eighteen years, in considerably taming down much of his eccentricities: some of this, however, he still retains. His poems, which are scattered through the various periodicals of the day, display great power of diction and compression of style, evincing much critical taste and scholarship, but, like the orations of Demosthenes, smell somewhat too closely of the lamp. Possibly this characteristic extends throughout all his writings, and deprives them of some of that freshness which is the charm of many a less conscientious author. One piece of impertinence he has perpetrated since his residence in this country, only exceeded by Dryden's converting Milton's Paradise Lost into a rhyming masque, was his audacious compliance with the wishes of Edwin Forrest, and making Shakespeare's Timon of Athens a "good acting play." It must frankly be owned that diffidence is not one of Mr. Rosenberg's foibles. However, he has possibly made amends for this in writing for the same actor the tragedy of Oliver Cromwell, which several eminent men, who have heard it read, affirm to be one of the finest plays since the days of Shakespeare. E ROBIN HOOD. VERY one is familiar with the name of Robin Hood, although so little is known of him. His real name was Robert Fitzooth, which degenerated, in the mouths of the common people, into Robin Hood. He was an outlaw, who lived in the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion, and John, his successor, about the close of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century. His headquarters were in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. He is said to have been a man of good birth; but, having squandered his property, took to the woods, and became what might be called "a gentleman robber.". At the time of Robin's exploits, the forest laws were executed with great rigor; and it is said that William the Conqueror, and the Norman kings that succeeded him, destroyed thirtysix parishes, pulled down thirty churches, and depopulated the country for miles around, in order to have a fine park for enjoying the pleasures of the chase; consequently, a great number of people were obliged to flee to the woods. These outcasts, having a common interest, banded together, and, by their vigilance and determination, were able to avoid the pursuits of their enemies. In person he is of medium height, and inclined to stoutness. His conversation is It is said that Robin had a hundred comdogmatical and vehement with his intimate panions, able-bodied men, who were so forfriends, and his waste of adjectives would midable that four hundred men dared not make Byron stare; at the same time it is attack them. He seems to have pursued a intelligent and candid. A firm friend and certain system in his robberies, and, wishing uncompromising enemy, although overbear- to pacify his conscience, spared the poor and ing and arrogant in manner, he is full of plundered the rich. He was particularly galgenerous impulses. His besetting sin is self-lant to women; hence it is not strange that confidence - a fact sufficiently indicated in his exploits have been celebrated in a number his altering the great English dramatist. I have even little doubt but he might imagine that he could improve this sketch. His disposition is good, and so sweetly placable, where he really likes any one, that I have little doubt he will scarcely disown me because I have sketched him with tolerable accuracy. THE longest reign in French history is that of Louis XIV. He commenced his reign, or, rather, he became king, in 1643; and the sum of the digits 1, 6, 4, and 3 is XIV. He died in 1715, and the sum of these digits is XIV. He lived seventy-seven years; and here again we find the sum of the digits to be XIV. The number fourteen has also been observed as having singularly influenced the lives of several other French princes, and especially that of Henry IV. of ballads and songs, extolling his chivalry, and his humanity to the poor. His particular companions were Little John and Friar Tuck. At length, feeling the infirmities of age, and being attacked by illness, he went to a nunnery to be bled - nuns, at this time, being more or less devoted to the healing art; but in his case, out of revenge, it is supposed, for some attack upon their convent, they allowed him to bleed to death, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. Robin was buried under some trees near the convent, and a stone, duly inscribed, marks the spot. Such is the outline of Robin Hood's history. He lived in a barbarous age, displaying a spirit of freedom and independence, and he will probably always maintain the reputation of having protected the poor against the rich, making this an offset, as it were, to his otherwise wild and reckless career. His name has been brought down to posterity in a series | ternately, and the score is to be carefully kept of ballads, and given rise to several proverbs; of the count made on each hand. He gets and to swear by him, or some of his compan- the count who plays all his dominos first, or ions, seems to have been a common practice. who has the lowest number if the game is He is especially remembered as the patron of blocked. archery. THIS MATADOR. A GAME WITH DOMINOS. BY AUNT CARRIE. HIS is by far the most interesting game played with dominos. Few people know the game, the origin of which is unknown, though, from its name, it probably comes from Spain. The players draw each a domino; and the one who draws the highest plays first. Then the dominos are all thoroughly shuffled, and each player draws five dominos from the pack. The one who was to play first, puts down any domino he pleases of the five in his hand. The matadors are the dominos that count