_PUNCH'S_ WRITERS: 1841.
Mark Lemon--As Others Saw Him--His Duties--His Industry--His Staff
and their Apportioned Work--Lemon as an Editor--And Diplomatist--A
Testimonial--And a Practical Joke--Henry Mayhew--His Great Powers
and Little Weaknesses--Disappointment and Retirement--Stirling
Coyne--Gilbert Abbott à Beckett--His Early Career--Tremendous
Industry--À Beckett and Robert Seymour--Appointed
Magistrate--Locked In--Angus B. Reach.
[Illustration: MARK LEMON
(From a private photograph.)]
Mark Lemon was thirty-one when he found himself co-editor of _Punch_.
His salary, it is true, was not more than thirty shillings a week; but
it was to rise before his death to fifteen hundred pounds a year--a
higher amount, it is said, than has been received by any other "weekly
editor," before or since. However, he had found financial salvation; for
although his playwriting had not been unsuccessful--and by the time he
died his pieces were to be numbered by the score--the drama in the days
of short runs was not a remunerative form of literature. His natural
_bonhomie_ stood him in good stead; it charmed his friends and
non-plussed his enemies. Of the latter, it must be admitted, he had more
than enough--or, at least, men to whom he was intensely antipathetic.
One eminent journalist--more eminent than Mark himself--writes him down
"a mealy-mouthed sycophant;" and another, hardly less popular, went
further still in his denunciation, and, if he were to be believed, Mark
Lemon must have been one of the most accomplished humbugs of his time.
"There was nothing good about Mark," said a distinguished draughtsman,
who worked with the _Punch_ Editor for many a long year, "but his
laugh." But against this criticism--which was that of men whose judgment
ought to be clear and sound, and was, moreover, shared by others--there
is an overwhelming mass of evidence in favour of Lemon's extreme
amiability, kindness, and geniality. He, naturally, was the butt of
rival comic papers, who would taunt him with his Jewish descent, with
the mildness of his jokes and humour, and the bitterness of his false
friendship. A favourite form was to print among supposed "Births" such a
line as this: "On Wednesday, the 26th ult., at Whitefriars, Mr. Mark
Lemon, of a joke, stillborn."
But Lemon could well afford to ignore all such attacks. Mr. George
Chester, his life-long friend, pronounced him the prince of cronies, and
I have seen many letters from him instinct with affection and jovial
humour. One of them, by the way, gives information that "our nursemaid
has the chicken-pock, and we expect to see her throw out feathers
to-morrow." When he entered the composing-room he was invariably
received with a cheer by the men, whom he called "my Caxtonian Bees."
Charles Dickens believed in him as "a most affectionate and true-hearted
fellow," and so described him to Sir A. H. Layard (in whose interest
Dickens arranged for Tenniel's fine "Nineveh Bull" cartoon to be
published); and though he quarrelled with him, because Lemon had the
courage, chivalry, and uprightness to take Mrs. Dickens's side against
her husband, he brought the estrangement to a close with a kindly
message when Lemon first appeared as Falstaff. Mr. Joseph Hatton carries
his friendly admiration almost to the point of Lemonolatry; and the man
who could inspire such friendship must assuredly have been endowed with
sterling qualities and with a lovable nature.
"Mr. Lemon impressed me," writes Mr. E. J. Ellis, "as the kindest and
most lovable elderly boy I had ever seen. He evidently accepted my
little sketches only for the promise, not the performance, of them. Some
were rejected. This was done so genially that I found myself hastening
to refuse my own drawings for him rather than put him to the effort of
sparing my feelings while doing so. 'Here I sit,' he said, 'like a
great ogre, eating up people's little hopes.' Then he showed me his
waste-paper basket, and added--'But what am I to do? Look here!' I
confess I never saw, except on pavement in coloured chalks, such
nerve-twisting horrors as the paper sketches people sent." It is obvious
from this that the writer never watched the pictures entering the Royal
Academy on Sending-in Day.
Mark Lemon loved _Punch_; as well he ought. He refused to visit America
to give his readings on terms that were highly alluring, as he could not
find it in his heart to abandon the command, even for a time, nor bear
to miss his two days a week at Whitefriars. When he said truly that he
and _Punch_ were made for each other, and that he "would not have
succeeded in any other way," he might fairly have added, had he wished,
how hard he had laboured for that success. Mr. Birket Foster has drawn
me a vivid picture of how in those early days he had to visit Lemon in
his Newcastle Street lodgings, and, mounting to the topmost storey,
found him in an untidy, undusted room, sitting in his shirt-sleeves,
with Horace Mayhew by his side plying the scissors, working at the
weekly "make-up" of _Punch_ with the desperate eagerness that was, in
time, to bear so rich a harvest.
How Mark Lemon helped to bring together the original Staff has already
been seen. It was, doubtless, his sound display of business capacity and
character, in addition to his literary aptitude, that induced Henry
Mayhew and Landells to nominate him as one of the co-editors--for that
was a quality in which both Henry Mayhew and Stirling Coyne were
confessedly deficient. "There are forty men of wit," says Swift, "for
one man of sense." So the paper was started, and the very first article,
"The Moral of _Punch_," was Lemon's;[29] but neither then nor after did
he write much for it, though he still contributed a certain amount of
graceful, serious verse, under the title of "Songs for the Sentimental,"
with a farcical last line which affects the reader suddenly like a cold
douche. He wrote, as well, many short epigrams, paragraphs, and the
like, besides being a fairly prolific suggestor of the cartoons; but the
sum of his literary labours on the paper would not compare with that of
the members on the Staff. To him fell the organisation, administration,
and practical making-up of the paper.
In the early days of _Punch_, during those infantile convulsions to
which the paper threatened to succumb, Mark Lemon assured his position
by the great zeal with which he carried out his duties; and at the
transfer of _Punch_ he was left sole Editor, by the fiat of the new
proprietors. Stirling Coyne left without real regret, though in
considerable dudgeon at his treatment; he had many other irons in the
fire, and the conditions of journal-weaning were unattractive to him.
But to Henry Mayhew it was a bitter disappointment. It was he who had
made _Punch_ what it was; he found himself ousted from his legitimate
position, and he considered, in his own words, that Mark Lemon "had
allowed himself to be bought over," so that a coolness sprang up between
the two men which was never quite removed.
