DOI issue:
July to December, 1848
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16547#0164
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
157
PUNCH ON THE CONSTITUTION.
lured to the sacrifice. Nevertheless, it was a " great point gained," as
DeLolme truly observes, for it gave the Commons the pleasant privi-
lege of assisting at their own victimisation ; and the words used in the
writ of requisition, being ad faciendum—literally, to be done—et con-
CHAPTER THE THIRD. sentiendum, and to consent to it, would seem to imply that there was
little attempt to disguise the object for which the towns and boroughs
progress or English libertt under heury the third and were required to send deputies. It is, however, one thing to bring a
edward the first. j horse to the water, but anot her to make him drink ; and though the
m Rritkh rvwitniinn HVp Commons in those days could be got to swallow a good deal, they were
+L -Rjf/Lk.kl™- ri not always to submit quietly to have crammed down their throats
tne iiritisn baby, was lre-■ whatever was set before them.
?JSffL. ™r?^«?£ fE 11' I They at a11 events bad the opportunity of complaining; and th e luxury
to u e a more ant JkSion of grumbling has been, trom the earliest times to the present, one
L b«? h t ;™ Zm T: of the most delicious enjoyments of the English people. The roar
tne tfntisn i,ion was as , wag alwayg fta mogt formldable attribute of the British Lion; the
11 growl was ever the most alarming symptom of the British Bull Dog,
the complaint that " things never were worse " is, to this hour, the
great consolation of the British merchant; a lamentation over its
own decline, is the only thing that keeps the British Drama alive; and
grumble, grumble, grumble, is the great safety-valve of the British
public in general.
There is no doubt that the taking part of the Commons in the busi-
ness of the legislature, was a great privilege, for they thus formed a
portion of the organ of Government, and even if their position relative
to the organ was only that of bellows-blower, it was natural that they
should sometimes get rather inflated themselves ; for the occupation of
raising the wind, even for other people, is an office of some dignity.
It would seem that the invention of the friends of Freedom was not
very fertile in former times, for we find little originality in the efforts
made for advancing the cause of liberty. Nothing new was devised ;
but the people were continually falling back upon Magna Charta,
which underwent the process of confirmation no less than eleven times
during Edward the First's reign, until the old roll must have become
perfectly stale, and the desire for something new must have been
general.
Edward seems to have become blase of Magna Charta himself, for
he introduced a most successful novelty in the shape of the statute
young child, and experienced
its regular routine of maladies
peculiar to the early stages of
all our existences. In the
midst of convulsions it had
cut its teeth—a process typi-
fied by 1 he bristling up of the
steel-pointed swords of the
oiscontented Barons, who
swore "by gum" that they
would never " bite the dust; "—it encountered its moral measles when
an eruption of a "rash" character broke out in the time of Hekry
the Third by the turbulence of the nobility,—and there were symp-
toms of a sort of Constitutional weakness of the chest, in the drain
continually made on the Treasury by the same monarch.
Perhaps, however, the more or less gentle irritation that was kept
up preserved the blood of the nation at a wholesome heat j and it is not
improbable also that the frequency of the attacks which i he Constitution
in its infancy was doomed to undergo, caused the adoption of a strict
regimen, which has laid the foundation of future strength and salubrity.
However great may have been the value of Magna Charta to succeeding
generations, we doubt whether it can be said to have paid the■ origina de Mlagi0 mn concedendo^ which provid(?d that D0 ^ should be Jaid
grantees, for it cost them enormous sums in renewals, repairs, and
additions, which, whenever a king was short of cash, were always
resorted to for the purpose of replenishing his coffers. Henry the
Third carried this principle to a ruinous extent, for he passed the
whole of bis minority in obtaining fresh advances upon this great Con-
stitutional security, which, on coming of age, he repudiated under the
plea of infancy ; and after he bad turned twenty-one, he negotiated the
same bill, taking care to exact a tremendous bonus as-the consideration
for his undertaking so large a liability.
