Chapter 3

Cartoon. Knight on horse with a thrown gaunlet.THE CHALLENGE

THE CHALLENGE

The Salisbury Cabinet was strengthened by the inclusion of Mr. Goschen as Chancellor of the Exchequer—Mr. Goschen whom Lord Randolph "forgot," and whomPunchstyled the "Emergency man," a phrase now also forgotten, but then applied to the volunteers who assisted boycotted farmers and loyalists in Ireland. Mr. Balfour was at the Irish Office, the scene of his greatest administrative successes, and the Crimes Act and the Land Act were the two principal measures of the Session. In those daysThe Timeswas the great champion of the Unionist policy, and in the summer of 1887 is shown prodding on Lord Salisbury and Mr. Balfour, armed with Crimes Act blunderbusses, in their attack on the Land League wild boar. The Land League was "proclaimed" in August; and already the controversy had begun between Mr. Parnell andThe Timesover the former's alleged participation in the responsibility for the Phoenix Park murders. The question was raised in a series of articles on "Parnellism and Crime"; but the charges were not made specific until the following year. John Bright's secession from the Gladstonian Liberals had been a serious blow, and his contributions to the Unionist armoury were so vigorous and pointed, that it is rather strange to findPunchassailing him in March, 1887, for his pacificist tendencies:—

The white flag, John,maybid all battle cease,Not the white feather! In defence of right,Despite your dogmas, men perforce must fightWith swords as well as words: be it their careWith either, to heed honour, and fight fair.You would "speak daggers" only; be it so;But a word-stab may be a felon blow.

The white flag, John,maybid all battle cease,

Not the white feather! In defence of right,

Despite your dogmas, men perforce must fight

With swords as well as words: be it their care

With either, to heed honour, and fight fair.

You would "speak daggers" only; be it so;

But a word-stab may be a felon blow.

John Bright certainly spoke daggers against those who, in his own phrase, kept the rebellion pot always on the boil.

Germany's Momentous Year

The Earl of Iddesleigh, better known as Sir Stafford Northcote, died in January. There is an unmistakable reference to Lord Randolph Churchill's treatment of his one-time leader in the verses in whichPunchpaid homage to a statesman "worn yet selfless, disparaged and dispraised," yet a "pattern of proud but gentle chivalry":—

So the arena's coarser heroes mockedThis antique fighter. And his place was ratherWhere Arthur's knights in generous tourney shockedThan where swashbucklers meet or histrions gather:Yet—yet his death has touched the land with gloom;All England honours Chivalry—at his tomb.

So the arena's coarser heroes mocked

This antique fighter. And his place was rather

Where Arthur's knights in generous tourney shocked

Than where swashbucklers meet or histrions gather:

Yet—yet his death has touched the land with gloom;

All England honours Chivalry—at his tomb.

Here the reference to Lord Randolph is inferential though unmistakable. But an opportunity for having a dig at him is never missed. When the Bulgarian throne was offered to Prince Ferdinand, and his cautious and diplomatic tactics resulted in long delays,Punchin pure malice suggested that the crown should be offered to Lord Randolph. He may be forgiven, however, in view of the remarkably accurate estimate which he formed of the slyness, timidity and meanness of "Ferdinand the Fox," and the alternations of servility and insolence in his attitude towards Russia. Bismarck again comes in for honorific notice this year in the guise of Sintram, accompanied and menaced by Socialism (the Little Master), but confidently riding along on his steed Majority. But 1888 was a momentous year for Germany—the year in which two Kaisers died and a third succeeded to the heritage of the Hohenzollerns. The old Emperor Wilhelm, the "Greise Kaiser," died on March 9; within a hundred days his son, the "Weise Kaiser," had fallen to the fatal malady which had sapped his splendid physique, to be succeeded in turn by the "Reise Kaiser," the nickname bestowed on Wilhelm II for his passion for movement and travel. At the moment of his accessionPunchwas not inclined to be critical. The cartoon of "The Vigil" in June of that year expresses no misgivings, but only sympathy for one called to bear so heavy a burden. And this view is amplified in the verses in which the lessons of the past are used to fortify the hopes of the future:—

THE VIGIL

"Verse-moi dans le cœur, du fond de ce tombeauQuelque chose de grand, de sublime et de beau!"Hernani, Act iv, Scene 2.

"Verse-moi dans le cœur, du fond de ce tombeau

Quelque chose de grand, de sublime et de beau!"

Hernani, Act iv, Scene 2.

The prayer of Charles, that rose amidst the gloomOf the dead Charlemagne's majestic tomb,Might fitly find an echo on the lipsOf the young Prince, whose pathway death's eclipseHath twice enshadowed in so brief a space.Grandsire and Sire! Stout slip of a strong race,Valiant old age and vigorous manhood fail,And leave youth, high with hope, with anguish pale,In vigil at their tomb! Watch on, and kneel,Those clenched hands crossed upon the sheathèd steel.Not lightly such inheritance should fall.Hear you not through the gloom the glorious callOf Valour, Duty, Freedom?............ And youth must faceWhat snowy age and stalwart manhood foundA weight of sorrow, though with splendour crowned.Young Hohenzollern, soldierly of soul,Heaven fix your heart on a yet nobler goalThan sword may hew its way to. Those you mournHeroes of the Great War when France was tornWith Teuton shot, knew that the sword aloneMay rear, but shall not long support a throne.William has passed, bowing his silver crest,Like an old Sea King going to his rest;Frederick, in fullest prime, with failing breath,But an heroic heart, has stooped to death:Here, at their tomb, another Emperor keepsHis vigil, whilst Germania bows and weeps.Heaven hold that sword unsheathed in that young hand,And crown with power and peace the Fatherland!

The prayer of Charles, that rose amidst the gloom

Of the dead Charlemagne's majestic tomb,

Might fitly find an echo on the lips

Of the young Prince, whose pathway death's eclipse

Hath twice enshadowed in so brief a space.

