Punch (64.1873)

April 26, 1873.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

177

MATERNAL.

Little Woman {hugging her new Doll). " Isn't she a Darling ? I'd give her

THE SONGS OF SPRING.

I love to flee the sultry throng,
And roam the Solitudes among,
Rejoicing in the wild birds' song ;

There, far away from the guffaws,
Am solaced by the mingled caws
And cackle of the rooks and daws :

Have many a time distinctly heard,
In singing, more than one small bird
A voice articulately word.

The Nightingale throws all away
A warning, meet for them that stray
In towns alone, and live on prey.

For, whether on the prowl, or snug

In pothouse, over pipe and mug,

They hear it not sing " Jug, jug, jug ! "

That word to me suggests no fear
Of Prison, when it strikes mine ear ;
But bids me think upon my beer.

A NOTE FOR NATAL.

| The subjoined telegram from "Washington breathes
vengeance against a horde of murderous and treacherous
I savages:—

" Profound indignation prevails in the army and official circles
| at the assassination of General Canby. The President and
the Cabinet are deeply grieved, and unreservedly sanction the
adoption of the severest measures of retribution. An immediate
movement of the troops on the Modocs has been ordered, and
then punishment will be complete and relentless."

Should this meet the eye of Bishop Colenso, it may
suggest to him the question whether he should not have
thought twice or three times before entertaining an ob-
jection based on the extermination of certain races, and
urged by his inconvertible Zulu. But, in the interest
of humanity, Punch is sternly pleased to hear that the
savages have been driven from their "lava fortress,"

to yoit, only—she's my own !! " and that the American cavalry have had their innings.

ROME AND BOHEMIA.
By accounts from Austria:—

" The provincial clergy of Bohemia have endeavoured to found a Roman
Catholic Bank at. Prague, entitled the ' Bank of St. John,' the management
of which was to be exclusively in the hands of priests. The imperial authori-
ties have, however, declined their assent to the scheme."

It is difficult te imagine what particular objection the Austrian
Government can have had to a bank managed by Roman Catholic
ecclesiastics. The presumption would be, as to probity at least, in
favour of its reverend managers. On the other hand there is equal
difficulty in forming an idea of any special relation that can exist
between Roman Catholicism and banking, unless amongst people
whereof the Protestant bankers were generally rogues, and the
Jewish, for the most part, no better. The only place which denomi-
nationalism has occupied in finance has hitherto been filled almost
entirely by gentlemen of the last-named persuasion; a small part
of it only having been held by Members of the Society of Friends.
Roman Catholic priests, turning bankers, would find themselves in
a position of express antithesis, if not antagonism, to a Community
in relation to whom they, by their own showing, were originally
Protestants. A bank in Bohemia, if the Bohemia were our own,
and not Austria's, would be a rather questionable concern, whether
its directors professed themselves Roman Catholics, Protestants, or
Jews. The Imperial Authorities cannot, to be sure, have con-
founded the idea of a Romanist with that of a P^omany bank among
Bohemians. Some want of confidence, however,_ must have been
the reason why they refused to sanction the banking scheme of the
Bohemian Popish priests. The frustration of that project precludes
a question which might have arisen if they had permitted it. _ Would
the bank instituted by those reverend gentlemen have insisted on
the practice of crossing all cheques ?

Motto eor Anthropological Societies.—" The proper study of
mankind is man."

SOMETHING FOR SIR JOHN LUBBOCK TO DO.

Easter-Monday was not a holiday for everybody, even in the
City. For instance, one of the papers, referring to what was hap-
pening on that day, announced that at the Mansion House the
Aldermen and principal officers of the Corporation dine with the
Lokd Mayor, and afterwards attend Divine Service in Christ
Church, Newgate Street, where the ' Spital Sermon' will be
preached by the Bishop of Salisbury." It must have been a
hard task for the principal members of the congregation to keep
awake, and pay proper attention to the Spital sermon, after par-
taking of the hospitality of the Mansion House, in which this year
there seems to be anything but a falling off. It is sad to reflect that
the Swordbearer, and the Secondary, and the Aldermen who have
passed the chair, may have been caught napping by a Bishop. For
a clear recollection of the discourse we can but look to the
Remembrancer. To prevent the possibility of unseemly conse-
quences, would it not be better in future that the dinner should
follow the sermon, instead of the sermon coming after the dinner ?
An amendment in the Bank Holidays Act to this effect would prove
an immense relief to those meritorious persons whose annual duty
it is to spend part of their Easter Monday at church in Newgate
Street.

Historical.

"We've a book from the pen of old Caleb {ne Cushing),
Which no honest Yankee can read without blushing :
But, taken in joke, it is worth any money,
And "Caleb," we know, was the son of "G. Funny."

A Daring Enterprise.

A rumour has reached us that an influential deputation is about
to seek an interview with the Chancellor or the Exchequer, with
a view to induce him to sanction (at the public expense) an expe-
dition in search of the Lost Tribes.

Vol. 64.

6—2