DOI issue:
July to December, 1844
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16520#0234
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
227
GRATITUDE OF LORD MAYOR GIBBS.
REQUENTLY, too
frequently, do
we meet with
adages that sad-
ly and pithily
tell of man's
ingratitude to
man ! How,
then, doth it
delight the
heart of the
thick-and-thin
lover of his
species to find
in great men
and high places
an active re-
membrance of
past benefits !
how then doth
it delight Punch
to be enabled to
lay before his
readers the fol-
lowing grateful
and affecting letter from our bran-new Lord Mayor Gibbs to the
trumpeters and drummers of the Life Guards, who, on the memorable
ninth, did so valorously distinguish themselves against a riotous and
disaffected multitude.
FROM THE LORD MAYOR TO THE TRUMPETS AND DRUMS OF THE
LIFE GUARDS.
Mansion-House, Nov. 11, 1844.
Gentlemen, and my Good Friends,—The procession past—
the dinner over (why Sir Robert Peel did not attend, I cannot
discover)—and the sermon of ceremony heard (though not at St.
Stephen's, "Walbrook, for they do tell me that the church isn't safe),
my next duty is to render thanks to you. Since Whittington's
cat was kittened, never did Lord Mayor owe so much to brass and
parchment! Yes, gentlemen, I feel myself to be your debtor for
life ; and moreover, gentlemen, I am content to feel so.
It is now no secret that a coarse, malignant multitude—a flock of
human geese—did on the 9th inst. assemble to hiss me. My dear
friend, the Editor of the Morning Herald, who really knows what a
goose can do—says there was no hissing whatever : other people—■
but I know their prejudice—protest there was. However, thanks
to you, gentlemen, it was to me a matter of perfect indifference ;
for albeit every man might hiss like a steam-engine, I—praised be
your brass and parchment—heard it not. Never was malice more
triumphantly vanquished by blowing and beating !
And here let me digress, that I may thank two enthusiastic young
men in Highland attire, who, on Ludgate Hill, played the bagpipes
most tremendously. Their gratuitous devotion on the occasion
must be acknowledged by all, for even my enemies cannot say that
I would pay the piper.
To return, gentlemen, to you, who were, on the eventful ninth,
the instruments of my exceeding happiness : I cannot express to you
the more than placid delight that pervaded my soul, as, sunk back in
a corner of the carriage, I closed my eyes to the rabble without,
and was conscious of nothing but your delightful sounds. I felt
that I was undergoing a great trial—I did, I confess it, as the coach
lumbered along, now and then reflect upon the uneasy rides that
sinners had once taken to Tyburn ; but the reflection suddenly
passed, and I felt my whole physical and moral being resonant and
tiDgling with brass ! My heart was stirred and glowed as the con-
genial metal brayed to it. 1 felt arrayed from head to heel in the
soul-sustaining substance, and thus—to my mind, etherially clad
—what knew I of the taunts, the coarseness, the hootings, the
sibilations of an unreflecting mob, whose vulgar mind is tied down
to this world and its small and dirty doings, by the trammels of
arithmetic!
What cared I for the Rule of Three, whilst you, gentlemen, blew
and beat Ride Britannia ?
Gentlemen, you may have often blown and bled for your country,
but never did you obtain so great a moral victory : for what were
the execrations of a mob against your matchless instruments on
the immortal ninth of this November ? Gentlemen, with heart-felt,
pccket-felt gratitude, I remain,
Your affectionate Friend,
Gibbs, Mayor.
P.S.—Understand that I engage you for the next ninth, when I
GO OUT.
STREET THOUGHTS.
by a surgeon.
In perambulating Oxford-Street or Holboru, what a number 'of little
ragamuffins I observe trundling their hoops ! With what interest I con-
template their youthful sport; particularly when I regard its probable
consequences ! A hoop runs between a gentleman's legs. He falls.
When I reflect on the wonderful construction of the skeleton, and consider
to how many fractures and dislocations it is liable in such a case, my
bosom expands with gratitude to a considerate police, to whose non-
intervention we are indebted for such chances of practice !
The numerous bits of orange peel which diversify the pavement oft
attract my attention. Never do I kick one of them out of the way.
