the protection of the law on more than one
occasion. As early as 1844 the Vice-Chancellor's Court was the scene of
the action of the Proprietors of _Punch_ _v._ Marshall and Another, when
Mr. Bethell, afterwards Lord Westbury, complained that the defendants
had published a "_Punch's_ Steamboat Companion" (an excessively vulgar
production) with intention to deceive the public. The judge brilliantly
remarked, "Well, this certainly is an excuse for the Court taking punch
in the morning. (_Great laughter._) I think you have made out a
sufficient case for your injunction, Mr. Bethell;" and the injunction
was accordingly granted. In the following year (July, 1845) steps had to
be taken to protect Mr. and Mrs. Caudle from the wholesale piracy to
which they were subjected on every side. Mr. Bethell again made a comic
speech, directed primarily against the "Hereford Times" and the
"Southport Visitor," in which the eighth and ninth lectures,
illustrations and all, had been coolly reproduced, without a word of
acknowledgment. As before, the serio-comic pleader was successful, and
obtained the desired injunctions. Again, in 1872 Mr. J. C. Hotten was
stopped from publishing "The Story of the Life of Napoleon, told by the
Popular Caricaturists of the Last 30 Years," inasmuch as the compiler
had annexed from _Punch_ all he desired for the work. (Law Reports 8,
Exchequer 7.) Sir Henry Hawkins was for _Punch_, and Serjeant Parry
defended. The judge, Lord Bramwell, and jury, too, believed in the
sacred rights of property, and a farthing damages was awarded in
addition to the forty shillings paid into Court. So _Punch_ won his case
and gained his costs--and Hotten went on publishing his book just as if
nothing had occurred. Another case, against the "Ludgate Monthly," need
only be mentioned for the sake of a rival's remark that the idea of
_Punch_ having published a joke worth copying and going to law about was
the greatest joke of all.

During his minority _Punch_ made and sustained many an open charge of
plagiarism. They were the amenities of comic literature, of which,
however, the public soon tired; and _Punch_, recognising that newspaper
readers will not be troubled to take part or sides in an Eatanswill
warfare that does not concern them, practically dropped a campaign with
which the rest continued to persevere. But _Punch's_ silence was
misunderstood. At any rate, it was presumed upon. When he could stand
the audacity of the poache