The Cabinet's daily imbroglio Amounts to a permanent brawl; Mr. BARNES has resigned a portfolio Which never existed at all; It is true he was, anyhow, going, Yet it serves (in _The Times_) for a sign Of the symptoms, perceptibly growing, Of GEORGE'S decline. Mr. ASQUITH (of Paisley) endorses The sentence of violent death, Though he leaves him alternative courses For yielding his ultimate breath; He allows him an optional charter-- To swing by his neck from a tree, Or to perish a piteous martyr To _felo-de-se_. And what of poor Damocles under This horror that hangs by a thread? Does he wilt in a palsy and wonder How soon it will sever his head? Are his lips and his cheeks of a blank hue? Does he toy with his victuals and drink? Not at all; on the contrary, thankyou, His health's in the pink. He'll be bashed to the semblance of suet, So say the familiars of Fate; But they don't tell us who is to do it Or mention the actual date; Though the lords of the Circus assure us His voice will be presently mute, Yet the victim, pronounced _moriturus_, Declines to salute. All colours, from purple to yellow, The oracles kill him in print, But he turns not a hair, for the fellow Is hopeless at taking a hint; Apparently free from suspicion And mindless of what it all means, He careers on the road to perdition, Ebullient with beans. O.S. * * * * * "OUR INVINCIBLE NAVY." In the article which appeared under the above title in the issue of _Punch_ for January 14th, the setting of the nautical episode, in which the subject of the story conducted himself with so much aplomb and resourcefulness, was derived from a personal experience related to the author; but Mr. Punch has his assurance that _Reginald McTaggart_ was not intended even remotely to represent any actual individual. * * * * * HIS FUTURE. PART I.--THE PROPOSAL, 1920. "About this boy of ours, my dear," said Gerald. "Well, what about it?" said Margaret. "He weighed fourteen pounds and an eighth this morning, and he's only four months and ten days old, you know." "Is he? I mean, does he? Splendid. But what I was going to say was this: in view of the present social and economic disturbances and the price of coal and butter--" "He doesn't need either of those yet, dear." "--and the price of coal and butter, it behoves us, don't you think, to very seriously consider (yes, I meant to split it)--to very seriously consider Nat's future?" "Oh, I've been doing that for ever so long, Gerald. Probably in a year or two we shan't be able to get even a general or a char, so I'm going to teach him all sorts of household jobs--as a great treat, of course. Washing up the plates and dishes and laying fires--oh, and darning as well. He must certainly mend his own socks, and yours too."