St Helena quip proves the old jokes are… old

A St Helena joke made more than 100 years ago has surfaced on a website. It’s not actually about the island, but it’s amusing enough to merit a mention. It tells of a conversation in 1890 between two London gentlemen, over whether a tunnel should be built between England and France.

Sir Julian Goldsmid said it would be ruinous to Britain: “If Napoleon had been fortunate to have a tunnel at his disposal he would not have died at St Helena.”

“No,” answered Mr Montagu Williams, a famous lawyer. “He would have died in the tunnel.”

SEE ALSO:
Napoleon’s Longwood letter has experts debating

LINK:
The Queen’s London – the Channel tunnel