seven, such as six-ace, five-deuce, four-trey, and the double blank, which may be played at any time and on either end, leaving whichever side of the matador for your opponent to play to, you prefer. In playing, a domino must be laid down which shall count seven, added to the one on which it is played. Doublets count as if they were single cards only. For example, A plays the double five; B may match it with double deuce, deuce-six (the deuce end, of course, against the five to count seven), deuce-four, deuce-blank, deuce-ace, or with a matador. But it should be remembered that matadors and dominos, with one blank end, make up the strength of a hand, and are usually to be retained, like trumps in whist, for the decisive point of the game. Nice judgment and calculation are required in the playing of e matadors and blanks. On a blank end ring but a matador can be played; and if all the matadors have been played, and both ends are blanks, the game is blocked. Players have the right to draw from the pack at any time, whether they are able to play a domino they have already in their hand or not, and can draw as many as they please. When two play this game, three dominos must always be left in the pack. If three or more play, all the dominos are thrown, if necessary. The number of points necessary to win a game may be fixed, before playing, at fifty, one hundred, or more. The players set al In counting for the score, each domino represents its face: as, six-four = ten; double six = twelve; double five = ten, &c. If the game is played with partners, the party winning a hand scores all their two opponents hold; and in a blockade, the partners having the lowest score take the count. The care and skill required to play this game well, make it alike interesting to old and young. THE Talmud, as many of our readers know, is a collection of Jewish traditions, which, for a long time, were orally preserved. It comprises the Mishna, which is the text, and the Gemara, its commentary. The Jews have such a reverence for this compilation that they compare the holy writings - the Old Testament-to water, and the Talmud to wine; the text of Moses to pepper, but the Talmud to aromatics. Of the twelve hours of which the day is composed, they tell us that God employs nine to study the Talmud, and only three to read the written law. THE Cucumber was a wonderful favor ite with the Roman Emperor Tiberius. He would never be without this vegetable, and had raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun, while in winter they were withdrawn and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-stone. DEFOE was in good repute as an author before he produced Robinson Crusoe ; and yet it was with the greatest difficulty that he could find a publisher for that work. The man who was finally found willing to take the risk was better known for his speculative turn than for his discernment. IN some parts of Morocco the shops are said to be so small that the occupant, when seated in the middle of his shop, has no occasion to rise in order to reach any part of his goods and present them to the buyer. THE theory of the divine right of kings was in all its glory in the reign of James I. of England. It was to this monarch that a Welsh bishop made an apology for preferring the Deity to his majesty. THE ORATOR. DIRECTIONS.-Words in SMALL CAPITALS should be emphasized; words in CAPITALS should be strongly emphasized. The numbers refer to the gestures represented in the margin; and when followed by the sign, the position should be continued to the I next number. The gesture should correspond with the emphasis. The asterisks indicate the more important rhetorical pauses. 2 3 5 BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.* 1 HOUR of an empire's 'OVERTHROW! The +PRINCES from the feast were 2GONE; The IDOL flame was burning "LOW, 'Twas MIDNIGHT upon 2BABY LON. ACCORDING to Ctesias, the kings of Persia supported fifteen thousand persons in their palace at an expense for each meal of more than four hundred thousand dollars, or at the rate of nearly thirty dollars for each person. When we take into account the high That night the feast was twILD and value of money in those days, this statement 3HIGH; appears incredible. But there is another story That night was ZION's gold pro- that seems to support this. When Xerxes en faned; The SEAL was set to blasphemy, The 'LAST deep cup of wrath was drained. tered Greece, a citizen of Thasos gave him a supper which cost precisely this sum of four hundred talents. There were eaten at this supper one hundred oxen, four hundred sheep, + 'MID jewelled roof and 'SILKEN thirty roebucks, four hundred fat geese, three pall, Belshazzar on his "COUCH Was A burst of 3+THUNDER shook the hundred wild pigeons, three hundred lambs, three hundred gazelles, and an indefinite number of ostriches. Alexander the Great was more moderate in his style of living. He usually took his meals with sixty or seventy He "HEARD, but 'twas no mortal officers of his army, at a cost of less than two tongue, 3+ KING of the East! the TRUMPET calls thousand dollars a day. George III. of England knew how to improve upon this; and one gentleman, who had partaken of the EngThat calls thee to a TYRANT'S lish king's dinner, complained that it consisted of mutton-chops and pudding. grave; 7 A CURSE is on thy palace walls; wave; IN 1619, more than thirty years after potatoes had been carried to England, the price for them in that country was one shilling per pound. At that time the productiveness of the new mines in America had reduced the value of silver to about one third of what A 'SURGE is in Euphrates' bed That never filled its bed before; 8 A surge that, ere the "MORN be red, Shall load with 'DEATH thy it had been a century and a quarter before. 