Page:Mother Shipton investigated.djvu/56

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MOTHER SHIPTON AND MR. PUNCH..
55

marsh denied. Having fulfilled his mission he returned home. "On Friday, Decem. 10th, he said he had finished his course, and must goe to his Father, In the afternoone he said his Head aked: and laid himselfe upon his Bed. On Saturday, Decemb. 11, hee was taken speechlesse, and about 4 or five of the clock in the afternoon Dyed." So ends the sad story of an unbalanced psychical sensitive.

The Mother Shipton depicted in this cut, in several respects bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Punch of Fleet Street; they may be seen face to face in the frontispiece to this work. The points of resemblance are—(1) The hooked nose and chin. (2) The peaked cap. (3) The hump. (4) The dress with prominent lines. (5) The uplifted hand. (6) The grasping of a weapon with the other hand. (7) Each of them faces an important individual in a peculiar cap, perched upon an elevated structure—Cardinal Wolsey in the one instance; Toby in the other.

The first volume of Punch was issued in 1841, and in the first article admits its ruling personality to be derived from the Punch of