Chapter X: Part 10

It is obvious that, in an instance like the present, the task becomes one of extreme delicacy; it is impossible to translate the caprices of the artist by any method short of the etching-needle; the mixed description of the spectacle and the spirit of the _contretemps_ defy a mere verbal rendering; and the caricature is too excellent in other respects to be passed over in the present collection, which professes to give a general view of the artist's cleverest and most familiarly known examples. While avoiding instances the morality of which is absolutely questionable, it is evident that it would be impossible to treat of the actual history, let alone the novels and caricatures of our forefathers, or to venture on the merest enquiry into their familiar life, abroad or at home, unless we put prudery a little on one side.

1811. _The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay Old Debts._ Published by T. Tegg (117).--An episode in theatrical management is made the subject of the present caricature. As is well known, pecuniary complications were occasionally attendant evils of carrying on theatrical enterprises, especially some half a century ago. Sheridan's monetary difficulties were notorious, and although the holders of writs had recourse to expedients without end to serve the slippery manager of Drury Lane, it is just to add that 'Sherry's' ingenuity was frequently equal to the emergency. During a rehearsal at Drury Lane a Sheriff's officer by some subterfuge gained admittance to the stage, and presented the manager with his objectionable scrip of parchment. Sheridan was by no means disconcerted, but made the process-server at home, asking his advice on various points; and finally, as the story goes, having thrown the man off his guard, he induced him to mount to the front of the house to give his opinion on the sounding properties of the building. 'Can you hear me?' asked Sheridan. 'Perfectly,' replied the man. 'Then,' said Sheridan, 'you had better lose no time in coming down again, and catch me if you can, for I'm off!' And before the disconcerted bailiff could find his way back to the stage his charge had succeeded in making good his retreat.

In _The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay Old Debts_, the same principle is involved; in this case, however, just as the _red tail_ writ is being served on the manager, a stage trap-door is suddenly let down, and the objectionable visitor is whisked off the scene. The wily lessee is bowing his fallen enemy out of sight with mock respect: 'Good morning, Mr. Catchpole; you'll find more of your tribe when you get to the bottom!'

_No Date._ (1811?). _Preparing to Start._ Published by T. Tegg (118).--There are jockeys within the ropes; the course is being cleared. The view is taken from the paddock opposite the grand stand. There are booths and tents for the sale of _real Stingo_, and horses are picketed on a hillside in the distance.

_No Date._ (1811?). _Preparing for the Race._ Published by T. Tegg.

1811 (?). _Awkward Squads Studying the Graces._ Published by T. Tegg (87). Woodward del., Rowlandson sculp.--Six stages, displaying the difficulties encountered by a French dancing master in labouring to instruct unconquerably clumsy and elderly pupils, who obviously possess no sort of aptitude for movement or grace.

1811. _Hiring a Servant._ Published by T. Tegg (124).--An elderly couple in a genteel station of life are seated at the breakfast-table; to them enters a simple country maiden, with a pretty and innocent face, her arms modestly folded, as an applicant for a place. 'What situation in my family would you wish to undertake, young woman?' enquires the lady of the house. 'Ma'am,' replies the unsophisticated maiden, 'I should like to be under your man-cook by way of improvement.' This _naïf_ remark is misconstrued, to the manifest delight of the fat _chef_, who is rolling about and rubbing his round sides with amusement.

1811 (?). _Anglers of 1611._ Designed by H. Bunbury, and etched by T. Rowlandson.--A pretty group, founded on the piscatorial pastoral of Izaak Walton. Venator is seated with his arm round the waist of the pretty milkmaid. Maudlin, her mother, a quaint old dame, is discoursing wisdom. Piscator is, with folded arms, leaning on his fishing-rod; at his feet are two fine trout. Peter is whipping a stream in the rear. The scenery is pretty, and the figures are neatly and expressively filled in. The design, which is by Bunbury, it is easy to recognise has gained considerable force from the spirited execution his contemporary has brought to bear on the etching. Companion to _Anglers of 1811_.

1811. _Anglers of 1811._ Designed by H. Bunbury, etched by T. Rowlandson.

1811. _Patience in a Punt._ Designed by H. Bunbury, etched by T. Rowlandson.

1811 (?). _A Templar at his Studies._ Published by T. Tegg.--The chambers of a fast member of the Bar; breakfast is on the table, and the apartment is in a litter of bottles, hunting-boots, guns, whips, law-books, briefs, papers, and general disorder. The student has evidently been to a masquerade overnight; portions of the dress of a Grand Turk are scattered about; moreover a lady is in his chambers, who is performing her toilette at a gilt mirror standing on his breakfast-table. The Templar, semi-clad, is sleepily trying to look through a bundle of briefs and law papers.

1811. _A Family Piece. (The Portrait Painter.)_ Designed by H. Bunbury, engraved by T. Rowlandson.

1811. _A Barber's Shop._ H. Bunbury del., Rowlandson sculp.--Two customers, already polished off, are putting on their cravats at the glass, and a stout old gentleman is in a shaving-chair having his hair dressed. A brace of dogs are quarrelling over a wig, which they are worrying like a rat and pulling different ways. A client is being lathered and is under operation, while a gentleman, who has been shaved, is wiping off the remains of the soapsuds. This design, one of the latest due to the hand of the gifted Henry Bunbury,[25] was also engraved on a larger scale by James Gillray: it was the last plate upon which he was able to work, and it proceeded but slowly, being touched in rare lucid intervals as his increasing madness permitted.

