* * * * *
[Illustration: A COOL HAND.
_Irrepressible Pupil_. "Poor Stuff, Sir, this Virgil. Don't you think
so?"
_Suffering Coach_ (_who can scarcely believe his ears_). "Poor Stuff,
Sir! Virgil--poor Stuff! _What do you mean_?"
_Irrepressible Pupil_ (_unmoved_). "Seems to me, Sir, it's merely a
Literal Translation of some of the best English Cribs!"]
* * * * *
LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES!
["It is to be sincerely hoped that there is no truth in
the rumour that a paper for children will shortly make its
appearance, entirely written and illustrated by children under
fifteen years of age."--_St. James's Gazette, October 12th._]
Why, churlish critic, do you hope sincerely
The rumour, which you mention, is untrue?
Mere prejudice makes you regard severely
The cause of liberty which we pursue.
We are, _The Prattler_ will establish clearly,
Quite competent to edit a review;
The age of greatest wisdom will be seen
To be decidedly below fifteen.
_We_ never showed, as we need hardly mention,
That fabled ignorance about the stars,
From earliest days we spoke about 'declension,'
And argued on the atmosphere of Mars;
While parents we put up with, more attention
We paid towards another kind of "pars.
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