Outing . OLLECTED BY THE AUTHOR AH, what a conquest Punch has madeof the world after all! Whether itL be as Punchinello in Italy, Poli-chinelle in France, Hans Wurst in Ger-many, Pickelhoering in Holland, Punchin England and America, and as Heavenknows what in many another country, hiselfin personality has voyaged the worldand captivatedmore human heartsthan any actorwho ever trod theboards. For near-ly three hundredyears to star inthe same part inthe same play andwith the samesupport, to varyhis lines hardly atall, and yet tomeet in all timesand in all coun-tries a never fail-ing welcome from
Outing . OLLECTED BY THE AUTHOR AH, what a conquest Punch has madeof the world after all! Whether itL be as Punchinello in Italy, Poli-chinelle in France, Hans Wurst in Ger-many, Pickelhoering in Holland, Punchin England and America, and as Heavenknows what in many another country, hiselfin personality has voyaged the worldand captivatedmore human heartsthan any actorwho ever trod theboards. For near-ly three hundredyears to star inthe same part inthe same play andwith the samesupport, to varyhis lines hardly atall, and yet tomeet in all timesand in all coun-tries a never fail-ing welcome fromcapacity houses—is it not a his-tory to be proudof? Perhaps heswept into yourlittle world at theside-show of your first circus. And how it all comes backto you now; the pushing, jostling, good-humored crowd, the flaming pictures ofthose deliciously horrible creatures hiddenbehind the bellying canvas, the din ofdrums and the strident appeal of thebarker through it all. And within, when your wide eyes had. gazed their fill, (that is, if they ever could)at the strange, sad-faced beings upon thelittle platforms, a sudden surge of the crowdcarried you before the little house of mys-tery, the home of the immortal was expectancy and strained magic of centuries was at ! and Punch himself was there uponthe little stage be-fore you, bowing,singing, jumpingabout and peep-ing around thecorner, always inmotion, alwayssmiling, full ofquips and sallies,grotesque in formand feature, withthe strangest voicein the world, yet ahero in your eyesfor all time. You followedhim gleefullythrough all man-ner of villainy;with hardly aqualm of con-science saw himtoss his crying in-fant from the win-dow, and unmerci-fully beat his shrewish spouse and the doc-tor; you even felt sorry for him when he washaled off to prison in the arms of the doughtypoliceman, and clapped your hands whenhe turned the tables on the hangman andpulled the rope which, by all the verities,shoul
Size: 1423px × 1757px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade, booksubjectsports, booksubjecttravel
