Punch (100.1891)

May 9, 1891.]_PUNCH, OB, THE LONDON CHARIVARI._217^

a cidct uicit -rr* -rue " niwcdicc >> hero expected every Englishman (not excluding even those passing

VIS91 ! WAVfclflta. I the Cu8tom House-as the Committee would say) "to do his duty."

11

Shiver my timhers !" said the Scribe. To make the illusion complete, the great sea-captain was observed
Haul down my yard-arm with a marling-spike! " cried the dying in the cock-pit in the agonies of wax. And to think that

Artist. this work was executed by a firm of house-decorators! Why,
And. with these strictly nautical expressions, two of Mr. Punch's \ who would not, after this, have his back drawing-room converted
Own entered the Royal Naval Exhibition, which now occupies the j into the quarter-deck of the Shannon, and his spare bed-room into

larger portion of the grounds of the Military Hospital, Chelsea. : a tiny reproduction of the Battle of Copenhagen!

That eo popular a show should be rr\ .The Scribe and the Artist, on their

allowed to occupy so large a site speaks —L^f visit, were invited by all sorts and

wonders for the amiability of the £=a \— conditions of men to partake of cham-

British Public. When the Sodgeries /■ v / "\ pagrje. The moment it was discovered

appeared last year, it was, so to speak, J ____^=^— that they were "connected with the

with fear and. trembling that "the ^^Xw I Press," the offerers of hospitality were

powers that were" appropriated a little e5o i / \ - ' absolutely overwhelming. But, obey-

of the ground usually over-run by the >? / /M ing the best traditions of their order,

Nobility and Gentry of the Pimlico !j / • " '• J -AJ^% " J\ I they sternly, but courteously, refused

Road and its vicinity ; or, rather, by A-'AA-':''A\ ( \ ,< " Jj I all refreshment. It is fortunate they

their haughty offspring. This year X K 7"~ y^"" j\' ' t i\ pursued this course, for had they

the tough old sea-dogs of the Admi- nnrfflW > - £^ ' l^^^ C^J - Xif - received the entirely disinterested

ralty have had no hesitation in taking ;'' k . >• i c^^% - Am " kindness of their would-be hosts, their

what they required, apparently with- |i, .^M^ImX'■ \ V^~. Al&Am j# D-^X AM recollections of the marvels of the

out causing comment, much less objec- X X^SoisF ffl/fX'^\ Ml Royal Naval Exhibition would no

tion. And the result ? In lieu of the -v \ "•*y)^<|^^m \$§m doubt have been of the haziest charac-

dusty arena of 1890, scarcely large A f™.--[XT\_\ fc>. ^f^-• <;: "5^1 %'■¥% ter imaginable. As it was, they were

enough for a ladies' cricket-match, f W^^AM ' tlk ! ' ? able to take their departure through

there appears in 1891 an enclosure con- , W ^ V^-'' Y ^WAA^Ajf --- the main entrance with some show of

taining lakes and lighthouses, pano- # X^&^^xl b^0/'i/ |yV "" N dignity, and not in a less imposing

ramas, and full-size models of men- .--^T^\ \ 0^^Jwmp \ ' manner (as the Committee— Cook's

of-war! And the Public take their " AA^--—"X, D° ^S^mMi My <r\ Gallery near the Dining-rooms — ho!

exclusion philosophically, either paying " t c ^ D D ,,„,^f^ A^Tw^—-fPn V - ho! ho ! ha ! ha ! ha!—would probably

their shillings at the door, or attempting ri. • . ~. i — / / P' \-^\ and amusingly suggest), by Tite Street.

to get a view of the hoofs of the nautical

horses through the gaps in the but- W^^^^=-- fs^&l~j£B0^' avn-vn. mnu tuwadtato

rounding hoardings. TBKSS^^SsX AMO^G THE IMMORTALS

TheScribeand the Artist, having been "*X^8^^ -\V . Me. Pcnch would be failing in his

ordered by He Who Must Be Obeyed in "*Sfa^w<£^X ~" \. *3 ' ' ''AA/ ^^zzrr^AAzz. duty to Art and the British Public

the world generally, and at 85, Fleet X-^L— \ " X ^ ^ n0^ P^ace on imperishable

Street, in particular, to make a sort of XXX^^XX-—___—i' - - ' record his notes of the exceptionally

preliminary cruise throueh the wonders _ , , _ .. ... \ brilliant Royal Arademy Banquet of

of the (Admiralty) Deep, hastened from Mr" PuDclXs Representative* aftfr partaking of Chelsea lfl8t Saturdav. H.R.H. the Prince of

the inviting grounds into the main Hospitality (a purely fancy sketch). Qne q£ hig begt and