Grandsire and Sire! Stout slip of a strong race,

Valiant old age and vigorous manhood fail,

And leave youth, high with hope, with anguish pale,

In vigil at their tomb! Watch on, and kneel,

Those clenched hands crossed upon the sheathèd steel.

Not lightly such inheritance should fall.

Hear you not through the gloom the glorious call

Of Valour, Duty, Freedom?

............ And youth must faceWhat snowy age and stalwart manhood foundA weight of sorrow, though with splendour crowned.Young Hohenzollern, soldierly of soul,Heaven fix your heart on a yet nobler goalThan sword may hew its way to. Those you mournHeroes of the Great War when France was tornWith Teuton shot, knew that the sword aloneMay rear, but shall not long support a throne.William has passed, bowing his silver crest,Like an old Sea King going to his rest;Frederick, in fullest prime, with failing breath,But an heroic heart, has stooped to death:Here, at their tomb, another Emperor keepsHis vigil, whilst Germania bows and weeps.Heaven hold that sword unsheathed in that young hand,And crown with power and peace the Fatherland!

............ And youth must face

What snowy age and stalwart manhood found

A weight of sorrow, though with splendour crowned.

Young Hohenzollern, soldierly of soul,

Heaven fix your heart on a yet nobler goal

Than sword may hew its way to. Those you mourn

Heroes of the Great War when France was torn

With Teuton shot, knew that the sword alone

May rear, but shall not long support a throne.

William has passed, bowing his silver crest,

Like an old Sea King going to his rest;

Frederick, in fullest prime, with failing breath,

But an heroic heart, has stooped to death:

Here, at their tomb, another Emperor keeps

His vigil, whilst Germania bows and weeps.

Heaven hold that sword unsheathed in that young hand,

And crown with power and peace the Fatherland!

Only a fortnight before the death of the old Emperor, Bismarck's Army Bill had awakenedPunch'smisgivings. He reluctantly admired the strength of the lion combined with the shrewdness of the fox; and put into Bismarck's mouth the sonorous couplet:—

I speak of Peace, while covert enmityUnder the smile of safety wounds the world.

I speak of Peace, while covert enmity

Under the smile of safety wounds the world.

Cartoon ,with Wilhelm as an Icarus figure.A WISE WARNING(Founded on the first part of an old Fable of Dædalus and Icarus, the Sequel of which Mr. Punch trusts may never apply.)

A WISE WARNING

(Founded on the first part of an old Fable of Dædalus and Icarus, the Sequel of which Mr. Punch trusts may never apply.)

But by September it was the young Kaiser, not Bismarck, who invited "A Word in Season." The counsel was prompted by a speech in which he declared, "It is the pride of the Hohenzollerns to reign at once over the noblest, the most intellectual and most cultured of nations," a sentiment mild when compared with later utterances, yet sufficiently thrasonic to earn a rebukefor indulging in demagogic flattery, coupled with the advice to read Lord Wolseley's article in theFortnightlyon Marlborough, Wellington and Napoleon, and to emulate the reticence of Moltke. In less than a month the inevitable cleavage between the Kaiser and his Chancellor is foreshadowed in the splendid cartoon reproduced, where Bismarck as Dædalus warns Wilhelm as Icarus, in a paraphrase of Ovid:—

My son, observe the middle path to fly,And fear to sink too low, or rise too high.Here the sun melts, there vapours damp your force,Between the two extremes direct your course.Nor on the Bear, nor on Boötes gaze,Nor on sword-arm'd Orion's dangerous rays;But follow me, thy guide, with watchful sight,And as I steer, direct thy cautious flight.Metamorphoses, Book VIII, Fable iii.

My son, observe the middle path to fly,And fear to sink too low, or rise too high.Here the sun melts, there vapours damp your force,Between the two extremes direct your course.

My son, observe the middle path to fly,

And fear to sink too low, or rise too high.

Here the sun melts, there vapours damp your force,

Between the two extremes direct your course.

Nor on the Bear, nor on Boötes gaze,Nor on sword-arm'd Orion's dangerous rays;But follow me, thy guide, with watchful sight,And as I steer, direct thy cautious flight.Metamorphoses, Book VIII, Fable iii.

Nor on the Bear, nor on Boötes gaze,

Nor on sword-arm'd Orion's dangerous rays;

But follow me, thy guide, with watchful sight,

And as I steer, direct thy cautious flight.

Metamorphoses, Book VIII, Fable iii.

For the establishment of the Triple AlliancePunchheld Bismarck responsible. The three high contracting Powers become the "Sisters Three," Italy as Atropos, Austria as Lachesis, and Germany as Clotho. The policy is expounded in "a Bismarckian version of an old classical myth." Bismarck claims to be working for peace so long as he is the cloud compeller. While he is in power it will be all well with Germany. Of Austria he is less certain, owing to the precariousness of her crown, but he counts confidently on Italy, and ends on an optimistic note, dwelling on the pacific aims of this new political pact. It is hard to tell whether this is irony on the part ofPunchor a genuine approval of the Triple Alliance. But there is no doubt of his mistrust of Germany's ulterior motives in undertaking to co-operate with England in suppressing the Slave Trade in Africa—a mistrust expressed in the quatrain:—

When Fox with Lion hunts,One would be sorryTo say who gains, untilThey've shared the quarry.

When Fox with Lion hunts,

One would be sorry

To say who gains, until

They've shared the quarry.

Boulanger's Bid for Dictatorship

The sequel justified the suspicion, and less than a year laterPunchpublished a companion cartoon in which the Lion, coming round the corner, finds the Fox has pulled down the notice "Down with Slavery" and is about to put up a Proclamation in which "Up" takes the place of "Down."

Bismarck's hostility to the Empress Frederick was notorious. In her husband's brief reign there was a question of their daughter, Princess Victoria, marrying Prince Alexander, ex-sovereign of Bulgaria.Punchrepresented Bismarck forbidding the banns, and putting an extinguisher labelled "Policy" on Cupid. It was stated that Bismarck threatened to resign if the marriage plan were proceeded with;Punch, the sentimentalist, believed that love would find out a way, and it did, but in a different direction. The Prince married, but the lady was not of royal or even noble birth, and as Count Hartenau he remained in obscurity and died while still a young man.

