THE COURT

Tattersall's

Of more robust interest is the elegy in April, 1865, on the "Transit of Tattersall's," when the old mart for sellinghorses in Grosvenor Place at the side of St. George's Hospital, founded by "Old Tatt," was pulled down and a move made to Knightsbridge Green. "Old Tatt," originally studgroom to the Duke of Kingston, leased the premises at Hyde Park Corner from the Earl of Grosvenor in 1766, set up as a horse auctioneer, and founded his fortunes by the purchase for £2,500 of the famous racer Highflyer from Lord Bolingbroke:—

Good bye, old Corner, where so longTurf swells have loved to band,Since first old Tatt his broad-brimmed hatShowed in the well-known stand.Where, ninety years of hopes and fears,And nine to back of that,The sporting swell with nags to sellStill found a Tit for Tatt.

Good bye, old Corner, where so longTurf swells have loved to band,Since first old Tatt his broad-brimmed hatShowed in the well-known stand.

Good bye, old Corner, where so long

Turf swells have loved to band,

Since first old Tatt his broad-brimmed hat

Showed in the well-known stand.

Where, ninety years of hopes and fears,And nine to back of that,The sporting swell with nags to sellStill found a Tit for Tatt.

Where, ninety years of hopes and fears,

And nine to back of that,

The sporting swell with nags to sell

Still found a Tit for Tatt.

If walls have ears, what startling tales,Those old rooms must have heard:What sermons they might preach, the stonesThat paved that old court-yard!

If walls have ears, what startling tales,

Those old rooms must have heard:

What sermons they might preach, the stones

That paved that old court-yard!

By those oak-pales the first Oaks' stakesWere put down long ago:Germ of that Epsom growth that nowAll ring-fence doth outgrow.There the first Derby favouriteWas measured by the yard:And there a century's Sellengers[12]Fortunes have made or marred.Till the world grew so fond of "books,"So giv'n to make the same,That the old ground too small was found,For the Turf's "little game";As fromhisGrosvenor Place old TattStarted to win life's race,Young Tatt, on fortune bent, againTakes flight from Grosvenor Place.At Knightsbridge, lo, a fair glass roofStands for the dark old sheds:We've tiles as shiny 'neath our feet,As those upon our heads:But still we love the haunts where firstThe Turf's keen breath we drew:And what recalls those ancient hallsWe best love in the new—The old brown fox, that from his boxStill peers with artful face,A hint that to the sharp as wellAs swift, is given the race.We miss the verdant lawn, where pacedCrowds of green men and still:The gravelled walk, which losers oftMore gravelled, used to fill:And sadder loss than all—no moreThe old cow crops the lawn:Meek monitor of draughts to comeFrom milch-cows yet undrawn!Good bye, old yard, and may the newAs long its honours wear;And though they leave the Corner still,May Tatts be on the Square!

By those oak-pales the first Oaks' stakesWere put down long ago:Germ of that Epsom growth that nowAll ring-fence doth outgrow.

By those oak-pales the first Oaks' stakes

Were put down long ago:

Germ of that Epsom growth that now

All ring-fence doth outgrow.

There the first Derby favouriteWas measured by the yard:And there a century's Sellengers[12]Fortunes have made or marred.

There the first Derby favourite

Was measured by the yard:

And there a century's Sellengers[12]

Fortunes have made or marred.

Till the world grew so fond of "books,"So giv'n to make the same,That the old ground too small was found,For the Turf's "little game";

Till the world grew so fond of "books,"

So giv'n to make the same,

That the old ground too small was found,

For the Turf's "little game";

As fromhisGrosvenor Place old TattStarted to win life's race,Young Tatt, on fortune bent, againTakes flight from Grosvenor Place.

As fromhisGrosvenor Place old Tatt

Started to win life's race,

Young Tatt, on fortune bent, again

Takes flight from Grosvenor Place.

At Knightsbridge, lo, a fair glass roofStands for the dark old sheds:We've tiles as shiny 'neath our feet,As those upon our heads:

At Knightsbridge, lo, a fair glass roof

Stands for the dark old sheds:

We've tiles as shiny 'neath our feet,

As those upon our heads:

But still we love the haunts where firstThe Turf's keen breath we drew:And what recalls those ancient hallsWe best love in the new—

But still we love the haunts where first

The Turf's keen breath we drew:

And what recalls those ancient halls

We best love in the new—

The old brown fox, that from his boxStill peers with artful face,A hint that to the sharp as wellAs swift, is given the race.

The old brown fox, that from his box

Still peers with artful face,

A hint that to the sharp as well

As swift, is given the race.

We miss the verdant lawn, where pacedCrowds of green men and still:The gravelled walk, which losers oftMore gravelled, used to fill:

We miss the verdant lawn, where paced

Crowds of green men and still:

The gravelled walk, which losers oft

More gravelled, used to fill:

And sadder loss than all—no moreThe old cow crops the lawn:Meek monitor of draughts to comeFrom milch-cows yet undrawn!

And sadder loss than all—no more

The old cow crops the lawn:

Meek monitor of draughts to come

From milch-cows yet undrawn!

Good bye, old yard, and may the newAs long its honours wear;And though they leave the Corner still,May Tatts be on the Square!

Good bye, old yard, and may the new

As long its honours wear;

And though they leave the Corner still,

May Tatts be on the Square!

Even so small an event as the giving up in 1865 of his business by Farrance, the confectioner's at Charing Cross, was not allowed to pass without due homage:—

Other Farrances may rise,Quite as bilious as before,But the old familiar pies(Veal and Ham) will glad our eyesNevermore, O nevermore!

Other Farrances may rise,

Quite as bilious as before,

But the old familiar pies

(Veal and Ham) will glad our eyes

Nevermore, O nevermore!

Towards new or projected buildingsPunchwas seldom benevolent. When it was announced that a new National Gallery was to be erected on the site spoiled by the old, he wassceptical of the result, but he greeted the tardy appearance of the lions in Trafalgar Square in 1867, and welcomed the opening of the Albert Hall on March 28, 1871, as providing a building unrivalled for space, sound and light—a eulogy hardly fulfilled as far as acoustics are concerned. But it has a splendid echo, it can hold 10,000 people, and as a scene for the activities of massed brass bands there is nothing to touch it, in London at any rate. Over the Holborn Restaurant, which in 1874 replaced an institution contrived to pay a double debt to bathing and dancing,Punchwaxed positively fulsome, but his praise was chiefly inspired by thecuisine; in those days good restaurants for the middle classes were few and far between.

