When No. 16 was published, Disraeli was the leader of the "Young England" party, having some years previously been converted from a Radical into a Tory: hence the allusions contained in the lines below this sketch. [Illustration: THE RISING GENERATION. _Juvenile._ "I TELL YOU WHAT IT IS, GOVERNOR, THE SOONER WE COME TO SOME UNDERSTANDING, THE BETTER. YOU CAN'T EXPECT A YOUNG FELLER TO BE ALWAYS AT HOME; AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WAY I GO ON, WHY I MUST HATE CHAMBERS, AND SO MUCH A-WEEK!" 21.--ONE OF LEECH'S SKETCHES. 1847.] [Illustration: HORRID TRAGEDY IN PRIVATE LIFE! 22.--A JOKE DRAWN BY THACKERAY, THE POINT OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DISCOVERED. 1847.] In a later part of this article Mr. Punch's treatment of Disraeli's great rival Gladstone will be illustrated. [Illustration: DOMESTIC BLISS. _Wife of your Bussum._ "OH! I DON'T WANT TO INTERRUPT YOU, DEAR. I ONLY WANT SOME MONEY FOR BABY'S SOCKS--AND TO KNOW WHETHER YOU WILL HAVE THE MUTTON COLD OR HASHED." 23.--A PICTURE OF DOMESTIC BLISS. 1847.] [Illustration: MR. JOHN BULL AFTER AN ATTACK OF INCOME-TAX. 24.--A SKETCH BY DOYLE. 1848.] The vivid "Portrait of the Railway Panic," by Doyle, No. 17, was published November 8, 1845, and refers to the depression in railway-dividends then being caused by over-competition in railway-promotion; No. 20 also refers to the railway-schemes of that time, and is Mr. Punch's ironical notice [dated September 26, 1846] of "The Last New Railway Scheme," _i.e._, the proposal for making an Underground Railway, which, as we here read, was scoffed at by _Punch_--"The Secretary is announced to be in attendance to receive deposits from eleven to two; though, whether he gets any is, in our opinion, ten to one." But immediately below these words Mr. Punch gives a sectional diagram of the Underground Railway as he conceived it, and it is not a bad shot at "A prophetic view of the subterranean railways." As a matter of fact, the works for the now familiar Metropolitan (Underground) Railway were commenced in 1860; fourteen years after this ironical prophecy by _Punch_. [Illustration: AUTHORS' MISERIES. No VI. _Old Gentleman._ _Miss Wiggets._ _Two Authors._ _Old Gentleman._ "I AM SORRY TO SEE YOU OCCUPIED, MY DEAR MISS WIGGETS, WITH THAT TRIVIAL PAPER 'PUNCH.' A RAILWAY IS NOT A PLACE, IN MY OPINION, FOR JOKES. I NEVER JOKE--NEVER." _Miss W._ "SO I SHOULD THINK, SIR." _Old Gentleman._ "AND BESIDES, ARE YOU AWARE WHO ARE THE CONDUCTORS OF THAT PAPER, AND THAT THEY ARE CHARTISTS, DEISTS, ATHEISTS, ANARCHISTS, AND SOCIALISTS, TO A MAN? I HAVE IT FROM THE BEST AUTHORITY, THAT THEY MEET TOGETHER ONCE A WEEK IN A TAVERN IN SAINT GILES'S, WHERE THEY CONCOCT THEIR INFAMOUS PRINT. THE CHIEF PART OF THEIR INCOME IS DERIVED FROM THREATENING LETTERS WHICH THEY SEND TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY. THE PRINCIPAL WRITER IS A RETURNED CONVICT. TWO HAVE BEEN TRIED AT THE OLD BAILEY; AND THEIR ARTIST--AS FOR THEIR ARTIST...."