The History of "Punch" Part 8

(_From the Cartoon by Leech in "Punch," Vol. VIII., p. 145. March 29th, 1845._)]

But the politician who suffered most from _Punch_--and perhaps the most undeservedly--was that most unpopular of a long line of unpopular Home Secretaries, Sir James Graham. He had joined Peel's Cabinet in 1842, on the fall of Lord Melbourne's Ministry, and nothing that he did could command the approval of his critics, especially those on _Punch_. His capital offence was directing the opening of certain of Mazzini's letters in consequence of the statements made to our Government by that of Naples, to the effect that plots were being carried on--of which the brilliant and popular Italian refugee was the centre--to excite an insurrection in Italy. "The British Government," reported the House of Commons Committee of Inquiry afterwards appointed, "issued a warrant to open and detain M. Mazzini's letters. Such information deduced from these letters as appeared to the British Government calculated to frustrate this attempt was communicated to a foreign Power."

Thereupon Mr. Duncombe, M.P., upon the complaints of Mazzini, W. J.

Linton (the well-known Chartist, and more distinguished wood-engraver), and others, that their letters had been secretly opened, charged Sir James Graham with the violation of correspondence (June 14th, 1844), and though not at first eliciting much information, succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a Committee, though a "secret" one; and Lord Radnor effected the same object in the Lords. The result was favourable to the Minister; but the popular feeling roused by it was intense, and _Punch_, up in arms at once at this supposed violation of the rights of the subject, fanned the excitement he shared. He immediately published, on July 6th, the most offensive attack he could devise. This consisted in the famous "Anti-Graham Envelope" and "Wafers"--the latter _extra strongly gummed_.

The former was drawn by John Leech--a sort of burlesque of the Mulready envelope--and was afterwards appropriately engraved by Mr. W. J. Linton, whose share in the agitation was a considerable one. The circulation attained by this envelope was very wide, and although I have not ascertained that many were actually pa.s.sed through the General Post Office, it certainly brought a flood of bitter ridicule on the unfortunate Minister. In addition to this, there was published, on the clever initiation of Henry Mayhew, the sheet of "Anti-Graham Wafers"--an instrument of diabolical torture for the unhappy Secretary, who already figured as "Paul Pry" in half a hundred of the more important papers. In this sheet, 10 inches by 7-3/4 inches in size, drawn by H. G. Hine, there were printed sixteen wafers, in green ink, in the midst of a witty design, in brown, that bore the devices of a snake in the gra.s.s, a cat-o'-nine-tails, a kettle steaming the fastening of a letter, and other suggestive personalities. These were supposed to be cut up and used as wafers on envelopes, and that they were so used is probable, in view of their extreme rarity at the present day. They were issued at twopence the sheet; and their epigrammatic cuts and accompanying legends were in _Punch's_ best vein.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ANTI-GRAHAM ENVELOPE.

(_Designed by John Leech._)]

_Punch's_ example was promptly followed by that cla.s.s of publisher who lives by trading on the ideas of others, and in the windows of many booksellers of the commoner cla.s.s, envelopes in the shape of padlocks were offered for sale, the motto on them running "Not to be Grahamed."

_Punch_ itself followed up the scent, and gave drawings of "Mercury giving Sir James Graham an insight into Letters" (with the aid of a steam-kettle), of "The Post Office Peep-Show, a Penny a Peep," in which foreign sovereigns, on paying their money to Showman Graham, are permitted to violate the secrecy of British correspondence; while a notice from St. Martin's-le-Grand informs his Continental clients that "on and after the present month the following alterations will take place in the opening of letters:"--

Letters

Posted at Opened at

9 A.M. 10 A.M.

10 A.M. 11 A.M.

12 A.M. 2 P.M.

2 P.M. 4 P.M.

4 P.M. 6 P.M.

Of course, this was all very unfair and savagely amusing, but much was forgiven for the cleverness of the hits, and the liberty-loving notions that inspired them.

