The Project Gutenberg EBook of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103,
December 31, 1892, by Various

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Title: Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 31, 1892

Author: Various

Editor: Francis Burnand

Release Date: January 9, 2007 [EBook #20319]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

VOL. 103.

December 31, 1892.

THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON.

(_A Characteristic Welcome to the Coming Year._)

It was on the 31st of December that they met. It had been arranged that
at the final hour of the last day of the expiring year they should
compare notes, and not one of them had failed to keep the appointment.
It would be scarcely right to say they were cheerful, but merriment was
not included in the programme.

[Illustration: The Military Man.]

"There is not the slightest chance of my bettering myself," said the
Military Man. "Now that the Regiment has come from India, I can't afford
to live at home, and I can't exchange because of my liver. Promotion was
never slower than in 'Ours,' and my look-out is about the most ghastly
there ever yet was seen."

[Illustration: The Briefless Barrister.]

"You are wrong there," observed the Briefless Barrister of mature years.
"I think mine is a shade worse. I give you my word that during the last
twelve months I have not earned enough fees to pay the rent of my
Chambers and the salary of my Clerk. And things are getting worse and
worse. One of the Solicitors who used to give me an occasional turn has
been struck off the Rolls, and the other, has transferred his business
to Australia. I feel inclined to follow, but I can't raise the
passage-money. What luck, now, could be worse than mine?"

"Why mine," answered the Author. "An entirely new set of men have come
to the front since I was popular, and my works are a drug in the market.
I haven't been able to get rid of more than a dozen pages during the
twelve months, and they appeared in a Magazine that stopped befo