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Was the sun that came shining in at the windows brighter than any other sun that had ever risen on the earth? or was it our own happiness that made the world seem so full of dazzling light?

At first we could not tell; but as we came to speak more soberly of the past and of the present, we knew that there was a peace in our souls that would throw oil upon all future waves of unrest, and a light that would lighten the darkest day that might dawn in the future.

"The 'yea' hath come in truth, sweetheart," said Mr. Lydgate.

And I answered

"And will last for ever and ever." "Amen!" quoth he, solemnly.

POST SCRIPTUM.

There were two marriages at the old church at Selwode in the July of the year A.D. 1710--Jack and Magdalen, Mr. Lydgate and myself.

They were very quiet weddings, attended by few beyond our own family. Sir Simon Lydgate had been moved to come out of his seclusion at Cottenham, since the signs. of the times were favourable to the Tory party, and was induced to visit his old friend, and witness the marriage of his only child.

So he and my father triumphed together over the fall of those they deemed their enemies; though why they held them so I never fairly made out. The Whigs were indeed declining in power, the Marquis of Kent and the Earl of Sunderland had been dismissed from their offices; and 'twas clearly to be perceived that my Lord Godolphin would shortly be removed-which, indeed, happened not long afterwards.

My father's rejoicing was great; but though he remained a staunch Tory to the last, he never mixed much in politics again. Neither did he go to town oftener than his political duties actually required, but remained at home, managing his estate, and looking after the welfare of his tenantry.

Jack, as soon as he could do so with honour, retired from the army, though not

until Magdalen had shed many tears and had passed many sleepless nights through anxiety for her soldier husband. Jack, however, had determined to remain with the Duke to the last; and the great general's downfall-rejoiced in by the French Court and by the Jacobite party-drove the last remnant of Toryism from Jack's breast.

As for Mr. Lydgate and myself, we are living at Cottenham with Sir Simon, who is old and frail, and scarce likely to last over another Christmas. Uncle Oliver is a frequent visitor, and it is chiefly owing to him that the mortgage on the Cottenham estate is all but paid off.

"I have made you my heir, Grace," said he; "and why should I not see some of the effects of it in my lifetime?"

And so life is winding along like a rippling stream through a fertile pasture land. Mr. Lydgate is high in esteem among scholars, wits, and politicians, and holds. his place honourably amongst them. I am justly proud of my husband, and think there is no one equal to him in the world; and he is pleased to say much the same with respect to his wife.

And truly I endeavour to do my duty in every way; and from all that I hear, I think I am not over-boastful in saying that Mr. Philip Lydgate, poet, wit, and scholar, would scarce have found the Lady Mary so good a wife as Grace Selwode.

THE END.

TABLE TALK.

IT T IS HARDLY NECESSARY for us to tell our readers that the subject of our cartoon is the plaintiff in Tichborne v. Lushington. As the case is sub judice, it is out of place now to make any remarks having reference to the merits of the case for the claimant, which was completed on Friday, the 22nd ult.; or to publish canards about the turn the case for the defence is likely to take when the Attorney-General opens it on the 15th inst. We leave this congenial work to the paragraph writers of the Dailies.

BUT THERE ARE some matters for comment arising out of this the plus célèbre of all causes d'apparat. There is something more than a possibility that all the time that has been spent upon investigating into the merits of the Tichborne case may be wasted. It is quite possible that there will be an appeal

January 6, 1872.]

TABLE TALK.

upon some trumpery question of the admission or rejection of certain pieces of evidence by the judge. On the 20th of December, the Chief Justice remarked that he "had been struck several times, when things had been excepted to, with the thought of what an injustice it would be to have the trial thrown away on account of the admission or rejection of one trifling piece of evidence." This may be done through the appeal of the defeated party at the end of the trial. For it is provided for by our English ComBut the bare possibility of a mon Law. repetition of the trial is simply awful.

THERE ARE THREE POSSIBLE appeals on a motion for a new trial on such a point. First from Bovill, C.J., to the full Court; secondly, under the Common Law Procedure Act, 1854, to the Court of Error; and thirdly, to the House of Lords. This difficulty was formerly met by a form of procedure called "trial at bar." A "writ of right" was the last remedy for recovering an estate. The action was tried "at bar "-that | is, before all the judges of the Court; and they settled finally, in the progress of the case, what was evidence and what was not. Now, to have to try the Tichborne case again is too much; yet it is not easy to see what is to prevent it under the present system, if a single piece of evidence is unduly admitted or rejected, and the point is duly taken by counsel and the judge.

AS A PROOF OF this, here is a case in point that occurred at the last sittings at the Guildhall. It was a cross-action about a cargo of sugar. Ingenious counsel prepared pleadings raising over thirty issues for the jury to decide. In the result, the learned judge extracted seven essential points, and left them to the jury, saying that "ten to one" this would involve a misdirection, and necessitate a new trial. It is clear to everybody that in civil matters the cost of an action is generally too great, and sometimes is a denial of justice to suitors. Trials "at bar" being obsolete, we want a tribunal like the Appellate Courts in Equity, that can quickly and readily review the decision of New trials on all the the inferior court. issues of fact ought to be impossible.