The etching, as executed by Gillray, bears the date 1811 in one corner, and to this is added the date of its deferred publication, May 15, 1818. The title given on the folio engraving is _Interior of a Barber's Shop in Assize Time_. The great caricaturist carried this plate, _the last work on copper by the hand of Gillray_, as notified upon the print, so far as his intermittent returns of reason would allow him. As Gillray died June 1, 1815, when the plate was evidently unfinished, this is probably one of the caricaturist's coppers which, as we have already related, were handed to George Cruikshank, another departed worthy, to complete. The unexpected death of the veteran has prevented the writer verifying this circumstance, although it is probably one of the plates--probably the most important as to size--which Cruikshank held in recollection when he informed the writer he considered that the most flattering testimonial which had been paid him in his long life was being selected, while a young man, to complete the engravings Gillray had left unfinished under the painful circumstances of his mental aberration, as already detailed. (See _The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist, with the Story of his Life and Times_, page 19, Introduction; and, further, the reduced engraving, from this plate (1811), page 370, the _Works_).

1811 (?). _Modern Antiques._--The cabinet of an antiquarian, richly filled with supposititious relics of the past. On a shelf is a row of Etruscan vases; bacchic masks and terminal gods are ranged on the walls; the chief features of the collection are a gathering of Egyptian deities and some magnificent sarcophagi. The satire, in some degree, seems to hint at Sir William Hamilton (then deceased) and the fair Emma.

An old antiquary, decrepit and bent, is peering at the shapely proportions of an Egyptian figure bearing a close resemblance to life. The chief incident of the picture is centred in a mummy's coffin, tenanted for the time, like a sentry-box, by a gallant young officer, who is embraced, behind the lid of his temporary resting-place, by a lady, who, like all the beauties designed by the artist, is represented of fine proportions and somewhat free graces. The _inamorata_ has thrown down a work which she has evidently studied to some purpose, _Loves of the Gods--embellished with cuts_, and she is taking the opportunity to make a practical application of her readings.

1811. _Munchausen at Walcheren._ Plates by Rowlandson.

1811. _Chesterfield Burlesqued._ Published by T. Tegg. 12mo. (See _Chesterfield Travestie_, 1808.)

FOOTNOTES:

[23] It was here, in this same Westminster pit, that the celebrated dog _Billy_ distinguished himself, and carried off the laurels of vermin-killing, by despatching a hundred rats at a time.

[24] In his early career Chambers had visited China. He performed the voyage as supercargo of some Swedish ships trading there.

[25] Bunbury died at Keswick, May 7, 1811, aged 61.

1812.

_January 10, 1812._ _A Portrait: Duke of Cumberland._ Published by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.--The Duke, with his spyglass, dressed in a blue coat with red facings (Windsor uniform); in the background is shown Kew Gardens, with the Pagoda House. The drawing from which this print was etched is entitled _Blood Royal_.

_January 10, 1812._ _A Portrait: Lord Petersham._ Published by H. Humphrey, 27 St James's Street.--St. James's Palace at the back of the subject.

_January 10, 1812._ _Wet under Foot._ Designed by an amateur. Published by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.--This small sketch represents a pouring wet day; a lady on pattens, holding an umbrella over her head, is endeavouring to pass the gutter without injury to her stockings. The point of view is supposed to be taken from the junction of Petticoat Lane with Smock Alley. Scavengers are shovelling mud into their carts; and the general downpour is further aggravated by denizens of the upper floors, who are discharging vessels over the soaked and dripping passengers below.

_February 26, 1812._ _A Portrait: Lord Pomfret._ Published by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.

_February 28, 1812._ _Plucking a Spooney._--A promising young 'spooney,' according to the artist's view, is entering on life's dangers--represented pictorially in three subjects which are hanging over the head of the victim: 'the fair sex--drinking--and gaming,' being the evils set down to avoid. The novice is evidently well advanced on the downward route, and has fallen among experienced professors of the plucking process. A gaily-dressed lady by his side, a 'decoy duck,' of captivating exterior, is beguiling the senses of the self-satisfied dupe with various familiarities; while a smug stout person, dressed like a parson, is discreetly keeping up the spirit of the affair by filling the glasses and manufacturing fresh supplies of punch, which the 'spooney' is imbibing freely and without regard to the consequences. A pile of gold and notes has been laid on the table by this very innocent pigeon, and opposite to him sits the crafty and accomplished 'rook'--a captain, from his 'keeping'--who, by a skilful manipulation of the cards, assisted by the carelessness of the simple young _roué_, bids fair to succeed in leaving the pigeon 'without a feather to fly with;' the plunder to be apportioned amongst the hopeful triumvirate in whose company the youth has the misfortune to find himself.

_March 1, 1812._ _Catching an Elephant._ Published by T. Tegg (146).--Two attractive and winsome damsels, standing outside a portal labelled 'Warm Baths,' have just succeeded in capturing an elderly colossus of a man, whose bulk should fairly entitle him to take his place amongst elephantine monsters; the expression of his senile features is designed to carry out the resemblance.

_March, 1812._ _Description of a Boxing Match between Ward and Quirk for 100 Guineas a side._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.

_March 2, 1812._ _Spanish Cloak._ Rowlandson del. Published by T. Tegg (39).--A superior officer, going his midnight rounds of the sentries posted on a line of fortifications, is amused at discovering the phenomenon of two pairs of legs below one cloak. A trooper has taken advantage of his ample garment to smuggle in a fair companion to share his vigils. The lady seems to enjoy her situation.

_March 20, 1812._ _Fast Day._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.--Four learned Doctors, dressed in their clerical vestments, are keeping in their own fashion a day set apart by the Church for general mortification. The portly four are seated at a well-furnished board, and trains of servants are, with respectful attention, bringing in fresh supplies--poultry, dainty meats, and other delicacies. The well-stocked collegiate cellars have been laid under contribution; bottles of choice vintage are standing in wine-coolers and in promising rows on the floor, beside a liberal jorum of punch in a _Bowl for a Bishop_. The nature of the private meditations of these epicurean worthies is thus made manifest, while the order of the repast is further set forth in a lengthy _bill of fare_ irreverently written on a _New Form of Prayer for the Fast Day_, by way of _menu_. The walls are suggestively hung with _Lists of the Great Tithes_ and such congenial paintings as _A Bench of Bishops_, represented regaling at a roystering banquet, _Susannah and the Elders_, _Brasenose College_, &c.

