SELECTED ARTICLES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 154, 18 October 1876, Page 3

SELECTED ARTICLES.

ANECDOTE OF LORD ELDON. The Chancellor was sitting in his study, 'fcver a table of papers, when a young and lovely girl—slightly rustic in her attire, slightly embarrassed by the novelty of her position, but thoroughly in command of her wits—entered the room and walked up to the lawyer's chair. " My dear," said the Chance'lor, rising and bowing with the old-world coiirtesy, " who are yon!" " Lord Eldon " answered the Washing maiden, "I am Bessy Bridge, the daughter of the vicar of Weobly, anil papa sent me t«> remind you of a promise which you made l.im when I was a little baby, and j on were a guest in his house on the occasion of yo»tr tirat eh ct ion as member of Parliament for Weobly." " A promise, my dear young lady V interposed the Chancellor* trying to recall how he had pledged himself. •' Yes, Lord Eldon, a promise. You were standing over my cradle when papa said to yon, * Mr. seott, promise me that if ever yon are Lord Chancellor, when my little girt is a poor clergyman's wife, you wilt give her husband a living ;' and you answered, ' Mr. Bridge, my promise is not worth half-a-crown, bnt I give it to you, wishing it were worth more.' " Enthusiastically the Chancellor exclaimed, '• You are quite right ; I admit the objection. I remember all about it;" and tuen, after a pause, archly surveying the damsel, whose graces were the reverse of matronly, he added, " but surely the time for keeping my promise has not yet arrived I You cannot be anyone's wife at present i" For a few minutes Bessy hesitated for an answer, and then, with a blush, and a 1 ripple of silver laughter, she n. plied, " 4 v*o, but I do so wish to be somebody's | wife I I am engaged to a young clergy- : man, and there is a living in HerefordShire, near my old home, that has recently fallen vacant, and if you will give it to ] Alfred, why then, Lord Eldon, we shall marry before the end of the year." Is there need to say that the Chancellor forthwith summoned bis secretary, that the secretary fortuwith made out the presentation to Bessy's lover, and that, having given the Chancellor a kiss of gratitude, Bessy made good Speed back to ; Herefordshire, hugging t.ie precious docu- : taent the wnote way home.

THE PUUM 1»K OF YOITTH. Wt at a terrible mistake do we m;ike in this matter to be sure. Is there a family in the land where the genius has not grown up into a very poor creature—whose (.cygnet .has put on no swan's plumage as he swam clown the stream of years I If the despised fool has not as often developed into a genius, if. is that geniuses are rare lirds tuat do not roost on every perch. If wo were quite vtah ourselves, of course we should nuke these mistakes less often ; but are they not almost impyssible to avoid it. How can we look on a bright c.itht, quick in thought, ready in speech, and foil of childish wit and fun, and retrain from doing the little rule of three sum about it! If the child of eight is so- clever, what will the ma.i of thirty not be t Or, again, how can we guess that tue ihtlk thick-witted child, sleepy and listless, who has never seen a gleam of the other's wit, who has none of the charm and brightness- of the other, dull in perception and sfow in speech—how can urc guess that he is a genius in disguise 1 How can we tell that the uuiek, early growth of the one will ba arrested, that his wit will chrystallize into flippancy, arid his cleverness and disputation,* dogmatism I And what is to make us guess that the heaviness and cloudiness of the other is but the great ferment of gr<.at mental powers, tue mysterious development of a grand intellect i

QUICK PROMOTION. Promotion by purchase still obtains, we see, in the United States Army. A Denver gentleman thus speaks of bis experience :—" Wnite in St. Josephs we were introduced to a n porter of one of the city papers, said to be fhe oldest in the city. He fook us cordially by the hand with the remark, ' How do yon do, Mr. L-, how do you df>( After some little conversation we invited him to step in and imbib**. * Certainly, captain, certainly. Would as soon drink with yon as anybody.' So wc drank. Presently we asked him to drink again. ' Cett-tinly, 3!ajor, never refuse tj" drink with a gentleman. Heres toyoii.* A s.iort pause and we repeated the invitation for a thirrt time. Ti.e tears came into the old man's eyes as he grasped our hands and said, * Colonel, yon do me proud. Am glad to meet yon. Here's my regards.' We saw we were growing in his estimation, so we presently remarked that he looked dry, and asked what he would take. ' Whiskey and sugar, General; whiskey and sugar. It has been my steady diet for twenty-five years. I never take anj other.' We concluded there was no chance for further promotion, so we bade our old friend good bye, and as we left him we noticed that he vote one boot, one canvas-backed shoe, no stockings, a pair of linen pants sustained by one suspender, and a shirt as unfamiliar to the water as he was himself. Bnt he was happy, and appreciated us, as was evident from the following personal which appeared in the paper next morning:— * iXlajor-Genjral I*., of Denver, Col., is getting outside of provisions at the Pacific, until Uncle Johnny begins to fear a famine. Tue general is a whole souled, genial gentleman, a Christian, and a scholar, and we hope he will visit us often.* **