212 Reminiscences of 



members have the privilege of inviting a friend or two 

 to the monthly banquets, but not to the weekly lunch 

 committee meetings, where the business is too serious to 

 admit of intrusion, as may be well understood in view 

 of the difficulty which exists among the opulent guilds 

 in disposing of sufficient funds to equal the income. 

 In vain are the markets sought over for the most ex- 

 pensive viands. Fruitless are the efforts to swell the 

 cost amount equal to the sum appropriated. Clear 

 green turtle soup from Birch's or the Ship and Turtle 

 at four shillings a plate, with squares of green turtle 

 fat as large as a fat man's two thumbs, are a bagatelle. 

 Johnny Dorees from the North Sea, at seven shillings a 

 pound, help some. Sole slips and spring lambs are of 

 slight value, but helped on by Delaware canvas-backs, 

 golden pheasants, and Norway woodcocks. A confu- 

 sion of sweets count something. The Hungarian band 

 is an element of value. Sims Reeves, the vocalist, and 

 other eminent artists, at from fifty to a hundred pounds 

 each, to appear between courses when the dinner is 

 well on, cannot be overlooked, but still a fainting hiatus 

 of apprehensiveness creeps on when the summing-up 

 still shows a surplus. A happy thought, as a glimmer 

 of sunshine in a dark day, flashes in. The box of 

 chocolates and a silver pencil given each guest at the 

 last banquet may be given over for a sixteen-bladed 

 pearl -handled jack-knife, with a corkscrew attachment 

 from Sheffield, which will just bridge over the difficulty. 

 A suggestive mind, that of Alderman Brown, who 

 will sometime be Lord Mayor if he lives, as all City 

 aldermen become Lord Mayors in rotation, if they 

 are wealthy enough to stand it, and if not, fall out 

 for a succeeding one. An adjournment will now take 



