Notes the successful laying of an Atlantic telegraph cable between Britain
and the United States, an outbreak of cholera in London, and a 'great meteoric
shower' in November 1866 ([vi])
[2] Notes
Subjects:
Engineering, Telegraphy, Government, Patronage, Medical Practitioners,
Public Health, Societies, Military Technology, Railways, Astronomy, Industry,
Gender
Begins by noting how 'provident and philosophical alarmists' have urged 'the
Legislature' to consider England's dwindling coal measures, but then
concentrates on the future of the nation's 'superficies'. Argues that with the
present growth of factories and population, the 'face' of the earth, as well as
its 'bowels' will be 'used up'. Anticipates that the surface of England will
become a 'hotbed studded with aggregations of bricks and mortar' and spoiled by
factory smoke, and that the 'country may be completely spoiled long ere the
coal that sustained its progress is nearly gone'. However, the author expresses
his confidence in the discovery of solutions to these problems: he anticipates
the discovery of a cheap way of storing atmospheric electricity and the
adoption of a system of 'vertical elevation instead of lateral extension' in
buildings. The higher these buildings rise, he concludes, 'the less will
Posterity be troubled with any amount of smoke which it may be unable to
consume'.
The article begins with an explanatory note: 'The declaration of war
between Austria and Prussia was exchanged on the 18th of June [a reference
to the Austro-Prussian war of 1866], the anniversary of the Battle of
Waterloo'. Describes the observations of a battle-weary 'England' in the
aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo. Represents the warring European nations as
eagles that 'England' sees grappling 'stark, / For life and death, with beak
and claw', then 'bind / The conquered Eagle [France], as he lay, / Baffled and
bleeding, bruised and blind', and later, sitting 'grave and grim, / To rend
[...] "freed" Europe, limb by limb'.
Crime, Disease, Health, Hospitals, Mental Illness, Quackery,
Class
A description, and implicit criticism of, the inhumane methods adopted in
Britain for treating criminals. Describes how the criminal is confined in
overcrowded sick wards where he is exposed to the diseases of 'the asthmatic
and consumptive' and to the 'beds of paupers dying of infectious cholera or
fever'. He is propped up with hard pillows taken from a death bed and given
'physic by hap-hazard, measured by the rule of tipsy', and in general allowed
to 'slowly rot to death'.
Shows a young woman approaching her mother in a parlour. The mother
disapproves of her daughter's plans to visit the
Zoological Society GardensZoological Society of London —Gardens
CloseView the register entry >>
because she does not like 'people looking at beasts on Sunday!'. She finally
gives her consent, however, when her daughter points out that people go there
to 'look at each other'.
Addressing an imaginary friend, the old smoker offers advice on how to cure
such complaints as gout and rheumatism, arguing that 'a wife', a 'ministering
angel in the time of trouble', is the solution to the problem.
A representation of the activity surrounding the launch of Coles's
turret-ship from
Portsmouth
DockyardRoyal Navy—Portsmouth Dockyard
CloseView the register entry >>. Each image has a caption which is written in
pseudo-Middle English. In the centre sits a smiling Cole on his 'Tvrret
Shyppe'. Beneath his ships sit four lords of the
AdmiraltyAdmiralty
CloseView the register entry >> 'tvrning
their backs' on Cole: they look worried by his activities—an allusion to
the Admiralty's resistance to Coles's turret-ship. On the right hand side,
several ships are seen carrying giant cannon balls and gunpowder, while on the
left the passengers of a pleasure yacht are crushed by a cannon ball fired from
one of the ships. Several people stand on a pier observing this activity
through telescopes. At the bottom, several smaller vessels are seen carrying
such dangerous substances as 'Gvn Cotton and Nitro-Glycerin', and 'Lvcifere
Matches'.
Shows a young girl standing before her mother who sits on a chair in a
drawing room. The mother asks her daughter to identify 'the first man' and 'the
first woman'. Learning from her mother that the correct answer to the first
question is 'Adam', the girl suggests 'Madam' as the answer to the second.
Discusses an article describing how the
General Board of
Commissioners in Lunacy for ScotlandGeneral Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland
CloseView the register entry >> reported a case of a man
brought to a lunatic asylum on the grounds that he had 'a great desire to
appear conspicuous as a musician'. Punch thinks this is why Scotland has
'never produced a great composer'.
Begins by welcoming
John Hawkshaw'sHawkshaw, Sir John
(1811–91)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
proposal to construct a tunnel under the English Channel. Calls for
advertisements to be 'got ready at once' bearing the message 'NO MORE
SEA-SICKNESS!'. Suggests numerous features to be placed in the tunnel,
including trees, a hotel, fresh water lakes and birds, and envisages that the
tunnel could be made of glass so that passengers could see 'the wonders of the
deep outside'. Concludes by hoping that Hawkshaw's '"boring" will be
satisfactory' and as a postscript adds a song which further praises the
advantages of the tunnel over Channel crossings by sea.
Discusses a report in the 'Scotch papers' of a cow which, on attempting to
open the doors of a Montrose jail, was 'ill-used' for infringing the Rinderpest
laws. Believes this is 'touching proof of the progress of intelligence among
the inferior creation' but thinks the cow should be treated kindly because it
has more sense than the 'framers' of the Rinderpest regulations.
The initial letter forms part of an illustration showing three
breech-loading guns, two of which stand on small human legs and have military
hats over their barrels, while the third gun hangs on a nail with its barrel
open. The article describes Mr Punch's visit to a camp at Wimbledon where he
inspected the skills of riflemen. Notes how Mr Punch held 'some conversation
with himself on the subject of the needle-gun [a new type of rifle invented by
Johann N von
DreyseDreyse, Johann Nikolaus von
(1787–1867)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> in Prussia] and breechloaders in general' and concluded that
the 'ramrod' would be scarce in the following year's meeting at Wimbledon.
Later notes Mr Punch's explanation of the greater efficiency of a breech-loader
compared with a muzzle-loader.
Sung to the tune of 'The Dog's Meat Man', this song begins by praising the
formidable power of the new 'Prussian Rifle', a weapon that 'Has to be loaded
at the breech; / Five times for each mouth-loader's one' and which can 'knock
over men like fun'. Proceeds to explain how the gun gave Prussia a 'murderous
advantage' in its recent war with the 'Danish states', and warns of the dangers
posed by the weapon for a similar invasion of England by a 'tyrant-thief'.
Notes how the weapon helped Prussia's 'execution [...] upon Austria' and
concludes by questioning whether England can equal this weapon and by warning
that the 'skill at Wimbledon' (see
Anon, 'Mr. Punch at Wimbledon', Punch, 51 (1866), 31) is not enough to withstand the new
gun.
Utilitarianism, Class, Politics, Government, Crime, Health, Disease,
Nutrition, Animal Behaviour, Cultural Geography, Medical Treatment, Medical
Practitioners
Noting the fall from office of the 'champion of Reformers',
William E
GladstoneGladstone, William Ewart
(1809–98)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, argues that 'though nothing can be done now towards
reforming of the
House [of Commons]House of Commons
CloseView the register entry >>, surely
something may be done towards reforming of the Workhouse'. Laments the fact
that in England 'we really treat our paupers worse far worse than our
criminals', comparing the 'half starved' paupers to the well-fed 'gaol-birds'.
Condemns the governors of workhouses and the practice of killing the poor in
'foul rooms' as behaviour comparable to that found in 'savage nations'. Hopes
the 'Tory besoms' that form the new government will 'sweep clean' the
workhouses and ensure that the poor are given better food and medical treatment
by competent and sober nurses.
Suggests that an 'enterprising showman' could dress monkeys in the 'cloths
affected by the ritualists' and exhibit them in 'the various districts infested
by parsons who ape Roman Catholic priests'.
Utilitarianism, Class, Health, Government, Politics, Medical
Treatment
Discusses a report of a meeting of the
St Pancras Poor Law UnionSt Pancras Poor Law Union
CloseView the register entry >>
who considered a proposal to hire a paid nurse to help relieve the sick wards
of its overcrowded workhouse. Believes that the 'benediction of
Saint PancrasPancras, Saint
(d. 304)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>'
will be conferred on the 'master, the committee, and the surgeon of the
parish', but that the same saint will not be pleased to learn that the poor-law
guardians narrowly voted that the subject of the proposal be postponed, and
that this result owed much to the fact that the 'Bumbles' were attending a
feast rather than considering this important business. (The reference is to the
parish beadle Bumble in
Charles
Dickens'sDickens, Charles
(1837–96)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>Oliver Twist[Dickens, Charles
John Huffam] 1838. Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's
Progress, 3 vols, London: Richard Bentley
CloseView the register entry >>.)
Wishes St Pancras would 'strengthen' Prime Minister
Edward G G S
Stanley (14th Earl of Derby)Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th
Earl of Derby
(1799–1869)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> in his 'determination to effect a
Workhouse Reform', and urges the need to stop such evils as the 'ulcers and
bed-sores' suffered by paupers and the 'barbarous procrastination' of the poor
law guardians.
