ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 335, 3 October 1879, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

(Collated from our Exchanges.)

.Aii interesting- reb"c of Burns is just now orrsale in London. It is a thin folio volume containing 26 pages in .the autograph of the poet, and including many of his most beautiful compositions. The volume appears to have been a repository or commonplace hook of the earlier works of Burns; most probably (judging from the character of the handwriting) copied as soon as written, or, at all events, commenced before 1785, as it was in the April of that year, and preparatory to his first appearing in print, that he changed the orthography of his family name (here spelled -"-Burhe8 ;l, ) into that by which his works have gained a world-wide fame. This frc|;renders;the volume of greater interest written in his early years,'Hhe amusement of his evenings after his day's work as a farmer. Among the pieces .in; the poet's autograph are "The Holy Fair," ''Hallowe'en," four page! of the " Address to the Di'el," " John Barleycorn," "The Cottar's Saturday Nighty and-several other of his most famous poems. This unique relic is priced by the autograph dealer in whose possession it at present irat £120. . A " Hardly Ever " temperance society has been formed ,;down South. When a member is : asked if he drinks, he says, " Hardly ever, but if "I do, it's about this time of the day." Regarding the ennobling game of football.— "Lounger "writes in the Melbourne Herald :—-" I want to belong to .a. football club; i long to be; kicked in the shins, punched in the chest, butted in the ribs, jumped upon, torn about, knocked down, get concussion of the. ; brain,'have a shoulder put out, a leg snapped, and he broken about generally/ ' This desire came upon me last Saturday as I watched tlie festive sport oathafEast.Melbourne 'ground. But I want some other;fellows to join—men to whom I owe money—-who have reviled me and beaten ran in the race of life. I want us all to be brothers in the hunt for leather, and before tlie spring I shall be free, ha! ha ! or go to an honored grave in small parcels to suit customers. That's 1 what's the matter with me."/:;

.It is rather too.bad to ask A journal not only to : insert an - advertisejnent gratuitously but also" to- $ay r feir it. The Sun s& y 3 * —» The proprietary of the .Wellington punch sends us a telegraphic^puff" describing the oartoohs of the late issue. Tor this telegram it kindly makes us pay. If these Punches] are' : : .regularly forwarded to it -is. possiblei.that notices of the extraordinary efforts' at 1 wit to ! which the telegram in question alludes may be given in these/columns.- '

An amusing instance- of a "biter bit occurred not. 100 miles from Wellington a day or two'ago. A certain person who waß about to "join the majority "in seeking relief from financial pressure, consulted a. friend as.tb the best method of retaining possession'of some valuables which he was unwilling to give up to his creditors. His friend advised him to put the valuables in a sack and hide it under the house. This sage advice was duly acted on and the "benefit of the Act" obtained. The whitewashed debtor then sought to resume the custody of those valuables, but they •« had departed, and their" place was nowhere to be found." Singularly enough the friend also had vanished.— Post. The army of the Republic of San Marino consists of 40 militia; it has no cavalry, no artillery. When the State wants money a deaL box is placed outside the Treasury door, and the town crier invites people to contribute. . The height of sensibility—pot to strike a match for fear to cause it pain. Of the two-most absolute monarchs that ever lived—Louis XIV. and Napoleon I.— the former had greatjninisters, the latter only excellent clerks.'

There seems a general impression amongst a certain Iclasscf the British public that though Eritons "never will be slaves." yet female BritOns are exempt from this rule. Men of this class imagine that women should be worse than slaves, that they .should be the footballs of every drunken scoundrel who may happen to have one-of them for his wife. On Saturday afternoon one of these Britons who " never will be slaves," kicked his wife for fifty yards in one of the by-streets of Wellington. This was in the broad daylight, and there were men present who had not the pluck to interfere. By-and-bye, after all the mischief had been done, one of the "invisible blues''appeared on the scene. He expressed the remarkable opinion that a man might do as he pleased with his wife; she was his own property to use as: seemed best to him.—Wellington Chronicle. '

The weakness of Acts of Parliaments arid of by-laws has seldom been better illustrated than in the case of a young man in England who recently conceived the idea of obtaining a ride on the railway without paying for it. He climbed upon the roof of the carriage, lay down and rode in safety from Manchester to Derby, a distance of 80 miles. When alighting, he was noticed and given into custody (< but it appeared that he was on the right side of the law, for the Act of Parliament on the subject only applied to those riding in a carriage, and the by-law only applied to passengers having tickets who ascended the roof. As be was not in the carriage and had not a ticket the law was powerless. What do our clever legislators and lawyers say to this.for a sample of driving the " traditional coach and four."

An American interviewer stops short writing the word Prince Demetrius Tschawtschawadze, and utters this remark: "Imagine such a name on an umbrella handle. It would hang over the ferrule. Uncle: "So you've been to the Crystal Palace, have you, Gus?" Gus : "Yes, uncle." Uncle: " Well, now, I'll give you sixpence if you will tell me what you admired'most in that temple of industry." Gus (unhesitatingly) ■:* "Veal and 'am pies, and the gingerbeerl Give us the sixpence." A young elephant was introduced into the Court of Exchequer as a witness in an action for damages against Messrs Bertram and Roberts. The plaintiff, Miss Thurman, was standing up in an open carriage at the Alexandra .Palace, when the appearance of this elephant frightened the horse, and the plaintiff, being thrown out, had her collarbone broken. Counsel declined to put any question to this novel witness, which, meanwhile, amused itself iby seizing the hats upon the table with its trunk. Ultimately the case was arranged. Miss Adelaide Neilson says of the women of Shakespeare : "It would take a volume to classify them. Each and every one is a different creation, and their characters illustrate peculiar companions of mind and force. In the character of Desdemona we see an illustration of conjugal devotion, and the strongest sympathy is excited for her sorrowful fate. In Isabella's is displayed a high-souled principle; in Juliet's an enthusiastic love ; in Constance is seen the highest forms of maternal agony ; in Margaret of Anjou, the sternest energies of our sex; in Katherine, the completeness of resignation ; in Rosalind, wit and romance ; in Cleopatra, the beginning and end of coquetry ; in Imogene, an affection that is deathless ; in Ophelia, the fate of a broken heart and a maddened brain ; in Cordelia's character we have the beautiful lesson of filial obedience ; in Miranda's, innocence-; sweetness is that of Annie Page, and a playful freedom is that of Jessica. In all, Shakespeare shows a true appreciation of female excellence, and he makes them act and talk like true women.

The late Silvestre de Sacy claimed to have acquired more knowledge by re-read-ing old books than perusing new ones.