he "Morning Post"--The Factitious
"Jenkins"--Thackeray's Farewell--Mrs. Gamp (the "Morning Herald")
and Mrs. Harris (the "Standard")--_Lese Majeste!_--The "Standard"
Fulminates a Leader--The Retort--His Loyalty--Banters the Prince
Consort--Tribute on the Prince's Death--_Punch's_ Butts: Lord
William Lennox--Jullien--Sir Peter Laurie--Harrison
Ainsworth--Lytton--Turner--A Fallacy of Hope--Burne-Jones--Charles
Kean--S. C. Hall as "Pecksniff"--James Silk Buckingham and the
"British and Foreign Destitute"--Alfred Bunn--_Punch's_ Waterloo:
"A Word with Punch"--Bunn, Hot and Cross--A Second "Word" Prepared,
but never Uttered--Other Points of Attack.

Though for many years _Punch_ has claimed to be "everybody's friend," he
would certainly not have done so during the earlier part of his career.
Then he was constantly in the wars, not merely because he was
criticising public men, attacking abuses, and making sport of his
favourite butts; but because he had not yet learned to break away from
the journalistic duelling that prevailed. In these more sophisticated
days it is the usual aim of every prominent journal to ignore as far as
possible the existence of its rivals; then, it was thought that that
existence could be best undermined, if not absolutely cut short, by
direct attack. Party spirit ran very high; and to _Punch's_ undoubted
strengthen serious writing was added a power of pungent wit and sarcasm
unequalled by any rival. He thus became a very formidable adversary; and
he knew it. But he did not put forth his full strength until he felt
sure of his own firm establishment; nor did he turn his _baton_ upon his
brothers in the press until he had made a lively start upon individual
statesmen and private persons, and formally set them up as his own
particular Aunt Sallies for private and public practice.

His first onslaught on the daily press was made upon the "Morning Post"
(p. 126, Vol. IV.), by the hand, not of Thackeray, as has hitherto been
believed, but of Douglas Jerrold, under the title of "The 'Post' at the
Opera." The tone of that newspaper was irresistible to the democrats of
_Punch_; and Thackeray, Leech, and a Beckett took up the running with
great glee. Jerrold and Thackeray chose to personify the paper by the
creation of "Jenkins," and the "Jenkins Papers" soon became a recognised
feature and one of the standard jokes of the paper. Leech's
illustrations were e