The buildings for the International Exhibition of 1862, planned by Captain Francis Fowke, R.E., did not altogether commend themselves toPunch, who was inclined to cavil at the bad arrangements, and to compare the structure unfavourably with the Crystal Palace, but Fowke's plans had been scamped owing to lack of funds, and he was not responsible for the artistic shortcomings of the building.Punch'scomments are chiefly remarkable for his prophetic observations on our choice of executive officials:—

We are certainly a wonderful people, and work, as perhaps our foreign friends will think, in a paradoxical sort of way. It was a gardener who planned our Crystal Palace for '51, and eleven years later we are indebted for the design of another Exhibition to a soldier. A barrister superintends the casting of our great bells, and we have an architect who is an authority on fortification. Well, perhaps when our coasts are invaded a bishop may be a Secretary at War, and a physician presiding at the Admiralty.

Lions in Trafalger SquareTHE LIONS AT LAST"Thank you, Sir Edwin. England at last has 'done her duty.'"

THE LIONS AT LAST"Thank you, Sir Edwin. England at last has 'done her duty.'"

The somewhat chequered career of "Big Ben" is followed with sympathy and interest throughout this period byPunch, who claimed to have given him his name. Those who lived in London during the years when his voice was hushed, and welcomed the breaking of his war silence on Armistice Day, will read, not without emotion, the lines which appeared on November 29, 1873:—

BIG BEN"The great clock of the Houses of Parliament is stopped for a day or two, in order that the 'going train' may be cleaned by Messrs. Dent. During the present month its accumulated error has on no occasion exceeded a second."--Pall Mall Gazette.

BIG BEN

"The great clock of the Houses of Parliament is stopped for a day or two, in order that the 'going train' may be cleaned by Messrs. Dent. During the present month its accumulated error has on no occasion exceeded a second."--Pall Mall Gazette.

Big Ben, that beats from Barry's TowerThe march of time and tide,To Britain's Commons, and the worldOf London far and wide,Stops—and the town that marked the hushOf his deep voice with pain,Is glad to hear 'tis but a halt,To clean his "going train."

Big Ben, that beats from Barry's Tower

The march of time and tide,

To Britain's Commons, and the world

Of London far and wide,

Stops—and the town that marked the hush

Of his deep voice with pain,

Is glad to hear 'tis but a halt,

To clean his "going train."

O, brave Big Ben, that keep'st true stepThus with the tide of time,Long may'st thou to the Commons setExample so sublime;That England, both of House belowAnd Clock above, may say,'Tis no vain boast that to the worldShe shows the time of day!May headlong Wits, that on the seatsUnder the Clock may show,Learn by its even beat aboveTo tune hot brains below.And never hold up hands unlessThe voice of truth to swell;Nor strike, except at the right hour,And then strike strokes that tell.

O, brave Big Ben, that keep'st true step

Thus with the tide of time,

Long may'st thou to the Commons set

Example so sublime;

That England, both of House below

And Clock above, may say,

'Tis no vain boast that to the world

She shows the time of day!

May headlong Wits, that on the seatsUnder the Clock may show,Learn by its even beat aboveTo tune hot brains below.And never hold up hands unlessThe voice of truth to swell;Nor strike, except at the right hour,And then strike strokes that tell.

May headlong Wits, that on the seats

Under the Clock may show,

Learn by its even beat above

To tune hot brains below.

And never hold up hands unless

The voice of truth to swell;

Nor strike, except at the right hour,

And then strike strokes that tell.

Cabs v. Omnibuses

Complaints against the public vehicles of London and their drivers continue, but are hardly pitched in so strident a tone as in earlier years. Still the brigandage of competitive 'buses is severely denounced in 1858; the extent of the evil may be gauged from the drastic regulations issued in the autumn of 1860, so drastic as to excite compassion for the conductor who faithfully carried them out.

Punch'shostility to the "growler" and its bibulous andrapacious driver as the first of all London nuisances remained implacable. A report was circulated at the close of 1869 that their final disappearance was imminent; it was nearly fifty years too "previous," but the wish being father to the thought,Punchindulged in a premature farewell to this "unseemly vehicle". With the advent of "clean cabs and civil drivers" he anticipated that no one would ever think of entering an omnibus, little thinking that a time would come when, with clean and swift 'buses, only the affluent would think of entering a taxi-cab.

Passenger paying cabmanSwell(to corpulent cabman): "Haw, here's sixpence—get yourself—glass—beer."Cabby: "Thank you, sir, all the same; but I never take it. I'm a follerin' Mr. Bantin's adwice for corpulence, sir. He says, I may take two or three glasses o' good claret, or a glass or two of sherry wine, or red port, or medeiry, any sort o' sperits—"(Swell, deeply touched, makes the sixpence half-a-crown.)

Swell(to corpulent cabman): "Haw, here's sixpence—get yourself—glass—beer."

Cabby: "Thank you, sir, all the same; but I never take it. I'm a follerin' Mr. Bantin's adwice for corpulence, sir. He says, I may take two or three glasses o' good claret, or a glass or two of sherry wine, or red port, or medeiry, any sort o' sperits—"

(Swell, deeply touched, makes the sixpence half-a-crown.)

The placidity which one associates with mid-Victorian life was rudely disturbed in London by the garrotting scare in the 'sixties. Complaints of the inefficiency of the police and attacks on the Commissioner are frequent in those years. Yet street accidents were far fewer, and, on the whole, it cannot bemaintained that London has become safer to live in. The mention of the police reminds one that the tall hat was discarded in 1865 for the helmet, a sensible change which was at first met with undeserved ridicule. The possibility of a strike of policemen at the end of 1872 seemed toPunchso incredible that he declined to treat it seriously.

Heavily armed manTO GARROTTERS—"CAVE TOMKINS"Tomkins(loq.): "Let 'em try it on again, that's all."

TO GARROTTERS—"CAVE TOMKINS"

Tomkins(loq.): "Let 'em try it on again, that's all."

[12]St. Legers.

PART II

THE SOCIAL FABRIC

If the word "amazing" had not lost most of its significance through overwork since August, 1914, we should be inclined to apply it to the frankness with which Royalty and the Court were criticized and discussed by the Press in the 'forties and 'fifties.Punch, as we have seen, took a leading hand in the game, though he contrived to combine loyalty to the person of the Queen with the most outspoken attacks on the exercise of Court patronage and the extravagance of courtiers. But he did not stop here. The Prince Consort was mercilessly ridiculed for his Germanism, his notions of sport, his passion for tailoring, and, most serious offence of all, his alleged intervention in high politics. After ten years of anti-Albertianism,Punchdropped, to a considerable extent at any rate, the game of baiting the Prince, cordially admitted his services in connexion with the Exhibition of 1851, and for the rest of the period surveyed in our first volume granted him a comparative immunity from hostile criticism.

