"Very,' responded Mrs. Azure; it makes me think on our last trip here; there was no houses then-all fields and treeses-eh?'

"Oh, its pleasant to think on hold times, han't it, Hazzher?,'

"Very,' growled Azure.

"Well, how do you like the dinner?' asked Mrs. Brindle, who had been serving every body, and stood a very good chance of getting none herself. 'How do you like it?" she asked, with a flattering consciousness of receiving the highest commendation.

"Oh, delicious-very nice-does great credit-never enjoyed anything more-lamb so young-so sweet-fowls so nice,' &c, &c. uttered the party.

"Well, I am very glad of that-I tried to-bless me, Mr. Pundit, what is the matter?' asked Mrs. B. of Mr. P., on seeing him cram his handkerchief to his mouth, turn as pale as death, and rise hastily from his seat. He could not reply, but waved his hand, rushed from the spot, and was very ill behind a tree. This incident gave rise to various conjectures: he had been eating a small pigeon pie.

"It is very singulat,' remarked Mrs. B.; there is nothing in a pigeon-pie to make any one unwell." "Ain't there though?' said the elder Budd. "What dy'e mean, my child?' asked Mrs. B., with an inward conviction of some unpleasant disclosure of youthful villainy.

"Why, I saw Bob empty a little bottle of physic in that pie. He! he! he!' he giggled.

"Ha! ha! ha!' roared Smerke.

"Bottle of physic!' faintly reiterated Mrs. B.; 'then that's where my emetic went.' She turned to Bob-' Oh, you naughty boy.'

"Well,' snivelled Bob, 'Mr. Joe put some black beetles in that meat-pie Mr. Smerke has been eating.'

On this disclosure every one laughed but Smerke; and the fear of similar discoveries taking place induced nearly every one to believe that they had eaten sufficiently; particularly on Pundit's return,-for his ghastly, pallid look, alarmed all of them; and Smerke, with the thoughts of the beetles, was waxing marvellously white. Various antidotes were prescribed for them. "Gin!' cried Azure.

"Brandy!' said Mrs. Bodger.

"Cigar!' exclaimed Walter,-puff-' nothing'-puff

-like a'-puff—' cigar'—puff.”

We must not omit to notice the Engravings, -the one illustrative of the "Match Girl," and the second of the "White Lady of Kew." These are both good; but the latter is the very best specimen we have yet seen of Mr. Egan's abilities. He is improving rapidly.

The Queerfish Chronicles.

Nos. 1 and 2.

B. Steill. We never like first numbers; and were, therefore, unwilling to form any judgment on a perusal of the first number of the " Queerfish Chronicles." In so doing, we did well; for the second number quite redeems what might have been wanting in its precursor, and we consider the publication likely to have a considerable run. The arrangement of the work, in chapters, is precisely similar to that of the "Pickwick Papers," and the incidents are related by members of a club; in no other respect is there any resemblance between the two-we mean as to plagiarism. Of this we are glad, for it is an act of meanness to borrow, or, rather, steal from another, that to which one has no positive claim. The portion we have selected for extract, contains so good a practical moral that it needs no preface. It refers to a foolish gentleman, named Salmon, who marries his servant maid (?), hoping

she may turn out a heiress; which wish is subsequently realised, by her introducing to her husband a ready-made inheritance:

"In the course of another week, Mr. Salmon and his pretty looking servant were married in due form. And a most joyous and mirthful wedding-day they kept; diversion they had in abundance; inasmuch as, during a considerable part of the afternoon, their ears were entertained with a full band of music, which, among other instruments, boasted nine marrowbones, nine cleavers, tin kettles, and a large whistle.

"For the first three days, the newly-married man thoroughly believed that he had been transported to the regions of Elysium, where he hoped he might remain all the days of his life. It happened on the fourth morning after the celebration of the nuptials, that Mr. Salmon, having condescended to walk once more into the shop, which he intended to dispose of as soon as Mrs. Salmon had rewarded his generosity, was standing in a contemplative mood behind the counter, when a meanly-clad, middle-aged woman came to the door, leading two children, both evidently under six years of age.