Represents the problems encountered by Mrs Trott on her voyage from London
Bridge to Chelsea by steamboat. She is involved in numerous mishaps including
being crushed by the funnel of the vessel.
Steamships, Military Technology, Cultural Geography, Progress,
Patronage, Technology, Government, Politics
Reflects on news that the American ship, the
USS
MiantonomohUSS Miantonomoh CloseView the register entry >>, has crossed the Atlantic. Believes that by the
time England has built a similar vessel, the Americans will have invented a
'diving-boat' and 'huge steam-rams' to sink such vessels. Suggests that the
Americans 'will doubtless be wiser than to throw away powder and shot on
experiments on gunnery on vessels that show but six inches above the water',
and adds that the Americans may 'buy the idea' of their new 'contrivances' from
'an Englishman who will have had the offer of it rejected' by his countrymen.
Concludes by hoping that war does not break out between England and America in
which the latter would have the advantage.
Notes a debate on the
British
MuseumBritish Museum
CloseView the register entry >>, asking when 'the black-beetles, toads, and lobster shells'
will be ejected from it, and later notes the announcement of the laying of the
'Atlantic Telegraph' to America (48).
Exploration, Discovery, Miracle, Religious Authority,
Religion
Discusses a
Morning
PostMorning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet
(1772–1900+)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >> report that the proposal of a 'French prelate' to have
Christopher
ColumbusColumbus, Christopher
(1451–1506)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> canonised may be blocked by the Congregation of Rites
because the explorer does not meet the requirement of 'having performed three
well authenticated miracles'. Considers Columbus's discovery of a 'new world'
to be 'probably as great a miracle' as any performed by a saint, and the
explorer's conversion of the new world to Christianity as well authenticated as
any miracle. Having listed two 'miracles' performed by Columbus, the writer
ironically claims that his third was 'making the egg stand upright'.
Begins by upholding the 'salutary' experience of walking through hospitals,
an act that 'induces pity and compassion' and refinement of the mind. Wonders
whether kings and emperors would have their minds refined by the sight of
suffering, and urges that they should walk through hospitals where they might
rethink their plans for war. Draws attention to the villages of Germany, where
'thousands of creatures' lie slain from sword and gun wounds, and wonders
whether the hearts of kings and emperors would be softened by this harrowing
sight. This is a response to the bloody 'Seven Weeks' War' in which the
Prussian army attacked Austria and the German states who were hostile to the
attempt of
Otto E L von
Bismarck (Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen)Bismarck, Prince Otto Edward Leopold von, Duke of Lauenburg
(1815–98)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> to create a new German
confederation.
Politics, Government, Disease, Medical Treatment, Medical
Practitioners, Homeopathy, Analogy
Putatively extracted from 'Mrs. Politic's Random Recollections', this
describes the great reforms to the British 'Constitution' as if they were
treatments administered to the diseased Mr Constitution by various reformist
statesmen. Explains how old Constitution was 'the son of a Carter [a reference
to the Magna Carta]' and that, owing to his weakness of the 'chest [treasury]',
'two celebrated physicians,
DR.
GREYGrey, Charles, 1st Baron Grey, 1st Viscount Howick,
and 2nd Earl Grey
(1764–1845)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> and
DR.
RUSSELLRussell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell
(1792–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>', 'put him on poor man's plaster [a reference to
the Reform Act of 1832]' and finally 'brought him round'. Explains that years
later 'old Mr. Constitution' suffered greatly from weakness of the 'chest', and
that this time Dr Russell and his 'assistant'
Dr
GladstoneGladstone, William Ewart
(1809–98)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> urged that the patient have a 'much stronger and bigger'
poor man's plaster. However, Mr Constitution's 'rich relations' protested that
he was not weak of the chest, which caused Russell and Gladstone to 'throw up
the case'. Describes how
Dr
DerbyStanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th
Earl of Derby
(1799–1869)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, who 'practises homeopathy' and gives 'very small doses' [i.e.
gradual political measures], and
Mr
BenjaminDisraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
(1804–81)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, stood by the bedside of the sick old Mr Constitution. Mr
Benjamin heard a 'skeleton in the House', groaning outside the sickroom, but Dr
Derby observed: 'we had better keep our places [in government]' and merely
'cut' the 'knot in the curtains'.
Punch, 51 (1866), 55.
The Missing Link Found. The First Message of the Atlantic
Telegraph—Friday, July 27, 1866
Telegraphy, Technology, Electricity, Politics, War, Internationalism,
Commerce
Institutions mentioned:
Atlantic Telegraph Company
Written from the perspective of an Irishman who offers a 'word to John Bull
[...] from the little Glass-house' in Foïl-hummerum Bay'—a
reference to the telegraph station of
Richard A
GlassGlass, Sir Richard Atwood
(1820–73)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> on the West Coast of Ireland from which the Atlantic telegraph
was laid. He describes how the 'Sthripes and the Stars [...] laughs at bould
Neptune's broad back laid between' the Old World and the New, and 'sets the big
battheries a blaze at long range, / that makes friends out of foes wid each
shot they exchange'. Notes that Neptune's back has been made 'Mighty sore'
after being 'probed by deep sounding lead', and his sleep has been 'spoilt wid
wires laid the length of his bed'. Toasts the various ways in which the
Atlantic telegraph has united Britain and the United States, noting how 'they
pass rate of markets, and news o' the day, / As if Atlantic was out o' the
way', and 'free to shake hands' like 'neighbours' across a street. Thinks that
'John Bull' has 'ould Ireland' to thank for this accomplishment and hopes that
the latter will also cause greater harmony between Britain and Ireland. Points
out that although Ireland was seen as the country that would bring the
'Yankees' and subversive Republican politics to Britain, it brought Yankees
'for Peace not for War' and that the telegraph cable 'fastens the anchor of
Hope'. Concludes by praising the good-will that can be 'flashed' through the
telegraph between Ireland, Britain, and the United States.
Describes how the author related details of the 'Battle of Sad'war' [a
reference to the battle of Sadowa, which was one of the decisive conflicts of
the Austro-Prussian War] to his uncle who is an aged and conservative
sergeant-major. His uncle mocks the alleged capabilities of the Prussian
breech-loading needle-gun, which wreaked such havoc on the Austrians, and
upholds the powers of the Brown Bess rifle.
Disease, Government, Politics, Public Health, Sanitation
Written from the perspective of King Cholera, who begins by calling for a
clear path for his 'cold blue scythe of Death' and for the 'incense of wasted
breath' on which he flourishes. Reveals that it is 'BUMBLE THE
GREAT', not 'Filth, Stench, Hunger, or Cold', who is King Cholera's
'right hand'. His 'peals' for 'anti-centralisation' and 'penny-wisdom' arms
Cholera's hand, he has caused the 'open water butt' to 'drink the breath / Of
plague', and his 'flabby heart and leaden skull [...] keep the rates down and
the dead-house full'. Concludes by hoping that Bumble and his 'Local
Self-Government hobby' will continue to promote his evil enterprise. (The
reference is to the parish beadle Bumble from
Charles
Dickens'sDickens, Charles
(1837–96)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>Oliver Twist[Dickens, Charles
John Huffam] 1838. Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's
Progress, 3 vols, London: Richard Bentley
CloseView the register entry >>.)
Introduces 'Conservative' and 'Liberal' accounts of the same
'Reform meeting at the
Agricultural HallAgricultural Hall, Islington CloseView the register entry >>'.
These reports are printed in parallel columns as if they were images to be
viewed through a stereoscope.
Shows Neptune wrapped in lengths of the recently laid Atlantic telegraph
cable, rising out of the Atlantic. On the right, Britannia stands with her
shield and bow lowered in an apparent gesture of peace. On the left, Brother
Jonathan (the personification of the United States of America) kneels in
respect on the distant shores of the United States. Britannia and Jonathan
receive the blessing of the 'Heavy Father' [because laden in iron cable] of the
sea for reconciling each other with the telegraph.
Punch, 51 (1866), 65.
The Gods and Little Fishes; or, Whitebait at Greenwich
Denies the claim that the 'fern-seed' confers the 'gift of invisibility' but
explains that by wearing a 'seedy suit' 'your acquaintance will pass you [in
the street] without seeing you'.
Discusses an apparently confusing report of a man accused of murder which
stresses that the accused appeared to be 'dogged and indifferent' but that his
appearance did not suggest 'an absence of a low order of intellectual faculty'.
Insists that the appearance of somebody with a 'dogged' demeanour does not
indicate low intellectual ability, but on the contrary suggests high
intellectual ability. Argues that the report should have stated that despite
having a 'dogged' demeanour, the appearance of the accused 'did not betoken an
absolute idiot'. Concludes by suggesting that if the 'physiognomist' quoted
meant to argue that such criminal features as 'thick neck' and 'peculiarly
hanging beetle brows' were signs of intelligence then he should 're-edit
LAVATERLavater, Johann Kaspar
(1741–1801)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>'.
