ning away disgustedly, 'Wal,' she said, 'I've seen Apoller
and I've seen Raggles--an' I say, Give me Raggles!'"

One of the stories told of Dominique was once printed in _Punch_ as
original. This was when he took a bath by the doctor's order, and being
asked how he felt, replied, "Rather wet." The jokelet, curiously enough,
had already been printed in "Mark Lemon's Jest-Book," and was so far a
classic that it is to be found in the "Arlequina" of 1694. Again, the
story of the boy who, when ordered by a "swell" to hold his horse, asked
if it bit, or kicked, or took two to hold, and when reassured on each
point, replied, "Then hold him yourself," is older still; for it is to
be found in "Mery Tales, Wittie Questions and Quicke Answeres Very
pleasant to be Readde" (published by H. Wilkes in 1567), under the
heading, "Of the Courtier that bad the boy holde his horse, xliii." This
little book, by the way, is included in Hazlitt's collection of
Shakespeare's Jest-books.

In drawing attention to these incidents in _Punch's_ career--examples
of which might easily be multiplied--it is not my purpose to expose
shortcomings, but rather to insist on the difficulty of the humorist's
path and the pitfalls that beset genuine originality. "The late Mark
Lemon," wrote Mr. Hatton, "had a kind of editorial instinct for an old
joke. He could identify the spurious article as easily as an expert
detects counterfeit money. Lemon's soul was in _Punch_, and he had a
keen memory for every line that had appeared in its columns. He edited a
book of humorous anecdotes, but even he overlooked numerous doubles, and
left not a few errors for the detection of the critics;" in fact, was
fallible too, as in the nature of things he was bound to be. And Shirley
Brooks, although with his wide knowledge of comic literature and "happy
thoughts" he was successful too, had nevertheless humiliation to bear
for blunders not a few. Tom Taylor neither knew nor cared; as Mr.
Labouchere severely said, "he had no sense of humour," and the jokes had
to take their chance. But to-day a careful eye is kept to this question
of originality, and so far as cartoons are concerned, Sir John Tenniel
has always been trusted to see that subjects for cartoons are not used
over again.

Although _Punch_ has tripped now and again, he has been the comic quarry
which the nation and the nation's press have worked for half a century,
quoting, borrowing, stealing, a thousand times to his