_March 25, 1812._ _Sea Stores._--A bevy of females consisting of a negress and other beauties from the purlieus of the port, 'waiting for Jack,' are sportively accosted by a dapper young midshipman who has been sent on shore to procure supplies for his ship, which is lying off. (Companion print to _Land Stores_.)

_March, 1812._ _Land Stores._--A dark beauty, of colossal proportions, is embraced by an officer whose figure is dwarfed by comparison with the monster negress. A placard posted on the walls of the fortification, where these extraordinary _Land Stores_ are supposed to be lodged, announces 'Voluntary subscription for a soldier's widow; the smallest donations will be gratefully received,' &c.

_April 2, 1812._ _The Chamber of Genius._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street.

Want is the scorn of every wealthy fool,
And genius in rags is turned to ridicule.--_Vide 'Satirist.'_

The apartment of an enthusiastic genius, whose ambitions seem to have taken various forms of expression. Music, painting, sculpture, literature, chemistry, and other arts and sciences seem to have occupied his attention by turns, and instruments suggestive of the respective pursuits are muddled up with domestic details incidental to the confinement of a wife and family to one solitary chamber, together with the utensils of cookery, besides the food itself. The genius has left his rest under the impulse of an inspiration; he has an old nightcap worn over his wig, and is still in his night-shirt, with down-at-heel slipper on one foot, and a ragged stocking on the other. He is seated, in an attitude expressive of sudden exaltation before an easel which bears the canvas he is filling out with rapid energy; his left hand grasps a pen, and a black cat in demanding attention has fixed her claws in his unclad limbs; but the artist is so absorbed in his subject as to be unconscious of pain; miscellaneous litter, a bust, a palette, and a sheaf of brushes, paint-pots, a still and furnace, books, scales, syringes, a fiddle, and a post horn are scattered behind the easel. The female companion of this genius is tranquilly sleeping in an easy attitude through all the confusion; on the table by the bedstead (on which her husband's garments are displayed) is a coffee-pot and some suggestions of breakfast; an unclad infant is leaning over the table, and pouring gin into a wineglass. Another semiclad child is seated on a tub before a blazing fire, amusing herself with the bellows, and is in danger from a steaming kettle and a red-hot poker. Food, knives, forks, plates, and a pewter quart-pot are at the artist's feet; he has just kicked over a large porringer of milk, and is heedless of the mischief. Lamps, caudle-boats, strings of candles, and bunches of onions are the decorations of the chimneypiece; ragged clothes and unmended stockings are hanging over a rope stretched across the chamber; on the wall is hung a smart three-cornered hat and a sword by the side of pictures of 'Aerostation' and the portraits of a ballet-dancer and 'Peter Tester.'

Rowlandson has put his own name to the print as the 'inventor;' the satire is very unsparing, and the squalor he has attributed to his professional brother is of the direst and most ludicrous description, but the figure of the painter is marked with vigorous characteristics, and the outline of the face which he has bestowed on his erratic genius, designedly or not, bears a suggestive resemblance to his own strongly-defined features.

_April 4, 1812._ _In the Dog Days._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.

Now the weather's sultry grown,
Sweating late and early.
Better far to lay alone--
Oh! we swelter rarely!

The representation of an extravagantly corpulent couple, whose rest is apparently fitful; the lines attached to the plate, which is not remarkable for refinement, form its best description.

_April 12, 1812._ _The Ducking Stool._ Republished. (See April 12, 1803.)

_May 30, 1812._ _Italian Picture Dealers Humbugging my Lord Anglaise._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.--'Milord' is a very dandified young sprig of nobility, who is an evident _macaroni_, with the ambition to shine as a man of taste. A 'foreign nobleman'--that is to say, according to English views at the period--a 'speculative Count,' who is very splendid in exterior, is evidently a confederate of his countryman, the _Italian picture dealer_, and has accompanied the noble incipient collector as a decoy to puff the wares, and if need be to offer fictitious sums in opposition to 'Milord' and spur his enthusiasm for the fine arts, which are respectably represented around, as far as good names go. A sensuous Magdalen, attributed to Guido, is exciting the admiration of the party and employing the wily dealer's eloquence. Around are supposititious examples of Rubens, Carracci, Titian, Teniers, Salvator Rosa, and other 'undoubted originals,' the major part of which in all probability owe their well-disguised paternity to the versatile 'Van Daub.'

_May 30, 1812._ _A Brace of Blackguards._ Published by T. Rowlandson, St. James Street, Adelphi.--It has been mentioned in respect to this eccentric production that the figures of the two gentlemen to whom this dubious compliment is rendered are intended to represent those of Rowlandson, the caricaturist, in the boxing attitude, and his friend George Morland, the painter, seated in the chair.

_June 4, 1812._ _Broad Grins, or a Black Joke._ Published by T. Tegg.--A clerical-looking gentleman is thrown into consternation at the interesting condition of a rustic female, who is standing beneath a board announcing 'Man-traps laid in these grounds.' The head of a black footman peering through a hole in the garden-wall indicates the true source of the 'Black Joke.'

_July 14, 1812._ _Miseries of London. Watermen. Oars? Sculls?_ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.--Entering upon any of the bridges of London or any of the passages leading to the Thames, being assailed by a group of watermen, holding up their hands and bawling out 'Oars? Sculls, sculls? Oars, oars?'

1812 (?). _Racing._ Published by T. Tegg (158).

_July 14, 1812_ (?). _Glow Worms._ (See 1805.) Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 St. James Street, Adelphi.

_July 14, 1812_ (?). _Muck Worms._ (See 1800.)

_July 14, 1812_ (?). _The Rivals._

_July 15, 1812._ _A Seaman's Wife's Reckoning._ Published by T. Tegg (275), Woodward delin., Rowlandson sculp.--An old salt, with his dog at his elbow, is seated beside his blooming daughter-in-law, a pretty young mother, dandling a fine infant; the lady is using her eloquence and trying to flatter this obdurate relative into confidence in her story. The experienced mariner is declaring, 'Why, d'ye see, I am an old seaman, and not easily imposed upon. I say that can't be my son Jack's child. Why, he has not been married but three months, and during that time he has been at sea--the thing is impossible! You may as well tell me that my ship Nancy goes nine knots an hour in a dead calm. And now I look again it's the very picture of Peter Wilkins, the soap-boiler.'

