Punch (19.1850)

iv

PREFACE.

charge of the precious tome. The Elephant is selected as typical of the united strength and gentleness of
Punch—of the power that can root up the upas, or play with a rose-bud.

Volume II. will be carried by an Ostrich. And wherefore ? Is not the pen of Punch as white as
the primest plume of the bird ?

Volume III. upon a Lion—descended in a direct line from the original British; and though, when
roused, pouring forth a roar quite equal to the earliest note of his great progenitor, nevertheless, a Lion in
whom silent magnanimity is the greater quality than noise.

Volume IV. will be consigned to the Hippopotamus : only a just tribute to the good-nature that
redeems ugliness, and turns what would otherwise be a monster, to quite a pet.

And thus, Mr. Punch proposes to lay his Nineteen Volumes on the backs of beasts and birds, too
various for your Royal Highness's patience to be particularised. Suffice it to say, there will be the graceful
Stag, the grisly Bear, the massive Brahmin Bull—ditto John, represented by a distinguished amateur from
Smithfield; the Giraffe, the Alpaca, the Porcupine; and, saving your Royal Highness, the very cream and pith
of the animal m'orld, for the nonce made active members of the Parcels' Delivery Company; and guided and
waited upon by a whole army of riders and attendants,—all of them living representatives of the thousands
of pictorial individuals that at the present moment people the pages of Punch, as thickly as fire-flies burn
in a tropic night.

When the procession shall have reached its Crystal destination, the Nineteen Volumes—to triumphant
blasts of trumpets—will be duly deposited within the shrine prepared for them. A guard of honour, composed
of individuals of all nations—so that all the inhabitants of all the globe shall be represented, clustered around
the marvellous work—shall take their post, to be duly relieved, pending the Exhibition. Already Mr. Punch
has a thousand letters, from writers in every nook of the world, supplicating the enjoyment of such honour.

And thus, your Royal Highness, you may assure yourself—from the admiring and loyal zeal of Punch—
of a new glory for the Exhibition of 1851. And that the thought of it may cast an added light, and impart a
newer pleasure to your yet merrier Christmas, and your still happier New Year,

Is the wish of your Obedient humble Servant,