Chapter XI: Preface: 'Tuâ nobis est gratiâ.'--CIC (11)

As the founder took some pains to inform the world (that is to say, Paris, which, to Frenchmen under the reign of the Grand Monarque, meant the universe), this wonderful structure, _à la gloire de Louis le Grand_, was erected by the Duc de la Feuillade, one of the idols of his age, and first satellite to the _Sun of Versailles_; Peer and Marshal of France, Governor of the Dauphin, Colonel of the Guards, &c.--in every way a most distinguished person. The statue was erected in front of this eminent courtier's Paris mansion, the _Hôtel de la Feuillade_. The principle of its erection was ingenious, ostensibly commemorating the glories of his master, the 'father of his people, and the conductor of invincible armies;' the celebrity of the patriotic founder of this monument is barely of secondary prominence, since his name and various high offices, emblazoned on the same pile, were bequeathed at the same time to the everlasting regard of posterity. The perpetual durability of fame in this case was doomed to last one century, and no more: the calculations of the Marshal did not include the coming French Revolution. In the January of 1793, the 'grand nation' became intoxicated with a saturnalia of blood, in which they avenged imposts, burdens, and slavery--evils which they had suffered in the past--by sacrificing the descendant of _le Grand Monarque_, a passive victim, on the scaffold to the vicious legacies of his predecessors. The fury which had made a martyr of the king, whose chief enjoyment had been the alleviation of the condition of his subjects, taking a retrospective turn, vented its destructive rage on every relic which recalled the servitude of generations--after the slaughter of the living, the national vengeance was wreaked on inanimate objects, and very naturally the ill-advised monument of the Place des Victoires came in for an early share of attention; and the memorial bequeathed to the everlasting admiration of posterity was scattered to the winds in a manner which effectually defeated the intentions of the testator; the only wonder being how the bronze figures escaped the fate of the furnace, and were spared being converted into artillery.

Under the circumstances, of the complete disappearance of this triumph of servile adulation, it is interesting to recall, in a remote degree, the incidents which attended its foundation. In the letters of Madame de Sévigné we trace a picture indicative of the events; first we are introduced to the zeal displayed by the Duc de la Feuillade, that inveterate and unequalled courtier, and his passion for raising monuments to the glorification of his master and himself. We follow the Marshal's first intentions, and are told how they were modified; we notice the erection of the pedestrian statue, with its glaring anomalies, sent to adorn the gardens of Versailles; and then we are instructed how the sculptor, Van den Bogaert--who, in compliment to his patrons, had changed his name to _de Desjardins_--was entrusted with the execution of the extraordinary conception which was to shed a lustre on the _Place des Victoires_ to perpetuity.

_Lettre DCC. de Madame de Sévigné au Comte de Bussy, à Paris, ce 20 Juillet, 1679._--'.... Il vous dira les nouvelles et les préparatifs du mariage du Roi d'Espagne, et du choix du Prince et de la Princesse d'Harcourt pour la conduite de la reine d'Espagne à son époux, et la belle charge que le roi a donnée à M. de Marsillac, sans préjudice de la première; et du démêlé du Cardinal de Bouillon avec M. de Montausier, et comme M. de La Feuillade, courtisan passant tous les courtisans passés, a fait venir un bloc de marbre qui tenoit toute la rue Saint Honoré: et comme les soldats qui le conduisoient ne vouloient point faire place au carosse de M. le Prince qui étoit dedans, il y eut un combat entre les soldats et les valets de pied: le peuple s'en mêla, le marbre se rangea, et le prince passa. Ce prélat vous pourra conter encore que ce marbre est chez M. de La Feuillade, qui fait ressusciter Phidias ou Praxitèle pour tailler la figure du roi à cheval dans ce marbre, et comme cette statue lui coûtera plus de trente mille écus.'[35]

In a footnote, by the editor, we are further enlightened on the use to which this marble was finally applied, by order of the Duke de la Feuillade:--

'La Feuillade changea d'avis et fit sortir du bloc de marbre en question une statue pédestre qui prêtoit à la critique, par le mélange bizarre du costume romain recouvert du manteau royal françois. Cette statue du ciseau de Desjardins (autrement Van den Bogaert) a été placée à l'Orangerie de Versailles.'

The next piece of information, also given in the editor's footnote, is more to the point:--

'C'est le même artiste qui, six ans plus tard, a exécuté le monument de la Place des Victoires, aussi magnifique qu'impolitique, et renversé en 1793 au milieu des fureurs de l'anarchie. Il ne reste de ce monument que les quatre figures, en bronze, d'esclaves enchaînés qui désignoient les nations dont la France a triomphé dans le XVII^e siècle. Ces figures sont dans la Collection de France.--G. D. S. G.'

A fair-sized view of the Circus, Place des Victoires, and of the monument, taken from the Hotel de la Feuillade, which would seem to have occupied a frontage facing the semicircle, was published about 1686, engraved by N. Guerard. The title runs thus:--

'Veue de la Place des Victoires où M. le Mareschal Duc de la Feuillade a dressé un monument public à la gloire de Louis le Grand, de la statue de ce Monarque couronné par la Victoire, accompagnée de Trophées, de Médailles, de bas-reliefs, et d'inscriptions, sur les actions glorieuses de sa vie et de son règne. Le 28 Mars, 1686.'

Numerous highflown praises of the King were engraved on the base of this vainglorious monument, as well as a list of the various engagements fought in the reign of Louis the Magnificent.

The principal inscription will give a fair impression of the nature of these panegyrics:--[36]

'_A Louis le Grand, le père et le conducteur des armées toujours heureux._--Apres avoir vaincu ses Ennemis, Protegé ses alliez. Adjousté de tres puissants peuples à son Empire, Assuré les Frontières par des places imprenables, joint l'Ocean à la Méditerranée. Chassé les pirates de toutes les mers, Reformé les Loix, Destruit l'hérésie, porté par le bruit de son nom les nations les plus Barbares à le venir révérer des extremitez de la terre. Et reglé parfaitement toutes choses au dedans et au dehors par la grandeur de son courage et de son génie.

