The Project Gutenberg eBook, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98,
February 1, 1890, by Various, Edited by Francis Burnand

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Title: Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 1, 1890

Author: Various

Editor: Francis Burnand

Release Date: July 12, 2007 [eBook #22051]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI,
VOL. 98, FEBRUARY 1, 1890***

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PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI

VOL. 98

FEBRUARY 1, 1890

[Illustration]

UNTILED; OR, THE MODERN ASMODEUS.

"Tres volontiers," repartit le demon. "Vous aimez les
tableaux changeans: je veux vous contenter."

_Le Diable Boiteux._

XVIII.

"'MRS. MAECENAS!' So some would-be wit
Dubbed the fair dame. The title may not fit
With accurate completeness;
It soars some shades too high, this modish _mot_,
As 'Mrs. LYON-HUNTER' sinks too low;
Both nick-names fail in neatness.

"The '_acu tetigisti_,' tribute rare,
Not oft is earned, in Fleet Street or Mayfair,
In these hot days of hurry.
_Salons_, Symposia, both have met their doom,
And wit, in the Victorian drawing-room,
Finds a fell foe in flurry."

So spake the Shadow, with the covert sneer
That struck so coldly on the listening ear.
Soft was his speech, as muffled
By some chill atmosphere surcharged with snow,
In unemphatic accents, level, low,
Unhasting and unruffled.

"Mrs. MAECENAS, then, no HORACE finds
In all her muster of superior minds,
Her host of instant heroes?
That's hard!" I said. "She does not greatly care,"
My guide rejoined. "Behold her seated there!
Her court's as full as NERO'S.

"SENECA sta