Punch (59.1870)

PUNCH, OK THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[July 2, 1870.

SELF-DENIAL IN EXCELSIS.

Civilian. " Ake there many Irish in your Corps?"

Private 0'Flanagan. " Is it Oirish ye Mane ? Sorra the One ov thim
would re Allowed in the Rijmint ! "

CANDID REACTIONISTS.

The Absolutists of Spain appear to have taken a leaf out of the book of Bis-
marck; an open leaf, with their intentions inscribed thereon in large letters.
According to a recent telegram from Madrid :—

'' The Central Carlist Junta have concluded the discussion of the manifesto which is
shortly to be issued. A great majority voted for religious intolerance, and a majority of two
approved the re-establishment of the Inquisition."

Ha ha! This is at all events fair and aboveboard; there is no hypocrisy in
such a candid avowal. It is precisely in the Prussian Minister's style; but no
less in that of another personage, whom Spanish Carlists are more likely to have
copied than to have imitated Bismarck; namely the Pope. They, in fact, boldly
proclaim themselves resolved to reduce the principles of the Syllabus to practice
if they can. Have the Jesuits and their set adopted a policy of plain-speaking?
They must be very confident indeed that they are going in to win, saying what
they mean in the way they have taken to do ; as it were, inviting their adversaries,
with a manliness quite British, to shake hands before engaging in a regular
stand-up right. Honour, therefore, to the sons of Ignatius Loyola, if not exactly
success!

Equal to the Occasion.

It is announced that our Tennyson has expressed a wish to go with one of the
parties about to be despatched by the Royal, and Royal Astronomical Societies
to Gibraltar, Sicily, and Algiers in December next, to observe the total eclipse of
the sun. Let us hope the Laureate will be enabled to carry this wish out. We
shall be sure to have a grand account of a phenomenon displayed by the sun
from a witness specially qualified to describe it by having already achieved the kind
of renown peculiar to those who are famous as Phabo digna locuti.

OXFORD COMMEMORATION, 1870.

When Oxford of late to elect began,

The whole of our intellectual clan

Thought Salisbury far the most suitable man

The Chancellor's chair for filling ;
And high were the hopes of the Dons that he,
And nobody else, might Chancellor be ;
And great was their sober, donnish glee

When he answered, " Markis is wdling."

The hour has come and the man is here ;
The grave, grey city gives him a cheer,
Discarding entirely her old, austere,

Conventional way of behaving;
The trees are vocal to give him thanks,
Presenting their arms as he passes their ranks ;
And Isis jumps up to peep over her banks,

Where all her flags are waving.

At first there are hints of a rainy day;
But the clouds in compliment clear away,
When they find that he really means to stay,

And has reached his destination ;
And so he can sit at the river-side,
Where the eight-oared galleys past him glide ;
And Alma Mater presents him with pride

To her floating population.

Now Music is master ; and every throat

Possessed of a single singable note

Trolls out all the songs that its owner can quote,

Whether Siiakspeare's, Milton's, or Herrick's ;
Old Oxford behaves like a crazy thing :
The domes go dancing round in a ring;
The very spires are beginning to sing,

And "the High" has gone into hysterics.

To-day each College, to share its glee,

Has invited a country-cousin to tea ;

(Or something stronger it perhaps may be,

As Allsopp, Bass, or Burton :)
All Souls' and Abingdon look quite grand;
And Woodstock and Worcester are hand-in-hand ;
While Iffley and Oriel take their stand

Next door to Sandford and Merton.

"The Corn ""sends up a resounding roar ;—
It has not been so trodden on ever before ;
Then into " the Broad " the multitudes pour

And vainly to make their way try.
The people with tickets, by tens and twelves,
Crowd round " the Sheldonian"—lucky elves !
Where " the Heads " on the railings are nodding them-
selves,—

Those great Idola Theatri.

Let us take one look at the scene inside,
And mark how, proud with an honest pride,
The Chancellor stands, and his brilliant bride,

Two highly-gifted creatures!
The Undergraduates, might and main,
Are cheering them both, again and again;
And nobody thinks of Salisbury Plain
As he looks on the lady's features.

And then they must needs give new Degrees !
(There were 80, at least, in the shade of the trees !)
And the ruthless robes made a mocking breeze

When the wearers came to don them;
For all the new Doctors, of course, received
The scarlet gown, all crimson-sleeved ;
And they " bore their blushing honour," and grieved

To find it so " thick upon them."

Then the Chancellor flies, with unfailing powers,
To dinners and dances, to fetes and flowers,
And, at last, to secure a few sleep-stilled hours

At " Omnium Animarum ; "
But first, with a patience nearly sublime,
He hears Essays in prose and Addresses in rhyme,
And an " Ode," adapted in tune and time

To the special " Use of Sarum."

******

Commemoration's tints have fled,

And the towers of Oxford look, dusky and dead ;