46 HOME AMUSEMENTS.
RIDDLE XCVI.

Six letters do my name compound ;
Among the aged oft I’m found ;
The shepherd also, by the brook,
Hears me when leaning on his crook ;
But in the middle me divide,
And take the half on either side,
Hach backward read, a liquor tell,
Ev'ry gay toper knows it well.

RIDDLE XCVII.

I AM rough, smooth, hard, soft, long, short, round,

flat, oval, square, or oblong. Am now honoured
with the grasp of a monarch, and now in the hand of him
who executes the meanest office. I possess the art of
pleasing in a very eminent degree. Am now the
delight of the idle beau, and now assist the skilful
artist. My station is ever varying: I am now thrown
carelessly in a corner, now put into the mouth, now in
the pocket, and now under the grate. I will only
add, that every room is indebted to me for its chicf
ornament,