The fair object of suspicion is by no means confounded at this logical deduction. 'My dear father-in-law, I'll make it out very easily--Jack has been married to me three months,--very well,--I have been with child three months,--which makes _six_,--then he has been at sea three months, has not he?--and that just makes up the _nine_!'

The fortunate husband, who sports a new rig-out--with a bright bandanna round his neck, and his pipe stuck in the band of his hat--is lurching into the apartment with a sea-roll. He is quite satisfied with his wife's arithmetic, and is arguing on the side of his tender partner: 'Father, father, don't be too hard upon Poll; I know something about the logbook myself, and dash me but she has kept her reckoning like a true seaman's wife!'

_July 15, 1812._ _The Secret History of Crim Con._ Plate 1. Published by T. Tegg (161).

_July 15, 1812._ _The Secret History of Crim Con._ Plate 2. Published by T. Tegg (161).

_August 29, 1812._ _Setting out for Margate._ Woodward del., Rowlandson sculp. Published by T. Tegg (166).--A stout citizen, smartly clad, with his wife, whose apparel is still more festive, are setting out upon a holiday excursion. The heads of two geese are hanging over the coat-tails of the cockney traveller: 'Why, my dove, I am loaded with provisions, like a tilt-cart on a fair-day, and my pockets stick out just as if I was just returned from a City feast.' The correct partner of his joys is responding, 'Don't be so _wulgar_, Mr. Dripping; you are now going among genteel folks, and must behave yourself. We shall want all the _wickalls_ on the _woyage_, depend upon it. Bless me, how _varm_ it is! I am all over in a muck!' To them enters their foreman: 'An' please you, master and missis, the sailor-man has sent word as how the _wessel_ is ready to swim!'

_August 30, 1812._ _The Sweet Pea._ Published by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James's Street.

_October 1, 1812._ _Refinement of Language._ Woodward del., Rowlandson sculp. Published by T. Tegg (171).--Six subjects, illustrating the results of the advance of genteel ideas and the introduction of a new-fashioned system of refining on everything. A ragged match-seller is elevated into a 'timber merchant.' A postman becomes a 'man of letters.' A gardener is raised to a 'Master of the Mint.' A Jew hawker, who cries, 'Any old clothes to shell?' is changed to a 'merchant tailor.' A sexton, pressing down the mould on a grave, is translated into 'a banker;' and a poulterer easily becomes a 'Turkey merchant.'

1812. _Bitter Fare, or Sweeps Regaling._--As in the preceding caricature the date of this plate has been altered; it was probably published in 1802, and re-issued later, a common occurrence with Rowlandson's prints. _Bitter Fare, or Sweeps Regaling_, was, it seems likely, designed as a companion to _Love and Dust_ (1792, &c.), and it partakes of the same ragged inspiration. In the hovel tenanted by the somewhat undesirable 'Chummey family' smoke is the prevalent element; the sooty company, sufficiently black and begrimed in their own persons, seem perfectly in their element before a smoking fireplace--as they are reposing luxuriously on sacks of soot. The heads of the family are amiably sharing their enjoyments, drinking beer from a pewter measure, and smoking long clay pipes; the sweeper lads, but for a coat of soot comparatively unclad, are revelling amidst the cinders on the hearth, divided between the congenial relaxations of eating porridge and tormenting an unfortunate cat. Brushes, shovels, and the professional belongings of chimney-sweeping are scattered about; the only article of fancy admitted into the establishment is a blackbird, which is possibly present on the ground that its hue offers a resemblance to the general complexion.

_October 12, 1812._ _Raising the Wind._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.

When noblemen have lost racehorse, and all their rhino spent,
Then little Isaac draws the bond and lends for cent. per cent.

Rowlandson's print introduces the nobleman at the precise moment his affairs need 'patching up,' for 'mended' he never can be after he has put himself into the spider-like clutches of plausible Isaac and his 'friend in the City.' The 'little Jew broker' has brought a rich usurer of his tribe, and between them his lordship's career of folly will be swiftly run. All the ready-money is gone, and the racing stud has followed it; but the 'road to ruin' is only just opening up. The spendthrift is a comparative beginner; the next step is raising money on his _title deeds_, which are undergoing inspection under the vulture-like eye of the scrivener, who, it appears, lends money on good security and traffics in annuities and jointures.

The borrower is evidently accustomed to take life easily, he is putting himself into the claws of the Israelites, and is otherwise 'going to the bad' with perfect good humour and in a sociable frame of mind, not unlike the way of proceeding practised by the heroes of Sheridan's comedies; indeed, there is a great deal of the _Charles Surface_ element in the composition.

The pictures which fill young Hopeful's walls tell his story after the Hogarthian method. There are portraits of the relatives who have left their savings and estates to the present careless holder: Sir Matthew Mite, a miser; Lady Crane; and Sir Peter Plumb--all persons of a 'warm' disposition as to wealth. There is a 'view of the Yorkshire estate;' then there is 'The Prodigal Son,' which may be held to apply to the heir, whose ways of making the money fly are further illustrated by such pictures as a 'Hazard Table,' 'A game fighting-cock,' a racehorse, 'Sancho,' on the course; and a blood mare, 'Diana,' and foal; the breeding and running of racehorses being considered then, as now, among the most expeditious routes to insolvency.

