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Year MR. PUNCH, the Avenger, kicked MR. Çox out of Finsbury;

Year that the new Temple chambers were marked with the name of SAM JOHNSON;

Year that the fashion broke out of abusing our wives for bad dinners;

Year QUEEN VICTORIA announced that India, subdued, was HER kingdom;

Year MR. OWEN, Professor, expounded the dreadful Gorilla;

Year that the Tories, in office, brought in another Reform Bill;

Year that such Bill was rejected, and DERBY appealed to the Country;
Year when the General Election ejected his Lordship from office;
Year that LORD PALMERSTON found himself Premier again on Whit Sunday;
Year that SAM WARREN the Poet was raised to be Master in Lunacy;
Year that the Westminster Clock began to have thoughts about going;

Year that the gay Floral Hall rose alongside of the Opera House;

Year the Welsh child in the Gallery howled while LORD STANLEY was speaking;
Year that the EMPEROR NAPOLEON THE THIRD entered Milan in triumph;

Year that the Thames smelt as bad as it did in the year antecedent,

Such the events which occurred in one-half of the year Fifty-Nine;
Such, and ten million beside, in the Volume before you are noted.
Noted, but not in the fashion of Apes from the Sea called the Dead Sea;
But made texts for uncountable wealth of wit, ever blended with wisdom.
Down on the knees of your hearts, thanking great PUNCH for this Volume;
Rejoice that you live in a world that He condescends to enlighten;

Shout for your QUEEN and your PUNCH, and then all go and mind your own business :
Leaving Him Watcher, Protector, Censor, Curator, Chastiser.

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THE
HE assembling of Parliament in 1859 was regarded with
much public interest, as it was known that the Ministry
had prepared a new Reform Bill, and that MR. BRIGHT had
been taking a leading part at many public meetings held
chiefly in the North of England, having for their object a
change in the representation. MR. BRIGHT had been so
violent in some of his speeches that many earnest reformers
became alarmed and withdrew themselves from the movement,
and to those who remembered the keen excitement that per-
vaded the country during the former agitation for Reform, the
indifference of the people at the present time presented a
striking contrast.

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VISCOUNT PALMERSTON.

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LORD CAMPBELL.

RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE.

RT. HON. SIR GEORGE GREY, Br.

EARL GRANVILLE.

DUKE OF ARGYLL.

SIR G. CORNEWALL LEWIS, BART.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.

RIGHT HON. SIDNEY HERBERT.

RT. HON. SIR CHARLES WOOD, BT.

DUKE OF SOMERSET.

RIGHT HON. EARL OF ELGIN.

RT. HON. THOMAS M. GIBSON.

RIGHT HON. E. CARDWELL.

| liners and nine heavy frigates to the fleet by the conversion of sailing vessels and the construction of new ones. This would be done in the course of the next year. Two ironcased ships would also be built on the best principles to place us on a par in that respect with France. There was not, however, room to build these ships in the Government yards, and they would therefore be built by contract. Thus the Navy would be augmented during the year with twenty-six powerful ships. Less he could not ask, and more could not be accomplished in consequence of the crowded state of the dockyards. He, for one, would not be satisfied until larger additions were made to our fleet. He moved that the number of men, boys, and marines for 1859-60 should be 62,480. The vote was unanimously agreed to."

On the 14th of February, LORD STANLEY, the Secretary of

The mysterious conduct of the French Emperor had created considerable mistrust in this country, and towards France and its ruler the feeling in England had undoubtedly become less cordial than in the early, days of the alliance. The re-settle-State for the affairs of India, made a long and elaborate statement of Italy was frequently discussed, and the sympathies of the people of England unequivocally avowed in favour of the emancipation of all the States of Central Italy from foreign domination and complete reform of the anomalous abuses of the Papal States.

The proceedings of Parliament are so amply set forth in "the Essence" that the briefest summary will suffice to direct attention to the subjects treated of in this volume.

The state of the Navy was brought before the House, and a strong feeling was everywhere manifested to have this popular arm of the country made immediately effective. SIR JOHN PAKINGTON, the First Lord of the Admiralty, stated that the French Navy was superior to the English in screw-liners and frigates. He proposed to add fifteen screw

ment to the House of Commons upon the financial state of that country-a subject which was then exciting much interest, and some anxiety, in the public mind. The exhaustion occasioned by the mutiny-the great loss of property and revenue-and the very heavy charges incurred by the military operations, had produced a great excess of expenditure and deficiency of revenue, and it was feared that the void thus created would have to be made good, sooner or later, out of the resources of the British tax-payer.

