Johnson complained he had never had of peaches but
once) their fill of them, and that daily. The middle-sized ones (which
are the best) sell at four for a grano, which is at the rate of ten for
a penny English; and the poor get twice as many of those beginning to
decay.
* * * * *
THE GATHERER.
_Ancient Starvation._--Hume tells us "The Monks and Prior of St. Swithin
threw themselves, one day, prostrate on the ground, and in the mire,
before Henry II., complaining, with many tears and much doleful
lamentation, that the Bishop of Winchester, who was also their Abbot,
had cut off three dishes from their tables. 'How many has he left you?'
said the king, '_Ten only_' replied the disconsolate monks. 'I, myself,'
exclaimed the king, 'never have more than three, and I enjoin your
bishop to reduce you to the same number.'" P.T.W.
_Ice Water._--The Chinese rise at day-break, after a hard frost to
gather ice, which they melt, and carefully bottle up as a remedy for
fever in the hot months.
A French marquess having received several blows over his shoulders with
a stick, which he never thought of resenting, a friend asked him how he
could reconcile it with his honour, to suffer them to pass without
notice.
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