Government, Politics, Public Health, Sanitation, Military Technology,
War, Disease, Supernaturalism, Religion
Discusses the progress of a public health bill, which Mr Punch hopes will
thwart 'any vestryman, Blackguardian, municipal councillor, beadle or other
obstructive'. Notes
Gathorne
Gathorne-Hardy'sGathorne-Hardy, Gathorne, 1st Earl of
Cranbrook
(1814–1906)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> reassurances that the 'new Health Act would do
good' and that local authorities would have their powers 'transferred' if they
failed to deal with problems of public health. Notes Gathorne-Hardy's proposed
bill for dealing with those local authorities that neglect sanitation problems
and urges that the bill should be framed in the expectation that authorities
will have failed do their duty in the interim. Later notes remarks made by
John S
PakingtonPakington, John Somerset, 1st Baron Hampton
(1799–1880)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> (the first lord of the
AdmiraltyAdmiralty
CloseView the register entry >>) on the
'unsatisfactory condition' of the
Royal NavyRoyal Navy
CloseView the register entry >>, including the small number
of ships ready for emergencies. Also reports the communication (by
Frederick Thesiger
(1st Baron Chelmsford)Thesiger, Frederick, 1st Baron Chelmsford
(1794–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>) of messages from
Queen VictoriaVictoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India
(1819–1901)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
who 'Deplored the Visitation of the Cholera', gave 'directions for Prayer', and
'cordially approved Legislative remedies that had been provided'.
Nationalism, War, Military Technology, Steamships, Progress,
Commerce
Ironically upholds the reign of Britannia over the sea while describing the
deficiencies of Britain's
Royal NavyRoyal Navy
CloseView the register entry >>. Notes
that while Britain is now using iron to clad its ships it has no 'sea-walls',
but that Britannia is still 'Queen of the Sea'. Points out that although
Britain has far fewer ironclads than 'Other nations' and has spent 'seven
millions' on apparently useless naval 'experiments', Britain is more vulnerable
to attack but still reigns the sea. Concludes by hoping that 'with all maritime
Powers, / That we still shall contrive to agree, / Whilst creating a fleet, /
Fit their navies to meet'.
An implicit criticism of some of the reasons for the delay in the appearance
of Britain's 'Fleet of the Future'. It begins by anticipating that this goal
may be reached when the 'great case of COLES v.
REED has been tried'. This is a reference to
Cowper P Coles'sColes, Cowper Phipps
(1819–70)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
conflict with
Edward J ReedReed, Sir Edward James
(1830–1906)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> over
the design of naval warships: Coles favours guns mounted on armoured 'cupolas',
whereas Reed prefers guns situated behind a ship's armoured 'broadside'. Notes
the conflict between those who want better armour plating and those who argue
for improved guns, the battle between 'Wood and iron, armour and none', and the
conflict between those who favour the
MonitorMonitor, ship CloseView the register entry >> [an
American ironclad] design and the
HMS
AchillesHMS Achilles CloseView the register entry >> [a British broadside ironclad] design. Proceeds to
criticize the fact that this futuristic fleet is invisible and 'always about to
be', but fails to appear despite the expenditure of 'millions', the meetings of
'Board after Board' of the
AdmiraltyAdmiralty
CloseView the register entry >>, and the
apparently vain efforts of
Clarence E
PagetPaget, Lord Clarence Edward
(1811–95)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
Edward A St Maur (12th
Duke of SomersetSt Maur [formerly Seymour], Edward Adolphus, 12th Duke of Somerset
(1804–85)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>),
James
StansfieldStansfeld, Sir James
(1820–1898)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, and
Hugh C E
ChildersChilders, Hugh Culling Eardley
(1827–96)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. Asks whether the fleet will appear when the 'Dockyard
waste is at an end' or 'When we set ship-builders to building of ships', and
thinks this will only happen when 'bungling' and 'ignorant' naval officers
'learn / A little about the vast concern'. Concludes by lamenting the fact that
John Bull will have to sustain 'Routine' leading 'Common Sense / Through the
quicksands of waste' and the 'slough of expense' and create a new 'Admiralty
Augean' before the new fleet is seen.
Inspired by the plot of
Sheridan 1781Sheridan, Richard
Brinsley 1781. The Critic; or, A Tragedy Rehearsed: A Dramatic
Piece in Three Acts, As it is Performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane,
London: T. Becket
CloseView the register entry >>, this shows
Tilburnia, daughter of the governor of Tilbury fort, pointing over some
battlements to the sea, and looking apprehensively at the First Lord of the
AdmiraltyAdmiralty
CloseView the register entry >>. Tilburnia
claims that she can see the 'fleets approach', but the first sea-lord warns her
that 'The British fleet thou canst not see—Because it is Not yet in
sight!'. Similar to
, Anon, '"The Critic" (Slightly Altered)', Punch, 51 (1866), [73], this criticizes the perpetual delays
to the completion of a new British fleet.
Societies, Medical Practitioners, Physiology, Discovery
Discusses news of the establishment of the 'Sydenham' medical club—a
reference to the
Sydenham
SocietySydenham Society
CloseView the register entry >>. Criticises the founders for naming their club after
Thomas
SydenhamSydenham, Thomas
(1624–89)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, whom they regard as the 'celebrated Physician of the time
of
CHARLES THE
FIRSTCharles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
(1600–49)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>'. Insists that the society should have been called
the 'Harvey Club' since
William HarveyHarvey, William
(1578–1657)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
was the 'discoverer of the circulation of the blood' and is a 'greater name'
than Sydenham. Adds that this title would have stopped people nicknaming the
society 'The Seventeen-six'.
Begins with two epigraphs. The first, from
Horace'sHorace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
(65–8 BC)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> Pindaric Ode on the
myth of Icarus ( '—Vitreo daturus / Nomina ponto'), refers to the fact
that Icarus gave his name to a 'glassy sea'. The second reads 'CANNINGCanning, Sir Samuel
(1823–1908)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
to
GLASSGlass, Sir Richard Atwood
(1820–73)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>', which was the first
message sent through the Atlantic telegraph cable, and was reported in
The TimesThe Times
(1777–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>.
Playing on the name of the telegraph projector Glass, the poem begins by
lamenting the fate of Icarus who was given wings by Daedalus but because 'Fair
Science' was then 'weak in infancy', fell to the 'glassy wave'. However, it
explains how, after 'centuries' there appeared a 'full-armed Goddess [...]
strong with diviner will', and that 'another' Daedalus 'comes, to join / Two
worlds in one magic chain [the telegraph]'. Concludes by noting how 'all the
world' hails the 'sea of peace, the Sea of GLASS'.
Asks why 'obsolete old wooden yellow hulks' are left rotting in naval
dockyards, pointing out that such vessels are useless in the face of such
warships as the American ship,
USS
MiantonomohUSS Miantonomoh CloseView the register entry >>, and that they are too expensive to paint.
Begins by noting
Gathorne
Gathorne-Hardy'sGathorne-Hardy, Gathorne, 1st Earl of
Cranbrook
(1814–1906)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> assurances that 'Local Self-Government' would be
put on trial if it could be shown to be causing 'inhumanity' to sick paupers,
but insists that Gathorne-Hardy and John Bull disagree about the 'mode of
trial'. Proceeds to note several cases of cruelty brought against Bumble for
inhumanity to sick workhouse paupers. (The reference is to the parish beadle
Bumble in
Charles
Dickens'sDickens, Charles
(1837–96)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>Oliver Twist[Dickens, Charles
John Huffam] 1838. Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's
Progress, 3 vols, London: Richard Bentley
CloseView the register entry >>.)
Reveals that in a recent trial of a poor law union guardian, the public jury
found him guilty of 'grossest inhumanity'. Criticises Gathorne-Hardy's proposal
to have juries of Bumbles deciding cases of Bumbles, a situation that it
expects will result in the acquittal and 'whitewashing' of the guardians.
Presents an extract from the trial of a Shoreditch poor law guardian accused of
severe misconduct towards a sick pauper, and considers the trial of this
guardian by his colleagues to be a 'farce'. Urges that Mr Punch calls for 'a
new trial' in the Shoreditch inquiry, a trial in which Bumbles would take no
part except as witnesses or as the accused.
Beginning with the conventional assertion that the shoemaker's wife 'is
always the worse shod woman in the world', the writer laments the fact that
'All the maritime nations of the earth are armed with iron-clads designed by,
or after
Cowper P ColesColes, Cowper Phipps
(1819–70)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
and most built in British Dockyards', and that Britannia is even behind Brazil
in 'naval armaments'.
