Yours truly, A STUDENT OF THE LORE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The Palace, Brixton.

DEAR MR. PUNCH,—­It is time for a protest!  One of the most beautiful erections of the nineteenth century (the old South Kensington Railway Station of the District Railway) is to be removed!  Instead of the picturesque iron roof, we are to have some abomination in stone!  Can this be?  It is said to be falling to pieces under the ravages of Time.  If this be really the case, why not let it be restored?  There was no more picturesque outcome from the nineteenth century than these pretty arrangements in metal.  The last generation swept them away by scores, by hundreds, by thousands—­they did not even spare the Brompton Boilers!  Let not such a reproach be applicable to us.  We pride ourselves upon our love of Art and veneration for the antique and the beautiful, and yet we would pull down a building that for a century has been the admiration of all with a soul for Art and a mind for appreciating the sublimest efforts of genius in its highest sense!  This must not be.

Burlington House,

Yours truly, A ROYAL ACADEMICIAN.

From 1 to 1000, Piccadilly.

DEAR MR. PUNCH,—­I have had the advantage of reading the above letters before publication, and am of opinion that they are not one whit more nonsensical than letters about the Foudroyant and the Emmanuel Hospital that were printed early in the nineties.  You may make what use you please of this communication.

Yours respectfully, THE SPIRIT OF THE PAST.

The Earth (Branch Establishment, Mars and Jupiter).

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