Punch (18.1850)

200

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

MR. BRIGGS HAS GONE TO THE EXHIBITION.-A BOY HOLDS HIS HORSE IN THE MEANTIME.

THE BRITISH LION AN ULTRA CHARTIST!

A general meeting of that peculiar class of politicians interested in
the notorious Land Scheme took place on Tuesday last week at the
Crown and Anchor. The chair was occupied by Feargus 0' Richmond,
who delivered a very inflammatory speech, qualified hv a judicious re-
commendation to his followers to abstain from " physical force."
Mb.. Ernest Booker indulged in a furious denunciation of Free
Trade, and alter asserting t hat the agricultural interest was in a state
of sad depression, offered 16 subscribe £1000 for electioneering pur-
poses. Mr. Looney Chowler hinted, in no measured language, at
the probability of a speedy insurrection among the peasantry and at
the policy, on the part of the farmers, of drivin°r them to rebellion bv
sending them to the workhouse. Tue notorious Rupeey Stanhope
slapped the orator on the back in approbation of his spirited views and
suggestions. Mr. Ctjppey Higgins, of Hereford, in a short but violent
harangue, declared plainly that, if the Government, would not alter their
system by moral force, they (the Land Schemers) would fight for it,
The deafening applause that followed this declaration, we suppose, pre-
vented the Chairman from calling the Speaker to order. Manners, of
Young England celebrity, and Tournament Eglintoun, also addressed
the meeting, in milder terms, certainly, than Looney and Coffey, yet
without making any protest against the sentiments and language of
1 hose gem lemen, which, therefore, it is to be presumed, they adopt.
We trust the Government will not be ill-advised enough to put the
Felonious Speeches Act in force against these extravagant, but, no doubt,
ha-mless spouters. Ministers had better take no notice of them, what-
ever they may say. The followers, or duoes, of Feargus O'Richmond
will soon, perhaps, be talking of gunpowder and ginger-beer bottles, but

+i T I a"'- l'a*k' and even *f tllejr charge their bottles, we feel sure
that they will never be so foolish as to throw any.

the french and their franchise.

The Suffrage-narrowing Bill will pass, 'tis plain,
Ana Liberty is doom'd to Sue in vain.

SPARE, OH SPARE, THAT POLICEMAN.

The axe of economy has found its way into that British type of the
Australian Bush, the Bay of Herne, where the Pier Policeman has been
cut off—(in his prime)—and the place has been put under the control of
that solitary sample of the civil power, the town constable. This indi-
vidual, having now the sole responsibility of the public peace on his
shoulders, has taken to wearing oilskin epaulettes, and has got himself
up with a sort of military air that has a powerful impression on the
simple-minded inhabitants. In order to represent all the ranks of the
force in his own person, he wears a superintendent's gloves, an in-
spector's coat, a Serjeant's waistcoat, and a common constable's trow-
sers. He has laid down a series of regulations for his own guidance,
and his system is such that he keeps himself constantly an fait at all
the duties of all the ranks in thpolice force. He is his own inspector,
and in that capacity he takes orders from himself as superintendent,
while as serjeant he reports himself as private to himself as inspector;
and so on, until he brings himself round once more to the point he
started from.

It is understood that he promotes himself occasionally for good con-
duct, and that he now and then reduces himself to the ranks, in order
that he may learn that lesson of humiliation which is so useful to man-
kind in general, and to policemen in particular. Having no night duty,
he does not require a bull's-eye by way of lanthorn, but he sometimes
indulges in a hap'orlh of bull's-eyes, by way of "keeping up the alle-
gory " with reference to this portion of a constable's accoutrements.

Punch's Notes and Queries.

Note. Rev. Gentlemen: If you were allowed to sell the iron
railings which surround your Cathedral, and convert the proceeds to
your own use, would you be content to give up your twopences P
—Mr. Punch.

Query. How much would the iron railings fetch ?—Bean and Chapter
of St. Paul's.