The admiration which _Punch_ had so often if reluctantly expressed for Bismarck in office yielded to something like disgust at his undignified bitterness in retirement, above all at his use of the "reptile press" as a means of attacking the Imperial policy and Caprivi, his successor as Chancellor. This feeling animates the "Coriolanus" cartoon in February, where Bismarck is shown with the _Hamburger Nachrichten_ in his hand. The death of Moltke a couple of months later is duly recorded in a versified tribute making all the usual points--on his taciturnity, composure, foresight and strategy. With his death Bismarck became the lonely survivor of "the Titanic three, Who led the Eagles on to Victory." Moltke died full of years and honours. It was otherwise with Parnell who at forty-five fell, not as leaders love to fall, In battle's forefront, loved and mourned by all; But fiercely fighting, as for his own hand, With the scant remnant of a broken band; His chieftainship, well-earned in many a fray, Rent from him--by himself! None did betray This sinister strong fighter to his foes; He fell by his own action, as he rose. He had fought all--himself he could not fight, Nor rise to the clear air of patient right. [Sidenote: _The Passing of Parnell_] _Punch_ notes his coldness, his impassive persistence as an agitator, but says nothing of the ill-concealed contempt he showed for his followers, and the entire lack of geniality, _bonhomie_, and humour, which partly explained the mercilessness with which he was pursued once his power was shaken. As he had never won or tried to win their affection, he could not expect to find magnanimity in mean souls. The wheels of the Parliamentary chariot drove heavily over the Land Purchase Bill. _Punch_ showed Mr. Balfour leading the poor tired little Bill through a maze of amendments. _A propos_ of its complicated nature and endless, obscure sub-sections, which aroused much hostile criticism in _The Times_, Mr. Balfour is made to say:-- _The Times_, too, may gird, and declare 'tis absurd not to know _one's own Labyrinth_ better; _The Times_ is my friend, but a trifle too fond of the goad and the scourge and the fetter. This, of course, was in the days when _The Times_ was ultra-Unionist. However, the Bill finally passed through its various stages, and Mr. W. H. Smith exhibits it with the fruits of the Session in June, 1891, as a gigantic strawberry. The choice of this particular fruit as a symbol was dictated by the fact that both he and Lord Salisbury had exhibited strawberries at the Horticultural Show.