NEGATIVE KNOWLEDGE.
We never knew a cabman with an eyeglass, or a chimneysweep with spectacles.
We never knew a lady buy a bargain at a shop sale, and not afterwards regret it.
We never knew a man propose the toast of the evening, without his wishing that it had not been placed in abler hands.
We never knew a waiter in a hurry, at a chop-house, who did not say that he was "Coming, Sir!" when really he was going.
We never lost a game to a professional at billiards, without hearing him assign his triumph chiefly to his flukes.