(A ghastly light slowly creeps forth. The Apparitions of Ravaillac, Ankarstromm, and the Death-fetch of Dr. Kobold become visible.) Trio. Clouded days and fever'd nights Nursed our hearts' and heads' disease, Ice that burns and flames that freeze! And so grew murderous from these! DR. KOB.-Shade of Myself, thou liest! I ne'er was mad, HANS. And were they, pray, true Social Democrats? (They vanish.) (The Apparition of Marat rises through the floor, bearing a drinking-bowl made from a human skull.) LUCAS. Here comes a wholesale revolutionist, Who, like a king, required his slaughter'd thousands. His mouth dropt startling jewels-rubies. JEREM. Rubies! SHADE OF MARAT. Fill your bowls! fill your bowls With a right royal stream! Here's a bag for their heads and a snare for their souls! Of the new tragic opera known as "Hell's Dream!" (The Shade of Marat sinke. (Shades of Russian Regicides appear.) Chorus. The men who had millions of fellow-men slaves, Full Chorus. What throngs, male and female, whom Double-head arraigns Barefooted and starving to drudge in dark mines, While the Doom'd One believes that his sun safely shines. (They all vanish.) (Other Appari tions rise, bearing swords, knives, headman's axes, and volumos of history.) Honor to the axe and block! Honor to the guillotine! Flaunt from flagstaffs on a rock! Oh, could we bring back Nero! Each man would be a hero Who dragged them to a shore, Where pity is at zero, And waves of blazes roar. Full Chorus. Wherein to plunge them-never dying, After the orthodox style;-with pious Dante vying. (OTTO re-establishes the lamp.) HANS (after a pause).-Were those the Ghosts of Socialists? (The flame of the lamp gradually softens to a mild roseate gleam, and the bland Apparition of Robert Owen slowly comes forward.) SPIRIT OF ROBERT OWEN. My frienda!-let me so call you, for I am friendly So utterly lost to sense and a right knowledge To be your friend in this your present need. Your whole mind, spring and current of your thoughts- Rather the opposite, since they retard Which ye, misunderstanding, quite invert, And make both monstrous and ridiculous, As though mad schoolboys dipped their heads in blood, And bear with me if I offend your ears By my plain speaking. Some have probably your minds For what are kings but men with troubles crown'd, And crazy round of conflicts to no end: They are but like their fathers, and must be so Until they change the system of their rule As I have pointed out to several kings. In his reply as one could well expect Wherefrom we shall have peace, with wealth and wisdom, (The Shade of the Philanthropist softly fades away.) DR. KOBOLD rises to speak, when a noise outside is heard, and a cry of "Polizei! Polizei!" (The Regicides all make a dash for a private door, but a struggling jam taking place, several of them escape through a back window.) NOTES AND REMINISCENCES. BY THE LATE W. H. HARRISON. (Continued from Vol. I. page 712.) THE DUKE OF SUSSEX WAS famous for having the finest collection of old Bibles and tobacco pipes in Europe. Sir Henry Ellis, of the British Museum, was a great avourite with him in general, but H.R.H. would occasionally "take tiff," and in these fits of pique always ignored Sir Henry's christian name and called him "Sir Ed-dard." Sir Henry once dined at the Duke's, meeting Captain Marryat, whom H.R.H. introduced as "his friend who had been engaged in one hundred and twentyeight actions" (I am not quite sure as to the number). In the course of the dinner the Duke, by way of making conversation, asked Marryat where he got some curious article which he had presented to the Duke. "Oh!" said the Captain, "I met a sailor with it, and gave him a knock on the side of his head and took it from him." There was a quiet modest little clergyman at table who was heard to say, And was that, Captain Marryat, one of your hundred and twenty-eight actions?" Forgetful of the Royal presence the Captain flew into a iurious passion with the poor parson, who had no idea that his inild joke would have produced such an explosion, and was really greatly distressed; so much so, that when coffee was served in the gallery he begged the Duke to make his peace with the exasperated hero. This, I believe, was with some difficulty effected. The Duke appears to have been the only one of the sons of George III. who extended anything like encouragement to literary and scientific men, or cared to have them about his person. Sir Henry always spoke of him as a very kind man, ROYAL VISITS TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM. I am indebted to my friend Sir Henry Ellis for these anecdotes, for the truth of which he was able to vouch. Queen Charlotte sent one of her household to arrange for her visit to this wonder of the world, and when he had settled preliminaries, he desired to be shown through the rooms which Her Majesty would pass. When he was conducted through the gallery of Greek and Roman antiquities, which the Queen specially desired to see, he exclaimed "O, this will never do! Her Majesty will be shocked beyond measure. Can nothing be done?" The authorities, after a long consultation, sent for a tinman in Oxford-street, and gave him an order for the requisite number of tin fig-leaves which were to be painted green. It unfortunately happened that the Queen arrived before the whole of the order was executed, and the only resource in such a dilemma was to tie on the fig leaves to as many statues on each side as there were leaves, and as Her Majesty passed a statue the fig-leaf was detached and carried further down the line, and this was so dexterously managed by persons stationed behind each line of statues that Her Majesty's delicacy was preserved from the shock it would otherwise have sustained. In later days her present Majesty Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort paid the existing building a visit. While they were in the department now presided over by Professor Owen, the attention of the Royal pair was directed to an icthyosaurus; which, it will be remembered, was displayed on the wall. Just at that moment Mr König entered the room, when Sir Henry presented him, as the then head of the department, to the Queen and the Prince. The latter, whose ear was struck by the German name, desired to know from whence in Germany he came, and asked "From what part?" König, supposing the inquiry to refer, not to himself but to the fossil, replied "From the blue lias at Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, your Royal Highness." Sir Henry said that the Queen was especially diverted at the mal apropos reply, and laughed heartily. Some years ago the King of Saxony came on a visit to Queen Victoria, and was of course shown all the lions, among which was included, of course, the British Museum. There was one object, I forget which, though Sir Henry mentioned it at the time, which the King wished to examine, and a chair was brought to him that he might do so more conveniently. His Majesty appeared to be an unusually long time examining the object, and at last one of the gentlemen approached him, and dis Although I had often met him on public occasions, and once was in the unenviable position of having to speak after him at a grand dinner at Stationers' Hall, and that on a toast to which I had supposed he would have had to respond, I first made his personal acquaintance at a large outdoor party in the lovely grounds of Mr W. S. Lindsay, of Shepperton Manor. Rural sports formed a part of the programme for the edification of the rustics, and I was greatly amused by the deep interest taken by the Justice (who, with myself and Sir Fenwick Williams, of Kars, were together on the spot), in the contest for a pig, the prize of the man who could cross an arm of the Thames, which ran into the grounds, on a soaped pole. I think I hear him say "Now that fellow's going to do it." He told me that he was at the hotel at the Falls at Niagara at the time when Blondin was about to cross them on a rope with a man on his back. The Prince of Wales was there at the time, but with right good taste and feeling refused to witness the exhibition. A tall lanky American was pointed out to Haliburton as the man who was to be carried, and who was lounging in front of the hotel evidently under the influence of drink. The Justice ventured to suggest to the man that he was scarcely in a fit state for the experiment, to which the other said that he had screwed |