DOI issue:
July 28, 1855
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16616#0054
42
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHATtfVARI.
[July 28, 1855.
PUNCH'S ILLUSTKATIONS TO SHAKSPEARE.
" And let tby blows, doubly redoubled,
Fall like amaziug thunder on the casque
Of thy adverse pernicious enemy."
K. Rich. II, Act L, Scene
KING CLICQUOT'S EQUILIBRIUM.
Writing from Berlin the other day, the
Correspondent of the Morning Herald somewhat
startles us by stating:—
" Whatever may be thought of his late vacillating policy
it cannot be disputed that the balance of power is now
resting mainly in the hands of Frederick of Prussia
the position which he occupies being now more than ever
found essential towards preserving the due equilibriumot
Europe."
Whatever may be thought of it by persons not
so well informed, we ourselves have long ex-
pressed but one opinion as to King Clicquot's
"late vacillating policy;" namely, that it has
proceeded chiefly from those exciting causes
which lead from physical to mental vacillation,
and create a staggering of mind as well as body.
With all submission therefore to so (frequently)
elevated a personage, we must confess a doubt
as to his having the balance of power still resting
in his hands. Simply since, we fear, from
vinous agency, his hand has grown so shaky,
that whatever he may once have held must
inevitably by this time have slipped through his
fingers.
In all soberness indeed, we question if King
Clicquot can in any way be looked to for
" preserving the due Equilibrium of Europe,"
seeing it is quite as much as he can do just now
to keep his own.
Musical Intelligence.—Lord John Rus-
sell is in treaty with Dr. Wagner to compose
some Music of the Future for his Reform Bill.
Advice to Fortune-Hunters.—The surest
way to get a legacy is to appear not to want it.
BOLD REFORM OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE.
Wk are in a position to announce, that Her Majesty's Government,
having carefully considered the question of Administrative Reform, are
about to introduce a radical change into every department whatever of
what can in any sense be denominated public service, the Church and
the learned professions being included under that head.
It has appeared to Ministers, that the present system of conferring
degrees and granting diplomas according to proficiency, as tested by
examination, is no longer tenable. They propose, therefore, to put an
end to it in the most expeditious possible manner. They do not intend
to deprive the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Dublin, the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and the
Society of Apothecaries, of the right already vested in them, to confer
honours and licences on those who choose to present themselves to
them lor examination. But they design to extend to other and more
practically competent judges of scientific and professi' ual ability the
power of creating graduates, licentiates, and professo' -. at their simple
discretion.
The Cabinet for the time being is to be authorised to appoint
such as they shall esteem eligible persons, not only to the digni-
ties of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and Doctor of Law, Physic,
Music, and Divinity, but also to the actual vocations and callings of
barrister, proctor, protkonotary, attorney, physician, surgeon, and
apothecary, with full power to practise on the persons of Her
Majesty's subjects, and in her courts, ecclesiastical and civil.
Ministers will also be empowered to select any person or persons for
the service of the Church, and Bishops will have to ordain such
candidates at the peril of incurring the pains and penalties of a
prcemunire. As this arrangement is precisely that according to which
the Bishops themselves have been consecrated by the Deans and
Chapters, H>ey will be unable to offer any reasonable objection to it;
besides, if a Premier is capable of judging of the fitness of a parson to
be a Bishop, much more is he able to determine if a layman is fit to be
a parson.
It is clear to the meanest capacity, that if Ministers can be trusted to
select men for diplomatic service without requiring of them the pro-
duction of any diploma, they may safely be allowed to constitute indi-
viduals, in whose skill, knowledge, and judgment they have confidence,
medical men in the same manner. Eor a medical diploma places a
comparatively small number of lives at the mercy of a practitioner;
but a state-diplomatist has the welfare and existence of millions in his
hand.
The plan, of which the above is an outline, will be shortly submitted
to Parliament. There is little doubt that it will become law. The
agitation out of doors on the subject of Administrative Reform renders
it necessary that something shall be done. Everyone sees that one
uniform principle should govern the appointment to all offices involving
the public weal. This can be managed in two ways: one to throw
open all employments to competition, the other to dispose of them all
by nomination." No doub* the latter will be the more acceptable to
gentlemen whose seats in Parliament have cost them large sums of
money.
A CARD FROM THE PUBLICANS. *
Wanted forthwith a judicious unraveller
Of the horrible mystery, What is a Traveller?
It's proper to state, that the point to explain
The magistrates all have attempted in vain.
According to one, he who travels on one day
Don't travel at all if he travels on Sunday ;
And therefore on Sunday, wherever you roam,
Unless you 're on business, you 're stopping at home.
The publicaus feel it a difficult task
To learn what the law don't allow them to ask,
For the judge has decided they mustn't be cavillers
With any who enter their houses as travellers ;
For these every innkeeper's bound to supply
Without asking questions, although, by the bye,
The law with its penalties has him again,
Unless he can prove what he can't ascertain.
The publican, therefore, is free to confess,
As he mustn't find out and he don't like to guess,
He's prepared to reward the judicious unraveller
Of the horrible mystery, What is a Traveller?
Cave Canem!
It is proposed to direct the drainage of the Metropolis towards
Barking Creek. The name indicates the locality of this spot, for
Barking must be in the immediate vicinity of the Isle of Dogs. We
presume it is felt to be no injustice to the canine species to send all the
filth of London into their neighbourhood, for it is not possible to create
much additional nausea among a class of animals whose usual condition
has given rise to the expression "as sick as a dos."
