1-150-648 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Bottom's Dream', 1872. Nick Bottom, representative of the British labourer, is being relieved of the ass's head by Mr Punch in a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Since the death of her beloved Albert, Queen Victoria had withdrawn almost totally from public life. However, the needs of her large family had made increasing demands upon the public purse, and there had been a growth in the number of noisy republican activists. Ten years after the death of Prince Albert, though, the Prince of Wales had been struck down with typhoid fever and for some days his life had hung in the balance. Upon his recovery, a thanksgiving service had been held at St Paul's at the end of February 1872, and this is referred to in the newspaper headline. The illness of the Prince of Wales had awakened a dormant loyalty in the people. From Punch, or the London Charivari, March 9, 1872.