The change, or conversion, was not due to expediency or to a change of editorship or of the staff. It had already begun several years before the death, in 1857, ofPunch'smost democratic contributor, Douglas Jerrold. It was typical of a change in the enlightened middle-class opinion of whichPunchwas the mirror. The Monarchy had gained in popularity, and though there was no great revulsion of feeling about the Prince until after his death, he had earned respect by his active interest in education and philanthropy and the sagacity in counsel which was most freely acknowledged by those who came in closest contact with him. The charges of undue intervention and interference were effectually dealt with by Ministers at the time, thoughPunchfailed to acknowledge his vindication, and theLife of Lord Beaconsfieldshows that a much stronger case canbe made out against the Queen on this count when she was no longer able to rely on the advice of the Prince.

The change inPunch'sconception of hisrôleas regards the Court did not come in the twinkling of an eye. But from 1858 onwards he is less of the licensed Court Jester, more of the unofficial Laureate. The oldPunch, who had his eye on Tsars and Kaisers (like theSkibbereen Eagle) and autocrats is not dead yet. He has a tremendous fling in the "Essence of Parliament" in July, 1858,à proposof a contemplated revision of the Prayer-book:—

Lord Stanhope, a Peer exceedingly well entitled to be heard upon any such subject, then obtained an Address for cutting out of our Prayer Books the savage and abject forms of worship which our forefathers, at certain moments of excitement, thought it well to prescribe on certain anniversaries, as Guy Fawkes Day, the Martyrdom Day, and Oak Apple Day. When one reflects that the people who composed such things adulated the dirty old coward and fool, James the First; looked on while the body of the greatest of our English kings (except Alfred)—we mean, of course, King Oliver the First, and unfortunately the Only—was dragged from its grave to the gallows; and ecstatically murmured theNunc dimittiswhen the friend of Nelly Gwynn, by no meanshisworst friend, returned to betray the public honour of England, and debauch that of her private life; one only wonders that such ecclesiastical profanities have been tolerated so long. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London, Oxford, and Cashel, expressed the sentiments that might be expected from enlightened gentlemen; but the offensive services found defenders in the poor old Bishop of Bangor, in the Bishop of St. Asaph, who hasMr. Punch'sroyal licence henceforth to sign himself A Sap, and in a brace of foolish Peers, called Marlborough and Duncannon: opposition which was the only thing wanting to show that every man of decent intellect feels alike on the subject.

Marriage of the Princess Royal

The disparaging allusion earlier in the same year to Prince Albert's Prize Pig and the attack on the bestowal of a K.C.B. on Colonel Charles Beaumont Phipps, the Prince Consort's Treasurer and Equerry to the Queen, are quite eclipsed by this explosion. ButPunchwas always ready to speak disrespectfully of a dictator. Constitutional monarchy he could respect and even admire, as Herbert Spencer said of the moderate proficiency of an amateur billiard-player. The new voice, thevoice of the unofficial Laureate, had already been heard in his "Epithalamium" on the Princess Royal in 1858, over whose engagement, when it was first announced, he had been far from enthusiastic:—

Farewell, young Royal Lady,Ne'er may your life wax shady,Still may your path be shiny,All rosy—nothing spiny.Macbeth, when sitting stately,You were beholding lately,A point, which I may mention,Perhaps won your attention:The line of Kings, descendingFromBanquo, never ending;I hail you the Queen Mother,Young Bride, of such another.May the first line long sit inThe royal seat of Britain,On Prussia's throne the second,From you to doomsday reckoned.United in alliance,May those two lines defianceBid evermore to treason,By governing with reason.

Farewell, young Royal Lady,Ne'er may your life wax shady,Still may your path be shiny,All rosy—nothing spiny.

Farewell, young Royal Lady,

Ne'er may your life wax shady,

Still may your path be shiny,

All rosy—nothing spiny.

Macbeth, when sitting stately,You were beholding lately,A point, which I may mention,Perhaps won your attention:

Macbeth, when sitting stately,

You were beholding lately,

A point, which I may mention,

Perhaps won your attention:

The line of Kings, descendingFromBanquo, never ending;I hail you the Queen Mother,Young Bride, of such another.

The line of Kings, descending

FromBanquo, never ending;

I hail you the Queen Mother,

Young Bride, of such another.

May the first line long sit inThe royal seat of Britain,On Prussia's throne the second,From you to doomsday reckoned.

May the first line long sit in

The royal seat of Britain,

On Prussia's throne the second,

From you to doomsday reckoned.

United in alliance,May those two lines defianceBid evermore to treason,By governing with reason.

United in alliance,

May those two lines defiance

Bid evermore to treason,

By governing with reason.

The prophecy in the third and fourth stanzas gives one a shiver: but the word doomsday may pass in the sense of the day of doom. Simultaneously the critic appears in "A Few Queries touching a late wedding":—

Can't our penny-a-liners be loyal,Without writing themselves down flunkeys?Can't our crowd gape at ciphers royal,Without such percentage of "drunkies"?When we want a wedding cantataFor our Princess Royal's espousal,Why for Tennyson Catnach barter,An owl for a singing ouzel?When English Fiddlers find fingers,And an English composer chords,Can't we find six English singers,Who at least could pronounce the words?

Can't our penny-a-liners be loyal,Without writing themselves down flunkeys?Can't our crowd gape at ciphers royal,Without such percentage of "drunkies"?

Can't our penny-a-liners be loyal,

Without writing themselves down flunkeys?

Can't our crowd gape at ciphers royal,

Without such percentage of "drunkies"?

When we want a wedding cantataFor our Princess Royal's espousal,Why for Tennyson Catnach barter,An owl for a singing ouzel?

When we want a wedding cantata

For our Princess Royal's espousal,

Why for Tennyson Catnach barter,

An owl for a singing ouzel?

When English Fiddlers find fingers,And an English composer chords,Can't we find six English singers,Who at least could pronounce the words?

When English Fiddlers find fingers,

And an English composer chords,

Can't we find six English singers,

Who at least could pronounce the words?