The official statement showed a large deficiency, and his Lordship concluded a very lucid speech by asking for a loan of seven millions, to which, after some discussion, the House assented. Several minor measures having been brought before the House-such as "Law of Marriage with a Deceased Wife's

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Sister," Church Rates, and Roman Catholic Oaths Bill,the long-expected Ministerial Reform Bill was introduced into the Commons by MR. DISRAELI, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As the Ministerial proposals received the approval of many Liberals both in and out of the House, we subjoin a synopsis of the measure. MR. DISRAELI said :"There are two distinct schools of Parliamentary Reformers:-The first class, consisted of those who would adapt the settlement of 1832 to the England of 1859, and would act in the spirit and in accordance with the genius of the Constitution, and among this class he included Her Majesty's Ministers. The other class composed a new school of Reformers, who acted avowedly upon a different principle; their doctrine was that the chief, if not the sole, object of representation was to realise the opinions of the population numerically; their standard was population. But, although population was one element of this question, another was property. He admitted that the new school had not excluded the element of property; they acknowledged that population and property should go together in statistics, but in nothing else. That House ought to represent not only numbers and property, but all the interests of the country, and these interests were often antagonistic and competing. After dwelling at some length upon the injustice and the anomalies attending the adoption of the principle of population, he insisted that if population be the standard, boroughs must be disfranchised and the Members given to counties. The object of representation was to present a mirror of the mind of the country, its agriculture, its (manufacturing industry, its commerce, its professional ability. Hitherto this object had been effected; and if this system were subverted, Parliament was bound to substitute a machinery equally effective. But the new school would confine the constituency to a very limited class. If the House of Commons were re-formed and re-constructed according to the principle of population, it would find itself in the ignominious position from which it had been emancipated more than two centuries ago. The change which it would be his duty to recommend would not, therefore, rest upon the principle of popu lation, nor upon that of property joined with population.

"MR. DISRAELI then passed on to the consideration of the franchise, both in counties and in boroughs. It was proposed, he said, not to alter the limits of the franchise, but to introduce into boroughs a new kind of franchise, founded upon personal property, and to give a vote to persons having property to the amount of £10 a-year in the Funds, Bank Stock, and East India Stock; a person having £60 in a savings-bank would, under the Bill be an elector for the borough in which he resided, as well as the recipient of pensions in the Naval, Military, and Civil Services amounting to £20 a-year. Dwellers in a portion of a house whose aggregate rent was £20

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a-year would likewise have a vote. The suffrage would also be conferred upon graduates of the Universities, ministers of religion, members of the legal profession, and of the medical body, and certain schoolmasters. considering the county franchise, he reviewed the controversy respecting the Chandos clause in the Act of 1832. To terminate the heart-burnings arising from it, and to restore the county constituency to its natural state, and bring about a general content and sympathy between the different por tions of the constituent body, the Government proposed to recognise the

principle of identity of suffrage between the counties and the towns. They proposed that Boundary Commissioners should visit the boroughs in England, re-arrange them, and adapt them to the altered circumstances of the times; their appointment would be delegated to the Enclosure Commissioners. The effect of giving to counties a £10 franchise would be, according to the estimate of the Government, to add to the county constituency 200,000. Having laid before the House the character of the proposed electoral body, he next proceeded to state how it was proposed they should be registered, and how they were to vote. Overseers of parishes would be required to furnish a list of owners as well as occupiers, which would be a self-acting register. It was proposed that the number of polling-places should be greatly increased, that every parish having 200 electors should be a polling-place; that every voter should vote in the place where he resided, and that those who liked it might vote by polling-papers instead of going to the hustings, precautions being provided against fraud and personation. A complete representation, he proceeded to observe, did not depend upon the electoral body; it also depended upon whether the different interests of the country were adequately represented. Discarding the principle of population, and accepting as a truth that the function of that House was to represent, not the voice of a numerical majority or the influence of a predominant property, but the various interests of the country, the Government had felt it to be their duty to see whether there were interests not represented, and whether the general representation of the country could be matured and completed; and they proposed to add four members to the West Riding of Yorkshire, two to South Lancashire, and two to Middlesex; and that the following towns should be represented :Hartlepool, Birkenhead, West Bromwich, and Wednesbury, Burnley and Staley bridge, Croydon, and Gravesend. Assuming that, in the opinion of the House, its numbers ought not to be increased, means must be found for the representations of these interests, and those means had been found before in similar circumstances, and in the same constitutional spirit. He promised that a schedule of places now sending two members to Parliament which it was intended should hereafter return only one each should be laid before the House this day; but the cry of Name, name,' being loudly raised, MR. DISRAELI, after a little well-feigned reluctance, proceeded to mention the names. They were Honiton, Thetford, Totness, Harwich, Evesham, Wells, Richmond, Marlborough, Leominster, Lymington, Ludlow, Andover, Knaresborough, Tewkesbury, and Maldon. With a few words in conclusion, in which he described the measure as 'wise, prudent, adequate to the occasion, Conservative, and framed by men who reverence the past, are proud of the present, and confident of the future,' MR. DISRAELI resumed his seat amidst considerable cheering."