'Francois Vicomte Daubusson, Duc de la Feuillade, Pair et Mareschal de France, Gouverneur du Dauphine, et Colonel des Gardes Françoises, 'Pour perpetuelle memoire' 'A la postérité.'

_November 29, 1789._ _Mercury and his Advocates Defeated, or Vegetable Intrenchment._--This print introduces a collision between two systems of medical treatment. The scene is Swainson's depôt for _Velno's Vegetable Syrup_, Frith Street, Soho. _List of Cures, in 1788_, 5,000; _in 1789_, 10,000. Swainson has entrenched himself in the centre of a barricade, formed of his specifics, a bottle of which he is exhibiting, with an air of triumph, to the posse of old practitioners, who, armed with dissecting-knives, mortars, mercury, prescriptions, and mineral pills, are preparing for a furious onslaught upon the innovator, whose introduction of _Velno's Syrup_ has deprived them of the support of their profitable clients.

1789. _A Dull Husband._--An interior scene, introducing us to a drawing-room of more refined character than Rowlandson generally selects for representation. The owners evidently occupy a wealthy position in life. The lady has musical tastes, it appears; in the background is a harpsicord, the fair performer is playing the harp, and a guitar is lying at her feet. The husband has no soul for sweet sounds, or the soothing harmonies which his elegant companion has produced have lulled him into forgetfulness; however it may happen, the gentleman is very evidently, and unpoetically, fast asleep.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] The words taken exception to were: 'I say the Prince of Wales has no more right to assume the government without the consent of the Parliament, who represent the people, than any other person,' &c.

[31] It must be remembered that in 1788 the public were flocking to the performances of a famous stone-eater.

[32] The caricaturist is said to be the hero of the sparring roysterer in his unflattering delineation of _A Brace of Blackguards_, introducing George Moreland the painter and himself under a situation little complimentary to the softening influences of the fine arts. The plate is given in this work under the date _May 30, 1812_, when it was re-issued by the artist, but the original etching properly belongs to a much earlier period, and was probably executed about a quarter of a century anterior.

[33] 'Colonel Dennis O'Kelly, the celebrated owner of _Eclipse_ (this racehorse won everything he ran for), amassed an immense fortune by gambling and the turf, and purchased the estate of Canons, near Edgware, which was formerly possessed by the Duke of Chandos, and is still remembered as the site of the most magnificent mansion and establishment of modern times. The Colonel's training stables and paddocks, at another estate near Epsom, were supposed to be the best-appointed in England.'--_Hone's 'Table Book.'_

[34] A clever drawing, which has never, apparently, been engraved, _Colonel O'Kelly Enjoying a Private Trial previous to his Making a Match_, belonging to John West, Esq., is noticed in the Appendix.

[35] Sévigné, vol. vi. pp. 98-157.

[36] Place des Victoires. A circular open space, surrounded by houses, forming together one design, built by Mansard, 1686. Portions of the original statue of Louis XIV., raised by the Duc de la Feuillade, in the middle, which was destroyed during the Revolution, are now in the Louvre: it was replaced by a statue of General Desaix, which, in its turn, was removed for the present one of Louis XIV. in the costume of a Roman emperor, by Bosio.

1790.

_January 1, 1790._ _Tythe Pig._ Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.--Rowlandson has taken a vexatious institution, as enforced in his day, and turned it to satiric account. A vicar, who we presume is suffering for the sin of gluttony--a failing to which at one time, if tradition is in any degree reliable, the sons of most churches were more than slightly prone--since he is invalided by an attack of gout, is seated in the official reception-room of his residence, within view of his cure, in state, as becomes a dignitary of the Establishment, to receive the tithes of his parish. His clerk is planted by his side, auditing _An Estimate of the Tythes of this Parish_. This functionary is examining, with somewhat minute scrupulousness, a fat pig which is borne in for approval by a comely maiden. The contributor of the said pig, a country clown, who is evidently but half resigned to part with his belongings, is standing in the doorway scratching his shock head, wearing a face which expresses anything but approval of the surrender of his porker.

_No date: about 1790._ _A Roadside Inn._--Two travellers are stopping to take refreshment at a pretty rustic hostel. A wain, drawn by a yoke of horses, is shown passing up the road.

_January 1, 1790._ _A Butcher._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 50 Poland Street.--In point of refinement this print has nothing to recommend it; a more barbarous rendering of a subject, which has in itself little of the picturesque, cannot be well imagined. The subject is, however, treated with so much force and originality, that we considered it worthy to be inserted in our selection, as a representative example of Rowlandson's abilities in the savage walk--a branch to which he brought especial qualifications. And as it is the object of this work to give our readers a fair estimate of the abilities of an artist whose pictures reflect, in a great measure, the dispositions and tastes of his times, we have introduced more than one subject which may, on its individual merits or defects, at first strike the critic as at least coarse, if not altogether free from objectionable associations.

_January 10, 1790._ _Frog Hunting._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 50 Poland Street.--Three Frenchman of quality, adorned in the most modish taste, with their frills, powdered curls, pigtails, ear-rings, ruffles, and dress swords, are plunging knee deep in a pond of water, hunting, with the enthusiasm of true epicures, a party of frightened frogs. A fashionably clad Frenchwoman is standing on the bank, holding a parasol in one hand, and a row of frogs, the spoils of the chase, strung on a skewer, in the other.

_February 20, 1790._ _Toxophilites_ (large plate). Published by E. Harding, 132 Fleet Street.

_February 20, 1790._ _Repeal of the Test Act._ Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.

Bell and the Dragon's chaplains were
More moderate than those by far;
For they, poor knaves, were glad to cheat,
To get their wives and children meat.
But these will not be fobb'd off so;
They must have wealth and power too.