Throughout the whole of his reign Henry the Third was continually
trampling1 the Charters under his feet ; or, to speak figuratively, he
danced over them a series of hornpipes, in which the double shuffle was
the most conspicuous step ; but he generally had the cunning to get
the Parliament or the people to pay the piper. Sometimes, however, he
carried his antics a little too far, and the Parliament took the great
Constitutional liberty of declining to send an answer when he called
lor a subsidy ; and in these cases his anger was shown in his declaring
that if he was not enabled to liquidate his debts, be could at least do
something in the way of liquidation by dissolving the Parliament. This
great and glorious privilege of refusing the Supplies was practised with
such effect, that in one instance Henry was compelled to sell his
private plate, which, as kings are born with silver spoons in their
mouths, he could not have missed very grievously.
But a new actor now comes upon the Constitutional stage, and we
greet him with a cry of " Hats off!" " Down in front!" For it is
Edward the First who passes before the footlights of History. He
made such a hit in the character of a law-maker, that he
got the name of the English Justinian, just as Cooper
was called the American Walter Scott ; and as a
certain Albata philosopher—a spoon making some stir in
the present day—might deserve the title of the British
Plate-o. This sovereign, whose approach is trumpeted
by several flourishes of our brazen pen, was called Long-
shanks, as some say from the length of his legs ; but, in
our private opinion, from the enormous strides he took
in advance of ail former sovereigns. He was a man cf
somewhat expensive habits ; and, being fond of the
amusement of war, he required a good supply of its
sinews; "which of course," says that odious Spelman,
" he could only obtain by insinewating himself into the
good graces of his people."
Having flattered the vanity of the nobles by fleecing
them unlil any further shearing them would have been a
sheer impossibility, he bethought him of the Commons, and caused them
to be invited by the sheriff to send deputies for every city and borough,
—an invitation which, as it was only intended to give them an opportu-
nity of contributing to the Supplies, was equivalent to the old cry of
" Dilly, Dilly," &c, with which the ducks of nursery tradition were
nor impost levied wit hout the joint consent of both Lords and Commons;
an arrangement which placed the Koyal purse in the people's pocket,
though it was very long before the pocket was protected against the
fingers, both royal and aristocratic, that took the liberty of dipping into
it. Sovereigns and nobles continued the practice, or rather, kept their
hands in, until very recent times ; and, feeling it to be our duty to trace
the progress of the great moral and social watchword, " Take care of your
pockets!" through every reign, we shall mark how the most flagrant,
instances of light-fingery were visited with a rap on the knuckles, until
the system has reached such perfection that the most itching palm can
grasp nothing that must not on the nail be accounted for.
THE EARLY T WAN KAY MOVEMENT.
" Mr. Pdnch,
"Where are we going? More shops shutting up at six
o'clock ? Whv, after dark, London streets won't be worth looking at;
and nobody will be about their business but pickpockets. I've just
read it in the papers that the grocers are going to put by their canisters
and put up their shutters at six at night; so if anybody's dying for an
ounce of tea, or a half-pound of sugar, they may die till next morning,
for nobody will serve 'em.
" And they say this is all to improve the young men's minds. No
doubt of it. Improve their billiards, Mr. Punch ; improve their cigars ;
improve all sorts of idleness. Why, Sir, we shall have balloons from
all sorts of places at half-a-crown a head; and all the 'prentices of
London will be always going up a purpose to look down upon their
betters.
" Why, Mr. Punch, half the pleasure of life was doing a little bit of
shopping at night; and, as for the young men behind the counters, it
kept 'em out of mischief to keep 'em at business till it was time to go
to their honest beds: now, they'll give their minds to dominoes,
and politics, and Chartism, and high treason. Early closing of shops
will be the early opening of the Old Bailey. Besides, some colours
never looked so well as by candle-light; and Regent Street never
so handsome as by gas. And now young men are to shut their shops
that they may open their minds! Do you think Her Majesty
could be persuaded to go in state to Twining's at nine at night—just
once, by way of protest; and the aristocracy be made to dine at eleven,
that they might shop up to ten at night? Depend upon it they ougbt,
if they knew their own interests; for this counter-movement—as my
husband says—is sure to end in counter-revolution,
" Yours,
"Boadicea."
