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"My Reminiscences!" said _Mr. Punch_, replying to a question put by
his Interviewer, ANNO DOMINI EIGHTEEN-NINETY-ONE; "They are already
before the World, in exactly One Hundred Volumes! My first 'Number'
bore date 'for the week ending July 17th, 1841. My memory is indeed
stored with recollections, pleasant, picturesque, pathetic, of the
teeming past, memories of my joyous 'Table,' of my well-beloved 'Young
Men,' of Great Names, of Genial Comrades, of Bright Wits, of Warm
Hearts, of Famous Artists, of Clever Writers, who--in the words of the
greatest of them all--
'Perched round the stem
Of the jolly old tree.'
"How well the words of the wise wit written in 1847 express our
thoughts to-day, Mr. ANNO DOMINI:--
'Here let us sport
Boys, as we sit,
Laughter and wit
Flashing so free.
Life is but short--
When we are gone,
Let them sing on
Round the old tree.
Evenings we knew
Happy as this;
Faces we miss
Pleasant to see.
Kind hearts and true,
Gentle and just,
Peace to their dust!
We sing round the tree.'
It is one of my proudest memories to recollect that THACKERAY's
'Mahogany Tree,' was my Table."
"To have been Amphitryon to _such_ guests must have been the most
pleasant privilege of hospitality," said ANNO DOMINI.
"Very true," responded _Mr. Punch_, "And of all my
Deputy-Amphitryons--if I may use the term--who more fully, fitly,
justly, and genially filled the post than the earliest of them all,
the kindly and judicious MARK LEMON? Had not he and clever HENRY
MAYHEW, and Mr. Printer LAST, and EBENEZER LANDELLS, my earliest
engraver, foregathered first with me in furtherance of the 'new
work of wit and whim,' embellished with cuts and caricatures, to
be called:--
_PUNCH; OR, THE LONDON CHARIVARI_?
"LEMON, and LAST, and MAYHEW, were they here to-day, would probably
agree to divide between them the early honours, as they shared the
early responsibility. But doubtless MARK LEMON was the literary shaper
of the 'Guffawgraph,' as he jocularly called it in his 'Prospectus,'
and, from the first, its guiding spirit. Happily so, for his was a
spirit fitted to rule, both by power, and tact, and taste. With 'Uncle
MARK' in the chair, I knew there would be neither austere autocracy,
nor _fainéant_ laxity, neither weakness of stroke nor foulness
of blow, neither Rosa-Matilda-ish, mawkishness, nor Rabelaisian
coarseness.
"How well I remember my first group of 'Young Men,'" pursued _Mr.
Punch_, musingly. "There was swift and scathing DOUGLAS JERROLD, with
his tossed and tangled mane of grey hair. GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT,
too, the whimsically witty, the drolly satirical, the comically
caustic. HENRY MAYHEW, of course, and, a little later, his brother
HORACE, the simple, lovable 'PONNY.' HENNING, NEWMAN and BRINE, were
my earliest Artists. HENNING drew the first Cartoon, whilst NEWMAN and
BRINE, and, later, HINE, between them, were responsible for most of
the smaller cuts, head-and-tail-pieces, pictorial puns, and sketchy
silhouettes, wherewith _Punch's_ early pages abounded.
"In the fourth Number of _Punch_, published on August 7th, 1841, first
appeared the soon-to-be-famous signature of 'JOHN LEECH.'"
"Ah! JOHN LEECH," cried the attentive ANNO DOMINI. "A name to conjure
with! How did that 'Star swim into your ken'?"
"There was a certain clever, scholarly, and genial gentleman,"
responded _Mr. Punch_, "who had lately published, under the pseudonym
of 'PAUL PRENDERGAST,' an extremely funny _Comic Latin Grammar_. 'PAUL
PRENDERGAST' was, in reality, Mr. PERCIVAL LEIGH, originally a medical
gentleman, the well-beloved 'Professor' of later _Punch_ days. The
_Comic Latin Grammar_ had been admirably illustrated by a personal
friend, and fellow-student, of LEIGH's named LEECH. The services of
_both_ of the contributors to the _Comic Latin Grammar_ were soon
enlisted in my interests.
"Another of LEECH's medical student friends was ALBERT SMITH, and he
before long was penning his 'Physiology of London Evening Parties'
(illustrated by PHIZ--HALBOT KNIGHT BROWNE--NEWMAN, and others) for my
pages. KENNY MEADOWS, WATTS PHILLIPS, ALFRED 'CROW-QUILL' (FORRESTER),
JOHN GILBERT, and others, drew also for the young Journal, the
printing of which had been taken over by the Whitefriars firm of
BRADBURY AND EVANS, with whom as proprietors and fast friends, _Punch_
has ever since been happily associated.
"As early as my Fourth Volume," pursued _Mr. Punch_, "it became
obvious that, in the person of 'Our Fat Contributor,' a certain
'MICHAEL ANGELO TITMARSH' was writing and drawing for _Punch_.
(_Continued on Page_ 4.)
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