Punch and Judy.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2822, 1 March 1878, Page 3

Punch and Judy.

An opportunity h now afforded the youngsters of tho Thames of seoincr the diverting comedy of Punch and Judy. Only once before was there such a chance, and tbat was during iho visit of Mr Hubt. Heller, the famous musiciunnnd conjuror, who made " Puncll and Judy Show " n part of his repertoire. As may have been remarked, this same comic diversion is now being exhibited in connection with the " Blacksmith's Dream." The origin of Punch and Judy is said to be Italian, and it dates back to the beginning of the 17th century; very shortly after it became very popular in England, and has beon celebrated by a criticism in the Spectator by Addison. A well known authority gives the following synopsis of the " plot" of " Punch and Judy ":— Mr P., a gentleman of great personal attraction, is married to Mrs Judy, by whom lie has a lovely daughter, but to whom no name is given in this piece, the infant being too young to be christened. In a fit of horrid and demoniac jealousy, P., like™ a second Zeluco, strangles his beauteous offspring. Just as lie has completed his dreadful purpose, Mrs Judy enters, witnesses the brutal havoc, and exit screaming; she soon returns, however, armed with a bludgeon, and applbs it to her husband's head, ' which to the wood returns a wooden sound.' P., at length exasperated, seizes another bludgeon, soon vanquishes his already weakened foe, and lays her prostrate at his feet; then, seizing tho murdered infant and^the expiring mother, he flings them both out of the window into the street. The dead bodies having been found, police officers enter the dwelling of P., who flies for his life, mounts his steed ; and the author neglecting, like other great poets, the confining unities of time and place, conveys his hero into Spain, where, however, he is arrested by an officer of the terrible Inquisition. After enduring the most cruel tortures with incredible fortitude, P., by means of a golden key, opens his prison door, and escapes. The conclusion of the story is satirical, allegorical, and poetical. The hero is first overtaken by Weariness and Laziness in the shape of a black dog, which he fights and conquers ; Disease, in the disguise of a physician, next arrests him; but P. ' sees through the thin pretence,' and dismisses the doctor with a few derogatory kicks. Death at length visits the fugitive; but P. lays about his skeleton carcass so lustily, and makes the bones of his antagonists rattle so musically with a bastinado, that 'Death his death's blow then received/ Last of all comes the Devil; first under the appearance of s lovely female, but afterwards in his own natural shape, to drag the offender to the infernal regions, to expiate bis dreadful crimes. Even this attempt fails, and P. is left triumphant over Doctors, Death, and the Devil. The curtain falls amid the shouts of the conqueror, who, on his victorious staff, lifts on high his vanquished foe.