In his work Lemon did not spare himself. For a time Horace Mayhew was
his sub-editor, to whom fell the usual duties of the post--("Be it
yours," as a careless speaker in the office nicknamed "Heavens!" is
traditionally said to have advised, "Be it yours, 'Orace, to hurge the
hartises [artists] hon!")--but before long Lemon took that duty upon
himself, driving round to the chief contributors one day in the week to
satisfy himself that their drawings and "copy" would be to time. The
story goes that he always employed the same driver, and that when the
man was about to replace the old vehicle with a new one, he suggested to
Lemon, with glowing pride at the brightness of the idea, that he should
have a figure of _Punch_ emblazoned on the panels. In later years
Lemon's son Harry acted as his secretary, and sometimes, though
unofficially, as his sub-editor, and generally undertook the
"travelling" for his father.
It was in Lombard Street, Whitefriars, of classic memory, that Bradbury
and Evans carried on the practical part of their business; and here Mark
Lemon might often be seen, radiant and effulgent as the circulation
rose. In May,1843, _Punch_ had removed from Wellington Street, Strand,
to 194, Strand, an office which he gave up to his young rival, "The
Great Gun," in January, 1845, in order to remove to 92, Fleet Street.
Here he only remained for a couple of months, and, migrating in March of
the same year, he set up for good and all in 85, Fleet Street, on the
very site in St. Bride's Churchyard of the tailor's house where Milton
once kept school. In the editorial office the _Punch_ Staff would often
write their articles, Thackeray especially taking advantage of the
convenience. "In three hours more," he wrote to Mrs. Brookfield in 1850,
"Mr. W. M. T. is hard at work at _Punch_ office."
The management of the weekly "copy," the arrangement for series, and the
dealing with outside applications of all sorts, quite apart from
artistic contributions, were together no light task for the Editor,
especially when one or other of the writers failed him, and the
illustrations that were to accompany their articles had to be retaken
into consideration. From the beginning outside contributions were
remorselessly discouraged; yet some remarkable poems and sketches have
come to _Punch_ unsolicited from famous and brilliant pens, as will
subsequently be seen. Still, the paper has always been a fairly close
borough--as, after all, it has a perfect right to be; and by that means
has been enabled to keep its distinctive colour--in contrast with the
"Fliegende Blätter," for example, whose staff may truly be said to
consist of the whole German people. To each writer was allotted a
certain space, which he was expected to fill; and when there was a
deficit in the amount of his contribution--which there generally was,
and a heavy one--it was duly entered up. Thus for a long while Douglas
Jerrold's half-yearly total was theoretically 162 columns (or a weekly
average of six and a quarter); Gilbert à Beckett's, 135 columns (five
and a quarter); Percival Leigh's, Tom Taylor's, and Horace Mayhew's, 54;
and Thackeray's, 46 columns; but few of them ever came up to their
proper total. In earlier days, before Albert Smith left, the following
were the weekly tasks: Jerrold, five columns; Gilbert à Beckett, four;
Smith and Leigh, two each; and after Smith's departure à Beckett
succeeded to Jerrold's figures.
The records of the Staff's contributions were kept as follows, their
relative proportions being exactly shown. I take one volume at random,
the seventh, that for the second half-year of 1844:--
-------------+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| | | | | | |Total |
| | |Septem-|Octo- |Novem- |Decem- |of Six |Weekly
Contributors | July |August| ber | ber | ber | ber |Months |Average
-------------+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------
Douglas | | | | | | | |
Jerrold |20-1/4|17-1/4| 23-1/2|27[30]| 20-1/4| 31-1/2|139-3/4| 5-1/4
Gilbert | | | | | | | |
à Beckett |15-1/4|18 | 6-1/2|17-1/4| 17 | 19-3/4| 94-3/4| 3-1/2
Percival | | | | | | | |
Leigh | 4-1/2| 8-3/4| 9 | 5 | 5-1/2| 6-1/4| 39 | 1-1/2
Thackeray | 8 | 5-3/4| 6 | -- | -- | 4-3/4| 24-1/2| 1
Horace Mayhew| 2-1/2| 2-1/2| 3-1/2| 2 | 2-1/2| 3-3/4| 16-3/4| 1/2
T. Taylor | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3-1/4| 3 | 6-1/4| 1/4
Ferguson | 1[31]| -- | -- | 3/4| -- | 1 | 1-3/4| --
Editor[32] | 5 | 1-1/4| 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 3/4
Oxenford | -- | 1-1/2| -- | -- | -- | -- | 1-1/2| --
Laman | | | | | | | |
Blanchard | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1-3/4| -- | 1-3/4| --
H. Wills | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1/2| 1/2| 1 | --
-------------+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+------
Total of columns in volume 347
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A more comprehensive view may be had from a glance at the table on the
following page, which covers perhaps the most interesting period of
_Punch's_ early history.
From this table it will be seen that Douglas Jerrold contributed as much
as 139 columns to Vol. VII. and Gilbert à Beckett 122 to the next; and
that the Editor's section after Vol. VI. was to some extent split up
under the names of the individual contributors who composed it. In
addition to these names during the period covered by the table, there
may be added those of Tom Hood (3-3/4), T. J. Serle, Charles Lever,
Horace Smith, and Doyle.
Another source of trouble to the Editor was the holiday-time as it came
round, for the Staff would scatter itself and, though arrangements were
made of course beforehand, the paper was sometimes run in a
curiously undermanned condition. Thus, for example, on the week of
August 12, 1848 (No. 370), Jerrold was at Guernsey, Thackeray was at
Brussels, Horace Mayhew at Ramsgate, and Tom Taylor away on circuit. The
whole paper was in consequence written by three men--by Gilbert à
Beckett and Percival Leigh at home, and by Horace Mayhew, who
thoughtfully sent in more than four columns from the country, so that
his absence should not be felt.
AMOUNT OF TEXT (IN COLUMNS) CONTRIBUTED BY THE WRITERS INDICATED FROM
VOL. VI. TO VOL. XIV. INCLUSIVE--FROM JANUARY, 1844, TO JUNE 24, 1848
(NINE VOLUMES).
