lot _in_ it,
all the same. Look at the way he brought smoke out o' them clays!

_The C.C._ (_to his Friend_.) That _was_ a lark, JIM! But look
'ere--don't you go tellin' the Missus; _she_ ain't on the Me'atmer
lay--not _much_, she ain't!

* * * * *

[Illustration: HONOURS EASY.

_Sir E.L._ (_gaily_). "BARONETTED? OF COURSE, MY BOY--RIGHT THING TO
DO! THANKS. TA-TA!" [_Careers away, to keep up his circulation._

_Mr. P._ "AND _YOU_, MR. LABBY?"

_H.L._ (_languidly_). "OH--AH--AS FOR _ME_--I'M OUT OF IT--THAT'S THE
TRUTH."]

* * * * *

WOT CHER, LABBY?

["Mr. LABOUCHERE, so he says, has come to London to enjoy the
smiles of the new Ministry."--_Morning Paper_.]

Enjoy them, dear LABBY, smile back, if you can--
Though your lip has a curl that portends something sinister--
It is painful, I take it, to flash in the pan,
While a rival goes off with a bang as a Minister.

But you (you're a cynic, that's one of the ways,
And by no means the worst, to get credit for kindness),
You can smile at this struggle for titles and praise,
You can laugh at your friends while you envy their blindness.

A time, so I fancy you saying, will come;
They are not done with LABBY, for all their sweet smiling;
And they're vastly mistaken who think he'll be dumb,
Or abandon his amiable habit of riling.

* * * * *

"GREAT SCOTT!"--_Mr. Punch's_ congratulations to the new Bart. of
Scott's Bank, Cavendish Square, with the classic name of HORACE. His
friends will be able to adapt MACAULAY's lines, and tell--

"How well HORATIUS kept the Bank,
In the brave days of old."

Of course, be it understood that "keeping the Bank" has nothing
whatever to do with Monte Carlo, or with any game of speculation. _Ad
multos annos!_ And to adapt again--

"On HORACE's head Honours accumulate!"

* * * * *

BALFOUR AND SALISBURY.--The late Government couldn't help having a
good dash of spirit in it, seeing it was a "B. and S." mixture. Now,
"B. and S."--off! _Vide_ _Mr. Punch's_ Cartoon this week.

* * * * *

[Illustration: NEVER SATISFIED.

_Grumpy Husband._ "HOW BADLY INFORMED NEWSPAPERS ARE! WHY, HERE THEY
SAY, 'SIR THOMAS GRIMSBY ENTERTAINED US AND A NUMBER OF OTHERS AT
DINNER LAST NIGHT!' ENTERTAINED! WHY, I NEVER WAS SO BORED IN MY
L