THE QUEEN'S ESCAPE FROM SCOTLAND.
Jr is a mercy that Queen VICTORIA is well out of Scotland ; for her persecution in that loyal land has nearly had disastrous if not fatal results. First, the pious people converted the parish-church of Blair into a trap wherein to catch the Sovereign to be made a show of ; and for once that sport succeeded. But on Sunday last the Queen proved too cunning for the curious : she had "caught a cold," and staid at home, so that the remorseless intruders were -condemned to a bootless journey. It was known, however, that she would pass through Dundee on her way home—here was a -.fine opportunity for an ambuscade ! Dundee was thought to have behaved well when the Queen landed : that is, the Provost and Bailies were not caught napping, like their brethren of Edinburgh ; no untoward accident occurred ; and their wooden " triumphant arch," as some one calls it, looked pretty. The Dundee folks were praised, and praise turned their heads : they fancied that they had an intuitive faculty for dealing with Queens— a genius that did not need to take pains ; and on this second occasion they gave unbridled loose to their impulses. The Provost and Magistrates got out a little way on the Highland road, to meet her Majesty and head the procession into town : but their horses were too fine for them, and the Chief Magistrate of Dundee was exiled for that day by the indomitable perversity of his steeds. Very awkward ! Intent on taking the occasion for displaying them- selves, the Magistrates got astray from their duty of controlling the arrangements. Without Provost LAWSON, however, the Queen reached the quay, and alighted : but here appeared her persecutors the sight- seers, in such force and boldness that they had well nigh served her as SOULT served MOORE at Corunna ; for they pressed so upon -her as nearly to force "the wobbled Queen" off the quay and in- to the sea! The police, stationed to keep order, only kept dis- order, gaping and pushing like the rest. Such are the excesses of Dundee genius for Court gallantries. However, the intrepid Six- tieth came to the rescue, charged the pursuers with fixed bayonets ; and under cover of that determined resistance, Queen VICTORIA embarked in safety. Was it a Goarie conspiracy in holyday guise ? or was it that the Scots, with talking about "the Queen, the Queen," and nothing else, have worked them- selves into a phrensy of insatiable curiosity ? They cannot believe in a Queen, or understand their senses, unless they push the Royal phwnomenon into a corner and thrust it close to their eyes. Next, they will seize Prince ALBERT and put him into an oxyhydrogen microscope. Scotland is decidedly unsafe for Royal travellers—and much uneasiness begins to be felt about the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, Still too near the Border : it is tempting fate to offer that bait for a raid. At all events, even Queen Irma-lama's patience and intrepidity must be exhausted by this sublime ob- trusiveness. She had better try Ireland next time.
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