Punch (20.1851)

82

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI

A LITTLE BIT OF HUMBUG

Shoemaker. "I think, Mum, we had better make you a pair. You see, Mum, yours

THE POOR MAN'S INTEREST IN THE
EXHIBITION OF INDUSTRY.

I be a bit o' corduroy,

The best o' wear for man or boy;

So prime a piece o' stuff be I,

My mamifact'rer's got permission
To send me up to Town by -'m -by

And show me in the Exhibition.
The 'traction of me, you must know,
Is that I sells so werry low;
Which will, in course,'be wholly lost:
For I maun't tell 'ee what I cost.
I don't depeud on lookin' nice,

Like satins, silks, and filligree :
If people bain't to know my price,

Why, what's the use of showin' me ?

Henry Grattan and Son.

Lord John, in his mauly defence of his pre-
vious political life in favour of Catholic Emanci-
pation, with his no less manful avowal that his
opinions towards Catholicism had changed, seeing
that Catholicism itself was, under all liberal
tendencies and treatment, unchangeable—Lord
John, amidst " cheers ana great laughter," said
he had followed Henry Grattan when "the
name of Henry Grattan betokened great elo-
quence and great public service." And what does
it betoken now ? Much froth, and much fussiness.
To great men, great is the danger of sons,
seeing that they are so often the contrary of
their sires : as much so, as if the white squares

is such a remarkable long and narrer Foot ! " I on a chess-board were the cause of the black.

WRECK OF THE GLASS SHIP.

Some months ago, poor William Ball—the artificer of a beautiful
glass ship—suffered shipwreck somewhere, unless we are mistaken, in
the dangerous roads of Ludgate-hill. A cab drove aboard of the crystal
vessel and smashed it; and as poor William Ball was not insured by
the underwriters, his daily bread—as honestly traded for by his craft—
suffered total shipwreck. The ship was worth about £10; and Ball
got together about one-fourth, of the amount, and with a stout hopeful
heart, set to work to blow and build himself another craft. May it be
more prosperous than the last vessel—

" Built i' tli' eclipse, and rigg'd with curses dark I"

Well, last week, glass-shipwright Ball appeared at Guildhall. He
nad finished his new ship. All he wanted of the magistrate was the
loan often shillings for a glass case to cover the craft. Ten shhlings,
your worship, and William Ball would payback the money in weekly
instalments of 3 s. The money was given—very properly bestowed, a
free gift—and William Ball departed, a richer and a happier man .

There is something fine and touching in the independence and energv
of poor William Ball. There is his ship, shipwrecked, shivered upon
the hard, hungry stones of London- and the shipowner is utterly
ruined. His fate as wretched, hopeless, as any Antonio, or other
" royal merchant," with his argosy wrecked on the Goodwins. But
William Ball plucks up heart, and there is an excellent, good man,
the Rev. Mr. Lyons, of Whitechapel, who helps him with a weekly
two-shillings' worth of bread—unprotected bread, Mr. Disraeli—and
to work goes William Ball, and with the supplementary donation of
ttie Guildhall ten shillings, he has now readv his new glass ship—his
newfrader amid the shoals and straits of London.
_ We really think this is a case for Lloyd's. There is an energetic
independence—a cheerfulness under calamity—as shown by this poor
W illiam Ball, that might teach a useful 'lesson, preach an exalting
sermon to many a rich man, suddenly pauperised bv winds and waves.

V\ e should not at all be surprised, if " a few gentlemen at Lloyd's "
made up a little matter for William Ball, the glass-shipwright, for-
warding the same to him, with their good wishes, "to the care of Sir
Chapman Marshall, Guildhall."

The Great Magnet of 1851.

Many Exhibitors begin to fear that, as long as the Crystal Palace is
tKi\v w great aifficulfcy to induce the Public to visit any other
ISF-'. y cai\ perfectly understand this fear: for, as the Great
™ ls„to contain no less than twenty miles of counters, it is

sure to defy all counter-attraction

MACREADY'S FAREWELL.

Mr. Punch's last advices from Elysium bring intelligence or a great
stir in that quarter. The shade of Shakspeare, with the shades of
i Garrick, Kemble, and Kean, as shades in waiting, will be at Lrury
Lane on Wednesday next, the 26th, on the farewell performance of
Macready. Avery handsome bit of laurel has been provided by Shak-
speare for the occasion; whilst the great spectral actors will have their
tributary bouquets of asphodel and amaranth to dedicate as their offerings.

Were Punch sovereign despot of England—which he has no wish to
be, except on special occasions, and the one he is about to name is cer-
tainly one of the most special—he would exact tremendous bail of
Mr. Macready that he should, in the course of the next summer,
make certain appearances; and if such bail were not given, Mr. Punch
would commit Mr. Macready, under close guard, to—let us say, the
Star and Garter, Richmond, with the range of the Park, sending him with
a guard of honour (and safety) to the Haymarket Theatre, personally to
put in the following appearances, for the instructional^ pleasure of the
several foreign nations, to be represented by their peoples, here in
London, during the Great Show. We ought, at least, to prove what we
can do in tragedy; therefore, Punch would hold Mr. Macready
responsible for such exhibition. Hence, Mr. Macready should play—

Hamlet, for the visitors from Denmark ;

Cardinal Wolsey, to the folks from Rome;

Prospero, to the Milanese ;

Benedict, to the gentry from Messina;

King Lear, to the Ancient Britons, wherever they might come from

Othello and, Iago, to the Moors and Venetians;

Claude Mehiotte, to the ladies from Lyons ;

Richelieu, to our other lively neighbours from Paris; and

Macbeth, (at half price), to all friends from the North.

Of course, the list might be appropriately lengthened; and were
Punch sovereign despot he would lengthen it; as he is not, he must
make the most of the "farewell," and array himself in his best for
Wednesday next, to do farewell honour to Macready, and—no, we will
not despair—for a while to Shakspeare.

A File to smooth Asperities.

The Sheffield Times describes an extraordinary file, which is to be sent
from Sheffield to the Great Exhibition. This remarkable file is adorned
with designs as numerous as those on the original shield of Achilles,
all cut and beaten out with hammer and chisel. How much more
sensible and friendly to show distinguished foreigners files of this sort,
than to exhibit to them files of soldiers !