We all know the famous joke made by "Punch" when that satirical journal coined the word "beerage" as a substitute for "peerage." Sir Wilfred Lawson, himself a great friend and earnest supporter of Mr. Charrington, commented upon this fact over and over again. In all his public speeches he drove it home, and in light verse, for which he had a pretty talent, he again pointed the moral. I have in my possession a book lent me by Mr. Charrington, consisting of cartoons by Sir Frank Carruthers Gould, of the _Westminster Gazette_, and Sir Wilfred Lawson, who supplied the accompanying verses. The book was published some years ago by Mr. Fisher Unwin, and was entitled _Cartoons in Rhyme and Verse_. Upon the title page there was a characteristic note "to the reader," by Sir Wilfred, who said, "If any one thinks that these verses are 'rot,' I'm the very last person to say they are not." Despite Sir Wilfred's humbleness, I have no hesitation in saying that if the verses in question have no literary form, they nevertheless go straight to the point. I will quote two of them. "THE BREWER'S POWER. Who to the heathen far away, Send Christian men to preach and pray, And bring them to a brighter day? My Brewer. Who, when aloud the poor have cried, And poverty is raging wide, Has means of charity supplied? My Brewer. Who fills his pocket with the sale Of porter, beer, and generous ale, Which crowd the workhouse and the gaol? My Brewer. Who fills our slums with waifs and strays? Who havoc with our nation plays, And brings disgrace on all our ways? My Brewer. Who is it bosses all the show, As through this curious world we go, And dominates both high and low? My Brewer." And again, "THE BISHOP AND THE BREWER Said the Bishop to the Brewer, 'Sir, I very greatly fear, From all that I have heard, that you adulterate your beer. Said the Brewer to the Bishop, 'Nay, that really is not true; Who told you such a story? I insist on knowing who.' But the Bishop he was silent as to what they put in beer, He didn't seem to have, in fact, the very least idea. For in all his great researches, both in pamphlet and in 'vol.,' It never really struck him that it must be alcohol. Sir William Gull has told us how the world by this is cursed, That alcohol of all bad things is just the very worst. But the Bishop--dear, good man!--he still has got a strong idea, That there's something very charming in the purity of beer. Oh! these Bishops and these Brewers, I really greatly fear, They will never, never solve this point about what's in the beer. But the land is full of sorrow, and there's little hope of cure, Unless these wise men hit upon a beer that's really 'pure.'