“Variety,” say our school copy-books, “is charming;” hence this must be the most charming place of amusement in London.  The annexed list of entertainments was produced on Tuesday last, when were added to the usual passe-temps, a flower and fruit show.  Wild beasts in cages; flowers of all colours and sizes in pots; enormous cabbages; Brobdignag apples; immense sticks of rhubarb; a view of Rome; a brass band; a grand Roman cavalcade passing over the bridge of St. Angelo; a deafening park of artillery, and an enchanting series of pyrotechnic wonders, such as catherine-wheels, flower-pots, and rockets; an illumination of St. Peter’s; blazes of blue-fire, showers of steel-filings, and a grand blow up of the castle of St. Angelo.

Such are the entertainments provided by the proprietor.  The company—­which numbered at least from five to six thousand—­gave them even greater variety.  Numerous pic-nic parties were seated about on the grass; sandwiches, bottled stout, and (with reverence be it spoken) more potent liquors seemed to be highly relished, especially by the ladies.  Ices were sold at a pastry-cook’s stall, where a continued feu-de-joie of ginger-pop was kept up during the whole afternoon and evening.  In short, the scene was one of complete al fresco enjoyment; how could it be otherwise?  The flowers delighted the eye; Mr. Godfrey’s well-trained band (to wit, Beethoven’s symphony in C minor, with all the fiddle passages beautifully executed upon clarionets!) charmed the ear; and the edibles and drinkables aforesaid the palate.  Under such a press of agreeables, the Surrey Zoological Gardens well deserve the name of an Englishman’s paradise.

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ON THE SCIENCE OF ELECTIONEERING.

To the progress of science and the rapid march of moral improvement the most effectual spur that has ever been applied was the Reform Bill.  Before the introduction of that measure, electioneering was a simple process, hardly deserving the name of an art; it has now arrived at the rank of a science, the great beauty of which is, that, although complicated in practice, it is most easy of acquirement.  Under the old system boroughs were bought by wholesale, scot and lot; now the traffic is done by retail.  Formerly there was but one seller; at present there must be some thousands at least—­all to be bargained with, all to be bought.  Thus the “agency” business of electioneering has wonderfully increased, and so have the expenses.

In fact, an agent is to an election what the main-spring is to a watch; he is, in point of fact, the real returning-officer.  His importance is not less than the talents and tact he is obliged to exert.  He must take a variety of shapes, must tell a variety of lies, and perform the part of an animated contradiction.  He must benevolently pay the taxes of one man who can’t vote while in arrear; and cruelly serve notices of