DOI issue:
July to December, 1849
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16604#0026
14 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
laws for women, who we are in the habit of saying are not so clever
as we are.
My dear Nephew, as I grow old and consider these things, I know
which are the stronger, men or women; but which are the cleverer, I
doubt. Brown the Elder.
COWARD Y ! CO WARD I! CUSTARD !
He who in youth has been occasionally deficient in courage may
remember to have been addressed in the above terms, and to have been
recommended, at the same time, to make a meal on the contents of the
paternal mustard-pot. A similar recommendation might at the present
moment be made to a certain secretary of the Republic of San
Salvador, now resident at Rome, who joined the remainder of the
Consuls in a protest against the bombardment of the Eternal City.
After the names of John Freeborn, consular agent to her Britannic
Majesty ; Jean Bravo, consul of Denmark, and a few others ; we have
the signature of " A. Sharing, secretary of the Republic of San
Salvador." The nervousness of this secretary, under the dread of
bombardment, must have been something truly horrible to have set
him A Shaking in the manner described; and the Republic of San
Salvador, though it cannot be said its representative at Rome is no
great shakes, must feel rather humiliated by the ague-like condition
into which the secretary allows himself to be thrown, by the siege
operations of the Erench army.
residuary legatees into possession of the limb of any one who, while
putting hia best leg foremost, is compelled to leave his worst leg a
little way behind him.
We cannot, of course, look for any high degree of finish in these
paintings, whose merit is measured by their mileage rather than by the
talent the artists have displayed, for we presume that the colours can
be laid on with nothing more delicate than a mop in the production of
these works, which literally illustrate the maxim as to Art being long
and Life being short, for he must have a long life indeed who hopes to
see the end of the lengths which our modern artists are going to.
THE MONSTER PANORAMA MANIAS.
We have long ago come to the conclusion that the present is the age
of Monsters, a conviction that was not disturbed by a slight outbreak of
Dwarfs a year or two ago, for there is always a tendency in extremes to
meet, and if a Giant starts a show, it is ten to one but a Dwarf will set
up next door to him. We began with Monster Meetings: we have
since had Monster Concerts, but Monster Panoramas are the latest
monstrosity to which we have been subjected. The rival American
rivers have brought an overflow to the banks of their respective pro-
prietors, and the Mississippi, as well as the Ohio and the Hudson, have
For some time had the tide of success running in their favour.
We have often wondered that no native artist has adopted the Yankee
notion, and made a Panoramic Painting of the New River, beginning at
The mouth of Sir Hugh Myddelton's head—who, by the way, must
have suffered severely from water on the brain, considering that his head
has been for the last century or so a tremendous reservoir.
It appears from our contemporary the Builder that three English
draughtsmen have lately been
up the Nile, for the purpose of
taking a rough draught of its
waters, and we are shortly to
have a Panorama of that inte-
resting river. We can imagine
the exertions made by the artists
in their process of taking their
sketches from the spot, and we
can fancy one of them mounted
on a camel, the camel's hair
being from time to time cut .to
replenish the brushes, while the
hump of the brute might be con-
verted into a sort of easel very
easily. Whatever may be the
intrinsic merits of the forth-
coming picture—and we have no
doubt they will be great—we
ought to take into consideration
the courage of the artists in
exploring such a river as the Nile, and looking all its perilous features
in the face, particularly when some of those features include the mouth
and teeth of that
dental phenome-
non—whom we
should not like
accidentally to
encounter — the
Crocodile. It is
all very well for
an artist at times
to allow his sub- - w - -~~=^- \- , . ,.. n
ject to run away ^§P^ Is that a Site to show Anybody.-
with him in the enthusiasm of the moment, but no painter finds the A Bill is passing through the legislature on the subject of sites for
clutch of a Crocodile agreeable to his palette. We fear that the schools. We understand that a certain simple-minded Member intends
draughtsman on the Nile could scarcely ever feel Lis leg at ease in a moving the introduction of a clause restraining anybody belonging to
place where so many gapmg-mouthed monsters are ready to come as I any school from " taking a sight" at any schoolmaster.
OUR UNHEALTHY COURTS.
To the Editor of " Punch"
" Sir,
" All the agitation which has been raised against the Metro-
politan Nuisances has, alas ! only verified the old vulgar proverb as to
the consequences of stirring anything that is unpleasant.
" Those sinks of iniquity in Doctors' Commons, the Ecclesiastical
cesspools, exist still in all their offensiveness. The Arches Court
abomination in particular, in which the rubbish of ages has been allowed
to accumulate, continues to disgrace the legislature and the period.
" The foul and filthy dens in the neighbourhood of Chancery Lane
and Lincoln's Inn yet remain in as disgusting a state as ever. . Nothing-
has been done to rectify the arrangements of the Patent Office, which
are such as to smother nine-tenths of our inventive population. The
noisome abuses of the Palace Court are unabated, in spite of their
notorious enormity. That drain upon the vitals of all who have the
misfortune to get within its influence, in the Court of Chancery,—
the worst Court in London,—is still open, poisoning the atmosphere far
and near, like any Upas.
" The unwholesome condition of Westminster Hall is scandalous to
that Parliament to whose place of meeting it is contiguous. In most
of these localities the fever of litigation rages with pestilential violence ;.
and their atmosphere is intolerably oppressive, especially to the poorer
classes. It was hoped that a noble and learned Lord was about to
sweep them clean; but for that purpose I am afraid we want a new
Brougham. The nation, in the meanwhile, is welcome to the services
of your humble servant;,
"Besom."
laws for women, who we are in the habit of saying are not so clever
as we are.
