HOW'S THAT FOR—HIGH-TEA?

[A learned Judge is recently reported to have anxiously inquired the meaning of "high-tea.">[

His Lordship looked puzzled. He ransacked his brain;

His once beaming brow was contracted with pain.

Till my Lord stopped the Counsel, in saying, "Let's see,

Before you proceed, what is meant by 'high-tea'?

"I was called to the Bar such a long time ago!

But I flatter myself that I've learnt now to know

All the ropes pretty well, yet completely at sea

I confess that I am with this curious 'high-tea.'

"Now I own that I know an Oxonian 'wine,'

Though a 'cocoa' at Newnham is more in my line,

Whilst dinner and lunch are familiar to me.

So is supper. But what—tell me, what is 'high-tea'?"

The Counsel explained in his very best style,

(Though he often indulged, on the sly, in a smile,)

And the Judge was as eager as eager could be

To learn all the rites that belong to "high-tea."

But the sequel to all was a square little note

Next day from a blue-blooded Duchess who wrote

To the Judge, and this Dame of the highest degree

Had invited his Lordship to come to—High-Tea!