Lord Chamberlain: May it please your Majesty, a letter from the Duke of Wellington.
The Queen (opens the letter): Oh! a person for the vacant place of Premier—show the bearer in, my lord. [Exit Lord Chamberlain.]
The Queen (muses): Sir Robert Peel—I have heard that name before, as connected with my family. If I remember rightly he held the situation of adviser to the Crown in the reign of Uncle William, and was discharged for exacting a large discount on all the State receipts; yet Wellington is very much interested in his favour. Etc., etc., etc.
THE MODERN SISYPHUS
"Sisyphus is said to be doomed for ever to roll to the top of a great mountain a stone, which continually falls down again."
Sisyphus Sir R. P—l. The Stone D. O'C——l. The Furies Lord J. R——l, S——l, &c.
11.—RICHARD DOYLE'S FIRST CARTOON. 1844.
In facsimile No. 7 we see the first mention in Punch of the Prince of Wales. It is the first part of a full-page article on page 222 of Volume I., which records the birth of the Prince on November 9, 1841, and which also refers to the disappointment caused to the King of Hanover by the birth of the Queen's second child. Punch writes: "There are now two cradles between the Crown of England and the White Horse of Hanover." How many British Royal "cradles" are there now between the two things named by Punch?