Pray, sir, is this the house where Betty Robson lives?' inquired the woman.

"Mrs. Salmon lives here,' answered the husband, with becoming dignity. 'I am Mr. Salmon.'

"Oh, then!' exclaimed the woman, seeming pleased at the sight of him,-'as sure as I'm alive, you're the good gentleman that's been so kind as to marry her and becom' a father to her children, as never had a father before.'

"Children!-never had a father!' echoed Mr. Salmon, in a feeble tone of voice.

No, sir,' returned the woman. 'You knows, of course, sir, what I mean: they never had a reg'lar father, as they're only what you calls illygetymet.'

"Had there been in the room, at the time this was spoken, one of the ablest painters that ever existed, and had he then taken a portrait of the poor gentleman, we might, by having it engraved, convey to the reader some idea of the expression that his countenance assumed when he heard this intelligence; but, as there was not, His hand opened the parlor-door mechanically; and he it must be left entirely to the imagination of the reader. staggered into the presence of his wife, followed at the heels by the strange woman and the two children, who had been with her at nurse.

"Elizabeth,' faltered he, his visage suffused with an alarming paleness, those two infants,-there-'

"Oh, bless their little hearts! I'm glad to see 'em' said she, quite delighted: 'they're mine, to be sure.'

"You never told me,' continued he, still laboring under the same paralysing sensation that had produced the paleness in his visage.

"No, to be sure,' answered Elizabeth; 'but I wanted to tell you. I thought it was no more than you ought to know; but you would not let me; you know very well you wouldn't.'

"Mr. Salmon endeavored repeatedly to speak, but his words seemed to cleave to the roof of his mouth, till a vast number having accumulated there, they burst forth with the fury of a white squall at sea.

"Deceitful, wicked, abominable, diabolical, heartless, infernal wretch! ruin! misery! and murder!-ten

thousand evils!-I'm undone for ever, for ever am I undone! Is is possible that I've lost five hundred pounds to come to this?"

"Oh, come, stop short there,' interrupted the bride, not by any means relishing these abusive, and, as she "It's all your conceived, totally undeserved epithets. own fault; and if you get on in that way, I can call names as well as you; I can, and I will, too.'

3

"Devil!' roared the deluded man, 'I'll do for you.' "For the honor of our society, we are sorry to have it to record that he aimed a blow at her; he did no more than aim it, however; for she, observing his intention, seized, with the rapidity of lightning, the wooden handle of a toasting fork, and arrested his impetuous fist with such a smart rap on the knuckles, that he jumped backwards and then danced wildly round the room, wringing his hands, and swearing worse than a

trooper. In the meantime the strange woman entreated, and the children screamed with all their might."

We conclude, by recommending the printer to be more careful in his typographical arrangements. There are many grievous faults both in spelling and punctuation; some pages, also, of our copy, are so indistinctly printed as to be almost illegible. This will, of course, be looked to in subsequent numbers.

-

Pigot's Views in the Isle of Wight. No. 3. 4to. Pigot & Co.

In this number are given three beautiful Views-admirably colored in aqua-tint-of Carisbrook, Carisbrook Castle, and Black-Gang Chine. The fidelity of the latter does infinite credit to the pencil of Mr. Calvert. It is the most correct drawing of this stupendous chine we have ever seen; and it is well worth framing.

Lingard's History of England. Vol. 1. 12mo. A New Edition. Baldwin and Cradock.

The publishers of this edition of "Lingard's England" ought to be the best judges; but for ourselves, we fear the speculation will be worse than unprofitable. All purchasers and admirers of Dr. Lingard's work will prefer the octavo Library Edition, and would hardly afford space to such a one as the present. Its only recommendations are a portrait of the author, and a vignette of the Surrender of Caractacus by Goodall; and the work is to extend to thirteen volumes! Surely there is a sad error in judgment somewhere.

