TABLE-TALK AND VARIETIES. 



France, a certain author dedicated 

 his piece to the Brazen Horse, on 

 the Pont-Neuf; "for I am per- 

 suaded," said he, "that my patron 

 will long remain in place." 



LITERARY DINNERS. 



" I knew a person," says Menage, 

 "who occasionally gave entertain- 

 ments to authors. His fancy was 

 to place them at table, each accord- 

 ing to the size and thickness of the 

 volumes they had published, com- 

 mencing with the folio authors, and 

 proceeding through the quarto and 

 octavo, down to the duodecimo, 

 each according to his rank." 



SIDNEY SMITH. 



Smith observing Lord Brough- 

 am's one-horse carriage, he re- 

 marked to a friend, alluding to the 

 B surrounded by a coronet on the 

 panel, " There goes a carriage with 

 a B outside and a wasp within." 



MADAME NECKER'S TABLE-TALK. 



During one day, at Madame 

 Necker's, the Chevalier de Chas- 

 tellux happened to arrive first of 

 the company, and so early that the 

 mistress of the house was not in 

 the drawing-room. In walking 

 about, he saw on the ground, under 

 Madame Necker's chair, a little 

 book, which he picked up ; it was 

 a white paper book, of which seve- 

 ral pages were in the handwriting 

 of Madame Necker. It was the 

 preparation for the very dinner to 

 which he was invited. Madame 

 Necker had written it the evening 

 before, and it contained all she was 

 to say to the most remarkable per- 

 sons at table. After reading the 

 little book, M. de Chastellux has- 

 tened to replace it under the chair. 

 A moment afterwards, a valet-de- 

 chambre entered to say, that Ma- 

 dame Necker had forgotten her 

 pocket-book in the drawing-room. 

 It was fouud and carried to Madame 

 Necker. The dinner was delight- 



ful to M. de Chastellux, who saw 

 that Madame Necker said word 

 for word what she had written in 

 her pocket-book. 



SIDNEY SMITH AND LANDSEER. 



A friend once sent Smith a note, 

 requesting him to sit for his por- 

 trait to Landseer, the great animal- 

 painter. Sidney wrote back, " Is 

 thy servant a dog that he should 

 do this thing 1 " 



LOGICS AND SCOTT ON ACQUIRING 

 KNOWLEDGE. 



Mr. Locke was asked how he 

 had contrived to accumulate a 

 mine of knowledge so rich, yet so 

 extensive and deep. He replied, 

 that he attributed what little he 

 knew to the not having been 

 ashamed to ask for information, 

 and to the rule he had laid down 

 of conversing with all descriptions 

 of men, on those topics chiefly that 

 formed their own peculiar profes- 

 sions or pursuits. 



Sir "Walter Scott gives us to under- 

 stand, that he never met with any 

 man, let his calling be what it 

 might, even the most stupid fel- 

 low that ever rubbed down a horse, 

 from whom he could not, by a few- 

 moments' conversation, learn some- 

 thing which he did not before 

 know, and which was valuable to 

 him. This will account for the 

 fact that he seemed to have an in- 

 tuitive knowledge of everything. 



AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION. 



Noah Webster, in the preface to 

 his own Dictionary of the English 

 Language, thoroughly disparages 

 Dr. Johnson's, and most Americans 

 are of Webster's opinion. When 

 Stuart, their distinguished painter, 

 was introduced to the leviathan of 

 our literature, Johnson, surprised 

 at his speaking such good English, 

 asked him where he learnt it ; and 

 Stuart's cool reply was, " Not in 

 your dictionary ! " In addition to 