An exaggerated view from a Conservative point of observation, of the results which were to be anticipated if the repeal of the Test Act was allowed to be carried.

This caricature was put forth at the time Doctors Priestley and Price--those _revolution sinners_, as their opponents styled them--were lecturing and spreading broadcast principles of religious equality, reforms, which, as the Ministers industriously circulated, if carried into effect, would prove subversive of everything. A portly Bishop, with his _Refutation of Dr. Price_ by his side, is left to the tender mercies of the Reformers--'And when they had smote the shepherd, the sheep were scattered.' The work of revision is carried on by main force, two of the 'new lights,' aided by stout cudgels, are converting the overgrown Shepherd: 'Make room for the Apostle of Liberty;' and 'God assisting us, nothing is to be feared.' Doctor Priestley is superintending the demolition of the venerated edifice: 'Make haste to pull down that, and we'll build a new one in its place.' Two of the Reformers are displaying their 'brotherly love' by fighting for the possession of the Chancellor's purse and mace. The _Thirty-nine Articles_ are sent to feed a bonfire. A leader of the movement, inspired by 'love of our country,' has climbed up where the insignia of church and state are seen swinging upon a sign-post. He is provided with a flaming _Torch of Liberty_, with which he is threatening their destruction.

Fox is shown as the arch-director of this innovating agitation:--'day next, a charity sermon by the Rev. Charles Fox.' The Whig chief is drawn at a window, armed with a speaking-trumpet, and advertising '_Places under Government to be disposed of. N.B. Several Faro and E. O. Tables in good condition._' Dissenting preachers are hurrying up, furnished with well-filled money-bags, to secure the political influence which Fox is openly holding out for purchase, without any attempt at disguise.

1790. _Dressing for a Masquerade._ (Cyprians.)

1790. _Dressing for a Masquerade._ (Ladies.)

1790. _A French Family._ T. Rowlandson, del. S. Alken, fecit. Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.--One of the two subjects highly commended by H. Angelo in his 'Reminiscences.' The companion, _An Italian Family_, will be given under the head of caricatures published in 1792. Both impressions are scarce, and very seldom met with. These prints are supposed to represent the domestic and interior lives of foreign artists, as studied from observations founded, it is presumed, on the everyday habits of the aliens domiciled in England. Monsieur and his family are probably professional dancers, and the picture introduces us to their more intimate hours of practising; at all events, we find nearly the entire generation giving up their energies--somewhat to the neglect of the proprieties, it is true--to the practice of the one accomplishment in which the politest of nations was supposed to enjoy pre-eminence. The grandfather, in a cotton nightcap, is supplying the music from his fiddle, but the contagion of motion is affecting his aged limbs, and he is skipping about with the animation of old Vestris; by his side is the youngest child, who, still in her night-clothes, is practising the first positions. It will be noticed that, in spite of somewhat squalid surroundings, the whole generation excel in personal finery: a profusion of hair, dressed in the extreme of fashion, ruffles, furbelows, frills, bows, ear-rings, and elegant slippers, are displayed by the various members.

The son and daughter are gracefully executing a _pas de deux_. The person of Madame is charmingly rendered; an elaborately constructed tower of fair hair, and a nodding plume of feathers, add height and distinction to her figure, to which the designer has lent a grace and ease of motion peculiarly French. Monsieur is truly magnificent in the item of wig; his pink satin coat is hung on the top of the turn-up bedstead, and he is disporting himself in a sleeved vest; the lower limbs of the gentleman give room for conjecture. Whether he has taken the liberty of appearing in _sans-culotte_ negligence out of respect to the principles of the Revolution, then in its fury, or whether his nether garments and stockings have been pledged to satisfy the necessities of the hour, is not clear. Perhaps the artist drew the Frenchman in this guise as a concession to English prejudices at the period when it was a pretty universally received theory that his compatriots lived on frogs exclusively, and had thrown away their _culottes_ for good; the last supposition being to a large degree warranted by the maniacal excesses of the Jacobin, Poissarde, and other sections in Paris. In the left-hand corner of the picture is a cleverly designed group, somewhat independent of the main action. A French child, dressed in the burlesque of miniature manhood, as then adopted by our tasteful neighbours, is playing a pipe and tambourine and training a pair of performing poodles to dance a minuet on their hind legs. A lean cat is vainly trying to find something to satisfy her hunger in the cupboard. The only decent article of furniture in the chamber--which is dirty, patched, and poor--is a concession to vanity in the form of a large mirror.

_March, 1790._ _A Kick-up at a Hazard Table._ Published by Wm. Holland, Oxford Street.--A large plate, executed in bold outline with a little mezzo work, introduced in the darker parts. The _Kick-up_ is of a serious character; the gamblers who lately occupied the front of the table are upset in the confusion, and others are endeavouring to get out of the way of the danger. A stout old buck in the King's uniform--a loser, it would seem, from his empty pocket-book--has drawn his pistol on a player opposite, who has presumably won the irate gentleman's gold, since he is covering the pile with one hand, and with the other is aiming, in his turn, a pistol full at his adversary's person. Great excitement prevails around; one man is dashing a chair at the officer's outstretched firearm, and a brother officer is striking with a bottle and a candlestick at the other weapon; bludgeons are flourished, and swords are drawn by some of the gamblers, while others are endeavouring to stand clear before the bullets begin to fly.

A party of gentlemen assembled on the evening of a Court Drawing-room at the Royal Chocolate-house in St. James's Street, where disputes at hazard produced a quarrel, which became general throughout the room. Three gentlemen were mortally wounded, and the affray was at length concluded by the interposition of the Royal Guards, who were compelled to knock the parties down with the butt ends of their muskets indiscriminately, as entreaties and commands were of no avail. A footman of Colonel Cunningham's, greatly attached to his master, rushed through the swords, seized, and literally carried him out by force without injury.