The debate lasted for seven nights (see Hansard), and resulted in the defeat of the Ministry by a majority of 39. LORD DERBY instantly appealed to the country, and Parliament was forthwith dissolved; but the result of the General Election was unfavourable to the existing Government, and an adverse vote on the re-assembling of the new Parliament on the 31st of May, left LORD DERBY no alternative but to resign, and LORD PALMERSION became Premier.

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NOTES.

The Extreme Animal.-In 1859 MR. BRIGHT commenced his series of attacks upon the well-to-do, setting class against class, and which alienated Mr. Punch and other earnest reformers from him.

Jury Torture.-The case here noticed and two similar ones caused a great outcry at the time, and the law was subsequently altered.

Trying it on.-The EMPEROR NAPOLEON was suspected (truly as it proved) of having some designs upon Italy. On reference to the map, Italy appears to resemble in form a long boot. An Act of Grace.-(See Notes to Vol. XXXV. M. MONTALEMBERT.)

An Artful Dodd-ger.-DODD, a dust contractor, promised five acres of ground for the site of a Dramatic College. He subsequently coupled the gift with such restrictions for his personal advantage that the Committee of the College declined to accept the land.

Reform Snapdragon.-LORD DERBY, MR. DISRAELI, Mr. BRIGHT, and LORD JOHN RUSSELL were all promising a new Reform Bill, although the country at large was perfectly apathetic on the subject.

The Oxford Laddie.-MR. GLADSTONE was M.P. for Oxford, and at this time dispatched to the Ionian Isles to inquire into and report upon the grievances of the inhabitants.

Pull Away. This rumour proved to be incorrect, and the whole labour of instituting the Divorce Court devolved upon the late SIR CRESSWELL CRESSWELL, who had scarcely completed his labours when he died. He has been succeeded by SIR JAMES WILDE.

The Homeless Poor.-Some very affected letters, signed M., had appeared in the Times on the want of refinement in English Cookery, and the Sybaritish notions of the writer

caused some discussion and much amusement.

Ionic Pillar of the State.-See ante, note to p. 31. Learn this by Heart.-By using a solution of chloride of zinc all light fabrics are rendered uninflammable, and its application should be insisted upon universally. Many valuable lives would have been saved since this injunction appeared in Punch, had it been adopted.

Sermons for Snobs.-BARNUM, the American showman, had the hardihood to lecture on "Humbug and Moneymaking," openly acknowledging to all kinds of impositions on the public, and justifying many dirty modes of making money. The Lecture proved unsuccessful.

Woman for Ever!-The Directors of the Crystal Palace Company offered a prize of £50 for a BURNS' Centenary Ode, and the successful candidate was MISS ISA CRAIG.

65 The Torch of Hymen.-PRINCE NAPOLEON married the PRINCESS CLOTILDE, daughter of the KING OF SARDINIA, at the instigation of the EMPEROR LOUIS NAPOLEON.

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A Short Note of a Long Trial.-This discreditable 83 inquiry did not terminate until 1863.

Naval Reform.-The war preparations of the EMPEROR 85 NAPOLEON had caused attention to be directed to our naval and other defences, which were in a very unsatisfactory state. SIR JOHN PAKINGTON was First Lord of the Admiralty.

Mr. Punch and the Talking Fish.—The extract from 90 the Manchester Examiner perfectly describes the performance of the Talking Fish-a large Seal.

"Scots Wha Hae."-Some patriotic Scotchmen had been 102 making a claver about BRUCE, WALLACE, and the Scottish Lion, and as no one on this side the Tweed disputed the claims to honour which they advanced, the agitation soon subsided.

Companions in Captivity.-Poor MR. MITCHELL, in pur- 103 suance of the intention here recorded, went to Paris, married a French woman, and met his death in a very mysterious

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A Death-Bed at Bari, 1859.—A rumour of KING BOMBA'S 114 death had reached England. The news was premature his death had been anticipated. See "Essence of Parliament," p. 113.

Notice to Correspondents.-Mr. Punch desires parti- 130 cular attention to this announcement.

The Wild Horsman.- See " Essence of Parliament," 137 pp. 132 and 133.

The Garden and the Lane.-GRAZIANI had engaged 140 himself to both managers, it was asserted, and "a very pretty quarrel" arose out of the complication.

The Supporters of the "Working Man."-See the 145 debates of the time, when Tory, Whig, and Liberal were devoting themselves in words to the interests of the working

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The Carlton Club to its Rose.-MR. ROSE was the Con- 207 servative Election Agent.

The Babes in the Wood.-The Italian struggle had 217 commenced, and France and Austria had declared war.

A Horse-Laugh. See "Serious Stable Talk," p. 224. 225 The Song of the Dials.-A locality in London is called 227 THE SEVEN DIALS-seven streets converging to one point.

The Derby the Return.-Three hundred and two was 229 the number of M.P.'s on the Derby side of the House.

Balm for the Wounded.-LORD DERBY, having resigned 259 the reins of Government, was made a Knight of the Garter.

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