NOTES AND NOTICES.

No. IV.

On the evening of the seventh day of April, a meeting of the CLUB was held to transact the business of No IV. The members were seated round a large fire, congratulating each other on the great success of our last, and altogether in the merriest mood conceivable. AIRY was testifying his joy, by the same antic gesticulations which he uses when raving with inspiration,-LA-TOUCHE was giving vent to his feelings in his usual unrestrained, careless way,-TEMPLETON was smiling,--SHERRY, contrary to his wont, grinning like a chesse-cat, and LOCKFAST (this is the first time I have seen him express much enthusiasm) rolling his meagre frame about within the precincts of his 9góvos, pressing with bony hands a couple of spare sides that seemed as if they would burst, as fits of coughing and laughter alternately shook them. I had come in rather late and could not conceive the cause of an excitement so unusually great. It could not be occasioned merely by the success of No. III., for I suspect that there never was a set of Editors so totally regardless of the fate of their publication, as long as they derived entertainment from the conducting of it, as the members of the CLUB who assist me in my highly responsible office, as MR. HOCK terms it. Be the cause what it might, I could not sympathize with them in their merriment, for the next morning was to commence the vacation, and not a single communication had, as yet, been handed in. The dreadful alternative, therefore, of writing the whole number myself, would be averted only by the bare chance that some of my coadjutors had been considerate enough to contribute a portion of their usually generous quantum. Unwilling to break, with the grating sounds of business, upon the shouts of merriment that greeted me, and yet desirous of putting an end to the painful state of suspense in which I was, a full half hour had elapsed before I broke from the pleasant circle, mounted my lofty seat, and called the meeting to order. After each member had arranged himself in what he deemed the easiest position, the following speech was delivered by the reader's humble servant.

"GENTLEMEN,-You will I hope pardon me for calling your attention to what cannot fail, at this moment, to prove irksome, however necessary it may be on my part to allude to it.-I mean the material for our next number. (The lower jaw of each member falls ten degrees.) I see by your countenances that you have prepared none, and that the suspicions of your delinquency, which I have entertained, were not ill-founded. (Murmurs of disapprobation, followed by loud cries of Hear, hear!) Let it not be supposed that ĺ speak reproachfully. For the favors which you have hitherto so lavishly extended to me, I am indeed grateful; but you must be sensible of the unpleasantness of my present situation. No communications from abroad, and none I fear from you. (Groans

of condolence from all quarters.) However, allow me to hope, if my surmises with regard to your having no pieces prepared, are correct, that you will not be entirely forgetful of me during the recess, but devote some portion of your time to lightening the burden of one who now offers you his best wishes for your enjoyment." (Loud shouts of applause).

Encouraged by the success with which my speech was in the end received, I made bold to ask the members in turn what they would do for me. SHERRY said he would write a third number of Passages from a Diary, and any thing else that he might think of. LA-TOUCHE proposed a Vision in blank verse, in which he intended to describe his route among the planets to the Infernal Regions, where, being introduced to the Devil by the Demon of Steam, he should sit in judgment on certain characters which were particularly odious to him. AIRY agreed to write a Poem, TEMPLETON an Essay, and LoсKFAST a Dissertation. The readiness with which they all assented to my request, was quite encouraging, and my spirits rose insensibly till I could enter fully into the pleasantry which appeared to have gradually reassumed its sway over the members. The occasion of it was no longer a mystery to me, when LA-TOUCHE rose from his seat and proposed that FRANCIS HOCK, Esquire, should be chosen into the Fraternity. I joined with my whole heart in the shout of assent that was reiterated from all sides. That the gentleman did not belong to college was forgotten or disregarded, and, in a few moments, it was agreed that, as MR. SHERRY was better acquainted with him than any of the rest of us, he should instantly call upon him, make known our intentions, and bring him to the CLUB ROOM. In the mean time that the rest of us would determine upon thé Inaugural ceremony and complete all necessary arrangements. A moment after, SHERRY had left us, and in a not much longer time, we had agreed that the room should be but dimly lighted, that each should put on his most lugubrious expression, that LA-TOUCHE should compose an initiatory oath and administer it in his most tragico-comical style.

These preliminaries being determined, each resumed his seat to await the coming of MR. HOCK. In about 'a half hour, the door was opened, and MR. HOCK, large as life, entered, leaning upon SHERRY'S arm. He was introduced all round with the greatest politeness, and after a little general conversation, I motioned to LA-TOUCHE to commence the ceremony. This he did by taking his cudgel from the corner of the room, advancing towards MR. Hock with a very lowering aspect, and pronouncing the following words with a deep and solemn intonation :

"SIR, our worshipful Editor, whom you see yonder, throned on high in awful state, commands me, a weak instrument in his powerful hand, to do the honors of incorporating thee into a body, the energies of which he wields in guiding Public Opinion. Therefore bend thy knee,-bow thy head,-raise thy hands and

Swear, that thou wilt bring all thy energies to the furtherance of the objects for which the Collegian was originally establishedthat thou wilt eschew all signs of light-heartedness, all of light

headedness, in what thou shalt write therefor-that thou wilt think long and seriously of the awful responsibility that rests upon thy head, in taking thy place among us,-a place, to which thou hast so long and ardently aspired, and act always from the soberest and even sternest dictates of conscience, in whatever thou dost in connexion with our Publication."

"I SWEAR,"

was echoed with a voice in whose husky tones fear and delight were strangely mingled.

