SONNET.-THE STREAMLET.-A VALENTINE.-THE WHITE JESSAMINE.

and twenty-six; together with a body of notes, thirty-five in number, explanatory of the rules themselves. One of these notes is so highly characteristic that we cannot deny ourself the pleasure of presenting it to our readers. " Croquet," he says, "is a game for the parterre rather than the pasture; and as it must needs be frequently played under a hot sun, the shade of the copse should be con venient. In winter too-for Croquet is a game for all seasons-the shrubbery affords shelter. The only objection to having the croquet-ground within the shrubbery, is the difficulty of there finding a sufficient space of grass-ground surface. Some ornamental shrub or tree

its spread, or lessen its attractiveness to those who were the first to introduce and enjoy it. Croquet is an innocent amusement-a game of true civilising influence. While deserving every epithet of praiseworthy of being designated the king of games,' the 'queen of sports,' or 'the prince of pastimes,'-let us hope that it may also become a pastime of the people."

In order that our readers should understand the following rules, it is necessary to explain that the term roquet is equivalent to canon at billiards, that is, the contact of one ball with another before passing through the arch; and ricochet, the striking of two balls with the player's ball. The engraving in the centre of the last

RULES OF THE GAME.

is too highly-prized to be sacrificed-even | page, and the following rules, will enable to the charming game of Croquet! Let anyone to play Croquet. such trees stand for the present. The time is not distant, when they will be transplanted, or cut down ruthlessly and without remorse-yea, flung into the fire as faggots-to make way for this sweet pastime-itself to be cherished, as if it were the tree of life!"

1. The ball must be struck or pushed by the end of the mallet only.

2. The arch must on no account ever be moved to afford the player any convenience in playing.

ball.

There! the italics and the punctuation 3. After the player has passed his ball are the great captain's own. Again;-through an arch, he is entitled to another "though hitherto restricted to the lawn of stroke; or after having roquet another the lordly mansion, and confined within the pailings of the park, Croquet will ere long escape from aristocratic keeping, and become equally the property of the paddock and the village green. Let us hope that no class-jealousy will arise to prevent

4. The player can only roquet the same ball once, until he again passes through the arch.

5. A ball half through an arch is considered altogether through.

6. If a player miss an arch he must return to the side of it that he played from, either through or round the arch, as most convenient.

7. A ball must not be lifted from the ground, even if in the way of another player. If the ball of one of the players strike that of another, which is not available for a roquet, both balls remain as sent; but if the ball be hit, and available for a roquet, it must be roqued.

S. A ball that has not been through the first arch cannot roquet, but it can be roqued.

9. If a ball that has not passed through the first ring be sent behind the pin at the starting-point, it can be brought up to the starting-point and begin anew.

10. On striking the second pin the player has the option of either leaving his ball wherever it may have rolled, or of bringing it back to the starting-pin.

11. When intending to roquet another ball, the player should strike his own ball with commensurate force, in order to drive the ball about to be roque'd into an unfavourable or favourable position. The player's ball must always be the one moved in roqueting.

12. If in roqueting the player's ball slip from under his foot when he strikes it, it must be brought back to the place whence he struck it.

TROCO, OR LAWN BILLIARDS. THIS game is somewhat similar to, though scarcely so amusing as, Croquet. It is played by any number of ladies or gentlemen, and the object is to pass a wooden ball through an iron ring fixed on a movable pivot in the centre of a circle, round which the players take their places. The ball is lifted from the ground by means of a cue furnished with an iron ring at the end, and propelled or thrown forward by a simple movement of the arm. As it is the object of the player to pass his own ball through the ring, it is equally the object of his opponent to prevent him. This he accomplishes by means of a roquet, or canon. The game is generally played fifty up; one point being counted for a simple roquet, two for making or passing through the ring,

and three for roqueting and making the ring at the same stroke.

The best implements for both Croquet and Lawn Billiards may be obtained of Messrs. Asser and Sherwin, 80, Strand.