_November 30, 1812._ _Christmas Gambols._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi.--The festivities represented, which partake of the free and frolicsome description, are taking place in the servants' hall. Full drinking has been the order of the evening; the master's cellar and the servants' heads have both been lightened simultaneously, and the results are displaying themselves under the mistletoe and in horseplay. A footman and a parlour-maid are rolling over one another indiscriminately on the hearthrug amidst the fragments of crockery demolished in their downfall. A sturdy black footman is lifting a fat wench in his arms for a chaste salute. Practical joking is the order of the evening; the fat cook has been toppled back in her armchair, and is vainly flourishing her basting-ladle to drive off her assailant, while her feet are in the air; and the butler, as author of the mischief, is making the best use of his opportunities, while another couple are exchanging kisses with evident goodwill.

1812. _The Successful Fortune-hunter (Bath Crescent), or Captain Shelalee leading Miss Marrowfat to the Temple of Hymen._--In the distance are indicated the regular frequenters of Bath, sufferers from gout on crutches, and invalids in wheeled-chairs. A dashing Irish adventurer, one of the bold fortune-hunters--notorieties from the Sister Isle in Rowlandson's day--is leading captive the wealth and person of a somewhat vulgar and stumpy heiress, whose figure is loaded with jewellery fashioned on a scale of oppressive magnitude.

1812. _Hackney Assembly. 'The Graces, the Graces, remember the Graces!'_ From erasures in the date of this plate it seems probable that it was originally issued ten years earlier. As the title indicates, this sketch is a broad burlesque of the deportment displayed by the frequenters of a suburban ball-room. The awkward and ungainly carriage of all the figures is amusingly exaggerated. A master of the ceremonies, the expression of whose features is complicated by a decided squint, is briskly performing the rites of his office and introducing a cobby little gentleman as a partner to an angular and misshapen spinster, who, in consulting _the graces_, has thrown her Gothic frame into an absurdly constrained and affected posture.

1812. _The Learned Scotchman, or Magistrate's Mistake._ Woodward del., Rowlandson sculp. Published by T. Tegg (150).--A Scotchman is led before a country justice, charged with drunkenness; the magistrate's wife is seated by the side of her lord, and is much shocked at the learned Caledonian's defence; bowing low, bonnet in hand, the Scot is throwing himself on the clemency of the court: 'I own, your honour, I was a little inebriated, but your worship knows _Nemo mortalium omnibus hooris saupit_.' 'What's that you say, fellow,' retorts the magistrate, 'about a sawpit?--a very improper place to go with such company. I wonder you are not ashamed to mention such a thing, and before my wife too. But, however, as it is your first offence, I will discharge you this time; but never come here with such a story again!'

1812 (?). _Preaching to some Purpose._--An open-air meeting of rustic worshippers. Great astonishment is pictured on the upturned faces of the expectant congregation. The preacher is raised on an extemporised pulpit; he is clad in black, but in the rear of his nether garment appears a formidable rent, which his hand is not sufficiently broad to conceal. He is earnestly addressing his perplexed hearers to the following purpose: 'Dearly beloved, before I begin my discourse, I have three things to inform you of. The first thing I know, and you do not know. The next thing you know, and I do not know,--and the third thing none of us know, viz., in my way here to preach, crossing Farmer Hobson's stile, I tore my breeches,--the extent of the rent I know, and you do not know. Secondly, what you are willing to subscribe to get them repaired you know, and I do not know. And lastly, what Tim Snip, the tailor, will charge for the job, _that none of us know_!'

1812 (?). _New Invented Elastic Breeches._ H. Nixon invt., T. Rowlandson sculp.--Two tailors are using considerable manual force trying to pull a customer into a pair of close-spring breeches. The scene is taking place on the premises of the inventor and manufacturer of the patent articles in question.

_No date._ 1812 (?). _A Visit to the Doctor._ Woodward del., Rowlandson fecit. Published by T. Tegg.--The consulting-room of a learned physician; an imposing bookcase fills the background. The doctor's man has just shown up a comfortable-looking couple, who have called for the benefit of the physician's advice--the practitioner is one of the old school--full-bottomed wig, powder, and pigtail, a learnedly long-skirted square-cut suit, lace frill and ruffles, huge spectacles, and a professional gold-headed cane held up to the nose; he is standing on the hearthrug, warming his learned back at the fireplace; above the mantelpiece is a bust of Galen. The patients, who are evidently robust country folks, thus set forth their case:--'Do you see, Doctor, my dame and I be come to ax your advice--we both of us eat well, and drink well, and sleep well,--yet still we be somehow queerish!' The Doctor is equal to the emergency and prepared to alter all this promptly. 'You eat well, you drink well, and you sleep well,--very good. You were perfectly right in coming to me, for depend upon it I will give you something that shall do away with all these things!'

1812 (?). _Puff Paste._--A fat cook is rolling out pudding paste; around her board are spread _codling tarts, apple dumplings, and batter puddings_; a footman is embracing her ample shoulders, and familiarly patting her under the chin.

1812. _Mock Turtle_ pictures a pair of elderly suitors cooing over a bowl of mock turtle soup; a pair of real turtledoves, perched on a branch, are introduced to carry out the allusion.

1812. _Off She Goes._ Rowlandson fecit. Published by T. Tegg.--An elopement unexpectedly accelerated. A rope-ladder has enabled a stout abductor to assist the flight of a somewhat mature and remarkably corpulent lady from the window of her chamber. A rung of the rope-ladder has given way with the weight; at the moment a male relation, nightcap on head, is discovering the flight and throwing a light on the subject with a chamber candle which he is holding out of the bedroom window. The partner of the elopement is an officer; he is precipitated on to his back, and forms a convenient cushion to receive the lady's fall, which is complete and overwhelming. A postchaise, prepared for the flight, is seen in the distance; the postilion is enjoying the spectacle of his employer's downfall; and the moon, peeping over a cloud, is represented with a broad grin on its face at the expense of these disconcerted 'fly-by-nights.'

