DOI issue:
September 20, 1884
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17757#0150
September 20, 1884.]
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
143
OUR HARD-WORKING LORD MAYOR AT BERLIN,
There was a rumour prevalent, in the spring of the year, that the
Right Hon. R. N. Fowler, M.P., Lord Mayor of the City of London,
was to be the last of his race, and that, under the new regime,
threatened by the Home Secretary, a Noble Duke of liberal princi-
ples and princely fortune would, as Lord Mayor of London, inaugu-
rate the brand-new system that was to abolish all the old barbaric
splendour connected with the office, and introduce the reign of
economy and common sense. The shudder of horror that ran through
the usual frequenters of the Guildhall and the Mansion House at
this fearful possibility, may be more easily conceived than described.
All that had been growing up for seven hundred years to do honour
to the great representative of Local Self-Government, culminating at
last in the gorgeous spectacle of Lord Mayor’s Show, followed by the
equally gorgeous feast of the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, abolished at one
fell swoop, as out of place in a generation dedicated to genteel dul-
ness and cheeseparing economy! In the Court of Aldermen, those
who had passed the Chair endeavoured, kindly but vainly, to admin-
ister consolation to those who had not. The high Officials of the
Corporation looked dull and dispirited. The debates of the Common
Council became brief and pointless. The noble army of Gentlemen
of the Lord Mayor’s household looked solemn and sad despite their
gorgeous array, and even the anxious State Coachman and the
ancient Postilion looked more deeply impressed than usual with the
responsibilities of their great offices.
Amid these depressing surroundings, however, there was one man,
fortunately for the City, who preserved his good spirits, his smile of
welcome, and his dauntless bearing, to an extent that surprised all.
He chivied up the Junior Aldermen in that particular way that no
Alderman, Junior or Senior, can resist; he chaffed the dispirited
Officials till even the Comptroller lost all control over himself, and
'laughed outright; he aroused his sleepy household from their state
rof solemnity, until even the City Marshal declared that he was all
serene, and the very Postilion said as it was pleasant to be ridden
by such a leader. Need we say we allude to the Lord Mayor.
In an admirable and energetic speech that he delivered in his very
long Parlour, he laid before his astonished listeners the course of
action that he proposed to adopt. It was suggested, he said, that he
would probably be the last Lord Mayor of the City of London ; he
believed in no such probability or even possibility. (“ Hear, hear ! ”)
They, of course, all remembered the glowing language in which
•.great Hector defied his foes. (“Hear, hear!" from a Junior
Alderman. Here His Lordship recited, with great energy, about
ticenty lines of the “ Iliad'" in the original Greek, amid deafening
cheers.) But, continued his Lordship, who can control his fate ?
(“ Hear J” from the City Architect.) What, therefore, he had
resolved to do, was to show an admiring world of what stuff a Lord
Mayor was composed. (Loud cheers.) True, his ordinary work was
generally considered overwhelming, administering justice every day,
and hospitality every night, signing no less than thirty thousand
official documents, and attending to his Parliamentary duties with
Wartonian regularity. But he intended, directly Parliament was
up, to dedicate his short vacation to visiting the principal cities of
Germany, and studying on the spot their Municipal organisation.
He should be able to devote about a whole day to each city, which,
with his large experience and huge powers of work, would doubtless
be amply sufficient. (Enthusiastic cheers.)
In pursuance of this resolution, his Lordship, having first visited
Copenhagen, to convey a private message from a certain distinguished
personage, and to gather a hint or two for Mr. Barrett in his forth-
coming Hamlet, arrived in Berlin on Tuesday. Unfortunately,
neither the Emperor nor Prince Bismarck were there at the time to
receive him, but it gave his Lordship all the more time to devote to
his study of the Berlin Municipality. Of course the first inquiry
was as to German gastronomy, and we understand, from a very
private source, that it was not considered a success. Sauer-kraut,
strange to say, was not considered an improvement upon clear
Turtle, or sausages upon Lis de Veau pique d la Perigord, while
a great and generous effort, made by his patriotic and self-denying
Lordship to resuscitate the entente cordiale between the two_ coun-
tries, by paying Prince Bismarck the high compliment of drinking
at dinner a bottle of Guinness’s Stout mixed with a bottle of Irroy’s
dry Champagne, was attended with such serious consequences that
his Lordship left Berlin the next morning for Dresden.
