, and fed; and the people--the creatures whom God made after his own
image--the poor wretches who want nothing but a little bread, will lie
down hungry and thankful, when they reflect that the royal dogs and horses
are in the best possible condition. But we have not yet mentioned the
great crowning work of Ministers--the Queen's speech on the Prorogation of
the Parliament last week. What an admirable illustration it was of that
profound logical deduction--that, out of nothing comes nothing! Yet it was
deduction--that, out of nothing comes nothing! Yet it was not altogether
without design, and though some sneering critics have called the old
song--the burthen of it was clearly--

[Illustration: DOWN WITH YOUR DUST.]

* * * * *

SO MUCH FOR BUCKINGHAM!

MR. SILK BUCKINGHAM being unmercifully reproached by his unhappy publisher
upon the dreadful weight of his recent work on America, fortunately espied
the youngest son of the enraged and disappointed vendor of volumes
actually flying a kite formed of a portion of the first volume. "Heavy,"
retorted Silk, "nonsense, sir. Look there! so volatile and exciting is
that masterly production, that it has even made that youthful scion of an
obdurate line, spite my teetotal feelings,

[Illustration: "THREE SHEETS IN THE WIND."]

* * * * *

PUNCH'S NEW GENERAL LETTER-WRITER.

Perhaps no one operation of frequent recurrence and absolute necessity
involves so much mental pain and imaginative uneasiness as the reduction
of thoughts to paper, for the furtherance of epistolatory correspondence.
Some great key-stone to this abstruse science--some accurate data from
which all sorts and conditions of people may at once receive instruction
and assistance, has been long wanting.

Letter-writers, in general, may be divided into two great classes, viz.:
those who write to ask favours, and those who write to refuse them. There
is a vague notion extant, that in former days a third genus
existed--though by no means proportionate to the other two--they were
those who wrote "to grant favours;" these were also remarkable for
enclosing remittances and paying the double postage--at least, so we are
assured; of our knowledge, we can advance nothing concerning them and
their (to us) supposititious existence, save our conviction that the race
has been long extinct.

Those who write to ask, may be divided into--

1.--Creditors