nd even when he
touches the tip of his nasal organ with his fore-finger and winks so
irresistibly, meaning lurks in his facetious features, to assure you he
does not jest without a purpose, or play the buffoon only to coin
sixpences. The fact, then, we propose to illustrate is this:--that Punch
is a teacher and philanthropist, a lover of truth, a despiser of cant,
an advocate of right, a hater of shams,--a hale, hearty old gentleman,
whose notions are not dyspeptic croakings, but healthful opinions of
good digestion, and who, though he wear motley and indulge in drolleries
without measure, is full of sense and sensibility.

The birth-place and parentage of Punch are involved in some doubt,--a
fate he shares with several of the world's other heroes, ancient and
modern. Accounts differ; and as he has not chosen to settle the question
autobiographically, we follow substantially the narrative[4]--that ought
to be true; for, mythical or historical, it appropriately localizes and
fitly circumstances the nativity of the humorist of the age.

In 1841, Mark Lemon, a writer of considerable ability, was the landlord
of the Shakspeare Head, Wych Street, London. A tavern with such a
publican and such a name was, of course, frequented by a circle of wits,
with whom, in the year just mentioned, originated "Punch." Lemon (how
could there be punch without a lemon?) has been the editor from the
outset. From which of the knot of good fellows the bright idea of the
unique journal first emanated does not appear. The paternity has been
ascribed to Douglas Jerrold. Its name might have been suggested by the
place of its birth. If so, it at once lost all associations with the
ladle and the bowl, and received a wider and better interpretation. The
hero of the famous puppet-show was chosen for the typical presiding
genius and sponsor of the novel enterprise. And there is no neater piece
of allegorical writing in our language than the introductory article of
the first number, wherein is exquisitely shadowed forth "the moral" of
the work, "Punch,"--suggestive of that "graver puppetry," the "visual
and oral cheats," "by which mankind are cajoled." Punch, the exemplar of
boldness and philosophic self-control, is the quaint embodiment of the
intention to pursue a higher object than the amusement of thoughtless
crowds,--an intention which has been adhered to with remarkable
fidelity. The first number appeared July 17th, and the serial has lived
over a