room, where digestion is promoted by
minstrelsy. I had heard that to sit in this room
and eat chops and baked potatoes while a
tuneful choir, inspired by the divine Nine, sing
glees and madrigals, was to compass the very
round and top of human enjoyment. I had
heard that those chops and potatoes,
accompanied by the lyre, were medicine for the mind
diseased; that they were potent to raze out
the written trouble of the brain, and cleanse the
stuff that weighs upon the heart. Remembering
these things, I said to myself, " If a man
should need an antidote to poisoned thoughts,
this should be the shop where he may
procure it."

I entered, and encountered the good Apothecary.
His looks were not meagre; his weeds
were not tattered. On the contrary, he had a
very jolly rubicund face, and wore a most
unexceptionable surtout. He smiled, shook me
by the hand, gave me snuff from a chest (box is
not the word), and called me his dear boy. Tlie
pain in my temper was vanishing at the very
sight of the good Apothecary. Ere the
medicinal chop and potato were set before me that
pain departed. Yes, yes; I am willing to own it.
Phillis is my only joy; and so warm is my heart
becoming under the influence of the good
Apothecary's potions, that I am ready, notwithstanding
my entire and unalterable attachment to
Phillis, to make an appointment with my pretty
Jane, to meet me, meet me in the willow glen
while the bloom is upon the rye; to sing Oh
that a Dutchman's draught should be; hail
smiling morn; hie me to the oak; ask (without
the slightest expectation of a reply) what he
shall have who killed the deer, bless the Queen,
the Prince of Wales, the rest of the royal family,
and all mankind. I am becoming reconciled to
Hoxton, when suddenly my eye falls upon an
elderly gentleman at one of the tables. It is
Jones.

He is sitting drinking claret out of a crystal
goblet, smoking a very choice cigar—I know it
by the ash—and listening to the music with his
eyes shut. I notice that his clothes are fine
and rich; his fingers are covered with sparkling
rings; his cambric shirt-front is ablaze with
three dazzling brilliants. He is enjoying
himself at every pore. I can see it by the quiet
way he puffs his cigar, by the gusto with which
he sips his Lafitte, by the artful and knowing way
—practised Sybarite!—in which he keeps his eyes
gently closed, that his ears may not be distracted
from their draughts of delight. Bloated Jones!
hated member of a nameless but pampered class.
At the very sight of Jones, Hoxton starts up
before me in all its meanness and loathsomeness.
Look at him! how he wallows in pleasure.
What a power of enjoyment he has! I feel
certain that if he were to give me one of
those choice cigars of his, I could not extract
half the enjoyment from it that he does; I
could not find half the flavour in the Lafitte.
And see how thoroughly he enjoys the music;
never opens his eyes for a moment; but listens,
listens, while his face beams with an expression
of the most exquisite pleasure. By-and-by, when
he has had his fill of delight, he will roll home
in his luxurious carriage, while I——Ah! I see
he is about to go now. He has thrown away
the end of his cigar, and is putting on his gloves.
A gentleman from the other end of the table
comes forward with his hat and stick. The
gentleman is evidently Jones's servant, his butler,
or his valet. Fancy that! The gentleman hands
Jones his hat and gold-headed walking-stick,
and takes him by the arm. Bloated, pampered
nobody! The waiters are making way for him as
he passes along; the gentlemen at the tables are
rising to draw their chairs out of his way.

"Is he so very distinguished a person, then?"
I ask.

"Oh no," is the reply, " but the poor old
gentleman, is BLIND."

Blind! Let me go home to Hoxton and say
my prayers.

CHINESE COMPETITIVE
EXAMINATIONS.

THERE is a long and narrow street at Canton
between the walls of the city and the Pearl
River. It is paved, as streets are commonly
paved in China, with flagstones so large that a
single stone generally covers the whole breadth
of the street. Only in certain parts can two
sedan-chairs pass one another. Horses are rarely
seen; a wheeled vehicle never. Tall perpendicular
signboards are hung up containing
inscriptions, showing the trades carried on in the
shops to which they are attached, and
eulogising the wares recommended to the passers-by.
These inscriptions form excellent materials for
study of the Chinese language, and are curious
exemplifications of Chinese character. " Not
two prices" is a frequent addendum representing
the "No abatement" of the British shopkeepers.
The characters are often carved in
gold, scarlet, or azure grounds, and the trader
is more frequently known by some descriptive
and flowery title than by a family name. There
will be, among many others, " The Hong of
Felicity;" " The Gathering of Brothers;" " The
Budding of Hope;" " Parental Affection;" " The
Hall of the Sages;" "The ever-blossoming
Flowers;" " The Moonlight among the Peach-
trees." At the entrance of a cook's shop there
will be probably seen a glowing description of
Manchurian and Chinese delicacies: " Pine
birds'-nests," " Rich sea-slugs," "Newly-arrived
sharks'-fins," " Tendons of deer," all " served
up cheaply and courteously, so as to merit the
undoubted approval of the guests." The clothes-
warehouses are multitudinous, and some gaudy
arment is hung up to fascinate buyers. There
are magazines of native and foreign manufactures,
porcelain and curiosity shops, ironmongery
of all imaginary sorts, tea of fifty varieties, seal
cutters, antique and modern; boot and
shoemakers, of silk for the quality, cotton for the
vulgar, and beautiful embroidery for the Kin-lien
(golden lilies), that is to say, the small feet of