It is whispered, though, in certain select circles, that his Lordship
made such excellent use of his time, that he has already commenced |
setting out the heads of his proposed new scheme for the Government
of London, which he will still further carry on at Dresden, by in- |
corporating with his Imperial Prussian ideas those grand principles
of' Saxon Government which have made England what she is, the
first, &c., &c. _
His Lordship, with that lavish generosity becoming a Lr>rd Mayor
and a Banker, purchased at the Royal Dresden Factory a Claret Jug
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
143
OUR HARD-WORKING LORD MAYOR AT BERLIN,
There was a rumour prevalent, in the spring of the year, that the
Right Hon. R. N. Fowler, M.P., Lord Mayor of the City of London,
was to be the last of his race, and that, under the new regime,
threatened by the Home Secretary, a Noble Duke of liberal princi-
ples and princely fortune would, as Lord Mayor of London, inaugu-
rate the brand-new system that was to abolish all the old barbaric
splendour connected with the office, and introduce the reign of
economy and common sense. The shudder of horror that ran through
the usual frequenters of the Guildhall and the Mansion House at
this fearful possibility, may be more easily conceived than described.
All that had been growing up for seven hundred years to do honour
to the great representative of Local Self-Government, culminating at
last in the gorgeous spectacle of Lord Mayor’s Show, followed by the
equally gorgeous feast of the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, abolished at one
fell swoop, as out of place in a generation dedicated to genteel dul-
ness and cheeseparing economy! In the Court of Aldermen, those
who had passed the Chair endeavoured, kindly but vainly, to admin-
ister consolation to those who had not. The high Officials of the
Corporation looked dull and dispirited. The debates of the Common
Council became brief and pointless. The noble army of Gentlemen
of the Lord Mayor’s household looked solemn and sad despite their
gorgeous array, and even the anxious State Coachman and the
ancient Postilion looked more deeply impressed than usual with the
responsibilities of their great offices.
Amid these depressing surroundings, however, there was one man,
fortunately for the City, who preserved his good spirits, his smile of
welcome, and his dauntless bearing, to an extent that surprised all.
He chivied up the Junior Aldermen in that particular way that no
Alderman, Junior or Senior, can resist; he chaffed the dispirited
Officials till even the Comptroller lost all control over himself, and
'laughed outright; he aroused his sleepy household from their state
rof solemnity, until even the City Marshal declared that he was all
serene, and the very Postilion said as it was pleasant to be ridden
by such a leader. Need we say we allude to the Lord Mayor.
In an admirable and energetic speech that he delivered in his very
long Parlour, he laid before his astonished listeners the course of
action that he proposed to adopt. It was suggested, he said, that he
would probably be the last Lord Mayor of the City of London ; he
believed in no such probability or even possibility. (“ Hear, hear ! ”)
They, of course, all remembered the glowing language in which
•.great Hector defied his foes. (“Hear, hear!" from a Junior
Alderman. Here His Lordship recited, with great energy, about
ticenty lines of the “ Iliad'" in the original Greek, amid deafening
cheers.) But, continued his Lordship, who can control his fate ?
(“ Hear J” from the City Architect.) What, therefore, he had
resolved to do, was to show an admiring world of what stuff a Lord
Mayor was composed. (Loud cheers.) True, his ordinary work was
generally considered overwhelming, administering justice every day,
and hospitality every night, signing no less than thirty thousand
official documents, and attending to his Parliamentary duties with
Wartonian regularity. But he intended, directly Parliament was
up, to dedicate his short vacation to visiting the principal cities of
Germany, and studying on the spot their Municipal organisation.
He should be able to devote about a whole day to each city, which,
with his large experience and huge powers of work, would doubtless
be amply sufficient. (Enthusiastic cheers.)
In pursuance of this resolution, his Lordship, having first visited
Copenhagen, to convey a private message from a certain distinguished
personage, and to gather a hint or two for Mr. Barrett in his forth-
coming Hamlet, arrived in Berlin on Tuesday. Unfortunately,
neither the Emperor nor Prince Bismarck were there at the time to
receive him, but it gave his Lordship all the more time to devote to
his study of the Berlin Municipality. Of course the first inquiry
was as to German gastronomy, and we understand, from a very
private source, that it was not considered a success. Sauer-kraut,
strange to say, was not considered an improvement upon clear
Turtle, or sausages upon Lis de Veau pique d la Perigord, while
a great and generous effort, made by his patriotic and self-denying
Lordship to resuscitate the entente cordiale between the two_ coun-
tries, by paying Prince Bismarck the high compliment of drinking
at dinner a bottle of Guinness’s Stout mixed with a bottle of Irroy’s
dry Champagne, was attended with such serious consequences that
his Lordship left Berlin the next morning for Dresden.
It is whispered, though, in certain select circles, that his Lordship
made such excellent use of his time, that he has already commenced |
setting out the heads of his proposed new scheme for the Government
of London, which he will still further carry on at Dresden, by in- |
corporating with his Imperial Prussian ideas those grand principles
of' Saxon Government which have made England what she is, the
first, &c., &c. _
His Lordship, with that lavish generosity becoming a Lr>rd Mayor
and a Banker, purchased at the Royal Dresden Factory a Claret Jug