IL B. has been so trimming his sail to catch
every little breeze in the political atmosphere, that we have been some time in doubt upon what tack he was standing. Ile now appears no longer to steer a middle course, but scuds before the gale of Opposition which fills the canvas of his trim little craft, and he may ere long hoist the standard of Anti- Reform. Until he does, however, we shall be content to keep him in sight ; but then, we must meet him on the deck pen to pencil. But to drop our metaphor : H. B.'s "Political Symptoms" and "a Gentle Re- action" show his bias too plainly to be any longer doubted. Here are John Bull and Lords Althorp and John Russell made to regret haste in expressing their opinion upon Sir Robert Wilson's vote against the Bill ; and General Gascoyne, burning his finger against his glowing pro- boscis, triumphantly chuckles, as though the honesty and good sense of the worthy pair had been established by the new Bill. 0 fye ! H. B. You a sophister? What means this ominous civility between Bur- dett and Wetherell ? Marplot Hunt commanding the attention of Teel, Croker, and Goulburn, (why is Dawson omitted ?) is a satire upon the listeners. "Birds of a feather," as the proverb runs. Trai- tors are the best friends of an enemy. John Bull visiting the Duke of Wellington, to inquire after his health, is fair enough. The John .Bull of H. B. is the best we know. He is the hale, stout, honest, simple-minded yeoman; violent and ob- stinate at times, but good-natured in the main. Mr. Stanley's Speech, or "Parliamentary Eloquence," is only remarkable for the clever por- traits of that gentleman and Sir James Graham. H. B.'s drawing is good, and the expression. and character of his sketchy likenesses are worth all the painted faces of the Royal Academicians. The Caricature Annual, for the New Year, is.an amusing collection of humorous scraps, satirizing the follies and turning to the account of mirth the current incidents of the day. It might properly be termed the "Comic Annual Register ;" and it should be found in all waiting- rooms, private or official.
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