France also had her troubles in 1888, for this was the year of Boulanger, thebrav' Général, who captivated the mob for a while, seemed at one moment to be within an ace of overthrowing the Republic and establishing a stratocracy, but collapsed ignobly in the testing hour.Punchrecognized the danger in his cartoon of France ruefully balancing the Cap of Liberty on her finger. But even inL'Audace, where Boulanger is shown climbing up a steep cliff, with "Deputy" at the bottom, "President" and "Dictator" at the top, and the Imperial Eagle peering over the summit—we are made to feel that the climber is not equal to the task. The conditions are exactly reproduced in the companion picture, "Many a Slip," only that Boulanger is shown rolling down the precipice.

New South Wales celebrated her Centenary on January 26, 1888, andPunchadded his tribute in a happily-worded greeting under the familiar heading, "Advance, Australia!":—

A hundred years! At Time's old paceThe merest day's march, little changing;But now the measure's new, the raceFares even faster, forward ranging.What cycle of Cathay e'er sawYour Century's wondrous transformation?From wandering waifs to wards of Law!From nomads to a mighty nation!Belated dreamers moan and wail;What scenes for croakers of that kidney,Since first theSiriusfurled her sailWhere now is Sydney!A hundred years! Let Fancy fly—She has a flight that nothing hinders,Not e'en reaction's raven cry—Back to the days of Matthew Flinders,Stout slip of Anglo-Saxon stockWho gave the new-found land its nomen.Faith, memory-fired, may proudly mockAt dismal doubt, at owlish omen.Five sister-colonies spread nowWhere then the wandering black-fellowAlone enjoyed day's golden glow,Night's moonlight mellow."The Island-Continent! Hooray!"Punch drinks your health in honest liquorOn this your great Centennial day,Whose advent makes his blood flow quicker.We know what you can do, dear boysIn City-founding—and in Cricket.A fig for flattery!—it cloys;Frank truth, true friendship—that's the ticket!Land of rare climate, stalwart men,And pretty girls, and queer mammalia,All England cries, throughPunch'spen,"Advance, Australia!"

A hundred years! At Time's old pace

The merest day's march, little changing;

But now the measure's new, the race

Fares even faster, forward ranging.

What cycle of Cathay e'er saw

Your Century's wondrous transformation?

From wandering waifs to wards of Law!

From nomads to a mighty nation!

Belated dreamers moan and wail;

What scenes for croakers of that kidney,

Since first theSiriusfurled her sail

Where now is Sydney!

A hundred years! Let Fancy fly—She has a flight that nothing hinders,Not e'en reaction's raven cry—Back to the days of Matthew Flinders,Stout slip of Anglo-Saxon stockWho gave the new-found land its nomen.Faith, memory-fired, may proudly mockAt dismal doubt, at owlish omen.Five sister-colonies spread nowWhere then the wandering black-fellowAlone enjoyed day's golden glow,Night's moonlight mellow.

A hundred years! Let Fancy fly—

She has a flight that nothing hinders,

Not e'en reaction's raven cry—

Back to the days of Matthew Flinders,

Stout slip of Anglo-Saxon stock

Who gave the new-found land its nomen.

Faith, memory-fired, may proudly mock

At dismal doubt, at owlish omen.

Five sister-colonies spread now

Where then the wandering black-fellow

Alone enjoyed day's golden glow,

Night's moonlight mellow.

"The Island-Continent! Hooray!"Punch drinks your health in honest liquorOn this your great Centennial day,Whose advent makes his blood flow quicker.We know what you can do, dear boysIn City-founding—and in Cricket.A fig for flattery!—it cloys;Frank truth, true friendship—that's the ticket!Land of rare climate, stalwart men,And pretty girls, and queer mammalia,All England cries, throughPunch'spen,"Advance, Australia!"

"The Island-Continent! Hooray!"

Punch drinks your health in honest liquor

On this your great Centennial day,

Whose advent makes his blood flow quicker.

We know what you can do, dear boys

In City-founding—and in Cricket.

A fig for flattery!—it cloys;

Frank truth, true friendship—that's the ticket!

Land of rare climate, stalwart men,

And pretty girls, and queer mammalia,

All England cries, throughPunch'spen,

"Advance, Australia!"

The same year witnessed the starting of the Australian navy. "Naturally the biggest island in the world has the biggest coast-line, and so needs the biggest fleet." The lead was taken by Victoria.Punchsaw nothing but healthy rivalry between the different colonies as the outcome of the movement, but looked to Federation as the true means to prevent the different Australian Colonies from being at "Southern Cross-purposes" when they all had their navies. The trouble in the Soudan prompts a warning from the Shade of Gordon: "If you mean to send help, do it thoroughly anddo it at once," but anxiety was allayed by the success of General Grenfell at Suakin, an example of prompt action worthy of the attention of "long-halting statesmen."

Parnell and "The Times"

The most important measure of the Session at Westminster was the Local Government Bill establishing County Councils.Punchmade considerable capital out of Mr. Chamberlain'srapprochementto the Tory interests. At a meeting of the National Society, Archbishop Benson had referred amid cheers to the words of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain at the opening of a School Board in Birmingham, and his acknowledgment of the fact that Voluntary Schools must have their place in the education of the people recognized. Mr. Chamberlain's views on the Liquor question had shown a similar concession to the demands of the brewing trade. SoPunchrepresents the "Artful Joe" walking arm-in-arm with the Archbishop and "Bung," and observing, "What a lot of nice friends I'm making." Mr. Chamberlain is already acknowledged to be "incomparably the best debater in the House";Punchrendered full justice to his ability, but his chief cartoonist, Tenniel, though still capable of splendid work, never managed to seize and reproduce the alert vivacity of Mr. Chamberlain's features. The progress of the controversy between Mr. Parnell andThe TimesimpelledPunchas anamicus curiæto suggest that one or other of the disputants should wake up the Public Prosecutor in preference to the appointment of a Special Commission. The latter method of procedure, however, was adopted. The course of the inquiry was followed byPunchin a series of articles, and when Parnell was exculpated on the chief count by the breakdown ofThe Timeswitness Pigott, who confessed to forgery, fled the country and committed suicide,Punchexhibited the Clock-face doing penance in a white sheet with the lines, "His honour rooted in dishonour stood, etc." But when the Report of the Commission was finally published,Punchfound it a veritable chameleon, which disappointed both sides, because most of those interested wore party-coloured spectacles or else were colour-blind.