_May 29, 1790._ _Who kills first for a Crown._ In two compartments.--The objects of the chase being the respective crowns of two kingdoms, both of which were disturbed at the date of this publication, by the ambitious views of the advanced parties; headed by the Heir-Apparent in the one case, and the Duke of Orleans in the other.

_The Crown of England_ is threatened in the upper compartment, and the situation is typified as a Stag Hunt in the Park at Windsor. The Prince of Wales, on horseback, is performing the part of huntsman, and his followers are travestied as the Prince's pack of hounds--a favourite figure with the pictorial satirists. Sheridan is the leading dog; the faces of Mrs. Fitzherbert, Burke, a Bishop, and others, are distinguishable among the pack, which is harassing the royal quarry.

_The Crown of France_ is endangered in a similar fashion. It will be remembered that the stability of the government of Louis the Sixteenth received its first shock from the Duke of Orleans, who, imitating the factious conduct of the Prince of Wales at home, was in alliance with the enemies of the throne; in the case of the Duke, with the Revolutionary parties of France.

The royal French Stag is run down at Versailles. The Duke of Orleans, first Prince of the blood, is acting as whipper-in. He is dressed in a fantastic habit of _le sport_, a compromise between a French postilion and a huntsman; he is winding on his pack with _une corne de chasse_. The individuals constituting the aristocratic French pack are described below the print, the names giving some indication of the members of that Palais Royale clique of intriguers which wrought so much evil to the reigning branch. Certain members of the Orleans pack were destined to become notorious on the theatre of events which were then impending over France.

1. _Madame La C'tesse de Buffon._ 2. _Madme. La C'tesse de Blot._ 3. _Le Cte. de Touche._ 4. _Le Mqis. de Sillery._ 5. _Le Cte. de Vauban._ 6. _Le Bn. de Talleyrand_ (who, in the hunt, has seized the royal stag with his teeth). 7. _M. de Simon._

1790. _Philip Quarrel, the English Hermit, and Beau Fidelle, the mischievous She-Monkey, famous for her skill on the viol de gamba._--Philip Thicknesse, leaving his hermitage in the background (see _Public Characters_, 1806), is journeying along one mile from Bath; the ex-Governor of Languard Fort is in regimentals, but instead of a hat the artist has drawn a boar's head, the present of Lord Jersey, above that of the _Hermit_. More particular reference to this boar's head is made in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1761, pp. 34, 79.

Across Philip's back is slung his wooden gun;[37] under his left arm are held his writings, which gained him but equivocal fame; a bare axe, marked '_Gratitude_,' is in his right hand; the Duke of _Marlboro's pistols_ are in his belt; he has a _Subscription Scheme, Gunpowder_, as a cartouche-box, and his foot is resting on the _Vagrant Act_. Miss Ford (Mrs. Thicknesse), as _Beau Fidelle_, is following _Quarrel's_ wanderings; her _viol de gamba_ is strapped across her back.

(_Handbill._)

STRAYED FROM KENSINGTON GORE

A VICIOUS OLD DOG;

A mongrel, with a large mark on the left side of his head,
resembling a tarnished cockade; on his collar is marked _P.
T._, but answers to the name of GALLSTONE; has got a sore tail,
occasioned by a _copper platter_, cruelly tied to it some time
since--the fright arising from which caused him to run away
from London. He has a great aversion to the smell of gunpowder;
is extremely mischievous, and very apt to snap and bite those
who let him into their houses; but, though very noisy, is
easily quieted by the slightest threat. He has been heard of
at Farthingoe, in Northamptonshire, where he attempted to bite
the churchwardens; but being whipped from thence, has since
been discovered lurking near the Royal Hotel, at Dover, and is
supposed to be now hid among the rocks on the Kentish coast.

Whoever will trace him and give intelligence by the post to J. G.
(James Gillray), at No. 18 Old Bond Street, London, so that he
may be found and muzzled, will be gratefully thanked!

THE MONSTER.

B. Argensteen takes the earliest opportunity of informing the
nobility and the public of the _Monster's_ reappearance in town
on Friday last, 4th. He is dressed in a scarlet coat, wears
a prodigious cockade, and bears in every respect a striking
likeness to that much-respected character, PHILIP THICKNESSE, Esq.

He has already frightened a number of women and children, made
several desperate attempts upon different noblemen, and has
attempted to cut up his own children.

Since his last arrival in London he has assumed the name of
_Lieut.-Gov. Gallstone_; and it is strongly suspected that his
present journey to town is in order to devour all editors of
newspapers, engravers, and publishers of satiric prints, and
every other person who has dared to arraign his conduct. The
public are cautioned to be on their guard.

_N.B._--_The reward for his apprehension still remains in full
force._

1790. _An Excursion to Brighthelmstone, made in the year 1789, by Henry Wigstead and Thomas Rowlandson. Dedicated (by permission) to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Embellished with eight engravings in aquatinta, from views taken on the road to and at that place._ London: Printed for C. G. J. and I. Robinson, Paternoster Row. Oblong folio. June 1, 1790.

_Introduction._--'The following descriptive account of an excursion to Brighthelmstone is intended to give those who have not visited that delightfully situated town and its environs an idea of the pleasures with which a lively and feeling mind will be impressed on viewing those scenes which the Authors have endeavoured to illustrate.... Of the roads which lead to Brighthelmstone, that immediately from London being most frequented, the Authors have endeavoured to familiarise it to the traveller by pencil and pen.

'The various scenes which are introduced are slightly represented, and intended merely to impress the mind with the general effects of nature. It is, in short, a conversation narrative, illustrated occasionally with sketches of scenes and incidents which seemed most worthy of notice.'

The plates were all drawn and etched by Rowlandson, and aquatinted by Alken.

