The monster demonstration of 1848, as a recent writer[3] puts it, "was the funeral of Chartism with the Duke of Wellington as the Master of Ceremonies." Hopes of a general rising had been kindled by the revolution in Paris, but they were not fulfilled. The _annus mirabilis_ which set thrones rocking on the Continent and toppled down that of Louis Philippe passed in the main peacefully in England. Feargus O'Connor's monster procession and petition on April 10 ended in fiasco, largely owing to the precautions taken by the Duke of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief--the swearing in of 170,000 special constables (including Louis Napoleon!) and his wise decision to keep the troops as far as possible out of sight. It is right to record the fact that _Punch_ was not moved by these events to desert his "left-centre" position; that he advocated amnesty rather than reprisals. In September, 1849, he published his special "Chartist Petition to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty":-- MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY-- WHEREAS Death, the great Gaol-Deliverer, has by Cholera set free from Westminster Prison, Joseph Williams and Alexander Sharpe, foolish men, foolishly preaching the Charter, by means of pike and blunderbuss-- _Punch_ humbly prays that your Majesty will, in this season of political tranquillity, and of grave moral chastisement, give orders for the release of certain misguided men, it is hoped better instructed for the future--and thereupon pardon and set free William Vernon, Ernest Jones, Little Cuffey, and other such offenders, now made harmless by the common sense and common loyalty of the English people. And your Petitioner will ever Print and Pray-- PUNCH. [Footnote 3: C. R. Fay in "Life and Labour in the Nineteenth Century," p. 166.] [Illustration: SPECIAL'S WIFE: "Contrary to regulations, indeed! Fiddlesticks! I must insist, Frederick, upon your taking this hot brandy-and-water. I shall be having you laid up next, and not fit for anything."] [Sidenote: "_Little Cuffey_"]