Equivoque. COPY OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY CARDINAL RICHELIEU TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR AT ROME. First read the letter across, then double it in the middle, and read the first column. SIR,-Mons. Compigne, a Savoyard by birth, a Friar of the order of Saint Benedict, is the man who will present to you this letter. He is one of the most meddling persons that I have ever known He to as his has long earnestly solicited me give him a suitable character, which I have accordingly granted to his importunity; for, believe me, Sir, I should be sorry that you should be misinformed of his real character; as some other gentlemen have been, and those among the best of my friends; I think it my duty to advertise you are most particularly desired, to have especial attention to all he does, to show him all the respect imaginable, nor venture to say any thing before him, that may either offend or displease him in any sort; for I may truly say, there is no man I love so much as M. Compigne, none whom I should more regret to see neglected, as no one can be more worthy to be received and trusted in decent society. Base, therefore, would it be to injure him. And I well know, that as soon as you are made sensible of his virtues, and shall become acquainted with him you will thank me for this my advice. Courtesy obliges me to desist from saying any thing more on this subject. you will love him as I do; and then The assurance I entertain of your urging this matter to you further, or RICHELIEU. Believe me, Sir, &c. A LOVE-LETTER. The reader, after perusing it, will please read it again, commencing on the first line, then the third and fifth, and so on, reading each alternate line to the end. To MISS M- -The great love I have hitherto expressed for you is false and I find my indifference towards you to hate you. Believe me, I never had an intention -I speak sincerely, and you will do me a favor to avoid me. I shall excuse you taking the trouble so averse to you, that it is impossible for me even L INGENIOUS SUBTERFUGE. A young lady newly married, being obliged to show to her husband all the letters she wrote, sent the following to an intimate friend. The key is, to read the first and then every alternate line only. -I cannot be satisfied, my dearest friend! blest as I am in the matrimonial state, -unless I pour into your friendly bosom, which has ever been in unison with mine, -the various sensations which swell with the liveliest emotion of pleasure, -I have now been married seven weeks, and -repent the day that joined us. My husband is monsters, who think by confining to secure- bosom friend and confidant, and not as a but each yield to the other by turns. a cheerful, venerable, and pleasant old lady, generous and charitable to the poor. -I am convinced my husband loves nothing more -than a glass; and bis intoxication (for so I must call the excess of his love) -often makes me blush for the unworthiness of its object, and wish I could be more deserving -of the man whose name I bear. To say all in one word, my dear, and to -crown the whole-my former gallant lover -is returned, and I might have had a prince without the felicity I find in -him. Adieu! may you be blest as I am un- -happy. DOUBLE-FACED CREED. The following cross-reading from a history of Popery, published in 1679, and formerly called in New England The Jesuits' Creed, will suit either Catholic or Protestant accordingly as the lines are read downward in single columns or across the double columns: Pro fide teneo sana I hold for faith What Rome's church saith, Who shuns the mass, Quæ docet Anglicana, What England's church allows, My conscience disavows. The worship's scarce divine, REVOLUTIONARY VERSES. The author of the following Revolutionary double entendre, which originally appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper, is un known. It may be read in three different ways,-1st. Let the whole be read in the order in which it is written; 2d. Then the lines downward on the left of each comma in every line; and 3d. In the same manner on the right of each comma. By the first reading it will be observed that the Revolutionary cause is condemned, and by the others, it is encouraged and lauded: Hark! hark! the trumpet sounds, the din of war's alarms, O'er seas and solid grounds, doth call us all to arms; Who for King George doth stand, their honors soon shall shine; The acts of Parliament, in them I much delight, To North and British lord, may honors still be done, I wish a block or cord, to General Washington. THE HOUSES OF STUART AND HANOVER. I love with all my heart Though none will take my part The Tory party here Resolve to live and die. THE NEW REGIME. The following equivoque was addressed to a republican at the commencement of the French Revolution, in reply to the question, "What do you think of the new constitution?" A la nouvelle loi Je renonce dans l'âme Qu'il confonde à jamais Je veux être fidèle 'Tis my wish to esteem I maintain the new code All the Aristocrats FATAL DOUBLE MEANING. Count Valavoir, a general in the French service under Turenne, while encamped before the enemy, attempted one night to pass a sentinel. The sentinel challenged him, and the count answered "Va-la-voir," which literally signifies "Go and see." The soldier, who took the words in this sense, indignantly repeated the challenge, and was answered in the same manner, when he fired; and the unfortunate Count fell dead upon the spot, a victim to the whimsicality of his surname. |