"Going to the Theatre the first night of a new piece, in which you are to shine-on your arrival being told that the part is cut out altogether, the manager having insisted upon its being done, on hearing who was to play it.

"Having to play a prominent part in a processionto take the lead' of a wild beast-upon reaching the centre of the stage, said beast misconducts himself in the usual manner- Picture '-'general shout'-and, 'curtain falls.'

"Standing to be sung at (by a lady of course) through a song of half an hour's length, during which time you take as many attitudes as would fill out the Grecian Statues,' and get no thanks for your pains.

Fighting a 'desperate combat' when suffering from rheumatism in right shoulder, with every prospect of

"O gods! ye Gods, must I endure all this? -
All this! Aye more;'

and this is it-upon being pursued, obliged to fly with (i. e. to carry) your 'honorable load' to the summit of a 'frightful precipice,' and it being the end of the act, there you must remain till the drop puts an end to your sufferings."

THE BAKER OF WAPPING.

A TRUE STORY.

BOOTY, the illustrious Booty-subject of the Engravings presented with this day's IDLER— was a Quaker, residing in Wapping, who carried on the business of a Baker. He was, moreover, a wicked and avaricious miser, and oppressed the poor whenever he had it in his power. He flourished at the commencement of the year 1687. Before the end of that same year, he carried on business in the shades below.' The subjoined sketch is abridged from the "History of Old Booty," published at the office of this Paper.

OLD BOOTY'S GHOST!

"The following is a remarkable observation which was entered in Captain Spinks' Journal, accompanied by an account of Mrs. Booty's trial at the Court of King's Bench, concerning her husband, a baker in London.

"Tuesday May the 12th; this day the wind was S. S. W., and a little before four in the afternoon we anchored in the Manser Road, where lay Captains Bristo, Brian, and Barnaby, all of them bound to Lucera to load.

in the afternoon I went on board of Captain Barnaby, "Wednesday, May the 13th, we weighed anchor, and

and about two o'clock we sailed, all of us, for the Isle of Lucera, wind W.S.W. and bitter weather. Thursday the 14th, about two o'clock we saw the Island, and all came to an anchor in twelve fathoms water; the wind was W.S.W. and on the 15th day of May, we had an observation of Mr. Booty in the following manner :Captains Bristo, Brian, and Barnaby, went on shore, shooting of Colnes on Strombolo; when we had done, after three in the afternoon, to our great surprise, we we called our men together, and about fourteen minutes saw two men run by us with amazing swiftness. Captain Barnaby says, 'Lord bless me, the foremost man looks like my next door neighbor, old Booty;' but said he did not know the other behind. Booty was dresssed in grey clothes, and the one behind him in black; we

saw them run into the burning mountain in the midst of the flames! on which we heard a terrible noise, too horrible to be described. Captain Barnaby then desired us to look at our watches, pen the time down in our pocket books, and enter it on the journals, which we accordingly did. When we were laden, we all sailed for England, and arrived at Gravesend on the sixth of October, 1687; Mrs. Barnaby and Mrs. Brian came to congratulate us on our safe arrival, and after some discourse, Captain Barnaby's wife says, my dear, I have got some news to tell you; old Booty is dead.' He swore an oath, and said, 'we all saw him run into Hell!'

"Sometime afterwards, Mrs. Barnaby met with a lady of her acquaintance in London, and told her what her husband had seen concerning Mr. Booty. It came to Mrs. Booty's ears; she arrested Captain Barnaby in 10007. action; he gave bail, and it came to trial at the Court of King's Bench, where Mr. Booty's clothes were brought into court. The Sexton of the parish, and the people that were with him during his illness swore to the time when he died, and we swore to our journals, and they came within two minutes. Twelve of our men swore that the buttons of his coat were covered with the same grey cloth, and it appeared to be so. The jury asked Mr. Spinks if he knew Mr. Booty in his life time? he said he never saw him till he saw him go by him into the burning mountain. The judge then said, 'Lord grant I may never see the sight that you have seen;