KEY:
A - Douglas Jerrold
B - Gilbert à Becket
C - Percival Leigh
D - W. M. Thackeray
E - John Oxenfold
F - Editor
G - Horace Mayhew
H - Tom Taylor
-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+
Vol. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+
VI. | 81-1/4|113-1/4| 41-1/2| 36-3/4| 4-3/4| 49-1/2| -- | -- |
VII. |139-3/4| 94-3/4| 39 | 24-1/2| 1-1/2| 20 | 16-3/4| 6-1/2|
VIII. | 91-1/4|122-1/2| 36 | 24 | 1-3/4| 13 | 17-3/4| 11-3/4|
IX. | 91 |108-3/4| 32-3/4| 43-1/4| 4-1/2| 15 | 28-1/2| 12 |
X. | 71-3/4| 99-1/2| 39-3/4| 39-1/2| 2-3/4| 6-1/4| 20 | 18-3/4|
XI. | 77-1/4| 92 | 35 | 51-3/4| -- | 2 | 44-3/4| 28-3/4|
XII. | 70-3/4| 94-1/4| 43 | 46| --| -- | 47-1/2| 23-3/4| -- |
XIII. | 48-1/4| 95-1/4| 40-3/4| 30-3/4| -- | -- | 45 | 42 |
XIV. | 58-1/4| 80 | 39-3/4| 39-1/2| -- | -- | 59-1/4| 32-1/2|
Total |729-1/4|900-1/4|348-1/4|336 |15-1/4|105-3/4|270-1/2|175-3/4|
-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+
Average| 81 |100 | 39-2/3| 37-1/3| -- | -- | 31 | 19-1/2|
per | | | | | | | | |
volume | | | | | | | | |
-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+
I - Ferguson
J - Laman Blanchard
K - W. H. Wills
L - Henry Mayhew
M - Higgins (Jacob Omnium)
N - Anonymous
O - Mark Lemon
P - MacGregor
-------+------+-----+-----+----+-----+------+----+-----+---------
Vol. | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | --
-------+------+-----+-----+----+-----+------+----+-----+---------
VI. | -- | -- | -- |-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
VII. | 1-3/4|1-3/4|1 |-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
VIII. | 4 | 3/4| 1/4|-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
IX. | 1-3/4| -- | 1/2|-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
X. | 9-1/4| -- | -- |-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
XI. | 3/4| -- | -- |-- |2 | -- |-- | -- | --
XII. | -- | -- | -- |-- |1-3/4| -- |-- | -- | --
XIII. | -- | -- | -- |-- | -- | 4-3/4| 1/2| -- | --
XIV. | -- | -- | 3/4|-- | -- |51-1/2|-- |3-3/4| --
Total |17-1/2|2-1/2|3-1/4| 1/4|2 |12 | 1/2|3-3/4|2,931-1/4
-------+------+-----+-----+----+-----+------+----+-----+---------
Average| -- | -- | -- |-- | -- | -- |-- | -- | --
per | | | | | | | | |
volume | | | | | | | | |
-------+------+-----+-----+----+-----+------+----+-----+---------
[Illustration: MR. PUNCH'S FANCY BALL.
_Reduced from the Double-page Cartoon by John Leech (1847), showing the
Staff of "Punch" as Orchestra._ (See next page.)]
[Illustration: W. NEWMAN. RICHARD DOYLE. JOHN LEECH. W. M. THACKERAY.
HORACE MAYHEW. MARK LEMON. PERCIVAL LEIGH. GILBERT À BECKETT. TOM
TAYLOR. DOUGLAS JERROLD.
(_Detail of Portraits of the Staff in "Mr. Punch's Fancy Ball."_)]
At no time was Lemon's position an easy one, for his team, brilliant as
it was, was sometimes wont to jib, and even to kick over the traces, or,
most serious of all, to fall ill; whereupon the fountain of inspiration
and supply would immediately dry up. When one failed, another would have
to be made to fill the space; and all the while susceptibilities had to
be nursed and respected as carefully as the well-being of the paper.
Thackeray would now and then send a letter of apology instead of his
"copy," and Jerrold would fail for a week or two together; and then
Gilbert à Beckett with important contributions, and Horace Mayhew with a
mass of little ones, were the men who, in the early volumes, would rush
quickly to the rescue. Lemon was patience itself--he had no alternative
perhaps--and could humour his Staff just as their humour demanded, for
he was a born diplomatist as well as editor. Moreover, he had an
unerring instinct as to what should and what should not appear in the
paper; not alone on the ground of "good taste," as it was then
understood, but of public feeling. This invaluable quality was
acknowledged by the rest of the Staff, and was probably the secret of
Lemon's ability to retain his position so long and with so much dignity,
and to impose his will--_suaviter in modo_ as was his habit--on men who
would brook such imposition from no one else. It was his moral balance
they admired--that judgment which in all his long career of satiric
criticism kept him practically free from any action for libel after he
had taken his share in piloting the paper through its sea of early
troubles. He was watchful and discriminating, both as regards the
contents of the paper and the discussions at the board--where he would
smooth over such an occasional storm as might threaten, and be deaf to
anything that a less skilful tactician than himself might have taken
notice of. Nevertheless, Lemon could take his own part if occasion
required, and face his opponents with all the vigour of his authority.
The Proprietors themselves once felt the strength of his character when
they sought to challenge him on a vital point. Mark Lemon quickly
assured himself of the support of his Staff, and, rising from his seat,
he said in a tone of command, "Boys, follow me!" and made to leave the
room. The struggle was over, and Lemon triumphed. Similarly did he make
a _casus belli_ of the attempt of the Proprietors on his editorial
rights and dignity, when he was requested to appear at their meeting
instead of their attending in his room. And he went so far as to instal
himself in a room on the other side of the way until his point was
conceded. He was, on the whole, a consummate Editor, who could cater for
all men, and yet keep his pages practically clean and irreproachable,
and almost free from blunder; all the while enlisting for it more and
more of popular sympathy, and daily increasing its influence.
[Illustration: LID OF THE INKSTAND PRESENTED TO MARK LEMON BY THE
MEMBERS OF HIS STAFF IN 1845.]
_Punch_ did not engage his exclusive energies. He was the first editor
of the "Field." Then he edited the "London Journal," and in trying to
improve its tone and quality of literature by the republication in its
pages of the Waverley novels he well-nigh ruined it. These and other
matters he embarked upon, together with a number of small works, such as
his volume of "Prose and Verse" (which Jerrold said ought to have been
called "Prose and Worse"), and his "Jest Book," on the strength of
which, it is said, Hans Christian Andersen, when in England, sought an
introduction to him and paid him the compliment of saying, "I am so glad
to know you, Mr. Lemon--you are so full of comic!"
Moreover, Lemon acted as a sort of secretary to Herbert Ingram, whom he
served with great tact. Ingram was a good deal identified with the
_Punch_ circle, sometimes in a friendly and sometimes in a hostile way.
