_A captain_, one who is to fight any man that is peevish or out of humour at the loss of his money. _An usher_, who takes care that the porter, or grenadier at the door, suffers none to come in but those he knows. _A porter_, who, at most of the gaming-houses, is a soldier hired for that purpose. _A runner_, to get intelligence of all the meetings of the justices of the peace, and when the constables go upon the search. Any link-boy, coachman, chairman, drawer, or other person, who gives notice of the constables being upon the search, has half a guinea. * * * * * ~Omniana.~ TASTE. Taste is the discriminating talisman, enabling its owner to see at once the real merits of persons and things, to ascertain at a glance the true from the false, and to decide rightly on the value of individuals. Nothing escapes him who walks the world with his eyes touched by this ointment; they are open to all around him--to admire, or to condemn--to gaze with rapture, or to turn away with disgust, where another shall pass and see nothing to excite the slightest emotion. The fair creation of nature, and the works of man afford _him_ a wide field of continual gratification. The brook, brawling over its bed of rocks or pebbles, half concealed by the overhanging bushes that fringe its banks--or the great river flowing, in unperturbed majesty, through a wide vale of peace and plenty, or forcing its passage through a lofty range of opposing hills--the gentle knoll, and the towering mountain--the rocky dell, and the awful precipice--the young plantation, and the venerable forest, are alike to him objects of interest and of admiration. So in the works of man, a foot-bridge, thrown across a torrent, may be in it as gratifying to the man of taste as the finest arch, or most wonderful chain-bridge in the world; and a cottage of the humblest order may be so beautifully situated, so neatly kept, and so tastefully adorned with woodbine and jessamine, as to call forth his admiration equally with the princely residence of the British landholder, in all its pride of position, and splendour of architecture. In short, this faculty is applicable to every object; and he who finds any thing too lofty or too humble for his admiration, does not possess it. It is exercised in the every-day affairs of life as much as in the higher arts and sciences.--_Monthly Magazine._ * * * * * TWO RAVENS, ABROAD. On the quay at Nimeguen, in the United Provinces, _two ravens_ are kept at the public expense; they live in a roomy apartment, with a large wooden cage before it, which serves them for a _balcony_. These birds are feasted every day with the choicest fowls, with as much exactness as if they were for a gentleman’s table. The privileges of the city were granted originally upon the observance of this strange custom, which is continued to this day. * * * * * TWO RAVENS, AT HOME.