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHATtfVARI.
[July 28, 1855.
PUNCH'S ILLUSTKATIONS TO SHAKSPEARE.
" And let tby blows, doubly redoubled,
Fall like amaziug thunder on the casque
Of thy adverse pernicious enemy."
K. Rich. II, Act L, Scene
KING CLICQUOT'S EQUILIBRIUM.
Writing from Berlin the other day, the
Correspondent of the Morning Herald somewhat
startles us by stating:—
" Whatever may be thought of his late vacillating policy
it cannot be disputed that the balance of power is now
resting mainly in the hands of Frederick of Prussia
the position which he occupies being now more than ever
found essential towards preserving the due equilibriumot
Europe."
Whatever may be thought of it by persons not
so well informed, we ourselves have long ex-
pressed but one opinion as to King Clicquot's
"late vacillating policy;" namely, that it has
proceeded chiefly from those exciting causes
which lead from physical to mental vacillation,
and create a staggering of mind as well as body.
With all submission therefore to so (frequently)
elevated a personage, we must confess a doubt
as to his having the balance of power still resting
in his hands. Simply since, we fear, from
vinous agency, his hand has grown so shaky,
that whatever he may once have held must
inevitably by this time have slipped through his
fingers.
In all soberness indeed, we question if King
Clicquot can in any way be looked to for
" preserving the due Equilibrium of Europe,"
seeing it is quite as much as he can do just now
to keep his own.
Musical Intelligence.—Lord John Rus-
sell is in treaty with Dr. Wagner to compose
some Music of the Future for his Reform Bill.
Advice to Fortune-Hunters.—The surest
way to get a legacy is to appear not to want it.
BOLD REFORM OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE.
Wk are in a position to announce, that Her Majesty's Government,
having carefully considered the question of Administrative Reform, are
about to introduce a radical change into every department whatever of
what can in any sense be denominated public service, the Church and
the learned professions being included under that head.
It has appeared to Ministers, that the present system of conferring
degrees and granting diplomas according to proficiency, as tested by
examination, is no longer tenable. They propose, therefore, to put an
end to it in the most expeditious possible manner. They do not intend
to deprive the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Dublin, the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and the
Society of Apothecaries, of the right already vested in them, to confer
honours and licences on those who choose to present themselves to
them lor examination. But they design to extend to other and more
practically competent judges of scientific and professi' ual ability the
power of creating graduates, licentiates, and professo' -. at their simple
discretion.
The Cabinet for the time being is to be authorised to appoint
such as they shall esteem eligible persons, not only to the digni-
ties of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and Doctor of Law, Physic,
Music, and Divinity, but also to the actual vocations and callings of
barrister, proctor, protkonotary, attorney, physician, surgeon, and
apothecary, with full power to practise on the persons of Her
Majesty's subjects, and in her courts, ecclesiastical and civil.
Ministers will also be empowered to select any person or persons for
the service of the Church, and Bishops will have to ordain such
candidates at the peril of incurring the pains and penalties of a
prcemunire. As this arrangement is precisely that according to which
the Bishops themselves have been consecrated by the Deans and
Chapters, H>ey will be unable to offer any reasonable objection to it;
besides, if a Premier is capable of judging of the fitness of a parson to
be a Bishop, much more is he able to determine if a layman is fit to be
a parson.
It is clear to the meanest capacity, that if Ministers can be trusted to
select men for diplomatic service without requiring of them the pro-
duction of any diploma, they may safely be allowed to constitute indi-
viduals, in whose skill, knowledge, and judgment they have confidence,
medical men in the same manner. Eor a medical diploma places a
comparatively small number of lives at the mercy of a practitioner;
but a state-diplomatist has the welfare and existence of millions in his
hand.
The plan, of which the above is an outline, will be shortly submitted
to Parliament. There is little doubt that it will become law. The
agitation out of doors on the subject of Administrative Reform renders
it necessary that something shall be done. Everyone sees that one
uniform principle should govern the appointment to all offices involving
the public weal. This can be managed in two ways: one to throw
open all employments to competition, the other to dispose of them all
by nomination." No doub* the latter will be the more acceptable to
gentlemen whose seats in Parliament have cost them large sums of
money.
A CARD FROM THE PUBLICANS. *
Wanted forthwith a judicious unraveller
Of the horrible mystery, What is a Traveller?
It's proper to state, that the point to explain
The magistrates all have attempted in vain.
According to one, he who travels on one day
Don't travel at all if he travels on Sunday ;
And therefore on Sunday, wherever you roam,
Unless you 're on business, you 're stopping at home.
The publicaus feel it a difficult task
To learn what the law don't allow them to ask,
For the judge has decided they mustn't be cavillers
With any who enter their houses as travellers ;
For these every innkeeper's bound to supply
Without asking questions, although, by the bye,
The law with its penalties has him again,
Unless he can prove what he can't ascertain.
The publican, therefore, is free to confess,
As he mustn't find out and he don't like to guess,
He's prepared to reward the judicious unraveller
Of the horrible mystery, What is a Traveller?
Cave Canem!
It is proposed to direct the drainage of the Metropolis towards
Barking Creek. The name indicates the locality of this spot, for
Barking must be in the immediate vicinity of the Isle of Dogs. We
presume it is felt to be no injustice to the canine species to send all the
filth of London into their neighbourhood, for it is not possible to create
much additional nausea among a class of animals whose usual condition
has given rise to the expression "as sick as a dos."