He was owner, before he sold it to William and Robert Brough, of "The
Man in the Moon," _Punch's_ arch-enemy, and in later years he started
the "Comic News," with Edmund Yates as editor, on purpose to oppose
him. Yet several of the _Punch_ men, notably Shirley Brooks, worked on
his "Illustrated London News," which was started in great measure to
push "Parr's Life Pills" (these were constantly mentioned and sometimes
attacked in _Punch_), and Douglas Jerrold found in him the capitalist
for the "Illuminated Magazine." Mark Lemon it was who took several of
his Staff down to Boston to speak for Ingram during his candidature, an
expedition that was a greater electoral than oratorical success; and he
again it was, so it is said, who persuaded Mr. Ingram to drop the "Comic
News," so that _Punch_ might be rid of what was already a troublesome,
and might have become a very damaging, rival.
With equal zeal and skill and genial friendliness to recommend him,
Lemon became a great favourite in his own circle, for "Uncle Mark" was
always ready to do his friends a good turn. In 1845 the Staff combined
to present him with a silver inkstand--an interesting relic now in
possession of Mrs. F. W. W. Topham, his daughter--a reproduction of the
lid of which is here given; while the locket which, with a more
substantial gift, was presented in 1866 to celebrate the Jubilee of
_Punch_ (_i.e._ his fiftieth volume) and to mark the withdrawal of the
Heads of the firm, was inscribed as follows: "To Mark Lemon from his old
friends W. Bradbury and F. M. Evans, on their retirement, given at a
dinner at Maidenhead, June 27th, 1866. Present--W. H. Bradbury, Shirley
Brooks, Wm. Agnew, G. du Maurier, F. C. Burnand, J. H. Agnew, C. H.
Bennett, John Tenniel, Horace Mayhew, F. M. Evans (Jim.), Henry Silver,
T. Agnew (Jim.), Percival Leigh, Chas. Keene, Mark Lemon, Wm. Bradbury,
F. M. Evans." There is no doubt that, as time went on, Lemon became more
and more popular with his Staff, and each fresh appearance in _Punch_ of
his jolly face under the low-crowned hat of John Bull, or the
snow-sprinkled peak of Father Christmas, identified him more closely
with the paper and endeared him to his workers. Yet they liked to "score
off" him when they could, in return for the jokes he played on them. The
story is told how, when he had run down for a few days' holiday by the
sea, he received the paper by post, and, tearing off its cover, was
horrified to find, not the cartoon they had agreed upon, but another,
execrable in taste and vile in execution, while undoubted libels and
other offences were sprinkled with hideous liberality about the pages.
Moreover, the cartoon was awry, the date was wrong, and a paragraph was
upside down. Lemon turned cold all down his spine, and gasping "This
comes from my being away!" he determined to return to town without the
loss of a moment. From this point historians differ. Some say that Mark
rushed to the station, quickly bought up every copy of the awful issue
that was for sale, and jumped into the railway-carriage with the bundle;
and that not before he was well on his way did he dare to open a copy to
gaze again on the hideous production; and when he did--he rubbed his
eyes, for everything was just as it should be! Then the light broke in
upon him that he had been egregiously "sold," and he realised that a
copy had been specially prepared for his pleasing edification! Other
commentators assert that before Uncle Mark had time to leave for the
station a telegram came, mercifully explaining a joke which, it was
felt, ought not to be carried too far. The reader will remember a
similar incident occurring in "Esmond;" and one wonders if the idea of
that dummy copy of the "Spectator" was not suggested by the hour's
torture lovingly inflicted upon the Editor of _Punch_ by his
affectionate and respectful Staff.
Mark Lemon died on May 23rd, 1870. He had been very ill on one or two
previous occasions; even as early as 1848 Jerrold had written to John
Forster that "Lemon has been at Death's door--but has kept on the
outside." For nine-and-twenty years he had been at the helm; and
although he may not have been as paramount on _Punch_ as some aver,
there can be no doubt that he entirely merited the compliment paid by
Mr. Gladstone to his memory when, awarding a pension of £100 from the
Civil List to Mrs. Lemon, he said that he had "raised the level of comic
journalism to its present standard." The proprietors, with generous
sympathy, recognising the immense services of their friend, at once set
about making a collection for the widow and unmarried daughters (for
Lemon had been unsuccessful in his investments and speculations) and,
with the ready help of the Staff, prosecuted it with so much energy and
goodwill that the sum of £1,500 was quickly raised.
He was lowered to rest in a coffin simply inscribed "Mark Lemon--Editor
of _Punch_;" for in _Punch_ he had lived his life. "He believed," said
Mr. Hatton, "in one God, one woman, one publication," as his surviving
colleagues well knew. "If this journal," they wrote by the hand of
Shirley Brooks, "has had the good fortune to be credited with habitual
advocacy of truth and justice, if it has been praised for abstinence
from the less worthy kind of satire, if it has been trusted by those who
keep guard over the purity of womanhood and of youth, we, the best
witnesses, turn for a moment from our sorrow to bear the fullest and
most willing testimony that the high and noble spirit of Mark Lemon ever
prompted generous championship, ever made unworthy onslaught or
irreverent jest impossible to the pens of those who were honoured in
being coadjutors with him." And in the poem that follows, testimony is
borne that--
"... 'Twas his pride to teach us so to bear
Our blades, as he bore his--keep the edge keen,
But strike above the belt: and ever wear
The armour of a conscience clear and clean."
[Illustration: HENRY MAYHEW.
_From a Photograph by Bedford, Lemere and Co., Strand, W.C._]
The character of Henry Mayhew, and his share in the production of
_Punch_, have already been somewhat fully set forth. An old friend of
his informs me that "he was lovable, jolly, charming, bright, coaxing,
and unprincipled. He rarely wrote himself, but would dictate, as he
walked to and fro, to his wife, whom he would also leave to confront his
creditors. She was deeply attached to him; and when his father died, she
found that the careful solicitor had left her a bequest of two pounds a
week, payable to _herself_." And Postans, after he had lost his sight,
would now and then exclaim--"Although he treated me so badly, I should
love to hear the sound of his dear voice again!" There can be no doubt
that Henry Mayhew was a genius, a fascinating companion, and a man of
inexhaustible resource and humour--though humour was but one side of his
brilliant mind. Indolence was his besetting sin; and his will was
untutored.
"An admirable all-round talker," Henry Vizetelly wrote to me
shortly before his death, "Henry Mayhew was brimming over with
novel ideas on all manner of subjects, from artificial production
of diamonds to the reformation of ticket-of-leave men. He was
constantly planning some new publication or broaching novel ideas
on the most out-of-the-way subjects. He would scheme and ponder all
the day long, but he abominated the labour of putting his ideas
into tangible shape. He would talk like a book on any subject for
hours together if he could only find listeners, but could with
difficulty be brought to put pen to paper. Most of his books were
written from his ideas by his younger brother Augustus, or were
dictated directly to his wife, who acted as his amanuensis.
