A man is said to be at a discount on 'Change, when he has no change at the Bank; when he has no banker in the City; when "no effects" is written on his "mandible:"—at Almack's, when he ceases to invite dinner eaters; among the ladies, when grey hairs and crows' feet make their appearance, and teeth their disappearance.
Par, above par, below par. We are at par, when in that blessed state of equanimity found in perfection at a Quakers' meeting; above par, when floundering about in champagne; and below par, when cooling down on water gruel and Seidlitz.
Examples of discount at the present moment are too numerous to mention. Every thing seems at a discount; radicals, dissenters, theatricals, fine arts, scientificks, trade, commerce, manufactures. Asses' heads alone are looking up.
RULE XV.
INVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION.
Involution and Evolution are two rules of arithmetic which signify getting in and getting out. Involution signifies such matters as getting in love, getting into a lawsuit, or getting into debt. It is the rule of entanglement, and is represented by a fly in a spider's web.
Evolution comprehends all the tricks, shifts, schemes, and stratagems, by which we get out of our various difficulties; but it may be observed that it is much easier to become involved in any matter, than to get disentangled: whatever may be our evolutions, it is a difficult matter to get out of love, out of a law-suit, or out of debt.
LAW EVOLUTION—GETTING INTO A LAW-SUIT.
"Will you walk into my office," said the lawyer, Mr. Sly,