Punch (29.1855)

162

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

October 20, 1855.

PUNCH'S ILLUSTRATIONS TO SHAKSPEARE.

" What are these ?

So wither'd, and so wild in their attire?" Macbeth, Act i.. Scene 3.

NEW BLOOD IN THE PEERAGE.

The election of a gentleman of the Hebrew persuasion to the dig-
nified office of Lord Mayor of London, will, perhaps, more than
mollifythe opposition which has hitherto been offered by the House of
Peers to the Amendment of Oaths Bill. The noble opponents of that
measure will now probably perceive that public feeling so strongly
demands the abolition of theological tests of eligibility for the function
of legislator, that they will not only consent to the admission of the
fellow-believers of Mr. Salomons into the House of Commons, but
also allow them the capability of reception in another place, amongst
other persons than mere honourable members. Mr. Salomons will, in
less than another month's time, be Lord Mayor Salomons : why
should he not hereafter be Lord Salomons, if he deserves to be, and
the Queen pleases to make him so ? The logical consequence of fitness
for Lord Mayoralty is Ill ness for any other lordship, from the lord-
ship of Barony up to that of Dukedom, except, of course, spiritual
lordship. Noble lord^set great store by lofty lineage; what gentle-
man can boast of a loftier pedigree than those who trace theirs to the
contemporaries, not of William, but of Joshua the Conqueror;
and higher still ?

Lokd Isaac Levy; the Hon. Samuel Moses; Viscount Abra-
hams; the Earl of Bevis and Marks; the Most Noble Jacob,
Marquis of Aldgate ; how are these names inconsistent in the nature
of things with coronets and stars and garters ? His Grace Lazarus,
Duke of Whitechapel ; why must there not exist such a nobleman ?
Is Duke's Place to be understood as so denominated quasi lucus a non
lucendo ?

The Hon. Mr. Moss has left Town for his shooting-box in Hamp-
shire. Lord Cohen is entertaining a select circle at Castle Davis, the
noble Lord's magnificent mansion in Glenbogie. The Hon. Mr. Hyams,
Mr. Mordecai, and Mr. Shadrach, accompanied his Lordship on a
deer-stalking excursion yesterday, and had good sport. The distin-
guished party, with the addition of Sir Solomon Hart, Baronet,
bagged one day last week 250 head of grouse. Why should not these
things be, and be chronicled in the Morning Tost? And why should we

not be gratified by the announcement in the columns of that fashionable
journal, of an approaching marriage in high life between Lord Sloman
and the Hon. Miss Pebecca Aarons, youngest daughter of Lord
Aarons, aud Maid-of-Honour to the Queen ?

Of course, it will not accord with the dignity of noble lords and
honourable gentlemen to sweat sovereigns and to discount stolen bills :
so neither is it consistent with the nobility of lords, and the honour of
gentlemen, to cheat at games of hazard, and be concerned in swindling
turf-transactions.

What shall stop the man who lias passed the civic chair from passing
anything passable by a lay subject ? Prom the category of laymen must
be excluded, of course, all persons who stand related to the Church
similarly with the beadle and parish-clerk. He whom the City has
chosen for its Monarch, may surely be presumed eligible to be any
city's representative—as eligible as anybody else. A Member who is
as fit as any other Member to sit in the House of Commons is clearly
equally fit to be raised to the House of Peers. The Chief Magistrate
of London is a Lord, and of course noble Lords will treat him as one of
themselves—if there is any sincerity in the veneration always expressed
by Lords of the Treasury over their wine—and in vino Veritas—at the
Lord Mayor's Dinner, for the Lord Mayor's office. We may theie-
fore confidently expect that, in conformity with those principles of logic
and justice on'which the Government and Legislation of this country
have always been conducted, the door of the House of Lords will
be forthwith opened to those who share the faith of the Lord Mayor
elect—provided they shall have earned the title to enter them. At
present, those doors, and all other national doors, stand wide open to
anybody making a certain profession of faith—and believing nothing
whatever.____

A Picture op Deseair.—The Russian Bear licking his paws out of
rage that he cannot lick the Allies, or the Turks, or the Circassians, or
anybody else !______

A new Motto for the City Arms.—" Deserted by the Waning
Moon."