If fate is to make It unlawful
For girls to be furnished with beaus;
The summer has vanished and faded;
The forests arc withered and sere;
No lover our hearts has invaded—
Tin horrid to wait a whole year'
MV LAST KEHEAKSAL.
London Boclety.
Probably the theory of evolution
never received a more practical illus
tration, physically and mentally, than
in my case. For whereas lam now a
portly, sedate, well-to-do father of a
family, church warden, overseer and
guardian of my parish, some thirty
years ago I was a slender, harum
scarum bachelor, impecunious, and
ready at a moment’s notice for any
folly which might present itself to my
excitable and mercurial temperament.
Vicious, I certainly was not, but
merely thoughtless and inconsiderate.
My name is Matthews, and I was
christened (Jharles, after my uncle,
from whom my father had pecuniary
expectations. The late Charles lleade
was undeniably right when he said
that versatility never pays. 1 was a
fair baritone singer, a clever carica
turist, and admirable mimic, and en
joyed great renown as an amateur
actor. Yet at the age of twenty-five
1 was entirely dependent on ray father
for the necessaries of life and pocket
money. My largest creditor at this
time was my tailor, to whom I was
indebted in the sum of ninety five
pounds four shillings and sixpence.
Unless my father “stumped up” I had
us much chance of being able to pay
the national debt as of defraying tins
amount. For some reason or other
mv father proved uuusally obstinate
at this juncture and declined to do
anything in the matter; I remember
he described bis conduct as firm ness.
