_Punch_ September 7th,
1844), and probably also "The Queen's Speech, as it is to be sung by the
Lord Chancellor" (_Punch_, Feb., 1843).

CHAPTER IV.

_PUNCH_ AS A POLITICIAN.

_Punch's_ Attitude--His Whiggery--And Sincerity--Catholics and
Jews--Home Rule--European Politics--Prince Napoleon--_Punch's_
Mistakes--His Campaign against Sir James Graham--His Relations with
Foreign Powers--And Comprehensive Survey of Affairs.

The social and political attitude of _Punch_ to-day is a very different
thing from what it was when the paper first claimed public attention and
support. "When we are impecunious," says Mr. du Maurier, "we must needs
be democratic." And democratic _Punch_ was in Jerrold's era, although
from no mercenary or unworthy motive. Later on, the club and the
drawing-room frankly recognised the power wielded by the paper, and, by
that very acknowledgment, influenced it to an obvious degree. Then came
the sentiment of Church and State, and the Palmerston patriotic pose
that was most to the taste of the threepenny public; and for a long time
the plucky, cheery, careless, "_Civis-Romanus-Sum_," "hang-Reform"
statesman was the special pet of _Punch_, and more particularly of
Shirley Brooks. When that Editor died, Tom Taylor imparted a decidedly
Radical, anti-Beaconsfield, anti-Imperial turn; but since the _regime_
of Mr. Burnand a lighter and more non-committal attitude has been
adopted and maintained.

Speaking generally, the prevailing _Punch_ tradition with regard to
matters political--at least, in the belief of its conductors--has been
to hold the balance fairly between the parties, to avoid fixed and
bitter partisanships, to "hit all round" as occasion seemed to demand,
and to award praise where it appeared to be deserved. If there was to be
a general "list" or "lean," it was to be towards a moderate
Liberalism--towards sympathy with the popular cause of freedom both of
act and speech, and enthusiastic championship of the poor and oppressed.

If, especially within recent years, _Punch_ has claimed one merit more
than another, it is to as fair a neutrality as is possible to a
strong-minded individuality with unmistakable political views.
Conservatives have long since protested against what has been called its
"hideous Gladstonolatry and bourgeois Liberalism," and declaimed against
the occasional partisan spirit of the "Essence of Parliament." "There is
a popular periodical," sai