, by
treading upon it at an evening party. TALLEYRAND knew NAPOLEON--"He
could not bear the things that were disagreeable with complacency!"
And yet BONAPARTE is sometimes called "_Le Grand_!" (The Great!)

Here I pause, as I feel that I may have already gone too far. It is
not for me to say how the document from which I have quoted, came into
my possession. But before I satisfy the legitimate curiosity of the
public further, I consider it my professional duty to consult the Bar
Committee, the Council of the Incorporated Law Society, the President
of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of
Justice, and the LORD CHANCELLOR, many of whom are unfortunately still
absent, enjoying the Whitsuntide Vacation. I have the honour to be,
dear Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

(_Signed_) A. BRIEFLESS, JUNIOR.

_Pump-handle Court, June 2nd, 1890._

* * * * *

A NOVEL WITH A PURPOSE.

DEAR MR. PUNCH,

How a few hundred pounds may be easily and honestly earned is a
problem which daily exercises the imaginations of thousands. I was
fortunate enough to hit upon a plan which I now feel it to be my duty
to make as widely known as possible for the benefit of those whose
need is greater than mine; for, curiously enough, not only did my
work bring me in that direct emolument, upon which I not unwarrantably
reckoned, but an elderly lady of unstable views was so taken with
the chaotic benevolence of my book, that she bequeathed to me a very
handsome legacy indeed, and almost immediately enabled me to realise
it. Thus does the absolutely unexpected serve as the handmaid of the
perfectly unintended, and enterprise retires from the lodgings of
struggle to the villa of repose. My plan briefly was to write a
quasi-religious Novel with a Purpose. I knew nothing about religion,
and had no literary experience, but the purpose I had, and that
purpose was, to make enough money to spend six weeks at Herne Bay, a
locality to which I am passionately addicted.

A brief sketch of my proceedings will be the best explanation and
guide to others. I first bought a sixpenny scrap-album, a pot of
paste, and a pair of strong scissors; and a shillingsworth of penny
novelettes of various kinds and dates, and a shillingsworth of cheap
manuscript-paper completed my outlay. I then took the goods home and
got to work. Glancing through the pile of novelettes, I soon found an
opening that str