Punch (14.1848)

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. sa

i

E MERCY WITH A VENGEANCE.

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THE CURLY-HEADED JEW-BOY.

Am—" The Curly-headed Ploughboy."

A Curly-headed Jew-bov soMe years ago was I,

And through the streetsh of London " Old clo " I used to cry,

But now I am a Member, I speechifies and votes ;

I've giv'u up all my dealing m left-off hats and coats :

In a creditable manner I hope I fills my sheat,

Though I vonce was but a Jew-boy vot whistled through the street.

I used to turn a penny by doin' little bills,

But, lookin' to the statiqN of dignity I fills,

The discount line of business no longer I pursue,

And bills to serve my country is all the billS I do ;

With acceptancE from the nation I trust they'll always meet,

Though they're dr^wn by me—a Jew-boy vot whistled thro' the street.

At length, emanshipated, I write myself M.P.,

And worthy of that honour I '11 ever strive to be ;

The only things I thinks on no More is shent per silent:

The peoplesh' is the interest on which alone I m bent;

I mean all the British peoPlesh—believe me, I entreat,

T hough I vonce was but a Jew-boy vot whiStled through the street.

My thanks for my promotion—and Yot can I do less ?

With gratitude I offer to our enlishtEn'd Press ;

And, now a Legislator, my influeNce I '11 use

In aid of toleration, and just and liberal views ;

Por to them I stand indebted—to them I owe my sheAt,

Who was vonce a little Jew-boy Yot whistled through the Street.

Window-Breaking in London.

The Grand Protection Plate Glass Sash Society met on Monday
<: for the purpose of adopting measures " to stop the custom—of late
much cultivated by paupers—of breaking window-panes. Yesterday, a
deputation of the body had an interview with the Chancellor of "the
Exchequer; when the Bight Hon. assured them—for their comfort—
that in order the better to secure glass, he had no objection to double
the present tax on windows. The Deputation are not yet resolved
whether to accept the proffered safeguard of the Minister.

great news for louis-philippe.

^ We learn from the Echo de Vesone that a provincial executioner of
France has invented a new kind of guillotine, that will execute any
number at the same moment, As the hydra of Reform has just appeared
in Paris, we doubt not His Majesty will, if possible, avail himself of the
new invention, to cut off the monster's hundred heads at one blow.

Equivocal Insanity.

_ Count Mortier is declared to be mad. One of the alleged signs of
his insanity is his belief that M. Gcizot is desirous of depriving him of
his skin. For ourselves, we think there mav be some truth in this. For
in the present state of things, we believe it likely thatM. Goizot should
wish himself in any other man's skin than his own.

JESUITS in england.

Colonel Sibthorp violently protests against the legalised residence
of Jesuits in England : inasmuch as he declares that the Jesuits reverse
the proverb " their bite being worse than their bark."

Old Form of a new Remedy—The Removal of Jewish disabilities
will be an operation anything but painless to a certain party in the
House, though brought about by the application of Old Clo' reform.

Punch, seeing the Right Honourable Baronet, Sir George Grey,
in his place, at the head of the Home Office, begs to ask him if the
subjoined statement, which has appeared in a newspaper, is true. It
relates to one Barber, a solicitor, who, together with a man named
Fletcher, was transported in 1844 for forging wills :—

"Barber invariably protested his innocence, -which was also asserted by his fellow
convict ; but they were both sent to Norfolk Island. It is stated (though from what
cause we are unable to learn) that a special order was sent from the Home Office,
directing the severest treatment to be applied to Barber, which order was rigorously
enforced. This excited the attention of the reverend chaplain of the colony, and others,
who instituted an investigation, and hence his liberation. The Rev. T. Rogers, one of
the chaplains, certified that the treatment of Barber was of the most galling severity: he
was restricted to the barrack-yard ; he was ordered to perform the most loathsome
duiies; he was deprived of the indulgence granted him by the medical officer; and he
was the only prisoner interdicted from writing materials ; whilst the physical toil he had
to undergo was altogether disproportionate to his strength. . . . This statement is
confirmed by the Rev. Mr. Taylor, who gives other particulars of the convict's ' misery
and torture.' These statements, and the result of an inquiry made by the officer of the
settlement into Barber's case, were forwarded to the Home Office, and a reply was
received, announcing a pardon for Barber, on condition (hat he should never again set
his foot in Great Britain. Within the last week Mr. Barber has arrived in France,
having been sent from Sydney by public subscription."

Punch trusts that the Home Secretary will lose no time in giving the
above libel—for surely it is such—on the Government, the most un-
qualified contradiction. So often has the Home Office been accused of
granting pardons for nothing, and without iniemnification, that people
are actually beginning to believe it to be capable of such injustice and
absurdity. It has absolutely acquired a bad name through neglecting
to clear its character. No doubt many of the public are disposed to
regard the present monstrous imputation on it as true. What must
they think on that supposition? Why, they will ask, if Barber is
innocent, is he forbidden to return to his country ? Not for what he
has done, of course; is it, then, for what he has suffered ? Would his
presence be intolerable to those who, in their fallibility, were the
authors of his misery and torture ? Is he banished merely as an eye-
sore? Or is a man to be punished for having been found guilty, no
matter whether he is guilty or not ? Is it an axiom of the Executive
that a convict is a kind of victim, who must on no account be let off
altogether? "The quality of mercy is not strained," but the Home
Office, at this rate, strains the mercy of the Crown most grievously.
Can anything be conceived more unjust, more inhuman, and more absurd
than the treatment of unfortunate Barber? Such will be the questions
and such the comments to which the Government will stand expose.;!,
if the Home Secretary will not take the trifling trouble of repelling this
apparently serious, but really (of course) perfectly ridiculous accusation.

A " Superior" Pony.

The following appears in the Times:—

EXEMPT from TAX—a superior PONY EQUIPAGE, (lowest price, to
prevent trouble, 27 guineas,) late the property of a clergyman of the Church of
England, by order of the executors. The Pony is young, sound, and quiet,"—&c. &c.

That it is 1 bought expedient to advertise the Pony as the late property
of a Clergyman of the Church of England is only—for the avoidance of
extra advertisement expense—to roll up every equine virtue into one
short sentence. The pony being, as it were, of the Church—that is,
having in some measure imbibed the virtues of its master—is not a
crib-biter, nor a kicker; he bolteth not; neither doth he shy._ Whereas,
had the beast belonged to a sectarian, he might have been highly objec-
tionable as a canter. Truly, this is an odd compliment to the Church
of England, to couple it thus adroitly with the Mews.

Lola Montez I

[By Electric Telegraph.]

Dover, Feb. 21.—9 a. m. Lola Montez has just left Boulogne Pier
(with a bull-dog, a band-box, and a horse-pistol) for this port.

— 10?.—Lola has just arrived, and gone to the Ship. She will be
in London at 1; and will immediately proceed to Lord Stanley's, to
offer herself as Leader of the Protectionists.

the french reform banquet.

The Deputies only intended to dine ; but Louis-Philippe—in the
event of any noise being made for tea—had all the regiments of the line
duly prepared to supply the guests with gunpowder. Besides this, all
the guns of the fortifications were heavily shotted, so that the revellers
caroused under the inspiration of government grape.

a deficiency somewhere.

_ The Chancellor of the Exchequer deals in so many lamenta-
tions about not being able to take off any taxes, that he is known
amongst deputations by the name of " He Wood, if he could."