170 Pre'Baihoay Life in London, 



and omnipotence. The Atlantic is only a ferry now, and 

 people think no more of going to India, or South America, 

 or Australia, or New Zealand for a trip than they used to 

 think of going to Scotland or Ireland forty years 

 ago. It is hard to say when H's were first commonly drop- 

 ped in conversation in Belgravia, and when peas were first 

 carried with the knife to the mouth ; but these eccentri- 

 cities are of minor importance compared with the intemper- 

 ance in language and in writing which have cropped up 

 within the last few years amongst people who have had the 

 advantage of good education and the society of ladies and 

 gentlemen ; but it is certain that in the so-called darker 

 age of which the paper treats, the flatly denying a gentle- 

 man's word, and throwing imputation on his honour would 

 have occasioned the burning of powder at Wimbledon Com- 

 mon or Chalk Farm. 



It must not be forgotten that in 1841 " Punch " was 

 inaugurated, and within a few years of its commencement 

 possibly the finest staff of caricaturists with pen and pencil 

 ever known were brought together, and it is astonishing 

 that after nearly forty years the artists can find so much 

 novel wealth for amusement, and it is a matter of wonder 

 that even now sometimes the gossip runs through the clubs 

 that some careful reader has found a joke in the letterpress. 



Few people would like to go back to the old days en- 

 tirely, and, but for the inexhaustible power of jaw displayed 

 inside and outside of the House of Commons, the world goes 

 on pretty comfortably, though it is hard for quiet citizens 

 to rest at a time when, from mere greed of power, so-called 

 " public men," are forgetting the boundaries of truth and 

 honour, and in bidding for the support of the lower orders 

 are utterly reckless of drifting into Communism, and the 

 link between the Swells of Society and the lower orders if 

 not actually broken is strained beyond recovery. 



