"BEAR " ELLICE.
[To THE EDITOR Of THE "SPECTATOR."] Sig,—The many friends of Mrs. Ellice, the widow of " Bear " Ellie, will have read with regret the notice of her death in Wednesday's Times. Mrs. Ellice, who was ninety-three years of age, may in the very strictest sense be described as a link with the past, for her husband was Whip during the passage of the great Reform Bill, and a man of very great political power and influence in those days. The reason why Mr. Ellice was always known as " Bear " Ellice has often been discussed. Probably his brusque manner was the cause. I cannot, however, refrain from sending you a delightful legend, clearly apocryphal, as to how he came by the appellation. It is a story worthy of a children's Christmas book.
When a young man, Mr. Ellice was travelling through a forest in a remote part of Germany, and sat himself down to rest beneath a hollow tree of great height and girth. Curiosity inspired hint to see what was inside the tree. He climbed up, let himself down into the hollow, and found himself in a nest of young bears. Like a wise man, he realised that bear cubs, though delightful creatures in a story-book, mean a she-bear not very far off, and he therefore at once did his best to get out of his weird predicament. But it is much easier to get into a hollow tree than to get out of it. The steep and slippery sides would not give him foothold. Accordingly there was nothing to do but sit down among the cubs and wait. In a compara- tively short time the she-bear came to the foot of the tree, climbed up, and let herself down into the hollow. Fortunately her horror at finding this unsuspected increase in her family was almost as great as Mr. Ellice's. She at once endeavoured to scramble up again and get away. Mr. Ellice seized his oppor- tunity in the shape of the she-bear's short and stubby tail, and hung on as the she-bear clawed her way up the inside of the trunk. Happily it was good holding, and Mrs. Bear dragged him into security. As soon as they both reached the ground she made off in terror in one direction and he in the other. Ever afterwards Mr. Ellice was known among his friends by the name of " Bear " Ellice.—I am, Sir, &c., S.
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