My dear Nephew, as I grow old and consider these things, I know
which are the stronger, men or women; but which are the cleverer, I
doubt. Brown the Elder.
COWARD Y ! CO WARD I! CUSTARD !
He who in youth has been occasionally deficient in courage may
remember to have been addressed in the above terms, and to have been
recommended, at the same time, to make a meal on the contents of the
paternal mustard-pot. A similar recommendation might at the present
moment be made to a certain secretary of the Republic of San
Salvador, now resident at Rome, who joined the remainder of the
Consuls in a protest against the bombardment of the Eternal City.
After the names of John Freeborn, consular agent to her Britannic
Majesty ; Jean Bravo, consul of Denmark, and a few others ; we have
the signature of " A. Sharing, secretary of the Republic of San
Salvador." The nervousness of this secretary, under the dread of
bombardment, must have been something truly horrible to have set
him A Shaking in the manner described; and the Republic of San
Salvador, though it cannot be said its representative at Rome is no
great shakes, must feel rather humiliated by the ague-like condition
into which the secretary allows himself to be thrown, by the siege
operations of the Erench army.
residuary legatees into possession of the limb of any one who, while
putting hia best leg foremost, is compelled to leave his worst leg a
little way behind him.
We cannot, of course, look for any high degree of finish in these
paintings, whose merit is measured by their mileage rather than by the
talent the artists have displayed, for we presume that the colours can
be laid on with nothing more delicate than a mop in the production of
these works, which literally illustrate the maxim as to Art being long
and Life being short, for he must have a long life indeed who hopes to
see the end of the lengths which our modern artists are going to.
THE MONSTER PANORAMA MANIAS.
We have long ago come to the conclusion that the present is the age
of Monsters, a conviction that was not disturbed by a slight outbreak of
Dwarfs a year or two ago, for there is always a tendency in extremes to
meet, and if a Giant starts a show, it is ten to one but a Dwarf will set
up next door to him. We began with Monster Meetings: we have
since had Monster Concerts, but Monster Panoramas are the latest
monstrosity to which we have been subjected. The rival American
rivers have brought an overflow to the banks of their respective pro-
prietors, and the Mississippi, as well as the Ohio and the Hudson, have
For some time had the tide of success running in their favour.
We have often wondered that no native artist has adopted the Yankee
notion, and made a Panoramic Painting of the New River, beginning at
The mouth of Sir Hugh Myddelton's head—who, by the way, must
have suffered severely from water on the brain, considering that his head
has been for the last century or so a tremendous reservoir.
It appears from our contemporary the Builder that three English
draughtsmen have lately been
up the Nile, for the purpose of
taking a rough draught of its
waters, and we are shortly to
have a Panorama of that inte-
resting river. We can imagine
the exertions made by the artists
in their process of taking their
sketches from the spot, and we
can fancy one of them mounted
on a camel, the camel's hair
being from time to time cut .to
replenish the brushes, while the
hump of the brute might be con-
verted into a sort of easel very
easily. Whatever may be the
intrinsic merits of the forth-
coming picture—and we have no
doubt they will be great—we
ought to take into consideration
the courage of the artists in
exploring such a river as the Nile, and looking all its perilous features
in the face, particularly when some of those features include the mouth
and teeth of that
dental phenome-
non—whom we
should not like
accidentally to
encounter — the
Crocodile. It is
all very well for
an artist at times
to allow his sub- - w - -~~=^- \- , . ,.. n
ject to run away ^§P^ Is that a Site to show Anybody.-
with him in the enthusiasm of the moment, but no painter finds the A Bill is passing through the legislature on the subject of sites for
clutch of a Crocodile agreeable to his palette. We fear that the schools. We understand that a certain simple-minded Member intends
draughtsman on the Nile could scarcely ever feel Lis leg at ease in a moving the introduction of a clause restraining anybody belonging to
place where so many gapmg-mouthed monsters are ready to come as I any school from " taking a sight" at any schoolmaster.
OUR UNHEALTHY COURTS.
To the Editor of " Punch"
" Sir,
" All the agitation which has been raised against the Metro-
politan Nuisances has, alas ! only verified the old vulgar proverb as to
the consequences of stirring anything that is unpleasant.
" Those sinks of iniquity in Doctors' Commons, the Ecclesiastical
cesspools, exist still in all their offensiveness. The Arches Court
abomination in particular, in which the rubbish of ages has been allowed
to accumulate, continues to disgrace the legislature and the period.
" The foul and filthy dens in the neighbourhood of Chancery Lane
and Lincoln's Inn yet remain in as disgusting a state as ever. . Nothing-
has been done to rectify the arrangements of the Patent Office, which
are such as to smother nine-tenths of our inventive population. The
noisome abuses of the Palace Court are unabated, in spite of their
notorious enormity. That drain upon the vitals of all who have the
misfortune to get within its influence, in the Court of Chancery,—
the worst Court in London,—is still open, poisoning the atmosphere far
and near, like any Upas.
" The unwholesome condition of Westminster Hall is scandalous to
that Parliament to whose place of meeting it is contiguous. In most
of these localities the fever of litigation rages with pestilential violence ;.
and their atmosphere is intolerably oppressive, especially to the poorer
classes. It was hoped that a noble and learned Lord was about to
sweep them clean; but for that purpose I am afraid we want a new
Brougham. The nation, in the meanwhile, is welcome to the services
of your humble servant;,
"Besom."