NEXT TO plum pudding, we suppose that the mince pie holds the most favoured place among the delicacies of this festive season.

It is a rule of all good society that politics
should never be introduced at the dinner
table; but history affects even the smallest
items of our social existence. In those stern
Cromwellian days when the God-fearing Pu-
ritans determined to suppress, to the best of
their rough and ready zeal, the pomps and
vanities of a wicked age, even the mince
pies and plum puddings came under their
-though it was allowed that they might be
cheerful interdict at this season of the year
lawfully and piously eaten in any month ex-
cept December. Needham, in his "History
of the Rebellion," sings:-

"All plums the Prophet's sons deny,
And spice broths are too hot-
Treason's in a December pye,
And death within the pot.
Christmas, farewell! thy days, I fear-
And merry days-are done;

So they may keep feast all the year,

Our Saviour shall have none."

In further illustration of the religious idea
connected with mince pies, I will give a
passage from the Connoisseur for Thursday,
December 26, 1754, in which the writer
stands out, in true British fashion, for the
time-honoured Christmas dishes:-"These
good people would indeed look upon the
absence of mince pies as the highest viola-
tions of Christmas; and have remarked with
concern the disregard that has been shown
of late years to that old English repast; for
this excellent British olio is as essential to
Christmas as pan-cakes to Shrove Tuesday,
tansy to Easter, furmity to mid-Lent Sunday,
or goose to Michaelmas Day. And they
think it no wonder that our finical gentry
should be so loose in their principles, as
well as weak in their bodies, when the solid,
substantial Protestant mince pie has given
place among them to the Roman Catho-
lic amulets, and the light, puffy, heterodox
pets de religieuses." Happily, however, for
the peace of mind, if not of true Protestants,
at least of our schoolboys home for the holi-
days, the 'orthodox' mince pie still holds
its ground as sturdily as ever; and I think I
cannot do better than, with all due reserva-
tion as to the excellence of the prescription,
conclude my note on mince pies with the
recipe of the learned old Sir Roger Twysden,
if only to give my readers an idea as to the
ingredients used in former times in perfect-
ing this favourite confection:-"To Make
Mynce Pyes, A.D. 1630.-Take a phillet of
veale or a leag of mutton, and when it is
parboyled, shred it very smalle; then put to

it three pound of beefe suet, shred likewise very smalle; then put to it three pound of Corinthes, well washt and pickt; and one pound of sugar beaten; of nutmegs and synnamon, of each half an ounce. So put them in coffins or pyes, and bake them. You must laye some of ye Corinthes at toppe of ye meat when they bee made, and must not therefore mingle them with all the rest.”

SOMETIMES ONE COMES upon a novelty even in that monotonous department of our morning broadsheet devoted to advertisements. Among the announcements of one of our metropolitan theatres in the Times, during the last week, has been the following: "Ballot-boxes are placed throughout the theatre, in which the spectators of 'The Tempest' are requested to insert the name. of the Shakspearean play which they prefer. The piece which has the majority of votes on the withdrawal of 'The Tempest' will be played next year." The state of the poll on the preceding evening is then given, by which we learn that the votes were for "Cymbeline," 1,593; for "Macbeth," 848; and for "Hamlet," 987. It will be curious to note how far this experiment for gauging the public taste in matters dramatic will succeed in the long run.

AN OLD SETTLER WRITES: Going back from the "latest improvements" to first beginnings, I am reminded of the opening of the first theatre in New South Wales. A word or two about it, in connection with the papers now appearing in ONCE A WEEK on that colony, may not be uninteresting. Governor Hunter-after whom the Hunter River was named-was the second governor of this settlement, and was the first to authorize the opening of a theatre at Sydney. The principal actors were convicts. The price of admission was meal or rum, taken at the door. Many had performed the part of pickpocket in a London playhouse; but at Sydney, this was not such an easy matter. They were not discouraged, however; for, glancing at the benches, they saw what houses had been left unprotected by their owners, and proceeded to rob them. The first play was "The Revenge," and the prologue was characteristic of both actors and audience. This prologue was composed by the notorious pickpocket, George Barrington, and afterwards printed in extenso in his "History of New South Wales" (1802

edition). It is too long to quote here in its entirety; but the opening lines will give an idea of its character:

"From distant climes, o'er wide-spread seas we

come,

Though not with much éclat, or beat of drum;
True patriots we, for be it understood,
We left our country for our country's good.
No private views disgraced our generous zeal—
What urged our travels was our country's weal.
But, you inquire, what could our breast inflame
With this new passion for theatric fame?
He who to midnight ladders is no stranger,
You'll own, will make an admirable Ranger.
To seek Macheath you have not far to roam,
And sure in Filch I shall be quite at home.
As oft on Gadshill we have ta'en our stand,
When 't was so dark you could not see your hand;
From durance vile our precious selves to keep,
We often had recourse to th' flying leap;

To a black face have sometimes owed escape,
And Hounslow Heath has prov'd the worth of
crape."