The "railway mania," which had been developing during these years, had from the first been viewed with alarm by _Punch_, who, with his customary level-headedness, foresaw the crash and the reaction that were soon to follow. And when they came, in 1849, he pointed solemnly to the truth of his teaching, and to the sadness of the moral, with the picture of "King Hudson off the Line." Nothing could represent the situation more eloquently or more concisely.

A noteworthy incident occurred in connection with the Greek question of 1850, when the English fleet threatened to blockade the Piraeus. _Punch_ was indignant at this high-handed show of strength towards the little kingdom, and taking the mean-looking, grovelling British Lion by the ear (in his cartoon) asks him, "Why don't you hit someone of your own size?"

With the exception of the occasion when he disrespectfully represented the n.o.ble beast as stuffed and moth-eaten, this is the only "big cut"

wherein the Lion has been unworthily treated, or on which, in foreign politics, _Punch_ has failed to back up his own Government.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ANTI-GRAHAM WAFERS.

(_Designed by H. G. Hine._)]

When Kossuth visited London in 1851, _Punch's_ heart, like that of the rest of England, went out to the patriot. "It was not Louis Kossuth whom the thousands gazed upon and cheered," wrote _Punch_. "It was Hungary--bound and bleeding, but still hopeful, resolute, defying Hungary;" and it may be observed that for many years _Punch_ sided, for one reason or another, with Austria's successive adversaries.

It was in the same year that Lord Palmerston first appeared on _Punch's_ scene, and then in his own selected _role_ of "Judicious Bottle-holder."

He was represented as officiating thus at the little affair between "Nick the Bear" and "Young Europe." From that time forward he always appeared as a sporting character, and rather gained than lost in popular favour by the treatment. Another debut the following year, among the repeated appearances of "Dizzy," Napoleon, Pam, and Lord John, was that of John Bright. He is shown in Quaker costume, examining the new-born baby (the new Reform Bill) through an eye-gla.s.s, while Lord John, its parent, stands by and hears the dry verdict that it is "not quite so fine a child as the last." This eye-gla.s.s perplexed John Bright a good deal, because, said he, he had "never worn such a thing in his life." He did not see that the gla.s.s had here, no doubt, not so much reference to him, as to the smallness of the birth examined by its aid.

Protection was still a subject of debate, but not for long. In 1852 appeared the admirable cartoon in which Cobden--suddenly come very much to the fore in _Punch's_ pages--is represented as Queen Eleanor, who advances on Disraeli, a grotesque "Fair Rosamond," with a poison-bowl of "Free Trade" in one hand and the dagger of "Resignation" in the other.

Disraeli accepted the former, and _Punch_ and the Free Traders rejoiced.

But in their triumph they did not spare the feelings of the convert, whom they had dubbed "The Political Chameleon;" but at least they admitted the importance of the man, who is no longer sneeringly alluded to as "Benjamin Sidonia," no more represented as an ill-bred schoolboy made up of impudence and malice--unprincipled, vicious, and conceited.

In the following year _Punch_ sounded his first note of warning of the approaching "Eastern Question," when in the cartoon of "The Turkey in Danger," the Sick Bird is shown in the powerful hug of the Russian Bear; and "The Emperor's Cup for 1853" ill.u.s.trates still further the prescience of _Punch_. Nevertheless, as has been said, he could not appreciate a _suaviter_ policy, and in a cartoon ent.i.tled "Not a Nice Business" (p. 271, Vol. XXVI.) Lord Aberdeen, the Premier, is shown engaged in cleaning the boots of the Tsar.

How the Crimean War was followed by _Punch_ in a magnificent series of pictures, chiefly from the hand of Sir John Tenniel, as well as in that culminating effort of Leech's, "General Fevrier," there is no need here to explain. But during the peace negotiations--which were delayed through the Russians firing on a truce-party, called "The Ma.s.sacre of Hango"--the representation was unjustly made by _Punch_ that the King of Prussia was a confirmed toper, and the charge was offensively maintained by pen and pencil. This so angered the King that none of the English newspaper correspondents (one of whom he supposed to be the original perpetrator of the libel) was after that allowed within the precincts of the palace, until at last Mr. T. Harrington Wilson, one of _Punch's_ draughtsmen, was admitted on behalf of the "Ill.u.s.trated London News."