1812. _English Exhibitions in Paris, or French People astonished at our improvements in the Breed of Fat Cattle._

1812. _A Cat in Pattens._ Rowlandson invt.--Though thoroughly in Rowlandson's characteristic manner the scene is somewhat suggestive of Hogarth's plate of 'Morning,' 'Times of the Day,' in which the portrait of Miss Bridget Allworthy is exhibited, the introduction of whose burlesqued resemblance is said to have cost the painter the loss of a legacy. An old maid whose countenance certainly bears a close resemblance to that of a cat, is shuffling along in the breeze on pattens; she has a boa and an enormous muff; before her trots a French poodle, clipped fantastically to resemble a parody of a lion; behind her shivers a black page, in a tight gaudy uniform; under his arm is his mistress's umbrella, and he holds before him a bundle of cat's meat. A half-naked and ruffianly beggar is trying to excite the benevolence of this shrewish _Cat in Pattens_.

* * * * *

PETTICOAT LOOSE.

_A FRAGMENTARY TALE OF THE CASTLE._

WITH FOUR PLATES ETCHED BY ROWLANDSON.

London: J. J. Stockdale, 41 Pall Mall, Feb. 12, 1812. 4to.

The argument upon which the story is founded is set forth in the following 'advertisement':--

_'Dublin Castle. The Adventure of the Under Petticoat at the Castle Drawing Room. "Honi soit qui mal y pense."_ All the world has been amused with the singular disaster that befel a lady on Thursday night last at the _Viceregal Palace_, by the loss of her under petticoat, which, from the pressure of the crowd, unfortunately slipped down through the capacious encumbrance of her hoop, and was soon trampled on the floor--though likely to become as renowned as Penelope's web: for the lady to whom it belonged lost by night the comfort and protection that was her security by day. One of the young pages (who are always peeping and bustling on such occasions) first made the discovery. The trophy was soon displayed in order to find out the fair owner; which, however, still remains a secret, except to the person immediately concerned. But, like the shield of Achilles, the little petticoat soon became the subject of admiration and contention.

'At the first impression the master of the ceremonies claimed the prize, as his official perquisite, alleging it was dropped in the _Presence Chamber_. But the Chamberlain insisted the drawing-room was his _champ d'or_, and every windfall on such occasions his exclusive property. That as a true knight he must take up the gauntlet thus thrown down by a lady.

'The household troops, particularly the young _aides-de-camp_, struggled through the crowd to see the cause of such bustle; and having satisfied their curiosity, whispered one another, and, in their usual way, set up a great titter. The chaplain in waiting had his eye upon the petticoat, and said he thought in decorum it ought to be deposited among the _new antiquities_ in Bedford Chapel.

'The Duke, with his usual good humour, liberality, and regard for the fair creation, decided the contest by saying that it should be suspended as a banner round the temple of love and beauty; and that as Edward the Third constituted the Order of the Garter from a similar accident at the British Court, he would solicit the Prince Regent, in the true spirit of chivalry, to establish and become _Sovereign of the Order of the Petticoat_ in Ireland, in commemoration of the pleasant adventure,' &c.

Plate 1. _Capture of the Petticoat._ February 12, 1812.

Plate 2. _Breakfast Room at an Inn._ February 12, 1812.

Plate 3. _College Green before the Union._ February 12, 1812.--A scene of state, bustle, and prosperity.

Plate 4. _College Green after the Union._ February 12, 1812.--Shabbiness, poverty, and beggary have sole possession of the scene.

* * * * *

VIEWS IN CORNWALL.

_April 10, 1812._ _View of a Farm House at Hengar, Cornwall._ Published by T. Rowlandson.

_April 12, 1812._ _Cottage at the Foot of Router Mountain, Cornwall._ Published by T. Rowlandson.

1812. _Cornwall. An Overlooker._

1812. _A Cornish Waterfall._

1812. _A Watercourse._

_April 12, 1812._ _View of the River Camel, Cornwall._ Published by T. Rowlandson.

1812. _Near Helston, Cornwall._

_April 12, 1812._ _Cottage near the Devil's Jump, in the Duchy of Cornwall._ Published by T. Rowlandson.

1812. _View of the Church and Village of St. Cue, Cornwall._ Published by Ackermann.

_April 12, 1812._ _View of Liskeard, Cornwall._ Published by T. Rowlandson.

1812. _The Lion Rock, Cornwall._

1812. _A Cornish Road._

1812. _A Hill Side, Cornwall._

1812. _A Cornish View._

TOUR OF DOCTOR SYNTAX IN SEARCH OF THE PICTURESQUE.

In 1812 the poem and illustrations of _The Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque_ were issued as an independent volume, when the success with which it was received was more decidedly marked than when it first appeared in the _Poetical Magazine_ under the title of _The Schoolmaster's Tour_. Five editions were issued between 1812 and 1813.

The work was described as _The Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque_. A Poem. With new plates.

The old subjects, it appears, were re-engraved by Rowlandson's hand, with but slight variations from the originals. The outlines are somewhat less bold, and three new subjects are added; one being the frontispiece, which represents the worthy Doctor at his desk, seated in his armchair, in deep cogitation, touching his forehead as the idea of his famous _Picturesque Tour_ suggests itself to his brain. The window of his study is opened, that he may contemplate the exterior prospect at his ease, while a sketch, by his own hand, in India-ink, is displayed before him. Various papers and books are scattered about, with sundry objects which indicate his versatile accomplishments--a fiddle hung on the wall, books of travel, sheets of the Doctor's original treatise--_Every Man his own Farrier_--with a goodly jar of _cherry bounce_ to rejoice the learned man's spirits.

On the titlepage is engraved a quaint vignette of architectural relics, ruins, a castle, &c., the detached monuments being disposed so as to form the word _Picturesque_.

The third addition is plate 27, in the body of the Tour, introducing _The Doctor's Dream_ (in his patron's library) _of the Battle of the Books_, which was not included in the work on its original publication.