England was visited in 1889 by two of the most perturbing personalities in European politics, the Kaiser Wilhelm II and General Boulanger.Punch, however, resolutely and, as it turned out, rightly refused to take thebrav' Généralseriously, though he found in him plenty of food for disparaging satireas a shoddy hero on his prancing steed, as a "General Boum" in real life (recalling the grotesque figure inLa Grande Duchesse), and as an uninvited guest, whose unwelcome arrival John Bull took as an occasion for going off to the French Exhibition. In a burlesque cartoon on France's embarrassments in choosing the right form of Government,Punchexhibited President Carnot, the Comte de Paris, Prince Jerome Bonaparte ("Plon-Plon") and General Boulanger dancing a grotesquepas de quatrebefore the French Electorate. But Boulanger was already ended, though his death, by his own hand, did not take place till the autumn of 1891. His histrionic equipment was perfect, and the French, though the most logical of people, are often carried away by their theatrical sense. He had served with some distinction in the army, and he was a fine figure on a horse. But he lacked the inflexible will, the iron resolution and the ruthlessness which make Cæsars and Napoleons; andPunch'sepitaph is a closely-packed summary of the forces and influences which conspired to his undoing:—

So high he floated, that he seemed to climb;The bladder blown by chance was burst by time.Falsely-earned fame fools bolstered at the urns;The mob which reared the god the idol burns.To cling one moment nigh to power's crest,Then, earthward flung, sink to oblivion's restSelf-sought, 'midst careless acquiescence, seemsStrange fate, e'en for a thing of schemes and dreams;But Cæsar's simulacrum, seen by day,Scarce envious Casca's self would stoop to slay,And mounting mediocrity, once o'erthrown,Need fear—or hope—no dagger save its own.

So high he floated, that he seemed to climb;

The bladder blown by chance was burst by time.

Falsely-earned fame fools bolstered at the urns;

The mob which reared the god the idol burns.

To cling one moment nigh to power's crest,

Then, earthward flung, sink to oblivion's rest

Self-sought, 'midst careless acquiescence, seems

Strange fate, e'en for a thing of schemes and dreams;

But Cæsar's simulacrum, seen by day,

Scarce envious Casca's self would stoop to slay,

And mounting mediocrity, once o'erthrown,

Need fear—or hope—no dagger save its own.

The Kaiser's visit to attend the Naval Review at Spithead is treated in a somewhat jocular and cavalier spirit in the cartoon, "Visiting Grandmamma":—

Grandma Victoria: "Now, Willie dear, you've plenty ofsoldiersat home; look at these prettyships—I'm sure you'll be pleased withthem!"

Mistrust of the Kaiser

The Kaiser is shown with a toy spade making sand castles for his soldiers. Yet these soldiers were giving ground foranxiety—witness the cartoon in January on the armed peace of Europe with Peace holding out the olive in one hand, with the other on a sword hilt. The inevitable verses allude to the "truculent Kaiser" and evince mistrust of one who comes in such equivocal guise.Punchcredited Bismarck with exerting a restraining influence on the warlike activities of the Triple Alliance. He showed him in the spring playing Orpheus to this Cerberus, and lulling it to sleep. But the Kaiser inspired no such confidence, and at the close of the year he is shown posing as a peacemaker but preparing for war—fondling the dove on his hand, while behind is the eagle, with bayonets for feathers, feeding on the Army estimates.

Cartoon, Kaiser with doves and eagle.THE RIVAL PETS; OR, FONDLING AND FEEDING

THE RIVAL PETS; OR, FONDLING AND FEEDING

Another sovereign whomPunchfailed to read with the samepenetration was King Leopold II of the Belgians. On the occasion of the International Anti-Slavery Congress at Brussels in November, 1889,Punch, while very properly applauding the occasion as tending to the overthrow of "the demon of the shackle and the scourge," acclaimed Leopold II as a "magnanimous King." Cecil Rhodes, some years later, after an interview with the same monarch, said that he felt just as if he had been spending the morning in the company of the Devil.

Punch, like other critics, was happier in dealing with the dead than the living, and the death of John Bright in March inspired a generous though discriminating tribute to the memory and achievements of "Mercy's sworn militant, great Paladin of Peace":—

For Peace, and Freedom, and the People's right,Based on unshaken Law, he stood and fought;If not with widest purview, yet with sightSingle, sagacious, unobscured by aughtOf selfish passion or ambitious thought;Seeing day's promise in the darkest night,Hope for the weak 'midst menaces of Might:Careless of clamour as of chance-blown dust,Stern somewhat, scornful oft, and with the starkDownright directness of a Roundhead's stroke,Who drew a Heaven-dedicated swordAgainst the foes of Freedom's sacred ark,The friends of the oppressor's galling yoke,All fierce assailants of the Army of the Lord.

For Peace, and Freedom, and the People's right,

Based on unshaken Law, he stood and fought;

If not with widest purview, yet with sight

Single, sagacious, unobscured by aught

Of selfish passion or ambitious thought;

Seeing day's promise in the darkest night,

Hope for the weak 'midst menaces of Might:

Careless of clamour as of chance-blown dust,

Stern somewhat, scornful oft, and with the stark

Downright directness of a Roundhead's stroke,

Who drew a Heaven-dedicated sword

Against the foes of Freedom's sacred ark,

The friends of the oppressor's galling yoke,

All fierce assailants of the Army of the Lord.