Sanitation, Instruments, Public Health, Exploration, Patronage,
Government
The initial letter forms part of an illustration showing an Egyptian
hieroglyph depicting a woman blowing into an instrument for spraying a mist
(possibly an antiseptic fluid). The author relishes news that
James A GrantGrant, James Augustus
(1827–92)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> has
been made a Companion of the Bath, but suggests that this honour would have
been better conferred on the sanitation reformer
John SimonSimon, Sir John
(1816–1904)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> who could
'enforce the Order of the Bath' on people constituting nuisances 'by a neglect
of ablution'.
Notes
James
Glaisher'sGlaisher, James
(1809–1903)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> claim that a 'blue fog' that he has discovered at
Greenwich might be the cause of cholera, although Punch thinks 'blue
funk' is a more likely cause.
A commentary on
William R
Grove'sGrove, Sir William Robert
(1811–96)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> presidential address to the meeting of the
British
Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >> at Nottingham. Begins by
noting the wide domain of the sciences discussed by Grove, including the way
that science 'Pokes his fingers well under the Earth's crust', 'Pulls Geology's
plums from their dust', 'Treads, serene, æther's luminous field with an
eye above fancies or fallacies', 'Puts star-light through spectrum-analysis',
and 'Shows the Universe in its simplicity', reducing life to 'Cell, plus
the power of so many horses'. Proceeds to explain how Grove's reductionist
claims would be received in some quarters. Warns that while 'spectra and
forces' have settled the question of the constitution of matter, 'weak people'
will still ask 'who made it?' and, 'Not content with cell-matter and
force', 'insist on some primum mobile'. Describes how Grove
anticipated such objections and dealt with nature's 'ends' and 'beginning',
explaining that he traced the growth of an elephant from a cell 'Under
pressure, by process Darwinian. Believes that this is at least as shocking at
that of a 'ready-made elephant / Bringing his truck from the heart of a rock'
or 'wringing' its tusks from a 'hollow-tree', and concludes by siding with the
'weak people', by upholding the things in 'heaven and earth [...] Not dreamt of
in Grovian philosophy', and asserting that 'Folks' will not replace their 'old
lights for the new' seen through spectra, or believe that they grew 'Like an
Elephant made à laDARWINDarwin, Charles Robert
(1809–82)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>'.
The narrator boasts about his exhibition of 'startlin' curiositys, wax
works, snaix' and describes the mishaps caused when he hired a 'young man of
dissypated habits' to masquerade in a show as 'A real Cannibal from New
Zeelan'.
Shows a young woman on a shoreline looking at her cousin through the wrong
end of a small telescope. She tells him that he looks 'so nice such a long way
off', to which another cousin (standing behind her) replies 'Aw—just
so'.
Describes the narrator's faltering attempt to read to his friends a
manuscript for a 'grand work entitled Typical Developments', which
begins with a sentence describing the 'very earliest and darkest ages of our
ancient earth, before even the grand primæval forests' (96).
Economic Geology, Political Economy, Commerce, Gender
The lady describes the horror with which she greeted news of the increased
price of coal. She explains that she was told that the price rise was caused by
coal-owners responding to 'a gentleman in
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >>' [John S MillMill, John Stuart
(1806–73)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>] who raised 'an
alarm' about the dwindling coal measures. Chastises Mill 'and all the
scientific men who have been talking nonsense', and asks them to see that their
'skuttles' are 'full of slates all through the winter'.
Military Technology, Steamships, Industry, Commerce,
Politics
Set to the tune of 'A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea', this song ridicules the
extortionate ship building costs incurred by the
AdmiraltyAdmiralty
CloseView the register entry >>.
A commentary on the 1866 meeting of the
British
Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >> at Nottingham. The
illustration shows some of the stars of the meeting rolling on globes, often
holding the artefacts used in their scientific labours, on a large spiral. At
the top stands the association's president,
William R
GroveGrove, Sir William Robert
(1811–96)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, who wields a sun labelled 'Continuity' and stands on a sphere
marked 'Correlation' (a reference to
Grove 1846Grove, William
Robert 1846. On the Correlation of Physical Forces: Being the
Substance of a Course of Lectures Delivered in the London Institution in the
Year 1843, [London]: London Institution
CloseView the register entry >>). Further down is
Roderick I
MurchisonMurchison, Sir Roderick Impey, 1st Baronet
(1792–1871)
DSBODNB CloseView the register entry >>, who stands on a globe and holds a banner labelled
'Traveller's Friend' (an allusion to Murchison's extensive cartographic
enterprises), and
Thomas H
HuxleyHuxley, Thomas Henry
(1825–95)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> who balances on the skull of an ape and plays with some
bones. Next down, the rifle-wielding
William
FairbairnFairbairn, Sir William
(1789–1874)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> jumps off a forty-pound cannon ball and the geographer
Matthew F
MauryMaury, Matthew Fontaine
(1806–73)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> operates some bellows. Further around is a falling
Andrew C
RamsayRamsay, Sir Andrew Crombie
(1814–91)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> clad in a cartographic sphere,
William
CrookesCrookes, Sir William
(1832–1919)
DSB ODNB CloseView the register entry >> holding some fuming chemical jars and standing on his
'Carbolic' spray, and
William OdlingOdling, William
(1829–1921)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
standing on a chemical bottle and trying to shield himself from Crookes's
demonstration. On the bottom spiral,
James GlaisherGlaisher, James
(1809–1903)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
is being hoisted by a large balloon attached to his coat,
John TyndallTyndall, John
(1820–93)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> rides
on a gargantuan teapot marked 'Invisible Heat', an elderly
David BrewsterBrewster, Sir David
(1781–1868)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
stands astride a giant pair of spectacles, and
William
HugginsHuggins, Sir William
(1824–1910)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, his head composed of a large glass prism within which a
small sun is contained, is seen holding the scales and bottle of an analytical
chemist, whilst standing on a small sun (a reference to Huggins's use of
spectrum analysis to gauge the sun's chemical composition). The song, which
describes the illustration, begins by asking forgiveness for showing the
austere 'High Priesthood' of science as 'figures of fun' and each verse
explains how the artist has illustrated each as an 'Ethardo atop of his
globe'. The next verse describes Grove and alludes to the presidential
address in which he discussed 'continuity' and explained, on Darwinian
principles, the biological development of an elephant from the 'trunk of a
tree'. The following verse praises Murchison as a 'kind friend of adventurous
travellers' and one of the great 'unravellers' of geographical 'secrets', notes
Huxley's playing with bones, and Maury 'Blowing the storms to appropriate
zones'. The song then describes how Fairbairn heard 'how bombs in the air burn,
/ And rifles hit hardest' and anticipates the importance of his work 'in days
when we dare burn / War's gory stories', and then praises Ramsay's extensive
stratigraphical and geological knowledge. The next verse opens by describing
how Crookes 'for a frolic' dispensed his 'Carbolic' spray until Odling asked
him to 'discontinue his smells', and then notes Glaisher's travels in a balloon
'charged with Blue Mist' and how Tyndall, 'whose honours are safe from
erasure', rode a giant teapot. The concluding verse opens by praising
'Binocular' Brewster, whose fame shines with 'brilliant lustre', notes how
Huggins 'the starry' is perched on a sun, and ends by affirming the 'fun' of
'Philosophy'.
Natural History, Nutrition, Collecting, Museums, Cultural Geography,
Human Development, Domestic Economy
Noting how London servants often eradicate black beetles by inducing
hedgehogs to eat them, discusses an extract from an article in the
Daily
TelegraphDaily Telegraph
(1856–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> which describes how Arizona Indians consumed as food
the animals (including bats, snakes, and beetles) which were to have been
collected for the
Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
CloseView the register entry >>. Suggests
that the Indians are 'far in advance' of those who eat 'shrimps, prawns, and
turtle' and that they should be hired in the 'two-fold capacity of footman and
hedgehog' and then asked to consume garden pests.
Describes a quarrel between two 'G's'—central government and local
government. Includes central government's attack on local government, which is
responsible for the filth and immorality in casual workhouse wards and the
'suffering and brutality' in paupers' sick rooms.
Class, Patronage, Societies, Gender, Health, Domestic Economy, Human
Development
Upholding the virtues of spending one's excess money on 'judicious works of
charity', describes the work of the
Ladies' Sanitary
AssociationLadies' National Association for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge
CloseView the register entry >>, an ailing society to which Punch suggests
readers send money. Explains how the association tries to 'help the poor to
live in cleanliness and health' and in general to live healthily and
economically. Adds that with the recent visitation of the 'black cholera' the
ladies distribute materials for sanitising dwellings and 'calls remediary
notice to the misery and sickness caused by crowded overworking'. Among the
many charitable activities of the association that Punch praises, are
the invigorating walks on which hundreds of pauper children are taken by its
ladies. Ponders the benefits of these activities for children and notes the
association's call for extra funds to undertake this work. Hopes that people
will donate money.
Begins by recounting a story of an Irish steward who dropped a teapot over
the side of a boat and thus lost it because it lay at the bottom of the sea.
