be but one opinion. If he neglected his Horace, it was to exersise his hat brush; if he did not refer to his Scapula, he was assiduous in consulting the Hints on Etiquette. His button-hole was more flowery than his style; and his theme smelt more of musk than of the lamp. I never cordially admired him; and I gave up his gay collection of poetry and travels at his departure without a sigh. What a superior being is my present possessor! how can I thank him for the confidence reposed in me, and the honourable position which I owe to his patronage? To me he has entrusted the contributions, which the public are now permitted to criticise; in every nook I have some precious gem, the pride of the essayist, or the glory of the sonnetteer. In difficulty, he looks up to me as if for assistance in his decision on the value of the materials before him; and I sigh as I think of the care which has been bestowed on many a rejected article. Every day brings me some new prodigy of genius or folly, some monument of labour or — but I must remember that I am only a bureau; it is enough for me that this humble narrative of my life and sufferings has gained an immortality, despaired of by furniture on which no Editor has kindly smiled. EPIGRAMS. To a Lady. Arachne once, as poets tell A goddess at her art defied : Be prudent, Chloe, and submit ; Idem Latine Redditum. GARRICK. Artis lanificæ quondam perhibetur Arachne, Ergo, age, ne pereas isto deperdita fato Although soft sleep death's sad resemblance bears, Come, balmy sleep, for sweetly it appears Thus without life to live, thus without death to die. Idem Latine Redditum. Quid licet advenias mostâ sub imagine mortis Vivere sic liceat, sic sine morte mori. ANON. IN VINO VERITAS. A Libel on Luther by a Jesuit. "Love ye," say Proverbs, " truth without a mask? Drank very deep to fetch her out. Henceforth we yield, -the heretic forsooth, Idem Latine Redditum. Ecquis inornatâ gaudebit imagine veri? B. THE ETON BUREAU. No. II. WE have read in ancient story, how Pisistratus exhibited his scars to the gaze of the multitude at Athens, how he asked for a guard against the enemies who had thus injured him, and how the people, moved at his sufferings, granted the boon, by which they were themselves enslaved. To gain their favour, the skilful intriguer excited their compassion. Such language was the only appeal we could make to the sympathy of Etonians at our first appearance. Such, at least, were the feelings we expressed to our friends. We pointed to the scoffs of ill-omened critics; we acknowledged our difficulties; we shewed the wounds dealt us by secret enmity or party spite. All the protection we asked, was a favourable hearing, a kindly feeling from our readers. We have received this, and more than this, from some whose opinion we most highly value; and our position is now no longer that of the timid adventurer, but of the accepted guest. Not that we have the inclination, had we the D power, to convert, like Pisistratus, the aid we have received into an engine of oppression; but we feel that we may assume towards inferior critics a bolder attitude than when we stood forth alone, alike suspicious both of friend and foe. It might amuse our readers, if it were not a breach of confidence, to recall some of the sentiments expressed by those, whom, before our first appearance, we thought it right to consult. Oft was repeated in our ears the sage remark, that boys ought not to publish. "It will foster vanity and self-importance in the young mind,” said one philosopher; "it is an affectation of the follies of riper years," said a grave and reverend elder, who had left Eton just six months. If we ventured timidly to suggest the precedents of the Microcosm and the Etonian, the objector was prepared with a reply-" In those days there were no essays to be compiled; no Newcastle scholarship; as yet mathematics were not; it was all very well to scribble in periodicals then." One prudent comforter would remind us that almost every speculation of this kind had been a pecuniary failure; another observed that there was a deficiency of original talent at this time at Eton. Of course it was idle to refute these wellwishers; but we thought within ourselves, that lack of ability was falsely imputed to those who now are, or lately have been among us; and we felt sure that we should not be left to languish for want of public support, if we did our best to deserve it. Nor were our hopes entirely without sympathy; some, who could best judge of such matters, augured well of our scheme. Advice, indeed, they tendered, and we are proud to acknowledge that we derived benefit from their suggestions. The important day arrived; the Eton Bureau was |