The following lines, for instance, were published in the Owl at the time when Mr. Banting’s system of reducing fat was a general subject of discussion:—
“Banting in Infernis”
Here lies the bones of him whose strife
Was how to drop the staff of life:
Falstaff he was; survivors he has shown ’em
How “nil” to leave “de mortuis nisi bonum.”
In another number is a witty riddle also dealing with the eminent upholsterer in whose instructions for producing a reduction of weight the fat people of 1864 placed so much trust:—
“Why is Lord Palmerston like Mr. Banting?” “Because his present measures are far smaller than the clothes (close) of last session would warrant.”
My cousin, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, is one of the few survivors of that brilliant band who were contributors to the Owl, and no doubt will have much that is amusing and interesting to say about it in the volume of Memoirs which he has at last been persuaded to prepare for publication. Unrivalled as a raconteur, Sir Henry was a constant guest at my luncheon-table in the ’eighties, when almost every Sunday three-fourths of the Fourth Party, that is to say, Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr., now Sir John, Gorst, and Sir Henry used to give me the pleasure of their company, to the delight of all who chanced to be present.
THE WHITE ROSE LEAGUE