lfilled; Mrs. Nisbett was certainly seen
again upon the stage, but Blanchard was not there to enjoy the sight. He
died within the same year, to the passionate grief of Douglas Jerrold.

[Illustration: TOM TAYLOR.
(_From a Photograph by Bassano._)]

The last and most important accession of the year was Tom Taylor, for
six-and-thirty years a Staff officer of _Punch_, and for the last six of
them commander-in-chief. He was twenty-seven years old when he sent in
his first two contributions--"_Punch_ to Messieurs les Redacteurs of the
French Press" and "Startling and most Important Intelligence" (October
19th, 1844). According to John Timbs, "Landells in one of his artistic
visits to Cambridge met with Mr. T. Taylor, who, having completed his
University studies, came to London to embark in the profession of
letters, his first contribution being to Douglas Jerrold's 'Illuminated
Magazine,'" just at the time when Landells ceased his connection.
Bristed, in his record of English University life, foretold of
"Travis," generally accepted as a literary portrait of Taylor, "perhaps
he will be a nominal barrister and an actual writer for _Punch_ and the
magazines. Perhaps he will go quite mad and write a tragedy:" a capital
example of a prophecy after the event, so far as it goes--for "Five
Years" was published in 1851.

[Illustration: JOHN LEECH, TOM TAYLOR, AND PART OF HORACE MAYHEW.
(_Drawn by R. Doyle._)]

Tom Taylor prided himself on the classic verve of his prose and verse,
and undoubtedly assisted in maintaining _Punch's_ literary standard. His
work for the paper went on increasing--from six columns in Vol. VII., to
forty-two in Vol. XIII.--and soon won him his seat at the Table. For a
long while, however, he did not shine as a cartoon-suggestor, the first
being "Peel's Farewell" (July 14th, 1849), and the second in the
following May, the extremely happy burlesque on the picture in the
National Gallery--"Leeds Mercury instructing Young England." As time
went on and he became known as a writer of taste and versatility, as a
dramatist and adaptor of plays, French and English; art critic of the
"Times;" artist biographer; and Civil Servant (he attained to the
secretaryship of the Local Government Board), the weight of his
increasing responsibility and influence seemed to get into what should
have been his humorous work. To counteract it, Thackeray, up to the time
of his resignation, struggled to maintain the spirit of jollit