These memorial verses, however, if I may say so without incurring the charge of unfilial disrespect—suffer throughout this period from prolixity. The writer says excellently, but diffusely, in ninety lines what is summed up in the majestic quatrain of Scott which stands at their head:—

Now is the stately column broke,The beacon-light is quench'd in smoke,The trumpet's silver sound is still,The warder silent on the hill!

Now is the stately column broke,

The beacon-light is quench'd in smoke,

The trumpet's silver sound is still,

The warder silent on the hill!

Dropping the Pilot

Mr. Gladstone's golden-wedding day in July furnished thetheme for friendly and affectionate congratulations to a couple who stood for "Darby and Joan"in excelsis. Mr. Gladstone's domestic happiness was unclouded, but he was subjected to a painful ordeal in 1890 by the disclosures of the Parnell-O'Shea divorce case and the split in the Irish Party which followed.Punchsupported Gladstone in his breach with the Irish leader. He is shown in one cartoon refusing to give his hand to Parnell:—

The hand of Douglas is his ownAnd never shall in friendly graspThe hand of such as Marmion clasp.

The hand of Douglas is his own

And never shall in friendly grasp

The hand of such as Marmion clasp.

Gladstone is acquitted of "mere Pharisaic scorn." But an element bordering on the ridiculous enters into the succeeding cartoon of Gladstone and Morley as the Babes in the Wood, while Parnell and Healy as the wicked uncles are seen fighting in the background. The further developments of the struggle are shown in an adaptation of Meissonier's famous "La Rixe," in which Parnell is held back by Dillon and O'Brien from Healy, who is restrained by Justin McCarthy. Parnell's sun was setting in gloom and storm, but a greater than Parnell was passing from the stage of high politics in 1890. For this was the year of the dismissal of Bismarck by the Kaiser, commemorated in the issue of March 29 by Tenniel's famous "Dropping the Pilot" cartoon.Punchsaw no good in the change; he indulges in ominous speculations. Was Bismarck animated by faith or fear of the future in quitting his post? Would the new Pilot strike on sunken shoals or "wish on the wild main, the old Pilot back again"? The Kaiser's gifts are seen to be no solace for the wound of dismissal. As a matter of fact, Bismarck never used the ducal title of Lauenburg conferred on him. In little more than a month the Kaiser is shown as the Enfant Terrible of Europe, "rocking the boat," while France, Italy, Austria and Spain all appeal to him to be more careful and not tempt fate. The Kaiser's dabbling in industrial problems, in the hope of propping his rule by concessions to Socialism, meets with no sympathy. But a more serious ground for discontent arose over the cession ofHeligoland.Punchwaxes indignantly sarcastic over Lord Salisbury's deal in East Africa by which Germany gained Heligoland as a bonus. It was "given away with a pound of tea"; Salisbury's weakness was worse than Gladstone's scuttle and surrender, andPunchruefully recalls the verses he printed nineteen years earlier:—

TIME THE AVENGER!On June 24, 1871,Mr. Punchsang,à proposof the Germans desiring to purchase Heligoland:Though to rule the waves, we may believe they aspire,If their Navy grows great, we must let it;But if one British island they think to acquire,Bless their hearts, don't they wish they may get it?And theyhavegot it!

TIME THE AVENGER!

On June 24, 1871,Mr. Punchsang,à proposof the Germans desiring to purchase Heligoland:

Though to rule the waves, we may believe they aspire,If their Navy grows great, we must let it;But if one British island they think to acquire,Bless their hearts, don't they wish they may get it?

Though to rule the waves, we may believe they aspire,

If their Navy grows great, we must let it;

But if one British island they think to acquire,

Bless their hearts, don't they wish they may get it?

And theyhavegot it!

Boy in grocery shop"GIVEN AWAY WITH A POUND OF TEA!!!"

"GIVEN AWAY WITH A POUND OF TEA!!!"

The Surrender of Helgoland

But the fashionable world went on its way unheeding. Du Maurier satirized this indifference in a picture in which one lady asks another: "Whereis this Heligoland they're all talking so much about?" and her friend replies, "Oh, I don't know, dear. It's one of the places lately discovered by Mr. Stanley."

Russia, it may be added, also incurredPunch'scensure in 1890, the legalized persecution of Jews forming the theme of a prophetic cartoon in August, in which the shade of Pharaoh warns the Tsar, as he stands with a drawn sword and his foot on a prostrate Hebrew: "Forbear! That weapon always wounds the hand that wields it."

In 1891 the new "orientations" of the European Powers attract a good deal of notice. The Franco-Russianententeis symbolized by the Bear making France dance to the tune of the Russian loan.Punch'sdistrust of Russia—semi-Asiatic and half-Tartar—dated from the 'forties. The tightening of the Franco-Russian Entente in 1891 gave him no pleasure. He quotes with manifest approval the comment of a daily paper on the infatuation of France:—

The success of a Russian Loan is not dearly purchased by a little effusion, which, after all, commits Russia to nothing. French sentiment is always worth cultivating in that way, because unlike the British variety, it has a distinct influence upon investments.

The cartoon of President Carnot embracing, and being hugged by, the Bear was founded on an episode at Aix-les-Bains where he kissed a little girl in Russian dress who gave him a bouquet, saying: "J'embrasse la Russie."Punch'sverses represent Carnot as fully conscious of hisblague, yet with an uneasy consciousness that the Bear is going to squeeze him. Russia's religious intolerance again comes in for strong condemnation. The Tsar is shown wielding the knout on an aged Jew while the Emperor of China greets a Christian priest. This contrast was based on the issue of a decree in which the Chinese Government condemned anti-Christian excesses. In another cartoon the Tsar bids his minions remove another aged Jew on the familiar ground that Jews were always to the fore in Nihilist plots. The European Powers, it should be added, were not satisfied by China's official tolerance. The treatment of foreigners had provoked a collective protest, from which Russia abstained. So when John Bull, as a sailor, asks Russia to take a hand in controlling the Chinese Dragon, Russia replies: "Well, I don't know—you see, he's a sort of relation of mine!"

