P.S. Tinder-boxes are unknown in Scotland, and I am sure M.L.B. if he wants a business would as readily make his fortune by selling them, as the Yorkshireman who went to the West Indies with a cargo of great coats.


LINES

ON MY FORTY-NINTH BIRTHDAY.

(For the Mirror.)

On the slope of Life's decline,

The landmark reached of forty-nine,

Thoughtful on this heart of mine

Strikes the sound of forty-nine.

Greyish hairs with brown combine