Punch (67.1874)

December 19, 1874.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

255

REPRESENTATIVE WOMEN.

NOT much new light was thrown upon
the question of Woman’s Suffrage
at a meeting held, Sir Robert
Anstruther in the chair, at the Han-
over Square Rooms, on Wednesday last
week. No doubt, as the Chairman
observed, there is a feeling “ in favour
of the movement, dated,” perhaps,
“ from the speech with which Mr. J. S.
Mill introduced the subject in the
House of Commons.” It may also he
that,—

“ Since that time the tone of the press had
very greatly changed, and the old argument
of woman’s intellectual weakness
had dwindled down into the much
less formidable one of her phy-
sical weakness.”

Whatever may he or not
be the logic of the argument,
that physical weakness dis-
qualifies women for the suf-
frage, that, no doubt, is the
reason why they have not
got it. If women were able
to make menacing demonstrations of physical force, like the
Hyde Park Reformers, would they not have extorted the franchise
too ?

Miss Rhoda Garrett having proposed a resolution affirming
‘ ‘ that the exclusion of women, otherwise legally qualified from
voting, was injurious to those excluded,” thereupon, according to
newspaper report:—

“ Mr. Serjeant Cox, in seconding the motion, said that all the argu-
ments against the granting of the suffrage to women were based upon the
impudent assumption that it was intended to enfranchise every wife and
daughter, which was a monstrous fallacy.”

But if every wife and daughter, otherwise legally qualified, are
not to be qualified for voting, will not the exclusion of those thus
still excluded be injurious to them? What wives and what
daughters should be included among the enfranchised ? Wives
separated from their husbands, and daughters who have left their
homes ? There are estimable women, to he sure, in both of these
classes; but does Serjeant Cox consider the majority of those
independent wives and daughters precisely the particular kind of
persons especially entitled by their peculiar position to he free and
independent electresses ?

ME. PUNCH’S OWN OEPHEONIC EE VIEW.

Vocal Music (oe the Immediate Future).

“ The Perambulating Pieman.” A dashing song descriptive of
the joyous life of a rover. The last verse recalling a dream of the
fairies is particularly rich in melody.

“ Last Thursday Three Weeks.” Sentimental and graceful.
Full of the genuine German sehnsucht.

“ O Feathered Inmate of a Brazen Cage ! or, The Maiden to
her Canary.” Easy and very effective.

“ 0 Dear Me!” Full of feeling. The accompaniment tender,
gushing and full of colour.

“Jimmy.” A sequel to “Molly,” by the composer of “Molly.”
Very coquettish and mournful.

‘ ‘ The Rat- Catcher.” A good bold melody, rather coarsely treated.
The last verse descriptive of the death of the Rat-Catcher’s Grand-
mother is full of movement.

“Milking the Cowslips.” A harvest song. Very fanciful and
quaint. A good study for beginners.

“ Kiss in the Ring, or, The Fairy's Bridal.” Pretty, but a little
commonplace. The poetry is scarcely worthy of the subject,
although the verse devoted to “the umbrellas of lilac Buds” is
certainly both original and clever.

“ Plucking the Holly Leaves.” A thoroughly Christmas song
which is sure to be highly popular at this season of the year : bright
and glowing.

“ The Old Village Pump, or Rosey's Beason. A good example of
a very bad school. Everything in this song is sacrificed to effect.
The music descriptive of the death of the bill-discounter is tricky
and theatrical.

“In the Moonlight Catching Cold.” Decidedly clever. The
passage in the minor key is particularly pleasing. The words are
worthy of the music, although perhaps exception may be taken to

some of the lines descriptive of the Village Postmaster. Perhaps
a little more neutral tint might be welcome.

Instrumental Music.

“Half-hours with the Drum.” Very intricate but not un-
pleasing.

“ To-day with the Trombone.” Some of the movements in A flat
are exceedingly beautiful.

“ To-morrow with the Triangle.” Sound and scholarly—a good
specimen of the use to which a melody in four sharps may he
put by a thoroughly educated Musician.

“ Murmuring s, arranged for the Double Bass.” A very charming
study.

“ Sighs on the Clarionet.” Wanting in colour and insipid.

“ Whisperings from the Bassoon.” Very pathetic and easy. A
capital morceau de salon for amateurs.

FLOWEES OF THE FUTUEE.

“ The Nepenthes, Cephalotus, Pinguicula, Dioncea, and other carnivorous
plants, can also be fed on raw beef, on morsels of which they close, digesting
them with the greatest facility.”—Recent Scientific Announcement.

To the hothouse I hied me excited
To cull a fresh bouquet for Mat.

There were “ over a hundred invited: ”

She wanted “ a beauty.” Delighted,

I worked with my scissors away.

So I clipped off a fine Dioncea,

Took some fresh Cephalotus (it pricks),

A Pinguicula, then,—bright idea !

Some Nepenthes, a flower that Medea
Might have worn at a tea-fight on Styx!

And Mat, when she saw what I brought her,

Said, “ 0 thanks ! ’tis a beauty, indeed ! ”

We danced: just at supper I sought her,

And said, in the slang I had taught her,

“ Suppose that we go down and. feed ? ”

We went. She sat down : ’Tis no fable.

I left her, to fight for some fowl;

When her bouquet—Mat felt quite unable
To hold it—whisked on to the table,

And flew at the ham with a growl!

She screamed—when the fierce Cephalotus
Made a rush for the foie-gras hard by.

A flash of the fearful truth smote us !

The Nepenthes, not seeming to note us,.

Took a plate and went in for game pie !

Dionoea, so harmless in seeming
In a fowl fixed its fangs like a vice,

While Pinguicula (we were not dreaming),

With a tumbler of Moet’s “ dry creaming,”

Washed her vol-au-vent down in a trice ;

Then went in at a salmi of rabbits ;

When a savant (these things were his line)

Remarked, “ How each rushes to grab its
Right nurture ! But plants of these habits
Before they come out ought to dine.”

So now, as a modest beginner—

To a passion for science I own—

Every day, though Mat calls me a sinner,

My new plants have a six o’clock dinner,

And when “ out,” let the supper alone !

Unconsidered Trifles.

“ Consignee wanted for two Elephants, arrived in S.S. Queen Anne, from
Calcutta.”

It is incredibly reported that a few unclaimed rhinoceroses are
also lying in the Docks ; and an authority, whom we have no reason
to believe, has offered to escort us to a warehouse, where a steam-
launch, a lighthouse, a temporary iron church, ana a pack of fox
hounds, are all anxiously awaiting their owners.

Very Special Correspondence.—We look for the fullest
accounts of the Transit of Venus in the Sun and Observer.