[_Her Majesty discovered sitting thoughtfully at an escritoire._]
_Enter_ the Lord Chamberlain.
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.
[Illustration: 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.