BRIEF MENTION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 140, 11 June 1909, Page 5

BRIEF MENTION.

"A little nonsense now and then, isrelished by the wisest men." Barnaby's Day. It was customary in England on, St. Barnaby's Day for priests and clerks in Anglican churches to wear garlands of the rose and the woodrofL A miraculous walnut-tree in the abbey churchyard of Gladstonbttry was supposed to bud invariably on St. Barnaby's Day.

June 11—Born: George Wither,, poet, 1588"; Sir Kenelm Digby (speculative philosophical works), 1603. Died: Sir Kenelm Digby, 1665; George I. of England, 1727; Dr. Win. Robertson, historian, 1793; Rev. Dr. Alexander Crombie (educational works), 1842; Rev. Professor Baden Powell, 1860. Such were the natural gifts of Sir Kenelm Digby that although, as the son of one of the gunpowder conspirators, he began his career un&sr unfavourable circumstances, ho eventually succeeded in winning general admiration. , He even became a favourite with. the King, who had executed his father, and was prejudiced against his name.

Digby was a philosopher, a theologian, a. linguist, a mathematician, a metaphysician, a politician,. a commander by land and by sea, and distinguished himself in each capacity. The estimation in which "ne was. held appears in the following lines written for his epitaph: —

" Under this tomb the matchless. Digby lies, Digby the great 3 the valiant, and the wise; This age's wonder, for his noble partSj Skilled" in six tongues, and learned in all the arts; ' Born on the day he died, the eleventh of June, And that day bravely fought at Seanderoon, Tt's rare that one and the same day should bo His day of birth, of death, of victoryy

, + An Unfmancialßace. —Girl (to unsuccessful suitor): "You are not the first bank clerk who .has proposed to: • me, The other one died." Suitor (sarcastically): "A broken heart, I suppose.1' Girl: "No—trying to live on his screw." No fewer than 1000 applications were received by the Stepney Guardians for a post at the Stifford Homes, Esses, the salary attached to which. is 30s a week. ; "A fee of 4000 guineas was recently paid to a barrister for an opinion, which would have been given by many younger members of the Bar for a guinea," said Judge Rentoul at the City of London Court. "There are two men to see you,, sir," said an office boy to the editor of an American journal. "One o£ 'em has a gun and ths other a poem." The editor sighed, but did not hesitate. "Show in the one with the gun," he said. Mr J. H. Fry, churchwarden of St < Matthew's, Willesden, stated at the vestry meeting that it had been decided to sell the buttons placed in | the offertory bags for garments at j the next bazaar, and asked those who contributed them to see that they were of the best quality. Couldn't Prevent Him.—Miss Gush- • ington (entering street car): "Oh,, don't get up; please- keep your seat;— please do." Mr Piccadilly : "Really, I'd like to oblige you, madam, but I want to get out at this corner." '. \ Dreadnought finance.—(Australia to John Bull): "Look 'ere, old feller,, "you've been real good to me all my life. Lend us a bob an' I'll shout for yer."—Bulletin. ... Batoum (Russia) exported to foreign countries 155j706j540 y gallons of petroleum pi-oducts during 1908. A waterman, aged seventy-five, who was accused at Yarmouth of stealing, a pennyworth of coal, was dealt with as a first offender. The Limerick (Ireland) Guardians have adopted a resolution approving the principle of imposing special taxation upon bachelors. Wby_Not Be Truthful? (Newsitem that might well b© appended to most nuptiai notices.)—" The bride's present to the grtfbm was three maiden aunts, sixteen cousins, and a mother-in-law." "What do you do, doctor," said a parsimonious city magnate to a wellknown physician, "when you have a tickling sensation in the throat?" "I generally cough!" replied the doctor. »■•