The following equivoque was addressed to a republican at the commencement of the French Revolution, in reply to the question, “What do you think of the new constitution?”
| A la nouvelle loi | Je veux être fidèle |
| Je renonce dans l’âme | Au régime ancien, |
| Comme épreuve de ma foi | Je crois la loi nouvelle |
| Je crois celle qu’on blâme | Opposée à tout bien; |
| Dieu vous donne la paix | Messieurs les démocrats |
| Noblesse désolée | Au diable allez-vous en; |
| Qu’il confonde à jamais | Tous les Aristocrats |
| Messieurs de l’Assemblée | Ont eux seuls le bon sens. |
| The newly made law | ’Tis my wish to esteem |
| From my soul I abhor | The ancient regime |
| My faith to prove good, | I maintain the new code |
| I maintain the old code | Is opposed to all good. |
| May God give you peace, | Messieurs Democrats, |
| Forsaken Noblesse, | To the devil go hence. |
| May He ever confound | All the Aristocrats |
| The Assembly all round | Are the sole men of sense. |
FATAL DOUBLE MEANING.
Count Valavoir, a general in the French service under Turenne, while encamped before the enemy, attempted one night to pass a sentinel. The sentinel challenged him, and the count answered “Va-la-voir,” which literally signifies “Go and see.” The soldier, who took the words in this sense, indignantly repeated the challenge, and was answered in the same manner, when he fired; and the unfortunate Count fell dead upon the spot,—a victim to the whimsicality of his surname.
A TRIPLE PLATFORM.
Among the memorials of the sectional conflict of 1861–5, is an American platform arranged to suit all parties. The first column is the Secession; the second, the Abolition platform; and the whole, read together, is the Democratic platform:—
| Hurrah for | The Old Union |
| Secession | Is a curse |
| We fight for | The Constitution |
| The Confederacy | Is a league with hell |
| We love | Free speech |
| The rebellion | Is treason |
| We glory in | A Free Press |
| Separation | Will not be tolerated |
| We fight not for | The negro’s freedom |
| Reconstruction | Must be obtained |
| We must succeed | At every hazard |
| The Union | We love |
| We love not | The negro |
| We never said | Let the Union slide |
| We want | The Union as it was |
| Foreign intervention | Is played out |
| We cherish | The old flag |
| The stars and bars | Is a flaunting lie |
| We venerate | The heabus corpus |
| Southern chivalry | Is hateful |
| Death to | Jeff Davis |
| Abe Lincoln | Isn’t the Government |
| Down with | Mob law |
| Law and order | Shall triumph. |
LOYALTY, OR JACOBINISM?
This piece of amphibology was circulated among the United Irishmen, previous to the Rebellion of 1798. First, read the lines as they stand, then according to the numerals prefixed:—
1. I love my country—but the king,