cts, and weighs, thinking not so much, perhaps, of the political or
social, as of the artistic possibilities of the subjects as they are
brought up, and other points that recommend themselves both to the
artistic and literary members of the Staff. All the while, perhaps, the
Editor has a fine subject up his sleeve, and only brings it forth when
the discussion has begun to wane. Or a proposal may be made at the very
first by one member of the Staff that is accepted at once with
acclamation--an event, however, of the utmost rarity; or again, as is
usually the case, the final decision may be gradually and almost
painfully evolved from this symposium of professional wits and literary
politicians. This is the time when the men are apt to lay bare their
political beliefs (if any such they have) or their lack of them; and I
wager that if poor Keene could once more be present at a _Punch_ Dinner,
he would no longer charge it against the Staff that it is "'Musco' to a
man."

Indeed, at the present time _Punch_ may be considered to represent the
old Whig feeling. Sir John Tenniel, Mr. Anstey, and Mr. Arthur a Beckett
are credited with Tory bias; Mr. Milliken, Mr. H. W. Lucy, Mr. R. C.
Lehmann, and Mr. Reed represent the Radicals; Mr. Sambourne is Unionist;
and Mr. Burnand, as behoves him who holds the scales, confesses to no
political sympathies or antipathies whatever.

Thus the subject of the cartoon is settled--often by the aid of the
latest editions of the evening papers; and being once settled, is very
rarely revived on any pretext whatever. On one occasion, however, when
Mark Lemon was Editor, and Shirley Brooks was recognised as the best
suggestor, an exceptional incident took place. The subject was duly
decided upon, and Brooks went home. After he was gone, and none but Mark
Lemon, Charles Keene, Sir John Tenniel, and Mr. Henry Silver were left,
Keene, to the surprise of the rest, made a suggestion in connection with
the American War then being waged, that was immediately accepted as
vastly superior to that which had previously been adopted; and the
future Editor was much astonished as he opened his paper on the
following Tuesday and his eyes fell on a different and wholly unexpected
cartoon. Yet, though Brooks was practically the Suggestor-in-Chief, it
would be unfair to pass over the curious fitness of Leech's proposals.
They were always marked with equal judgment and taste, and, as it was
admitted, his suggestions inv