The blessings of a whole profession on the hands that scatter them ! Each
bit may supply a new and instructive page to the Chapter of Accidents.
Considering the damp, muddy, state of the streets at this time of the
year, I am equally amazed and delighted to see the ladies, almost univer-
sally, going about in thin shoes. This elegant fashion beautifully displays
the conformation of the ankle-joint; but to the surgeon it has another
recommendation. I behold the delicate foot, separated scarcely by the
thickness of this paper from the mire. I see the exquisite instep,
undefended but by a mere web. I meditate on the influence of cold
and wet upon the frame ; I think of the catarrhs, coughs, pleurisies,
pneumonies, consumptions, and other interesting affections, that neces-
sarily must result from their application to the feet ; and then I reckon
up the number of pills, boluses, powders, draughts, mixtures, leeches, and
blisters, which will consequently be sent in to the fair sufferers, calculate
what they must come to, and wish I had the amount in my pocket.
SONG OF THE LONDON CORN EXCHANGE.
How markets alter by degrees
Experience makes us find:
This week the duty paid on peas
Has sensibly declined.
The holder of the foreign wheat
Not yet his price abates,
But firmly has refused to treat,
Except on the old rates.
Barley is now in fair request,
But second sorts are dull ;
In every species but the best
The buyer has the pull.
Five vessels laden with the oat
(It is the Irish sort)
At present in the harbour float,
And grace the busy port.
Then hey for commerce, corn, and wine I
Where'er the ocean laves,
Our native land is sure to shine,
" Britannia rules the waves."
The Health of Towns Commission.
The health of towns commission, in order to come at the diseases
induced by living in cellars, have sent Professor Fairplay down to
Manchester to investigate the subject. The learned Professor now
occupies the chair of Rheumatics in a cellar under the Royal Institution.
He has been eminently successful in his labours, having already caught
15 catarrhs, 12 sore throats, 9 coughs, and 3 inflammations of the lungs.
It is thought that the capture of a few more of these interesting specimens
will do for him. _
A CAFITAL HASH.
A new sauce is advertised under the title of " Sir Robert Peel's
Sauce." It has been concocted, we believe, from his promises that the
Income-Tax should not last longer than three years.
227
GRATITUDE OF LORD MAYOR GIBBS.
REQUENTLY, too
frequently, do
we meet with
adages that sad-
ly and pithily
tell of man's
ingratitude to
man ! How,
then, doth it
delight the
heart of the
thick-and-thin
lover of his
species to find
in great men
and high places
an active re-
membrance of
past benefits !
how then doth
it delight Punch
to be enabled to
lay before his
readers the fol-
lowing grateful
and affecting letter from our bran-new Lord Mayor Gibbs to the
trumpeters and drummers of the Life Guards, who, on the memorable
ninth, did so valorously distinguish themselves against a riotous and
disaffected multitude.
FROM THE LORD MAYOR TO THE TRUMPETS AND DRUMS OF THE
LIFE GUARDS.
Mansion-House, Nov. 11, 1844.
Gentlemen, and my Good Friends,—The procession past—
the dinner over (why Sir Robert Peel did not attend, I cannot
discover)—and the sermon of ceremony heard (though not at St.
Stephen's, "Walbrook, for they do tell me that the church isn't safe),
my next duty is to render thanks to you. Since Whittington's
cat was kittened, never did Lord Mayor owe so much to brass and
parchment! Yes, gentlemen, I feel myself to be your debtor for
life ; and moreover, gentlemen, I am content to feel so.
It is now no secret that a coarse, malignant multitude—a flock of
human geese—did on the 9th inst. assemble to hiss me. My dear
friend, the Editor of the Morning Herald, who really knows what a
goose can do—says there was no hissing whatever : other people—■
but I know their prejudice—protest there was. However, thanks
to you, gentlemen, it was to me a matter of perfect indifference ;
for albeit every man might hiss like a steam-engine, I—praised be
your brass and parchment—heard it not. Never was malice more
triumphantly vanquished by blowing and beating !
And here let me digress, that I may thank two enthusiastic young
men in Highland attire, who, on Ludgate Hill, played the bagpipes
most tremendously. Their gratuitous devotion on the occasion
must be acknowledged by all, for even my enemies cannot say that
I would pay the piper.
