["If we really used the Thames Embankment sensibly and liberally, it would abound with handsome shops and cheerful cafes a and volksgartens, with newspaper kiosks and long lines of bookstalls."--_Daily Telegraph_, Oct. 21.]] * * * * * BLENDIMUS! "Water, water everywhere" in the _Times_ recently, except when Messrs. GILBEY wrote their annual, and this time hopeful, account of the Claret vintage, and when subsequently Messrs. "P. and G."--(who on earth are "P. and G."?)--with a few modest lines at the foot of a page, last Wednesday, enlivened our drooping spirits with a brief but satisfactory account of Champagne Prospects. If the vintages of '86 and '87 are good, and those of '90 and '91 poor, why not make a blend? and why not sell it as such? Let "P. and G."--[confound it! who on earth can P. and G. be? "P. and J." would be "Punch and Judy"--and, by the way, in the choice _Lingua Tuscana_, "P. and G." would stand for "_Poncio e Giulia_." But, on the other hand, who, unauthorised, would dare to use this signature? No matter--where were we?--ah!--to resume.] Let "P. and G.," whoe'er they be--which is rhyme, though not so intended--(but why this masquerade in initials?)--let them exploit a "Blend of '90-cum-'86 and '91-cum-'87," sell it as such--viz., The "P. and G. Blend," or "The Punchius and Giulia Blend"--at a reasonable figure, and thus the Not-quite-up-to-the-mark vintages will be saved. Have we not seen in City partnerships how a strong house saves a failing one, and then the Blends go on successfully? Let "P. and G." give us a first-rate Champagne, call it, say, The "G.B.," or "Golden Blend," at a reasonable price, and, to drop once again into poetry, No matter what their name may be, We'll ever bless our P. and G.![2] [Footnote 2: "P. and G." might stand for "Pay-for-it and Get-it," or "Pour-it and Guzzle-it." A Correspondent has suggested that solution of the initial problem might possibly be found in the names of Pommery and Gre'--No! So common-place a suggestion is evidently, and on the face of it, absurd. Not in this spirit did the Pickwick Club treat the celebrated inscription on the stone that so puzzled the antiquarians.] * * * * * [Illustration: SPORT! _Cockney Sportsman_ (_eager, but disappointed_). "I SAY, MY BOY, SEEN ANY BIRDS THIS WAY?" '_Cute Rustic (likewise anxious to make a bag)._ "OH, A RARE LOT, GUV'NOR--A RARE LOT--JUST FLEW OVER THIS 'ERE 'EDGE, AND SETTLED IN THAT 'ERE FIELD, CLOSE TO SQUIRE BLANK'S RICKS." [_Grateful Cockney Sportsman tips boy a shilling, and goes hopefully after ... a flock of Starlings!_] * * * * * CAUGHT BY THE CLASSICS. (_THE RECORD OF A RUINED LIFE._)