Punch (36.1859)

January 29, 1S59.J PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 41

Cousin Harriet. "Well, Alfred, will you stop and have some Tea with us?"
Alfred. "Haw! You're vert good, I'm sure; but I've got to take the
Children to see the Pantomime ! "

BARCAROLE.

(To be Sung at the Opening of Parliament by the [Loaves and)
Fish-ermen below the gangway)

Behold liow Bright ly breaks the Session,
Though thin our ranks, our hopes are warm ;

John Bull we '11 stir with loud profession,
The whirlwind rule, and guide the storm.

Put off, put off, by friend and foe,

The gangway long we've sat below;

But let us play our game with care,

The pay we seek, we soon shall share.

Chorus.

Put off, put off, by friend and foe,

The gangway long we've sat below;

But let us play our game with care,

The pay we seek, we soon, we soon shall share

The country's sick of Whigs and Tories;

All save ourselves are fools and knaves -.
A fig for war's expensive glories,

It doesn't pay to rule the waves.
Chorus.—Put off, put off, &c.

When Bright our sun shines in the zenith,

Our Cabinet is ready made ;
Where Cox for Walpole lordly reigneth,

With Gibson at the Board of Trade.
Chorus.—Put off, put off, &c.

While Williams at th' Exchequer frowning,
The pennies saves, till pounds increase;

And Roebuck, in the Street of Downing
His temper shows, to keep the peace.
Chorus.—Put off, put off, &c.

the scarlet petticoat.

Does the Rev. Dr. Newman consider Crinoline as an
illustration of the principle of development ?

Napoleonic Idea.—The Minister who dabbles in the
Stocks ought to be put in the Pillory.

A NICE DISTINCTION.

Dating from Nice, the " Own Correspondent" of the Daily News,
in describing the reception there of Prin ce Napoleon, writes thus ;—

"The arrival of the Prince speedily became known, and much anxiety was dis-
played by the natives to behold the features of the personage whose resemblance to
the Great Napoleon at one period of his life is undeniable. The ladies were of
course desirous to see the Prince, on whom is to be conferred the hand of the
daughter of Savoy. The French refugees in Nice, who are numerous, were likewise
fired with a certain curiosity, for some of their body had the felicity in 1848 of
sharing the benches of the 'Mountain' with the august visitor ; and having par-
taken of the same opinions, employed the same language, and shared identical hopes,
it was but natural that they should embrace this opportunity of welcoming their
former political brother with becoming deference. But the brilliant sun which
illuminates this coast has a peculiar effect on some eyesights ; and the Prince, whose
political sincerity cannot be questioned, was unhappily prevented by this solar
phenomenon from recognising his old political associates."

It is proverbial that there is nothing new under the sun, and the
curious phenomenon which was observed at Nice, has been remarked
elsewhere beneath our solar system. As men rise in the world they
frequently get dazzled by the brightness of their prospects, and in pro-
portion to the height which they attain is the damaging effect which is
produced upon their eyesight. Ascenders of high mountains often find
their eyes affected before they reach the summit; and some ascribe
their blindness to the rarity of atmosphere by which they are sur-
rounded. In the like manner a person who is rising in the world often
gives himself rare airs, and is not seldom forced in consequence to
walk with his eyes shut.

As far as our own solar observations go to prove, it by no means
needs the"brilliant sun" of Italy to cause this optical effect. In fact
no sunshine at all, except the sunshine of prosperity, is needful to
prodiiceit. We have seen great men in England so completely dazzled
by the light of their own presence, that even on the cloudiest of our
November days, they have completely failed to recognise a face the
most familiar to them. Rising men do this sometimes, as well as men
already risen. They carry their heads so high that they can see no-
thing beneath them: just as Prince Napoleon having risen above

the "Mountain," now no longer stoops to look at it. The Mountain
goes to see the Prince, but the Prince is not disposed to the returning
of the compliment. The Prince has other views just now to occupy
his eyesight, and as for noticing the Mountain he " doesn't seem to
see it."

The same phenomenon is visible as well in the political as in the
social atmosphere. We recollect when politics ran higher than they
now do, it was hard to meet a man whose eyesight was not more or
less affected like the Prince's. The blindness to which all were at the
time we speak of subject, was a sort of what has since received the
name of "colour blindness." This, when they met a man of any
other party colour than their own, nine times in ten at least prevented
them from seeing him. A "Blue" passed by a "Yellow" without
noticing his presence, and to both a "Green" was equally invisible.
A like Blindness, no doubt, affected Prince Napoleon, when he failed
to see his old political associates at Nice : for now his eyes are blind
with the Imperial Purple, of course he cannot recognise the revo-
lutionary Red.

From Poll to Poll.

The Sabbatarians, angered at being largely defeated on two separate
polls as to whether the Crystal Palace shall be opened on a Sunday,
intend submitting their next decision to the Dean op Carlisle, in
the hope that this will bring the question of Sabbath opening
effectually to a Close.

serpentine policy.

" Eirst Americanise, then annex," is^ the principle on which Mil.
Douglas proposes to extend the possessions of the Yankee Republic.
Just so the boa-constrictor first strangles and licks its prey all over,
and then swallows it.

The Cockney's Address to the Sea.—" With all thy faults I
love thee still."

Vol. 36.

2—2