"A 'eart that is 'umble might 'ope for it 'ere."
And the elephant confounds them the other way—
"A helephant heasily heats at his hease,
Hunder humbrageous humbrella trees."
Alliterations carried to Absurd Excess.
In the early part of the seventeenth century the fashion of hunting after alliterations was carried to an absurd excess. Even from the pulpit the chosen people were addressed as "the chickens of the church, the sparrows of the spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation." "Ane New-Year Gift," or address, presented to Mary Queen of Scots by the poet Alexander Scot, concludes with a stanza running thus—
"Fresh, fulgent, flourist, fragrant flower formose,
Lantern to love, of ladies lamp and lot,
Cherry maist chaste, chief, carbuncle and chose, &c."
Vacillating Newspapers.
The newspapers of Paris, under censorship of the press, in 1815, announced in the following manner Bonaparte's departure from the Isle of Elba, his march across France and his entrance into the French Capital:—
"9th March.—The Cannibal has escaped from his den. 10th.—The Corsican Ogre has just landed at Cape Juan. 11th.—The Tiger has arrived at Gap. 12th.—The Monster has passed the night at Grenoble. 13th.—The Tyrant has crossed Lyons. 14th.—The Usurper is directing his course toward Dijon, but the brave and loyal Burgundians have risen in a body and they surround him on all sides. 18th.—Bonaparte is sixty leagues from the Capital; he has had skill enough to escape from the hands of his pursuers. 19th.—Bonaparte advances rapidly, but he will never enter Paris. 20th.—To-morrow Napoleon will be under our ramparts. 21st.—The Emperor is at Fontainebleau. 22d.—His Imperial and Royal Majesty last evening made his entrance into his Palace of the Tuileries, amidst the joyous acclamations of an adoring and faithful people."