_Spenser_ (_smiling mildly_). ALGERNON's one of Us! In fierce superlatives, and foam and fuss, He deals o'ermuch, but proof lies in his page. _He_'s of the true Parnassian lineage, And should be Laureate--if he care to be so. _Sidney._ Would he but heed what HORACE wrote to PISO! "The singing-skill of god APOLLO's giving" Is his, however, and no lyrist living Hath such a stretch of finger, or such tone. _Mr. Punch._ Faith, but he sings immortal Fames--your own, My PHILIP, latest and not least--in strains That thrill our nerves and mount into our brains. If he would study less in GOSSON's "School" (That of "Abuse," o'er which you laid the rule In your "Defence of Poesy"), and stay Less in dim Orcus than Arcadia, Then--well, I might have well been spared this task. SPENSER, _you_ penned _your own_; now may I ask Epithalamion-recipes from you? _Spenser_ (_smiling_). Yes--when you need them! I was Laureate too! There's enough inspiration in those faces [_Pointing to portraits of the_ Duke of YORK _and the_ Princess MAY. To bring the needful Muses, and the Graces, All to your aid! _Mr. Punch._ By Jove! That "takes the cake." You great Elizabethans had the knack Of courtly compliment. Young GEORGE, fair MAY, Shall have your _mot_ upon their marriage day, As a choice wedding gift, to pair with mine! _Spenser and Sidney_ (_together_). What's that? _Mr. Punch_ (_politely_). One you may share, if you incline. TOBIAS, hand the new-bound Oracle here! Take it, brave SIDNEY, take it, SPENSER dear! It may enliven e'en this amaranth shore; It is my new VOLUME ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR!!! * * * * * "APPARENT FAILURE." ["The Private View was not a success.... The dresses which we noticed were very ordinary indeed."--_"Art Notes" in a Ladies' Paper._] NOT a success--for every toilet there Was commonplace and stupid, more or less; A fact which clearly made the whole affair, Not a success. "Were not the pictures good?" Well, we confess We know not, neither do we greatly care; As writers for the fashionable Press, Artistic knowledge falls not to our share; We saw no novelties in hat or dress; Therefore the Show is plainly, we declare, "Not a success." * * * * * Illustration: "LIGHT AND LEADING." * * * * * "BANG WENT SAX-PENCE!"--_À propos_ of the New Coinage, the _Pall Mall Gazette_ is our authority for saying, that "The design for the reverse of the half-crown has been prepared by Mr. BROCK." BROCK is a name hitherto associated in the popular mind with fireworks; and if the work be entrusted to this cunning artificer, he will make the New Coinage go off splendidly. He has, we believe, already submitted illuminated designs to the QUEEN. ***