And so it ran on for thirty lines more, in the And so it ran on for thirty lines more, in the same suggestive strain.

A CORRESPONDENT: As a rider to your note on curious sign-boards, I send you the following from the Birmingham Gazette of May 24th, 1756:-"Last week a rectangular sign-board was put up by a watchmaker in the High-street of the city of Oxford, on one side of which there is literally the following whimsical inscription:-'Here are fabricated and renovated trochiliac horologes, portable and permanent, linguaculous or taciturnal, whose circumgyrations are performed by internal spiral elasticks or external pendulous plumbages; diminutives, simple or Compound, invested with aurum or argent integuments.' Since the putting up of these inscriptions, some attempts having been made to deface them, or pull down the sign, the proprietor has stuck up the following caveat at his shop window:-'May 14: Whereas an attempt was made last night, at the hour of twelve, to storm the hornwork of this castle by four battering blunderbusses (enemies to wit and humour). Friendly notice is hereby given, that the owner will defend his property with artillery. Therefore beware!""

Rejected MSS. will be returned to the authors on application, if stamps for that purpose are sent. The Editor will only be responsible for their being safely re-posted to the addresses given. Every MS. must have the name and address of the author legibly written on the first page.

The authors of the articles in ONCE A WEEK reserve to themselves the right of translation.

NEW SERIES.

Jan. 6,]

NEW YEAR'S SUPPLEMENT.

A NEW USE FOR HALFPENNY BUNDLES OF WOOD.

AT this ho

liday sea

son, the time
of ournational
festivities, our
children come
in for their
share of the
good things
Great Christ-
mas brings in
the skirts of
his coat. For
Christmas
Eve, Boxing
Night, New
Year's Day,
Twelfth Night
see the juve-
niles' star
mightily in

the ascen-
dant. Papa
finds his study
full of little
hats and great
coats.
grumbles, but
puts up with
it. The child-3--

He

ren are having a dance. Next week the study is filled with flimsy pieces of paper freed from the treasures they hid, deal boxes, dolls

10 PIECES

4 PIECES

4 PIECES

PIECES

[1872.

The ladies
have chosen
this haunt of
papa's for
their secret
and mysteri-
ous rites, "be-

cause the chil-
dren never

come in."
En passant,
these same
children

are

well aware of

what is going
on, and every
now and then
a mischievous
imp is at the
study door, a
bright little

eye peers

through the
keyhole, or a

z quick little
ear listens to
the hushed
voices inside;
and then, at
the first cause
of alarm, runs
off full gallop
to the nursery,

and tells all
the interesting
tale in that
noisy region.
Toys charm
children.
They love

dressed and undressed, tapers of a dozen | them till they break them-and often long hues, his wife, his sisters and sisters-in-law, after. When they get bigger they only want and a live and perfectly innocent fir-tree. bigger toys; and this trite moralism the

world has known for ages, so preach about it now.

we won't Happy children of the rich! Soft little maids, with great flaxen-haired, blue-eyed dolls as big as yourselves almost, with eyes that open and shut, and wiry voices that squeak out "Ma" and "Pa."

Hearty great-limbed boys, some day to be the brain and sinew of the State, now absorbed in the fascinations of a real railway train, careering full pelt down your father's mahogany-how happy you ought to be!

But what of your little fellows who have no toys, nor the hope of money to buy them? Charity children-the orphan, the outcast, the poor miserable little human waif and stray. Children without father or mother, or, worse for them, with both-bad ones, criminals or sots.

How many of these children there are in workhouses, asylums, orphanages, and charitable institutions of all sorts in this country!

Let us give our attention for a little while to a new and ingenious method of providing them with amusement. They cannot be provided with expensive toys, or with the cheapest sorts in adequate numbers to supply their wants.

Here, then, is an amusement with which instruction may be easily combined by judicious persons who have charge of such poor children.

In all these places, I should think—at all events, in many of them-the bundles of wood in common use are employed for lighting fires. Let us see to what good use they may be put before they serve the purpose for which they were made. Let us show some of the many designs that may be made with them, affording hours of innocent recreation to the inmates of the institutions in which such a means of passing time in the cold winter days will be a Godsend.

Given, the floor of a room and some bundles of wood:

FIG. 1.-TO MAKE A STAR. First lay eight sticks of wood in the form. of a square, as is done in the diagram No. 1;

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then at each corner lay two pieces more, as in diagram No. 2; then place eight pieces of wood between the corners just laid, to form points like the corner pieces; and the star will appear as in diagram No. 3. ReN.3

move the inside square (see the dotted lines), and then the star will be perfect. In all cases of forming circles, the star should be made first, and then the circle formed round it (see dotted lines).

FIG. 2.-TO FORM A CROSS. To form a cross, the pieces of wood are to be placed as shown in this figure. These

+

crosses can be made of any size, and are very easy to construct.

Now let us try something rather more difficult.

FIG. 3.-TO FORM TEXTS.

Each letter is composed of two or more pieces of wood. By referring to the diagram it is easily seen how to form the texts.

LOVE YOUR

BOOK

Of course, any other text or motto can be formed in the same way.

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