[THE GIRL’S OWN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.]
The Examiners report on the Second Twenty-four Questions.
Practice makes perfect, so though the first instalment of answers in this competition was good, the second proved better, and we look forward to the third and last being the best of all. It takes time to discover to what fountains one ought to go for information; but once that is done, the rest is comparatively easy—you fill your pitcher and come away triumphant.
The number who engaged in this second trial was slightly under that of those taking part in the first. Out of every hundred girls who started with questions 1-24, about fifteen failed to put in an appearance. Many causes, from whimsicality to illness, no doubt account for this. It was often, we are sure, unavoidable, for some girls whom we missed had done so well that they would have had a good place had they only continued.
We give here our notes on questions 25-48 inclusive, so that competitors may check their own answers and see in some cases what they might have replied had they been fortunate enough to find out. General remarks on the competition, as we said last month, will follow when we come to intimate who the painstaking girls are who have won prizes and certificates.
25. Who was the monarch who once attended the rehearsal of his own funeral?
The monarch we had in view in framing this question was Charles V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. After his abdication in 1555-56 he retired to the monastery of St. Juste in the north of Estremadura, and here he resolved to celebrate his own obsequies. His domestics marched to the chapel of the monastery in funeral procession with black tapers in their hands, and he himself followed in his shroud. He was laid in his coffin with much solemnity. “The service for the dead was chanted, and Charles joined in the prayers which were offered up for the repose of his soul, mingling his tears with those which his attendants shed, as if they had been celebrating a real funeral.” Judging by the numbers who failed to answer, this was one of our difficult questions.
26. What is the largest palace in the world used as a residence?