Ladies of the Royal Family--Mrs. Christian--Minnie and Alec--The Noble Lord the Poet-Laureate--Wanted an English Academy. Say to an English Conservative that Gladstone is an old rascal, and Chamberlain a dangerous demagogue, and he will exclaim: "You are right." Say to a Liberal that Salisbury is a humbug, Stafford Northcote an old woman, and Randolph Churchill a political _gamin_, and he will reply: "You have the measure of them." But venture to speak jokingly of the Queen, and your Englishman, be he Liberal or Conservative, will fly at you like a bull-dog. The reason is simple enough. According to the Conservatives, a Liberal Government never has done, and never will do, anything right. According to the Liberals, a Conservative Government never accomplished, and never will accomplish, anything but blunders or atrocities. But in insulting the Queen, who can do nothing wrong, and is thus placed in a position of safety, removed from all party jealousies, you are insulting England, and on this point the Englishman is not to be trifled with; and indeed, be not deceived, this is the very secret of his strength. Happy the country that has sons ready, when the hour of danger comes, to forget their own quarrels, and rally as one man around her standard! Go to a theatre, a concert, to the athletic sports of schoolboys, and when the band strikes up "God Save the Queen," to announce that the entertainment is at an end, you will see every man and boy bare his head, every face grow serious, and, in the midst of this imposing silence, this solemn attitude, you will be struck with admiration and respect for this nation in whom the sound of a monotonous hymn can awaken the deepest feelings of love for the mother-country. Yet this boundless respect is less an act of homage to the monarchy than to a court, which is untainted by the breath of scandal, and a virtuous Queen who understands the duties of a constitutional sovereign so well, that the best informed statesmen, whether Liberals or Conservatives, declare that they know not to which side her heart leans. Not that the Queen's conservatism is not known to be of the strongest kind; but she has always had enough tact, and respect for the convictions of her subjects, to dissimulate her personal sentiments so far, that a statesman may always pretend not to know them without seeming to insult the common sense of his audience.