Proceeds to explain how objects that lie on the ocean floor are 'Henceforward
[...] not lost'. Describes the scepticism with which 'the world' greeted
Richard A
Glass'sGlass, Sir Richard Atwood
(1820–73)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> proposal to catch the telegraph 'wire of sixty-five' laying
on the ocean floor, a response based partly on the belief that it would be
impossible to 'lift that weight / From that depth perpendicular'. Explains how
'three ships, with three-mile lines [...] went fishing' for the cable and found
it an 'easy business'. Having been raised, 'Spliced' and 'Sheathed', the
telegraph was 'Proved neither dead nor dumb!' and the poem explains how for its
observers at Valencia Bay, the telegraph's utterance of 'sense' contrasted with
the 'unmeaning sounds' that it emitted whilst asleep. (109) Notes that Atlantic
'shares' and 'engineers' have now 'picked up' and hopes that 'all this "paying
out"' brings rewards for Glass and
Samuel CanningCanning, Sir Samuel
(1823–1908)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>.
Confident that the cable will succeed owing to the ways it has been 'brought
up', and concludes by upholding the efforts of Canning,
William
ThomsonThomson, Sir William (Baron Kelvin of
Largs)
(1824–1907)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and above all, Glass, to whose health Punch drinks.
(109–10)
Discusses an article in the
Weekly
DispatchWeekly Dispatch
(1824–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> describing how some 'people in Edinburgh have
recently established a home for cats, which may have been abandoned by their
owners'. Notes the difficulty of abandoning and starving a cat (owing to its
tendency to return home and to steal food), and the problem of identifying a
'deserted cat'. Concludes by reflecting on the people who have set up this
home.
Shows the usually filthy-looking Father Thames standing in his river, and
talking to an 'Hon[ourable] Member' who leans on a wall near the
Palace of
WestminsterPalace of Westminster
CloseView the register entry >>, clutching a document entitled 'Bribery Commission'.
The politician, who is on his way to being cross-examined for charges of
corruption, calls the Thames a 'Horrid Dirty Old River', but Father Thames
retorts, 'Don't you talk, mister whatsyername! Which of us has the
cleaner hands, I wonder?'. This is a reference to a royal commission
investigating foul practices at elections in Great Yarmouth, Reigate, Totnes,
and Lancaster.
Ward describes his discovery of a morose-looking 'Trans-Mejim' (i.e. trance
medium) living in a room in the 'Greenlion' where the author had apartments and
that he and the sceptical landlord of the Greenlion attended a trance lecture
given by the medium. The lecture began with the professed spirit of
Benjamin
FranklinFranklin, Benjamin
(1706–90)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> speaking through the medium about the Atlantic cable.
Having heard Franklin speak of the 'merrytorious affair' of the cable and other
matters, the author concludes that if this was Franklin 'a spiritool life
hadn't improved the old gentleman's intellecks particly'. Proceeds to describe
the enthusiastic response of the audience and the Greenlion landlord's
confusion over the supposed spirit of
Oliver
CromwellCromwell, Oliver
(1599–1658)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, who spoke through the medium, and the Cromwell he believed
had not settled his bill.
The narrator relates that he denied that he was angry at his friend
Boodels's criticism of a passage in his manuscript on 'Typical
Developments', and that he added, 'if he dislikes this of mine, why
[Boodels] wouldn't care about
BUCKLE'SBuckle, Henry Thomas
(1821–62)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>History of
CivilisationBuckle, Henry
Thomas 1857. History of Civilisation in England, 2 vols,
London: J. W. Parker and Son
CloseView the register entry >>, or
DARWIN'SDarwin, Charles Robert
(1809–82)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>"Book"Darwin, Charles
Robert 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection; or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,
London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >>' (the name of which he
has forgotten), as well as
David HumeHume, David
(1711–76)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
Jeremy BenthamBentham, Jeremy
(1748–1832)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>.
He records that Boodles ridiculed his claim to be 'on par' with Darwin, Buckle,
and Bentham, and that he later continued his writing. Amid interruptions from
his bulldog he managed to write: 'Man at once possible and impossible, took his
origin from the pulversation of hitherto conflicting natural particles. Man was
developed, slowly, among the ruins of a mammoth world, to rule brute creation,
to make the tawny lion bend before his iron will [...] to subdue, by the
mesmeric authority of his intelligent eye, the stupendous elephant, the [...]
rhinocerous, the untamed denizen of the primaeval jungle'. (120)
Shows Mr Punch as a 'Head Game Keeper' standing next to John Bull (also
dressed as a game keeper) at a gate that opens into a large field. Mr Punch
tells his friend that he 'really musn't shoot with the old muzzle-loader' and
gives him a Snider Enfield rifle, a reference to
Jacob Snider'sSnider, Jacob
(1820–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>
converted muzzle-loaders, which he boasts is the 'best that money can buy'.
Discusses an extract from a report describing how the late astronomer,
Hermann
GoldschmidtGoldschmidt, Hermann
(1802–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>, discovered the 'telescopic planets' using a 'common
opera-glass'. Doubts the plausibility of this story, pointing out that a common
opera-glass can only enable the astronomer to 'make observations on certain
histrionic Stars', not planets.
Pollution, Putrefaction, Disease, Public Health, Domestic Economy,
Class
Includes a description of the foul state of the water butts in the 'crowded
and close habitations [...] of the labouring poor'. Considers this fatal liquid
to be 'filtered sewage' that 'teems with things wondrous to see' including
'fungus-like growths [...] Infusoria, and insects, engendered / Amid rotten
wood'. Speculates that such butts might breed a creature as horrid as the
Python shot by Apollo, and calls for vestries and guardians to 'improve them, /
At once'.
Military Technology, Industry, Manufactories, War, Politics,
Comparative Philology
Describes the efforts made by the mythological smith, Vulcan, to meet the
relentless 'War-orders and demands' for 'breech-loaders, and armour-plates, /
Steel-shot and chilled also'. Explains that Vulcan's assistant, the Cyclops,
has left him, because he wishes to work at a more leisurely pace, so that he
has been forced to work 'every day and all day long' making such items as
'Chassepots for the EMPEROR [Napoleon IIINapoleon III, Emperor of France (originally
Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte))
(1808–73)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>
of France]' and 'Sniders [Jacob Snider'sSnider, Jacob
(1820–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> converted muzzle-loaders] for
JOHN BULL'. Expresses pleasure at seeing the Emperor enjoy the
'shift of weights that trim the Powers / For Europe's equipoise' and discusses
the ways in which the Emperor has taught the conflicting European nations that
'in the forge of War, / The arms of Peace are wrought'. He resigns himself to
bestowing his 'toil and stock' to 'War's tasks' and pledges his obedience to
the word of the Emperor, whom he thanks for his lessons about peace.
Military Technology, Industry, Manufactories, War, Politics,
Comparative Philology
Following
Anon, 'The War Blacksmith (after
Longfellow)', Punch, 51 (1866), 132, this comments on the rising demands
from British and European nations for armaments. It shows Vulcan sweating over
an anvil in his forge. He stops his work to greet the figure of Peace, who
assumes that the smith is not laden with work. Vulcan replies that, on the
contrary, 'Thanks to you, miss, I've a'most more work than I can manage', an
allusion to the belief of
King Wilhelm
IWilhelm I, Emperor of Germany and King of
Prussia
(1797–1888)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> of Prussia that peace can only be gained through war. On the wall
of Vulcan's forge is scratched a list of orders for equipment including a
million tons of 'Armour-plates', three hundred thousand
ChassepotChassepot, Antoine Alphonse
(1833–1905)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> guns, five hundred thousand
DreyseDreyse, Johann Nikolaus von
(1787–1867)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>
needle-guns, two hundred and fifty thousand Snider Enfield rifles (i.e.
Jacob Snider'sSnider, Jacob
(1820–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>
converted muzzle-loaders),
Palliser'sPalliser, Sir William
(1830–82)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
Chilled Shot,
MonitorMonitor, ship CloseView the register entry >>-design ironclads, and
ArmstrongArmstrong, Sir William George, Baron
Armstrong of Cragside
(1810–1900)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> guns.
Medical Treatment, Religious Authority, Religion, Quackery
Discusses an extract from an item in the
Morning
PostMorning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet
(1772–1900+)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >> describing how the health of
Pope Pius IXPius IX, Pope
(1792–1878)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> was
restored by taking 'Du Barry's Food, the Revalenta Arabica' and stressing the
Pope's praise for the food. Draws attention to the fact that the Pope's
restoration was impudently given a 'cure' number. Anticipates that the Pope
will shortly be advertising the food before his assembled cardinals, although
questions the credibility of the puff quoted in the advertisement.
Records the narrator's unfavourable impressions of an unhelpful and slovenly
railway official at the dilapidated 'Slumborough' station, and his attempt to
draw the official's attention to the 'telegraph needles' moving with a signal
from a distant station (146).
