Boulogne for the sake of his young family's education; and a
charming picture has been drawn by his son of how, on the visit of a
Beckett, Charles Dickens, and the rest, he would throw off his clothes
and swim with them in the sea, or challenge them to a game of leap-frog
on the sands--a curious contrast to his own declaration that the only
exercise he cared for was cribbage.[2]

Stirling Coyne, Daily, W. H. Wills, H. P. Grattan (H. Plunkett, otherwise
"Fusbos"), Henning, Henry Baylis, and "Paul Prendergast"--whose "Comic
Latin Grammar" had been attracting much attention--were proposed, and
Hodder was told off to wait upon the latter. At the adjourned meeting at
the "Edinburgh Castle" tavern in the Strand, Somerset House, Postans,
William Newman, Baylis (afterwards president of the "_Punch_ Club"),
Stirling Coyne, Henning, Mayhew, Landells, and Hodder were present.
The latter then explained that "Prendergast" was a young medical man,
Percival Leigh by name, who preferred to wait before giving his adhesion
until he was satisfied as to the character of the publication; and "Phiz"
had returned a similar reply to Mark Lemon--though later on he was
glad enough to accept little commissions in the way of drawing initial
letters for the paper.

Henning was then nominated cartoonist; Brine, Phillips, and Newman,
artists-in-ordinary; and Lemon, Coyne, Mayhew, a Beckett, and Wills, the
literary Staff, until the advent of the others, whose adhesion was
anxiously awaited. Henry Mayhew, Mark Lemon, and Stirling Coyne were to
be joint editors; Last, of course, was to be printer, and Landells
engraver; and W. Bryant publisher. Several more meetings were held--at
the "Crown" in Vinegar Yard, at Landells' house, and elsewhere--and in
due course Mark Lemon produced the draft prospectus, consisting of three
folios of blue paper, which probably contains a good deal more of Mayhew
and Coyne than of Mark Lemon. Edmund Yates estimated its chemical
composition thus:--

Henry Mayhew 95
Stirling Coyne 3
W. H. Wills 1.5
Mark Lemon .5
------
100

And his estimate was probably correct. This interesting document is here
shown in reduced facsimile:--

[Illustration: _THE HISTORY OF "PUNCH."_

DRAFT OF THE _PUNCH_ PROSPECTUS, IN MARK LEMON'S HANDWRITING (REDUCED).]

[Illustration: _THE DRAFT PROSPECTUS._]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE _PUNCH_ PROSPECTUS.

(_Ori