372 NOTES OF THE MONTH. 



author, we guess, will be in no hurry to make another attempt at 

 dramatic authorship — at all events we may say, with tolerable cer- 

 tainty, he will be in no haste to " play at soldieiV again. 



Diversity of Tastes. — " There is no accounting for tastes," says 

 the proverb. Undoubtedly there is not; for it is equally proverbial 

 that what is one man's taste is another man's poison. One meets 

 with people of singular tastes in jostling through the world. Not 

 the least curious of those which have lately come under our notice is 

 that of a poor beggar woman who follows the judges barefooted in 

 their circuit. The following is the way in which the fact was stated 

 in the Standard a few evenings ago : — 



" The beggar woman, who has for several years walked the Ox- 

 ford circuit barefoot, following the route of the judges from place to 

 place, as their Lordships go to hold the assizes, is now on that circuit 

 as usual." 



What attraction huge powdered wigs, and countenances remark- 

 able only for their gravity, can have in the eyes of this poor woman, 

 is more than we can tell. But this we know, that to some people 

 there is not a more unpleasant spectacle in the world. The very 

 idea of a judge, or an assize, conjures up reflections in some men's 

 minds — aye, and in some women's too — which are the reverse of 

 agreeable. Instead of following them about from place to place, as 

 this poor woman does, it is no uncommon thing to hear of people 

 not only recoiling at the bare idea of meeting a judge, but suddenly 

 flying across the Atlantic to avoid the unpleasant intercourse. How 

 wretched must be the taste of this beggar woman in the estimation 

 of a certain class of people at the antipodes! 



Release of a Prisoner. — The following paragraph appeared 

 in a late number of the Mirror : — " A toad, imbedded in an apparent- 

 ly solid mass of stone, was discovered last September, in a field at 

 W., to the utter horror of the operator, when the shivered block 

 disclosed its unsightly inmate. The creature, thus instantaneously 

 restored to light and life, hopped vigorously away before the momen- 

 tary surprise had been surmounted ; and, being hotly pursued by a 

 dog which was standing near, it escaped beyond recovery into the 

 long grass and weeds of the neighbouring hedge." 



This paragraph is altogether one of the most unique which has 

 met our eye for some time. The circumstances connected with the 

 discovery of the toad are most elaborately described. The only 

 thino- we dislike about it is that which represents the discovery to 

 have taken place " in a field near W." Rather than have seen 

 this same W. where it now stands we could have wished thei'e 

 had been no such letter in the alphabet. What we are appre- 

 hensive of is that sticking in the letter, where it now stands, will 

 have the effect of throwing discredit, in some people's minds, on the 

 whole statement, though we ourselves most jjotently believe every 

 particle of it. Why could not the writer have named the place 

 hinted at by the " W" at once. Had it been a case of crim con 

 instead of the liberation of a toad from prison, he could not have 