To return, gentlemen, to you, who were, on the eventful ninth,
the instruments of my exceeding happiness : I cannot express to you
the more than placid delight that pervaded my soul, as, sunk back in
a corner of the carriage, I closed my eyes to the rabble without,
and was conscious of nothing but your delightful sounds. I felt
that I was undergoing a great trial—I did, I confess it, as the coach
lumbered along, now and then reflect upon the uneasy rides that
sinners had once taken to Tyburn ; but the reflection suddenly
passed, and I felt my whole physical and moral being resonant and
tiDgling with brass ! My heart was stirred and glowed as the con-
genial metal brayed to it. 1 felt arrayed from head to heel in the
soul-sustaining substance, and thus—to my mind, etherially clad
—what knew I of the taunts, the coarseness, the hootings, the
sibilations of an unreflecting mob, whose vulgar mind is tied down
to this world and its small and dirty doings, by the trammels of
arithmetic!
What cared I for the Rule of Three, whilst you, gentlemen, blew
and beat Ride Britannia ?
Gentlemen, you may have often blown and bled for your country,
but never did you obtain so great a moral victory : for what were
the execrations of a mob against your matchless instruments on
the immortal ninth of this November ? Gentlemen, with heart-felt,
pccket-felt gratitude, I remain,
Your affectionate Friend,
Gibbs, Mayor.
P.S.—Understand that I engage you for the next ninth, when I
GO OUT.
STREET THOUGHTS.
by a surgeon.
In perambulating Oxford-Street or Holboru, what a number 'of little
ragamuffins I observe trundling their hoops ! With what interest I con-
template their youthful sport; particularly when I regard its probable
consequences ! A hoop runs between a gentleman's legs. He falls.
When I reflect on the wonderful construction of the skeleton, and consider
to how many fractures and dislocations it is liable in such a case, my
bosom expands with gratitude to a considerate police, to whose non-
intervention we are indebted for such chances of practice !
The numerous bits of orange peel which diversify the pavement oft
attract my attention. Never do I kick one of them out of the way.
The blessings of a whole profession on the hands that scatter them ! Each
bit may supply a new and instructive page to the Chapter of Accidents.
Considering the damp, muddy, state of the streets at this time of the
year, I am equally amazed and delighted to see the ladies, almost univer-
sally, going about in thin shoes. This elegant fashion beautifully displays
the conformation of the ankle-joint; but to the surgeon it has another
recommendation. I behold the delicate foot, separated scarcely by the
thickness of this paper from the mire. I see the exquisite instep,
undefended but by a mere web. I meditate on the influence of cold
and wet upon the frame ; I think of the catarrhs, coughs, pleurisies,
pneumonies, consumptions, and other interesting affections, that neces-
sarily must result from their application to the feet ; and then I reckon
up the number of pills, boluses, powders, draughts, mixtures, leeches, and
blisters, which will consequently be sent in to the fair sufferers, calculate
what they must come to, and wish I had the amount in my pocket.
SONG OF THE LONDON CORN EXCHANGE.
How markets alter by degrees
Experience makes us find:
This week the duty paid on peas
Has sensibly declined.
The holder of the foreign wheat
Not yet his price abates,
But firmly has refused to treat,
Except on the old rates.
Barley is now in fair request,
But second sorts are dull ;
In every species but the best
The buyer has the pull.
Five vessels laden with the oat
(It is the Irish sort)
At present in the harbour float,
And grace the busy port.
Then hey for commerce, corn, and wine I
Where'er the ocean laves,
Our native land is sure to shine,
" Britannia rules the waves."
The Health of Towns Commission.
The health of towns commission, in order to come at the diseases
induced by living in cellars, have sent Professor Fairplay down to
Manchester to investigate the subject. The learned Professor now
occupies the chair of Rheumatics in a cellar under the Royal Institution.
He has been eminently successful in his labours, having already caught
15 catarrhs, 12 sore throats, 9 coughs, and 3 inflammations of the lungs.
It is thought that the capture of a few more of these interesting specimens
will do for him. _
A CAFITAL HASH.
A new sauce is advertised under the title of " Sir Robert Peel's
Sauce." It has been concocted, we believe, from his promises that the
Income-Tax should not last longer than three years.