"_Carpe diem_"--yes, that's the motto. "Work be jiggered!" and likewise "What ho!" _I'm not going back till I've jolly well got to!_ Strauss's _Joseph_ had been produced in June by the Russian Ballet, and lent point to "Blanche's" letter on the "Friendship Fête," an imaginary entertainment organized "to celebrate our not having had any scraps with any foreign country for some little time" by the performance of a Kamschatkan opera-ballet. The satire is effective, but it is largely unconscious or subconscious. The Smith-Carpentier fight made a greater impression on the man in the street than the murder of the Crown Prince Ferdinand at Sarajevo. The death of Mr. Chamberlain, who, after long enforced absence from the political arena, passed away on July 2, hushed political strife for a moment. All sections were united in deploring the tragic eclipse of a great fighter and a great man who, in _Punch's_ words, "loved his Party well but loved his country more." Turkey appears early in the month as unready to fight Greece before the autumn, "when the ships come home." The cartoons until the last issue in July deal with the Budget and Home Rule. Mr. Asquith on July 13 announced the winding up of business; there would be no autumn session, but Parliament would reassemble early in the winter. On July 29 the chief cartoon, "What of the Dawn?" deals with the anxieties of Ireland, and the most important event chronicled in the "Essence of Parliament" was the Premier's announcement that, on the initiative of the King, a conference on the Ulster question between the British and Irish parties had been arranged to meet at Buckingham Palace. [Illustration: THE POWER BEHIND AUSTRIA (at the ultimatum stage): "I don't quite like his attitude. Somebody must be backing him."] [Sidenote: _On the Eve_] [Illustration: MUTUAL SERVICE BRITANNIA (to Peace): "I've been doing my best for you in Europe. Please do your best for me in Ireland."]