_His Friend (vaguely)._ Yes, I suppose they understand all that sort of thing there. [_They go out, relieved at having arrived at a decision._ * * * * * [Illustration: CARNIVOROUS. (_On Hospitable Thoughts intent._) "OH, THEY'RE TOO MANY TO HAVE TO EAT ALL TOGETHER, PAPA! LET'S KNOCK OFF THE CHILDREN FOR TEA." "YES; AND WE CAN DO WITH THE FATHER AND MOTHER FOR DINNER, YOU KNOW!"] * * * * * SHAKSPEARE ON ULSTER. TO MR. PUNCH, SIRR,--You're a patriot, divil a less. Is it fair, I ask you, Sirr, is it fair to quote the Universal Bard against us Ulster, _et ne plus_ Ulster, Loyalists? Yet this is the line which a man who used to call himself "a friend of mine" sends me, and he puts a drawing with it, which I can't, and won't reproduce, representing a moon up in the sky, labelled "Home Rule," and a pack of wolves (a pack of idiots, for all they're like wolves, for that matter), on which he writes "Ulster," with their mouths open, looking up at it. And this, he says, is an illustration of a line in SHAKSPEARE, "The howling of Irish wolves against the moon," which you'll find in _As You Like It_ (whether you like it or not), Act V., Sc. 2. If the O'CHAMBERLAIN, or the O'SAUNDERSON, or any of 'em, can make use of this, they're welcome to it. Yours, A PIP OF THE OLD ORANGE. * * * * * HOOK-Y SAILOR.--"_Inauguration of a New Service to the Continent_ via _Harwich and the Hook of Holland._" This sounds as if it ought to catch on. Is the Hook of Holland any relation to the THEODORE HOOK family of England? Were that eminent wit now alive, he would be the first to ask such a question. The route sounds a pleasant one. _Advice to Tourists_,--Keep your Eye on the Hook. * * * * * A CIVIL NOTE FOR THE MILITARY. MY DEAR MR. PUNCH,--I observe that in a preliminary notice that has been sent round to the Press by the Executive Council (I suppose that that is the proper title of the Governing Body of the forthcoming Royal Military Tournament), it is said that there is likely to be some novelty in the mimic warfare known as the Combined Display of all Arms. The circular informs those whom it may concern, that "it is intended that, so far as space will allow, the scene shall be that of one of the more recent conflicts in which British troops were actually engaged, and special information from those present on such occasions has been invited, so that the result is likely to be of more than ordinary interest."