The customary official congratulations of Parliament did not escape a protest from Mr. Keir Hardie, who was "indisposed to associate himself with any effort to do special honour to the Royal family," though he was "delighted to learn that the infant was a fairly healthy one." This unfortunately-worded concession only served to exasperate the loyalists, and Punch drew a picture of Mr. Hardie, in his deer-stalker cap, severely apostrophizing the royal infant in his cradle. A propos of the Prince's seven names, it may be added that Punch noted the inclusion of all the four patron saints of the United Kingdom—George, Andrew, Patrick and David—a choice which, as he put it, ought to help him to dodge ill luck in after years.
A YOUNG REPUBLICAN
Little Lord Charles: "Oh, I'm going to be an Omnibus Conductor, when I grow up."
Fair American: "But your brother's going to be a Duke, isn't he?"
L. L. C.: "Ah, yes; but that's about all he's fit for, you know!"
Punch on the Duke of Cambridge
No charge of courtiership, however, could be brought against Punch for his treatment of the question of the retirement of the Duke of Cambridge in 1895 from the post of Commander-in-Chief. In "All the Difference" Lord Wolseley is shown saying to the Duke: "In September I have to retire from my appointment," and the Duke replies, "Dear me! I haven't." The same idea is developed in some satirical verses glorifying the "Spirit of Eld," which was allowed to dominate the conduct of high affairs of State. But when the Duke did go in November, Punch was more gracious. His "parting salute," put into the mouth of Tommy Atkins, forms a friendly gloss on what Lord Wolseley had said in his first Army order; and when the Duke died in 1904, Punch's four-line tribute is a model of laconic and judicial appreciation:—
The years that saw old customs changed to new