"You know her intimately then?" "Very; I buy all my green-grocery of her." The introduction takes place. Gracious powers! how a minute broke the enchantment of many weeks! "The nymph of the Danube was habited in a faded green cloak and straw bonnet, with limp and half-bleached pink ribbons clinging to its form. Her pallid and almost doughy face was deeply pitted with smallpox; her skin was rough from the constant layers of red and white paint it had to endure," etc., etc. He fell back with a convulsive start. From internal evidence I find the date of "Comic Tales," etc., to be 1841, contemporary, therefore, with the establishment of _Punch_. There is a drawing of so pretty a conceit as to warrant my selecting it, though artistically it is inferior to Leech's work even at that time. The drawing heads a paper entitled "Speculations on Marriage and Young Ladies," and as it tells its own story, quotation from Mr. Smith is needless. In one amusing paper in "Comic Tales," the author treats us to "an Act for amending the representation of certain public sights, termed equestrian spectacles, in the habit of being represented at a favourite place of resort, termed the Royal Amphitheatre, Westminster Bridge." The paper is framed in the form of an Act of Parliament, and the author forbids the use of ancient jokes or stereotyped phrases in a very humorous manner. "Be it enacted," he announces, after condemning a variety of objectionable practices, "that the clown shall not, after the first equestrian feat, exclaim: 'Now I'll have a turn to myself!' previous to his toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring; nor shall he fall flat on his face, and then collecting some sawdust in his hand, drop it down from the level of his head, and say his nose bleeds; nor shall he attempt to make the rope-dancers' balance-pole stand on its end by propping it up with the said sawdust; nor shall he, after chalking the performers' shoes, conclude by chalking his own nose, to prevent his foot slipping when he treads upon it; nor shall he pick up a small piece of straw, for fear he should fall over it, and afterwards balance the said straw on his chin as he runs about; neither shall the master of the ring say to the clown, when they are leaving the circus: 'I never follow the fool, sir!' nor shall the fool reply: 'Then I do!' and walk out after him." I would draw attention to the figure of the clown in this cut, which is simply perfect in expression and character. The affected strut of the ring-master also is admirably caught. A paper on Christmas pantomimes is illustrated by such a perfect clown that I cannot resist my inclination to present him to my readers. [Illustration: CLOWN: "Oh, see what I've found!"] "Comic Tales and Pictures of Life" contains, at least, one drawing that is equal to Leech at his best. The cut illustrates an article on "Delightful People," a short essay, amusing enough. [Illustration: "MISS CINTHIA SINGS."]