" P.S. I send my real name and direction, if you like to use 'em."
157
PUNCH ON THE CONSTITUTION.
lured to the sacrifice. Nevertheless, it was a " great point gained," as
DeLolme truly observes, for it gave the Commons the pleasant privi-
lege of assisting at their own victimisation ; and the words used in the
writ of requisition, being ad faciendum—literally, to be done—et con-
CHAPTER THE THIRD. sentiendum, and to consent to it, would seem to imply that there was
little attempt to disguise the object for which the towns and boroughs
progress or English libertt under heury the third and were required to send deputies. It is, however, one thing to bring a
edward the first. j horse to the water, but anot her to make him drink ; and though the
m Rritkh rvwitniinn HVp Commons in those days could be got to swallow a good deal, they were
+L -Rjf/Lk.kl™- ri not always to submit quietly to have crammed down their throats
tne iiritisn baby, was lre-■ whatever was set before them.
?JSffL. ™r?^«?£ fE 11' I They at a11 events bad the opportunity of complaining; and th e luxury
to u e a more ant JkSion of grumbling has been, trom the earliest times to the present, one
L b«? h t ;™ Zm T: of the most delicious enjoyments of the English people. The roar
tne tfntisn i,ion was as , wag alwayg fta mogt formldable attribute of the British Lion; the
11 growl was ever the most alarming symptom of the British Bull Dog,
the complaint that " things never were worse " is, to this hour, the
great consolation of the British merchant; a lamentation over its
own decline, is the only thing that keeps the British Drama alive; and
grumble, grumble, grumble, is the great safety-valve of the British
public in general.
There is no doubt that the taking part of the Commons in the busi-
ness of the legislature, was a great privilege, for they thus formed a
portion of the organ of Government, and even if their position relative
to the organ was only that of bellows-blower, it was natural that they
should sometimes get rather inflated themselves ; for the occupation of
raising the wind, even for other people, is an office of some dignity.
It would seem that the invention of the friends of Freedom was not
very fertile in former times, for we find little originality in the efforts
made for advancing the cause of liberty. Nothing new was devised ;
but the people were continually falling back upon Magna Charta,
which underwent the process of confirmation no less than eleven times
during Edward the First's reign, until the old roll must have become
perfectly stale, and the desire for something new must have been
general.
Edward seems to have become blase of Magna Charta himself, for
he introduced a most successful novelty in the shape of the statute
young child, and experienced
its regular routine of maladies
peculiar to the early stages of
all our existences. In the
midst of convulsions it had
cut its teeth—a process typi-
fied by 1 he bristling up of the
steel-pointed swords of the
oiscontented Barons, who
swore "by gum" that they
would never " bite the dust; "—it encountered its moral measles when
an eruption of a "rash" character broke out in the time of Hekry
the Third by the turbulence of the nobility,—and there were symp-
toms of a sort of Constitutional weakness of the chest, in the drain
continually made on the Treasury by the same monarch.
Perhaps, however, the more or less gentle irritation that was kept
up preserved the blood of the nation at a wholesome heat j and it is not
improbable also that the frequency of the attacks which i he Constitution
in its infancy was doomed to undergo, caused the adoption of a strict
regimen, which has laid the foundation of future strength and salubrity.
However great may have been the value of Magna Charta to succeeding
generations, we doubt whether it can be said to have paid the■ origina de Mlagi0 mn concedendo^ which provid(?d that D0 ^ should be Jaid
grantees, for it cost them enormous sums in renewals, repairs, and
additions, which, whenever a king was short of cash, were always
resorted to for the purpose of replenishing his coffers. Henry the
Third carried this principle to a ruinous extent, for he passed the
whole of bis minority in obtaining fresh advances upon this great Con-
stitutional security, which, on coming of age, he repudiated under the
plea of infancy ; and after he bad turned twenty-one, he negotiated the
same bill, taking care to exact a tremendous bonus as-the consideration
for his undertaking so large a liability.
