THE SPEAKER, at Warwick, said that "the bicyclists of the day are
debilitating and degenerating the human race by the way in which they
stoop over their work." The wheelmen would probably retort that, like
GOLDSMITH'S sprightly heroine, they "stoop to conquer." And we are
not yet _all_ wheelmen. Still, the SPEAKER has hit a blot in the
contemporary Cyclomania. Few things are more unlovely than the
"Bicyclist's Bend." Record-cutting would be purchased dearly at the
cost of making men look like camels; and if success on the cinderpath
or the road involved giving humanity at large "the hump," one would
stigmatise the Cycle Race as the _In_human Race. Let us hope the
SPEAKER'S sharp words will make our stooping cyclists "sit up"--in
other than the slangy sense of the phrase.
* * * * *
Birds of Pray.
We're told a cormorant sits, and doth not tire,
For a whole month, perched upon Newark spire!
VINNY BOURNE'S jackdaw's beaten, it is clear.
Yet there _are_ cormorants who, year after year,
Perch in the Church. But these omnivorous people
Favour the pulpit mostly, not the steeple.
Thrivers upon fat livings find, no doubt,
Cormorant within is cosier than without.
* * * * *
CREAM OF THE CREAM.--"London Society proper"--we are informed by Lady
CHARLES BERESFORD--consists of no more than thirty or forty families!
And how about London Society _improper_? Is _that_ equally sparse and
exclusive? And--terrible thought!--crucial question!--is it possible
that the two orders _overlap_ at all? That there are any "noble
swells" who belong to both?
* * * * *
THE GOVERNMENT'S PUBLIC POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA (ACCORDING TO MR.
SYDNEY BUXTON).--_Not_ "CARRINGTON'S Entire"!
* * * * *