222. 218. (August) (a mane) - Augusta, Maine. 219. Cape-r. 220. Par-k. 221. Mat-e. He-w. 223. Her-b. 224. A little more than kin, and less than kind. 225. Nutshell. 226. Look before you leap. 227. (Web) (urn) (day) (light) - We burn day light. 228. Tod, dot. 229. Dor, rod. 230. Bad, dab. 231. Cor, roc. 232. Tip, pit. 233. Bin, nib. 234. Dorp, prod. 235. Drap, pard. 236. Salem, Melas. 237. (G) (E) (ra) (ra) — Gerara. 238. 1. Taunton. 2. Rhone. 3. Eutaw. 4. Norway. 5. Toronto. 6. Oder. 7. Norfolk 250. GEOGRAPHICAL REBUS. 251. The whole (a great poet), consisting of 16 letters, was one day wandering along a stream, when he came to a rock covered with II, 2, 4, 9, near by which there lay a 7, 15, 10, on which he sat down to admire the place; but he was not long in that position, before a 1, 12, 3, belonging to a neighboring farmhouse, came down to get a drink of the cool and refreshing water of the brook. Whereupon the poet felt very 13, 8, 16, 14, 5 because he could not find out my 6. JOHNNIE JAY. DOUBLE ACROSTIC. The initials and finals give two rulers of Spain: 252. 1. A Russian general. 2. The wife of a French emperor. 3. A ruler of Medea. 4. A ruler of England. 5. A ruler of Poland. 6. A Roman emperor. 7. A ruler of Spain. 8. A Roman emperor. 9. A ruler of Babylon. MARINER. THE HE twittering of birds in the early morning is a pleasant harbinger of warnı days, green fields, and buds and blossoms, and we sit at our table with the window open, and the fresh spring air touches our brow with a gentleness and freshness that put us in good humor with all the world. Not that we are ever "out of sorts:" how can we be, with such a pile of letters before us from our young friends? These are as welcome as the songbirds. Why, Monsieur, how prolific you are with head work! Can't use it all, you know, but some will take its turn. We are glad that Sailor Boy is pleased; if he is, we are. Thanks, Gascon, for your letter. Bear and Forbear is the last volume of the Lake Shore Series, as is stated in No. 169, and elsewhere. -A. Z. can take his choice of the names. R. E. Peater's enigma is rather too easy. Snow Flake was good, but we had been introduced to the best one before. Elulsusie's enigma is on file. - The True Blue shows its good taste by speaking well of our Magazine, and we return the compliment. Golden City's poetry is duly noted, and its advice considered. - S. T. Upid has taken the wrong name, for he is anything but stupid; his letter pleases us, and we thank him for it; many an older boy might be proud of it. Ariel certainly has "the way of the world" in his rebus. Jack Straw is welcome. Nutmeg State will yet send us a gr(e)ater. F., when in Boston, inquire of our publishers, Lee & Shepard. - Bowring is the author of the lines Herbert inquires for. Carroll H. Ross, your rebuses are very well drawn, and we may find room for one; they are rather easy- the only objection. Punch the Printer will find all of the New England colleges good. Harvard and Yale are perhaps more expensive than the others; while Amherst and Williams, in Massachusetts, Dartmouth in New Hampshire, and Bowdoin in Maine, are excellent institutions. A good way is to get a catalogue of each college, and examine carefully. Ivanhoe's kind letter is fully appreciated, and the letter-head is hand somely executed. consideration. Bayard's sketch is under Prince Albert has a royal way with him, and his conundrum was startling. Bostet thinks that the first base-ball captain was Captain John Smith, of the Powhatan Club! -E. N. Gine is on the right track. Ski's "originals" are received. Captain Joe astonishes us with the number of his favors. - Must we explain again about the parenthetical words in our "Wish Correspondents"? If "stamps" is put after a name, is it not natural to suppose that letters are wanted from those who are either collectors or sellers of stamps, asking or giving information? - Charlie must put on his spectacles and sharpen his ideas. - Rialto is very complimentary, and we make our best bow. Gus. Brown is attended to. We "gnu" the animal in Tomato's rebus at first sight, and his No. 3 is on file for printing. Hautboy is A. - Brown Holmes will find the information he desires on the covers of the Magazine. - Healthy Infant has a jolly way with him: his rebuses are clever, but rather too easy. - Jack Spratt pleases us. Hedwig ditto. - De Grasse ditto. - Our friend Tommy Miller will find a good book on botany at any bookstore in this city; those by Gray or Wood are excellent; hope our young friend - Thanks has done "shaking" by this time. to all our friends who sent us accounts of the editors' meeting in Newark; the next time 'may we be there to see." 66 Specs & Cute are again on hand. - Tommy Toppleton is now at Easthampton, Mass.; letter-writers, please take notice. Our publishers would hardly allow the reprinting of their books, but they and we are grateful for the compliment from friend Wilson. - Pacific's rebus is A. - Several boys inquire for The Tomahawk; has it "cut and run "?- We incline favorably to Rob Roy. - To Frank Landon we gladly say "Yes" to his first question, and "No cost" to his last, as he will see in our "Wish Correspondents." - Belcher is under consideration. WISH CORRESPONDENTS. - Hawthorn, Box 95, Newton Centre, Mass. (floriculture).- Jack Spratt wants to hear from Hautboy. - Dirigo, Augusta, Me. (stamps). S. T. Ore, 622 Clay Street, Room 12, San Francisco, Cal. Chas. Brisco, Box 169, Watertown, Jefferson Co., N. Y.-James O. Avery, Box 1185, Springfield, Mass. (monograms).-C. H. Porter, Box 278, Winona, Minn. - Charles B. Bates, New Haven, Ct. (coins). - Pepper Whitcomb, Lock Box 295, Watertown, N. Y. |