t light. The
success of the experiment was immediate. Thackeray was supposed to
have perpetrated the burlesque imitation, but Thackeray knew
nothing whatever about it, though, as I have since learnt, he was
greatly tickled by it and, subsequently, was personally most kind
to the 'New Boy,' as he called me, on the _Punch_ Staff."

The illusion was complete, and the fun most apt and full of spirit. The
various artists ("Phiz," Charles Keene, Mr. du Maurier, and Sir John
Millais) each drew a picture for it, in every case burlesquing his own
style and trotting out his peculiarities. The public laughed
heartily--first, at itself for having been deceived by the
verisimilitude to the "London Journal," and then at the work upon its
merits; and "Mokeanna, or the White Witness" became the talk of the
hour, and one of the good things of _Punch_. Charles Dickens was among
those who most admired the execution of the _jeu d'esprit_, and he
displayed considerable interest in the writer.

In due time Mr. Burnand was called to the Table. "My first appearance,"
he tells me, "was at the Inn at Dulwich where _Punch_ sometimes dined in
the summer in those days. Thackeray drove there, and left early. He had
come on purpose to be present on this occasion, and before quitting the
room he paused, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said, 'Gentlemen, I
congratulate you on the "New Boy!"' I felt, and probably looked, very
hot and uncomfortably proud; and then he shook me warmly by the hand."

Mr. Burnand's next success--a phenomenal success, too, on which his
reputation as a humorist will stand unshaken--was "Happy Thoughts." For
popularity and for immediate advantage to the paper this clever series,
with its exquisite fooling and keen appreciation of humour, was second
only to the "Caudle Curtain Lectures," and among the greatest hits that
_Punch_ has ever made. It has since been admirably translated into
French by M. Aurelien de Courson under the title of "Fridoline!"--"happy
thought!" being, however, somewhat inadequately rendered "ingenieuse
pensee!" Then followed his imitations of popular writers--including
"Strapmore," by "Weeder," and "One-and-three," by "Fictor Nogo"--"Happy
Thought Hall," with illustrations by himself, "More Happy Thoughts,"
"Out of Town," and many others, which are still to be found on the
bookstalls. His, too, was the song "His 'Art was true to Poll," which
achieved so great a success when Mr