Animal Behaviour, Nutrition, Crime, Cultural Geography,
Morality
Questions the claim that the Chinese are 'an unenlightened people' by
pointing to the fact that 'they invented gunpowder long ere we had dreamed of
it, and that they hatched fish artificially long before ourselves'. Ironically
considers the Chinese less 'barbarous' then the English on the basis of their
cooking practices. These are far from humane, as illustrated by a description
of the brutality involved in the preparation of a duck dish. Points out that
while some may consider such cookery to be cruel, 'the Chinese are too wise to
reflect upon the subject, and pay little heed to the sufferings which give them
satisfaction'. Suggests that the Chinese may believe that ducks 'feel that they
die martyrs in the noble cause of cookery'.
Telegraphy, Pollution, Disease, Public Health, Human Development,
Class, Government, Education
Likening the homes of the nation's poor to the filthy and spreading Augean
Stables of legend, the author looks behind the whitewashed exterior to the
appalling interiors of these hovels, where there is 'Slime overhead, filth
under-foot', 'abused' youths, 'Sex of its graces shorn: / Infancy poisoned in
its bud', sewage poisoning towns instead of feeding the land, 'Vice,
Drunkenness, and Woe', and 'All forms of ill that Body kill, / Dwarf Heart, and
dwindle Mind'.
Publishing, Horticulture, Political Economy, Railways, Transport,
Engineering
Includes an announcement of the forthcoming publication of an 'Essay, by the
Professor of Rural Economy', entitled 'How to Live in the Country on Three
Hundred a Year', and 'Fresh editions of The"Bridgewater Treatises"Chalmers,
Thomas et al. 1833–36. The Bridgewater Treatises on the
Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God as Manifested in the Creation, 12 vols,
London: William Pickering
CloseView the register entry >>, by eminent
railway engineers'.
The initial letter of the text forms part of an illustration showing an
elephant with its trunk tied around the bar of its cage. Having expressed
disappointment at not being invited to participate in the
Social
Science CongressSocial Science Congress
CloseView the register entry >>, Ward explains that he was intending to read 'a
Essy on Animals' to the congress. Boasts that he understands 'animals better
than any other class of human creatures' owing to his 'career as a showman,
more especial bears, wolves, leopards, and serpunts'. Proceeds to describe his
hapless attempts to train leopards and a bear.
Suggests that the 'important question of smoking in Railway Carriages' might
be resolved by
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> forcing people to
consume their own smoke.
Announces that M. Toutmonoeil has given a paper to the
Académie des SciencesAcadémie des Sciences, Paris CloseView the register entry >>
warning that 'indulgence in hippophagy' can cause 'ossification of the
heart'.
Railways, Transport, Narcotics, Pollution, Controversy, Gender,
Medical Practitioners, Disease, Morality, Human Development, Animal
Behaviour
Addressing the 'controversy about Smoking on Railways', the writer begins by
stressing the need for carriages exclusively for smokers. Explains that she
enjoys smoking a cigar (not least for its smell) and that she has to lie to her
patients that smoking is a 'good disinfectant for a physician who may have just
been visiting a case of small-pox'. However, she resents the prospect of
loosing patients who are repelled by a physician who smells of smoke simply
through contact with other people's cigars. She also argues for railway
carriages in which smokers are excluded and warns that the constant smoking
practised by men must affect the brain—especially that part 'whereby the
human brain exceeds that of brutes'—and causes such undesirable effects
as inducing a 'habitual state of self serenity' and stupefaction of the 'moral
affections and intellectual faculties'.
Chemistry, Experiment, Amusement, Lecturing, Class
To illustrate the exquisite refinements of the 'superior classes', the
narrator describes how two 'French gentleman' staying at the hotel where he was
lodging, engaged 'every morning in earnest conversation' which, from their
'gestures', appeared to be about chemistry. Adds that the after a few days he
saw the gentlemen comparing and hotly debating some powders and, being one of
the most 'intelligent attendants' at the
Royal
InstitutionRoyal Institution of Great Britain
CloseView the register entry >> lectures and wishing to report to
Michael
FaradayFaraday, Michael
(1791–1867)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, got a friend to inquire into the matter and discovered that
the 'philosophers' were arguing over the virtues of different shaving
powders.
Railways, Transport, Commerce, Crime, Charlatanry,
Government
This article addresses the failure of the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >> to redeem its debentures. The bankruptcy of the
company was in turn caused by the failure of its contractors,
Peto,
Brassey and BettsPeto, Brassey and Betts, firm CloseView the register entry >>, who had suspended payments to railway companies
owing to the catastrophic effects of the financial panic of 1866. The article
reports a legal case (from a solicitor representing a debenture holder
'SAP GREEN' crippled by the company's
collapse) and the opinions of Mr Punch on the case. The legal case begins by
listing the requirements of a railway bill before it can be sanctioned by
legislature and then explains how the 'THE
LONDON, CHEATEM, AND CLOVER
RAILWAY' company and the 'eminent firm of Contractors
SLEEKOWE, GETTS, &
VAMPEM' entered into an agreement to construct the
'Metropolitan Extension (Eastern Section)' of the railway (a reference to the
attempt by the railway company to build a terminus in the City of London). The
case then states the failure of company to pay debentures to
'SAP GREEN', and notes that following the
insolvency of the company the receipts exchanged between it and its contractors
(for thousands of pounds) were found to be 'illusory'. Reviewing the case Mr
Punch has no doubt that criminal charges can be brought against the company and
its contractors for 'conspiracy to obtain money on false pretences'. He also
warns of the difficulty of convincing a jury of this case where so much money
and such 'eminently respectable persons' are involved, pointing out that it is
easier to convict a 'petty offender who cheats for pence or pounds' than 'the
fraudulent operator who works for millions'.
Sung to tune of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', this song calls on
'OLD JOHN BULL' to replace
some of the most cherished institutions of England—including its
constitution, 'ale and stout', the British Lion, the bulldog, and the Union
Jack—with American alternatives. Includes a verse praising the telegraph
financier
Cyrus W FieldField, Cyrus West
(1819–92)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>, who
'Has joined the Old World to the New / With his Atlantic Cable' and thus
annexed England to America, which is a model for England to imitate.
Military Technology, Politics, Government, Patronage
Laments the recent death of
Jacob SniderSnider, Jacob
(1820–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> whose
'neat' and economical plan for converting muzzle-loading rifles to
breech-loaders prompted him to make a 'claim upon the Crown'. Adds that he
consulted
Charles M
ClodeClode, Charles Matthew
(1818–93)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> who agreed with Snider's claim that he had saved the country
'Two millions'. However, Snider was only paid 'one thousand', after which he
'blushed, and died!'.
Recording his ongoing, and disrupted attempts to continue writing
'Typical Developments', the narrator describes how he began a chapter
'On the Varieties of Inanimate Nature' which opens with the words:
'Philosophers, in every age, have directed their attention [...] to the
possibilities of the power inherent in mere particles. The calm mind of
inductive science, undisturbed by [...]'. The author was again forced to delay
writing his work. (180)
Begins by likening Peto to a Bristol stone that appears to possess
'integrity like a diamond' but does not. Proceeds to ask him for more
satisfactory reassurances that his firm did not take advantage of the public in
the matter of the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >>. Peto's firm,
Peto,
Brassey and BettsPeto, Brassey and Betts, firm CloseView the register entry >>, had been contractors to the railway company, but
collapsed during the financial panic during the middle of 1866 and suspended
payments. This bankrupted the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company, whose
debenture holders lost their investments.
Shows four men relaxing in a railway carriage. Their compartment is divided
into four bunk beds on which the men read and smoke from a large vessel in the
middle of the compartment. Having summoned a guard using a button marked
'Refresh[ment] Van Ring', one man asks the guard for the present location of
the train and for a 'sherry-and-soda, and a cigar and two or three more volumes
of Punch'.
Religious Authority, Religion, Animal Behaviour, Zoology, Quackery,
Boundary Formation
Lambasting the sham-Catholic parsons of the Anglican ritualist movement,
suggests that the 'preachers of mock Popery in their gaudy vestments figure /
As like to Popish priests as a gorilla is to a nigger'. Adds that 'The
Ritualist impostor by the normal Roman "missioner" / Is looked on as a Quack by
a regular practitioner'.
Reports on recent experiments on 'chilled projectiles' (a reference to
William
Palliser'sPalliser, Sir William
(1830–82)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> celebrated 'shot'), which have proved 'prodigiously
destructive'. Suggests that these properties will force gunners to abandon
their phrase 'give it to him hot' when enemies loom into view.