OUR SCRAP-BOOK.

"is

"LAUGH when you can a good maxim; between well-disposed sympathies a very little cause strikes out the fire of merriment.

As long liveth the merry man, they say,

As doth the sorry man, and longer by a day. And a day so acquired is worth having. But then,

Another sayd sawe doth men advise,

That they be together both merry and wise.

Very good doctrine, and fit to be kept in mind; but there is much good laughter without much wisdom, and yet with no

harm in it.

the colour of the substances on which I rest. He that revels in a well-chosen library has innumerable dishes, and all of admirable flavour. His taste is rendered so acute as easily to distinguish the nicest shades of difference. His mind becomes ductile, susceptible to every impression, and gaining new refinement from them all. His varieties of thinking battle calculation, and his powers, whether of reason or fancy, become eminently vigorous.- William Godwin.

As the sun can image itself in a tiny dew-drop or in the mighty ocean, and can do it, though on a different scale, as perfectly in the one as in the other, so the spirit of poetry can dwell in and glorify alike a word and an Iliad.-Archbishop

Trench.

SONG-WRITING.-Essentially popular in its character, it requires that the idea to be developed shall be simple, natural, and obvious, without being commonplace; while its brevity renders it essential that everything strained, rugged, or weak, either in the expression or the rhyme, shall be most carefully eliminated.--Edinburgh Review.

IT was an English, not an Irish poet, who says—

GOOD TASTE IN WIT.-Wit, and even the perception of wit, is not spontaneous in most men. It must be taught by example; and humour is such a wild, discursive thing that to keep it always within bounds is a supreme achievement of good taste. All of us may hope, by instinctive caution -by a constant sacrifice of impulse to prudence-not to offend taste or feeling. But to exercise your gifts, to give them free and joyous play, to assume a careless hilarity, to infuse spirit by your own spirit, to indulge sudden freaks of fancy, to play with every one's peculiarities, to reach the A painted vest Prince Vortigern had on, Which from a naked Pict his grandsire won. verge and never pass it, to be daring and yet teader, wild and yet discreet, in the It was a French philosopher, M. Joinville, flush of excitement, in the exuberance of who, being prepared to observe an eclipse invention, never to say a thing better not of the sun, at which the king was to be said, to exercise always a nice and true present, said to M. Cassini, Shall we not discrimination, to suppress the unreason-wait for the king, before we begin the able witticism, to quench the sudden flash, to be witty and wise, to observe person, time, and place with an exact propriety, this is to have good taste in its fullest extent; and, under such an influence, thought enlarges its range, and conversation acquires a point, a spirit, and a grace attainable through no other agency.

THE INFLUENCE OF Books-Books gratify and excite our curiosity in innumerable ways. They force us to reflect. They hurry us from point to point. They present direct ideas of various kinds, and they suggest indirect ones. In a well-written book we are presented with the maturest reflections, or the happiest flights, of a mind of uncommon excellence. It is impossible that we can be much accustomed to such companions without attaining some resemblance of them. When I read Thomson, I become Thomson; when I read Milton, 1 become Milton. I find myself a sort of intellectual chameleon, assuming

eclipse?" It was a French gentleman, who, hearing a lady exclaim against the inhumanity of Buffon, in dissecting his own cousin, remarked, "But, my dear madam, the man who was dissected was dead!" It was also a Frenchman, who, being asked by a young man for his only daughter in marriage, exclaimed, "No, sir; if I had fifty only daughters, I would not give you one of them."

GIRLHOOD is a beautiful season, and its love-its warm, uncalculating, unselfish love-so exaggerating in its simplicity, so keen from its freshness- is the very poetry of attachment; after-years have nothing like it.

TO RENDER GHARITIES USEFUL.Those who would render their charities useful should judiciously diffuse them. He who would have a good crop must sow with his hand, aud not pour out of the sack into one heap.