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THE TOMAHAWK. A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATI...
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No. 142.] LONDON, JANUARY 22, 1870. [Pri...
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ONE JOB THE MORE I
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The time has arrived when it has become ...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Tomahawk. A Saturday Journal Of Sati...
THE TOMAHAWK . A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . OEMteb tip £ i-ttt ) ttT & ' 3 & ecfeett * 0 " INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRETERIT . *
No. 142.] London, January 22, 1870. [Pri...
No . 142 . ] LONDON , JANUARY 22 , 1870 . [ Price Twopence .
One Job The More I
ONE JOB THE MORE I
The Time Has Arrived When It Has Become ...
The time has arrived when it has become necessary to erect another statue . It is perfectly feasible , for it may be as ugly as possible , and yet quite in keeping with the original . We would not advise that the figure be draped in a Roman toga or seventeenth-century breeches—the hero in whose honour it should
be raised has appeared at all times in all countries—has been dreaded by many—welcomed by few . There is many a niche where the statue might be raised—in Charing cross—in St . Pancras—at Chatham . Perhaps , on the whole , it would be as well to avoid the latter places , as the great original has long
dwelt close to them . It is in bad taste to erect a man ' s statue in his back garden j it is not absolutely necessary to fill a man ' s library with portraits of himself—thus , it would be unwise to raise a statue in St . Pancras to—Death ! Death is a great public benefactorand on these grounds we
demand that he should he recognised , and honoured . Without Death ' s kindly aid the St . Pancras Infirmary would be filled——over-filled—with expensive patients and troublesome invalids . Without Death , the poor labourers driven from their work by those who hold the strings to the national pursewould have
health and strength to rise and cry out for succour— , aye , and to demand it , too , with angry voices and threatening brows . But these same homeless ones sink down , quiet and still , at the touch of that great promoter of peace—good , friendly Death ! Sink down , and are still—very still . And it is Death who is
give their the friend Skeleton —it is a Death statue who ? Oh is their ye Ministers pacifier ;— in then place , wh , oh y not ye " honourable" Economists , with more than a plum for a premier ' s son , and less than a crumb for a pauper ' s family , we pause for a reply ! Why not give Death a statue ?—mind it
would only be one job the more ! moment But , leaving are th the ere present not hundreds Cabinet out the of the le question who would for vote the , peop for the Skeleton ' s glory ?—men of the people , who are homeless
ho and meless starving . Let —women us look of about the us peop for , a who moment are and starving see ho and w ; those near to us welcome Deathwith smiles or with , tears . See yonder , in that dark pestilential , chamber , with sick men lying : on the crowded bedswith unsavoury rats crawlinacross the
floors —see how they , then , , who groan and cry , welcom g e Death , With fear ? Not a bit of it ! Their poor lips tremble in agony the —their tortured poor frame foreheads is easier are — bathed then the in suffering deadly sweat mind — is and calmer then ; ,
—for they see a deliverer at hand—a deliverer who will call them away from the dark chamber with its loathsome crew of running vermin—from the room with its stifling atmosphere when the windows are closed , and its icy cold draught when the windows are open—from pain and anxiety into a sweet land
of perfect peace . And they bless the gaunt Skeleton as he stands before them , and find mercy in his toothless smile , and compassion in the eyeless sockets that shine above his grinning jaws . , To them Death is a liberator , a champion , an angel ! One
to be worshipped , and welcomed , and adored . Then , why not give Death a statue ?—it is only one job the more ! Then , there are men who starve from want of work ; men who see their families die before them ; men who have given up their little wages to help to pay for Ministerial jobs—to raise
the unctuous smiles of a canny Chancellor of the Exchequer . Can it be urged for a moment that these men would not delight in a statue to Death—sweet , peaceful Death , the being who alone can save them from the pangs of poverty , the shame of pauperdom ? Would they not sooner see Death honoured than
Gladstone , Bright , or Lowe ? What has Death given them ?—peace . And Lowe ?—a love , a strong-, strong love for Death ! In the face of this , then , why not give Death a statue ?—it would only be one job the more ! Again , are there not poor homeless creatures who would
welcome death as a Saviour ? Creatures in poor dresses and faded bonnets , who are far too poor and faded to command the countenance of the law . Creatures shunned by society , and allowed to hasten madly to their end—unloved , uncared for . Would not these poor forlorn creatures , so much , so very much below
the notice of smug Respectability , welcome Death , and vote him . a monument with their last breath ? To be sure they would ! Then why not give Death a statue ?—it would only be one job the more ! ¦ Smooth phrases and soft words are all very well after their
user has enjoyed the twenty courses and heady wines of a civic "banquet ; but for all that they cannot quite—mark the word quite—hide stern reality . A few days since , Mr . Bright indulged in greasy eloquence to prove that , although a placefiller , he was still the people ' s friend . He spoke amiably of " working men "
in Parliament , and was particularly civil to those who came to ask for the release of the Fenian prisoners . He was kindly to a degree , and moderate to distraction , But he forgot to mention in his speeches the state of the poor . He forgot to tell how " working men " had been driven from the dockyards to starve or to emigrate . He forgot to allude to the various modes by
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Citation
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Tomahawk (1867-1870), Jan. 22, 1870, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_22011870/page/1/
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