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    level of human society up to the hereditary spheres , all—all are his unqualified admirers and open applauders . Never in this world , upon any one occasion , even of the most abominable depravity , did such a thing happen as for Punch to be hissed ! Any solitary individual in the surrounding crowd who should

    venture to utter such a token of disapprobation , must combine in himself all the qualities of the ethical philosopher , the philanthropist , the martyr , and the fool . Punch is only to be written down , as the great moralist of Apsley House justly observed to me the other day , thereby reminding us of the parable of the iC Mote and the Beam . " National education , and the

    entire abolition of the tax upon Knowledge , ( reminding us of the parable of the " Sower , " ) are the only means by which aright feeling about sound morality can be generally inculcated . But enough of this ; let us proceed to a brief examination of the different characters of this very original , and all-amusing tragicomedy .

    Each character in this play represents a class . They are , of course , more or less genuine and pronounced , according to the individual talent of the respective Managers under , or rather above , whose auspices they are produced . Still , amidst all circumstances there is no mistaking each for each ; and this is a fine proof of the innate dramatic mastership of their origin .

    Judy , the wife of Mr Punch , and mother of his child , is soon dispatched . She represents a good-natured , domestic , motherly , housewife , as perfect a contrast to her husband as ever was seen in married life . The average number of marriages are made expressly on that principle , which sometimes answers very well , and sometimes the contrary . She is a thoroughly

    common-place woman , but driven beyond the limit of her ordinary nature by the loss of her child , added to the preposterous reason adduced by her husband for the act , she is roused to fury , and has recourse to a summary vengeance , which presently terminates in her destruction . As to the child , it represents all children who cry vociferously when nursed and fondled

    with wanton roughness ; for Punch , under pretence of lulling the infant , who is evidently suffering , from teething , wind , or the stomach-ache , rolls it like a long pudding upon the sill of the window or stage front . As to the personal appearance of the child , it represents those of the Esquimaux , or perhaps has a more remote origin in the cat-mummies of ancient Egypt .

    iTie personage—name unknown—who appears in the ornate outlandish dress , with a bushy beard , mustachioes , and fur cap , pompousl y singing a song about the " Grand Coroonah , " ending witb . the full-mouthed burden of " Salla'ballah ! " seems to be an embodied satire upon the pretensions of vain-glorioup travellers , heroes , and also upon the great bass and baritone buffb $ of

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    * 40 Analytical Disquisition 6 h Punch and Judy .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1837, page 40, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1827/page/42/