_Sutton._ ('The Cock.')
_Reigate._ ('The White Hart' posting house.)
_Crawley._ (Sale of a horse by auction outside the 'George Inn.')
_Cuckfield._ (Market Day--a recruiting party, &c.)
_Saloon at the Marine Pavilion._

'The Marine Pavilion of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, on the west side of the Steine, is a striking object, and admirably calculated for the summer residence of a royal personage.... This Pavilion, correctly designed and elegantly executed, was begun and completed in five months. The furniture is adapted with great taste to the style of the building. The Grand Saloon is beautifully decorated with paintings by _Rebecca_, executed in his best manner. The _tout ensemble_ of the building is, in short, perfect harmony. The whole was executed by Mr. Holland, under the immediate inspection and direction of Mr. Weltjé, the Prince's German cook, who leased the property to his royal master.'

_Bathing Machines._
_The Steine_ (and promenaders).
_Race Ground._ The Course, the Stand, &c., with a race being run.

_June 1, 1790._ _Saloon at the Pavilion, Brighton._ Aquatinted by T. Alken. Published by Messrs. Robinson.--One of a series of drawings made from the Regent's fantastic seaside residence, and published in aquatint. See _An Excursion to Brighthelmstone, made in the year 1789, by Henry Wigstead and Thomas Rowlandson_. (1790.)

1790 (?). _Waiting for Dinner._
1790 (?). _At Dinner._
1790 (?). _After Dinner._
1790 (?). _Preparing for Supper._
1790 (?). _Fox-hunters Relaxing._

_About 1790._ _Evening._--A small etching. A stout sportsman, lolling on his pony, and followed by a miscellaneous tribe of dogs, has evidently been out shooting, and on his homeward way he has fallen in with an encampment of gipsies, who have pitched their tent beside a wood; three brawny nymphs are sitting about in easy attitudes, and a fourth, leaning on the stranger's horse, is beguiling the Nimrod with her wiles; it seems probable, from the foolish expression thrown into the rider's face, that he is likely to fall an easy victim into mischievous hands.

_August 6, 1790._ _Cattle at the River._ _The Horse Race._ _A View in Cornwall._ _The River; towing barges, &c._ _Rustic Refreshment._ _Winter Pastime: Skating on a Frozen River._

_September 1790._ _A Dressing Room at Brighton._ Published by I. Brown, 6 Crown Street, Soho.--As the title expresses, this plate represents the interior of a chamber at the fashionable marine resort. Three gentlemen are seated in their combing-chairs; their hair is being curled and powdered by three hair-dressers.

_October 20, 1790._ _Four o'clock in Town._ Designed and etched by Thomas Rowlandson. Published by J. Jones.--This plate, which is entirely due to Rowlandson's hand, is etched in outline, and filled in with aquatint, in imitation of a faint drawing in Indian ink. A young and well-favoured military buck has returned to his house at the advanced and disreputable hour of four o'clock in the morning, as indicated in the title; he has evidently been 'making a night of it,' and is considerably the worse for his potations. His young and pretty wife, who is in bed, is thrown into a mixed condition between consternation, fear, and resentment at the condition of her gallant spouse; the husband is propped up in an armchair, and left to the care of two comely housemaids, who are making efforts to assist this hopeless rake to divest himself of his clothes--an essential preliminary towards going to bed which he is signally unable to perform for himself. He is perfectly helpless in the hands of these wenches, and is contemplating with an imbecile air an empty purse, the result of his evening's recreations. In spite of the somewhat suggestive nature of this subject, all the figures are graceful and pleasingly expressed, and the faces are delicate and attractive.

_October 20, 1790._ _Four o'clock in the Country._ Designed and etched by T. Rowlandson. Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.--The episode presented in this picture is the complete reverse of that shown in the companion plate, _Four o'clock in Town_. While the London rake is being assisted to his late bed the country Nimrod is rising with the dawn. The enthusiast for the chase has tumbled out of his early couch; his clothes are hastily thrown on in the partial light of daybreak, and he is, while still half-asleep, making terrific exertions to draw on his boots. His wife, who has not had time to commence her toilette, and who, evidently, will resume her interrupted repose on the departure of the hunting party, is standing, exactly as she has left her bed, with a bottle of cordial and a glass, pouring out a nip of comfort to keep out the cold, for the benefit of her sporting spouse. The chamber is alive with motion, and it is evidently the accustomed method of departure; pairs of dogs are rushing about, huntsmen and grooms are carrying saddles on their heads and making preparations for the start. The remains of last night's relaxations, in the shape of pipes and mugs of ale, are still uncleared; and the articles scattered around, guns, saddles, whips, hunting-horns, and fox-skins, attest the pronounced sporting tastes of the country squire. A pretty child is tranquilly sleeping, in its cradle, undisturbed by the bustle of the hunter's early start.

1790. _John Nichols._

With anger foaming and of vengeance full,
Why belloweth John Nichols like a bull?

--John Nichols is seated at a rustic table; the _Gentleman's Magazine_ is at his feet; his literary productions--_rebus_, _conundrum_, _riddle_, _charade_, &c.--are scattered about. In the background is shown an allegory of the Temple of Fame, at the summit of Mount Parnassus, towards which the author is vainly stumping on stilts, propped up on books, with his _Essay on Old Maids_ under his arm, as the certificate which is to serve as his passport to immortality; his exertions are parodied by a monkey at his side, who has ascended to the top of a ladder and can get no higher.

1790. _A Series of Miniature Groups and Scenes._ Published by M. L., Brighthelmstone; and H. Brookes, Coventry Street, London.

1790. _A Christening._

1790. _The Duenna and Little Isaac._ Engraved by W. P. Carey.

FOOTNOTE:

[37] Wooden Gun. See _Public Characters_, 1806, p. 99.

