Some time ago, a dozen years or more, there appeared in the _Literary Gazette_, as a communication from a correspondent, an anecdote concerning Aram, which well deserves to be repeated. During the time that he was in the school of Lynn, it was the custom for the head-master, at the termination of every half-year, to invite the parents of the boys to an entertainment, and all {361} who accepted the invitation were expected to bring with them the money due on account of their sons, which, _postquam exempta fames epulis_, they paid into the head-master's hands. The master would thus retire to rest with a considerable sum in his possession. On one of these occasions, after he had gone to his chamber and supposed that all the family were in bed, he heard a noise in a passage not far distant, and, going out to see what was the cause of it, found Aram groping about in the dark, who, on being asked what he wanted, said that he had been obliged to leave his room on a necessary occasion, and had missed his way to the place which he sought. The passage was not one into which he was likely to wander by mistake, but the master accepted his excuse, and thought no more of the matter till Aram was arrested for the robbery and murder of Clarke, when he immediately recollected the circumstance, and suspected that he had intended on that night to commit another robbery or murder. I have not the number of the _Literary Gazette_ in which this statement was given to refer to, but I am sure that I have repeated the substance of it correctly, and remember that it was inserted as being worthy of credit. It is another illustration of the fact that the nature of a man is unchangeable. Bulwer's novel, which elevates Aram from a school-assistant into a private gentleman, may have pleased those, if there were such, who knew nothing of Arum's acts before they began to read it. But all who knew what Aram was, must be disgusted at the threshold. I regarded the book, at the time of its appearance, as one of the most presumptuous falsifications of biography that had ever been attempted. It is not easy to see why Bulwer might not have made an equally interesting story, if he had kept Aram in his proper station. J. S. W. Stockwell. * * * * * ON THE WORD "GRADELY." Permit me to make a few remarks on the word _gradely_:-- 1. It seems to have no connexion with the Latin noun _gradus_, Angl. _grade_, step. 2. Its first syllable, _grade_, is both a substantive and an adjective; and _gradely_ itself both adjective and adverb, as _weakly_, _sickly_, _godly_, &c. 3. It is not confined to Lancashire or to England, but appears in Scotland as _graith_ (ready), _graith_ (furniture); whence _graithly_ (readily), to _graith_, _grathe_, or _graid_ (prepare), &c. See Jamieson's _Sc. Dict._ and _Supplement_.