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THE BITER BIT.

Zeno, the philosopher, believed in an inevitable destiny, and acknowledged but one God.  His servant availed himself of this doctrine one day while being beaten for a theft, by exclaiming, “Was I not destined to rob?” “Yes,” replied Zeno, “and to be corrected also.”

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PRIDE.

Theophile, the French poet, dedicated a book to James I. of England, in the hope of being personally introduced to that monarch, but being disappointed in this expectation he wrote the following lines on the subject:—­

  “Si Jacques Roi de grand savoir
  N’a pas trouve bon de me voir,
  En voici la cause infallible;
  C’est que ravi de mon ecrit
  Il cout que j’etois tout esprit
  Et par consequent invisible.”

A.B.M

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LONGEVITY.

The English have two instances on record of remarkable longevity, that of Henry Jenkins, a Yorkshire fisherman, who died 1670, aged 169; and Thomas Parr, who died 1635, aged 152.  The Russians appear to be the longest lived of any people, as a proof of this the following article from La Clinique, a Parisian medical journal, will be sufficient:—­ “Last year (1828) 604 individuals died between 100 and 105 years old; 145 between 105 and 110; 104 between 110 and 115; 46 between 115 and 120; 16 between 125 and 130; 4 between 130 and 135; 1 at the age of 137; and 1 at 160.”

J.F.C.

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SIR WILLIAM WALWORTH.

In St. Michael’s Church, Crooked-lane, there is a handsome monument to the memory of Sir William Walworth, with this inscription:—­

  Here under lies a man of fame,
  William Walworth called by name,
  Fishmonger he was in lifetime here,
  And twice Lord Mayor, as in books appear,
  Who with courage stout and manly might,
  Slew Wat Tyler in King Richard’s sight,
  And for which act done, and heere intent
  The king made him a knight incontinent,
  And gave him arms as here may see,
  To declare his fact and chivalrie. 
  He left his life the year of our God,
  Thirteen hundred fourscore and three odd.

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Collins was never a lover, and never married.  His odes, with all their exquisite fancy and splendid imagery, have not much interest in their subjects, and no pathos derived from feeling or passion.  He is reported to have been once in love; and as the lady was a day older than himself, he used to say jestingly, that “he came into the world a day after the fair.”

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