1791

_January 13, 1791._ _The Prospect before us. No. 1. Humanely inscribed to all those Professors of Music and Dancing whom the cap may fit._ Published by S. W. Fores, Piccadilly.--The possible future condition of the foreign artists located within our shores, the performers at the Italian Opera, seems to have provoked three large cartoons from Rowlandson's graver at the beginning of 1791. The straits to which these fashionable exotics, it was suggested, might be reduced by the decaying state of the theatre in which they had been playing are more particularly dwelt on in this and a later caricature. It appears it was found necessary to close their house for restorations, which, if the state of things hinted in _Chaos is Come Again_ (February 4, 1791), may be considered in any way prophetic, was resolved on none too soon. _The Prospect before us_ evidently offers the choice of two conditions. The first seems to have been an appeal to the charitable, pending the construction of a new Opera House; the second, which was accepted, being the conversion of the Pantheon into a theatre; a substitute which in the end accidentally proved equally deplorable.

We first find the professors of music, singing, and dancing thrown on the vicarious exercise of their talents as a wandering troupe round the town. The model of the new house is borne as a plea to the benevolent, much on the principle of the disabled sailors who, tramping the streets, singing and begging, carried the model of their ship, to tempt the liberality of the almsgiving public.

A sweeper-lad is dropping a copper into the laced hat of one of the French dancers, whose figure is probably intended for that of Didelot, one of the highest paid and most popular performers in his walk on our stage. A butcher, with evident sympathies for imported art, is compassionately dropping a bullock's heart into the hat of an elderly artist, whose figure may possibly be intended for that of old Vestris.

The tattered and reduced regiment of foreign performers are evidently not prospering on their street perambulating campaign, since, judging from the surroundings, they are reduced to solicit the patronage of the denizens of the most squalid neighbourhoods. Their graces are displayed outside the premises of one _Michael Nincompoop_, who, according to his notice-board, is engaged in a somewhat miscellaneous line of trading, '_purveying, brickmaking, breeches, brandy-balls, and all other kinds of sweetmeats_.' The circumstances of the Italian Opera are more distinctly alluded to in a poster stuck on the wall, announcing: '_A new Fantoccini this evening, called "Humbugallo in the Dumps." A dance called "The Battle of the Brickbats;" to conclude with a grand crush by all the performers._'

_January 13, 1791._ _The Prospect before us. No. 2. Respectfully dedicated to those Singers, Dancers, and Musical Professors who are fortunately engaged with the Proprietor of the King's Theatre, at the Pantheon._ Published by S. W. Fores.--Dismissing the less fortunate artists whose services were not retained for the new enterprise, we return to the subject of the opening of the Pantheon. In anticipation of the success of this new Opera House, Rowlandson issued a large cartoon representing a _coup d'oeil_ of the interior of the theatre, as seen from the stage during the performance of a ballet. The Royal box, in the centre, is tenanted by the King and Queen, and the boxes around are occupied by the nobility and leaders of fashion. On the stage are Didelot and Madame Theodore, dancing in the ballet of _Amphion and Thalia_. O'Reilly, in the orchestra, is presiding over the band. The dancers, at this period, were the highest paid performers in the company; with the leading artistes of the ballet were engaged the vocalists Mara, Pacchierotti, Lazzarini, &c., for the performance of operas.

The _Gentleman's Magazine_ thus notices the privileged rehearsal which preceded the regular season:--

'Thursday, February 10, 1791.--This evening the Opera at the Pantheon was opened to the subscribers, and a very elegant audience attended at the rehearsal of the performance of _Armida_. Though none of the Royal Family were present, a crowd of fashionable visitors exhibited patronage adequate to the support of any undertaking.'

_European Magazine_:--'February 17, 1791.--The new Opera House in the Pantheon was opened with _Armida_, in which Pacchierotti, Mara, Lazzarini, &c., distinguished themselves. Afterwards the ballet of _Amphion and Thalia_ was performed, with applause, by Didelot, Theodore, &c.'

Another paragraph from the _Gentleman's Magazine_ briefly relates the end of this prosperous undertaking a year later:--

'Saturday, January 14, 1792.--This morning, between one and two o'clock, the painter's room in one of the new buildings which had been added to the Pantheon, to enlarge it sufficiently for the performance of operas, was discovered to be on fire. Before any engines were brought to the spot the fire had got to such a height that all attempts to save the building were in vain. The fire kept burning with great fury for about ten hours, by which time, the roof and part of the walls having fallen in, it was so much subdued that all fears for the safety of the surrounding houses were quieted.

'The performers, next to the insurance offices, will be the greatest sufferers, for they have put themselves, as usual, to great expense in preparing for the season; many of them were obliged to do this upon credit; but their salaries ending with the existence of the house, and before any of them had their benefit nights, they have now no means of extricating themselves from their difficulties.'

We learn from the _Memoirs of Henry Angelo_ that the author's father was Master of the Ceremonies when the building was first opened for balls, &c. We quote a paragraph which well describes the final calamity:--

'The Pantheon was certainly the most elegant and beautiful structure that had been erected in the British metropolis. Shortly after the conflagration of the Opera House in the Haymarket, in the year 1789, the proprietors of the Pantheon, which had been deserted of late for Madame Corneilly's, in Soho, were all put into high spirits, as proposals were made to construct a theatre in the grand saloon there, and to transfer the performance of the Italian ballet and opera to its stage. No theatre ever, perhaps, opened with greater _éclat_. The pit, boxes, and gallery were spacious, and magnificently fitted for the reception of an audience. The stage was of vast extent, and no expense was spared to render the scenic and the wardrobe department splendid and grand in proportion to the spectacles announced. Their Majesties frequently visited this new theatre, and everything was proceeding with advantage to all concerned, when within a few months, one unfortunate night, this noble monument of the genius of Wyatt was consumed by the same destructive element, and that great architect beheld on the morrow, with indescribable grief, the entire ruin of that fond monument of his youthful genius. The rising architects, too, were deprived of the most beautiful model that modern art had yet produced for their study.'

