THERE HERE can no longer be any doubt of it-we must fortify ourselves. Our national defences being-for the best part our national hearts and bones, and sinews, must be put in the very soundest and strongest condition; and, alive and hungry to the fact, could we fall upon a blither occasion, and, withal, a jollier season, to set about putting ourselves in order, than on the occasion that at the same time gives to rejoicing England another Volume of PUNCH, and another Christmas? Another Volume of PUNCH may be modestly considered as at least another three-decker and another regiment of cavalry and infantry added-and how economically added!-to the national forces. There are so many elements of moral strength in every Volume of MR. PUNCH that, meekly conscious of what he has bestowed upon his country in this his last contribution-he sits down (in anticipation) to his Christmas beef and pudding with the lightest heart and strongest digestion. For it is needful-says the QUEEN from her Throne-it is needful, my beloved people, that, without wishing to rumple the peacock feathers of our lively neighbours, we look to our national defences. "They must be settled for ever," says MR. DISRAELI; great statesmen never condescending to legislate for an hour less than eternity. MR. PUNCH, then, having bestowed his usual Christmas gift-in a new volume for Christmas-in his benign manner exhorts his countrymen, and especially his countrywomen (seeing how near and dear the sympathy is between them!) so to improve the present Christmas, that it shall be to them as at once a grand national review and a patriotic protest. Let the field of the table-cloth be as the field of a sham battle, with the foes we are supposed "to hate, before us." Glorious Sirloin, as he blushes at the knife, may touch the heart with a thought of "stern delight." As his blood streams into the dish, let us smile with a new pride at one source of our national defences. How the hero bleeds; and how by his very blood does he make new heroes! But consider the Christmas board; and chew, and swallow, and digest a moral, from all that it creaks and groans under; and all for the strengthening of our national defences! Consider this GOOSE! How many geese will smoke upon JoпN BULL'S table; all of them, by the contemplative spirit of the season, made types and representatives of the "proud insulting foreigner!" How that army of geese vanishes, hardly leaving a drum-stick, behind! How they are scattered and destroyed, their memory mildly smelling of sage, and it may be "the meed of one melodious tear" granted in onions. And then the TURKIES-the tremendous force of turkies! How they clamorously gobbled; and howwith all their feathers rigid as though turned to steel (unplucked iron pens!) they stedfastly intended-turkeylike to fly at the RED! And where are the turkeys now? Thousands and thousands lie on the field of the glorious table-cloth, in manacles of sausages. These, we say, in the sham battle of the Cloth of Diaper, represent the fallen and enslaved; but we are generous enemies; we take them to our breasts (inside, too,) and magnanimously break with our teeth the chains that bind them. PLUM-PUDDINGS! What has Cherbourg arsenal-what Vincennes of round shot in number and weight, in comparison with the piles (nay, the Great Pyramids) of plum-puddings, all of them to fall, like spent shot, at Christmas? MINCE-PIES! Think them forts, outworks, bastions thrown up by the invader,-and with spoon and fork, carry them! SNAP-DRAGON! The hour has arrived; and spirits burn blue! Old and young, the "tender and fair," gather around that cauldron bowl, and with ghastly faces (for ten minutes!) desperately plunge hands-(small white hands and taper fingers, some hallowed with circle of gold, some it may be just thrilling with the notion of it,)-desperately plunge hands into the boiling, blazing fire-water, therefrom extracting many a plum !-The while the blue fire flickers on the ceiling, and in burning "gouts" drops upon the combatants and falls upon the carpet. What is this but mimic war? What Snap-dragon, but type of the horrible, destroying, flame-breathing real Dragon whose breath kills thousands, slaying even women and little children? And even women and little children-should the real Dragon think to come-will take heart and strength to assail and kill him: tearing him to pieces (no bigger than raisins), and as the flames of spirituous old Jamaica and old Cognac are quenched in darkness, so quenching the desolating flames of the real Dragon: not Snap-dragon, but NAP-DRAGON. PUNCH-exhorting all the folks of England, in this manner and at this season to fortify their national and natural defences-wishes cach and all of them PARLIAMENT re-assembled after the general election on feelings excited by the imposing spectacle cannot be better the 4th day of November, and the general prosperity and improved condition of the labouring classes, combined with the strength of the Opposition, made it difficult for the Government to adhere to their long professed opinions of Protection, and unmistakeable indications were given from the Ministerial Benches that Free Trade was not to be disturbed for the present. Ministers were much pressed by the Free Trade party to make a definite sign as to their future policy, and at last MR. VILLIERS brought forward a motion to test the feeling of the House. MR. DISRAELI made a very eloquent speech in favour of the Derby policy, and was admirably answered by MR. BRIGHT, who clearly demonstrated, that the Ministerialists had done all they could on the hustings and in the House to unsettle the more liberal legislation. MR. VILLIERS's motion would have been carried doubtlessly, but for an amendment of LORD PALMERSTON, also in favour of Free Trade