The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-09-10
PICKING OUT THE PLUMs.

Some good stories (if they are old) occur in
an editorial article entitled " Eccentric Charac-
ter" in the September number of Harper's
Magazine. Such as these:
DR.. johnson, at Lord Mayors dinner. COM
mltted the scandalous improperly of talking
wit and wisdom to an Alderman by his side
who desired to concentrate his whole energies
on the turtle. Sir" said the Alderman, in a
tone and with look of awful rebuke, " in at
tempting to listen to your long sentences, and
give you short answer, have swallowed two
pieces of geeen fat without tasting the favor.
beg you to let me enjoy my present happiness
in peace"
Wharton, Dragging to Swift of his drunken
frolics, was advised by that cynical satirist to
vary his caprices little, and take frolic to be
vrtuous.
Erskine an egotist Of genius, and such a
spehdthrift of the personal pronoun, that Cob
bett, who was once printing one of his speeches,
stopped in the middle, giving as his reason,
that at this point the III" in his font of types
gave out, and he could not proceed.
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, took ma
licious delight in living, because, though life
gave her no pleasure, it gave others pain. At
one time, it was thought she must 90. She
lay for a great while speeches. and sense
less. The physician said, "She must be bills.
tered, or she will die" This touched her. and
she screamed out, 81 soont be 6hstered, and 1
cont die " and she kept her word.
In this country the hobby.mongers are fairly
in the ascendant, and the right to mind ones
own business must be purchased of these idle
ounces, portentously developed into voluble
bores. Their principle of action is identical
with that of Punch's music grinder, who con-
temptuously refuses the penny you toss at him
to silence his soul-stabbing melodies, and clam
orously demands shilling as the price of his
" moving on" "Don't you SUPPOSE" he in
quires, "that know the vally of peace and
quietness, as well as your"
A deputation of Presbyterians having waited
on Lord Chancellor Thurlow, to request his aid
in obtaining certain statutes dsqualifying
their body from holding civil offices, repealed,
Thurlow thus bluffly answered /: u" Gentlemen,
will be perfectly frank with you. Gentlemen, l
am against you, and for the established church,
by -! Not that l like the established
church bit better than any other church, but
because it is established. And whenever you
can get your - religion established, I'll be
for that too. Good morning to you"
Louis, the well beloved" said the priest
who announced the death of Louis the Fiji.
teenth, sleeps in the Lord" off such mass
of laziness and lust" growls Carlyle in reply,
sleeps in the Lord, who, think you, sleeps
elsewhere ,"
The article out of which we have taken these
goodies" land which we think was written by
E. P. Whipple,) closes with the following fine
tribute to Charles Lamb:
Perhaps the most delightful and popular of
this class is Charles Lamb-a man costly do
mesticated by the hearts fireside of his readers.
Such wit, such humor, such imagination, such
intelligence, such sentiment, such kindliness,
such heroism, all SO quantity mixed and min.
gled, and suffering out in so freakish fashion,
and all blending so finely in that exquisite &c.
centric something which we call the character
OF Charles Lamb, make him the most lovable
OF writers and men. His essays. the gossip of
creative genius, are of piece with the records
OF his life and conversation. Whether saluting
his copy of Chapman's Homer" with kiss
or saying grace before reading Milton-or
going to the theatre to see his own farce acted.
and joining in. the Kisses of the pit when it
tais-or sagelY wondering if the Ogles Of Som
erset were not descendants of King Lear-or
telling Barry Cornwall not to invite a lusubri.
Gus gentlema., to dinner, because his face
would cast damp over funeral-or giving
as reason why he did not leave off SINKING.
the difficulty o. finding an equivalent rice-or
striking into hot controversy between Cole
ridge and Holcso1t as to whether man as he is,
or man as he 10 to be, is preferable, aud set.
ting the dispute by saying, Give me pan as
he is not to be Tor doing some deed of kind
ness and love " tn tears In his eyes and a pun
on his lips-he il always the same dear STANCE.
delightful, com oanion and friend. Ie ia
never-the rogre--without scrap of l,gie to
astound commoe sense.
"Mr. Lamb, Essays the head clerk at The In.
dia House, "you come down very late N the
morning?" "Ys, sir" Mr.. Lamb r, plies
:" but then you know go home very e rly in
the afternoon. And then with what MINOR.
Gus extravaganza. he expresses his peevi yhness
at being confnex to such work-with arious
ingenuity running his maledicton on com.
merce along all cts lines of influence. Con
fusion blast all mercantile trsnsactio, 8, all
traffic, exchange of commodities, inter course
between nations, all the consequent civil alton,
and wealth, and amity, and link of socie, =, and
getting rid of Preiudices, and knowledge Of the