Must we still in ruts of old stick,All alike, both high and humble,Our nobs the slaves of Goldstick,Our snobs the slaves of Bumble?

Must we still in ruts of old stick,

All alike, both high and humble,

Our nobs the slaves of Goldstick,

Our snobs the slaves of Bumble?

Woman in horse drawn carriageTHE DRAWING ROOM(A stoppage of a few minutes is supposed to take place.)Dreadful Boy(on lamp post): "Oh! My eye, Bill! 'Ere's a rose bud."

THE DRAWING ROOM

(A stoppage of a few minutes is supposed to take place.)

Dreadful Boy(on lamp post): "Oh! My eye, Bill! 'Ere's a rose bud."

CartoonTHE ACCESSION OF THE QUEEN OF INDIA

THE ACCESSION OF THE QUEEN OF INDIA

In the same vein is the protest in the spring of the same year, against the journalistic flunkeyism of the report of the opening concert in St. James's Hall (described as "vast in dimensions, elegant in proportion and splendid in decoration") which was "honoured by the presence of H.R.H. the Prince Consort, a large number of our aristocracy, and a very numerous company belonging for the most part to the better classes of society"—an English revival of the termoptimateswhichPunchvery properly disliked and deprecated.

The reorganization of the Government in India brought the Queen a new title, and in his congratulations we seePunchat his best:—

To thee is given another land,Another title of renown,Another sceptre in thy hand,And on thy head another crown.To India now at last appearsHope that before she ne'er had seen.She smiles upon thee through her tears,And looks for aid to England's Queen.To thee, her last of Monarchs, firstShe looks for justice, and the reignOf mercy, nor will she have nursedA fond belief, and hoped in vain.No more a victim and a prey,She trusts, with reason why she should,Like all that live beneath thy sway,She will be governed for her good.

To thee is given another land,

Another title of renown,

Another sceptre in thy hand,

And on thy head another crown.

To India now at last appears

Hope that before she ne'er had seen.

She smiles upon thee through her tears,

And looks for aid to England's Queen.

To thee, her last of Monarchs, firstShe looks for justice, and the reignOf mercy, nor will she have nursedA fond belief, and hoped in vain.No more a victim and a prey,She trusts, with reason why she should,Like all that live beneath thy sway,She will be governed for her good.

To thee, her last of Monarchs, first

She looks for justice, and the reign

Of mercy, nor will she have nursed

A fond belief, and hoped in vain.

No more a victim and a prey,

She trusts, with reason why she should,

Like all that live beneath thy sway,

She will be governed for her good.

This unofficial competition with the Laureate, however, did not preventPunchfrom applauding Tennyson's additional stanzas to the National Anthem, which some critics had impugned for their metrical laxity. A little later on,à proposof the Queen's alleged refusal to wear a crinoline in 1859,Punchin a mood of mixed loyalty and levity contributed a new version of his own:—

Long live our gracious Queen,Who won't wear Crinoline,Long live the Queen!May her example spread,Broad skirts be narrowèd,Long trains be shortenèd,Long live the Queen!O storm of scorn arise,Scatter French fooleries,And make them pall.Confound those hoops and things,Frustrate those horrid springs,And indiarubber rings,Deuce take them all!May dresses flaunting wide,Fine figures cease to hide;Let feet be seen.Girls to good taste return,Paris flash modes unlearn,No more catch fire and burn,Thanks to the Queen!

Long live our gracious Queen,Who won't wear Crinoline,Long live the Queen!May her example spread,Broad skirts be narrowèd,Long trains be shortenèd,Long live the Queen!

Long live our gracious Queen,

Who won't wear Crinoline,

Long live the Queen!

May her example spread,

Broad skirts be narrowèd,

Long trains be shortenèd,

Long live the Queen!

O storm of scorn arise,Scatter French fooleries,And make them pall.Confound those hoops and things,Frustrate those horrid springs,And indiarubber rings,Deuce take them all!

O storm of scorn arise,

Scatter French fooleries,

And make them pall.

Confound those hoops and things,

Frustrate those horrid springs,

And indiarubber rings,

Deuce take them all!

May dresses flaunting wide,Fine figures cease to hide;Let feet be seen.Girls to good taste return,Paris flash modes unlearn,No more catch fire and burn,Thanks to the Queen!

May dresses flaunting wide,

Fine figures cease to hide;

Let feet be seen.

Girls to good taste return,

Paris flash modes unlearn,

No more catch fire and burn,

Thanks to the Queen!

The Empress Eugénie, it should be added by way of explanation, had already fallen under the lash ofPunch'ssatire for supporting the crinoline, and starting absurd fashions, amongst which he specially notes the "occipital bonnet"—worn at the back of the head.

Punch and the Royal Princes

The Princess Royal was already off the Queen's andMr. Punch'shands. The birth of her son in 1859—grande et conspicuum nostro quoque tempore monstrum—is duly celebrated in some lines "On an auspicious event" in which the Duchess of Kent is saluted as a great-grandmother. But in 1859 and 1860Punch, who liked to take himself very seriously as an instructor of youth, is mainly concerned with the education of the Royal Princes. Prince Alfred (the Duke of Edinburgh) was already a middy, and his tour in Egypt and Palestine prompted severe comments on the obsequiousness with which he wasfêtedin the near East. As for the Prince of Wales, the dangers of sycophancy were (according toPunch) much less than those of over-pressure. In the cartoon entitled "The Royal Road to Learning," the Prince in cap and gown is shown surrounded by a group of stout, spectacled, bald and bottle-nosed professors and dons bowing and scraping before the Royal youth.Punchprotests, too, in spirited doggerel against the process which threatened to make the Prince Jack-of-all-trades and lord of none. It is at any rate a consolation to think that the Prince of Wales evaded and survived the alleged attempt to convert him into a walking encyclopædia. The Prince's visit to Canada and the United States as "Baron Renfrew" in1860 is followed with close interest and sympathy, and the frequent references in text and illustrations suggest many curious parallels with the experiences of his grandson in 1920.Punchwelcomed the Prince's release from his arduous studies and was gratified with his reception; he did not acquit the American Press of sycophancy, but was obviously pleased when theNew York Heraldsaid that his "genial and unpretending" disposition had "gained him the affection of many true and worthy hearts." Perhaps the greatest compliment was paid him by an Irishman who accosted him in his railway car and said: "Come back four years from now and we'll run you for President."

