Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, January 14, 1893

Excerpt

THE SCHOOL FOR PATRIOTISM.

[A Fund has been raised to supply the School Board with Union-Jacks, with a view to increasing the loyalty of the pupils.—Daily Paper.]

Teacher. And now we come to the Battle of Trafalgar, which was won by Nelson in the early part of the present century. As it is my object to increase your patriotism, I may tell you that "Britannia rules the waves, and Britons never, never, never will be slaves!" Repeat that in chorus.

Pupils. "Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves; Britons never, never, never will be slaves!"

Teacher. Thank you very much; and to show how the esprit de corps in Her Majesty's Ships-of-War is preserved, I will now dance the Sailor's Hornpipe.

[Does so.

First Pupil. Please, Sir, do Englishmen always win?

Teacher. Invariably. If they retire, they do not retreat. Can you tell me what a retirement of troops in the face of the enemy is called?

Second Pupil. Bolting, Sir.

Teacher. Nothing of the sort. Go to the bottom of the class, Sirrah! Bolting, indeed! Next boy!

Third Pupil. It is called "a strategic movement to the rear," Sir.

Teacher. Quite right; and now we come to the Battle of Waterloo, which you will remember was won on the 18th of June, 1815. But perhaps this may be a convenient time for the introduction of the Union-Jack War Dance, which, as you all know, has been recently ordered to be part of our studies by the Committee of the School Board. Now then, please, take your places.

[The Pupils seize the flags hanging to the walls, and dance merrily. At the conclusion of the exercise they replace the flags, and resume their customary places.

First Pupil. If you please, can you tell us anything about the Union-Jack?

Teacher. As I have explained on many occasions, when you have been good and obliging enough to put the same question to me, I am delighted to have the opportunity. You must know that the Union-Jack represents the greatest nation in the world. This nation is our own beloved country, and it is gratifying to know that there are no people so blessed as our own. The Union-Jack flies in every quarter of the globe, and where it is seen, slavery becomes impossible, and tyranny a thing of the past. To be an Englishman is to be the noblest creature on the earth. One Englishman is worth twenty specimens of other nationalities; he is more conscientious, more clever, more beautiful than any other living man, and it is a good thing for the world that he exists. (Looking at watch.) And now, as we have rather exceeded our usual time for study, we will depart after the customary ceremony.

[The Pupils then sing the National Anthem, and the School dismisses itself with three cheers for Her Majesty. Curtain.

"ON NE 'PATINE' PAS AVEC L'AMOUR."

Sir,—I have been deeply thrilled by the suggestion for curing the Agricultural depression which Messrs....