Punch (29.1855)

7i

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[August 25, 1855

A SOCIETY OF HATTERS.

There seeras to be nothing: for which men will not
associate, for there is no object, however apparently absurd,
in which numbers are not ready to co-operate. Some are
drawn together by the sympathies of the heart, others are
attracted solely by the head, and of the latter c'ass we
may consider the Hatters, who have, it seems, formed a
society. A hat reform has long been wanted, and fre-
quently asked for by the thinking portion of the public,
and we would gladly take off our present hats with a
respectful obeisance to any individual, or to any society
who would give us something more tasteful as a sub-
stitute for the existing order of chapeau. The Hatters*
Society took an excursion the other day to Erith, and
mustered 1800 strong, so that the body is evidently
powerful enough to mould the hat into a new form, and
to crown itself wilh glory, by crowning the British public
with something more sightly than the head-gear which at,
present disfigures the community.

THE RIGHT MAN IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

SEBASTOPOL IN LEICESTER SQUARE.

To see Sebastopol it is not necessary to go abroad • it is enough to
travel to the foreign quarter of London only. This journey has been
performed by ourselves. We have been to see Mr. Bureord's Panorama
ofSebastopol, in Leicester Square, and recommend all our readers who
are within reach of it to do themselves the same pleasure. The London
" season" being now over, there are few places either of instruction or
entertainment remaining open, and this is a place of both. Moreover,
as Bank and Fashion have for the most part left Town, the possibility
of seeing all that is to be seen in the Panorama—to wit, very much—is
likely to be increased by some diminution of the hitherto attendant
crowd of the nobility, gentry, and clergy. There will be less danger
than there has been heretofore of having one's corns crushed by a duke,
of being hustled by an earl, or elbowed about and squeezed by peer-
esses and maids-of-honour, the bulk of a bishop being, in the meanwhile,
interposed between one's eye and the canvas. However, to secure a
good view of the exhibition, it may be advisable to go early in tne
morning, while Rank and Fashion are at breakfast, or late in the after-
noon, when Bank and Fashion are at dinner.

Sebastopol is depicted as firing and under fire, and the first impression
derived from the view of the " beleaguered city," presented by Mr.
Burford, is that of astonishment at the preternatural stillness, com-
paratively speaking, of the scene. Comparatively speaking, because a
considerable noise is being made by Mrs. Major M'Gab, or some other
military lady, who is sure to be present, and to be explaining the
positions of the Allies with commanding gestures, in a loud voice.
Astonishment, because the picture has such an air of reality, and the
smoke of the bombardment looks so particularly natural, as to make you
wonder at not hearing the artillery's roar and the crack of the rifles.

The visitor finds himself situated, with reference to the Crimea, pre-
cisely as, with allowance for change of circumstances, he would be with
regard to London if he were on the top of St. Paul's : except, that the
objects below him do not seem so distant, and that the smoke of the
ordnance does not obscure the prospect like the smoke of the chimneys.
He sees the bays and harbours that surround the Crimean coast, the
Allied Fleets, the enemy's vessels, as many as have not been sunk, and
the mast-heads of those ; and all the forts and batteries—the Mamelon,
Malakhoff, Bedan, Flagstaff, Quarantine, Constantine, Nicholas,

THE LADIES' PEW-COMPANIONS.

A novel is in course of being announced under the title
of Woman's Devotion. We have not, read this woi k, but we
can form some idea of the nature of its contents. Travelling
in an omnibus the other day, we observed an advertisement, I
at the back of the vehicle, offering to the religious public—

" THE GUINEA FAMILY BIBLE, bound in best !
Morocco, with Plates.

" THE HALF-GUINEA VELVET CHURCH SERVICE,
with best Gilt Rims, and Clasps.

" THE HALF-GUINEA FAMILY MOROCCO BIBLE,
with References, Maps, Gilt Rims, and Clasps."

We suppose that these fancy Bibhs and Prayer-books
are designed for instruments of " Woman's Devotion "
The advertisement is, doubtless, particularly addressed to
the more serious s?x, to whose innocent insensitiveness
of incongruity a Bible might be expected to seem as
suitable for trimming as a Bonnet: and the designation of
the Scriptures and the Liturgy by coins of the realm would
not, probably, appear absurd.

Alexander, Star, and so forth : also the encampments of the Allies and the
head-quarters of the Generals, together with a number of other objfets,
which, recalled to his mind's eye, will enable him to read the Times
every morning with the advantage of illustrations.

There is somebody present (besides Mrs. M'Gab) who will oblige
the company with any information they may desire in reference to the
particulars of the Panorama.

It is not too much to say, that those who visit Mr. Bureord's
Sebastopol will see more of that City than they would if they were
stationed before the Czar's : for the Panorama was painted some little
time ago, since when a great many of the buildings represented in it
have been demolished : and we hope the time will very soon enme when
the only correct picture, of Sebastopol will be the accurate likeness of
certain heaps of rubbish.

There is one very important difference between the prospect of
Sebastopol held out by Mr. Bureord, and that afforded by the Govern-
ment—and paid for by the t,ax-payers. The Downing Street one is
rather expensive : that in Leicester Square will cost nobody more than
a shilling.

THE MINISTERS A CUP TOO LOW.

Among the after-dinner doings last week at the Ministerial White-
bait Meeting, was the "presentation of a china cup to Mr. Hayter."
The reports do not inform us whether the china cup was a tea-cup, a
coffee-cup or an egg-cup ; but whichever of the three it may have been,
the material—which is in every respect the material point—was of a
brittleness which does not say much for the confidence of the donors in
the stability of the Ministry. Of course the gift was considered to be
appropriate, and we hope therefore that the china was without a flaw,
for if otherwise it might be said that the Ministry is slightly cracked, j
or that there is a split in the Cabinet. We have seen no account of the
speeches delivered on the occasion, nor indeed would it have been quite
fair to report exactly what the Ministers over their cups may have
uttered. We cannot help feeling that Mr. Hayter deserved some-
thing more than a mere china cup for the services he has performed ;
and we think everybody will admit, that if his colleagues could not have
gone the leugt-k ®f giving him a tea-pot, they might at least have made
it a milk-jug.