if it so pleases him, in a false nose, a comic wig, and a pair of green spectacles.

But really, a consideration of the costume of the "bookie" merely reaches the fringe of the subject. The real point at issue is this—Is betting legal or illegal? It is hard to say. That a bet made on the racecourse is recoverable is questionable. Suppose that A is prepared to give odds against The Earl's Choice (the favourite, quoted officially at 2 to 1) at the rate of five shillings against one thousand pounds sterling. Presume that B agrees to the wager and The Earl's Choice wins. B naturally asks for the immediate payment by A of one thousand pounds sterling. A declines. Has B any remedy against A? I am afraid that the Court (although allowing costs on the higher scale) would not assist the plaintiff in making good his claim. However, it would be possible for B to represent to the other side that the conduct of A was of a character warranting chronic detention in a lunatic asylum. If this suggestion were adopted with the necessary discretion, I have no doubt that a compromise satisfactory to B would eventually be the outcome of the negotiations.

However, although I am a little uncertain about other bets, I have no doubt in my own mind that coach sweepstakes under certain circumstances should be discouraged. I do not wish to rely upon case law, but would rather appeal to that honest, manly feeling that is (so I have been given to understand) the birthright of every Englishman. When all Nature is smiling, and man (smoking a three-shilling cigar) is at rest, why trouble about mounts and starters and blanks?

I have in my mind at this moment the drawing of a certain sweepstakes. An eminent counsel (I will not mention his name), was present and drew a blank. On his behalf I appeal for a revision, a reversal of judgment. Do not let there be a mixture of the glories of Nature with the ups and down of sporting speculative practice. Let those who took part in that sweep—winners and losers alike—return their stakes. I will hold them on the general behalf. Then when I have received the cash as trustee I will find out that eminent counsel and place the money in his hands. I have nothing more to add, save to set forth as a guarantee of good faith my signature warranted by my address.

A. Briefless, Junior.

Pump-handle Court, June 1, 1895.

OH, MY PROPHETIC SOUL, MY PUNCHIUS!

["Punch made a great hit" (in his last Cartoon "A Doubtful Stayer"), "and will probably take credit to himself for having been one of the very few who 'tipped' Sir Visto for the Derby."—Leeds Mercury.]

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

The particular Baronitess to whom the Baron handed over The Holy Estate (a novel in three volumes, by two authors, W. H. Wilkins and Frank Thatcher, published by Hutchinson & Co.), says that in explanation it is called by its authors "a study in morals," but where the morals come in or come out it would be difficult to say. Apparently, in the majority of the characters, there is a singular lack of any virtuous quality. A young innocent girl marries a gay soldier and goes out to India. Here she finds herself placed in a land where principles are decidedly at a discount. Her husband turns out, to put it mildly, a blackguard (with a big, big "B"), and his friends are of the same fascinating type. In a typical, melodramatic, "Adelphi villain," there is something almost wholesome as compared with the modern bad man of "Yellow-Book" fiction, who is simply revolting. [By the way, interpolates the Baron, the latest Yellow Book is comparatively quite decorous and without an Aubrey-Beardsley illustration!!] Of course, the hero and heroine of The Holy Estate have to pass through the fiery ordeal of Indian Society; how they come out of it the reader may discover. But as pessimism is the artistic order of the day, they are not allowed to finish well and "live happy ever afterwards." My Baronitess adds, with a frown, "It cannot be called pleasant reading, nor is there in it any sign of the genius of a Daudet or a Zola which might be accepted as, in some sort, a literary excuse for its being brought into existence."

(Signed) The Baron de Book-Worms.

As Broad as Long.

Sporting Paradox.—Rosebery was more of a "favourite" when he was an "outsider." Perhaps, like his Sir Visto, when an outsider again—which he seems likely soon to be—he will be safer to back for a "place," if not for an absolute win.

Best Solution of Ministerial Difficulties.—Dissolution.

A FORTIORI.

Mamma. "Not asleep yet, George?"

George. "No; I can't get to sleep because Jack says he's got Crumbs in his Bed. He couldn't make more fuss if it was the whole Loaf!"

DAUDET!

(An old Comic Song re-sung for the benefit of a French Critic.)

["As for English women, their looks and their dress, the less said the better. They have, in M. Daudet's opinion, neither beauty nor taste."—The Times' Correspondent in Paris.]

Air—"Doo-dah!"