principles, and which was carried after great discussion, and in opposition to the Government by 468 against 53. Prior to this debate the arrangements for the Funeral of the DUKE OF WELLINGTON occupied the attention of both Houses of Parliament, and MR. DISRAELI, in the Commons, pronounced an eloquent panegyric upon one who, he said, was not only a great man, but the greatest man of a great nation a general who had fought fifteen pitched battles, captured 3000 cannon from the enemy, and never lost a single gun. There never was an eminent person who had lived so long and so much in the public eye, yet no one thought how large a space he filled in the esteem of the nation until he died. described than in the language of LORD DERBY, in his Speech in the House of Lords. He expressed his deep satisfaction and thankfulness at the more than satisfactory result of the great solemnity. It was a matter of thankfulness to Almighty God, that an event which brought together such masses of persons as have never before congregated under any circumstances in the metropolis, should have passed over without any signal calamity. The change in the weather materially assisted in this happy result. But he would be unjust if he withheld his tribute of admiration "at the perfect organisation, the admirable arrangements, the entire discipline, with which the whole of that great ceremony was marshalled and conducted, and at the discretion and the judgment which was manifested by all those civil and military authorities who took a part in carrying it out." (Cheers.) The temper and patience of the troops and police were most admirable. But justice must be done to another class— "I mean the admirable temper, patience, forbearance, and good conduct, which was manifested by the whole of these incredible masses. (Cheers.) When we consider how large a proportion of the population of these United Kingdoms was for that single day crowded together in the streets of the metropolis, when you remember, as those at least remember to whose lot it fell to take part in the procession, and who saw it throughout its whole length and breadth,—when you remember that on a line of route three miles in length, extending from Grosvenor Place to St. Paul's Cathedral, there was not a single unoccuThe funeral took place on the 18th of November, and the pied foot of ground, and that you passed through a living sca PAGE PAGE of faces, all turned to look upon that great spectacle,-when you saw every house, every window, every house-top, loaded with persons anxious to pay their last tribute of respect to the memory of England's greatest son,-when you saw those persons (those, at least, within the streets) remaining with entire and unflinching patience for many hours in a position n which movement was hardly possible, and yet that scarce a single accident occurred to the most feeble woman or child amid that vast mass,-when, throughout the whole of that length, not only was a perfect decorum preserved, and a perfect and ready assistance given to the efforts of the police and the military, but there was no unseemly desire to witness the magnificent spectacle, no light and thoughtless applause at the splendour of that spectaele, and that the people of England, in the awful silence of those vast crowds, testified in the most emphatic manner the sense in which every man among them felt the public loss which England had sustained, -I know not, my Lords, how you may have looked upon this manifestation of public feeling and good sense and order, but I know this, that as I passed along those lines it was with pride and satisfaction I felt that I was a country-man of those who knew so well how to regulate and control themselves; and I could not help entertaining a hope, that those foreign visitors who have done us and themselves the honour of assisting at this great ceremonial, might, upon this occasion, as upon the 1st of May, 1851, bear witness back to their own country how safely, and to what extent, a people might be relied upon, in whom the strongest hold of their Government was their own reverence and respect for the free institutions of their country, and the principles of popular self-government controlled and modified by constitutional monarchy." (Loud Cheers.) "And who will forget the effect within the Cathedral ? When, amidst solemn and mournful music, slowly, and inch by inch, the coffin which held the illustrious dead descended into its last, long resting-place, I was near enough to see the countenances of many of the veterans who were companions of his labours and of his triumphs, and was near enough to hear the suppressed sobs and see the hardly-checked tears, which would not have disgraced the cheeks of England's greatest warriors, as they looked down for the last time upon all that was mortal of our mighty hero. Honour, my Lords, to the people who so well know how to reverence the illustrious dead! "Honour to the friendly visitors-especially to France, the great and friendly nation that testified by the presence of their representative their respect and veneration for his memory! (Cheers.) They had regarded him as a foe worthy of their steel. His object was not fame nor glory, but a lasting peace. We have buried in our greatest hero the man among us who had the greatest horror of war. The great object of this country is to maintain peace. To do that, however, a nation must possess the means of self-defence. I trust that we shall bear this in mind, not in words only, but in our actions and policy, setting aside all political and party considerations, and that we shall concur in this opinion-that, in order to be peaceful, England ́must be powerful; but that, if England ought to be powerful, she ought to be so only in order that she should be more secure of