* * * * *


Of the abhorrence with which the Dutch regard the French tongue, the
following lines of Bilderdyk are an amusing example:--

Begone, thou bastard-tongue! so base--so broken--
By human jackals and hyaenas spoken;
Formed for a race of infidels, and fit
To laugh at truth--and scepticize in wit;
What stammering, snivelling sounds, which scarcely dare,
Bravely through nasal channels meet the ear--
Yet helped by apes' grimaces--and the devil,
Have ruled the world, and ruled the world for evil!

_Ibid._

* * * * *


COALS.


One of the pamphlets of the age of the Commonwealth is said, in the
title-page, to be

Printed in the year
That sea-coal was exceeding dear.