Turf Smoked.

he lived ancl worked , over the mantel-board of this ancient apartment . Well , that shelf is graced by a trophy Avhich , so an inscription on its lid informs us , was presented for the use of the frequenters of that parlour in the year 1774 , the year the notorious John Wilkes Avas Mayor of the great city . It is a monstrous edifice , constructed of oak , oval in shape and rimmed Avith sih'er . It is more of a coffer than a snuff-box . The AA-hole of the face presented to the customers is covered with-a . silver ' plafe

bearing a rather incongruous inscription , informing us that this snuff-box Avas carved from a portion of the boAvsprit of His Majesty ' s gun brig " Boxer " . ( 16 guns ) , was presented to tbe present and future patrons of tbe " Anchor " - " smoke-roOm" by JoHn Broad , for fifteen years churehAvarclen of this parish , in commemoration of the glorious stand made for the liberty of the subject ancl the freedom of the press by that illustriods patriot , the Eight Honourable John Wilkes , Lord Mayor of London , and the glctfiOus

victory gained by the above-named vessel , over tbe enemies : of Britain in her capture of the French corvette , the " Hercide " ( 20 guns ) , in the year 1753 . " Beneath appear sundry indentations , A'ery much Avorn , of a waA'y flourishing character , in Avhich the ' Avater , ' and the firmament , and the clouds of gunpoAvder smoke , appear rather mixed , but are cut at reasonable intervals with the angular yards and masts and hulls and guns of the opposing vessels ; the singularly well-marked cross-hatching of the Hnion Jack , and the _/?««•«

deluce on the Avhite field of the flag , already beginning to droop , at the peak of . the corvette—both banners , preposterously out of proportion to the entire design—sery . e sufficiently to identify tbe nationality of tbe respective combatants .. To prevent , however , any . possible ambiguity , the graver ' s " dry point . " has . been still further'utilised : to scratch the following legend , which appears below fbe bellicose . design .:- — „ . -.. '; . " Lieutenant and Commander Sturdyin the 'Boxer' gun brig ( 16 ) with a crew of

, , seventy-eight , eighteen of whoin were mere boys , on' the 17 th July , 1753 , about Wo' in the afternoon , attacks and , in less than half an hour , obliges to strike , tbe French corvette ' Hercule' ( 20 ) , with a creAv of one hundred and thirty , commanded by . Captain Hector cle Bombasard , on the sendee of the squadron La Manche . " .. "'" . - '

And tradition says that- that eminent citizen , Avax-chandler , . and ehurcbwarden . of the parish of St . Simeon , in the SAvineyard , John Broad , the donor of the casket , made the capital Avith which he laid the foundation of the princely fortune , he afterwards amassed in the City of London , as the " nrpcheese , " or , officially speaking , purser , of the gallant "Boxer , " that renoAvnedgun brig in tbe service of His . Britannic Majesty Avhich covered itself Avitb loryand made happy the survivors of its inadequate creAv Avith prize

g , money , on that memorable occasion . The Freemasons' Lodge formerly held at Louey ' s has long since ceased to exist ; but tbe brethren of tbe mystic tie are still not infrequently to be met there ; . and . this remark brings , me at once and quite naturally to the A'ery heart and core , of iiiy subject . . . " ¦¦ " ' " ' :

You haA'e aheady divined from , my exordium , in the delicate rejnidiationof any such common practice as resorting east of Temple Bar , that I aih ah individual peculiarly aristocratic in my tastes and habits . So . abhorrent is anything oriental from me , that I fear I have not taken the interest I ought to have done iri certain recent political ei'ents—topics that have engrossed the attention of the world for tlie past three years—from dread of incurring tbe imputation Avhich Avould bave been an indelible blot

upon my escutcheon of gentility—that I had formed opinions upon an "Eastern Question . " Still , for all that , I am afraid I must plead guilty to having visited Louey's at all hours—that is to say , at all AA'orking hours—of the twenty-four .. Sometimes ; at ten in . the morning—for Ave aristocrats , AA'bo occasionally buy a " cool" million or twto "for the account "— we gigantic operators , haA'e to be up early at times , if Ave want . to pick " good thing" I have also twice dropped in for exiitant

. up a . once or an . goblet after " tbe house " —I don't mean the public-house , but the Stock Exchange— ' has cloiijjd for tbe day—for a rejoicing tumbler Avhen I have' " landed heavil y " on J" WE | al Itaima , " or for a consolatory cup when I have come down a Cornish cropper . and " . felt inclined to beAvail my lost specie in the pathetic threnody of Woe Emma ! ' . E . fiave ainoked the clay calumet of cogitation there at noontide . I have assisted at deep