h the sportiveness of literary
genius. 'His place knows him not,' but his memory is tenderly
cherished."

The connection of Angus Bethune Reach with _Punch_ was not of very long
duration. With Albert Smith he had been joint editor of "The Man in the
Moon," and with Shirley Brooks was one of the special correspondents of
the "Morning Chronicle" in the South of France, as well as its
Parliamentary reporter. He had followed up Albert Smith's series of
"Natural Histories," of "The Gent," "The Flirt," and other specimens of
English Society, with "Bores" and "Humbugs," which ran through several
editions. He had joined "The Puppet Show" in 1848, while still quite a
youth; he had written "The Comic Bradshaw" (which found an echo in
_Punch_ years later) and one or two successful novels, and had with
Brooks laid siege to a position on _Punch's_ Staff. This, it might
almost be said, he carried, as Brooks did, by assault; and having given
up the editorship of "The Man in the Moon" with its twenty-eighth number
(1849), he was duly summoned to the _Punch_ Table.

His life was at that time hardly a pleasant one, though his industry
(for the craze of work was upon him) was as great as his versatility,
and his field of labour as wide as his knowledge. When he came to the
_Punch_ Table, he found his haven; but he was heckled, of course, by
Douglas Jerrold, on the score of his name and its quaint pronunciation.
Concerning this name (pronounced Re-ach in the German manner, _anglice_
Re-ack), Angus once asked his father, a Writer to the Signet, in the
hearing of my informant, the late H. G. Hine, what on earth it meant.
"As in Highland Scotch," was the reply, "'Dhu' means 'black' and 'Roy'
means 'red,' so Reach means half-and-half, or 'brown.'" He therefore
insisted on its proper pronunciation; with the natural result. Jerrold
delighted in teasing him about it, and at a Dinner at the "Ship" at
Brighton, where the _Punch_ Staff held one of their meetings,
Jerrold[36] leant forward at dessert and asked--"Mr. Re-ack, may I pass
you a pe-ack?" And on another occasion, when Reach protested against
Jerrold's persistent ill-treatment of his name, the wit replied, "Oh, I
see. Re-ack when we speak to you, but _reach_ when we read you!"

At last, in 1854, Reach's incorrigible industry bore its Dead-Sea fruit;
broken down with over-work, his mind utterly gave way. Thereupon his
friends of the Fielding Club, reinforced by Albert Smith of "The Man in