Royal prince with subservient academicsTHE ROYAL ROAD TO LEARNING

THE ROYAL ROAD TO LEARNING

But to us the most interesting comment on the visit isPunch'stwice-repeated suggestion that the Prince might do a great deal worse than bring back an American bride. He made it on the Prince's departure in July in an Ode, with the apology, "If the Laureate won't do his work,Punchmust," in which he says:

Transcendent charms drive even monarchs frantic,A German Princess must he marry?And who can say he may not carryOne of Columbia's fascinating daughtersO'er the Atlantic?

Transcendent charms drive even monarchs frantic,

A German Princess must he marry?

And who can say he may not carry

One of Columbia's fascinating daughters

O'er the Atlantic?

And he returns more seriously to the charge three months later:—

COUSINS FOR KINGS AND QUEENS

A Law which Nature contravenes,A rule of Rank and State,Forbids our Princes, Kings and Queens,With British spouse to mate.The safety of the Realm commandsThem Protestants to wed;And therefore is their choice of handsExtremely limited.Their Cousins are our Royal raceConfined, almost, to woo,Who, by the nature of the caseAre German Cousins too.Now German Cousins far removedAll very well may be,But Cousins German oft have provedToo near the parent tree.Near cousins o'er the German tide,What need remains to seek,Now steamers cross the Atlantic wide,Almost within a week?Of Yankee Land the Beauty palesAll Continental Fair;Might not a bride be found for Wales,A distant Cousin, there?

A Law which Nature contravenes,

A rule of Rank and State,

Forbids our Princes, Kings and Queens,

With British spouse to mate.

The safety of the Realm commands

Them Protestants to wed;

And therefore is their choice of hands

Extremely limited.

Their Cousins are our Royal raceConfined, almost, to woo,Who, by the nature of the caseAre German Cousins too.Now German Cousins far removedAll very well may be,But Cousins German oft have provedToo near the parent tree.

Their Cousins are our Royal race

Confined, almost, to woo,

Who, by the nature of the case

Are German Cousins too.

Now German Cousins far removed

All very well may be,

But Cousins German oft have proved

Too near the parent tree.

Near cousins o'er the German tide,What need remains to seek,Now steamers cross the Atlantic wide,Almost within a week?Of Yankee Land the Beauty palesAll Continental Fair;Might not a bride be found for Wales,A distant Cousin, there?

Near cousins o'er the German tide,

What need remains to seek,

Now steamers cross the Atlantic wide,

Almost within a week?

Of Yankee Land the Beauty pales

All Continental Fair;

Might not a bride be found for Wales,

A distant Cousin, there?

Royal Speeches Criticized

From this onward for a great many yearsPunchwas not content with supplementing the inactivities of the Laureate, but seldom allowed any event in the Royal annals—births, deaths, engagements or weddings—to pass unchronicled in serious rhyme. The art of eulogy is difficult, and the most that can be said of these efforts is that they were generally graceful and appropriate, and that their loyalty seldom degenerated into fulsomeness. On the subject of royal speechesPunchshowed good sense as well as great frankness, in connexion with the public utterances of the Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit to Ireland in 1861:—

WANTED, A COURT PENMANRoyal personages, in answering loyal addresses, of course speak only that which is set down for them. If they made speeches of their own they would be continually committing themselves, unawares, to this statement and that, and unwittingly treading upon the corns of various people right and left. At least, to avoid making mistakes of this sort, they would have to take an amount of trouble in composing their replies so great that it would very much interfere with their ordinary business, and entirely spoil their pleasure. It is therefore necessary that Princes should be provided with attendants having the office to compose, and put into form, the platitudes in which they are called upon, from time to time, to acknowledge the compliments which are paid to them. But then the platitudes ought to be expressed in proper terms, such as it may become a Prince to utter; that is, in language which a decently educated person would naturally use. Now, is anybody who has been brought up in any school better than a Commercial Academy capable of delivering himselfin such a style as that of the subjoined slip-slop which the Prince of Wales had to read in answer to an address presented to him by the Kingstown Commissioners?—"Gentlemen,—I most heartily thank you for the gratifying terms in which, on your own behalf and that of the inhabitants of Kingstown, you greet me on my arrival at your port, after a voyage performed with such ease and expedition in the admirable vessel considerately placed at my disposal by its enterprising proprietors."His Royal Highness is also actually made to say:—"During former visits to Ireland, and particularly in the course of a tour made some years ago through the country, I had considerable opportunities of witnessing the beauty of her scenery."Some clue to the authorship of the preceding instances of haberdashers' eloquence may perhaps be found in those characteristic forms of speech, "considerable" opportunities, and "witnessing" the beauty of her scenery. These are the notorious idioms of that sort of penny-a-lining which is the least worth a penny. The advisers of the Prince of Wales should cause their own private secretaries to write the speeches which they give the Prince to make, and not employ for that purpose the undermost reporter engaged on theCourt Circular. At least let the Queen's son be allowed to speak his Mother's English.As there is a Poet Laureate, so likewise ought there to be a Royal Professor of Prose, whose office, however, shall not be merely honorary, but shall consist in plainly wording the simple ideas which Royalty is occasionally called upon to express.Mr. Punchcould mention some young men who, at a sufficiently high wage, would accept the work.

WANTED, A COURT PENMAN

Royal personages, in answering loyal addresses, of course speak only that which is set down for them. If they made speeches of their own they would be continually committing themselves, unawares, to this statement and that, and unwittingly treading upon the corns of various people right and left. At least, to avoid making mistakes of this sort, they would have to take an amount of trouble in composing their replies so great that it would very much interfere with their ordinary business, and entirely spoil their pleasure. It is therefore necessary that Princes should be provided with attendants having the office to compose, and put into form, the platitudes in which they are called upon, from time to time, to acknowledge the compliments which are paid to them. But then the platitudes ought to be expressed in proper terms, such as it may become a Prince to utter; that is, in language which a decently educated person would naturally use. Now, is anybody who has been brought up in any school better than a Commercial Academy capable of delivering himselfin such a style as that of the subjoined slip-slop which the Prince of Wales had to read in answer to an address presented to him by the Kingstown Commissioners?—

"Gentlemen,—I most heartily thank you for the gratifying terms in which, on your own behalf and that of the inhabitants of Kingstown, you greet me on my arrival at your port, after a voyage performed with such ease and expedition in the admirable vessel considerately placed at my disposal by its enterprising proprietors."

His Royal Highness is also actually made to say:—

"During former visits to Ireland, and particularly in the course of a tour made some years ago through the country, I had considerable opportunities of witnessing the beauty of her scenery."

