deal further than anybody else. This second sight is very efficient when properly managed. A little reading of the Dial' will carry you a great way. Eschew, in this case, big words; get them as small as possible, and write them upside down. Look over Channing's poems, and quote what he says about a 'fat little man with a delusive show of Can.' Put in something about the Supernal Oneness. Don't say a syllable about the Infernal Twoness. Above all, study inuendo. Hint everything assert nothing. If you feel inclined to say 'bread and butter,' do not by any means say it outright. You may say anything and everything approaching to 'bread and butter.' You may hint at buckwheat cake, or you may even go so far as to insinuate oatmeal porridge, but if bread and butter be your real meaning, be cautious, my dear Miss Psyche, not on any account to say 'bread and butter!'" I assured him that I should never say it again as long as I lived. He kissed me, and continued: "As for the tone heterogeneous, it is merely a judicious mixture, in equal proportions, of all the other tones in the world, and is consequently made up of everything deep, great, odd, piquant, pertinent, and pretty. "Let us suppose, now, you have determined upon your incidents and tone. The most important portion, in fact the soul of the whole business, is yet to be attended to-I allude to the filling up. It is not to be supposed that a lady, or gentleman either, has been leading the life of a book-worm. And yet above all things it is necessary that your article have an air of erudition, or at least afford evidence of extensive general reading. Now I'll put you in the way of accomplishing this point. See here!" (pulling down some three or four or linarylooking volumes, and opening them at random.) "By casting your eye down almost any page of any book in the world, you will be able to perceive at once a host of little scraps of either learning or bel-esprit-ism, which are the very thing for the spicing of a Blackwood article. You might as well note down a few while I read them to you. I shall make two divisions: first, Piquant Facts for the Manufacture of Similes; and second, Piquant Expressions to be introduced as occasion may require. Write now."-and I wrote as he dictated. "PIQUANT FACTS FOR SIMILES. 'There were originally but three Muses-Melete, Mneme, Aœde-meditation, memory, and singing.' You may make a great deal of that little fact if properly worked. You see it is not generally known, and looks recherché. You must be careful and give the thing with a downright improviso air. Again. The river Alpheus passed beneath the sea, and emerged without injury to the purity of its waters.' Rather stale that, to be sure, but, if properly dressed and dished up, will look quite as fresh as ever. "Here is something better. The Persian Iris appears to some persons to possess a sweet and very powerful perfume, while to others it is perfectly scentless.' Fine that, and very delicate! Turn it about a little, and it will do wonders. We'll have something else in the botanical line. There's nothing goes down so well, especially with the help of a little Latin. Write! "The Epidendrum Flos Acris, of Java, bears a very beautiful flower, and will live when pulled up by the roots. The natives suspend it by a cord from the ceiling, and enjoy its fragrance for years." That's capital! That will do for the similes. Now for the Piquant Expressions. PIQUANT EXPRESSIONS. The venerable Chinese novel Ju-Kiao-Li. Good! By introducing these few words with dexterity you will evince your intimate acquaintance with the language and literature of the Chinese. With the aid of this you may possibly get along without either Arabic, or Sanscrit, or Chickasaw. There is no passing muster, however, without Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, and Greek. I must look you out a little specimen of each. Any scrap will answer, because you must depend upon your own ingenuity to make it fit into your article. Now write! "Aussi tendre que Zaire'-as tender as Zaire-French. Alludes to the frequent repetition of the phrase la tendre Zaire, in the French tragedy of that name. Properly introduced, will show not only your knowledge of the language, but your general reading and wit. You can say, for instance, that the chicken you were eating (write an article about being choked to death by a chicken-bone) was not altogether aussi tendre que Zaire. Write! 'Van muerte tan escondida, Que no te sienta venir, Porque el plazer del morir No me torne a dar la vida.' That's Spanish-from Miguel de Cervantes. Come quickly, O death! but be sure and don't let me see you coming, lest the pleasure I shall feel at your appearance should unfortunately bring me back again to life.' This you may slip in quite à propos when you are struggling in the last agonies with the chicken-bone. Write! 