building, with its pictures, its plans, and last, but (it is only just to
say) least, its pickles. The first object that attracted their favourable
attention was a trophy of arms, representing the fashions of the past
and the present. On one side were shrapnel and magazine rifies,
on the other flint-locks and the ordnance of an age long gone by.
Next they passed through the Arctic section, wherein they found
dummies drawing a sledge through the canvas snow of a corded-off
North,Pole. Then they entered the Picture Galleries called after
Nelson and Binbow, wherein magnificent paintings by Powell,
full of smoke and action, served as an appropriate background to the
collection of plate, lent by that gallant sailor-warrior and industrious
collector of well-considered trifles, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.
They glanced at the relics of Trafalgar, and then hurried away to the
Howe Gallery, which, containing as it did specimens of the imple-
ments used in the game of golf, might have as appropriately been
christened the Wherefore. Next they skirted a corridor full of plans,
and here they discovered that the Committee of the Exhibition must
be wags, every Jack Tar of them'. This corridor was close to the
Dining-rooms, and the Committee (ha! ha! ha!) had called it (he!
he ! he!) alter Cook ! (Ho ! ho ! ho !) Oh, the wit of it! How the
Members of the Executive must have nudged one another in the ribs
as the quaint idea dawned upon them ! And how they must have
laughed, too, on the Opening Day, when the Guard of Honour,
presenting arms, and the "Greenwich Boys" singing " Ye Mariners of
P?igland," were drenched in the rain! And what a capital notion
it was on that occasion to put " the Representatives of the Fourth
Estate " (no doubt called by them, with many a sly twinkle of the
eye, "the Press Gang") into a pen that soon, thanks to a series
of water-spouts, assumed the appearance of a tank !

After leaving the Gallfries, the Scribe and the Artist looked up at
the modeFof Eddystone Lighthouse, and entered a shed declared to be
an "Arctic Scene." Here they were reminded by the introduced ship
of those happy days of their boyhood spent in the toy-shops of the
Lowther Arcade. Next they visited the Panorama of Trafalgar, and
revelled in the carnage of a sea-fight that only required Margate in
the distance to be entirely convincing. They glanced at the arena,
and gazed with awe at the lake which is to be devoted to the
manoeuvring of miniature ironclads. It will be interesting to note
whether these mimic combats will hold their own in the coming season
against the introduction of capsized clowns, drenched old women,
and comic police. Keeping the best for the last, the Scribe and the
Artist now entered the model of the Victory—a. really admirable
exhibition. There they saw before them the old battle-ship with its
full equipment, as it was in the days of Nelson—when that deathless

briefest speeches, in which he feelingly alluded to the late Sir Edgar
Boe aw, R. A. Never was the President, Sir Frederick, more eloquent,
or his themes more varied ; for this occasion is noteworthy as being the
first time in the history of this great annual representative gathering
that the toast of Music and the Drama has been duly honoured. Sir
Arthur Sullivan responded for the first, and Henry Irving for
the second. Both made excellent speeches. Sir Arthur's solo was
most effective ; his notes were in his head ; he gave us several varia-
tions on the original theme, and cleverly played upon one word in
saying that music had been "instrumental" on various historical
occasions. Henrt Irving followed suit; he spoke of Mrs. Siddons,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, and of a professional gentleman, one Roscius,
mentioned, we believe, by Hamlet as having been, some considerable
time ago, a man of parts," that is an Actor, in Rome. It was a great
success. Sir Frederick then proposed the Lord Mayor, which may
be briefly expressed as " a toast with a Savory to follow." For "The
Visitors," Lord Justice Bowen, catching sight of the President's
classical picture (No. 232), made a happy hit about the delights of a
honeymoon in the Infernal Regions, ending in the return of Proser-
pine to her mother Ceres by order of the Court above. Finally, the
President, in summing up the losses to Art during the past year, paid
a graceful tribute to the memory of Charles Keene, who, but a
short while ago, was our fellow-worker on the staff of Mr. Punch
With a hopeful allusion to the Storage of Artistic Force in the nea
future, the President concluded ; but this Banquet of 1891 will long
live in the] recollection of all whose privilege it was to be present
on so memorable an occasion.

MUSICAL NOTES.

I say ! Ysaye ! Why say ? Why not say that Ysaye is a grand
Yolinist, since he is this ; and, as ' Arry would observe, "No error!"
and whoever says the contrary, is not speaking the absolute truth,
but " Ysaye Worsay.'' The Yolinist had the advantage of the
co-operation of a fine Orchestra, under the Magic Wand of Conductor
Cowen.

On the 27th, Heard young Jean Gerardy. Little boy, but player
hardy, Not the slightest Lardy-Dardy, Not yet out of care of
"Guardy," Heard him Lundi, not on Mardi, But, whene'er he
plays, your Bardy, Always spry, and never tardy, Will again hear
Jean Geeardy.

General Summary oe Caricatures oe Me. Gladstone.
Coliarable Imitations."

vol, c.

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