The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1881-01-06
The Man Who Boasts.

The man who boasts is twin born 10
liar. for neither of them can tell the
truth except 10y accident. and yet ii must
be very comfortable to feel that what
you do is always the very best thing that
can be done by any one, and that You
know Just IA little more than any living
man. We are acquainted with II tender
hearted gentleman whose experiences are
always exceptional, and who has seen Il
thousand things which no mortal eye
save his own ever looked upon. When
he went up the l,iGi it was the clearest
day that had been known for full CEN
fury. and when he Travelled over the st.
Gothard he went through a storm of hail
stones the least of which was bigger
than hens egg. and the guide. who was
threc-score years and ten, and had been
over the pass more than two thousand
times. declared that he had never III his
life Witnessed such speoac before.
The old gentleman crossed the ocean IN
the greatest hurricane on record, and
saw more icebergs than the oldest sea
captain in the service. His children
were all gcuiuscs. and he had found u
govorncss for them who proved the most
learned and accomplished woman in the
world.
One day the poor man Was stricken
with paral NSiS, and we feared that his
happy boAstiulncSs was over; but after
six weeks we met him on the street and
he told us that be lad been visited by
eighteen doctors. who all declared that
that particular kind of paral ysls had
never before made its appearance. SO
he lives on in the cheerful belief that he
has the best of everything, and every
time we see him We envy him. Our
toothachc is always of the grinding sort
while his makes him feel as though he
had music box in his mouth. When
our leg gets broken 1t is only an ugly
fracture, hut hls Is a compound fracture
of compound fracture We send for a
doctor to cure our ills. and he proves
to be only an ordinary II. D., but when
he socks Il physician he finds Il man who
has taken every known degree IN every
known science, and who cures the worst
cases ever heard Of in the easiest way
ever heard of. When Our friend dies he
will probably come back through some
medium just to tell us that his death
was the most wonderful death in the
world. and that he found when he got
up Wonder that they had saved Il choice
little corner for him. where he expects
to be more comfortable than anybody
who ever entered the celestial regions.
II all this is mere boasting and lying
then boasting and lying are no longer
gross faults. but very comforting virtues.
MARRIAGEABLL AGE ~ DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES. According to the Lyons
Wedicdie, the marriageable age in Aus
tria is fourteen for both sexes; III Ger
many, eighteen for men and fourteen for
women in Belgium, eighteen for men
and fifteen for women IN SPAN, four
ieen for men and twelve for women; in
France, eighteen for men and fifteen for
women; in Greece, fourteen for men and
tweIve for women; in Catholic Hungaria,
fourteen for men and twelve for women;
in Protentant Hungaria, eighteen for
men and fifteen for women; in Italy,
eighteen for men and fifteen for women !;
in Portugal, fourteen for men and
twelve for women; in Russia, RomGnia
and Saxony. eighteen for men and six
teen for women.