The "marvellous magisterial licensing system" of the period, which was "vexatious, inconsistent, and meddlesome," is repeatedly criticized in the year. In an article on the degeneracy of the Aquarium, _Punch_ gives a full account of its vulgar, inane, and sensational shows, and alludes to the nocturnal orgies enacted at that place of entertainment. Music and dancing licences, he declared, would be applied for by the ten thousand if there were freedom and wisdom, instead of the chaos and vested interest maintained by "Maw-worm" and "Meddlevex" (Middlesex) magistrates. The result was that London was "a city of unmitigated pot-houses." Yet drinking, judged by the test of state finance, was decreasing. The revenue from intoxicants in 1882 had fallen 2½ millions in seven years, and _Punch_ indulges in ironical comment. The picture in the spring of 1883 of the "Temperance Budget" shows the financial conditions of the country as only fairly satisfactory, and represents John Bull as saying: "I have been too sober--_Nunc est bibendum_." This was obviously ironical, but it was irony that might easily be misread. _Punch_ would probably have endorsed Archbishop Magee's famous dictum: "Better England free than England sober." Teetotalism was to _Punch_ inextricably associated with cranks, faddists, and fanatics. He was a robust humanitarian. Cock-fighting was a barbarous pastime, but he resented the unfair differentiation which punished working men who indulged in it with a heavy fine, while rich and aristocratic pigeon-shooters went scot-free. Dr. Carver's shooting performances at the Crystal Palace in 1879 are specially praised because he did not exhibit his skill by the slaughter of pigeons. So in 1876 _Punch_ had supported Mr. Flower's agitation against the use of bearing-reins for horses. Cruelty to animals he detested; but, on the burning question of vivisection, firmly upheld the practice, in the interests of humanity, when guarded by stringent regulations, and sided with Lister and Paget against Lord Shaftesbury, whose opposition he deeply regretted. [Illustration: HAPPY THOUGHT--A "SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR THE UPPER CLASSES" (_Vide Bishop of Oxford's Speech at the Church Congress_) ELIZABETH WARING (_Laundress and Charwoman, and Sunday School Teacher to the U.C._): "And now, my dear little Ladies and Gentlemen, I trust you will not _desecrate_ this beautiful Sunday Afternoon by going on the River! You can do that from Monday Morning till Saturday Night, you know! His Lordship here, who was at Eton and Oxford, will no doubt _remember how the Oars he had plied so busily all the week, lay untouched on Sunday_! And you too, my dears, will please to give up the River, on that one day--to those who have been toiling all the busy Week long in stifling Offices and grimy Workshops, and suchlike!"]