"Oh, certainly, quite infatuated! The object of all her wishes." "Oh, indeed! Well, really this is particularly gratifying. She certainly must have seen or heard of me somewhere or other. The dear creature!" The latter part of this speech was, of course, delivered aside.

To be sure," continued the guardian, "there was another suitor ; but, as he was old enough to be her grandfather, and the girl didn't care two buttons about him-"

"How could she do otherwise?" remarked the unconscious Mr. Punctilio.

"Why, of course I thought it my duty to accede to her wishes. Do you think I did right, sir?"

"Oh, perfectly right, sir,-perfectly right; the vain old fool! What could he expect had he married the girl, but that by the time his honey. moon began to wane, the horns would be making their appcarance?"

"The horns! How very strange for a man of his cloth!" muttered the astonished Mr. Solid. "However, sir, I am glad you approve of

my conduct."

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Why, sir, I do not exactly see how I could have done otherwise.” "You do me honour, sir.”

"Touching, however, the celebration of the ceremony, understand me sir," continued Mr. Solid, "although I have no wish that there should be any indecent haste in the affair, yet I do not want it delayed any longer than absolutely necessary. Now, sir, what day would you fix upon? Your experience in these matters far surpasses mine of course. It must be some time since you first took orders?"

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Why, yes; I've been in business many a year now," replied Mr. Punctilio, thinking Mr. Solid alluded to very different kinds of orders to clerical ones.

"Ay! and you must have married not a few in your time, no doubt ?"

"I married not a few!"

"Certainly; and had many a child to baptize, of course?"

"I had many a child !What can he mean?' muttered the bewildered Mr. Punctilio.

"And buried some hundreds, I'll be bound!"

"What the devil is he talking about? I never married any one yet." "The deuce you havn't!"

"No, sir; nor have I ever had a child by anybody, sir."

"You never had a child, sir! Why, I never said you had."

"You did, sir! You said that I had had many a one."

"Yes; but I meant only to baptize."

"Sir, I don't think you know what you mean!"

"What did you say, sir?"

"I said, sir, that I'll be d-d if I think you know what you mean!" “Then, sir, all I have to say is, that a man of your profession ought

to be ashamed of himself to make use of such an expression!"

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My profession, sir! What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, sir, that Piety seems only your profession, and not your practice! A person like you, who is in the habit of preaching"Habit of preaching!"

"Yes, sir, I repeat it, in the habit of preaching, and then to give vent to such horrible discourse, must be a sanctified old hypocrite."

"A sanctified old hypocrite! You're a pudding-headed old fool." "Well, I'd rather be a pudding-headed old fool than a pious old rascal!"

"A pious old rascal!" roared the exasperated Mr. Punctilio, who was just about to raise his cane, and inflict summary punishment upon Mr. Solid for the expression, when the door suddenly opened, and in rushed Frank Forage, exclaiming, "Here, Mr. Solid, here is the parson!"

"The parson!" ejaculated Mr. Solid, starting at the two gentlemen in black. "What, then, isn't this gentleman (pointing to Mr. Punctilio) the parson?"

"Parson!" cried Mr. Punctilio. "No, I'm no parson,―nor lawyer,--nor doctor,—nor undertaker neither!"

"Then, upon my word, I have to beg you a million pardons for my conduct. But, you see, being dressed all in black, I naturally mistook you for one of the clergy."

"D" Mr. Solid imagined what was coming, and put his hand before the speaker's mouth.

Then came the explanation. Mr. Solid was very sorry, but his ward was betrothed to Mr. Frank Forage. Mr. Frank Forage ten. dered his humble apologies for the trick he had played Mr. Peter Punctilio, but all was fair in love. And Mr. Peter Punctilio vowed he would return to his counting-house in Change Alley, and never again appear as the Gentleman in Black.

N. B. To prevent "collision," the author of the above bagatelle begs to inform all adapters for the stage that he is at present dramatising it himself.

CHARLES DIBDIN, AND NATIONAL SONG.

WITH A PORTRAIT.

"Take him for all in all, we ne'er shall look upon his like again."

It is not the intention of the author of the present notice to write a biography of the distinguished personage whose name and portrait are prefixed; an attempt only will be made to vindicate his pretensions to a high rank in the two sister arts, of which he has been at once the ornament and national pride-Music and Poetry.

It has been the custom to underrate every claim made (but, alas! too faintly,) by Englishmen, to the possession of an original NATIONAL SONG. Every other country is allowed to boast not only of the excellence, but of the antiquity of their music:-England alone, up to the present day, has been neglectful and indifferent on the subject. A work recently published, however, has sufficiently proved the "popular fallacy" that the soul of song dwells not among us, which has had no other foundation than an apathy to home, and an overweening fondness to everything foreign. There was a time when the guitar held the place of the newspaper in the barber's shop, and music was looked upon as an indispensable part of a gentleman's education. Vincenzo Galilei, the father of the great astronomer,

* Chappel's Collection of English National Music.