Then came the order to bury the dead. But we did more--_we buried the living with them_! Oh, how it made us laugh! Then came supper, and we amused ourselves by telling to one another our adventures. I was just recounting how I had emptied the pockets of a deceased officer, when--"whisk!"--up came a cannon-ball and struck me! I was able to say nothing more at that time; as, when the cannon-ball had passed, I found it had left me defunct! And I have been dead ever since. My companion and chum, whose name I must not give without permission, will vouch for every word I've said. (_Signed_) A. MUNCHAUSEN, _Late Lance-Ensign, the Lincoln Longbowers_. * * * * * "ENGLISH, YOU KNOW, QUITE ENGLISH." Perhaps, the good old rule that, "You should never look a gift-horse in the mouth," cannot be so rigorously applied to gifts of pictures to the Nation as to other things. Nevertheless, Mr. TATE'S munificent proffer of his Collection to the National Gallery, is surely too good a thing to be missed through matters of mere detail. _Mr. Punch's_ view is--well, despite _Touchstone's_ attack on "the very false gallop of verses," there are two things that come most insinuatingly in metre; offers of love, and of friendly advice:-- ENGLISH Art no longer paints Those "squint-eyed Byzantine saints" Mr. ORROCK so disparages. Martyrdoms and Cana Marriages Over-stock our great Art Gallery, Giving ground for ORROCK'S raillery. Scenes in desert dim, or dun stable, Than Green English lanes by CONSTABLE Are less welcome, or brown rocks And grey streams by DAVID COX. Saint Sebastian's death? Far sweeter Sylvan scenes by honest PETER; There's a charm in dear DE WINT Cannot be conveyed in print. Verdant landscapes, sea-scapes cool, Painted by the English School. Must be welcome to our British Taste, which is not grim or skittish; Rather Philistine, it may be. Sweet on cornfields and the Baby; Yet of ROMNEY'S grace no spurner, Or the golden dreams of TURNER. Moral? Will a moral, bless us! Comes like that old shirt of NESSUS. Still, here goes! An Art-official Should be genial, but judicial. When an Art-Collection's national, It is obviously rational It should be a bit eclectic, Weeding out the crude or hectic. He who'd have his country's honour, As a liberal Art-donor, Thinks more of his country's fame Than of _his_ particular name. Would you win true reputation As benefactor of the Nation. Trust me 'tis not "special room" Keeps _that_ glory in full bloom. _Punch_ is a plain-speaking chap; Here's his view of things. _Verb. sap._! * * * * * [Illustration]