The admiration whichPunchhad so often if reluctantly expressed for Bismarck in office yielded to something like disgust at his undignified bitterness in retirement, above all at his use of the "reptile press" as a means of attacking the Imperial policy and Caprivi, his successor as Chancellor. This feeling animates the "Coriolanus" cartoon in February, where Bismarck is shown with theHamburger Nachrichtenin his hand. The death of Moltke a couple of months later is duly recorded in a versified tribute making all the usual points—on his taciturnity, composure, foresight and strategy. With his death Bismarck became the lonely survivor of "the Titanic three, Who led the Eagles on to Victory." Moltke died full of years and honours. It was otherwise with Parnell who at forty-five fell,

not as leaders love to fall,In battle's forefront, loved and mourned by all;But fiercely fighting, as for his own hand,With the scant remnant of a broken band;His chieftainship, well-earned in many a fray,Rent from him—by himself!None did betrayThis sinister strong fighter to his foes;He fell by his own action, as he rose.He had fought all—himself he could not fight,Nor rise to the clear air of patient right.

not as leaders love to fall,

In battle's forefront, loved and mourned by all;

But fiercely fighting, as for his own hand,

With the scant remnant of a broken band;

His chieftainship, well-earned in many a fray,

Rent from him—by himself!

None did betray

This sinister strong fighter to his foes;

He fell by his own action, as he rose.

He had fought all—himself he could not fight,

Nor rise to the clear air of patient right.

The Passing of Parnell

Punchnotes his coldness, his impassive persistence as an agitator, but says nothing of the ill-concealed contempt he showed for his followers, and the entire lack of geniality,bonhomie, and humour, which partly explained the mercilessness with which he was pursued once his power was shaken. As he had never won or tried to win their affection, he could not expect to find magnanimity in mean souls.

The wheels of the Parliamentary chariot drove heavily over the Land Purchase Bill.Punchshowed Mr. Balfour leading the poor tired little Bill through a maze of amendments.A proposof its complicated nature and endless, obscure sub-sections, which aroused much hostile criticism inThe Times, Mr. Balfour is made to say:—

The Times, too, may gird, and declare 'tis absurd not to knowone's own Labyrinthbetter;The Timesis my friend, but a trifle too fond of the goad and the scourge and the fetter.

The Times, too, may gird, and declare 'tis absurd not to knowone's own Labyrinthbetter;

The Timesis my friend, but a trifle too fond of the goad and the scourge and the fetter.

This, of course, was in the days whenThe Timeswas ultra-Unionist. However, the Bill finally passed through its various stages, and Mr. W. H. Smith exhibits it with the fruits of the Session in June, 1891, as a gigantic strawberry. The choice of this particular fruit as a symbol was dictated by the fact that both he and Lord Salisbury had exhibited strawberries at the Horticultural Show.

The relations of Canada with England and the United States provoked much discussion in 1891.Punchexpressed confidence in Canada's loyalty, and simultaneously published a burlesque "Canadian Calendar (to be hoped not prophetic)," foretelling complete absorption in the United States. It begins with Reciprocity with the U.S.A., and goes on with the dyingout of trade with and emigration from the old country, the increase of improvident Irish, the request of Canada to be annexed to America, and finally her decline into a tenth-rate Yankee state. On the death of the Canadian premier, Sir John Macdonald, "old To-morrow" as he was nicknamed from his habit of procrastination,Punchoverlooked the thrasonical magniloquence criticized in an earlier poem, and only dwelt on his long services to the Dominion.

Earlier in the yearPunchhad typified the Federation of the Australian Colonies in a boating cartoon, the British Lion from the bank applauding a racing eight, manned by cubs and coxed by a kangaroo, and bidding them swing together.

On the death of the old Duke of Devonshire at the close of 1891, and the accession of Lord Hartington to the title, Mr. Chamberlain became leader of the Liberal-Unionists in the Commons. Mr. Chamberlain, in spite of therapprochementalready noted, was still looked upon in some quarters as a somewhat dangerous Radical, and in January, 1892,Punchrepresented the clock-facedTimeslecturing him on his responsibilities. Mr. Balfour succeeded Mr. W. H. Smith on the death of that unselfish, honest and capable statesman, as Leader of the House of Commons. The shades of Dizzy and Pam are friendly in the cartoon which records the promotion; slightly anxious on the score of Mr. Balfour's youth—he was then forty-four—but on the whole inclined to think that he will do. Parliament was dissolved in June, the Liberals were returned at the Elections, and the new House met on the now ominous date of August 4.

NATIONAL DEFENCE

"Scuttle" and "Grab"

In the 'seventiesPunch, as we have seen, was decidedly non-interventionist. By the middle 'eighties he found it harder to preserve a middle course between the extremes of Jingoism and Pacificism, though he bestows impartial ridicule on both "Scuttle and Grab" in his burlesque forecast of the alternate foreign policies of the ultra-Imperialists and the ultra-Radicals. This was published early in 1885, when the Liberals were in power, and though deliberately fantastical and evenfarcical, shows how the wildest anticipations are sometimes verified by fact. Four periods are chosen. In 1890 the Grab Party inaugurate a forward policy all round by spending fifty millions upon the Army and Fleet, and are turned out by John Bull when it is found that their schemes involve:—

The seizure of sixteen islands, conquest of five native races, absorption of fifty thousand square miles of—useless—new territory, seven small wars, two large ones, four massacres, and an Income-tax of five shillings in the pound.

