) at the French atrocity in Algiers, when, during
the campaign, General Pelissier filled with straw the mouth of the caves
of Dahra, wherein the opposing Arabs, with their women and children, had
taken refuge, and set fire to the mass. This foul act of the future Duke
of Malakoff caused a thrill of horror to pass through Europe, and the
gentle author of "The Angel in the House" was moved by the scandal to
the composition of his eight-stanza poem, of which Douglas Jerrold
procured the insertion on the 16th of August (p. 73, Vol. IX.):--

"Rush the sparks in rapid fountains
Up abroad into the sky!
From the bases of the mountains
Leap the fork'd flames mountain-high!
The flames, like devils thirsting,
Lick the wind, where crackling spars
Wage hellish warfare, worsting
All the still, astonished stars!
Ply the furnace, fling the faggots!
Lo, the flames writhe, rush, and tear
And a thousand writhe like maggots
In among them--_Vive la guerre!_"

The poem follows the details of the massacre, sickening but for the
power the lines display. It continues:

"And now, to crown our glory,
Get we trophies, to display
As vouchers for our story,
And mementoes of this day!
Once more, then, to the grottoes!
Gather each one all he can--
Blister'd blade with Arab mottoes,
Spear-head, bloody yataghan.
Give room now to the raven
And the dog, who scent rich fare;
And let these words be graven
On the rock-side--_Vive la guerre!_"

It was Mr. Patmore's sole contribution, his Muse never again being
startled into any other poetical demonstration of the sort in _Punch's_
pages. The following year he became assistant-librarian at the British
Museum.

"Jacob Omnium's" first appearance, curiously enough, was with a short
article which, in the reprinted works of Thackeray, has been ascribed to
the novelist. This was "A Plea for Plush" (July 20th, 1846),
appropriately signed "[Greek: Philophlynkes]," dealing, it is true, with
Jeames's nether garments on a hot day, but still with no internal
evidence of style to warrant its ascription to the "Fat Contributor."
Henceforward his other few papers were entered to him in his own name of
Matthew J. Higgins. He was a great friend of the _Punch_ Staff,
particularly of Thackeray and Leech. Of him the former had written in
the "Ballad of Policeman X"--

"His name is Jacob Homnium, Exquire;
And if _I_'d committed crimes,