I say, Aggy,--You know your Catechism? Massa Amen ask him at me and my wife, Black Juno, sometimes You remember. Massa Amen say, you give up a Devil? very well. Then him say, you give up all work? very well. Then him say again, Black Juno, you give up your _Pompeys_ and vanities? Black Juno shake her head, and say no. Massa Amen say you must, and then my wife cry ever so much. [_It’s a fact, Jedidiah, the black female made this ridiculous mistake._] Very well. Governor come to you in three months to see the King. Pompey too. You remember. Come for me to Blackwall. Me bring you some of Governor’s rum. Black Juno say, tell Massa Agamemnon, he must send some fashions, sometimes. You remember? Black Juno very smart. Him wish for a Bell Assembly. [_Jedidiah, so do I._] You send him out, you remember? Very well. Massa Amen say write no more now. I say, O pray one little word more for Agamemnon’s wife. Give him good kiss from Pompey. [_Jedidiah, what a heathenish message!_] Black Diana a kiss too. You remember? Very well. No more. [Illustration: SHIP LETTERS.] FRENCH AND ENGLISH. “Good Heaven! Why even the little children in France speak French!”--ADDISON. I. Never go to France Unless you know the lingo, If you do, like me, You will repent by jingo. Staring like a fool, And silent as a mummy, There I stood alone, A nation with a dummy. II. Chaises stand for chairs, They christen letters _Billies_, They call their mothers _mares_, And all their daughters _fillies_; Strange it was to hear, I’ll tell you what’s a good ’un, They call their leather _queer_, And half their shoes are wooden. III. Signs I had to make For every little notion, Limbs all going like A telegraph in motion; For wine I reel’d about, To show my meaning fully, And made a pair of horns, To ask for “beef and bully.” IV. Moo! I cried for milk; I got my sweet things snugger, When I kissed Jeannette, ’Twas understood for sugar. If I wanted bread, My jaws I set a-going, And asked for new-laid eggs, By clapping hands and crowing? V. If I wish’d a ride, I’ll tell you how I got it; On my stick astride, I made believe to trot it; Then their cash was strange, It bored me every minute, Now here’s a _hog_ to change, How many _sows_ are in it? VI. Never go to France, Unless you know the lingo; If you do, like me, You will repent, by jingo; Staring like a fool, And silent as a mummy, There I stood alone, A nation with a dummy! [Illustration: “Allons! Vîte! Vîte! Vîte! Vîte!” “No, Mounseer, not veat--them’s whoats!”] OUR VILLAGE. “Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain.”--GOLDSMITH.