* * * * *

FAC-SIMILE OF FIRST PAGE OF "PUNCH."

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

_FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 1841._

* * * * *

THE MORAL OF PUNCH.

* * * * *

As we hope, gentle public, to pass many happy hours in your society,
we think it right that you should know something of our character and
intentions. Our title, at a first glance, may have misled you into
a belief that we have no other intention than the amusement of a
thoughtless crowd, and the collection of pence. We have a higher
object. Few of the admirers of our prototype, merry Master PUNCH, have
looked upon his vagaries but as the practical outpourings of a rude
and boisterous mirth. We have considered him as a teacher of no mean
pretensions, and have, therefore, adopted him as the sponsor for our
weekly sheet of pleasant instruction. When we have seen him parading
in the glories of his motley, flourishing his baton (like our friend
Jullien at Drury-lane) in time with his own unrivalled discord, by
which he seeks to win the attention and admiration of the crowd,
what visions of graver puppetry have passed before our eyes! Golden
circlets, with their adornments of coloured and lustrous gems, have