MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

North Otago Times, Volume I, Issue 10, 28 April 1864, Page 2 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

There is <m anecdote of an honest Irislnnan whobe mingled seiibe of the duty of gratitude and the awkwardnesb of obligation found \ent m the characteristic aspu-ation, "Oh, that I could tee your honor knocked down in a fight' Sure and' wouldn't I bring a faction to the rescue '" Now to fix the unfixable The editor of a provincial paper, frequently intruded upon by a Paul Pry of the town, baid that he came bo often, and sat so long, that ■when he died his shadow was found lived upon the Mali 1 Anicdote of Pitt. — Mr Cristinas was one of the most obliging men I ever knew; and from the positiou ho occupied, was constantly exposed to interruptions, yet I never saw hib temper the least ruflled. One day I found him more than usually engaged, having a mass of accounts to prepare for one of the law courts ; still the same equanimity , and I could not resist the opportunity of asking the old gentleman to gne me the secret. "Well, Mr Boycl, you shall know it. Mr Pitt gaie it to me — Not to lose my temper, it possible, at any tune, and never during the hours of biibinebs. My labors here (Bank of England) commence at nine, ai.d end at three ; and, acting on the advice of the illustrious statesnuin, I neuT lose my temper during these hours. —Loid Stanhope's Miscellanies. Jonathan nnprcnes in his exaggerations An Englishman was observing that the good feeding of England produced the fattest men m the world Jonathan contended that the good feeding of the States produced the fattest women. " What did jour Daniel Lambert weigh y " said the American. "About iiltv stone," was the answer " Pooh, that's nothing," said the Yankee, " we lia\e in Pennsylvania at least a dozen women, each the girth of Penn's tree, and one in Staten Island, that it woidd take a fortnight to walk round " F vbuiox vblu Novels. — About a week ago, say & a London correspondent, I renewed a new novel Its heroines, charming y oung ladies of fashionable societs, but withal a little too Just, are described as poisoning people who annoy them, and otherwise behaving m a way thai Mc&ahuu or Lucrcvia Borgm might have euned 1 ventured to suggest thut the "fast young ladies" of the day were rather Libelled by such sketching Being at the publisher's a day or two ago, I was told that the author had sketched all these characters from life, and would be happy to gi\e then- names and addresses iJ I choso ' 1 declined —Court Join mil. The tradesmen in one of the northern towns are remarkable fellows for public meetings. A rise in peas or potatoes, sqim-rels' tails or sawdust, is always arranged by a public meeting, and immortalised by a handsome ilow of oratory Some tune since, by a public resolution, the dealeia m eggs determined at once to raise the price to t lie coiisumeis, and to lower them to the producers. Ihe consumers grumbled, but weiv, of course, compelled to submit. The producers, though thev had the reined} rather more m their own liantU for a while the) submitted too At length the dealers determined to pay no more than si\peuce a dozen for the eggs This was too b l 1 , 1' - '" "ici's remonstrated, but the tradesmen said that the price hail been lived at a public meeting, and that they < oukl gne no more "Wli.'t ha\e jou brought for sale * " was the question to one of the farmers " Not an egg," paid the farmer, " for the hens haie hail a meeting too, and pasted it resolution not to bo at the trouble ot laying eggs for to shabby a price as sixpence a dozen " In Malting one ot the printing ofliies in Rome, I lound tlAit the largest impression of any product o( the press is that of lottery -tickets Thousands were m course of being thrown oil' m obedience to ollicial authority, and the profit on then- sale is said to form a branch of the public revenue. I am aware that the purchasing of lotten -tickets is a general Italian weakness, for we found the system going on e\eryw here , but considering the spiritual character of the Roman Government, I should not June expected to find the lotten llourshing so conspicuously and on so mean a scale under its patronage. Ihe sale of the tickets take place at shops throughout the town, and at a price so small as to accommodate the poorer inhabitants — " Something of Italy ;" by William Chambers. Some innocent American missionaries, who founded a school among the Nestorians, were much delighted by the cheerfulness and regularitj with which three scholars, the sons of a widow, attended at their seminary, and the comfort and benefit thev were glad to declare that thej derned upon all occasions from the instruction pronded for them. Thrs agreeable btate oi affairs lasted about three weeks, when the old lady, their mother, stnt in a bill for their attendance, and upon the astonished missionaries making some objections to pay a demand so unexpected, she at once removed her children from the school, " that they were not slaves to work all day for nothing, and' that the politeness w hich they had hitherto show u m reading the missionaries' books for them had its limits, and was now exhausted." — AH the Yea/ Hound.

I The Dhvdvantages of being Agreeable. — I was an hut is called an agieeable man, and the consequence of enjoying such a reputation -was as follows ■ — I «ab asked to be godfather fortj -eight tuues, and ni) name is recorded on as many sih er mugs, value each £1 10s Gd. 1 gave a\uj fiftysi\ brides, and as man}- dressing- ea«es. I said "yes," when I ought to ha\e said "no," six thousand five hundred and forty tuues. I paid, m the course of fourteen years, £373 2s 6d for cab fares in eveess of what I ought to have done. I lent two hundred anil M\t\-feur umbrellas, and never received them back again 1 gave up in> btall at tbe opera, when I wanted to use it myself, on an average twenty -six times during the season. I ha\e had three hundred ami odd colds, and retain a permanent rheumatism, from consenting to bit in draughts to oblige other people. I have accepted two hundred and four act ommodatiou bills for friends m Government olSices, and am mow going to Jiashmghall-stivet to declare mj self an insolvent preparatory to mj departure for Australia. — Punch's Pocket- Bfok . It is proposed to connect Liverpool and Birkenliead by a tunnel under the Mersey, at a cost of £400,000