writers in newspapers? The reply of course
is, the superior classes. "Why then," said
the Lord Mayor, "let us consider what my
beloved and honoured friends the members of
the superior classes, say.

"We will begin," said the Lord Mayor,
"with my highly eminent and respected
friends—my revered brothers, if they will
allow me to call them so—the Cabinet
Ministers. What does a cabinet minister say
when he comes to dine with me? He gets up
and tells the company that all the honours
of official life are nothing comparable to the
honour of coming and dining with the Lord
Mayor. He gives them to understand that, in
all his doubts, his mind instinctively reverts
to the Lord Mayor for counsel; that in all
his many triumphs, he looks to the Lord
Mayor for his culminating moral support;
that in all his few defeats, he looks to the
Lord Mayor for lasting consolation. He
signifies that, if the Lord Mayor only approves
of his political career, he is happy; that if
the Lord Mayor disapproves, he is miserable.
His respect for the office is perpetually
augmenting. He has had the honour of enjoying
the munificent hospitality of other Lord
Mayors, but he never knew such a Lord
Mayor as this Lord Mayor, or such a Lord
Mayor's dinner as this dinner. With much
more to the same effect. And I believe,"
said the Lord Mayor of London, smiling
obsequiously, "that my noble and right
honourable friends the Cabinet Ministers,
never make a fool of any one?

"Take," said the Lord Mayor of London,
"next, my highly decorated friends, the
Representatives of Foreign Courts. They assure
the guests, in the politest manner, that when
they inform their respective governments
that they have had the honour of dining with
the Lord Mayor, their respective governments
will hardly know what to make of
themselves, they will feel so exalted by the
distinction. And I hope," said the Lord
Mayor, smiling obsequiously, "that their
Excellencies my diplomatic friends, usually
say what they mean?

"What sentiments do the Army and Navy
express when they come and dine at the
Guildhall or Mansion House? They don't
exactly tell the company that our brave
soldiers and our hardy seamen rush to
conquest, stimulating one another with the
great national watchword, 'The Lord
Mayor!' but they almost go that length.
They intimate that the courage of our
national defenders would be dreadfully
damped if there was no Lord Mayor; that
Nelson and Wellington always had the Lord
Mayor in their minds (as no doubt they had)
iu conducting their most brilliant exploits;
and that they always looked forward to the
Lord Mayor (as no doubt they did) for their
highest rewards. And I think," said the
Lord Mayor, smiling obsequiously, " that my
honourable and gallant friends, the
field-marshals and admirals of this glorious country,
are not the men to bandy compliments?

"My eminently reverend friends the
Archbishops and Bishops, they are not idle talkers,"
said the Lord Mayor. "Yet, when they do
me the honour to take no thought (as I may
say) what they shall eat or what they shall
drink, but with the greatest urbanity to eat
and drink (I am proud to think) up to the
full amount of three pound three per head,
they are not behind-hand with the rest.
They perceive in the Lord Mayor, a pillar of
the great fabric of church and state; they
know that the Lord Mayor is necessary to
true Religion; they are, in a general way,
fully impressed with the conviction that
the Lord Mayor is an Institution not to be
touched without danger to orthodox piety.
Yet, if I am not deceived," said the Lord
Mayor, smiling obsequiously, "my
pastoral and personal friends the archbishops
and bishops, are to be believed upon their
affirmation?

"My elevated and learned friends, the
Judges!" cried the Lord Mayor, in a tone of
enthusiasm. " When I ask the judges to
dinner, they are not found to encourage the
recommendations of corrupt Commissions.
On the contrary, I infer from their speeches
that they are at a loss to understand how Law
or Equity could ever be administered in this
country, if the Lord Mayor was reduced. I
understand from them, that it is, somehow,
the Lord Mayor who keeps the very judges
themselves straight; that if there was no
Lord Mayor, they would begin to go crooked;
that if they didn't dine with the Lord Mayor
at least once a year, they couldn't answer for
their not taking bribes, or doing something
of that sort. And it is a general opinion,
I imagine," said the Lord Mayor, smiling
obsequiously, "that my judicial friends the
judges, know how to sum up a case?

"Likewise my honourable and legislative
friends the Members of the House of
Commons—and my noble and deliberative friends,
the Members of the House of Lords—and my
learned and forensic friends of the libeiral
profession of the Bar!" cried the Lord Mayor.
"They are all convinced (when they come to
dinner) that without the Lord Mayor, the
whole Lord Mayor, and nothing but the Lord
Mayor, there would ensue what I may call a
national smash. They are all agreed that
society is a kind of barrel, formed of a number
of staves, with a very few hoops to keep them
together; and that the Lord Mayor of London
is such a strong hoop, that if he was taken off,
the staves would fly asunder, and the barrel
would burst. This is very gratifying, this is
very important, this is very dignifying, this is
very true. I am proud of this profound
conviction. For, I believe," said the Lord Mayor,
smiling obsequiously, "that this distinguished
agglomeration of my eloquent and flowery
friends, is capable of making speeches?

"Then you see, my Lord," pursued the