DOCTOR DALE. 



ploughed up tlie ground in which 

 his lather was buried, Hoc est vere 

 colere monumentum patris This is 

 really cultivating one's father's 

 memory. 



A punster, being requested to 

 give a specimen of his art, asked 

 for a subject " The king." " The 

 king is not a subject," he replied. 

 This holds good in French like- 

 wise (Lc roi n'cst pas un si/jet.) 



The last two cases belong to a 

 class which is, perhaps, more ex- 

 tensive than is commonly sup- 

 posed ; where the two senses of 

 the word are allied by an easy 

 metaphor, and may consequently 

 be found in more than one lan- 

 guage. "We will give another of 

 the- same kind. 



Erskine was reproached with his 

 propensity of punning, and was 

 told that puns were the lowest 

 kind of wit. " True," said he, "and 

 therefore they are the foundation 

 of all wit." 



Madame de Lamotte was con- 

 demned to be marked with a hot 

 iron on both shoulders, as well as 

 to perpetual imprisonment, for her 

 frauds in the aifair of Marie An- 

 toinette's diamond necklace. At 

 the end of ten months, however, 

 she made her escape from Vhdpital, 

 where she \vas confined, by the aid 

 of a soeur, who said, when quitting 

 her, "Adieu, madame, prenez-garde 

 de vous faire re-marquer." (Fare- 

 well, madam ; take care not to bo 

 .fad.) 



A. French editor, when quoting 

 11 ii.;, observes, "Nous ajouterous 

 qu'il faut liii-u avoir la fureur de 

 (lire de tristes bons-mots pour en 

 faire sur un pareil snjet." 



At a time when public affairs 

 were in a very unsettled state, M. 



de G , who squinted terribly, 



asked Talleyrand how things were 

 going on. 



" Mais, commo vous voyez, mon- 

 sieur." (Why, as you see, sir.) 



Another pun, attributed to the 



same great master, is not only 

 translatable, but is much better in 

 English than in French. During 

 the reign of Bonaparte, when 

 arrogant soldiery affected to de- 

 spise all civilian?, Talleyrand asked 

 a certain general what was meant 

 by ailling people pequins. " Nous 

 appelons pequin tout ce qui n'est 

 pas militaire,' said the general. 

 (We call everybody who is not a 

 soldier, a pequin a miserable crea- 

 ture.) "Eh! oui," replied Talley- 

 rand, "comme nous autres nous 

 appelons militaires tons ceux qui 

 ne sont pas civiles." (Oh ! yes ; as 

 we call military all those who are 

 not civil.) 



DOCTOR DALE. 



"This makes me think on that 

 famous civilian, Doctor Dale, who, 

 being employed in Flanders by Q. 

 Elizabeth, sent in a packet to the 

 secretary of state two letters, one 

 to the queen, the other to his wife; 

 but that which was meant for the 

 queen was superscribed, To his 

 dear wife; and that for his wife, 

 To her most excellent majesty: so 

 that the queen having opened his 

 letter, she found it beginning with 

 Sweetheart, and afterwards with 

 My Dear, and Dear Love, with 

 such expressions ; acquainting her 

 with the state of his body, and 

 that he began to want money. 

 You may easily guess what mo- 

 tions of mirth this mistake raised; 

 but the doctor by this oversight (or 

 cunninyness rather) got a supply of 

 money. * * And since 1 ana 

 fallen upon Doctor Pale, who was 

 a witty kind of drole, I will toll 

 ynti, instead of news (for there is 

 little good stirring now), anothrr 

 facetious tale of his; and familiar 

 tales may become f< '!ers 



well enough. When (.,). Kli/.abeth, 

 did first propose to him that foreign 

 employment to Flaii'/<-iv, among 

 other encouragements i be told him 

 that he should have twenty shil- 



