Whereon _Punch_ observes "are there twenty republicans in England, deducting Bedlam?" On February 6 the Queen opened Parliament in person:-- The Queen has not performed this ceremony during the last five years, and the reason for the Sovereign's seclusion would render it unbecoming for _Mr. Punch_ to say any word upon the subject of Her reappearance, except that it greatly rejoiced the nation and himself. This emergence was welcome, but it was not followed up and did not satisfy public opinion, as we gather from an appeal made in the following year:-- The _Pall Mall Gazette_, inviting Her Majesty to resume her personal sway over society, says:-- "During the first twenty years of Queen Victoria's reign the salons of London did not reek with tobacco smoke, neither did the noble, the pure, and the young stagger under red wigs, glare with rouge and pearl-powder, or leer with painted eyes." No. Neither do the noble and the pure stagger, glare or leer now. But if the ignoble, the impure, and some of the young do these things, and can be deterred from them by royal displeasure, manifested in the dignified way in which the First Lady would mark it, we should rejoice to know that the Queen intended to come forward and do an unwelcome duty. No worthier homage can be offered to the dead than a painful sacrifice for the sake of the living. The Crown has direct power over the court-class, and as for the idiots who parody their patrons, the parody, as we firmly believe, would be pursued even if great folks took to virtue and going to church. Which considerations, with the deepest respect, _Mr. Punch_ submits to the notice of his Royal Mistress. Many of us thought that the lavish use of paint and dye by the young was a portent of Georgian post-war days: it is something of a surprise, possibly a relief, to find it was prevalent more than fifty years ago. From this point onwards one may notice a disposition to acquiesce in the self-imposed seclusion of the Queen, though any movement towards breaking it down is at once recognized and welcomed--even such a small thing as the publication of her _Journal of our Life in the Highlands_. Thus we read that its issue "on the advice of Mr. Arthur Helps is likely, if such a thing were possible, to endear her still more to the loving hearts of her people," and in a set of verses on "The Queen's Book" the Queen is applauded for her wise and womanly thought:-- What Queen like this was ever known To take her people to her heart? When was Queen's household-life so shown With modest truth and artless art? The Royal Widow has done well Thus on her people's love to call, Her simple wifely tale to tell And trust her joys and griefs to all.