The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-26 00:00:00

A FRIENDS' MEETING.

(From Punch)
FRIEND PUNCH. FRIEND MORNING STAR.

- _
Punch. May I ask thee, Friend, a few questions ?
Star. Yea, Yea, verily, if thee wilt.
Punch. What, then, is thy roason for making the man
Russell, vainly and carnally called Earl, say, when speak-
ing on tho Oaths, that King Charles the Second reigned
in 1575 ?

Star. I see that I said so. Truly, it was a stumble.

Punch. Nay, friend, for at the distance of a column from
thy first statement, thou repeatedst it. Behold and see :
"EARL RUSSELL: That was in regard to the oath framed
in 1575."

Nan bis errare licet, thou knowest.
Star. What signifieth when a profligate sat on a throne ?

Punch. 'Tis well answered, Friend. I will next ask
thee thy reason for making the man Layard say that
Friend Bright was like unto "Snout the Joiner."
Star. Did he not say so, even that same ? It is a quo-
tation from some foolish stage play.
Punch. But in that stage play, by one Shakspere (of
whose eptire works thou mayest obtain a convenient copy
from one A. Macmillan, at the inordinately low price of
three-and-six) the man's name is Snug, and not Snout.
Star. I marvel that thou canst think a playwright's trash
worthy of a second thought.
Punch. Let it pass, for this time, then, and let me now
read thee what thou recordest as the man Cairns's remarks
touching Friend Bright's invocation to the people to come
and mob the members :

" That letter, which grossly calumniated the House of
Commons—(loud cheers)—invited all the people of London
to commit a breach of the law. (Cheers.) But that letter
failed to produce excitement amongst the people. The
people of England were now too educated to bo influenced
by such appeals. The waiter of such a letter in days gone
by would have run the risk of being committed to the
custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. (Laughter and cheers.)"
Star. Cairns, who is altogether like thyself, one of tho
irreverent, did utter those impertinent words touching the
greatest man in the world.

Punch. Yea, verily, Friend, but did he not also say this ?
"But that letter had fallen perfectly inoffensive on the
people to whom it was addressed, and it was treated by tho
rest of the world with the contempt it deserves."
Star. He added that further outrage.
Punch. And why didet not report it ? Truly, Friend,
the world looks for truthfulness in reports.
Star. I do not print for the world, but for the faithful.

Punch. Then I shall ask thee but one thing more. What
is thy reason for alleging that Nottinghamshire is by the
sea ?

Star. Has the great Bright said so ? Then I adhere to
his statement.

Punch. I know not. I think not, for he is a lover of the
waters, and knows better. But this is what thou vast
good enough to state, on the 12th instant :

"Mr. Collinson, of the Robin Hoods, is raising a fund at
Nottingham to provide a lifeboat for use at some place on
the Nottinghamshire coast. A sum of £420 is required."
Star. To answer, thee with a jest, after thine own heart,
I have made a Re-Distribution of Counties.

Punch. Ha! ha! Thou art truly American, Friend Star,
in thy profound learning, thy much reading, thy fair play,
and thy general information; therefore, American like, let
us liquor.

THE ISSUE OF THE BILL.--We need hardly in-
form our readers that in the case of an absolute
defeat on the second reading the Ministry will immediately
resign. If, however, as is possible, their majority should
barely reach two figures; thereby perilling the ultimate
attainment of a reduction of the franchise, we believe it
will result in the immediate secession from the Cabinet of
Earl Russell and Mr. Gladstone. They will most probably
be accompanied by - advanced followers, such as Lord
.Elartington and Mr. Goschen, leaving a proportion of the
existing Ministry, 'who will be ready to form a Coalition
Government, with Lord Stanley, Mr. Walpole, and Mr.
Henley. The Opposition which will thus be formed will
be a strongly cohesive party, headed by Mr. Gladstone,
and might fairly be estimated at a strength of about 250,
exclusive of the Irish members. Our opinion is that a
Coalition Government might last for two or three sessions,
when a new general election will have to settle the future
balance of parties. Our readers will understand that we
give this simply as the probability of the hour, which may
be altered at any moment by current events.—Owl.--[ln
place of these three letters at the end of this remarkable
paragraph, we would beg leave respectfully to suggest four,
namely]—Bosh.

A WORD ON THE GOBELIN TAPESTRIES.—When
men were continually under arms on the aggressive
and defensive in olden times, among the nations of anti-
quity, and when women were necessarily uneducated, I
think they were well employed by making carpets and rugs
and draperies for the ground and the couches they were
eternally sitting on. A great deal of carpeting was re-
quired ; and education being at a discount, reading and
writing were rarer arts than those of love and music, and
needlework in tapestry. Therefore, the female portion of
the community killed two birds with one stone, by their
production of the queiiit tapestries which have disfigured
for somo centuries the walls of eastern mausoleums and
holes and corners of Zuropean churches, inasmuch as they
provided the upholstery and chronicled the events of the
age they lived in. The compiling and custody of MSS. in
bygone ages of the wprld were difficult and precarious, so
I can admire the respect and rage of the ancients for tapes-
tries of all sorts, but at the present day, and after a visit to
the Gobelins manufactory in the Rue Mouffetard, S.E. of
Paris, much as I admire Parisian work indoors and out
doors (particularly the sweep, and cleaning and mending
of the streets), I nevertheless decline for a practical con-
science sake to cry, with a grateful Gobelin, "Viva les
Tapisseries !"—Once a Wea,