When the Queen came to the throne there was no _Punch_. He was
conceived in circumstances of much mystery, for many have claimed the
honour of his paternity. The historian of _Punch_ has devoted a long
chapter to this matter of _Punch's_ paternity, and has judicially
weighed the evidence for or against each claimant. Mr. Spielmann
writes:--
Yet although it was not ... Henry Mayhew who was the actual
initiator of _Punch_, it was unquestionably he to whom the whole
credit belongs of having developed Landell's specific idea of a
"Charivari," and of its conception in the form it took. Though not
the absolute author of its existence, he was certainly the author
of its literary and artistic being, and to that degree, as he was
wont to claim, he was its _founder_.
[Illustration: PUNCH'S PENCILLINGS.----Nº IV.