Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, January 10, 1891

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, January 10, 1891

POLITE JUDGMENT.A correspondence has been going on in the St. James's Gazette as to what six Gentlemen seated in a first class railway carriage ought to do if a Lady insists on thrusting herself upon them. Truth says, let her stand, unless she has been invited, and adds, that anyhow she, as an extra person, is a nuisance. Mr. Punch agrees with a difference, and says that the uninvited intruder who becomes a standing nuisance ought to be put downby somebody giving her a seat. No. 76. Portrait of a Warrior. This picture is described in the Catalogue as the Duke of WELLINGTON, who, it will be remembered, won, in the early part of the last century, the Battle of Waterloo, and invented a new kind of boots. The face is adorned with long black whiskers and moustaches, and an eyeglass not unlike the traditional portrait of the great W.E. GLADSTONE, Second Earl of BEACONSFIELD, as depicted by a now nearly forgotten artist, called DUNDREARY SOTHERN, or SOTHERN DUNDREARY. The Duke (if, indeed, it be the Duke) is wearing the uniform of the 3rd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers, a corps that was raised some ten years after His Grace's death, a fact that would argue that the painting was either a posthumous work, or intended to represent someone else. Accepting the alternative suggestion, the picture may hand down to posterity the features of BURDETT COUTTS (husband of the Baroness of that name), J.L. TOOLE, the popular Comedian, HENRY IRVING (his friend), the Rev. C.H. SPURGEON, or (and this is the most likely hypothesis) PRINCE GEORGE of Wales. No. 102. Miniature of a Lady Unknown. It is impossible at this lapse of time to identify the original of this portrait. No doubt she belonged to a short-lived and somewhat degraded class known as "professional beauties." In one hand she holds an instrument called an opera-glass, which was used in the last century at trials for murder at the Old Bailey. The hair she wears on her head is evidently false, and has been supplied from some foreign peasantry. Her hat is adorned with a stuffed bird, suggestive of the cruelty of her nature. As she holds in her other hand a book labelled, "The Art of Nursing," it may be conjectured that she is a frequent visitor to the Dissecting-Room, or the Accident Ward of a London Hospital. On the whole, perhaps, it is fortunate that her name has not been preserved by succeeding generations. She must, indeed, have been a contrast to her angelic descendants of the present day. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 12951
Author: Various
Release Date: Jul 19, 2004
Format: eBook
Language: English