peace." (Cheers.) The course of events in France is largely touched upon in the present volume, and it would require much space to elucidate the bearings of the various allusions, and which can be better supplied by a reference to the History of Modern France. We will only remind the reader that on December the 2nd, 1852, the anniversary of the Coup d'Etat, the empire was proclaimed with LOUIS NAPOLEON for Emperor. On the 3rd of December MR. DISRAELI, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, brought forward his Financial Scheme. It would be doing injustice to the Debate which ensued, and lasted four nights, did we attempt to summarise with the necessary brevity the eloquent speeches delivered from both sides of the House, and we must refer the interested reader to Hansard for a satisfactory report of them. The divisiou was adverse to the Government, 305 to 286, and the effect was to bring about the immediate dissolution of the Derby Cabinet, to be succeeded by a new Government under LORD ABERDEEN, on the basis of an union between the Whigs and the followers of SIR ROBERT PEEL, to whose memory more than one of his former opponents had done commendable justice. Shortly after, both Houses adjourned to the 10th of February, 1853. PAGE VOL. XXIII.] INTRODUCTION. (JULY TO DECEMBER, 1852. NOTES. PAGE 1 Mr. G. F. Young's Wonderful Goose.-The birds of MADEMOISELLE VANDERMEERSCH were some trained canaries, and MADEMOISELLE V. being a pretty young lady, her exhibition became very popular. 4 "Bolted."—In the preceding Volume (XXII.), we made reference to the "Betting Offices" which had become a public scandal. Bolted represents the fate of many of them and their dupes. 5 "A Dissolving View."-DERBY and DISRAELI. A General Election was in contemplation. 9 10 13 15 19 23 31 32 34 39 55 What is an Engagement ?-The Irish prima donna was MISS CATHERINE HAYES and the initial represents MR. W. M. BALFE in the character of Papageno in the English version of the Zauberflöte. Malmesbury's New Policeman.-An order from the Home Office respecting the duties of the Police was thought to be rather Continental in its interference with the liberty of the subject. New Reading of the celebrated Wagner Saying.HERR WAGNER, the father of JOHANNAH WAGNER the German PAGE Catnach in the Drawing Room.-CATNACH was a pub- 94 lisher of street-ballads in Seven Dials. Solly in our Alley has reference to a benevolent enthu- 125 siast, whose indiscriminate giving of alms to street-beggars led to much annoyance to his neighbours. "The Monkey and the Tiger."-VOLTAIRE's description 133 of a Frenchman. HAYNAU was the Austrian general who had flogged the nuns. "Uncle Bull's Cribbing."-Uncle Tom's Cabin had just 135 been published in London for its authoress, MRS. BEECHER STOWE, and was instantly pirated by one or more publishers on the excuse given in this article. A Court for King Cholera is hardly an exaggeration 139 of many dwelling-places of the very poor in London. Topsy-Turvy.-Punch unhappily has to sing a similar 161 song in 1862. Apology. See page 174. "MISUSING THE QUEEN'S PRESS 175 SHOCKINGLY." An Arch Amendment.-Robert Macaire was the name 176 prima donna, was reported to have said: "the English are only of a very bad character in a very good piece popular here and to be valued for the sake of their money," Something "Looms in the Future."-Was an expression of MR. DISRAELI when Chancellor of the Exchequer. New Handbook for Italy.- See reference to the outrage on MR. MATHER in former Volume (XXII). A Prophecy all but Fulfilled.-The New House of Commons was badly constructed for the transmission of sound. The Best Speaker.-MR. CHISHOLM ANSTEY occupied much of the time of the House. He was appointed Consul at Hong Kong, and was nearly destroyed by the poisoned bread distributed by the Chinese. He was recalled on a charge of undue severity in the case of a British Officer, but found to have been justified in the course he pursued, and the amende was made to him in 1862. He will frequently figure in succeeding pages of these volumes. Gentlemen's Seats to be Let.-MR. COPPOCK was a well-known Conservative Parliamentary Agent. Seasonable Intelligence.-MR. FLEXMORE was a popular Clown. Work for the Lawyers.-MR. SANDFORD, in a hustings speech, promised to marry one of the spinsters of Reading. A Rabble Catechism for M.P.'s.-MAJOR BERESFORD had called the non-electors "Rabble." 66 The Mudlark of Philanthropy.-The Political charlatan COCHRANE has been previously referred to in Vol. XII. (1847). 92 The Latest Dodge.-Betting on commission must be a 192 profitable speculation, judging by the number of advertisements in the low sporting papers, 1862. Freedom's Last Home in Paris.-La Morgue is the 193 Parisian dead-house. logical Gardens, Regent's Park, imprudently playing with Hooded Snakes.-One of the keepers at the Royal Zoo- 197 the Cobra di Capella, was bitten and died in great agony. Mrs. Gamp Taking the Little Party, &c.-The Morn- 199 ing Herald was a strong supporter of MR. DISRAELI. The Bottle Holder (PALMERSTON) and the Bottle 203 Conjuror (DISRAELI).-The Bottle Conjuror exhibited at the Haymarket Theatre many years ago. Upon one occasion he undertook to get into a quart bottle; strange to say he found believers, and received their money, and as a matter of course disappeared without performing his promise. The Empire of Beadledom.-See History of France. 207 Captivity of Abd-el-Kader.-He was liberated by Louis 217 NAPOLEON, 1852. Too Civil by Half.-The Peace-at-any-price Party were 226 making themselves very ridiculous at this time. Temple Bar Doomed." Doomed men live long," it is 230 Kitchen Capers.-BARON NATHAN was a dancing-master said, and Temple Bar enjoys the same immunity, as it still patronised by Mr. Punch. obstructs in 1862. |