CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.

'MAKING PRETEND.'

Little girls play at 'Making Pretend,' oftenassuming some such form as this: 'I'll be a lady,and you shall be my servant.' We all of usunconsciously imitate these little folks in manyof the daily proceedings of life, not from a reallydishonourable motive or wishing to wrong others.'The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but thetruth' is a proper maxim for a witness in a courtof justice, and a wholesome precept to be taughtto all; but it is curious to watch among the highestand purest in the land, as among the lowest andmost debased, how many are the obstacles to theabsolute observance of this precept.

Court-life is full of anomalies in this direction.The 'Queen's Speech,' as we all know, is not theQueen's Speech; it is not written by Her Majesty,and for many years past has seldom been spokenby her. The prime-minister writes it, after conferringwith his colleagues; the Lord Chancellorreads it, as one of three commissioners named forthat special purpose. In earlier periods of ourhistory, when the sovereign was his own prime-minister,and his officials were dismissed at hiswill and pleasure, his speech was really a speech;but now that the ministers are responsible for allthe public proceedings of the Crown, the speechis a message, really theirs, although couched inthe first person singular, and read from a writtenpaper by other lips. Once now and then thepresent Queen has had to be furnished with lightedcandles to enable her to read her own graciousspeech on the afternoon of a foggy day! The Queenis loyally supposed to be present in every court ofjustice, near the colours of every regiment, and onthe quarter-deck of every vessel belonging to theroyal navy. To salute the colours during a march-pastis to salute a symbol of sovereign power; andeven on the darkest night, or when no humanbeing sees him, a naval officer touches his capwhen stepping up to the quarter-deck. It is nottelling a little fib, but acting one; 'making pretend,'for a purpose sanctioned by all and injurious tonone.

The 'honourable member for ——' may not bedistinguished for particularly honourable conductas a member of society; but it is felt that theHouse of Common

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