In a period of change and transition, in which the decline of the influence of the old "governing classes" was attended by the rise of a new type of statesman, the stability of the throne and the prestige of the Sovereign remained unshaken; the veneration in which the old Queen was held in the last ten years of her reign was based on a respect which rendered her almost invulnerable to criticism. _Punch_, who in earlier years had appropriated the _rôle_ and privileges of the Court Jester, and in the middle Victorian period had frankly regretted the Queen's long seclusion, never alludes to her in the closing years of her reign save in a spirit of gratitude and chivalrous devotion. We hear no more of the "Royal Recluse," for the phrase no longer applied to one who in advanced years was strenuous in the discharge of her duties. There is a pleasant story that when the Queen was informed that she had reigned longer than any of her predecessors, she said: "Have I done well?" and _Punch_ supplied the answer:-- "Have I done well?" Most gracious Queen, Look on the record of your life; Think of What is, What might have been. Empress of Peace 'mid constant strife! The last year of her reign was sadly clouded by the uncertainties of the South African war, and she paid the inevitable penalty of those who live to fourscore by surviving many of those who were nearest to her; but age brought her consolations as well. The marriage of the Duke of York in 1893 inspired _Punch_ with a genial ode, full of classical tags and headed "Hymen Hymenæe!" He would not "trill a fulsome lay," but contented himself with showing "good will to goodness," typified in his cartoon of the royal pair seated on a Lion led by _Punch_ with a bridle of roses. A year later the birth of the present Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria's great-grandson, is celebrated by an ingenious adaptation of Shakespeare:-- Now is the Winter of our discontent Made glorious by this _Son_ of York. [Illustration: A BORN LEGISLATOR "Do you often attend the sittings in the House of Lords, Duke?" "I did once--if I remember, to vote against some measure of Mr. Gladstone's--but I caught a bad cold there, so I never went again!"] The customary official congratulations of Parliament did not escape a protest from Mr. Keir Hardie, who was "indisposed to associate himself with any effort to do special honour to the Royal family," though he was "delighted to learn that the infant was a fairly healthy one." This unfortunately-worded concession only served to exasperate the loyalists, and _Punch_ drew a picture of Mr. Hardie, in his deer-stalker cap, severely apostrophizing the royal infant in his cradle. _A propos_ of the Prince's seven names, it may be added that _Punch_ noted the inclusion of all the four patron saints of the United Kingdom--George, Andrew, Patrick and David--a choice which, as he put it, ought to help him to dodge ill luck in after years.