(_TO THE EDITOR OF "PUNCH."_)
MY DEAR SIR,--I have just been reading with a great deal of surprise
"_The Life and Letters of Charles Samuel Keene_, by GEORGE SOMES
LAYARD." Seeing the name of one of your colleagues as the first line
of the "Index," I turned to page 74 and looked him out. I found him
mentioned in an account given by Mr. M.H. SPIELMANN of the _Punch_
Dinner, which Mr. GEORGE SOMES LAYARD had extracted from _Black and
White_, no doubt to assist in making up his book. The following is
the quotation:--"The Editor, as I have said, presides; should he be
unavoidably absent, another writer--usually, nowadays, Mr. ARTHUR
A'BECKETT--takes his place, the duty never falling to an artist."
Then, to show how thoroughly Mr. GEORGE SOMES LAYARD is up to date,
he adds to the name of Mr. ARTHUR A'BECKETT (after the fashion of
_Mr. Punch_ in the drama disposing of the clown or the beadle), "since
dead." Now Mr. ARTHUR A'BECKETT is not dead, but very much alive.
Do you not think, Sir, it would be better were gentlemen who write
about yourself and your colleagues, to verify their facts before they
attempt to give obituary notices, even if they be as brief as the one
in question?
Yours, truly,
MORE GAY THAN GRAVE.
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NEW AND APPROPRIATE NAME FOR MODERN PUGILISM.--The "Nobble" Art.
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[Illustration: THE BURIAL OF THE "BROAD-GAUGE."]
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