Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 1 (of 4).—1841-1857Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
History
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 1 (of 4).—1841-1857
Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Humor
"The eight children of Horatia, Mrs. Ward, are all now, more or
less, provided for. Her eldest son has been presented to the living
of Radstock by the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave; the second son
had been previously appointed by Sir W. Burnett Assistant-Surgeon
in the Navy; to the third, Lord Chancellor Cranworth has given a
clerkship in the Registry-Office; the fourth son received a Cadetcy
from Captain Shepherd; His Royal Highness Prince Albert conferred a
similar appointment on the youngest son; and Her Majesty has been
graciously pleased to settle upon the three daughters a pension of
£300 per annum. To this last result the exertions of the late Mr.
Hume, M.P., mainly contributed. Messrs. Green, of Blackwall, and
Messrs. Smith, of Newcastle, conveyed the two Cadets to India free
of expense."
To this may be added a "small cash balance" paid to Mrs. Ward, "after
investing £400 in the funds." Altogether some £1,427 have been
subscribed in the cause of Nelson's daughter. We state the sum, and will
not pause to calculate whether the amount be the tenth of a farthing or
even a whole farthing in the pound, for which England is Nelson's
debtor. Let us anyway thank those who have helped Horatia's children.
They have all done well, from the Dowager Countess to the Queen, ending
with the prince ship-owners of Blackwall and Newcastle. Their ships will
not have the worst fortune of wreck or storm for having borne,
passage-free, the grandsons of Nelson to their Indian work. Let us, too,
pause to thank the shade of Joseph Hume--the strong, sound, kind old
heart! Joseph, who "mainly contributed," with those earnest, honest
fingers of his to undraw the royal purse-strings, so that the three
grand-daughters may now keep the wolf from the door, as their immortal
grandfather kept the foe from the "silver-girt isle."
We omit the bitter words in which _Punch_ heaps scorn on Nelson's
brother, "the first parson Lord Nelson," because the odious charges
there made cannot be substantiated. This was not the only occasion on
which _Punch's_ zeal was disfigured by the vehemence of his
partisanship. But we cannot blame him for his jubilation over the
thrashing of General Haynau, the woman-flogger, by the draymen and
labourers at Barclay's Brewery on the occasion of his visit to London in
1850, or for the vigour with which he scarified the papers who found
excuses and parallels for Haynau's ferocity in the military exigencies
of the Peninsular War.
[_Sidenote: Slavery in America--and England_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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