Although he made considerable sums by his writings, he never seemed
to have a shilling; and most of the letters he received were from
dunning creditors. These missives, however, never troubled him, for
he never broke the envelopes of one of them, but handed all his
correspondence over to his wife to do as she pleased with and
answer such letters as she thought necessary. He was very
temperate. Whether he smoked as a young man, I am not aware; but
he never smoked at the periodical evening gatherings at his house,
when the guests could hardly see each other for the clouds of
tobacco-smoke. On these occasions the most abstruse subjects were
often discussed, and all we young wiseacres present contributed our
modicum of knowledge towards the elucidation of problems that
sorely perplexed the thinkers of the epoch. Although Mayhew would
sit up till any hour as long as anyone would stay and listen to
him, he never allowed this to interfere with his early-rising
habits."
The impression made by Mayhew upon his contemporaries was invariably
such as to command respect for his intellectual capacity. Considering
his deep, philosophic mind, says one critic, if his lines had been cast
in more serious places, he might have been a sociologist, the equal of
John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer. There is proof enough of this in
that wonderful encyclopædic work of "London Labour and London Poor,"
which displayed his original mind and his power of research, as much as
other books displayed his marvellous invention, fancy, and initiative,
and it is the only one of his undertakings which he had perseverance
enough to carry through to a triumphant conclusion--so far as it can
claim finality. It was while he was engaged on this work that Landells
(according to a private letter) visited him and found him, in company
with his brother Augustus and William Jerrold, interviewing a
"coster"--"drawing him," while Horace Mayhew took down everything the
man said.
Such was the man who conceived _Punch_ as it came to be, and who wrote
of it when it was established, "I smell lots of tin thereabouts; but our
Lemon requires a great deal of squeezing." What was his connection with
_Punch_, how he agreed with Lemon as to the transfer to Bradbury and
Evans, how he found himself replaced by (or, as he considered, outwitted
by) Mark Lemon in the editorship has already been recited. Nevertheless,
he was retained as "Suggestor-in-Chief"--an office which suited him well
enough, considering his hatred of the drudgery of writing.
"Mr. Henry Mayhew," writes _Punch's_ ex-Printer, "the special
joke-provider for _Punch_, was a most jocular character. He would
stand beside the compositor while he was working at his case, and
closely watch every movement of his hand in picking up each letter.
He said he could not make out how ever the compositor could keep
the alphabetical order of each box in his memory. So to master the
mystery he set to work and learned the boxes for himself, and would
often find amusement, when waiting for a proof, in setting up a few
lines, very slowly at first, but, shifting the composing rule and
thoughtlessly laying down the stick the wrong way, generally upset
all his work, and so he gave it up in despair. This Mr. Mayhew was
very clever in creating and roughly sketching out many of the small
comic column illustrations, and would write the witty inscriptions
for them. These would then go to the artist, who sketched out the
idea and so completed it. In _Punch_, as in many other similar
works, the mind to invent the idea caricatured, and the hand that
pencils it, belong to two very different persons and capacities.
Mr. Mayhew was very clever in this way, and anything of a comic
nature he saw he would at once sketch off and then have a cut made
of it. Most of the inimitable cuts in the first few volumes of
_Punch_ are of his invention. He was always sketching and taking
rough notes of everything he saw. The great John Leech called him
his indispensable 'Jack-all, or broad-grin provider.'"
In spite of his disappointment, Henry Mayhew remained with _Punch_ until
1845. His last literary contribution--"A Shaksperean Nursery Rhyme," on
the subject of Macready playing Shakespeare in Paris before Louis
Philippe and Prince de Joinville--appeared in February of that year; but
he still attended the Dinners and made suggestions for cartoons, of
which twelve were accepted in that year. With his proposal, however, of
the cartoon of "Don Roebucis," which was drawn by Leech (14th March,
1846), his last word was said; and from that time forward his connection
with _Punch_ ceased absolutely. He had given the paper its character and
tone; he had suggested its first great success, the Almanac; he had
supported its transfer, whereby it was firmly established; and he had
cracked its biggest joke--the joke which is universally quoted to this
very day.[33] He died in 1887, at the age of 75, and his old friend
celebrated him in verse, none too correctly, though in the kindliest
manner, ending thus:--
".... Farewell!
The record of the age's course will tell
Of him whose name a double honour bore,
Comrade of _Punch_ and champion of the poor."[34]
[Illustration: J. STIRLING COYNE. (_From a Photograph by Lombard and
Co._)]
There was a fund of Irish humour in Joseph Stirling Coyne. He had proved
it by his plays long before he undertook his share of the co-editorship
which was offered him at that "Edinburgh Castle" meeting where so much
of _Punch's_ present and future was arranged. He was at that time
eight-and-twenty years of age; and although he was dramatic critic of
the "Sunday Times," the drama rather than the press was his natural
field of action--indeed, he wrote no fewer than five-and-fifty pieces of
various kinds, besides plays in collaboration, and was secretary of the
Dramatic Authors' Society, until his death. Nevertheless, he belonged in
a manner to the inner circle of the "_Punch_ set," and frequented the
taverns that were their clubs; and he even went in double harness with
Mark Lemon as co-editor, _vice_ "Alphabet" Bayley, of "The Bude
Light"--an English imitation of "Les Guêpes." He was, in fact, a man of
some celebrity who had already gained public reputation beyond the band
of men, brilliant, no doubt, but, for the most part, with their
successes yet to come--so that he was accorded the important rôle which
he filled with peculiar modesty. He wrote extremely little, but he seems
to have formed some distinct notion of his share in the foundation, for
Edmund Yates records how his father once came home and, throwing the
first number of _Punch_ on the table, said, "Here is Stirling Coyne's
new paper!" At last Coyne was charged by Lemon (who always referred
contemptuously to him as "Paddy") with stealing one of his "Puff Papers"
from a Dublin paper. At _Punch's_ transfer Coyne quietly, though
discontentedly, retired from duties which had hitherto brought him
neither reputation nor pleasure, and only a hundred pounds in cash from
Landells, and from Douglas Jerrold--as I learn from one who heard it--a
savage _mot_, referring to his somewhat uncleanly appearance, which will
undoubtedly adhere--"Stirling Coyne? _I call him Filthy Lucre!_"
[Illustration: GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT.]
