Little Britain.

have doubtless figured in some of tho old palaces of Little Britain . They seem to me to keep together , and to look doivn with sovereign contempt upon their leathern-bottomed neighbours , as I have seen decayed gentry carry a high head among the plebeian society with which they ivere reduced to associate . The ivbole front of my sitting-room is taken up with a boAv window , on the panes of which are recorded the names of previous occupants for many

generations , mingled with scraps of very indifferent gentleman-like poetry , ivritten in characters ivhich I can scarcely decipher , and ivhich extol tho charms of many a beauty of Little Britain , ivho has long , long since bloomed , faded , and passed away . As I am an idle personage , ivith no apparent occupation , ancl pay my bill regularly ei'ery week , I am looked upon as the only independent gentleman of the neighbourhood ; and being curious to learn the

internal state of a community so apparently shut up ivithin itself , I hai' 0 managed to Avork my Avay into all the concerns and secrets of the place . Little Britain may truly be called the heart ' s-core of the city ; the stronghold of true John Bullism . It is a fragment of London as » it was in its better clays , Avith its antiquated folks and fashions . Here flourish in great preservation many of the holyday games and customs of yore . The inhabitants most religiously eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday , hot-cross-buns on Good Friday ,

and roast goose at Michaelmas ; they send love-letters on Valentine s Day ; burn the Pope on the Fifth of NoA'ember , and kiss all the girls under the mistletoe at Christmas . Roast beef and plum pudding are also held in superstitious veneration , ancl port and sherry maintain their grounds as the onl y true English wines—all others being considered vile outlandish beverages . Little Britain has its long catalogue of city wonders , Avhich its inhabitants consider the wonders of the world ; such as the great bell of St . Paul ' swhich

, sours all the beer when it tolls ; the figures that strike the hours at St . Dunstan ' s clock ; the Monument ; the lions in the Tower ; ancl the wooden . giants in Guildhall . They still believe in dreams and fortune-telling ; and an old woman that lives iu Bull-and-Mouth Street makes a tolerable subsistence by detecting stolen goods , ancl promising the girls good husbands . They are apt to be rendered uncomfortable by comets and eclipses ; and if a dog howls

dolefull y at night , it is looked upon as a sure sign of a death in the place . There are even many ghost stories current , particularly concerning the old mansion-houses , in several of which , it Avas said strange sights are sometimes seen . Lords and ladies , the former in full-bottomed Avigs , hangingsleeves , and swords , the latter in lappets , stays , hoops and brocade , haA'e been seen walking up and doivn the great waste chambers on moonlight nighfs , and are supposed to be the shades of the ancient proprietors in their court dresses .

Little Britain has likewise its sages and great men . One of the most important of the former is a tall , dry old gentleman , of the name of Skryme , who keeps a small apothecary ' s shop . He has a cadaverous countenance , full of caA'ities ancl projections , with a brown circle round each eye , like a pair of horn spectacles . He is much thought of by the old Avomen , who consider him as a kind of conjuror , because he has two or three stuffed alligators hanging up in his shopand several snakes in bottles . He is a great reader of

, almanacks and newspapers , and is much given to pore over alarming accounts of plots ,, conspiracies , fires , earthquakes , ancl volcanic eruptions , ivhich . last phenomena he considers as signs of the times . He has always some dismal tale of the kind to deal out to his customers with their closes , and thus at the same time puts both soul and body into an uproar . He is a great believer in omens and predictions ; and has tho prophecies of Robert Nixon and Mother

Shipton by heart . No man can make so much out of an eclipse , or even au unusuall y dark clay ; ancl he shook the tail of the last comet over the heads of his customers and disciples , until they were nearl y frightened out of their Avits . He has lately got hold of a popular legend or prophecy , ou which he