ly
satisfied with his impossible position ("J'y suis!--J'y reste!"?), gave
equal offence on the boulevards; and although in the latter case the
fairness of the hit was acknowledged, _Punch_ was again, as he had
several times recently been, placed under ban. Again, at the time of the
Franco-Russian _rapprochement_ and consequent _fetes_, the drawing of
the Bear and Republic in cordial _tete-a-tete_, the former disclosing
the true source and object of his new-found affection by hinting, with a
sly wink and a smirk, about a "little loan," gave rise to real anger,
and was deeply resented--probably with the more annoyance that the
cutting truth with which _Punch_ had hit off the situation was secretly
and unwillingly recognised. But save on one occasion no official
expulsion or repulse has in recent times been _Punch's_ lot. Moreover,
his splendid series of cartoons, nobly conceived and full of generous
sympathy, which he published towards the close of the Franco-Prussian
War, are still remembered with some approach to gratitude in a country
which has rarely, if ever, returned us the compliment of kindliness or
friendship, or even of courtesy, in its satiric press.

Even in Germany, though _Punch_ has not often been denied admittance, he
has had at least one distinguished door closed against him. This was
when in March, 1892 (p. 110 in the first half-yearly volume), Mr. Linley
Sambourne's "cartoon junior" was published, satirising the German
Emperor in "The Modern Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of Sound"--

"With ravished ears
The Monarch hears;
Assumes the god,
Affects to nod,
And seems to shake the spheres."

The German Army Bill agitation--the struggle between Emperor and
Reichstag, which was followed with so much interest in England--was then
at its height; and the monarch had no mind for trivialities. _Punch's_
candour in illustrating the title given him in this country of "The
Shouting Emperor," so it is alleged, annoyed him. "For nearly forty
years," said one authority, "_Punch_ has been regularly taken in at the
Prussian royal palaces in Berlin and Potsdam. The Emperor William has
just issued a private order that _Punch_ is to be struck off the list of
journals which are supplied to him; and the Empress Frederick, Prince
Henry of Prussia, and all the members of the Royal Family who are in the
habit of reading English journals, have been desired by their
aristocratic relation to discontinue the obnoxi