jury,' I went on, 'to whom it was addressed certainly seemed to me to pay every att——

There were five of them asleep!' interrupted Rusticus.

Call them the seven sleepers at once!' I rejoined.

'No thank you,' responded Rusticus, 'I prefer to be exact. Five was the number. But come,' he continued in a more amiable tone, 'like a good fellow and dine with me (for I am half starved after sitting in that court all day), and don't let us talk any more about that stu ahem, very able

speech of yours!'

'Confess now, Rusticus,' I replied, as I passed my arm through his, ' that you felt my speech long because you were very hungry.'

'Well,' admitted Rusticus, 'perhaps that might be so!!

Rusticus having confessed thus much, I very willingly went home with him to dinner. The fact, indeed, is that Rusticus is about the last person in the world with whom I should wish to quarrel. When I mention that his claret is undeniable, that his cigars are the best I have ever smoked, that his daughters are two of the prettiest girls in Stoneyshire (I ought to have mentioned the young ladies before the claret and cigars, but let that pass), the

reader will readily understand that I was by no means wishful to lose my accustomed quarterly dinner with Rusticus at Stoneyshire Hall. I say my accustomed quarterly dinner, for Stoneyshire sessions are held quarterly, and it has for years past been a settled custom that whenever I came to Stoneyshire sessions I should dine with Rusticus at Stoneyshire Hall.

Once a year, too, there is a sessions' ball held in Hillboro' (which, as all the world knows, is the county town of Stoneyshire), and ever since Miss Rusticus and Miss Laura Rusticus came out,' I have had the honour of making one of a party, (headed of course by Mr. and Mrs. Rusticus,) from Stoneyshire Hall to attend the sessions' ball.

I may safely say that the sessions' ball is the event of the year to all the Hillboro' young ladies. It is always held in the month of October, and as at that time of the year most of the county families are residing in Stoneyshire, the company gathered together at it is more fashionable than might at first be supposed. Last year one duke, two earls, one lord, one baronet and several M.P's, ' attended by the ladies of their families' (to use the words of the Stoneyshire Sentinel in recording the event), ‘graced the ball room with their presence.'

Dancing began '-I am still quoting from the

account of last year's ball given in the Stoneyshire Sentinel- at nine o'clock, and was kept up with unflagging spirit till an advanced hour of the morning. Supper (which was served at one A.M.), was supplied by Mrs. Thompson of the "White Hart," and we need scarcely say that the resources of the cuisine of that celebrated establishment were taxed to the utmost to produce comestibles worthy of the attention of the distinguished company assembled in the supper room. After ample justice. had been done by the guests to the recherché repast set before them, dancing was resumed by the ardent votaries of Terpsichore, to the sweet strains discoursed to them by the admirable band of Messrs. Jubal and Son, which was stationed in the gallery at the north end of the town hall. The decorations of the ball room (which were of the most exquisite character) were carried out under the management of Messrs. Buffins and Stuffins (the celebrated upholsterers of Hillboro'), and they certainly reflected the utmost credit upon both of those gentlemen. The company assembled on Tuesday night comprised the élite of Stoneyshire society, and amongst them we observed the Duke of Stoneyshire (the Duchess of Stoneyshire, to the great grief of every one, was unable, from indisposition, to accompany her noble husband to the

ball), the Earl and Countess of Hillboro', the Earl' of Highbury, and the Ladies A. and M. De Vere, Lord and Lady Monkseaton, Sir Rye Hill, Bart., M.P., Mr. Headingley Hill, M.P., Mr. Gallio, M.P., Mr. Treeve Torrington, M.P., Mrs. Treeve Torrington, and the Misses Treeve Torrington (3), Rev. Canon and the Misses Sloper (2), Dr. Blackman, Mrs. Blackman, and the Misses Blackman (2), the Town Clerk of Hillboro', and Mrs. Worrit, Mr., Mrs., and the Misses A. and L. Languish, Captain Cottew, R.N., Lieutenant Barber, R.N., Major Staggers, Mr. Howler, J.P., Mr. Squaretoes, J.P., Mr. T. Idle' (none the worse for his forensic efforts—it gave us pleasure to observe—of the afternoon), Mr. Redtape, Mr. Snapper, Mr. Phunky, Mr. Gammon, and several other members of the Junior Bar attending Stoneyshire sessions, &c. It is scarcely an exaggeration for us to say that (to use the words of England's greatest poet), 'jocund day stood tiptoe on the misty mountain tops,' ere the last guest had vanished from the gay and festive scene which Hillboro' Town Hall presented on last Monday evening.'

The reader's very humble servant. The subsequent allusion to my 'forensic efforts' of course refers to my having sent the five jurymen to sleep that afternoon. If ever I meet the reporter of the Stoneyshire Sentinel who wrote those words, I'll !——————.—T. I.

The Stoneyshire sessions' ball, of which (thanks to the graphic pen of the reporter of the Stoneyshire Sentinel) the reader now possesses a full description, is, I may remark, always held upon a Monday evening, or, in other words, on the evening of the first day of Stoneyshire sessions. Hillboro' (at which town Stoneyshire sessions are held) is on the Monday of the sessions' week filled with travellers. There are first the county magistrates, who, accompanied by their wives and daughters, drive in early in the morning-as the ladies have usually some shopping to do in Hillboro' in anticipation of the ball in the evening. There are next the county attorneys and their clerks; the county policemen who bring with them droves of unwilling men and women who happen to be witnesses in the cases which are to be tried that day at sessions; then there are the grand and petty jurymen (twice as many of whom as are ever wanted are always summoned, and who, in dreadful fear of being too late, arrive at the courts an hour too soon); finally, there are the twelve or fourteen members of the English Bar, who attend Stoneyshire sessions, and who all put up at the White Hart,' where the sessions' mess is held.

At ten o'clock on the Monday morning of the sessions' week, the county magistrates, to the num