This edition is preceded by an Introduction, which in some degree explains the relative positions--as far as the preparation of the work was concerned--of the artist and William Combe, the author, who thus sets the matter before his public: 'The following poem, if it may be allowed to deserve the name, was written under circumstances whose peculiarity may be thought to justify a communication of them. I undertook to give metrical illustrations of the prints with which Mr. Ackermann decorated the _Poetical Magazine_, a work published by him in monthly numbers, for the reception of original compositions. Many of these engravings were miscellaneous, and those (which were, indeed, the far greater part of them) whose description was submitted to such a muse as mine represented views of interesting objects and beautiful scenery, or were occasional decorations appropriate to the work. Those designs, to which this volume is so greatly indebted, I was informed, would follow in a _series_, and it was proposed to me to shape out a story from them. An etching, or a drawing, was accordingly sent to me every month, and I composed a certain proportion of verse, in which, of course, the subject of the design was included; the rest depended on what my imagination could furnish. When the first print was sent to me I did not know what would be the subject of the second; and in this manner, in a great measure, the artist continued designing, and I continued writing, every month for two years, till a work containing near ten thousand lines was produced; the artist and the writer having no personal communication with or knowledge of each other....

'Mr. Ackermann has his reasons for risking a republication of it in its present form; and I now feel more than common solicitude that it should answer his expectations.... _The Battle of the Books_ was an after-thought, and forms the novelty of this volume.

Liberius si
Dixero quid, si forte jocosius; hoc mihi juris,
Cum veniâ dabis.--HOR. _S._ lib. i. v. 103.

'I have only to add, that though, on a first view of some of the prints, it may appear as if the clerical character were treated with levity, I am confident in announcing a very opposite impression from a perusal of the work.'

The origin of _Doctor Syntax_ is ascribed, with characteristic partiality, to John Bannister, the comedian, by his biographer, John Adolphus.

'Of another graphic series, which owed its existence almost entirely to the invention of Bannister, I have the following account:--Dining at a tavern, with him and a third person, Rowlandson was asked, "What are you about, Rolly?" "Why, nothing in particular," he said. "I think my inventive faculty has been very sluggish of late; I wish one of you would give me a hint." Being asked of what kind, he answered, "I feel in a humour to sketch a series where the object may be made ridiculous without much thinking. I have been making a tour in Cornwall and Devonshire with a friend, who, as I have made sketches on the coast for him, wishes me to introduce adventures at inns, and other comic incidents, in which he was the principal party. But what can I do for such a hero?--a walking turtle--a gentleman weighing four-and-twenty stone--for such scenes he is quite out of the question. I want one of a totally different description." And he named a celebrated tourist, who by a recent publication had given much celebrity to the Lakes.

'"I have it!" said Bannister. "You must fancy a skin-and-bone hero, a pedantic old prig, in a shovel-hat, with a pony, sketching-stools, and rattletraps, and place him in such scrapes as travellers frequently meet with--hedge alehouses, second and third rate inns, thieves, gibbets, mad bulls, and the like. Come!" he proceeded, warming with the subject, "give us a sheet of paper, and we'll strike out a few hints." The paper was produced, Bannister gave his ideas, Rowlandson adopted them, Combe explained them in a well-written poem; and to this conversation and to the lively invention of Bannister the public is indebted for a highly favoured publication, _The Tour of Doctor Syntax_.'

It is by no means improbable that Bannister's suggestion had something to do with the eccentric personality of the hero of the _Picturesque Tours_; but the author of the _Memoir of John Bannister_ assumes too much when he records that the ideas for the adventures of Doctor Syntax were struck out at a sitting and in the easy fashion he has described; it is known that the original designs were furnished at the rate of three a month, and that their invention was spread over the entire period of the publication.

The popularity enjoyed by this Tour was manifested in the number of editions sold; it was further pirated and imitated in various forms. A German edition was published in Berlin in 1822; the poem was translated under the title of _Die Reise des Doktor Syntax um das Malerische aufzusuchen. Ein Gedicht frei aus dem Englischen ins Deutsche übertragen. Lithogr. v. F. E. Rademacher._ The illustrations were copied in outline on stone, either with a fine point or a pen; the lines are wire-like and give neither fullness nor effect; the pictures are also coloured in a feeble and powerless style, and the whole is a very poor rendering, as far as the artist's work is concerned.

A French edition, freely translated by M. Gandais, appeared in Paris, with twenty-six engravings--rendered with considerable ability by Malapeau (lith. de G. Engelmann)--drawn on stone with care and spirit in lithographic chalk; these illustrations, printed in a warm tint, and coloured by hand, will compare fairly with even Rowlandson's original etchings. We give the title of this edition:--_Le Don Quichotte Romantique, ou Voyage du Docteur Syntaxe à la recherche du Pittoresque et du Romantique; Poême en XX chants, traduit librement de l'Anglais par M. Gandais, et orné de 26 gravures par Malapeau. À Paris chez l'auteur, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 45, et Pélicier libraire, cour du Palais Royal._ 1821. The author's advertisement, as written by Combe, is carefully and literally rendered, and the translator has added a slight _avertissement_ of his own, briefly alluding to the reputation enjoyed in England by the original engravings and the descriptive verses which accompany them, and setting forth the circumstances of his own version, &c.

Numerous imitations, less legitimate than the foreign translations alluded to, also appeared in this country, such as _The Tour of Doctor Syntax through London_; _Doctor Syntax in Paris, in Search of the Grotesque_; _Doctor Prosody_; _Sentimental Tour through Margate and Hastings by Doctor Comparative, Junr._; and _Doctor Syntax's Life of Napoleon_, which is possibly due to Combe's pen, and derives a strong additional interest from the illustrations, which are fair examples of George Cruikshank's handiwork. A parody, in verse, entitled _The Adventures of Doctor Comicus, by a modern Syntax_, was also issued, with coloured imitations of Rowlandson's designs.

The success which had attended the first _Tour of Doctor Syntax_ was so flattering and remunerative that the publisher and his able collaborateurs, the artist and author, projected a second series, entitled _Doctor Syntax in Search of Consolation_--for the loss of that termagant spouse who figures in the original _Tour_, and is decently buried, in the first cantos of the new adventures, to give the hero a fitting cause for pursuing his eccentric travels. The renewal of Dr. Syntax's journeys, which appeared in monthly parts, was completed in 1820, when it was republished by Mr. Ackermann, uniform with the first volume; it was less successful than its predecessor, but it ran through several editions.

