A statue of Oliver Cromwell has suddenly appeared before Old
Palace Yard. It was at first believed that Mr. Ayrton, careless of the refusal of the House of Commons to put the Protector among the Kings, had 'placed him there as a prophecy in plaster ; but it is now ascertained that the figure came there by accident. Two statues of Lords Pahnerston and Derby are to be placed there, so Mr. Ayrton, with unconscious irony, selected the model of a really great man to see how smaller men would look. The model by Mr. Noble seems to impress all who see it, and the newspapers are asking why a bronze cast from it should not be placed among our Kings. Twenty years hence, perhaps a strange answer may be given to that question; but men would like to see even now what the Commons' vote would be, whether any influence couldi obtain a majority against our greatest king.
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