PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
Volume 109, November 2, 1895.
edited by Sir Francis Burnand
"WEATHER PERMITTING,"—MR. PUNCH DRIVES TO THE FIRST MEET.
Tooleiana; or, the Moor the Merrier.—At the LyceumTheatre, Edinburgh, in answer to calls for a speech, at thetermination of his visit with Thoroughbred, Mr. J. L.Toole presented himself to the audience "habited in hissables" as the nigger minstrel. Mr. Punch's OwnPopular Comedian was in excellent health and in his best,i.e., his own, "form." He explained that, despite appearanceswhich might lead to such a conclusion, he wasnot about to join the Christy Minstrels. However, it wasprobable, but not yet definitely settled, that in thenext revival of the Shakspearian tragedy at theLondon Lyceum, he might impersonate Othello to theIago of his friend Sir Henry Irving. We hope so.What crowded houses! Booking-office should open at once.
THE MINISTER OF FINE ARTS.
(From a Newspaper of the Future.)
Many years ago, in 1895, our esteemed contemporary, the DailyGraphic, suggested the appointment of a Minister of Fine Arts.This seemingly admirable scheme was soon after carried out. Thefirst Minister was a cautious man. His one great improvement,which met with universal approval, was to remove all the statuesand fountains from every part of London, and to place them in a rowon Romney Marsh, from Dungeness to Hythe, where they wouldundoubtedly scare away any French army endeavouring to land.The second Minister tried to introduce the so-called "Queen Anne,"or Dutch architecture, and prepared a scheme for altering the wholeof London. As a beginning, the north side of Oxford Street, fromHolborn to the Marble Arch, was completely transformed. Alongthe whole distance stretched a fantastic row of red-brick buildings,the surface of which was diversified at every possible point by uselesslittle windows, and little arches, and little projections, and littlerecesses, and little balustrades. These had risen to the level of thesecond floors, when a change of Government brought in a Ministerwho believed only in English architecture of the fifteenth century.Under his directions the new buildings were therefore continued instone, in imitation of the Houses of Parliament, but the work wasstopped by his death. His successor, though of course one of theGothic party, preferred the Gothic architecture of Italy, and theupper parts of the houses were therefore finished in that style.As at that time the reduction of the Budget was urgently needed,it was decided to use painted stucco instead of real marble, as inItaly.
When the next Government came into office all the houses on theSouth side of Oxford Street were pulled down, and everyone saidthat at last we should have an imposing row of buildings. Unfortunatelya difficulty arose. The new Minister of Fine Arts wasonly interested in gardening, and hardly knew one style of architecturefrom another. He could not therefore decide the greatquestion whether the new houses should correspond with the oppositeones, and, if so, whether they should be "Queen Anne," or ItalianGothic, or English Perpend