FU-*N.


[OarOBER 12, 1861.


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 THE LAST FASHION IN TROUSERS.



 A PRETTY GO-REALLA.
 OflR gifted friend and contributor, MR. STURGEON, has been
 lecturing oil the gorilla. Can we do less than support" him, by.
 giving publicity to his remarks in the widely circulated columns of'
 FuN ? Is ho not one of us ? Is he not essentially the funny man
 of thlo religious world ? And what new comic publication would be
 romplet e that did not number him amongst its writers? But as the
 f Ais are as well known and as little contested as the suavity of Mn.
 hRoi',i'ci, or the high artistic merit of the London statues, we will
 at once proceed to business.
 The IRE. JoE I iLLEii, on appearing on the platform, observed
 audibly to the chairman, "Here we are again !" an observation, the
 pungent wit and novelty of which elicited shouts of laughter from
 the delighted audience. He then came forward and said:--
 FriPnds, rutinmns, odditors,* I come to lecture on the gorilla,
 which is a largo monkey, having a near ape-proach to the human
 animal. My friend, Milt. HAINEs, offered to paint me some slides far
 toh orcnsion, but I feared it might turn out a slippery business, so I
 declined. Now about M. Du CIIAIIL.u and his book; that is a
 volume of decided weight; I dropped it on my toes this morning,
 and so can speak from experience. As for Ilii adversaries, Dia.
 GArY'S opposition turned out a black business, and in men-
 tioning his other antagonist, I shall merely say WALKER.
 But are the statements in it true ? Truth lies at the bottom of
 a well, so we're told; and if truth does so beneath the earth's
 surface, why should not Mi. Dui CiAiLLU do the same on terrafirma ?
 Well! the gorilla's like a man-only different. His arms are very
 long, which denotes his overreaching disposition; they are also
 uncommonly strong, a circumstance with which the traveller is
 apt to be considerably struck, if lie only goes near enough to the
 animal. His legs are short and weak, and in walking he has difficulty
 in keeping himself upright; a sure sign of the dishonest tendencies
 of Iis proceedings. Not infrequently he supports himself on a stick ;
 but for all that lie can't be said to hive a staff appointment. Some-


 id the reverend gentleman intend to Ipn on auditor? If so, the joke is
elohtw his tusualt mark.--EIT.


 times he plays at- all fours by, going on- them, another proof of his
 deficiency in the card-inal virtues. Like some wines, he has a deal of
 body, still he sadly'wants refining. 3M. Du CIAILLu tried to civilize
 the race, but we must almost regard his statements as civil lies, for he
 reversed the usual method, by killing them first and curing them
 afterwards; altogether a curious process, and one that smacks rather
 of Kill-arney than Central Africa. These animals are very brave, and
 always fight till they're dead; but seldom longer. The gorilla
 makes a very affectionate husband and father, and not one of the
 race has ever been known either to put his unfortunate son and heir
 out to nurse, or even to expose it on a doorstep. Perhaps, however,
 this last is principally owing to the absence.of doors in those parts.
 Now, is this creature a relation or not ? We know there are men
 who are monks, and why shouldn't there be men who are monkeys ?
 Bat, as neither I nor anybody else can decide this question, I shan't
 attempt to cozen you into accepting the gorilla as a man and a
 brother. I've now told you all I know about the animal, and anybody
 who wants to know any more had better go to Central Africa and
 find out for himself. There is a collection at the 'door, and I shan't
 leave the platform till 500 are in the plate."
 A' comic song was then sung, and the meeting dispersed.
 As we left, there were 2s. 4d. in the soup plate, all in copper, with
 the exception of a single threepenny-bit; so it is much to be feared
 that the reverend lecturer still adorns the platform.




 A FREE PRESS FOR POLAND.

 WE have startling news from the Austrian EMnPEROR'S dominions;
 neither more nor less, in fact, than that at length the freedom of the
 press is fully recognized! This is a change, indeed, from the old
 system of press prosecution, rigid censorships, of warnings, fines,
 admonitions, and suppressions inflicted on unhappy editors,-the
 system for which Austria (especially in her Polish provinces) has
 been so long notorious. But it is the case; we tave it so declared
 frbm the -lips of no less an authority than the President of the
 Criminal Court of Lemberg, the capital of the Polish province of
 Gallicia; declared by him, moreover, officially, while seated in the
 presidential chair-or presidential sofa, ottoman, or three-legged
 stool, or whatever may be the Gallician equivalent for our own
 magisterial bench.
 Two Polish gentlemen were brought up before this court the other
 day, the one being the author of an article displeasing to the Austrian
 government, the other the editor of the newspaper in which the
 said article was printed. (The reader is requested to bear in mind
 that this is not the fact proving the freedom of the press in Poland.
 We have not come to it yet.)
 Well, in reading the report, we find "the sitting commenced by
 the President of the court reading a great number of admonitions
 and warnings that had been officially transmitted to the editor during
 the few years of his paper's existence." (Have -patience, reader,
 pray; even this is not the proof we have to adduce of thought being
 free in Poland.)
 The author acknowledged the article as his, the editor admitted
 that it was inserted with his knowledge, but declared that he had
 only glanced at it cursorily before sending it to the police for super-
 vision, feeling sure that it would be prohibited if they found it to
 contain anything objectionable." Whereupon, what said the Presi-
 dent ? (Get ready, reader, it is coming!)
 The President rejoined with an assertion that since the late circular
of the Minister of State, interference of the police with the press had
ceased !!"
 There!
 (Five minutes are allowed or the reader to recover hisbreath.)
 The Austrian police no longer interfere with free discussion in
Polish journals. It is true the Public Prosecutor demanded that the
editor of the journal now prosecuted should be condemned in the highest
penalties the law allowed, on the express plea that the said editor was
"a. character of evil repute with the police;" it is true he also
demanded that the paper should be suppressed, and the 4,000 florins
deposited as caution money forfeited, and this because the "paper
had been so frequently subjected to fines and admonitions by the
police." It is true, moreover, that the editor and author were
imprisoned; that some, although not all, the caution money was
forfeited, and that by reason of the editor's incarceration, the paper
has ceased to be published. What then ? All this proves nothing.
Have we not the solemn assertion of the President from the judge
mcnt-seat, that the interference of the police with the press has
ceased ? Let, then, the lovers of free thought rejoice!


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