Museums, Animal Development, Human Development, Politics,
Amusement
Describes his visit to the
British
MuseumBritish Museum
CloseView the register entry >>, which he praises as 'a magnif'cent free show for the
people' that is 'kept open for the benefit of all'. He first visits the stuffed
animals and pays particular attention to the 'gorillers', which he regards as
'simple-minded monsters' from 'Afriky' that are 'believed to be human beins to
a slight extent, altho' they are not allowed to vote'. He proceeds to the
giraffe and explains some of the advantages of having a long distance between
the mouth and stomach, and later observes somebody trying to feed a stuffed
elephant with a cold muffin.
Government, Disease, Nutrition, Patronage, Natural Law
Praises the Lord Mayor of London, whose term of office is coming to an end,
for many of his accomplishments, including his generous help in the relief of
victims of the Indian famine and also victims of the 'fierce Disease'
(cholera), which 'Sent a Remorseful Nation to its knees, / Wailing for its
neglect of Nature's Laws'. The illustration further explains his role in
mitigating the effects of these disasters, showing full length portraits of
Phillips dressed in the robes of his office and holding bags labelled 'Cholera
Relief Fund' and 'Indian Famine Fund'.
Discusses news that the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >> has just been granted permission to build two new
streets and develop a third, and to expand Ludgate Station using land owned by
the
Apothecaries'
HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>. As the company has recently failed to pay its debenture
holders, the author wonders whether it will take this land 'without paying for
it'. Suggests that the new streets should be named 'Doo' and 'Diddle'
streets.
Shows
John BrightBright, John
(1811–89)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> dressed
as a quack doctor, standing on a platform before a crowd. He advertises a large
bottle of medicine labelled 'Radical Reform'. This is a reference to Bright's
recent addresses in Dublin in which he argued that making
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> more democratic
would help the Irish struggle for land reform.
Morality, Progress, Human Development, Government, Utilitarianism,
Class, Disease, Pollution, Public Health, Industry, Zoology, Crime,
Nutrition
Written in the style of a somewhat illiterate bumble, this begins by arguing
against the claim that it 'is an age of humanity' by pointing out that 'we're
brutes' and that despite the efforts of the
Royal Humane
SocietyRoyal Humane Society
CloseView the register entry >> and a 'Society for looking after stray dogs', cruel acts
are still frequently perpetrated. The author points out that he is not alluding
to the condition of paupers, because they 'wants a tight hand over 'em',
although he does not think they should 'be allowed to die of bedsores, bad air,
and vermin', and stresses that he is aware of the power of the 'newspaper
people' to expose these evils. He has taken the 'liberal' move of voting for
'two paid nurses to our three hundred sick paupers'. Believes that workhouses
are 'right enough' with people like himself on the 'Board' and proceeds to
complain about the liberties taken by the 'lower orders' who 'work for weekly
wages' and who 'never stop' asking for provisions. He also denies that humanity
is cruel to workers, and believes talk of 'ventilation and healthy workshops'
smacks of the subversive politics of centralisation. He denies that he is
referring to sailors who forget the 'expense of lime-juice' despite their
complaints about 'dirt and bad air, and bad food and scurvy'. He finally
reveals that he is alluding to the alderman's favourite cuisine, the turtle. He
presents an extract from the
Pall Mall
GazettePall Mall Gazette
(1865–1900+)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >> which describes the harsh conditions suffered by
turtles in being shipped to New York and London and the efforts of
'humanitarians' to communicate the subject to the
Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
CloseView the register entry >>. Praises the efforts of the
aforementioned humanitarians and ends with a paean to the turtle and its role
in 'civic gourmet'.
Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry, Crime, Morality, Military
Technology, Engineers
Discusses
Samuel M Peto'sPeto, Sir Samuel Morton
(1809–89)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
speeches at a Colston Festival dinner. Alluding to Peto's role in the
bankruptcy of the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >> and its consequent failure to redeem its
debentures, the article notes that while the subject of Peto's speech was
'Reform' he did not recommend an 'Official Registrar of Railway Debentures
[...] to prevent cooked accounts'. Following Peto's criticism of the management
of 'our naval and military administrations', it sarcastically suggests that
these departments be conducted like the London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Company—i.e. with financial dodges. Reports that Peto believed the fate
of 'poor'
Jacob SniderSnider, Jacob
(1820–66)
WBI CloseView the register entry >> (who
failed to be properly remunerated for his breech-loaders) had 'quite shocked
the moral sense of the entire country'. Suggests that Snider should have
invested in the London, Chatham and Dover Railway instead of
breech-loaders.
Commerce, Crime, Charlatanry, Measurement, Government
Shows two smartly dressed businessmen tied to a pillory. Around their necks
hang signs marked 'Cooked Accounts' and 'False Weights and Measures', while
near them stands Mr Punch who shakes his fist at them and holds the hammer with
which he nailed them to the pillory. The caption reproduces a dictionary
definition of pillory. The illustration is probably a comment on the recent
scandalous financial dealings in the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >>.
A commentary on the recent appearance of the Leonid meteor shower. It begins
with a series of questions and speculations on the characteristics of the
planets, each of which is blended with references to classical mythology and
topical news. It ponders the characteristics of the populations of Mars and
Venus, asking whether they are belligerent and amorous respectively. Asks
whether Mercury is a 'region / Of a financiering race, / Where the
PETO'SPeto, Sir Samuel Morton
(1809–89)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> name is Legion, / And
carries no disgrace' (an allusion to the role of
Peto, Brassey and BettsPeto, Brassey and Betts, firm CloseView the register entry >> in
the bankruptcy of the
London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway CompanyLondon, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >> and the company's subsequent failure to redeem its
debentures), and whether Jupiter is a planet of 'Dukes' and 'six-toady moons
for train'. Similarly wonders whether Saturn is the habitat for the 'gay' and
'saturnine' or a 'celestial Botany Bay'. Asks that if 'science makes no
blunder' about life on the 'stars' (i.e. planets), then can it 'tell what
life's enlisted' on the meteors that recently showed themselves. Noting the
evanescence of these celestial objects, suggests that they might be the habitat
of 'reputations, / As quickly spawned as spoiled' or the 'trails, / Of Lions of
the season / That to Lethe take their tails', or a 'store-house / Of pledges
unredeemed', thus giving hope to the wrongly robbed debenture holders of the
'London, Chatham, Dover' railway. Concludes by suggesting that the meteors
might also be signs of a parliamentary 'storm' over 'projects of Reform' or
'the homes of good intentions, / For the paving-works below'.
Military Technology, Light, Heat, Display, Amusement,
Transport
Shows the top of a crowded omnibus where an elderly man who, on attempting
to entertain his nephews 'to a grand pyrotechnical display', accidentally drops
the 'Vesuvian' firework 'among the combustibles' and produces a 'tremendous'
display of light.
Explains that 'a man' may register the name of a 'good title for a
Periodical' and thus defend his priority. Lists some of Mr Punch's suggested
periodical titles which he claims to register, including 'Arithmetic without
Figures. Sequel to "Astronomy without Mathematics"'.
Railways, Transport, Accidents, Crime, Disease, Human
Development
Discusses an assertion recently published in
The TimesThe Times
(1777–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> that
railway accidents are often due to engine-drivers being 'compelled to work
thirty-six hours uninterruptedly', and thus often falling asleep while driving
their engines. The Times's correspondent blamed 'Railway Directors' for
exacting 'more than is reasonable' from their employees. The author asserts
that if he were summoned to decide on the cause of a tragic railway accident,
he would not agree with the verdict so often reached by 'Coroner's juries' but
would 'insist on giving a verdict of manslaughter, not to say wilful murder
against those Directors'.
A commentary on the recent Leonid meteor shower, this illustration shows a
young man and a woman sitting on a rooftop on a clear and cold night. Their
passion for astronomy is evidently so great that they are willing to endure
these conditions to observe the meteors that dart across the star-filled sky
above them.
Discusses a
GlobeGlobe
(1803–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> article on
Zadkiel's [i.e.
Richard J
Morrison'sMorrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel')
(1795–1874)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>] predictions for 1867, including the prediction that in
September several members of the British and European royal families will be at
risk. Analyses what it claims to be Zadkiel's 'own horoscope for 1867' in a
burlesque of the predictions made by the astrologer. It claims, for example,
that 'In February, he will be cut shaving' and 'In October, the stars seem to
indicate a treacherous calm, which will end in November when he [Zadkiel] will
fall over a coal-skuttle'. Ironically suggests that these predictions make the
astrologer 'a subject for tolerance and compassion'.
Shows an aristocrat and a gamekeeper standing in a field. The aristocrat
remarks on the smallness of the pheasant that the keeper holds in his hand. The
keeper explaining that 'she allus wer' a weakly bird, M' lord. Never thought I
should 'a reared her!'.
Claims that 'young
OxfordUniversity of Oxford
CloseView the register entry >> appears to be Conservative, not
to say reactionary', and expects that the 'great partiality' that 'the men show
for "coaches" [i.e. tutors]' will result in a 'majority at the Union against
Railways'. This is possibly a reference to the developments of the
Great Western Railway CompanyGreat Western Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >>
near the university.
