The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-23 00:00:00

857

A ',STORY OF THE PALACES

(From the .2C' fanchester Examiner.) •
Every reader cf Dickens's veracious narrative of
the " Adventures of Martin Chuz.zlewit." will
doubtless remember that impressive episode in
which " Seth Pecksniff, Esq.," arrives in a cab
befora the second flo.ir residence of " Mrs. Sarah
Garnp," midwife, High Holborn. Perkins or
Whias ? Who could it be ? At all events, it was
some poor Benedict in distress, pushed off pell-mell
at the eleventh hour, with a heart palpitating be-
tween conjugal solicitude and pat ental anticipa-
tions. Sr', at lea-t, the matronly gossips who
quickly congregated under the windows of the
monthly official aforesaid settled among themselves,
while cabby's whip was put into requi.ition to make
a stir among
.the flower-pots, and wake the slum-
bering km tr aid of Lucina to a sense of her weighty
duties.

In this pleasing delineation of a frequent dilem•
ma who does not recognise a touch of nature which
makes, if not all -met), at-least the better portion of
them, kin ? We say no more, but pass on to the
narration of an incident which comes home to every
Briton, whether Ccelehs or Benedict, maid or mo-
ther. A few minutes before 2 o'clock on themorn-
Mg of Tuesday week a gentleman, evidently in dis-
tress, was steel running in eager hasteinthe vicinity
of the Horse Guards, making for a neighbouring
cab stand. Whether it was Whilks himself, or
some friend:y deputy, is not stated ; but of the
urgency of his mission. who that saw him could
entertain the slightest doubt t " Cabby" is at
that hour of the morning a doubtful personage.
What if, atter waling for hours without a call he
should have betaken himielf to his pillow The
case, like every other ca-e of the kind, depends on
speed. If no " Cabby" can be found, who knows
but that an inquest must be held in the course of
the next 24 hours ?
,Fortune, however, for once
pities misforthue. One solitary cab is on the stand,
surely kept there by some kind angel. A word and
a wink are enough. The poor hack looks tired to
death, and the wheels of the vehicle seem meditat-
ing some centrifugal feat not at all favourable to
locomotion ; but man must be reft of humanity,
horseflesh must renounce all pretension to creature
sympathy, and even matter must be preternaturally
ine:trif'such a look'.of diitress as that poor gentle-
man wore did not send.all three careerinl along the
Strand like a young steam engine and appurte-
nances. The case was critical and pressing. Two
doctors had to' be summoned. The creaky vehicle
bad to be driven. first to Hertfori-street and back,
then to Sackvdle-street and lack. Thanks to your
selectest influences, ye vestal stars 1 the work was
done, and in a few hours it was announced to the
world that "mother and child are doing well."
Now, who was this matron whom, in the dead
hour of night, " Cabby " so opportunely be-
friended ? We renounce a climax, and tell our
readers at once. It was that most gracious
Sovereign who reigns in the affections of
30,0,00,000 of British subjects, and on whose
dominions the sun never sets. Far be from us the
slightest wish -to squeeze anything melodramatic
out of the incident we have faithfully recorded.
The Queen of England is neither more nor less than
woman ; nor a -whit fairer or brighter for the dia-
dem she wears than she would be if those domestic
virtues which, in her case, adorn the highest rank
had been destined to bless the lowest. Still, we do
not set so lightly by our Sovereign as to be able to
regard the affair with perfect good humour'. We
pay handsemely for the maintenance of a retinue of
servants to wait upon her on all occasions. Only a
small,portion of the munificent sum which is set
apart for the Queen's household goes into her pri-
vate purse. The remainder is for the most part
divided among a crowd of splendid retainers.
There are masters of the horse, grooms in waiting,
equerries, gold sticks and silver sticks, and good-
ness knows what not; everything, in fact, but one
or two sensible, serviceable attendants, who know
how to provide for the commonest emergency. One
is reminded of the embarrassed old woman's peti-
tion, " Good stick beat dog, dog won't bite pig,
pig won't get over the stile," 431. c., save that, in this
case, the stick or sticks, for there were plenty of
them, both gold and silver, did not begin to beat
the dog, and that but for a poor, unsalaried "cabby,"
with his four inches of well-used whipcord, the poor
woman would not have got borne that night. The '
trite observation, that the wealthiest people are the
worst served, is, it seems, universally true. It is
certain that Mrs. Perkins,- blessed only with -a
faithful husband and a maid of all work, would
have been as well, if not better, attended to.
After this proof of assiduity we may well won-
der that the, Prince Consort had not to run for
the doctor himself. The incongruity of the in-
cident with the previous State arrangements is
most ludicrous. Here we have had half a
dozen Cabinet Ministers wasting away the_ precious
interval of Parliamentary repose for a mouth past,
not daring to stir till they bad been summoned to
the ante-chamber of the Sovereign. Her Majesty's
faithful lieges have been in anxious expectancy for
the same period, and crowned heads had given
their final orders for the earliest telegraphic an-
nouncement of the event. All through the previous
Monday evening it was evident that the expected
moment was at band, yet, when it came, there bad
to he a despairing rush at the nearest "stand,"
and, as fortune %you'd have it, a poor cabby stood
between his Sovereign and an exigency which we
are too loyal to contemplate. All this while sump-
tuous stables,. built regardless of expense, threw
their stately shadows placidly under the moon's
gaze, and a host of lubberly grooms were snoring
in the Palace chambers !