"ALL UP WITH THE EMPIRE!" This is a dreadful cry to raise. Let's hope it is not anywhere near the truth. Says the Emperor, _i.e._ the chairman of the Empire (Theatre), "There will be only one effect should the County Council endorse the decision of its Licensing Committee. The Empire Theatre will be at once closed, as it would be impossible to carry it on under such absurd restrictions." Such is the Imperial ukase issuing from Leicester Square. And the Emperor is right. This "grandmotherly legislation," however well-intentioned the grandmothers, may be all very well for "babes and sucklings," but then babies in arms are not admitted to the Empire, and those babes of older growth who have evidently been partaking too freely of "the bottle" are strictly excluded by the I. C. O. or Imperial Chuckers Out. No doubt London common sense will ultimately prevail, even in the Court of the London County Council, and the Empire will soon be going stronger than ever. * * * * * MOTLEY REFLECTION.--What better name for an historian than "MOTLEY"? Not in the buffoonic sense of the term; not when, to change the spelling, "Motley is your only _ware_"; but as implying a variety of talents as equal as the patches in the perfect dress of a harlequin. Of course the pen is the wand. What transformations cannot the Motley historian bring about! A monster becomes a man, and a man a monster. * * * * * [Illustration: LITTLE AH SID AND THE BUTTERFLY-BEE.] * * * * * LITTLE AH SID; OR THE CHINEE BOY AND THE JAPANESE BUTTERFLY BUMBLEBEE. AIR--"_Little Ah Sid._" (_With Apologies to Mr. Louis Meyer._) Little AH SID Was a lemon-faced kid, With a visage as old as an ape's; Saffron son-of-a-gun, He was fond of his fun, And much given to frolics and japes. Once in his way, As AH SID was at play, A big bumblebee flew in the spring. "Jap butterfly!" Cried he, winking his eye; "Me catchee and pull off um wing!" _Chorus._ "_Kiya, kiya, kyipye, yukakan! Kiya, kiya, yukakan!_" Sang little AH SID, That elderly kid, As he went for that bee from Japan. He made a sharp snap At the golden-ring'd chap, That innocent butterfly-bee, Which buzzed and which bummed, And circled and hummed Round the head of that little Chinee. He guessed not the thing Had no end of a sting, As he chased him in malice secure, And he cried with a grin,-- "Buzzy-wuzzy no win! Me mashee um buttlefly, sure!" _Chorus._ "_Kiya, kiya, kyipye, yukakan! Kiya, kiya yukakan!_" Sang little AH SID, The Celestial kid, As he after "um buttlefly" ran.