TOO AWFUL TO CONTEMPLATE!
A Confidence. After the Garden Party.
"Oh, such a dreadful Thing happened to Me! I went up to Lady Exe,—I had something very particular to say to her,—and I didn't see she was talking to one of the Royal Princes. Well, just fancy! I took no sort of Notice of him, but I just said what I had to say to her. When I discovered what I had done, I called on Lady Exe, and I said, 'I'm afraid His Royal Highness will be awfully annoyed with me.' And dear Lady Exe quite comforted me, you know. She said, 'If I were you, I wouldn't trouble myself about it. He won't take any notice of it; as really, my Dear, people have such Bad Manners nowadays!'"
PROPHETIC DIARY OF THE L.C.C.
(For the Next Ten Years.)
- 1894. Scheme accepted for building Hôtel de Ville at a cost of £3,000,000.
- 1895. Purchase of Kensington Gardens as a Recreation-ground for the Improvement Committee.
- 1896. The Council buys St. Paul's Cathedral as a Private Chapel for the marriage of its members and their families.
- 1897. Completion of The Bumble Steam-yacht of the L. C. C., costing £100,000.
- 1898. Uniforms for the Members ordered at an expense of £500,000.
- 1899. Purchase of a Crown and other Jewels for the Chairman on State occasions.
- 1900. The Palaces erected for occupation by the Members in Eaton, Belgrave, Grosvenor, and Berkeley Squares acquired and taken into use.
- 1901. A sum not exceeding £5,000,000 voted by the L. C. C. for statues commemorating themselves, their wives, and their families.
- 1902. Resolution carried by acclamation confiscating the entire sum received from the ratepayers for the L. C. C. Secret Service Fund.
- 1903. Petition for Metropolitan Improvement unanimously rejected.
- 1904. Act abolishing the L. C. C. passed in Parliament at a single sitting.
"Commons Preservation Society."—A most useful body, no doubt. "But," asks Lord T. Noddie, "as our Upper House is so often threatened, why isn't there a "Lords Preservation Society?"