Some clue to the authorship of the preceding instances of haberdashers' eloquence may perhaps be found in those characteristic forms of speech, "considerable" opportunities, and "witnessing" the beauty of her scenery. These are the notorious idioms of that sort of penny-a-lining which is the least worth a penny. The advisers of the Prince of Wales should cause their own private secretaries to write the speeches which they give the Prince to make, and not employ for that purpose the undermost reporter engaged on theCourt Circular. At least let the Queen's son be allowed to speak his Mother's English.

As there is a Poet Laureate, so likewise ought there to be a Royal Professor of Prose, whose office, however, shall not be merely honorary, but shall consist in plainly wording the simple ideas which Royalty is occasionally called upon to express.Mr. Punchcould mention some young men who, at a sufficiently high wage, would accept the work.

Whether the hint was taken or not, the fact remains that for a good many years Royal oratory has ceased to deserve such criticism. It may not be Ciceronian; it does not inflame or transport the hearer, but at least it is free from the cheap haberdashers' eloquence which arousedPunch'swrath sixty years ago.

The visit of the Queen and Prince Consort to Ireland in August, 1861, passed off without any untoward incident, but the comments inPunchwere mainly ironical, as in the cartoon, "Doth not a meeting like this make amends," in which the Queen observes, "My dear Ireland, how much better you look since my last visit. I am so glad." For the rest there is much pungent criticism directed against the assiduity of the newspaper correspondents in chronicling small beer.The demonstrations were too carefully stage-managed in the operatic style: the odour of the footlights invaded Killarney; andPunchis quite furious with the snobbery of the unfortunate special correspondent who declared that "the Queen and Prince Albert repeatedly expressed their unqualified admiration of the scenery. His Royal Highness said many portions were sublime." It is by such practices,Punchtruly remarks, that "the Press is lowered in repute and people think it is the work of a vulgarian to write for it."

In the year 1861 the Queen lost both her mother and her husband. The Prince Consort had outlived a great deal of his unpopularity—faithfully reflected in the pages ofPunch. Yet even so late as 1858 he met with scant sympathy in the malicious imaginary conversation between the Emperor of the French, the Queen and himself at Cherbourg. The Emperor figures as themiles gloriosus, boastful of his strength; the Queen is ironically polite: Prince Albert angular and tactless. The mere suddenness and unexpectedness of his death brought a great reaction; those who had depreciated and disparaged him when living were especially vocal in their praises of the dead; but the full extent and significance of his loss to the Queen was not understood till long afterwards. Those terrible cartoons of Leech will keep coming before our eyes as we read the bland elegiac stanzas in whichPunchmade amends for ten years of scarifying ridicule:—

It was too soon to die.Yet, might we count his years by triumphs won,By wise, and bold, and Christian duties done,It were no brief eventless history.This was his princely thought:With all his varied wisdom to repayOur trust and love, which on that Bridal DayThe Daughter of the Isles for dowry brought.For that he loved our Queen,And for her sake, the people of her love,Few and far distant names shall rank aboveHis own, where England's cherished names are seen.

It was too soon to die.Yet, might we count his years by triumphs won,By wise, and bold, and Christian duties done,It were no brief eventless history.

It was too soon to die.

Yet, might we count his years by triumphs won,

By wise, and bold, and Christian duties done,

It were no brief eventless history.

This was his princely thought:With all his varied wisdom to repayOur trust and love, which on that Bridal DayThe Daughter of the Isles for dowry brought.

This was his princely thought:

With all his varied wisdom to repay

Our trust and love, which on that Bridal Day

The Daughter of the Isles for dowry brought.

For that he loved our Queen,And for her sake, the people of her love,Few and far distant names shall rank aboveHis own, where England's cherished names are seen.

For that he loved our Queen,

And for her sake, the people of her love,

Few and far distant names shall rank above

His own, where England's cherished names are seen.

Punch and the Princess of Wales

The Queen never quite recovered from her bereavement. The next twenty years of her life were spent more or less in retirement; andPunch, in his pious and quite sincere request to be allowed to "share her grief," could not be expected to foresee that in less than two years the nation would have grown restive at the Queen's continued seclusion and that he himself would have become active in expressing its discontent. In 1862 the wedding of Princess Alice received the usual meed of ceremonial verse,Punchbeing happily spared a glimpse into the future in store for her and her daughters; and the refusal of the Greek Crown by Prince Alfred is recognized to be judicious.Punchbore the Prince of Wales no malice for not acting on his suggestion about an American bride; and greeted Princess Alexandra of Denmark as enthusiastically if not as poetically as the Laureate himself. When the wedding procession passed down Fleet Street (the offices of the paper were then at No. 85), the Princess was greeted with an effusion of loyal sentiment and champagne. But in her beauty, grace, and popularityPunchsaw a means of rescuing women of fashion from their expensive servility to French milliners, and within a fortnight of his chronicling the marriage festivities he appeals to her to set the fashions for British ladies, hitherto copied from the French, and thus "turn the tide of absurdity in costume from the abyss into which, before her seasonable arrival, it was tending to plunge them." Long dresses, "sweeping and brushing the earth," heraldic gold-dust, powder and hair dyes are especially singled out for condemnation.

The birth of the Duke of Clarence is loyally chronicled in January, 1864, though in the following numberPunchcould not resist the temptation of printing some verses in parody of Tupper, then at the zenith of his popularity. The birth of the present King in the summer of the following year prompted some frank but friendly comments inPunch's"Essence of Parliament." Sir George Grey moved the address of congratulation to the Queen. Then follows this characteristic passage:—

Mr. Disraeli, who we are glad to perceive had so completely recovered from his gout as to be able to attend at the splendidmarriage of Miss Evelina de Rothschild, and make the most tender and graceful of speeches in honour of the occasion, seconded the motion, whichMr. Punch, rousing himself for a moment into loyal enthusiasm, has the distinguished pleasure of thirding—and relapses.

The plain fact was thatPunchwas growing increasingly dissatisfied with the continued retirement of the "Royal Recluse." This dissatisfaction began with a "Loyal Whisper" at the time of the Prince's wedding:—

"Nay, let my people see me." KindWas She whom then our cheers were greeting:Now, would that Lady bear in mindThat words like those will bear repeating.

"Nay, let my people see me." Kind

Was She whom then our cheers were greeting:

Now, would that Lady bear in mind

That words like those will bear repeating.

