withering scorn distinctive
of true friendship and cordial intimacy. Then is each fully and formally
debated, every tussle advancing it a stage, and none finally accepted
until all the others have fallen in the battledore-and-shuttlecock
process to which they have been subjected. Then, when the subject is
settled, comes the consideration of the details--what should the
grouping be? what the accessories? how many figures?--(during the
hunting season John Leech would decline to introduce more than two, as
his week-end would otherwise be spoiled)--and other minor yet still
important considerations; and then each man's opinion has its proper
weight in the Council of _Punch_. In this year of grace Mr. Lucy is
listened to with the respect due to his extraordinary Parliamentary
knowledge; Mr. Milliken is the chief literary authority since "the
Professor" (Percival Leigh) went to his rest; and so each man is counted
upon for the special or expert knowledge he may bring to bear on the
particular subject then before the meeting.

And when the subject of the cartoon is a political one, the debate grows
hot and the fun more furious, and it usually ends by Tories and Radicals
accepting a compromise--for the parties are pretty evenly balanced at
the Table; while Mr. Burnand assails both sides with perfect
indifference. At last, when the intellectual tug-of-war, lasting usually
from half-past eight for just an hour and three-quarters by the clock,
is brought to a conclusion, the cartoon in all its details is discussed
and determined; and then comes the fight over the title and the
"cackle," amid all the good-natured chaff and banter of a pack of
boisterous, high-spirited schoolboys.

More than once it has happened that notwithstanding a subject being well
on the way to becoming a cartoon--the raw material of an idea having
been almost hammered into a presentable political missile or social
criticism by the heads of the company--a side remark may arrest further
labour, and turn attention in an entirely different direction. Such was
the case with one of the most successful cartoons of recent years. The
topic of the week was the Parish Councils Bill, which was then before
the Lords, and was receiving severe handling in that House. In the
course of discussion came an "aside" from Mr. Arthur a Beckett, to the
effect that "Gladstone is having a deuce of a time." "Like the
cockatoo," assented Mr. Lehmann, referring to the story of the unhap