s as spruce and gay as a lark." He had been engaged to a
daughter of Douglas Jerrold (whose other daughter, it will be
remembered, was the wife of Henry Mayhew), but on the ground that "one
Mayhew is enough in the family," Jerrold would not hear of it, and the
young people remained faithful to each other to the end. Living first
with Joseph Swain, the engraver, he afterwards took up his residence for
a time with the Lemons at King's Road, Chelsea.

"Ponny's" portrait, it has often been said, may be seen in the White
Knight in "Alice in Wonderland;" but "the resemblance," says Sir John
Tenniel, "was purely accidental, a mere unintentional caricature, which
his _friends_, of course, were only too delighted to make the most of.
P. M. was certainly handsome, whereas the White Knight can scarcely be
considered a type of 'manly beauty.'" He was a great favourite with the
Staff, by reason of his many charming qualities. What they thought of
him may be in a measure deduced from one or two of the verses borrowed
from Shirley Brooks's Birthday Ode, here reproduced from Mr. Hatton's
"True Story" in "London Society":--

"Is he perfect? Why, no, that is hardly the case;
If he were, the _Punch_ Table would not be his place;
You all have your faults--I confess one or two--
And we love him the better for having a few.

"He never did murder, like--never mind whom,
Nor poisoned relations, like--some in this room;
Nor deceived the young ladies, like--men whom I see,
Nor even intrigued with a gosling, like--me.

"No; black are our bosoms, and red are our hands,
But a model of virtue our Ponniboy stands;
And his basest detractors can only say this,
That he's fond of the cup, and the card, and the kiss.

"A warm-hearted fellow--a faithful ally,
Our Bloater's[42] Vice-Regent o'er _Punch's_ gone by;
He's as true to the flag of the White Friars still
As when he did service with Jerrold and Gil.

"Here's his health in a bumper! "_Old_" Ponny--a fib;
What's fifty? A baby. Bring tucker and bib.
Add twenty; then ask us again, little boy,
And till then may your life be all pleasure and joy!"

"Ponny" Mayhew, who did not actually write anything for some years
before his end, died in May, 1872; and on p. 191 of the sixty-second
volume a graceful obituary notice pays tribute to his long and faithful
service and his gentle good-nature.

By this time _Punch's_ established reputation brought a great numb