thus Somers once, and Halifax, were mine;
Oft in the still, clear mirror of retreat

I studied Shrewsbury, the wise and great;
Carleton's clear sense, and Stanhope's noble flame
Compared, and knew their generous end the same.
How pleasing Atterbury's softer hour!

How shined the soul unconquered, in the Tower!
How can I Pulteney, Chesterfield, forget,

While Roman spirit charms and Attic wit?
Argyle, the state's whole thunder born to wield,
And shake alike the senate and the field?

Or Wyndham, just to freedom and the throne,
The master of our passions and his own ?"

And some of these:

"Approach! but awful! lo! the Ægerian grot,
Where nobly pensive St. John sat and thought;

Where British sighs from dying Wyndham stole,

And the bright flame was shot through Marchmont's soul.
Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor

Who dare to love their country and be poor."

Can any one doubt, after reading all these, whether or not Pope was a poet?

MIND AND BODY.

Old Sir James Herring was remonstrated with for

not rising earlier-"I can make up my mind to it," said he, "but cannot make up my body."

CURIOSITY.

Curiosity is a kernel of the forbidden fruit, which still sticketh in the throat of a natural man, sometimes to the danger of his choking.-Fuller.

WANT OF A PURSUIT.

A man without a predominant inclination is not likely to be either useful or happy. He who is every thing is nothing.-Sharp.

BRANDY-AND-WATER.

Of this mixture Charles Lamb said that it spoiled two good things.

LOVE OF THE WONDERFUL.

What stronger pleasure is there with mankind, or what do they earlier learn or longer retain, than the love of hearing and relating things strange and incredible. How wonderful a thing is the love of wondering and of raising wonder! 'Tis the delight of children to hear tales they shiver at, and the vice of old men to abound in strange stories of times past. We come into the world wondering at every thing; and when our wonder about common things is over, we seek something new to wonder at. Our last scene is to tell wonders of our own, to all who will believe them. And amidst all this, 'tis well if truth comes off but moderately tainted.-Shaftesbury.