From no choicer spirit than Gilbert Abbott à Beckett could Mayhew have
sought for assistance and literary support. He was the first applied to,
and of all the Staff he had had by far the most experience in the
production of "comic papers," although he was only thirty years of age.
His brother, the late Hon. T. T. à Beckett, has told how he and his chum
Henry Mayhew, his junior by a year, with a consolidated share capital of
three pounds and a mortgage to a printer of future profits, prepared to
start a "satirical paper," to be called "The Cerberus"--the joint
editors being then still young boys. As it happily befell, Mr. à
Beckett, senior, discovered a proof of the first number, and with his
solicitorial eye discovered some forty-three clear libels in the four
columns. He hastened to the address on the imprint, and set the matter
plainly before the printer, who was only too glad to cancel the whole
matter that had been "set" upon payment of the bill. So deeply were the
lads affronted by this unwarrantable interference with their
journalistic spirit and liberty of the subject that they ran away from
home to Edinburgh, walking all the way; but soon returned in a woeful
plight. From that moment, Gilbert turned journalist--it came to him as a
second nature--and thenceforward supported himself by his pen, while
establishing a very fair position at the Bar, thanks to the support of
his father's firm.
It was in 1831 that he presented himself prominently before the public.
Jerrold's "Punch in London" had not yet begun its little life of
seventeen numbers, so that the moment was propitious for à Beckett to
embark on a venture of his own; and on December 10th it made its first
appearance. This was "Figaro in London," in which his youthful ardour
and plain speaking found energetic vent. He was always ready, in a
humorous, bombastic sort of spirit, to smash the aristocracy, to chaff
Alfred Bunn, to abuse low-class Jews, and to discuss the theatre. In
these agreeable vocations he hit the popular taste, and certainly
achieved a considerable circulation, which, Timbs declares, reached at
one time 70,000 copies. Small topical cuts, grandiloquently set down as
"magnificent caricatures," were well arranged as a rule, and things were
going well enough when editor and artist fell out; Robert Cruikshank
took Seymour's place--and à Beckett's monthly adulation of his old
"cartoonist's" work turned suddenly to contempt.
All this was meant more than half in fun; it was too violently personal
to be serious. Anyway, à Beckett declared in the paper that "it is not
true that Robert Seymour has gone out of his mind--he had none to go out
of," and Seymour retaliated heartily with a "sharp _cut_." In due course
Seymour resumed his place on "Figaro," and retained it to the end. In
December, 1834, à Beckett had handed over the paper, in the height of
its prosperity, to Henry Mayhew, who continued it for a time, and in
1839 it came to an end. Yet on so slender a basis as this has been
brought against à Beckett the cruel charge that it was these assaults
which did at a subsequent period drive Seymour out of his mind and led
to his unhappy suicide.
After "Figaro" died, and indeed partly during its continuance, à Beckett
launched out into an extraordinary series of extraordinary papers,
editing for other proprietors "The Wag," "The Evangelical Penny
Magazine," Dibdin's "Penny Trumpet," "The Thief" (under the engaging
frankness of whose title we may see the forerunner of "Public Opinion"),
"Poor Richard's Journal," and "The People's Penny Pictures;" while on
his own account he ran successively "The Terrific Penny Magazine," "The
Ghost," "The Lover," "The Gallery of Terrors," "The Figaro Monthly
Newspaper," "The Figaro Caricature Gallery," and "The Comic Magazine."
But in spite of all this ingenuity in title-devising, and of all this
dogged perseverance--though one can hardly call it seriousness--not one
of these journals obtained public support. As a matter of fact, they
were the journalistic wild oats of a born journalist and an exuberant
littérateur, who, as a youthful playwright and a budding barrister, now
had his hands quite full, yet--such was the fever of his industry--never
full enough.
His first contribution to _Punch_, according to W. H. Wills' statement,
was "The Above Bridge Navy" (p. 35, Volume I., 1841); but it is
practically certain that "Commercial Intelligence" in the first number
is his. "I recollect well," says the Hon. T. T. à Beckett, in his
Reminiscences, "my brother--who wrote for it from the first number to
the last that appeared in his life-time--bringing me away from my office
on an assurance that if I accompanied him as far as the Strand, he would
show me something that would fill me at once with gratification and
amazement. He kept me in suspense until I reached Catherine Street, when
he stopped short and said, 'Now you shall see me draw a pound from
_Punch_, and if that don't amaze you and gratify you, you must have but
a poor sense of the marvellous and very little brotherly sympathy.'"
Just about the period when the negotiations were being carried on with
Bradbury and Evans, à Beckett began to fall off in the amount of his
contributions, and for a time practically ceased altogether. At this
time he edited the "Squib" (28th May, 1842), a folio sheet published at
three-halfpence, very respectably conducted and printed, and owned by
Last _Punch's_ old printer, illustrated by Henning, Hamerton, and
Newman, _Punch_ artists, treating many of _Punch's_ pet subjects in the
_Punch_ spirit, including "Physiologies," which the older paper had made
its own. It was also stated that several of the _Punch_ Staff were among
its contributors. However this may be, the "Squib" went off in December
of the same year, and à Beckett thenceforward worked loyally for _Punch_
for the rest of his life, and bequeathed moreover his two sons to
_Punch's_ service.
His popular "Songs for the Seedy," a series of eight poems, were
published in this year in _Punch_, as well as "Songs of the Flowers;"
and soon his "Ballads of the Briefless" made a considerable stir in
_Punch's_ circle. À Beckett had been called to the Bar some time before,
so that his ballads as well as the articles from his hand which
appeared--and, from time to time, continued--over the signature of "Mr.
Briefless," had a touch of verisimilitude which went straight to the
soft places in the hearts and imagination of the Great Unbriefed. "Mr.
Briefless" became an institution in the paper, as, in other journals,
Mr. O. P. Q. Philander Smiff, and again, in a lower social scale, Mr.
Alfred Sloper, became recognised by a later generation. This unfortunate
gentleman of the Bar--a gentleman always, in spite of his weakness of
intellect and character--was shown in all the difficulties germane to
his barren profession, and in all the ludicrous situations that came
natural to the man. Many of his quaint aphorisms are still remembered,
such as that, elsewhere recorded--"As my laundress makes my bed, so I
must lie upon it," and "The clerk brings down his master's grey
horsehair wig in sorrow to the Court." Yet he was not without
self-respect, not to say vanity, for on the occasion of a great
political crisis, when the resignation of the Ministry was impending,
"Mr. Briefless" somewhat injudiciously left his retreat at Gravesend and
came up to London, in order to be on the spot should he be called upon
to form or to join the future Cabinet. The only summons he received,
however, was from his tailor, and, with the unfailing judgment and good
sense that characterised him, he withdrew once more into the country.
