Punch (25.1853)

6d

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.


A SKETCH TAKEN AT GOODWOOD

PETITION FROM THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

“ Your Petitioners forbear to enter into the
religious portion of the argument, as they do not
exactly remember the text in the New Testa-
, ment which forbids the walking in corn-fields,
or gardens, or conservatories on the Sunday ; but
your Petitioners are of opinion that your
Honourable House ought to preserve these pri-
vileges as heretofore for Earls, Bishops, and
wealthy members of your Honourable House,
who can afford to keep gardens and conserva-
tories at their private expense.

“ Your Petitioners therefore pray your Ho-
nourable House to protect ‘ their native industry ’
— by keeping the doors of the Crystal Palace
and its gardens closed against the working
classes of London.”

THE CABMAN AND HIS PINT OE
STOUT.—A Table.

A Cabman, being inclined to drink, stepped
into a public-house, and asked for a pint of stout,
which he swallowed at a draught, and in pay-
ment for the liquor laid down a fourpenny piece.
The landlord, who chanced to be serving in the
h,u, being a wag, called after his customer, as
the latter was goine-, “ Hi there, you ! ” to which
the other, turning his head, replied, “ Halloa ! ”
—“ Come, I say ! ” pursued mine host, “ this
here won’t ao ! ”—“ Wot won’t do ? ” demanded
the other.—“Wot?” the landlord repeated;

“wot’s this here?”—“Wot’s this here?” re-
turned the cabman; “why, it’s a fo’p’ny bit,
isn’t, it?”—“Well, and wot then?” cried the
landlord.— “Wot dy’e mean?” retorted the
cabman.—“Wot do you mean?” rejoined the
landlord; “wot dy’e mean this here for?”—
j “Tor a pint o’ stout, to be sure,” was the cab-
i man’s answer.—“ Ho, ho, ho, ho ! ” shouted the
landlord.—“ Wot are yer larfin’ at ? ” exclaimed |
the cabman, in astonishment; “IVpence a pint !
o’ stout—ain't that right! ”—“ 1 s’pose,” replied
| the landlord, “ yer calls yerself a gentleman.”

Here the people who were tippling at the bar-
burst into a loud laugh, which awoke the cab-
man to a perception that the landlord had been
making game of him. “Come, come,” said Bo-
niface, “ I was only chaffin’ you; but now I
hope you’ll see the propriety of takin’ wot
you’re entitled to when you’re offered it, with-
out indulgin’ in superfluous and unpleasant hob-
servations.”


“ To the Right Hon. the House of Commons :

“The Petition of the undersigned sheweth,

“ That your Petitioners are members of the medical profession, and earn their living by
the sale of pills, planters, boluses, black draughts, blisters, powders, and similar commodities,
which are administered or applied to persons suffering from sickness, indigestion, bile,
lowness of spirits, drunkenness, dissipation, and general debility.

“That your Petitioners are deeply interested in the condition of the working classes of
great cities—who toil through excessive hours of labour, and dwell in close, unwholesome
habitations. Your Petitioners have ever found their largest and most valuable practice
among this class of the community—and continue to do so, notwithstanding the miserable
-and abortive attempts of Government, and of weak-minded enthusiasts, to interfere with
their trade—by improving, ‘as it is called,’ the dwellings of the poor, and preaching
against bad drainage, dirt, and drunkenness.

“ Your Petitioners view with alarm and indignation the proposed desecration of the
Sunday, by opening the Crystal Palace and its grounds, at Sydenham, to the people of
London; and cannot but, express their conviction that it would lead to the infliction of
serious loss on the profession of which they are members.

“Your Petitioners humbly call the attention of your Honourable House to the fact that
they derive a very considerable revenue from the following sources, all of which are
threatened to be diminished by the increase of parks, pleasure gardens, and conservatories
for the working classes.

“ Tirst, Prom fevers and other diseases generated by heated and impure atmosphere;
from which even one day’s escape in seven may tend to relieve the present dwellers
in the dark courts and alleys of London.

“ Secondly, Trom adulterated gin and British brandy, which are consumed in vast quan-
tities by a large portion of the aforesaid dwellers in dark places, who seek in these
stimulants some little excitement during their brief repose from the daily labour of life.

“ Lastly, Trom broken heads, bruises, black eyes, &c., all of which require a considerable
amount of medical treatment, ‘both in the hospitals and out,’ on Monday mornings, i

STRIKE OT THE WIVES OE ENGLAND.

Me. Punch has received a letter, written in
a bold feminine style, and sealed with a crest, a
hand-and-patten—a letter, of which the subjoined
are the contents :—

“ At the present moment, when everything is
rising, it behoves the Wives of England to be
up and doing too. There are thousands—perhaps
millions of my oppressed sisters this minute
married to husbands in the human form who,
with a meanness which ought to make them
ashamed of themselves, allow so much and no
more for the expenses of the house. No matter
what are the markets—the weekly allowance is
the same. Bread may rise—butter may go up
—legs of mutton may advance—and still no rise
at home !

“ Therefore, it is desired that all wives suffering
in silence under the yoke of the tyrant will take
their remedy in their own hands ; and strike.

“ All ladies willing to co-operate—that the blow
may be aimed through the cupboards at the hus-
bands on the same day—are requested to com-
municate (post paid) with

“Mbs. Maby Anne Hen.”

“ Shoulder-of-Hutton Fields.”

!