Politics, Disease, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Quackery,
Religious Authority, War, Mental Illness, Animal Husbandry
Exploiting the analogy between a human body and the volatile Irish body
politic, this play makes allusions to the new Fenian campaigns of violence. It
includes a discussion between three physicians—Dr Dulcamara (a quack
doctor), Dr Slop, and Dr Bull—about a 'troublesome case' which shows
'constitutional disturbance' and which threatens 'an eruption'. The English
physician Dr Bull judges this to be 'urticaria Feniana'—an 'Old
Irish complaint with a new name' and his colleagues agree on the 'troublesome'
and 'obstinate' nature of the disease. The physicians agree that the old
remedies—exhibiting 'steel', throwing in 'lead', and a 'liberal
employment of hemp'—are no longer effective and that they should instead
'remove that excrescence which creates so much irritation—that
ecclesio-sarcoma'. Dulcamara notes the similarity between this disease
and hysteria, although Dr Bull questions the efficacy of his remedy for this
disorder. Instead, Dr Bull resolves to 'watch the case attentively', to 'remove
all causes of excitement', and to stamp out the disease which has affected the
Irish in Ireland and America. He also resolves that if the disease is an
'eruption' then he will deal with it as he dealt with the Indian Mutiny.
Politics, Disease, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners
Developing the themes of
Anon, 'Squaring the Circle', Punch, 51 (1866), 231, this illustration shows the
consulting room of the English physician, Dr Bull, who is presented with a
patient—a diminutive armed Fenian—by the allegorical figure of
Ireland, Erin. The latter complains that the patient's symptoms are 'getting
dangerous', and Dr Bull assures her that he 'treated a somewhat similar case to
this very successfully in India'—a reference to the English suppression
of the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
The narrator records that, during a night journey by carriage through
Devonshire, he observed the stars and wondered how 'African travellers' in
deserted places 'guide themselves by stars', and notes that
Paul B Du
ChailluDu Chaillu, Paul Belloni
(1831–1903)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> 'says he did it' in his book (a reference to
Du Chaillu 1861aDu Chaillu, Paul
Belloni 1861a. Explorations & Adventures in Equatorial
Africa: With Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the
Chace of the Gorilla, Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and Other
Animals, London: John Murray
CloseView the register entry >>)
(236). Records his limited knowledge of constellations and the difficulty that
sailors must have in navigating by the stars. Later, after a conversation with
the flyman about crops and flooding in Devonshire, he attempts to 'Get some
statistics' about cattle plague in the area (237).
Industry, Manufactories, Class, Disease, Health, Human Development,
Environmentalism
Comments on
Queen
Victoria'sVictoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India
(1819–1901)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> visit to Wolverhampton. The poet describes the effect of
the town's metal-working industry on the appearance and health of the people
and on the landscape. Expects that the Queen will be greeted by 'toil-stunted
children' who 'leave their nailing for the shows' and by people who slave 'from
dawn to darkness at nail-hammer and nail-rod'. Notes how the countryside around
the town is full of 'cindery wastes, seamed, scathed, and ashy-hoar' and that
it knows no seasons, and that the work changes people 'Till stamp of sex is
beaten out, and youth is hard and old [...] man grows brutal, woman bold'.
Considers it good that the statue of
Prince AlbertAlbert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha],
prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria
(1819–61)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
should 'show his gentle face, / Betwixt the wealth and wretchedness of this
unhallowed place'.
Anticipates with much relish the 'fear and fury' that quacks will feel when
they read news of the 'award of a British Jury' in favour of a victim of
quackery. Relates that quacks had previously managed to sway juries in their
favour in cases concerning newspaper attacks on their trade, but stresses that
now the quack will 'sue in vain' and must either 'bear the lash, or lose his
cash, / For his lawyer's bootless trouble'.
Punch, 51 (1866), 240–41.
The Black Country. Is it as Black as Mr. Punch has Painted it?
Noting the indignation of Wolverhampton inhabitants prompted by an earlier
article (Anon, 'The Queen in the Black Country', Punch, 51 (1866), 238), this writer defends Mr
Punch and points out that he would rejoice if his lines on the 'vice, overwork
of children, disease, and degradation' in the Black Country would rouse people
into action. Insists that Mr Punch 'did not make either his colours or his
subject: he found both', and to support this contention the author quotes large
extracts from the
Report of the Children's Employment
CommissionersReport of the Children's Employment
Commissioners: Third Report of the Children's Employment Commissioners,
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, Session 1864, 22,
CloseView the register entry >> (doubtless the source for the aforementioned article).
These extracts reveal the environmental damage caused by the town's industry,
the smoke that blocks out the sun, and the large number of children employed
for long hours, often uninterrupted, in 'blast-forges'. (240) Further extracts
reveal the poor general knowledge (including 'the commonest and simplest
objects of nature') and high illiteracy of these child labourers. To support Mr
Punch's attack on the 'conditions of labour, and the greed of gain in the Black
Country', the author appeals to the testimony of
Edward H
GreenhowGreenhow, Edward Headlam
(1814–88)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> who produced evidence for the high rate of deaths from
pulmonary disease in the Wolverhampton area. Concludes by insisting that the
question is 'whether it is possible to paint [the Black Country] blacker than
the black reality', and points out that while conditions of labour have
improved compared with previous decades, this is no reason to not continue
stressing the suffering of the town's workers. (241)
Introduces a 'Quarterly Report' on this 'prevalent malady' from which it has
transcribed a few notes. These reveal the nature and course of the disease, and
play on the ambiguity of the verb 'to see'. For example,
'DIONYSIUS D—, Politician. Returned by a large majority
[...] Could not see that he was hampered by pledges [...] Politician
pelted on platform. Vision much improved ' and 'MISS
CUMBERMOULD. Hereditary complaint. Couldn't see any
charm in croquet'.
Light, Health, Medical Treatment, Sanitation, Architecture, Human
Development, Evolution, Morality
Discusses a lecture by
David BrewsterBrewster, Sir David
(1781–1868)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
at the
Royal Society of EdinburghRoyal Society of Edinburgh
CloseView the register entry >> 'On
Light as a Sanitary Agent' (a version of which was published as
Brewster 1869Brewster,
David 1869. 'Address', Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, 6, 2–36
CloseView the register entry >>). Notes how
Brewster argued that since light 'contributed to the development of human form
and lent its aid to art and nature in the cure of disease', then it was a
national duty to construct buildings that would maximise exposure to light. The
author does not doubt Brewster's authority and suggests that his argument would
force houses to be constructed like 'conservatories and greenhouses', and that
the humans who will 'spring up' in such abodes will have greater morality.
Begins by explaining that the reason why so many sailors neglect to take
lime juice in order to 'secure them from scurvy', is because the liquid has
'turned mouldy and bad' in its casks. Adds that lime juice is now 'preserved in
bottles' with added rum, which keeps it fresh and induces sailors to take
it.
Notes the unreasonable complaints that people have been making about 'their
horses being lamed' on the granite roads in the West End, and, following the
recommendation of
John J R
MannersManners, John James Robert, 7th Duke of Rutland
(1818–1906)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, their insistence that steam rollers be used to
MacadamiseMcAdam, John Loudon
(1756–1836)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> the roads.
Questions the appropriateness of the phrase 'physician in petticoats' to
describe the American doctor,
Mary WalkerWalker, Mary
(1832–1919)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>. Points
out that she is a 'duly qualified' physician who is experienced in 'actual
practice' and 'actual service', but that she wears 'pantalettes' rather than
'pantaloons'. Suggests that 'pantalettes' be abandoned, pointing out that a
women doctor is not called a 'doctress' and that in the days before pantaloons
a lady physician wearing breeches would not be considered to be wearing
'breechettes'. Proceeds to discuss the more serious question of the women who
are burnt to death when their crinolines catch fire.
Discusses an extract from an article describing the use of a steam roller to
grind the granite paths in
Hyde ParkHyde Park
CloseView the register entry >>. Takes this
opportunity to lament the reluctance with which 'British local self-government'
has accepted their 'duty' to undertake this operation on the granitic roads,
and to urge those who have neglected this duty to walk over their own
MacadamMcAdam, John Loudon
(1756–1836)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>.
Replying to the 'friends and correspondents of the Black Country' who have
responded, in whatever way, to earlier remarks about Wolverhampton (Anon, 'The Queen in the Black Country', Punch, 51 (1866), 238), emphasizes that the purpose of the
lines was to agree with those who are trying to improve the education and
working habits of Wolverhampton's inhabitants and to uphold
Prince AlbertAlbert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha],
prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria
(1819–61)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> as
'the great promoter of social improvement, the foremost assertor of the duties
of capital and culture to labour and ignorance'. Concludes by insisting that Mr
Punch's 'medicine' will be found to be 'not superfluous' and its dose 'not
excessive'.