But it soon swelled to more vocal dimensions. It was one thing to check the extravagances of "indelicate and obtrusive loyalty"; it was another to maintain an almost Oriental aloofness. The subject is returned to again and again, in prose and verse, and in two cartoons by Tenniel: notably that of "Queen Hermione" in 1865. But the candour ofPunchreaches its highest level in his comments on the announcement early in 1866 of the institution of a new decoration—the Albert Medal.

The "Effete Monarchy"

Mr. Punch'sloyalty has been proved too often for question. Without the slightest apology, therefore, he proceeds to say what he would have preferred to leave unsaid, for it is not the part of a true friend to be silent when he should speak.Mr. Punchhas cordially approved every reasonable effort to preserve the memory of the good Prince whose loss we all deplore. Statues, in far greater number than ever was accorded to an English Worthy, have been reared in honour of the lamented Consort. Though it is now just sixty years since Nelson was laid in St. Paul's, our great sea-captain's monument is unfinished—we hear nothing at all of the national monument to our great land-captain, though it is more than thirteen years since Wellington was laid by the side of Nelson—but the most splendid and costly of memorials is rapidly rising, in the Park, in testimony of our veneration for Prince Albert. When this shall have been completed, will it not be almost time to leave that good man's fame to take care of itself? Society is at least half inclined to believe that enough has been done in this way, and it will not be well that society should begin to smile at persistent efforts to add tribute to tribute. There is really no fitness in giving the Prince's name to the medal that is to reward the noblest of sea-service.The Prince had no kind of connexion with or special regard for sea-achievements, though the irreverent may remark that his own courage was shown when he voyaged, inasmuch as he notoriously suffered on such occasions more than anyone else on board. Anything like ridicule should not be permitted to connect itself with an honoured memory.

The Prince had no kind of connexion with or special regard for sea-achievements, though the irreverent may remark that his own courage was shown when he voyaged, inasmuch as he notoriously suffered on such occasions more than anyone else on board. Anything like ridicule should not be permitted to connect itself with an honoured memory.

The Albert Medal, as we know, was not restricted to those who exhibited conspicuous gallantry in the rescue of life from shipwreck, and the remarks we have quoted may very well have contributed to its being awarded in recognition of heroic deeds on land as well. A fortnight later a passage quoted from theNew York HeraldimpelledPunchto reaffirm his loyalty to the Monarchy:—

England is completely prepared to become Republican, but the undoubted personal popularity of the Queen will probably sustain the effete monarchy until the time arrives for transmission of the Crown. But as for an Edward the Seventh, that is out of the question.

WhereonPunchobserves "are there twenty republicans in England, deducting Bedlam?" On February 6 the Queen opened Parliament in person:—

The Queen has not performed this ceremony during the last five years, and the reason for the Sovereign's seclusion would render it unbecoming forMr. Punchto say any word upon the subject of Her reappearance, except that it greatly rejoiced the nation and himself.

This emergence was welcome, but it was not followed up and did not satisfy public opinion, as we gather from an appeal made in the following year:—

ThePall Mall Gazette, inviting Her Majesty to resume her personal sway over society, says:—"During the first twenty years of Queen Victoria's reign the salons of London did not reek with tobacco smoke, neither did the noble, the pure, and the young stagger under red wigs, glare with rouge and pearl-powder, or leer with painted eyes."No. Neither do the noble and the pure stagger, glare or leer now. But if the ignoble, the impure, and some of the young do these things, and can be deterred from them by royal displeasure,manifested in the dignified way in which the First Lady would mark it, we should rejoice to know that the Queen intended to come forward and do an unwelcome duty. No worthier homage can be offered to the dead than a painful sacrifice for the sake of the living. The Crown has direct power over the court-class, and as for the idiots who parody their patrons, the parody, as we firmly believe, would be pursued even if great folks took to virtue and going to church. Which considerations, with the deepest respect,Mr. Punchsubmits to the notice of his Royal Mistress.

ThePall Mall Gazette, inviting Her Majesty to resume her personal sway over society, says:—

"During the first twenty years of Queen Victoria's reign the salons of London did not reek with tobacco smoke, neither did the noble, the pure, and the young stagger under red wigs, glare with rouge and pearl-powder, or leer with painted eyes."

No. Neither do the noble and the pure stagger, glare or leer now. But if the ignoble, the impure, and some of the young do these things, and can be deterred from them by royal displeasure,manifested in the dignified way in which the First Lady would mark it, we should rejoice to know that the Queen intended to come forward and do an unwelcome duty. No worthier homage can be offered to the dead than a painful sacrifice for the sake of the living. The Crown has direct power over the court-class, and as for the idiots who parody their patrons, the parody, as we firmly believe, would be pursued even if great folks took to virtue and going to church. Which considerations, with the deepest respect,Mr. Punchsubmits to the notice of his Royal Mistress.

Many of us thought that the lavish use of paint and dye by the young was a portent of Georgian post-war days: it is something of a surprise, possibly a relief, to find it was prevalent more than fifty years ago.

From this point onwards one may notice a disposition to acquiesce in the self-imposed seclusion of the Queen, though any movement towards breaking it down is at once recognized and welcomed—even such a small thing as the publication of herJournal of our Life in the Highlands. Thus we read that its issue "on the advice of Mr. Arthur Helps is likely, if such a thing were possible, to endear her still more to the loving hearts of her people," and in a set of verses on "The Queen's Book" the Queen is applauded for her wise and womanly thought:—

What Queen like this was ever knownTo take her people to her heart?When was Queen's household-life so shownWith modest truth and artless art?The Royal Widow has done wellThus on her people's love to call,Her simple wifely tale to tellAnd trust her joys and griefs to all.

What Queen like this was ever knownTo take her people to her heart?When was Queen's household-life so shownWith modest truth and artless art?

What Queen like this was ever known

To take her people to her heart?

When was Queen's household-life so shown

With modest truth and artless art?

The Royal Widow has done wellThus on her people's love to call,Her simple wifely tale to tellAnd trust her joys and griefs to all.

The Royal Widow has done well

Thus on her people's love to call,

Her simple wifely tale to tell

And trust her joys and griefs to all.

The writer was evidently well aware that cynics and literary critics would make fun of the book, but the defence of sincerity comes with added weight from one who was always on the look out for ineptitudes in high places.

