MATHEWS once went to Wakefield, then, from commercial failures, in a dreadful state. In vain did he announce his inimitable Youthful Days; the Yorkshiremen came not. When he progre...
CURRAN, in describing a speech made by Sergeant Hewitt, said: My learned friend's speech put me exactly in mind of a familiar utensil in domestic use, commonly called an extinguish...
AN unfortunate man, who had never drank water enough to warrant the disease, was reduced to such a state by dropsy, that a consultation of physicians was held upon his case. They a...
I HEARD last week, friend Edward, thou wast dead, I'm very glad to hear it, too, cries Ned.
SIR GEORGE ETHEREGE, having run up a score at Lockit's, absented himself from the ordinary. In consequence of this, Mrs. Lockit was sent to dun him and threaten him with an action....
THE copiousness of the English language perhaps was never more apparent than in the following character, by a lady, of her own husband:-- He is, says she, an abhorred, barbarous, c...
LORD BYRON knew a dull man who lived on a bon mot of Moore's for a week; and his lordship once offered a wager of a considerable sum that the reciter was guiltless of understanding...
A YOUNG lady marrying a man she loved, and leaving many friends in town, to retire with him into the country, Mrs. D. said prettily, She has turned one-and-twenty shillings into a...
THAT Lord ---- owes nothing, one safely may say, For his creditors find he has nothing to pay.
AN actor, on his benefit night, having a very limited audience, when he came to the often-quoted passage, 'Tis not in mortals to command success, We'll do more, Sempronius--we'll d...
IT was said of a great calumniator, and a frequenter of other person's tables, that he never opened his mouth but at another man's expense.
A LITTLE girl playing at the game of I love my love with an A, &c., having arrived at the letter Z, displayed her orthographical acquirements by taking her lover to the sign of the...
(On the alleged disinterestedness of a certain Prelate.) HE says he don't think of himself, And I'm to believe him inclined; For by the confession, the elf Admits that he's out of...
WHEN Lord Chesterfield was in administration, he proposed a person to his late majesty as proper to fill a place of great trust, but which the king himself was determined should be...
A LANDED proprietor in the small county of Rutland became very intimate with the Duke of Argyle, to whom, in the plenitude of his friendship, he said: How I wish your estate were i...
AN old deaf beggar, whom Collins the painter was once engaged in sketching at Hendon, exhibited great self-possession. Finding, from certain indications, that the body and garments...
E---- taking the portrait of a lady, perceived that when he was working at her mouth she was trying to render it smaller by contracting her lips. Do not trouble yourself so much, m...
AT the time when Sir Richard Steele was preparing his great room in York Buildings for public orations, he was behindhand in his payments to the workmen; and coming one day among t...
LORD CLARE, who was much opposed to Curran, one day brought a Newfoundland dog upon the bench, and during Curran's speech turned himself aside and caressed the animal. Curran stopp...
A LADY, who was very submissive and modest before marriage, was observed by a friend to use her tongue pretty freely after. There was a time, he remarked, when I almost imagined sh...
A WEAVER, after enjoying his potations, pursued his way home through the churchyard, his vision and walking somewhat impaired. As he proceeded, he diverged from the path, and unexp...
MR. P----, a candidate for Berkshire, was said to have admitted his want of head, by demanding a poll.
DR. GOODALL, of Eton, about the same time that he was made Provost of Eton, received also a Stall at Windsor. A young lady, whilst congratulating him on his elevation, and requesti...
IN former days, when roads were bad, and wheeled vehicles almost unknown, an old laird was returning from a supper party, with his lady mounted behind him on horseback. On crossing...
A FRENCH nobleman once showing Matthew Prior the palace of his master at Versailles, and desiring him to observe the many trophies of Louis the Fourteenth's victories, asked Prior...
JERROLD had a favorite dog that followed him everywhere. One day in the country, a lady who was passing turned round and said, audibly, What an ugly little brute! whereupon Jerrold...
IT is rumored that a certain Royal Duke has expressed a determination never to shave until the Reform Bill is crushed entirely.--Court Journal. 'Tis right that Cumberland should be...
JEMMY GORDON, meeting the prosecutor of a felon, named Pilgrim, who was convicted and sentenced to be transported at the Cambridge assizes, exclaimed, You have done, sir, what the...
IT is said the Duke of Wellington bought a book of the Hunchback at Covent Garden Theatre, for which he gave a pound in gold, refusing to receive the difference. His Grace seemed v...