_February 4, 1791._ _Chaos is Come Again. Qui capit inven., ille habet fec._ Published by S. W. Fores, Piccadilly.

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften bricks and bend the knotted oak.

The end of the Italian Opera performances, when the surveyors of Drury Lane Theatre had come to the conclusion that the old building required to be pulled down, is pictorially set forth by the artist in one scene of general collapse and ruin. This print, for some undiscovered reason, is sometimes met without the lettering; it was probably issued at the beginning of 1791 in that condition, and then published later with a date, which rather interferes with its purpose or intention, if it had not appeared earlier, since the prospects of the Opera company were reassured by the conversion of Wyatt's famous Pantheon into a theatre for their future use.

We learn from a later paragraph (_Gentleman's Magazine_, September 1791) that the house in the Haymarket was completed and opened for performances in the autumn of the year--a rival speculation to the successful season which inaugurated the adaptation of the magnificent and unfortunate monument in Oxford Street as a theatre.

'Thursday, September 22, 1791.--The Drury Lane company performed in the Opera House in the Haymarket. There was much clamour and some disturbance at first, owing to some inconveniences attending the alterations in the house, and chiefly the entrances, which, being soon got over, a scene was introduced of Parnassus, which was painted and contrived in a very grand style; and Messrs. Dignum and Sedgwick sung the air. The _Haunted Tower_ then began; and the audience, restored to good humour, honoured the performance with the loudest plaudits.'

_January 31, 1791._ Sheets of picturesque etchings:--_A Four-in-Hand._ _The Village Dance._ _The Woodman Returning._ _River Scene._ _A Water Mill._ _Shipping, &c._

_January 31, 1791._ _Huntsmen Visiting the Kennels._ _The Haymaker's Return._ _Deer in a Park._ _Cattle._ _Shepherds._ _Horses in a Paddock._ _Cattle Watering at a Pond._ _A Piggery._ Published by S. W. Fores, Piccadilly.

1791. _Traffic_ (old Jew clothesmen). Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.

_January 30, 1791._ _Toxophilites._ (See 1794.) Published by E. Harding.

_March 1, 1791._ _The Attack._ Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.--A gentleman, who is driving four horses harnessed to a sort of curricle, with an elegant and fashionably-dressed female by his side, is thrown into consternation by the sudden apparition of a mounted knight of the road, who, seated on a high-mettled steed, is presenting a pistol full at the driver. The traveller's servant, dressed in his livery, and mounted on a cob, is brought up suddenly by the stopping of his master's vehicle; his face indicates the greatest astonishment at the demeanour of the highwayman and alarm at the unforeseen danger to which his patron is exposed; it does not, however, occur to him to render any assistance.

_March 22, 1791._ _Bardolph Badger'd, or the Portland Hunt._--Sheridan, with _G. P._ on his collar, is, in this instance, represented as the hunted cur; he has certain plans tied to his tail, and he is tearing off from the Duke of Portland's mansion (the great rallying-place among the leaders of the Whig party); 'Sherry' is escaping towards Carlton House, to take refuge with his new master; Fox is clapping his hands to accelerate _Bardolph's_ speed; the Duke of Portland is throwing bundles of papers after the badgered fugitive; Burke is threatening him with his _shelairy_; Lord Holland is aiming a stick at him, and a crowd of other political celebrities belonging to the party are assisting to drive out the frightened cur from their midst. In spite of his brilliant abilities Sheridan did not reflect much credit on the party with which he had been allowed to ally himself. The Prince of Wales, the good faith of whose allegiance was no less equivocal, finally turned his back on his friends, while retaining the services of the _Bardolph_ of the picture. 'Sherry's' party had good cause to regard him with distrust.

_April 12, 1791._ _European Powers. An Imperial Stride._ Published by William Holland, 50 Oxford Street.--Some doubt exists as to the authorship of this and the following political satires; there are several similar plates by Kingsbury, who was working for W. Holland at this date, but, from certain points in their execution, we are inclined to include one or two of these prints with the series by Rowlandson. The Empress Catherine, in her 'Imperial Stride,' has one foot resting on Russia, and the other touching the crescent above the dome of St. Sophia, in Constantinople. The various sovereigns of Europe are regarding this acrobatic performance with wonderment. Stanislaus the Second is reflecting on the 'length to which power may be carried;' Pope Pius the Sixth is declaring that 'he shall never forget it;' Charles the Fourth of Spain is threatening that he will 'despoil the spoiler!' Louis the Sixteenth 'never saw anything like it!' George the Third is saying, 'What, what, what a prodigious expansion!' the Emperor Leopold the Second, is remarking that it is a 'wonderful elevation!' and the Sultan, Selim the Third, is expressing his belief that 'all Turkey would not satisfy the ambition of the Empress.'

_April 25, 1791._ _The Grand Battle between the famous English Cock and Russian Hen._--As we remarked, in treating of the previous print, some doubt may exist as to the authorship of these plates; we have included a reduction of this engraving among our illustrations, so that our readers may be enabled to form their own impressions.

These cartoons are not without interest, as they offer a fair view of the relative positions of European sovereigns at the period of their publication.