The announcement of the betrothal of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lorne gavePuncha fine opportunity in the autumn of 1870 of vindicating his prescience, and simultaneously revealing Thackeray in the light of a political prophet:—

Wedding ceremonyA (REAL) GERMAN DEFEAT

A (REAL) GERMAN DEFEAT

THE ROYAL MARRIAGEThackeray among the ProphetsMr. Punchbegs leave to make a distinguished bow to his excellent (if Conservative) contemporary, theBath Chronicle. That admirable journal, the studies of whose Conductor are so evidently in a right direction that the success of the paper is a matter of course, has turned back to a somewhat remote Number ofPunch, and has been amply rewarded by lighting upon an article, which has been transferred to the columns of theBath Chronicle, with appropriate remarks, a portion of whichMr. Punchhas the utmost pleasure in reproducing:—"Twenty-one years ago, in the Number ofPunchfor February 3, 1849, the late Mr. Thackeray drew an imaginary picture of 'England in 1869,' in supposed extracts from the newspapers of the period. One of these, under the heading of 'Marriages of the Royal Family,' is so applicable to the circumstances of 'England in 1870' that itis worth reproducing. The humourist would have been amused himself had he lived to see how nearly he hit the mark. The following is the paragraph we refer to:—"'Marriages of the Royal Family.—Why should our Princes and Princesses be compelled always to seek in Germany for matrimonial alliances? Are the youths and maidens of England less beautiful than those of Saxe and Prussia? Are the nobles of our own country, who have been free for hundreds of years, who have shown in every clime the genius, the honour, the splendour of Britain—are these, we ask, in any way inferior to a Prince (however venerable) of Sachs-Schlippenschloppen, or a Grand Duke of Pigwitz-Gruntenstein? We would breathe no syllable of disrespect against these potentates—we recognize in them as in ourselves the same Saxon blood—but why, we ask, shall not Anglo-Saxon Princes or Princesses wed with free Anglo-Saxon nobles, themselves the descendants, if not the inheritors of kings? We have heard in the very highest quarters rumours which under these impressions give us the very sincerest delight. We have heard it stated that the august mother and father of a numerous and illustrious race, whose increase is dear to the heart of every Briton, have determined no longer to seek for German alliances for their exalted children, but to look at home for establishments for those so dear to them. More would be at present premature. We are not at liberty to mention particulars, but it is whispered that Her Royal Highness The Princess Boadicea is about to confer her royal hand upon a young nobleman who is eldest son of a noble peer who is connected by marriage with our noble and venerable Premier, with the Foreign and Colonial Secretaries, and with H.G. the Archbishop of Canterbury. The same "little bird" also whispers that His Royal Highness, Prince Hengist, has cast an eye of princely approbation upon a lovely and accomplished young lady of the highest classes, whose distinguished parents are "frae the North," whose name is known and beloved throughout the wide dominions of Britain's sway—in India, at the Admiralty, at the Home and Colonial Offices and in both Houses of Parliament.'"The first part of the prediction is being accomplished with a literalness that should drive Zadkiel to despair. The Princess Louise, then a baby not quite a year old, is betrothed to the eldest son of a nobleman actually in office, who comes 'frae the North,' and whose name is certainly known in India, seeing that he is and has for some time been the Secretary of State for India. Moreover he is connected by marriage with the Foreign Secretary, Earl Granville, for he married a Gower, the Earl's first cousin, while as the head of the Campbells he may claim cousinship with the Earl's second wife,Miss Campbell, of Islay, as well as with the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose mother was a Campbell."

THE ROYAL MARRIAGE

Thackeray among the Prophets

Mr. Punchbegs leave to make a distinguished bow to his excellent (if Conservative) contemporary, theBath Chronicle. That admirable journal, the studies of whose Conductor are so evidently in a right direction that the success of the paper is a matter of course, has turned back to a somewhat remote Number ofPunch, and has been amply rewarded by lighting upon an article, which has been transferred to the columns of theBath Chronicle, with appropriate remarks, a portion of whichMr. Punchhas the utmost pleasure in reproducing:—

"Twenty-one years ago, in the Number ofPunchfor February 3, 1849, the late Mr. Thackeray drew an imaginary picture of 'England in 1869,' in supposed extracts from the newspapers of the period. One of these, under the heading of 'Marriages of the Royal Family,' is so applicable to the circumstances of 'England in 1870' that itis worth reproducing. The humourist would have been amused himself had he lived to see how nearly he hit the mark. The following is the paragraph we refer to:—

"'Marriages of the Royal Family.—Why should our Princes and Princesses be compelled always to seek in Germany for matrimonial alliances? Are the youths and maidens of England less beautiful than those of Saxe and Prussia? Are the nobles of our own country, who have been free for hundreds of years, who have shown in every clime the genius, the honour, the splendour of Britain—are these, we ask, in any way inferior to a Prince (however venerable) of Sachs-Schlippenschloppen, or a Grand Duke of Pigwitz-Gruntenstein? We would breathe no syllable of disrespect against these potentates—we recognize in them as in ourselves the same Saxon blood—but why, we ask, shall not Anglo-Saxon Princes or Princesses wed with free Anglo-Saxon nobles, themselves the descendants, if not the inheritors of kings? We have heard in the very highest quarters rumours which under these impressions give us the very sincerest delight. We have heard it stated that the august mother and father of a numerous and illustrious race, whose increase is dear to the heart of every Briton, have determined no longer to seek for German alliances for their exalted children, but to look at home for establishments for those so dear to them. More would be at present premature. We are not at liberty to mention particulars, but it is whispered that Her Royal Highness The Princess Boadicea is about to confer her royal hand upon a young nobleman who is eldest son of a noble peer who is connected by marriage with our noble and venerable Premier, with the Foreign and Colonial Secretaries, and with H.G. the Archbishop of Canterbury. The same "little bird" also whispers that His Royal Highness, Prince Hengist, has cast an eye of princely approbation upon a lovely and accomplished young lady of the highest classes, whose distinguished parents are "frae the North," whose name is known and beloved throughout the wide dominions of Britain's sway—in India, at the Admiralty, at the Home and Colonial Offices and in both Houses of Parliament.'

"The first part of the prediction is being accomplished with a literalness that should drive Zadkiel to despair. The Princess Louise, then a baby not quite a year old, is betrothed to the eldest son of a nobleman actually in office, who comes 'frae the North,' and whose name is certainly known in India, seeing that he is and has for some time been the Secretary of State for India. Moreover he is connected by marriage with the Foreign Secretary, Earl Granville, for he married a Gower, the Earl's first cousin, while as the head of the Campbells he may claim cousinship with the Earl's second wife,Miss Campbell, of Islay, as well as with the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose mother was a Campbell."

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