"Mr. Briefless" and "Mr. Dunup," his friend, were creations that were at
once recognised, and were welcomed during the fifteen years of their
occasional appearance.
In 1843 his "_Punch's_ Heathen Mythology" followed Wills' chapters on
the same subject, and in the following year his "Comic Blackstone"--one
of the cleverest burlesques of its kind in the language--served another
purpose than to amuse his readers: it forced him to study the
commentaries--for the first time, it was facetiously said--and so made a
better lawyer of him, and helped to fit him for the magisterial bench,
to which he was soon to be summoned. His "Comic Bradshaw" was another
success, which Mr. Burnand repeated and improved upon years after in his
inimitable "Out of Town." Mr. Arthur à Beckett, speaking of his father's
work, tells me: "I remember on one occasion when my father had written a
drama descriptive of the mysteries of Bradshaw, Leech, to whom it was
sent for illustration, introduced a series of portraits of the author.
Lemon, noticing this, suggested that the drama should end by the hero
getting his head shaved, more clearly to understand the intricacies of
railway traffic. My father adopted the suggestion, and Leech followed
the 'copy.'"
It was not in these series that his chief work lay, however, but in the
enormous mass of matter he turned into _Punch's_ pages month by month.
He was by far the most prolific of all the contributors, almost up to
the time of his death. Articles humorous and pungent on every variety of
topic, verse graceful, bright, and comic, sparkling puns innumerable,
with increasing thought and sense as the man grew older and realised
more and more the responsibility of his position and _Punch's_--all
flowed from him in an unceasing, easy stream, distinguished always for
its fun and facility. As his average contribution to each volume was a
hundred columns, it will be seen that in the time he was working for
_Punch_ his total of prose and verse amounted to three thousand feet,
or a column nearly as high as the Eiffel Tower! There was, besides, the
amount of "outside" work that came from his pen--he was leader-writer to
the "Illustrated London News," and as such was the literary father of
Shirley Brooks, the grandfather of Mr. Sala, and the great-grandfather
of Mr. James Payn. He was also leader-writer on the "Times," and on one
occasion actually wrote all the leaders of the day's issue. This strange
coincidence arose from his having had a leader "crowded out" from the
day before, which was naturally set down for use the next day, when he
contributed his usual article without any question arising; and then a
sudden appeal upon a subject with which he was specially familiar
brought into the paper a third article from him--and that in the days,
now fifty years ago, when the influence and position of the "Times" were
perhaps even greater, relatively, than they are to-day: at least, when
there was no competitor that could seriously pretend to share them. In
addition to this he edited Cruikshank's "Table Book," and wrote the
Comic Histories of England and Rome. It was, it is generally said, on
the occasion of the first of these books being announced that Douglas
Jerrold wrote to Charles Dickens: "_Punch_, I believe, holds its
course.... Nevertheless, I do not very cordially agree with its new
spirit. I am convinced that the world will get tired (at least, I hope
so) of this eternal guffaw at all things. After all, life has something
serious in it. It cannot all be a comic history of humanity. Some men
would, I believe, write a Comic Sermon on the Mount. Think of a Comic
History of England; the drollery of Alfred; the fun of Sir Thomas More
in the Tower; the farce of his daughter begging the dear head, and
clasping it in her coffin on her bosom! Surely the world will be sick of
such blasphemy!... When, moreover, the change comes, unless _Punch_ goes
a little back to his occasional gravities, he'll be sure to suffer." And
Dickens replied in a letter thanking him for sympathetic reviews, in
_Punch_--"Anent the 'Comic ----' and similar comicalities, I feel
exactly with you."
Of course, with the exception of the latter part of Jerrold's outburst,
wherein he was undoubtedly right, all this protest is exaggerated
nonsense--at least, as applied to à Beckett. One would think that
neither Jerrold nor Dickens could bear a burlesque in good
taste--Jerrold of all men! But it is just as likely that Jerrold was not
referring to à Beckett at all, but to Thackeray, whose "Miss
Tickletoby's Comic History" had already made its appearance in _Punch_,
and had been incontinently stopped. In any case, the public did not
agree with him, for both works are still popular favourites. Moreover,
he liked à Beckett too well to harm him in the mind of a common friend;
and he was unquestionably aware that the loftiness of à Beckett's aims
and character rendered him unassailable against a charge of irreverence
or lack of respect. Certain it is, at least, that when à Beckett died at
Boulogne Jerrold felt the blow so deeply that he gave up that town
thenceforward as a place of residence, nor would he ever visit it again.
It was at the early age of thirty-eight that à Beckett was appointed
police-magistrate, chiefly owing to the masterly report he drew up as
Poor-Law Commissioner in respect to the notorious Andover Union
Workhouse scandals[35]--"one of the best," said the Home Secretary,
"ever presented to Parliament." The appointment was much discussed, for
the general feeling had been educated in the views of Lord Selborne, who
asserted that no "person" connected with the Press nor any "gentleman in
the wine trade" could be permitted to attain to such an honour as the
Bench--an absurdity which has long since been dismissed. On one
occasion, it is said, when à Beckett lived at No. 10, Hyde Park Gate
South, Kensington Gore, he was instructed to hold himself in readiness,
as magistrate, to answer a summons to read the Riot Act in Hyde Park to
the unruly mob whose methods of protest against a popular grievance
constituted the "Beer Bill Riots" of 1855. That summons never came,
luckily for him; for later in the day he discovered, to his dismay,
that his careful and solicitous wife, with greater respect for her
husband's skin than for the needs of Government, Police, and Proletariat
combined, had gone out early, after securely locking the unconscious
magistrate in his library, and had prudently carried off the key.
À Beckett had been one of the shyest and most nervous men that ever
lived, but his appointment to the police-court--first at Greenwich, then
at Southwark--removed much of his undue modesty, and he was recognised
as being energetic, sagacious, and humane. He was a tremendous worker,
incomparably quick, and above all was absolutely punctual in his
delivery of "copy"--a virtue quite sufficient to account for his
popularity with publishers, who also were attracted by his retiring and
distinguished manners. Though his conversation was bright, he preferred
to keep his witticisms for his public or private writings, as when, in
sending in a parcel of "copy" to Mark Lemon, he wrote on the outside:--
"Dear Mark--I do herewith enclose
Some 'copy' both in verse and prose.
'Tis neither very bright nor terse--
The verse is bad--the prose is worse.
But you, of course, will read and check it.
Yours ever, G. etcet'ra Beckett."
