The vivid "Portrait of the Railway Panic," by Doyle, No. 17,
was published November 8, 1845, and refers to the depression
in railway-dividends then being caused by over-competition in
railway-promotion; No. 20 also refers to the railway-schemes of that
time, and is Mr. Punch's ironical notice [dated September 26, 1846]
of "The Last New Railway Scheme," _i.e._, the proposal for making
an Underground Railway, which, as we here read, was scoffed at by
_Punch_--"The Secretary is announced to be in attendance to receive
deposits from eleven to two; though, whether he gets any is, in our
opinion, ten to one." But immediately below these words Mr. Punch
gives a sectional diagram of the Underground Railway as he conceived
it, and it is not a bad shot at "A prophetic view of the subterranean
railways." As a matter of fact, the works for the now familiar
Metropolitan (Underground) Railway were commenced in 1860; fourteen
years after this ironical prophecy by _Punch_.
[Illustration:
AUTHORS' MISERIES. No VI.
_Old Gentleman._ _Miss Wiggets._ _Two Authors._
_Old Gentleman._ "I AM SORRY TO SEE YOU OCCUPIED, MY DEAR MISS WIGGETS,
WITH THAT TRIVIAL PAPER 'PUNCH.' A RAILWAY IS NOT A PLACE, IN MY
OPINION, FOR JOKES. I NEVER JOKE--NEVER."
_Miss W._ "SO I SHOULD THINK, SIR."
_Old Gentleman._ "AND BESIDES, ARE YOU AWARE WHO ARE THE CONDUCTORS OF
THAT PAPER, AND THAT THEY ARE CHARTISTS, DEISTS, ATHEISTS, ANARCHISTS,
AND SOCIALISTS, TO A MAN? I HAVE IT FROM THE BEST AUTHORITY, THAT THEY
MEET TOGETHER ONCE A WEEK IN A TAVERN IN SAINT GILES'S, WHERE THEY
CONCOCT THEIR INFAMOUS PRINT. THE CHIEF PART OF THEIR INCOME IS DERIVED
FROM THREATENING LETTERS WHICH THEY SEND TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY.
THE PRINCIPAL WRITER IS A RETURNED CONVICT. TWO HAVE BEEN TRIED AT THE
OLD BAILEY; AND THEIR ARTIST--AS FOR THEIR ARTIST...."
_Guard._ "SWIN-DUN! STA-TION!"
_Exeunt two Authors._
25.--DRAWN BY THACKERAY, AND CONTAINING AT THE LEFT PORTRAITS OF
THACKERAY AND OF DOUGLAS JERROLD. 1848.]
No. 18 is one of John Leech's jokes on fishermen's tales, and No. 19
is another joke probably based on fact. The amusing picture, No. 21,
illustrating "The Rising Generation," is also by John Leech.
No. 22 is a curiosity. It was drawn by Thackeray and published on page
59 of Volume XII., February 6, 1847. From that day to this more than
fifty years, no one has discovered the point of this joke by Thackeray.
"The History of _Punch_" records that on the appearance of this sketch
the "Man in the Moon" offered "a reward of £500 and a free pardon" to
anyone who would publish an explanation. The reward was never claimed.
What _does_ this sketch mean? Is the shorter female a servant caught
in the act of trying on her mistress's best cap? But if so, why is the
"scene" placed in a room that seems to be a library and not a bedroom?
And is the object on, or near, the front of the taller woman's dress,
the falling cap of the servant? But if so, how does the servant's cap
come to be falling as the figures are placed--there is no sign on the
part of the servant [?] that she has just dropped the cap [?] from her
left hand? This is truly a puzzle and will probably never be solved,
although when one remembers that this was drawn by Thackeray, and
passed, as one may suppose, by Mark Lemon, the Editor of _Punch_ in the
year 1847, both men of keen wit, it is scarcely possible to think that
this joke does not contain any point.
A sketch of "Domestic Bliss" is shown in No. 23, and No. 24 is
a picture by Richard Doyle of "Mr. John Bull after an attack of
Income-Tax." This was published in the spring of 1848, and must I
think have been the outcome of a then-recent smart from an ordinary
income-tax payment by Mr. Punch, for on turning up the income-tax
records I find that the rate was not unusually high in the year 1848,
the tax being 7d. in the £ for the years 1846 to 1852.
[Illustration: _Affectionate Husband._ "COME, POLLY--IF I _AM_ A LITTLE
IRRITABLE, IT'S OVER IN A MINUTE!!"