We wish him a continuance of the successes which from his list this Equestrian Military Tutor—he can’t he a “coach” as he is an ORSBACH—has already obtained. It’s a German name, but it sounds more like ’Orsetrian (!)
* * * * *
Cui Bono?—“It is a mistake,” quoth The World last week, “to suppose that Mr. Gladstone complacently regards Sir William Harcourt as his ‘Alter Ego.’” Mr. G. being the “Ego” it is not very likely that Sir WILLIAM V. HARCOURT is likely to “alter” any of his Leader’s plans. Still an “Alter Ego” is very useful whenever Mr. GLADSTONE may want to “wink The Other I.”
* * * * *
[Illustration: 1492 V. 1892.]
[Christopher Columbus. “WHAT! GO OVER IN FIVE DAYS! WHY, IF I’D HAD A SHIP LIKE THAT, I’D HAVE DISCOVERED EVERYTHING BEFORE NOW!”]
* * * * *
ELECTION AGONIES.
(BY A RE-ELECTED M.P.)
Yes, there I stood beside my wife,
And called it—whilst
the mob cheered wildly—
“The proudest moment of my life,”
Which it was not, to
put it mildly.
Heavens, how they cheered! Up went
their caps,
To see their Member safely
seated;
Who in his inmost soul, perhaps,
Had almost wished himself
defeated.
The girls are pleased. And Mrs. T.,
Has fairy visions of a handle
To grace the name she shares with me;
But is the game quite worth
the candle?
Six years of unremitting work,
Of flower-shows, bazaars,
and speeches,
Of sturdy mendicants who lurk
In wait to act as sturdy leeches.
The faddists—Anti-This-and-That—
Blue-spectacled “One
Vote, One Person”—
Extract a promise, prompt and pat,
The while their heads you
hurl a curse on.
And in return? The dull debate,
The dreary unimportant question,
The pressure of affairs of State,
A muddled brain, a lost digestion.
Six years of it. I cannot
stand
At any cost another bout of
it;
But, given away on every hand,
I don’t quite see how
to get out of it.
Ah, happy thought! My seat is safe,
And so ’mid general
adulation,
I’ll rescue some poor party waif
By Chiltern Hundreds resignation.
The world will quickly roar applause,
Of martyrs I shall be the
latest;
But I’m the party and the cause
To whom the service will be
greatest!
* * * * *
SONG OF GRATITUDE (by a Nervous Equestrian on the exceptional absence of ’Arry-cyclists or “Wheelmen” from the road to Wimbledon).—
“Oh, Wheelie, have we missed you?
Oh no, no, No!”
* * * * *