No sooner was the Crimean War at an end, than the reprisals which developed into the Chinese War involved this country in an expense of four millions. In spite of the importance and gravity of the undertaking, _Punch_ vigorously supported Lord Palmerston in his campaign, and mockingly showed "The Great Warriors Dah-Bee and Cob-Den"

vainly trying to overturn his Government. He made good sport of the Celestials, as a matter of course, but his mortification was extreme on learning that the incidental outlay would delay the hoped-for repeal of the paper duty. He found a small outlet for his feelings in the cartoon representing a Chinese mandarin as "The New Paper-weight" (p. 20, Vol.

x.x.xIX.), but in the end was entirely conciliated by the terms of the Chinese Convention, and the payment of a handsome indemnity--the subject of his first cartoon in 1861 being "A Cheer for Elgin."

Italy's successful struggle for independence received great attention and sympathy from _Punch_--the greater, no doubt, since the "Papal Aggression" had taught him to look askance at the Vatican; but he regarded with extreme and well-justified scepticism the genuineness of Louis Napoleon's alleged disinterestedness in the interests of peace. He is ironically shown (October 13th, 1860) as "The Friend in Need"

advising the Pope, "There, cut away quietly and leave me your keys. Keep up your spirits, and I'll look after your little temporal matters."

Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel were regarded by _Punch_ with the greatest favour (just as the latter was said to be regarded privately by the Pope), and United Italy was enthusiastically hailed by him (March, 1861) as "The Latest Arrival" at the European Evening Party conjointly presided over by John Bull and Britannia.

From first to last _Punch_ has always been an Imperialist--Imperial Defence being warmly taken up at periodical intervals, and Imperial Federation during these latter years adopted as one of the planks of his Punch-and-Judy platform. Imperial Defence as a cry and a scare, begun in 1848 on the action of the Prince de Joinville, was continued in 1860 (cartoon, August 4th), when a large sum was spent upon a.r.s.enals and dockyards--to some extent, no doubt, in view of Napoleon's double-dealing in the matter of Nice and Savoy. "Ribs of steel are our s.h.i.+ps, Engineers are our men," he sings, under the new order of things in naval construction--

"We're steady, boys, steady, But always unready; We've just let the French get before us again."

The American War of Secession; the throne of Greece put up to auction; Poland in chains, defying the Russian Bear; the ghost of Charles I.

warning the King of Prussia, by the block to which he points, of the punishment that awaits the would-be despot; Napoleon crus.h.i.+ng the prostrate figure of France; the wars between "father-in-law Denmark,"

Germany, and Austria, and between the latter two (as Robbers in the Wood); Reform; Irish Church Disestablishment; "Dizzy" as the Premier-Peri entering the gates of Paradise, or, bound to the Ixion's wheel of "Minority," hurled forth by Hercules-Bright, with the severe approval of Juno-Britannia and Jupiter-Gladstone; the Franco-Prussian War; the Royal marriages; the occupation of Egypt; and the creation of the "Empress of India;"--all the subject-matter, indeed, of home and foreign politics, and of general public interest, have been touched upon by _Punch_ as they occurred, lightly, but often probed _a fond_. His att.i.tude seldom caused much surprise, for his opinions and views could generally be foretold. It was the manner in which they were put forth that carried weight and influence; they were the nation's ideas

"... to advantage dressed, What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."

The student of the times, if he would know how public affairs struck the public mind during that period, can a.s.suredly find no truer, no more accurate indication than is offered by the perusal of _Punch's_ pages.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] "Daily Chronicle," August 26th, 1892.