This paper passed, as a wrapper, from Lemon to Mr. Birket Foster, and
from the hands of that gentleman to an autograph-hunter undiscoverable.
À Beckett's wit was exceedingly nimble, and as a consequence he was a
facile punster. One of his happiest jokes of the kind has been set on
record. When the election of Louis Napoleon appeared likely, the policy
of _Punch_ in respect to it was anxiously discussed at the Table. One of
the Staff--Thackeray most likely--declared that it would be wisest to be
indefinite. "Nonsense," said à Beckett, "if you're not definite, you'd
better be dumb in it!"
While occupied in writing a series of papers called "Mr. Punch's Guide
Books to the Crystal Palace," illustrated by Tenniel, Gilbert à Beckett
died at Boulogne from typhus fever, his youngest son Walter predeceasing
him by two days from the same complaint--the grief of any knowledge of
it, however, being happily spared the father. He was buried in Highgate
Cemetery, and the inscription engraved upon the tombstone was reproduced
in an abbreviated and modified form from the touching obituary notice in
which his brother-workers, through Jerrold's pen, testified to his
merits and to their affection: "Endowed with a genial, manly spirit;
gifted with subtlest powers of wit and humour, they were ever exercised
to the healthiest and most innocent purpose. As a Magistrate, his wise,
calm, humane administration of the law proved that the fulfilment of the
gravest duties is not incompatible with the sportiveness of literary
genius. 'His place knows him not,' but his memory is tenderly
cherished."
The connection of Angus Bethune Reach with _Punch_ was not of very long
duration. With Albert Smith he had been joint editor of "The Man in the
Moon," and with Shirley Brooks was one of the special correspondents of
the "Morning Chronicle" in the South of France, as well as its
Parliamentary reporter. He had followed up Albert Smith's series of
"Natural Histories," of "The Gent," "The Flirt," and other specimens of
English Society, with "Bores" and "Humbugs," which ran through several
editions. He had joined "The Puppet Show" in 1848, while still quite a
youth; he had written "The Comic Bradshaw" (which found an echo in
_Punch_ years later) and one or two successful novels, and had with
Brooks laid siege to a position on _Punch's_ Staff. This, it might
almost be said, he carried, as Brooks did, by assault; and having given
up the editorship of "The Man in the Moon" with its twenty-eighth number
(1849), he was duly summoned to the _Punch_ Table.
His life was at that time hardly a pleasant one, though his industry
(for the craze of work was upon him) was as great as his versatility,
and his field of labour as wide as his knowledge. When he came to the
_Punch_ Table, he found his haven; but he was heckled, of course, by
Douglas Jerrold, on the score of his name and its quaint pronunciation.
Concerning this name (pronounced Re-ach in the German manner, _anglice_
Re-ack), Angus once asked his father, a Writer to the Signet, in the
hearing of my informant, the late H. G. Hine, what on earth it meant.
"As in Highland Scotch," was the reply, "'Dhu' means 'black' and 'Roy'
means 'red,' so Reach means half-and-half, or 'brown.'" He therefore
insisted on its proper pronunciation; with the natural result. Jerrold
delighted in teasing him about it, and at a Dinner at the "Ship" at
Brighton, where the _Punch_ Staff held one of their meetings,
Jerrold[36] leant forward at dessert and asked--"Mr. Re-ack, may I pass
you a pe-ack?" And on another occasion, when Reach protested against
Jerrold's persistent ill-treatment of his name, the wit replied, "Oh, I
see. Re-ack when we speak to you, but _reach_ when we read you!"
At last, in 1854, Reach's incorrigible industry bore its Dead-Sea fruit;
broken down with over-work, his mind utterly gave way. Thereupon his
friends of the Fielding Club, reinforced by Albert Smith of "The Man in
the Moon," joined together to play for his benefit Smith's pantomime
burlesque, "Harlequin Guy Fawkes; or, a Match for a King," at the
Olympic Theatre, April, 1855. Arthur Smith, Albert's brother, played
pantaloon; Bidwell was harlequin; Joseph Robins, clown; Albert Smith,
Catesby; Edmund Yates, the lover; and Miss Rosina Wright ("always Rosy,
always Wright," wrote Smith) was columbine. The rush, said E. L.
Blanchard, was unprecedented, and stalls were cheap at ten pounds. The
great broadsword fight between Smith (Catesby) and Robins (Guy Fawkes),
in the rich traditions of the Surrey-Crummles School, was the hit of the
evening, and has been immortalised by Sir John Tenniel in his drawing
for _Punch_ (p. 149, Volume XXVIII.), entitled "The Amateur Olympians."
But Reach did not benefit long from the efforts of his friends, and died
before he was thirty.
FOOTNOTES:
[29] See p. 2.
[30] Douglas Jerrold writes to Hodder under date September 9th:--"I have
been worked to death for _Punch_, having it all on my shoulders, Mark, à
Beckett, and Thackeray being away. Nevertheless, last week it went up
1,500." Jerrold, it may be added, would at that time undertake some of
the editorial as well as the literary work.
[31] This was "The Little Frenchman's Second Lesson," an important poem
occupying a whole page.
[32] Under "Editor" were entered all, except very special, contributions
coming from outside.
[33] See p. 141.
[34] An example of Henry Mayhew's quaint presentation of his own
experiences is to be found in the paragraph he contributed under the
title of "TAVERN CHARGES AT DOVER":--"Waiter! How much is my glass of
brandy-and-water?" "The bill, sir." "What! 10s. 6d.?" "Yes, sir,
brandy's 2s.; never charge less." "Well?" "Sugar 6d.; never charge
less." "Go on." "Waxlight and apartment, 5s." "Why, I've only been here
five minutes." "That's not our fault, sir; we never charge less." "Go
on." "Servants, 2s." "What?" "Me, boots and chambermaid; never charge
less." "Well, what next?" "The use of plate, glass, and linen, 1s."
"What do you mean?" "Teaspoon, tumbler, and table-cloth; never charge
less; but--we makes you a present of the biling water." "Very well,
there's your 10s. 6d., and I shall write to the 'Times.'" "Yes,
sir--pen, ink, and paper, 1s.; never charge less."
[35] A "Petition," supposed to come from the inmates (written by
Percival Leigh), appeared in _Punch_ (p. 101, Volume IX.), in which the
petitioners begged that some of the kitchen refuse and pigs'-wash,
hitherto used to _over_fatten swine, might be reserved for them. This
petition had an admirable effect.
[36] Hodder incorrectly gives the _mot_ to Thackeray.