fear d'Esprit. By Henry S. Leigh. (Ghetto and liVindus.)—The drawback
to such a book as this is that if the selection is a good one, it is pretty sure to consist, for the most part, of things with which one is already quite familiar. Mr. Leigh's collection, Jeux d'Esprit, written and spoken by French and English wits and humourists, is no excep- tion to this rule. He has been scrupulously careful to put together the most approved jokes, and the being approved implies the being known. This does not matter so much, indeed, with the larger pieces, but the single bon mot must be super-eminently good not to lose some- thing, at least, of its flavour with its freshness. We have marked, as new to us, the saying of the younger Dumas, who, having fainted at a bull-fight in Madrid, and being offered a glass of water, said, with a very subtle imitation of Sir Philip Sidney, "Go and pour it into the Manzanarea ; the river needs it much more than I."
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