The Scuttle Party is installed in power in 1895 with a big majority and bigger promises:—

Finishes off all wars by caving in all round, retiring everywhere and relinquishing everything. Cuts down Army, and resolves to sell half the Ironclad Fleet as old metal. Power which buys it immediately utilizes it against us. Another Fleet has to be ordered at once at fancy prices in response to Press clamour. Scuttle Party, in cleft stick, halts between two opinions; in pursuit of peace is found fighting all over the world, and after frantic efforts at economy, runs up Income-tax to six shillings in the pound. John Bull turns out Scuttle Party.

Then we jump to A.D. 2000, but even then the wildest stretch ofPunch'simagination does not exceed the establishment of conscription and the raising of the Army to a million men. Finally in his last forecastPunchis reduced to solving the problem by an insurrection under a popular soap-boiler, the seizure of the leaders of the two parties, and the banishing of both "Scuttle" and "Grab" from the political dictionary.

With the return of the Conservatives to power, we find thatPunch, so far from rebuking the Government for their expenditure on bloated armaments, develops into something like an alarmist on the subject of national preparedness and the folly of "cheap defences." The inefficiency of the Army and Navy is a constant theme from 1887 onwards. The bursting of big naval guns, the badness of munitions and designs for battleships are dealt with in bitter satirical verses: while the damaging report of the Parliamentary Committee on Army equipment and stores prompts a series of advertisements of the "BenevolentBayonet," the "Blazing Breech-loader," the "Comic Cartridge," and so on. Dishonest contractors and incompetent officials are attacked as "the Vultures of Trade" and "the Vermin of Office and Mart." The persistent discouragement of volunteers by the military authorities was an old grievance ofPunch's, and it crops up in this year in connexion with the removal of the camp from Wimbledon by order of "George Ranger." Indeed, the bitterness ofPunch'sattack on the Duke of Cambridge revives the memories of the 'forties, when a duke, royal or otherwise, was his favourite cockshy:—

Snubbing the Volunteers

Some prate of patriotism, and some of cheap defence,But to the high official mind that's all absurd pretence;For of all the joys of snubbing, there's none to it so dear,As to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!A patriotic Laureate may bid the Rifles form,And Citizens may look to them for safety in War's storm;But Secretaries, Dooks, and such at this delight to jeer,And to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!A semi-swell he may be, but he may be a mere clerk,And he's an interloper, and to snub him is a lark.Sometimes he licks the Regulars, and so our duty's clear,'Tis to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!He hankers for an increase in his Capitation Grant,It's like his precious impudence, and have the lift he shan't.What, make it easier for him to run us close? No fear!We'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!He has a fad for Wimbledon, but that is just a whim,And as eviction's all the go, we'll try it uponhim.He'snot an Irish tenant, so no one will interfere,When once more we snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!His targets and his tents and things are nuisances all round,As Jerry-Builders, Dooks, and other Toffs have lately found,Compared with bricks and mortar and big landlords he's small beer,So we'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!The Common's vastly handy, there's no doubt, to chaps in town,And crowds of Cockneys to the butts can quickly hurry down;But what areallTown's Cockneys to one solitary Peer?No; let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!Your Citizen who wants to play at soldiers need not lookTo have his little way as though he were a Royal Dook;With building-leases—sacred things!—he must not interfere,So let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!If hemustshoot his annual shoot somewhere, why, let him goTo Pirbright or to Salisbury Plain, or e'en to Jericho.But out from his loved Wimbledon he'll surely have to clear,A final snub, snub, snub, snub, snub to the British Volunteer!

Some prate of patriotism, and some of cheap defence,

But to the high official mind that's all absurd pretence;

For of all the joys of snubbing, there's none to it so dear,

As to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

A patriotic Laureate may bid the Rifles form,And Citizens may look to them for safety in War's storm;But Secretaries, Dooks, and such at this delight to jeer,And to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

A patriotic Laureate may bid the Rifles form,

And Citizens may look to them for safety in War's storm;

But Secretaries, Dooks, and such at this delight to jeer,

And to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

A semi-swell he may be, but he may be a mere clerk,And he's an interloper, and to snub him is a lark.Sometimes he licks the Regulars, and so our duty's clear,'Tis to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

A semi-swell he may be, but he may be a mere clerk,

And he's an interloper, and to snub him is a lark.

Sometimes he licks the Regulars, and so our duty's clear,

'Tis to snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

He hankers for an increase in his Capitation Grant,It's like his precious impudence, and have the lift he shan't.What, make it easier for him to run us close? No fear!We'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

He hankers for an increase in his Capitation Grant,

It's like his precious impudence, and have the lift he shan't.

What, make it easier for him to run us close? No fear!

We'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

He has a fad for Wimbledon, but that is just a whim,And as eviction's all the go, we'll try it uponhim.He'snot an Irish tenant, so no one will interfere,When once more we snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

He has a fad for Wimbledon, but that is just a whim,

And as eviction's all the go, we'll try it uponhim.

He'snot an Irish tenant, so no one will interfere,

When once more we snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

His targets and his tents and things are nuisances all round,As Jerry-Builders, Dooks, and other Toffs have lately found,Compared with bricks and mortar and big landlords he's small beer,So we'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

His targets and his tents and things are nuisances all round,

As Jerry-Builders, Dooks, and other Toffs have lately found,

Compared with bricks and mortar and big landlords he's small beer,

So we'll snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

The Common's vastly handy, there's no doubt, to chaps in town,And crowds of Cockneys to the butts can quickly hurry down;But what areallTown's Cockneys to one solitary Peer?No; let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

The Common's vastly handy, there's no doubt, to chaps in town,

And crowds of Cockneys to the butts can quickly hurry down;

But what areallTown's Cockneys to one solitary Peer?

No; let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

Your Citizen who wants to play at soldiers need not lookTo have his little way as though he were a Royal Dook;With building-leases—sacred things!—he must not interfere,So let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

Your Citizen who wants to play at soldiers need not look

To have his little way as though he were a Royal Dook;

With building-leases—sacred things!—he must not interfere,

So let us snub, snub, snub, snub, snub the British Volunteer!