"Rise then, SIR FRANCIS, rise an

EDITOR,"

was thundered out by LA-TOUCHE, and accompanied with such an impressive application of his official baton, that the 'noviciate found it difficult for a moment to recover his balance. When he did, however, he rose, shook LA-TOUCHE by the hand very feelingly, and resumed his seat by the side of SHERRY.

We were exchanging winks and knowing signs, after this strange ceremonial, in doubt whether to continue in the sombre mood that sat so ill upon us, when MR. SHERRY decided us by saying that he had spoken for a supper in the name of the CLUB, and that the materials for it would shortly appear. This announcement was hailed with long and repeated cheers. Emptiness of stomach spoke louder than the propriety of keeping up the ruse. MR. HOCK was absolutely astounded at seeing the sober conclave changed to a roistering set of fellows. He gaped, looked vacant, and then curious. At length he became conscious of what a ridiculous figure he was cutting, and acquiesced by low 'cachinations in whatever was said or done.

We did not have to wait long before that son of Bacchus, old F -n, entered, bearing a huge vessel of punch on one side, and a basket of all the necessary accompaniments on the other. The table was instantly cleared of its burden of editorial papers, and an immense bowl, which has been presented to the CLUB, crowned the middle of it. The members arranged themselves in their places, cast but one quick glance round the board and entered into a most eager discussion of the subjects before them. I will not tell how fast and how often the bowl went round,-how MR. HOCK'S limited acquaintance with us grew suddenly to the most unreserved familiarity,-how, as the noon of night approached, LOCKFAST first shut his eyes, then dropped his head, then settled down into a corner of his góvos, and refused to be waked,-how La-TOUCHE grew boisterous, and SHERRY melancholy and gentlemanlike,how AIRY spouted and how TEMPLETON looked. Suffice it to say, gentle reader, that there was never a better-hearted, merrier revel, and one, than which we cannot wish you a better.

THE above was written immediately after the breaking up of the meeting which it chronicles. It is now the eighteenth day of

the month, and not a line have I received from any one member of the CLUB save Hoск. He wrote me a note, dated May 17th enclosing a

SONNET TO MR. LOCKFAST.

OLD Stoic! in thy venerable face,

Is many a wrinkle permanently knit:
And on thine anxious brow, methinks I trace
Deep lines of sorrow eloquently writ;
Care in tyrannic majesty doth sit
Upon thy features-and no single grace
On thy unhappy phiz can find a place.
Thine eyes' deep sunkenness is rarely lit
By an out-flashing lustre-and the sound

Of thy discordant voice falls on the ear
Like a sepulchral warning from the ground,
Chilling the list'ner with a sudden fear.
Thy legs are long-thy frame is gaunt and spare,
And Death himself might look with envy there.

This is the only one that I have had, out of the many communications that were promised me. And yet there has been no deficiency of them from other sources. The greatest misery of an Editor is not yet upon me. Foreign correspondents have been kind (LOCKFAST will say too kind when he sees his intended "Peregrination" supplanted by " A Jaunt on Foot"), and with their productions will the number be filled. Still, however, it would have been pleasant to have read them in the old familiar hand-writings, till I had conjured up in fancy the authors around me, and seen them giving vent to all their strange whims and caprices, in the usual, free, careless way. I can't do without them. They are a part of myself. Nothing has gone wrong, and yet I have been so troubled with the blues since I parted from them, that I have had no courage to enter upon any thing with the least spirit. To-day has been as monotonous as yesterday, and to-morrow will be as monotonous as to-day. My Diary for the eighth says, "Rose at nine-Breakfasted at ten-Bathed in the delicious East wind, till dinner-time -Lounged at the Reading Room till six-Eat supper at six and a half-Watched the fire till ten, and then went to bed." Underneath this are six lines drawn across the page, and between them five Dittos. Then comes a new clause of "Received a letter from MR. HOCK-what a poor deluded being!" April fifteenth changes to "Rose at eight-Returned from Boston at one, after having hunted all round the City for MR. HOCK—found him in a miserable plight-Four o'clock, determined to write something about him-From four till five mended a pen-From five to six wrote The Hypochondriac." Here the Diary for the sixteenth re

lapses into a restatement of the circumstances of the eighth instant, and a "Ditto" is the only word under the date of the seventeenth. To-day I have been looking over and arranging the contributions. The fruit of my labor you have before you, reader, in No. IV. May it relish.

SINCE our appointed day for closing the number, the following poetical contributions have been sent. We have derived so much pleasure from a perusal of them ourselves, that we cannot in conscience withhold them from our readers till a future number.

SONNET.

NIGHT hath spread out her starry mantle high,
And softly sighs the gentle evening breeze,

As it comes onward through the leafless trees,
Waking an echo to its harmony.

And momently across the dark blue sky,

The fleecy clouds touched by the moon's soft light,

Seem like to spirits on their lonely flight

To other worlds, as they go floating by.
Far off upon the bosom of the deep

A solitary bark is borne along,

And, as the whisperings of the land-breeze sleep,
I catch, by fits, the sailor's measured song.—
Soft be the gales that waft thee on thy way,
Nor lowering storms thine onward progress stay.

TO LEILA.

FAIR girl! we have wandered together
Through a pathway unshaded and bright:
In the sunshine of youth's joyous weather,
We have threaded a maze of delight:
But the footstep of age is advancing,
And Cupid is growing a bore;

And we must leave waltzing and dancing,
And flirt and talk folly no more.
The world's ev'ry-day common-places,
Have checked the career of romance;

And I cast upon beautiful faces,

A cold and dispassionate glance.