ades. We are delighted that the old nuisance will not be suffered
to die in its bed, or rather in the bed of the river, into which it
daily threatened to tumble. Westminster Bridge has, indeed, had a fair
trial, for it has been tried by its piers, and its condemnation has been
the inevitable result, for its piers have been, perhaps, the chief cause
of its downfall.

* * * * *

OUR YOUNG LADY AT SPITHEAD.

MISS LAURA TREMAINE _to her Sister, the Wife of_ AUGUSTUS FLOPP, ESQ.,
M.P.

"MY DEAREST LOUISA,

"Certainly, of all the unkind, and churlish creatures that ever lived,
the House of Commons contains the very worst specimens, and, my dear,
they are all alike, so there is no use in your making a protest on
behalf of your own Honourable Member. Not to take you to the Spithead
Review, and then to plead, as an apology, that there were no ships for
your accommodation! And this is the omnipotent Parliament, that has only
to say that coals shall not smoke, and they instantly emit nothing but
perfumed incense; that cabmen shall not cheat, and they at once become
as polite as guardsmen (and a great deal politer); that candidates shall
not bribe, and they immediately begin to pay the voters who have opposed
them, just to prevent the poor men from being unlawfully rewarded by
their own friends. And yet this wonderful Parliament pretends that it
cannot find a ship or two to take its own wives to see the Queen review
the fleet! The men must think you are perfect geese, my dear LOO, to
offer you such rubbishing excuses. It is very well for AUGUSTUS that he
married you and not me, as he was once inclined to do (he _was_, so you
need not make a face), for you accept 'the House' as an excuse for
everything, and are afraid to look at the newspaper in the morning to
see what hour Parliament rose, for fear you should discover that he
_could_ not have been waiting for a division at three. And you believe,
too, that it is necessary for him to be full dressed for a debate, and
that it produces just the same effect upon him as champagne does upon
ordinary men. O, LOUISA! But you _like_ it, I believe.

Well, as I have not got an AUGUSTUS to tell me stories and leave me at
home, I went with LADY DE GULES and her sister to Portsmouth, and every
kind of care was taken of us. We went from the hotel (where I hear they
were demanding unheard-of prices from strangers, and charging them five
guineas for leave to pa