King George the Third and the Empress Catherine of Russia are matched against one another in the great European cockpit for a decisive struggle--such a conflict as has been imminent under nearly similar conditions at various emergencies since 1791. The Great Powers are assembled to witness the encounter, and are backing their respective champions. The Empress, who is game to the last, is declaring, 'I have vanquished many a finer bird than you!' King George is retorting, 'Boo, boo; bluster, bluster! won't leave you a feather!' Queen Charlotte has a pile of money before her, which she is guarding from straggling fingers; she is holding a laurel wreath--held out on the end of the regal sceptre--over the head of her champion bird, and offering to wager 'a million to ten thousand' on his chances of victory. The Lord Chancellor Thurlow, who, although he was reckoned 'the wisest of men,' perpetually compromised his prospects by his anxiety to make his own future secure, at the sacrifice of consistency, is inclined to put his 'ratting' principles into practice: 'She looks as if she wasn't afraid of any cock in Europe. I won't bet a penny!' Pitt, seated beside his sovereign, is crying, 'I should like to have a bout with her, but I'm afraid she'd soon do my business!' The King of Prussia has every confidence in his champion: 'Two hundred thousand rix-dollars the cock wins!' The Prince of Wales is entering into the sport: 'I wish they'd let my bird encounter her; he'd soon lower her crest; ten thousand she turns tail!' The Grand Seigneur is striking his Grand Vizier, and declaring to a female favourite who is leaning over his shoulder, 'If the cock wins, by our holy Prophet, I swear he shall be cherished in our seraglio as long as he lives!' The King of Spain is remarking, 'It is easy to see by her spunk Potemkin has been her feeder!' The Emperor of Austria's pocket-book seems empty. Catherine's favourite, Potemkin, full of valorous confidence, is encouraging his Empress: 'A million roubles she'll win! At him again, my dear mistress! Potemkin, your invincible feeder, will back you to the last.' Louis the Sixteenth of France, whose crown has dwindled down to a mere trinket, is falling into raptures of admiration over the Russian hen: 'I would give all that I have left of a crown for such a glorious bird!'

_May 16, 1791._ _The Volcano of Opposition._ Rowlandson (?).

_May 17, 1791._ _The Ghost of Mirabeau and Dr. Price Appearing to Old Loyola._ Rowlandson (?).

_May 18, 1791._ _A Little Tighter._ Published by S. W. Fores, 3 Piccadilly.--The picture tells its own story. A ladies' tailor has brought home a pair of stays for a corpulent dowager. The process of investing her ladyship in her new corsage seems to demand an enormous exertion of muscular vigour.

_May 18, 1791._ _A Little Bigger._ (Companion print.)--The principal figure in this plate is that of a corpulent individual, who is being measured by a meagre whipper-snapper anatomy of a tailor; the girth of his portly client is giving the knight of the needle no slight difficulty to surround his person with his measuring-tape, and the customer is impressing on his tailor the necessity of leaving ample room for his obese proportions.

1791. _Cold Broth and Calamity._ (See 1792.)

_August 1, 1791._ _Housebreakers._ (See 1788.) Published by S. W. Fores.

_August 1, 1791._ _Damp Sheets._ Drawn and etched by T. Rowlandson; aquatinta by T. Malton.--A gentleman, who is evidently on his travels, is thrown into a state of the most furious indignation on arriving at the discovery, as he is retiring to rest, that he and his wife have been put into a bed with damp sheets; the lady is wringing the moisture from the offending linen, and the husband is dancing about, gesticulating in frantic fashion and shaking his fist in the face of a pretty servant-maid, who, replying to the summons of the injured guests, is bustling up with the warming-pan in her hand, believing her services are required in that direction.

_August 12, 1791._ _English Barracks._ Aquatinted by T. Malton. Published by S. W. Fores.--A view of the interior of a cavalry barracks, reproducing a scene more properly indicative of domestic than of military life, although weapons and accoutrements are scattered about. Drums and guns are piled in one corner; at the window is a trooper _en négligé_ employed in brushing his uniform. A woman is nursing a strapping boy, while a soldier at her side, in complete uniform, is adjusting his helmet at the looking-glass. Another trooper has a child in his arms, and is putting a lad, who is playing at soldiers, through his musketry exercise; while a pretty maiden is presiding at the washing-tub. An old grandmother, who is giving a playful infant a ride on her back, is pouring out a glass of cordial for another warrior, whose toilette is far from complete. Guns, sabres, military saddles, pistol-holsters, and other warlike objects are hung on the wall, giving the apartment, which is otherwise blank enough, a certain air of picturesque decoration.

_August 12, 1791._ _French Barracks._ (Companion to the above.)--The interior of a French barracks offers a perfect contrast to the simplicity and decorous order which mark the occupants of an _English Barracks_. The barrack-room is extensive, and handsomely decorated with trophies of weapons, which, with a suit of mail, are disposed on the walls with a good eye to effect. The officers are rising and dressing for morning parade. An officer, the principal features of whose countenance are absorbed in a pair of huge moustachios, is seated on the regimental drum, while a pretty girl is employed unromantically in trimming the warrior's toenails. A soldier-barber is at the same time dressing the hero's locks and binding up his monstrous pigtail, which reaches over a yard in length--a standard of valour of protracted dimensions. A lad is bringing this well-attended son of Mars his monstrous jack-boots, of a size and weight to displace the great guns of his battery with considerable effect. All these dandy warriors seem to be utterly dependent on the assistance of their factotums; it is difficult to imagine these 'curled darlings' in connection with gunpowder and a field of battle. A second officer is enveloped in his powdering-gown, while his barber-valet is smothering him with volumes of violet-clouds from his puffing apparatus. Another hero appears reluctant to abandon his morning slumbers; he is seated, in his shirt, gaping frightfully, on the side of his bed. One distinguished being has almost completed his elaborate toilette; the due adjustment of his lace fall and cravat is engaging his exclusive attention; he is standing in front of a large mirror to perform this delicate manipulation with proper effect, and a very beautiful girl--whose own toilette is neglected, and whose voluptuous charms are freely exposed--is holding a second glass at the warrior's back, that he may be enabled to contemplate the reflection of his own admired rear in the larger mirror; meanwhile one of his petty officers is standing on the salute, ready to receive the orders of his chief. A pretty woman, a young mother, is suckling an infant; and another child, whose wardrobe is limited to a single garment, is, while eating breakfast, training a poodle to stand at ease with a sword in his paw--a ridiculous parody of the warlike accompaniments around.