Literary Extracts.

LITERARY EXTRACTS .

BEHIND THE SCENES . —Fay meets fay with a cordiality ( although they have doubtless their jealousies ) which is very rare among ladies of fashion . " Jemima , darling , just set my quiver right , will you P" or " Kitty , dear , let me straighten your wings . " Their behaviour , too , with those young gentlemen who are evidently habitues of the place is artless and sister-like . There was certainly less

'flirtation than is seen after a dejeuner a la fourcliette on the lawn of many a respectable villa-residence on tho banks of the Thames ; and perhaps less misunderstanding of mutual position . I am bound to say that there was one exception'to this good conduct upon the part of a certain visitor , who , in graphic and well-chosen words of an indignant goddess about to ascend to the empyrean

upon a cloud , was both " old and ugly enough to know better . " This ancient gentleman— -or nobleman for all that I know—wont about with his faded airs and smileless face , whispering soft nothings to very little purpose , and , as it appeared to us , got considerably snubbed ; but after a little , to our groat content , he took himself off , instead of being taken , as he ought to have beeu , down

the nearest trap , by demons , and condemned there to wind windlasses of endless chains untill the theatricalseason terminated . There were depths below that would have afforded every accommodation that he deserved ; gloomy abysms , which we presently explored , with a , vague impression of dust and darkness , and the lifting of heavy weights , such as might have been produced by visiting Great Tower-street in July during an eclipse . Then again we mounted the " flies , " where , in gloom , the carpenters sat by the vast cylinders of rope , with their

fingers on tho iron handles , waiting for the signal from below ; also into tho Painting Room , a desolate chamber , whose immense extent might have taught perspective to the artist oE the willow-pattern plate ; nay , we were even shown the door—only the door—that opened on the sanctum which " young persons" in the receipt of a guinea a weak as ballet-dancers entered , shawled aud

cloaked , and came forth glorious with gauze and spangles as daughters of tho sun . But wherever we went , no matter what tho gloom , through cracks and clefts , the glare and glitter of the stage would force its way ; and no matter what the distance from " the house , " those sullen waves of sound , that wero applause , would yet bo hoard . — Ghamberr ' s Journal .

A SEASONABLE HINT . —A person leaving a warm room , and going into a colder , or into tho open air , should carefully close tho lips for a few minutes , untill he has become , as it wero , acclimatized to tho colder atmosphere , aud breathe through the nostrils alone , by which tho cold air is made to traverse the long , warm nasal passage before it reaches the windpipe and vocal

organs ; and its temperature being thus raised , one common mode of " catching cold " is avoided . Most persons upon leaving a warm church or hot concert-room immediately open their months to discuss the merits of those they have just heard , and many a severe cold is taken . It is equally common , but still worse , for a public speaker to do so , for his throat is more heated from his recent exertions , and he may , and often does , become hoarse for a month by such apparently trifling neglect . . "—G . W . Smith ' s " Clerical Elocution . "

BAXNARD ' S CASTLE . —Baynard's Castle stood in Thames Street , and was close to the river , so as to secure a good landing-place . It must originally have been important as a stronghold , and , from its favourable position for defence , no doubt afforded a very effectual barrier against interlopers , who , in those early times , sought to lunder the citizens of London . No vestiges of the

p building remain above ground ; but tho massive foundations are still visible at low water . Some years ago the site was used as a timber yard : an old engraving of the Castle represents a very extensive structure with three front buttresses , with their basements in the river , and

Literary Extracts.

raised far above the roof ; while , surmounting all , towards the centre , a lofty tower or steeple is shown . The buttresses , and all the intervening projections , are pierced with long narrow lights , and tho walls probably had " openings in every direction for the discharge of missiles , and , after the introduction of gunpowder as a moans of aggression , for the employment of gunnery , aud even of

mortars and small pieces of artillery . It is not known how the place fell to tho Crown , but , when destroyed by fire , in 1428 , it was rebuilt by Humphrey , Duke of Gloucester . Henry YI . made it a royal residence , but ultimately granted it to Richard , Duke of York , who made it his head-quarters during the Wars of tho Roses . A scene in Shakspoare ' s play of " Richard III . " is laid

in tho court of Baynard ' s Castle ; and its importance as a military station must have been immense , as it would so readily control the artisans as to political manifestations , from its groat strength , its situation -in the centre of London , and from overlooking tho Thames . —The Old City , its Highways and Byways . ST . PAUL ' S CROSS —• About forty years agoI can well

, recollect , at the north-east end of St . Paul ' s Churchyard , a small , stunted , ill-conditioned tree , now long decayed , which marked the spot where the Cross stood during so many ages . This unhappy-looking tree was believed to be one of several which had been planted

when green leaves were not exceptional m the district , and probably its branches , or those of its kindred , had actually waved around and shaded the City rostrom itself . Paul ' s Cross , or pulpit , was set up in the year 1449 , by Kempe , Bishop of London , on the site of a former ancient cross which had been thrown down by an earthquake in 1382 . It was first named in 1259 , when

Heny III . commanded the Mayor to oblige all the City youths , from fourteen years of ago upwards , to take the oath of allegiance , at St . Paul ' s Cross , to him and his heirs . In all likelihood it was in use for similar purposes , and for open-air exhortations from tho clergy , as early as the first Norman monarchs . Out-of-door preaching , denounced and ridiculed in the days of

Whitfield and Wesley , was there [ quite a recognised institution , although , from disuse , entirely forgotten . During several centuries tho Cross was used for almost every purpose , -whether political or ecclesiastical . Wo hear of it continually from tho pages of our old chroniclers . Monks declaimed , officials and law officers proclaimed , legends or doctrinesacts- of Parliament or the kings

, who made them ; and while the fourth estate ( the press ) was absolutely unknown , the people crowded around the Cross to hear news , or receive precepts , as almost their only source of information . —The Old GitiJ , its ILiqliv ; ojiis and Byways .

Poetry.

Poetry .

MASONIC MUSINGS . THE AlICItlT £ CrriiB OX" THE GAEL Weird old sentinels of monarch time , Mute and motionless , yet mighty and erect , Closer than thy concrete bond in lime , The secret lies of thy unknown architect ; Egyptian , Syrian , Roman , Greek aud Goth , will fail

Their spires and shafts , and pyramids Wizard Hound Towers , that shall perish not , The grand old architecture of the Gael . The world long since had solved thy mystery , if In Coptic , Sanscrit , or Arabic tongue ; Kor Hebrew , Greek , nor graven hieroglyph , Nor complex Ogham would have held it long what else thou wert

Keeps , belfries , beacons , or , Docnv and war as whilom may assail , Wizardllound Towers , time-proof on tho earth , The grand old architecture of tho Gael .