Barnum had seen Jumbo many times in London after Jumbo had become a famous giant elephant. Barnum coveted him, but it seemed hopeless to think of obtaining him. However, an agent was instructed to ask the Royal Zoölogical Society secretary how much he would take for Jumbo, and the secretary, much to the surprise and delight of Barnum and Bailey, replied that he would sell Jumbo for $10,000. The money was sent immediately, and Jumbo was purchased in the name of P. T. Barnum. After the sale was completed, it was announced in the London newspapers. Immediately there was a furor of public indignation, and Jumbo became the most important question of the day in England. Hundreds of letters were written to the newspapers by fathers and mothers whose children had been carried for many years on Jumbo’s back, and the children themselves wrote sentimental notes, appropriately misspelled, begging Mr. Barnum not to take from them their dear Jumbo. The Queen and the Prince of Wales, who had often ridden on Jumbo’s back, joined in protesting against this outrageous sale of a public character; John Ruskin wrote indignantly that England had not been in the habit of selling her pets. Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, and John Ruskin begged the Zoölogical Society to refuse to deliver the elephant to Barnum, and they promised that the British nation would be responsible for any damages due to breach of contract. It was almost as if Barnum had purchased an English institution, like Mr. Gladstone or the Albert Memorial, and the volume of protest was greater than it would probably have been had Barnum been successful many years before in his attempt to carry off Shakespeare’s home. Lord Winchilsea undoubtedly expressed the view of thousands of Englishmen in his verse entitled “Jumbo”: “But since in England’s fallen state She owns two things supremely great, Jumbo and Gladstone--(each we find The most prodigious of their kind)-- And one won’t budge. Then, Barnum, make A fair exchange, for quiet’s sake! Take the Right Honorable, and go! He’ll make the better raree show! Leave Jumbo.”