_PUCK, February 19th, 1890._
This is neither the place nor the time to attempt any summing up of the
character of the Rev. Dr. Talmage, of Brooklyn. In PUCK’S earlier days
the eccentricities of this clergyman and his peculiar notoriety made
him the especial butt of the cartoonist; and this latter revival of a
familiar figure was provoked by some uncommonly audacious performance
whereby the Reverend gentleman startled most people and shocked many
on his return from a European trip. It is unnecessary to recall the
details: the cartoon is founded on Dr. Talmage’s own utterances.
Let us note here that through all this long period of fun-making, Dr.
Talmage seems to have enjoyed the jokes upon himself even more than
the general public did, and PUCK has for many years preserved a formal
blessing or benediction, couched in terms of cordial regard, and sent
by the clergyman in exchange for a small cash and a large advertising
contribution to the re-construction of his tabernacle.
[Illustration]
THE MURDERER’S STRAIGHT ROUTE TO HEAVEN.--BRINGING RELIGION INTO
DISREPUTE.
_PUCK, June 28th, 1882._
Many who look at this cartoon to-day may well wonder what called it
forth, and many others may have to be reminded that even so recently
as ten years ago a morbid sympathy with criminals was so common among
American clergymen that it was popularly held a reproach to the whole
clerical body. It was, however, little more than a passing phase, a
sort of hysterical epidemic that prevailed among people peculiarly
exposed to emotional impulses. It seems to have died a natural death,
and it has passed away so utterly that it is practically forgotten
to-day.
We do not speak, of course, of the sympathy which every minister of
God should feel for the erring and unfortunate, but of a certain
maudlin enthusiasm which at one time moved many otherwise excellent and
admirable members of the clerical profession, and brought about some
startling exhibitions of misplaced sentiment. At the period of which
we speak, namely: the decade prior to the publication of this cartoon,
it was no uncommon thing to read of a clergyman, assisted by a band of
female devotees, invading a prison to spend hours, day after day, in
consoling, comforting, and generally coddling some red-handed murderer
in whom they could have had no possible interest, and of whom they
never would have heard save for the notoriety of his trial. Clergymen
were found, too, to go on the gallows at the last moment, and publicly
to avow their belief that the soul of the criminal about to die was
purged of all earthly sin, and that his repentance with the noose
around his neck had fully sufficed to fit him for heaven. Such shows as
these were common enough and evil enough in their influence to justify
even severer condemnation than that expressed in this vigorous cartoon.
The mania, for such we must call it, probably had its origin in the
extravagant and widely advertised efforts of the Rev. Dr. Tyng, of New
York, to save Foster, the “Carhook Murderer,” from the gallows. Foster,
who was partially drunk at the time, wantonly killed an inoffensive
stranger on the 26th of April, 1871; and, after every legal resource
had been exhausted in his behalf, was hanged March 21st, 1873.
This cartoon appeared in PUCK of June 28th, 1882, and its immediate
occasion was the execution of Charles Guiteau for the assassination of
President Garfield, which created a most unwholesome excitement in many
quarters.
[Illustration]
“PROHIBITION IS COMING!”
_PUCK, August 4th, 1886._
“The State of Rhode Island has recently passed--to its own great
surprise--a ‘prohibition law.’ The state did not really want the
law. It was not passed as a matter of principle. The Republicans
voted for the law to spite the Democrats; the Democrats to spite the
Republicans. No one thought that the aggregate of votes thus cast would
make the legal majority. But so it happened. Now, the State of Rhode
Island is a small community, and, like most small communities, it is
narrow, ignorant, and, save in things material, unproductive. One of
the chief sources of revenue upon which it depends is its wonderful
collection of Summer watering-places, which bring travel and traffic
to the state and put many thousands of dollars into circulation every
year. These places are supported by a civilized lot of people from the
great cities--people who are accustomed to drinking wine and beer and
whatever else they fancy; and, as a rule, in moderation. If they find
that the new law interferes with their perfectly legitimate customs in
this regard, they will leave Rhode Island for some more liberal and
sensible state; and Rhode Island will be so much the poorer, and so
much the wiser. No decent man will submit to be put in the category of
criminals because a few hysterical women and unbalanced men think that
the use of alcohol is as much a crime as its abuse.”--PUCK, _August
4th, 1886_.
[Illustration]
FIRST ANNUAL PICNIC OF THE “KNIGHTS OF LABOR”--MORE FUN FOR THE
SPECTATORS THAN FOR THE PERFORMERS.
_PUCK, June 21st, 1882._
The cartoon suggested by the “First Annual Picnic of the Knights
of Labor” can hardly be said to belong to PUCK’S famous group of
labor cartoons. Its appearance preceded by some four years the great
discussion of the labor question; and it is essentially what is known
to artists as a “situation” picture, aiming at nothing more than
the simple presentation of a fact. But it is curious to note that
it was called forth by the futile strikes in the iron mill region,
and even at that early date the editorial comments accompanying the
cartoon ascribed the anomalous condition of affairs principally to
the inequalities of fortune engendered by the protective system. The
comments close thus: “It is not extravagant wages that the workman
wants, it is purchasing power with the wages he does earn.”
[Illustration]