Strangest  of  all  was  ihe  following,  which  was  WTJtten  in  a
beautifully  firm  and  lady-like  hand  upon  good  paper  : — *!

have  seen  your  challenge  to  the  ladies  in  the ^  and  I

fancy  it  must  be  genuine,  and  that  you  expect  it  to  be
taken  up  in  all  frankness.  ...  I  am  twenty-five,  and  am
the  d.iuglitcr  of  a  solicitor.  I  have  been  well  educated,
and  you  may  judge  of  my  personal  appearance  by  the
enclosed  carte-de-visite.  I  shall  be  entitled  on  my  marriage
to  about  ;^5,ooo  in  the  funds,  and  at  my  mother's  death  I
expect  to  receive  a  similar  amount.  My  reason  for  this
bold  and  perhaps  imprudent  letter  is  that  I  am  tired  of
home,  which  is  loo  stiff  and  formal  for  me.  If  you  would
like  to  know  more  about  me  you  must  give  me  all  par-
ticulars about  yourself     Write  to  ^fiss  • ,  under  cover

to .'  The  portrait  enclosed  was  that  of  a  really  hand-
some girl  of  about  the  age  mentioned  in  the  letter.  The
name  given  was  one  not  altogether  unknown  to  the  writer,
and  the  person  under  cover  to  whom  the  reply  was  to  be
sent  was  evidently  a  servant.  It  need  scarcely  be  said
that  the  matter  went  no  further,  and  that  the  carte  was
returned  forthwith.  Still,  it  is  rather  melancholy  to  think
of  what  may  be  tiie  fate  of  iliis  girl.  She  evidently  sus-
pected no  harm,  and  she  confided  in  an  utter  stranger  with
singular  frankness  and  simplicity.  In  all  human  probability
she  would  become  the  prey  of  the  first  fortune-hunting
scoundrel  who  came  across  her  path,  unless  she  had,  jis
the  writer  sincerely  hopes,  a  big  brother  with  a  strong  arm
and  a  thick  stick."

We  have  before  us  at  the  present  moment  an  accumula-
tion of  the  very  extraordinary  applications  for  wives  and
husbands  which  are  constantly  appearing  in  the  cheap  pub-


MATR/MOmAL  ADVERTISEMENTS,  ETC.         499


lications  of  the  day,  but  the  specimens  already  given  will
doubtless  be  found  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  Two  from
our  heap,  however,  we  feel  in  duty  bound  to  give,  not  be-
cause they  are  very  different  from  the  rest  we  have  garnered,
but  because  they  are  fair  samples  of  a  style  often  adopted
by  the  Benedicks  and  Beatrices  of  the  Lomion  foiirfiai.