Throughout the whole of his reign Henry the Third was continually
trampling1 the Charters under his feet ; or, to speak figuratively, he
danced over them a series of hornpipes, in which the double shuffle was
the most conspicuous step ; but he generally had the cunning to get
the Parliament or the people to pay the piper. Sometimes, however, he
carried his antics a little too far, and the Parliament took the great
Constitutional liberty of declining to send an answer when he called
lor a subsidy ; and in these cases his anger was shown in his declaring
that if he was not enabled to liquidate his debts, be could at least do
something in the way of liquidation by dissolving the Parliament. This
great and glorious privilege of refusing the Supplies was practised with
such effect, that in one instance Henry was compelled to sell his
private plate, which, as kings are born with silver spoons in their
mouths, he could not have missed very grievously.
But a new actor now comes upon the Constitutional stage, and we
greet him with a cry of " Hats off!" " Down in front!" For it is
Edward the First who passes before the footlights of History. He
made such a hit in the character of a law-maker, that he
got the name of the English Justinian, just as Cooper
was called the American Walter Scott ; and as a
certain Albata philosopher—a spoon making some stir in
the present day—might deserve the title of the British
Plate-o. This sovereign, whose approach is trumpeted
by several flourishes of our brazen pen, was called Long-
shanks, as some say from the length of his legs ; but, in
our private opinion, from the enormous strides he took
in advance of ail former sovereigns. He was a man cf
somewhat expensive habits ; and, being fond of the
amusement of war, he required a good supply of its
sinews; "which of course," says that odious Spelman,
" he could only obtain by insinewating himself into the
good graces of his people."
Having flattered the vanity of the nobles by fleecing
them unlil any further shearing them would have been a
sheer impossibility, he bethought him of the Commons, and caused them
to be invited by the sheriff to send deputies for every city and borough,
—an invitation which, as it was only intended to give them an opportu-
nity of contributing to the Supplies, was equivalent to the old cry of
" Dilly, Dilly," &c, with which the ducks of nursery tradition were
nor impost levied wit hout the joint consent of both Lords and Commons;
an arrangement which placed the Koyal purse in the people's pocket,
though it was very long before the pocket was protected against the
fingers, both royal and aristocratic, that took the liberty of dipping into
it. Sovereigns and nobles continued the practice, or rather, kept their
hands in, until very recent times ; and, feeling it to be our duty to trace
the progress of the great moral and social watchword, " Take care of your
pockets!" through every reign, we shall mark how the most flagrant,
instances of light-fingery were visited with a rap on the knuckles, until
the system has reached such perfection that the most itching palm can
grasp nothing that must not on the nail be accounted for.
THE EARLY T WAN KAY MOVEMENT.
" Mr. Pdnch,
"Where are we going? More shops shutting up at six
o'clock ? Whv, after dark, London streets won't be worth looking at;
and nobody will be about their business but pickpockets. I've just
read it in the papers that the grocers are going to put by their canisters
and put up their shutters at six at night; so if anybody's dying for an
ounce of tea, or a half-pound of sugar, they may die till next morning,
for nobody will serve 'em.
" And they say this is all to improve the young men's minds. No
doubt of it. Improve their billiards, Mr. Punch ; improve their cigars ;
improve all sorts of idleness. Why, Sir, we shall have balloons from
all sorts of places at half-a-crown a head; and all the 'prentices of
London will be always going up a purpose to look down upon their
betters.
" Why, Mr. Punch, half the pleasure of life was doing a little bit of
shopping at night; and, as for the young men behind the counters, it
kept 'em out of mischief to keep 'em at business till it was time to go
to their honest beds: now, they'll give their minds to dominoes,
and politics, and Chartism, and high treason. Early closing of shops
will be the early opening of the Old Bailey. Besides, some colours
never looked so well as by candle-light; and Regent Street never
so handsome as by gas. And now young men are to shut their shops
that they may open their minds! Do you think Her Majesty
could be persuaded to go in state to Twining's at nine at night—just
once, by way of protest; and the aristocracy be made to dine at eleven,
that they might shop up to ten at night? Depend upon it they ougbt,
if they knew their own interests; for this counter-movement—as my
husband says—is sure to end in counter-revolution,
" Yours,
"Boadicea."
" P.S. I send my real name and direction, if you like to use 'em."