The plates, which were contributed by Rowlandson, much on his old principle, were as follows:--

Frontispiece.--Doctor Syntax and his Counterpart.
Doctor Syntax lamenting the loss of his Wife.
" " at the Funeral of his Wife.
" " setting out on his Second Tour.
" " and the Gypsies.
" " loses his Wig.
The visit of Doctor Syntax to Widow Hopeful, at York.
Doctor Syntax amused with Pat in the Pond.
" " in the Glass House.
" " visits Eaton Hall, Cheshire.
" " making his Will.
" " in a Court of Justice.
" " present at a Coffee-house Quarrel at Bath.
" " and the superannuated Fox-hunter.
" " with the Skimmington Riders.
" " and the Bees.
" " visits a Boarding School for Young Ladies.
" " making a Discovery.
" " Painting a Portrait.
" " Marriage of Doctor Dicky Bend.
" " at an Auction.
" " and the Bookseller.
" " at Freemasons' Hall.
Miss Worthy's Marriage--Doctor Syntax in the chair.

A third and final Tour, ending with the hero's funeral, concludes the poem. The last volume, which had appeared, like its predecessors, in monthly parts, was put forth in its collected form in 1821; and, similar to the first and second series, with which it was afterwards re-issued, it received sufficient patronage to carry it through several editions, although neither the Second nor Third Tours were reckoned so successful as the original series.

The _Third Tour of Doctor Syntax--in Search of a Wife_ appeared with the following 'Preface,' from the pen of the veteran Combe, who, for his private reasons, preferred to continue anonymous throughout.

'This prolonged work is, at length, brought to a close. It has grown to this size under rare and continuing marks of public favour; while the same mode of composition has been employed in the last as in the former volumes. They are all equally indebted to Mr. Rowlandson's talents.

'It may, perhaps, be considered as presumptuous in me, and at my age, to sport even with my own dowdy Muse, but, from the extensive patronage which Doctor Syntax has received, it may be presumed that, more or less, he has continued to amuse: And I, surely, have no reason to be dissatisfied, when Time points at my eightieth year, that I can still afford some pleasure to those who are disposed to be pleased.

'THE AUTHOR.'

The illustrations to the third volume, which are quite equal both in spirit, invention, and execution to those designs which suggested the framework of the first and second Tours, are as follows:--

Frontispiece.--Doctor Syntax setting out in search of a Wife.
Vignette, on Titlepage.--Doctor Syntax assisting at an Instrumental
Trio.
Doctor Syntax Soliloquising.
" " turned Nurse.
The Banns forbidden.
Doctor Syntax with a Blue Stocking Beauty.
The Cellar Quartetto.
Doctor Syntax Presenting a Floral Offering.
The Billiard Table.
Misfortune at Tulip Hall.
The Harvest Home.
The Garden Trio.
Doctor Syntax at a Card Party.
" " Star-gazing.
" " in the wrong Lodging-House.
" " received by the Maid instead of the Mistress.
The Artist's Room.
Death of Punch.
The Advertisement for a Wife.
Doctor Syntax and the Foundling.
The result of Purchasing a Blind Horse.
A Noble Hunting Party.
Introduction to Courtship.
Doctor Syntax in Danger.
The Funeral of Doctor Syntax.

The popularity which attended the three Tours in the form of their original publication induced Mr. Ackermann to issue a fresh edition in 1823. The three volumes were printed in 16mo, instead of royal 8vo, and the plates were re-engraved, one-third of the original size. This pocket edition, containing all the illustrations, in a reduced form, was published at the moderate price, considering the plates were coloured by hand, of seven shillings a volume; the former series having been produced at one guinea per volume.

1813.

_February 10, 1813._ _Bachelor's Fare--Bread and Cheese and Kisses._ Published by T. Tegg (285).

_September 1, 1813._ _Summer Amusements at Margate, or a Peep at the Mermaids._ Published by T. Tegg.

_September 1, 1813._ _The Last Gasp, or Toadstools Mistaken for Mushrooms._ Published by T. Tegg (210).--A physician has been called in, and, with his gold stick in hand, is examining the condition of certain patients who are suffering from the effects of too indiscriminate feeding. A gouty old gentleman, his wife, and their footman are all putting out their tongues--which are white and swollen to an inordinate length; their features express the greatest alarm, and the look of consternation which is thrown into the doctor's face conveys the reverse of comforting reassurance to the unfortunate gourmands.

_September 20, 1813._ _Humours of Houndsditch, or Mrs. Shevi in a longing condition._ Published by T. Tegg (213).--A member of the Hebrew tribe, who carries a bag slung on his arm, is bearing forbidden luxuries to two fair representatives of his race. A couple of Jewesses, whose persons are resplendent in jewellery, are leaning over the wicket-gate of their premises, lost in admiration at the spectacle of a little stranger--a sucking-pig--which the tempter, who has led the maternal sow and entire porcine family astray, is holding out for Mrs. Shevi--a sufficiently motherly-looking lady--to salute with a kiss. Another Hebrew gentleman, who is overlooking this transaction, has his face thrown into horrified contortions and his hair standing on end at making the discovery of this incredible depravity.

The secret of how the interdicted quadrupeds have come into the possession of the Jew clothesman is explained by a handbill advertising: 'Lost, supposed to have been stolen, a sow and seven pigs. A reward of five pounds is promised for information of the whereabouts of the wanderers.'

1813. _Unloading a Waggon._ Published by T. Tegg (214).

1813. _None but the Brave deserve the Fair._ Published by T. Tegg (231).--A gallant huzzar has ridden his charger through a pond which is supposed to isolate the walls of a park and mansion, from the security of which a damsel, 'all in white,' of redundant personal charms, is being helped to elope over the ivy-grown wall by the dashing horseman, to whose custody the lady is unreservedly entrusting the keeping of her fair person.