Punch: Punch (91.1886)

November 20, 1886.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

249

A SKETCH FROM THE MIDLANDS.

'Huxloa, Old Chap! Not hurt, I hope?" "Oh, no, no ! Just got off to have a look at the View

« OLD TIMES EEYLTED!"

_ _ n -.fr Richabb Bentley and Son, publishers in

Me. Ptoch thanks Mr. ^ EN for their firgt contribution to
ordinary to Her Majesty w ted b tne ^publication of Albeet
tne Royal Jubilee Year, rep; £e<a ^ one large volume) wita
Smith's Adventures oj jot- ch ig sure that hek geaciotjs
Leech's illustrations, mi.^ mthm and most amusing
Majesty will be deug^ "f t and "genteel," within certain
picture of lite and ag0) in London and Paris, when

middle-class limits, nity>' . turDanS) when young ladies came
elderly ladies wore awe-insp.5 g gentlemen alfeoted satin
out m ringlets and baa^;. ,baIlds over their sleeves, "as if they
stocks, and turned then ^ fl too late f or dinner, and in the
had just washed their hands1 wu ^ „

hurry had forgotten to turn1 wi hod are distinctly traceable to the
Albeet Smith s style ana 1^ k guoll ag the Sketchcs b Boz
influence of Dickens s earlier ^ rf ^
and Pickwick; but in tne uei Mbited a vera 0f humour, which,
he was evidently familiar, ne original and mirth-provoking,

though occasionally extrava0a . J hnsm prodgers Hawkins, and
Such are his ^\Le<lbimj,Jac^ ^ pVoverbs.
the boy Bobwho had been Droug . tions of theatrical life «

Albeet Smith revelled va. w^ ^ „ fesgionalg „ of all gort
the scenes," m sketches ot seu (j ^ ^ Qf suburban

who dub themselves artisu., ^ ag mu(jh tQ narrate ag th
families must have amused w g in these „ small.beer

did his admirers to read, ni h,/mem0Ty JoHNPABEY'sEntertain-
chromcles "recalls to Mr^cw largely to contribute, and on which
ments, to which AlbeetSmithti Qrossmith, and indeed all sub-
Mr. Coeney Geain, . q baye modelled their " social sketches."
sequent popular entertainers, judgment will be passed by

Mr. Punch is curious to iea ^ ^ ^
the Masher, the present last j e Hawkins. Prodgers, Tweak,
student on the doings 01^ „ „ medical studentg anQ
and their friends who were ^ ^ melodramatic t of

fast fellows of half a century■ * ^. ^ lt ^ ^

the story no one will now* j tbeatrical element was its weakest
book was new" the transpou , itQ whom Mr_ Ledhury wag a

part, so much so that M'/.f" ensational scenes, while the fun of the
favourite, had forgotten tnese wu.

comic characters was fresh as ever in his memory, which preserves
all that is worth preserving in its stores, " to be left till called for."

In Mr. Punch's opinion, both early and matured. Jack Johnson
was always an insufferable cad, quite deserving the epithets bestowed
on him by the author's typically good young lady, 3Iiss Ledbury,
who called him to his face ill-bred and mischievous." Would not
Jack Johnson be cut nowadays by even the rowdiest of Stock
Exchange young men, and be voted a cad by every clubbable man
above the class of 'Abet ? For in this quality of " clubbable," and
the value put now upon it, lies the whole secret of the change in our
fast men, mashers, and men about town. The "Jack Johnson" of
Albeet Smith's day would be pilled even in the freest and easiest of
our social Clubs. Before the Early Closing Act, the fast young man
and the man-about-town dined in the neighbourhood of the Hay-
market, and all their amusements from six o'clock in the evening till
the same time next morning, finishing with temporary accommodation
at the station-house, were provided for them within a one-mile radius
of Leicester Square. Coal-holes, cribs, casinos, and "finishes" have
all vanished with the gent, John Johnson, and Mr. Hawkins.

This new edition of The Adventures of Mr. Ledbury, coming out
in the fiftieth year of Hee Majesty's happy reign, will afford much
amusement, and will be read with considerable interest.

Me. Punch congratulates The Lazy Minstrel on the success of his
recent publication. The first edition of his " Lays " (brought out by
Mr. Eishee Unwin) went off with a bang that must have astonished
His Laziness. Not having heard of, or from, the bard for some time,
Mr. Punch hopes His Laziness has quite recovered from the shock,
and that His Laziness is doing nothing with his usual ability.

The late Feedeeick Aechee is called by the Special Correspondent
of the Dublin Sport, " the Star Horseman." Poor fellow! A Star,
indeed!—a shooting star, meteoric, a flash, and—gone! He died
wortli over a hundred thousand pounds, and was the acknowledged
worthy representative of professional jockeydom. He leaves near
relatives to mourn his loss ; and so it will be remembered of him that
he was never in any sense the last of his race. Lord Baeeington died
the same week. One newspaper column was raised to his memory,
contrasting with the hundred columns recording the fame of Abchee.