If hemustshoot his annual shoot somewhere, why, let him goTo Pirbright or to Salisbury Plain, or e'en to Jericho.But out from his loved Wimbledon he'll surely have to clear,A final snub, snub, snub, snub, snub to the British Volunteer!

If hemustshoot his annual shoot somewhere, why, let him go

To Pirbright or to Salisbury Plain, or e'en to Jericho.

But out from his loved Wimbledon he'll surely have to clear,

A final snub, snub, snub, snub, snub to the British Volunteer!

Punchwas not generous or just in representing the Duke of Cambridge as a mere obstructive; and the sequel has not verified his forecast. Wimbledon Common remains a great playground of the people, and the annual meetings of the National Rifle Association, held at Wimbledon from 1860 to 1888, have not suffered in prestige or value since the move to Bisley in 1890.

References to the inadequate state of the national defences reach their highest frequency in 1888. We have the duel between Lord Randolph Churchill preaching retrenchment and Lord Charles Beresford advocating expenditure on an increased Navy. This is followed up byPunch's"Alarmist Alphabet" dedicated to our naval and military experts, to whose warnings our rulers attach no particular importance:—

A's the Alarm that the Country's defenceless.B's the Belief such assertions are senseless.C's the Commission that sits with regard to them;D's our Defences—the one topic barred to them!E's the Expense—it's supposed we shall grudge it!F is the Fear of increasing the Budget.G stands for Guns, which we thought we had got.H is the Howl when we hear we havenot.I's the Inquiry, abuses to right meant;J is the Judgment (a crushing indictment!);K is the Knot of red tape someone ties on it;L's Limbo—where no one will ever set eyes on it!M is the Murmur, too quickly forgotten.N is our Navy, which some say is rotten.O's the Official who bungles withbonhomie.P's Party-Government—all for Economy.Q is the Question engrossing our Statesmen.R is Retrenchment, which so fascinates men.S stands for Services, starved (out of Policy).T is the Time when—too late!—we our folly see.U is the Uproar of Struggle Titanic;V is the Vote we shall pass in a panic.W's War—with the Capture of London.X our Xplosions of fury, when undone.Y is the Yoke we shall have to get used to.Z is the Zero our Empire's reduced to!

A's the Alarm that the Country's defenceless.

B's the Belief such assertions are senseless.

C's the Commission that sits with regard to them;

D's our Defences—the one topic barred to them!

E's the Expense—it's supposed we shall grudge it!

F is the Fear of increasing the Budget.

G stands for Guns, which we thought we had got.

H is the Howl when we hear we havenot.

I's the Inquiry, abuses to right meant;

J is the Judgment (a crushing indictment!);

K is the Knot of red tape someone ties on it;

L's Limbo—where no one will ever set eyes on it!

M is the Murmur, too quickly forgotten.

N is our Navy, which some say is rotten.

O's the Official who bungles withbonhomie.

P's Party-Government—all for Economy.

Q is the Question engrossing our Statesmen.

R is Retrenchment, which so fascinates men.

S stands for Services, starved (out of Policy).

T is the Time when—too late!—we our folly see.

U is the Uproar of Struggle Titanic;

V is the Vote we shall pass in a panic.

W's War—with the Capture of London.

X our Xplosions of fury, when undone.

Y is the Yoke we shall have to get used to.

Z is the Zero our Empire's reduced to!

The Race of Armaments

Simultaneously Britannia figures in a cartoon as the "Unprotected Female" surrounded by a litter of burst guns, broken contracts, broken blades, unfinished ships, etc. Then we findPunchsuddenly appearing at Downing Street at "the first meeting of the Inner Cabinet," and shattering the complacent satisfaction of the Premier and the War Secretary by a peremptory and menacing demand for speeding-up in the supply of rifles and more energetic recruiting. In July, under the heading of "Punch'sParallels," the tercentenary of the Armada is celebrated in a satiric perversion of the famous game of bowls into "a nice little game of Ducks and Drakes—with the public money," in which Lord George Hamilton, the First Lord of the Admiralty, is attacked as a lethargic aristocrat. Another cartoon shows Moltke rebuking the Duke of Cambridge for persistently discouraging the volunteer movement; while the enforced expense of life in the regular army is condemned in "The Pleasant Way of Glory." Commenting on the swampingof the subaltern's pay by compulsory but unnecessary outlay,Punchremarks that "the life of the British officer, as thus revealed, seems to resolve itself into a prolonged struggle to keep up a false position on insufficient means"; and he regrets that Lord Wolseley seemed to acquiesce in the evil instead of encouraging British officers to be more frugal. Such criticisms are not unfamiliar even to-day, for the old traditions die hard. On the general question of national and especially naval defence,Punchwas not by any means a voice crying in the wilderness. Public opinion had been worked up by other powerful advocates, amongst whomPunchrightly mentions Mr. W. T. Stead. The debate on the Address in the session of 1889 was prolonged and acrimonious. Early in March, however, Lord George Hamilton moved a resolution, on which the Naval Defence Bill was founded, authorizing an expenditure of £21,500,000 on the Navy. The measure, of course, met with some opposition from various quarters, but public opinion was manifestly in its favour, and it received the Royal Assent before the end of May.

Throughout this campaign it is interesting to note how the personality of the German Emperor obtrudes itself as a disquieting factor in the international race in armaments. At the close of 1891 a lady with alleged abnormal "magnetic" power was giving performances at the Alhambra, andPunchadapts the incident in a cartoon suggested by the Kaiser'sdictum—inscribed in the Visitors' Book of the City Council at Munich—Suprema Lex Regis Voluntas. The accompanying verses on "The Little Germania Magnate" are derisive, not to say abusive, with their references to "Behemoth Billy," "Panjandrum-plus-Cæsar," "Thraso" and "Vulcan-Apollo."Punchwas evidently inclined to regard the German Emperor as one of those "impossible people" who, asThe Timeshad suggested in a happy phrase, ought to "retire into fiction." Unfortunately he remained a fact, and was not to be killed byPunch'smouth.

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