'Il pover 'huomo che non se'n era accorto, That's Italian, you perceive from Ariosto. It means that a great hero, in the heat of combat, not perceiving that he had been fairly killed, continued to fight valiantly, dead as he was. The application of this to your own case is obvious for I trust, Miss Psyche, that you will not neglect to kick for at least an hour and a half after you have been choked to death by that chicken-bone. Please to write! 'Und sterb'ich doch, no sterb'ich denn That's German-from Schiller. And if I die, at least die, I should like to know, for a well-fattened capon of the right Molucca breed, stuffed with capers and mushrooms, and served up in a salad-bowl, with orange-jellies en mosaiques. Write! (You can get them that way at Tortoni's).-Write, if you please! Here is a nice little Latin phrase, and rare too, (one can't be too recherché or brief in one's Latin, it's getting so common),-ignoratio elenchi. He has committed an ignoratio elenchi-that is to say, he has understood the words of your proposition, but not the idea. The man was a fool, you see. Some poor fellow whom you address while choking with that chicken-bone, and who therefore didn't precisely understand what you were talking about. Throw the ignoratio elenchi in his teeth, and, at once, you have him annihilated. If he dare to reply, you can tell him from Lucan (here it is) that speeches are mere anemonæ verborum, anemone words. The anemone, with great brilliancy, has no smell. Or, if he begin to bluster, you may be down upon him with insomnia Jovis, reveries of Jupiter-a phrase which Silius Italicus (see here!) applies to thoughts pompous and inflated. This will be sure and cut him to the heart. He can do nothing but roll over and die. Will you be kind enough to write? "In Greek we must have something pretty-from Demosthenes, for example, Ανερο φευγων και παλιν μαχέσεται [Anero pheugon kai palin makesetai]. There is a tolerably good translation of it in Hudibras For he that flies may fight again, Which he can never do that's slain. In a Blackwood article nothing makes so fine a show as your Greek. The very letters have an air of profundity about them. Only observe, madam, the astute look of that epsilon! That phi ought certainly to be a bishop! Was ever there a smarter fellow than that omicron ? Just twig that tau! In short, there is nothing like Greek for a genuine sensation-paper. In the present case your application is the most obvious thing in the world. Rap out the sentence, with a huge oath and by way of ultimatum, at the good-for-nothing dunder-headed villain who couldn't understand your plain English in relation to the chicken-bone. He'll take the hint and be off, you may depend upon it." These were all the instructions Mr. B. could afford me upon the topic in question, but I felt they would be entirely sufficient. I was at length able to write a genuine Blackwood article, and determined to do it forthwith. In taking leave of me, Mr. B. made a proposition for the purchase of the paper when written; but as he could offer me only fifty guineas a sheet, I thought it better to let our society have it than sacrifice it for so paltry a sum. Notwithstanding this niggardly spirit, however, the gentleman showed his consideration for me in all other respects, and indeed treated me with the greatest civility. His parting words made a deep impression upon my heart, and I hope I shall always remember them with gratitude. "My dear Miss Zenobia," he said, while the tears stood in his eyes, "is there anything else I can do to promote the success of your laudable undertaking? Let me reflect! It is just possible that you may not be able, so soon as convenient, to-to-get yourself drowned, or— choked with a chicken-bone, or-or hung,-or-bitten by a-but stay! Now I think me of it, there are a couple of very excellent bulldogs in the yard-fine fellows, I assure you-savage, and all that—indeed just the thing for your money-they'll have you eaten up, auriculas and all, in less than five minutes (here's my watch !)—and then only think of the sensations! Here! I say-Tom! -Peter!-Dick, you villain !—let out those "but as I was really in a great hurry, and had not another moment to spare, I was reluctantly forced to expedite my departure, and accordingly took leave at once-somewhat more abruptly, I admit, than strict courtesy would have otherwise allowed. It was my primary object, upon quitting Mr. Blackwood, to get into some immediate difficulty, pursuant to |