GrotLping. 45 



me, the very first inquiry I shall make of myself when I 

 am about to take the road again — as pray heaven I may 

 some day, and that ere long — will be this : Now who 

 can I get for Prime Minister, one who will like to gov- 

 ern and allow me to laugh and frolic with the party 

 without a care ? The position of a king in a constitu- 

 tional monarchy is the very ideal for a chief to emulate. 

 It is delightful to feel so very certain that one " can do 

 no wrong," even if infallibility be obtained, as Queen 

 Victoria's is, because she is no longer allowed to do 

 anything. Such was the case with the Scribe during 

 the Coaching Tour. Happy man ! 



There must always be a tendency toward grouping 

 in a large party : groups of four or five, and in extreme 

 cases a group of two ; and especially is this so when 

 married people, cousins or dear friends, are of the com- 

 pany. To prevent anything like this, and insure our 

 being one united party, I asked the gentlemen not to 

 occupy the same seat twice in succession — a rule which 

 gave the ladies a different companion at each meal, and 

 a change upon the coach several times each day. This 

 was understood to apply in a general way to our strolls, 

 although in this case the General Manager, with rare 

 discretion, winked at many infringements, which insured 

 him grateful constituents of both sexes. Young people 

 should never be held too strictly to such rules, and a 

 chaperon's duties, as we all know, are often most sue- j 

 cessfully performed by a wise and salutary neglect. 



