of his royal master, and who consequently was always glad to see him, was on this occasion ushered into the aviary, where he found my lord amusing himself with his birds. Will happening to admire the plumage of a kingfisher—“ By my Lady,” said Surrey, “my prince of wits, I will give it you." Will skipped about with delight, and swore by the great Harry he was a most noble gentleman. Away went Will with his kingfisher, telling all his acquaintance whom he met, that his friend Surrey had just presented him with it. Now it so happened that my Lord Northampton, who had seen this bird the day previous, just arrived at my Lord Surrey's as Will Somers had left, with the intention of asking it of Surrey, for a present to his (Northampton's) mistress. Great was his chagrin on finding the bird gone. Surrey, however, consoled him with saying, that "he knew Somers, would restore it him, on he (Surrey) promising him two another day." Away went a messenger to the prince of wits, whom he found in raptures with his bird, and to whom he delivered his lord's message. Great was Will's surprise, but he was not to be bamboozled by even the monarch himself. "Sirrah," says he, "tell your master that I am obliged for his liberal offer of two for one; but that I prefer one bird in the hand to two in the bush!" Hence originated this muchrepeated saying.

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING!

That James I. was a pedant is well known to all literary men; but that he also professed a knowledge of the culinary art, may have been thought unworthy of a page in history. Buckingham, his favourite, was not only a regular bon vivant, but availed himself of his royal master's penchant as one of the means of securing that fav ur which he ultimately enjoyed. It happened one day, when dining with Buckingham, that a discussion on the merits of various viands took place, some of the most costly and delicious then being before them; one of which was particularly recommended by Buckingham to his Majesty as being superior to any other. "It may be so, Steenie," replied the king, "but the prufe of a gude thing is in the eating on't, so here's at it!"

THROWING A TUB TO THE WHALE.

The Greenland vessels, and indeed the South Sea vessels, are sometimes (especially after stormy weather) so surrounded with whales, that the situation of the crew becomes dangerous. When this is the case, it is usual to throw out a tub in order to divert their attention; when the marine monsters amuse themselves in tossing this singular sort of plaything into the air, to and fro, as children do a shuttlecock. Their

attention being drawn, every sail is hoisted, and the vessel pursues its course to its destination. Hence came the saying, "Throwing a tub to the whale."

THE LAWYERS' PATRON.

Saint Evona, a lawyer of Britain, went to Rome to entreat the Pope to give the lawyers a patron; the Pope replied, that he knew of no Saint not disposed of to some other profession. His Holiness proposed, however, to Saint Evona, that he should go round the church of St. John de Lateran blindfold, and after saying a certain number of Ave-Marias, the first saint he laid his hand on should be his patron. This the good old lawyer undertook, and at the end of his AveMarias stopped at the altar of St. Michael, where he laid hold, not of the saint, but unfortunately of the Devil, under the saint's feet, crying out, "This is our saint, let him be our patron!" Ben Jonson was once going through a churchyard in Surrey, and seeing some poor people weeping over a grave, asked one of the women why they wept? "Oh," said she, "we have lost our precious lawyer, Justice Randall; he kept us all in peace, and always was so good, as to keep us from going to law; the best man that ever lived." "Well," said Ben Jonson, "I will give you an epitaph to write upon his tomb :

"God works His wonders now and then,—

Here lies a lawyer, and an honest man.”

postors. "She's all Abraham," that is, quite naked. "What an Abraham!" an exclamation for a ragged fellow. "An Abraham man" was an impostor who personated a poor lunatic called Tom of Bedlam : one of this class is described by Shakespeare in his "Lear," Act ii., Scene 3

"The basest and most poorest shape,

That ever penury, in contempt of man,
Brought near to beast."

Among sailors, "An Abraham" is being unwell, or out of sorts. When Abraham Newland was cashier

of the Bank of England, it was sung

"I have heard people say,

That sham Abraham you may,

But you must not sham Abraham Newland."

WHEN THE STEED'S STOLEN, SHUT THE STABLE DOOR!

This saying originated out of an old Cheshire proverb, "When the daughter is stolen, shut the Peppergate." This is founded on the fact, that the mayor of Chester had his daughter stolen as she was playing at ball with other maidens in Pepper-street; the young man who carried her off came through the Peppergate, and the mayor wisely ordered the gate to be shut up, which gave cause for the above saying, and from which originated the more general one, "When the steed's stolen, shut the stable door !"

WHILE THE GRASS GROWS, THE STEED STARVES!

In some parts of Lincolnshire the soil is very prolific, so much so that it has been said, "Turn a horse into a new-mown field over night, and the grass will have grown up to his fetlock-joints the next morning! A trooper, during the troubles in the reign of Charles I., travelling over Lincoln Heath, was benighted; espying, however, a light at a distance, he made towards it, and found that it proceeded from a lone house. He knocked for a length of time before any one appeared; at last a voice inquired, who it was that thus disturbed their rest? Upon which the traveller replied, "a trooper belonging to the Parliamentary forces who has lost his way." The door was cautiously opened, a fagot was thrown on the dying embers, which was no sooner done, than he of the sword (no less a person, it is said, than the afterwards famous Ireton) inquired where he should put his horse? the host directed him to an adjoining shed, observing, "That he had neither hay nor corn, but if he remained till morning, some grass would be grown in a neighbouring field!" "Humph!" replied Ireton, who was a shrewd character, "so, while your grass is growing, my steed must be starving!". This was said in a particular way, which the Lincolnshire man (who was a Royalist) perfectly understood, and in the twinkling of an eye produced a feed of corn. The trooper's remark he