[11] This, with the Pharaoh pro-Jewish picture at the time of the Russian persecutions, is said to be the only cartoon founded on a strictly Biblical or Scriptural subject ever published in _Punch_.

[12] _See_ p. 108, Vol. x.x.xIII.:--

"And woe to the h.e.l.l-hounds! Right well may they fear A vengeance--ay, darker than war ever knew; When Englishmen, charging, exchange the old cheer For, 'REMEMBER THE WOMEN AND BABES WHOM THEY SLEW!'

"And terrified India shall tell to all time, How Englishmen paid her for murder and l.u.s.t; And stained not their fame with one spot of the crime That brought the rich splendour of Delhi to dust."

CHAPTER V.

"CHARIVARIETIES."

_Punch's_ Influence on Dress and Fas.h.i.+on--His Records--As a Prophet--As an Artist--As an Actor and Dramatist--Benefit Performances--Guild of Literature and Art.

The man who glances at _Punch's_ current number and throws it aside can have but little appreciation of the influence of the paper, not only in matters political, but in social subjects of every kind. That the Baron de Book-Worms can make or mar the success of a new book, as completely as the "Times," "Athenaeum," or "Spectator," has been testified to by Mr.

Hall Caine and others; and in some quarters at least _Punch's_ baton-strokes are as effective as ever, and recall the times when he could, and did, drive a semi-public man into obscurity, which, but for the fame of his onslaught, would have been absolute oblivion.

But it is in dress, in fas.h.i.+on, and in manners that _Punch_ has gained, if anything, in weight and influence. In such subjects, treated as "charivarieties," as Mr. Arthur Sykes has called them, he has always been supreme, and fulfils an unquestioned destiny. John Leech determined that there should be no Bloomerism in the land, and there was none--only, by the charm of his drawings, he came very near making it popular, and converting British young womanhood to Turkish trousers. Mr.

du Maurier thought that it would look pretty if every little lady in the land were to wear black stockings; and every little lady did: as unfalteringly as when Miss Kate Greenaway imposed upon them smocks and poke-bonnets, or when Mrs. Hodgson Burnett clad mothers' darlings in black velvet Fauntleroy suits, with bright-coloured sashes wound round their middles. As the volumes are examined, the reader becomes aware of the enduring value of _Punch_ as a History of Costume in the Victorian Era. Even men's dress is noted with minute truthfulness--the violently variegated s.h.i.+rts of 1845; the Joinville ties, with their great fringed ends, out of which Thackeray made such capital in 1847; the pin-less cravats and cutaway coats of 1848; the ivory-handled canes of 1850, for sucking purposes--the fas.h.i.+on which came round thirty years later with the advance of the "crutch and toothpick brigade;" the big bows and short sticks of 1852; the frock-coats and weeping whiskers of 1853, with the corresponding inability to p.r.o.nounce the "r" otherwise than as a "w," or to converse but with a languid, used-up drawl; the smaller ties and growing collars, when a wasting youth complains that "She is lost to him for ever" (_she_, the laundress!); the schoolboy's Spanish hat of 1860, that was soon developed into the "pork-pie," and was to be adopted generally for country wear with baggy knickerbockers; the full-blown Dundreary of 1861, with long weeping whiskers, long coat, long drawl, and short wits; with the sudden change for the better in the following year. All this is to be found clearly recorded year by year, season by season, with all the peculiarities of "form;" of umbrella and umbrella-carrying; of dancing, energetic and invertebrate; of handshaking, sensible and high-level (which was invented, of course, by the ballroom girl who was holding up her train in the dance); of hirsute adornment and aesthetic craze--every shade of fas.h.i.+on is followed in its true development and in its wane--down to the recent phase of 1893 and 1894, when the swell lets out his collar for an advertis.e.m.e.nt h.o.a.rding, or, safe in the perfection of its starching, marches quietly across the desert while fierce Orientals turn the edges of their swords in vain across his linen-s.h.i.+elded neck.