In the _Song of the Sword and Other Verses_, Mr. HENLEY incidentally asks, "What have I done for you, England, my England?" Since the question is put so pointedly, my Baronite, who has been looking through the little volume of verse, is bound to reply that, what Mr. HENLEY has done for England is to make it as ridiculous as is possible to a man with a limited audience. Mr. HENLEY has a pretty gift of versification, but it is spoiled by a wearisome proneness to smartness, and an assumption of personal superiority that occasionally reaches the heights of the ludicrous. If 'ARRY had been at the University, and had bent what he calls his mind upon verse-making, some of the truculent rhyme in this book is the sort of stuff he would have turned out. It seems at first hearing a far cry from 'ARRY to HENLEY. But the dispassionate reader, turning over these sulphurous leaves, will perceive deeply-rooted similarity in that narrowness of view, and that undisturbed consciousness that it alone is right, which distinguish the reflections, and are found in the observations, of 'ARRY when he views society from his lower standpoint. [Illustration: "Le Sabre de mon père!"] Messrs. HUTCHINSON & Co. have published a _Book of Wise Sayings_, by W. A. CLOUSTON. Not that W. A. CLOUSTON said them all, or any of them, but he selected them. One fault has the Baron to find with the selecting collector, and that is that his references are incomplete. He affixes the name of the author to every wise saying, but as he does not give chapter and verse, it is impossible for the ordinary unlearned reader to ascertain when and where the wise saying was uttered. Perhaps this omission is wise on the part of Mr. CLOUSTON. However, here is a happy example for the time present:-- "Safe in thy breast close lock up thy intents, For he that knows thy purpose best prevents."--_Randolph._ Isn't that good? Isn't it "RANDOLPH" to the life? Is anyone quite certain as to the course our RANDOLPH will take? There are, too, quotations from "R. CHAMBERLAIN"--not from JOSEPH--with whose works the Baron is not so conversant as he might be. Saith R. CHAMBERLAIN:-- "A foolish man in wealth and authority is like a weak-timbered house with a too-ponderous roof."--_R. Chamberlain._ The Baron strongly recommends the study of this volume to Mr. OSCAR WILDE; it will save him hours of painful cogitation during the incubation of his next play. THE BARON DE B.-W. & CO. * * * * * ANOTHER HOME-RULE QUESTION.--Ulster objects. Ulster threatens. If Home Rule becomes the law of the land, the Ulstermen will resist _vi et armis_. Do they propose to set up an Opposition Sovereignty? If so, they have a monarch at hand with the very title to suit them. He is to be found at the Heralds' College, and he is the, _par excellence_, "Ulster King-at-Arms!" * * * * *