Chapter VIII: Part 8

The poor monk blushed as red as scarlet. '_Mon Dieu!_' said he, pressing his hands together, 'you never used me unkindly.' 'I should think,' said the lady, 'he is not likely.' I blushed in my turn, but from what movements I leave to the few who feel to analyse. 'Excuse me, madame,' replied I, 'I treated him most unkindly, and from no provocations.' ''Tis impossible,' said the lady. 'My God!' cried the monk, with a warmth of asseveration which seemed not to belong to him, 'the fault was in me, and in the indiscretion of my zeal.' The lady opposed it, and I joined with her in maintaining it was impossible that a spirit so regulated as his could give offence to any.

I knew not that contention could be rendered so sweet and pleasurable a thing to the nerves as I then felt it. We remained silent, without any sensations of that foolish pain which takes place when in such a circle you look for ten minutes in one another's faces without saying a word. Whilst this lasted, the monk rubbed his horn box upon the sleeve of his tunic; and as soon as it had acquired a little air of brightness by the friction, he made a low bow and said 'twas too late to say whether it was the weakness or goodness of our tempers which had involved us in this contest; but be it as it would, he begged we might exchange boxes. In saying this he presented his to me with one hand as he took mine from me in the other, and having kissed it, with a stream of good nature in his eyes, he put it into his bosom--and took his leave.

I guard this box, as I would the instrumental parts of my religion, to help my mind on to something better: in truth, I seldom go abroad without it; and oft and many a time have I called up by it the courteous spirit of its owner to regulate my own, in the jostlings of the world: they had found full employment for his, as I learnt from his story, till about the forty-fifth year of his age, when, upon some military services ill requited, and meeting at the same time a disappointment in the tenderest of passions, he abandoned the sword and the sex together, and took sanctuary, not so much in his convent as in himself.

I feel a damp upon my spirits as I am going to add, that in my last return through Calais, upon enquiring after Father Lorenzo, I heard he had been dead near three months, and was buried, not in his convent, but, according to his desire, in a little cemetery belonging to it, about two leagues off. I had a strong desire to see where they had laid him--when, upon pulling out his little horn box, as I sat by his grave, and plucking up a nettle or two at the head of it, which had no business to grow there, they all struck together so forcibly upon my affections, that I burst into a flood of tears. But I am as weak as a woman; and I beg the world not to smile, but pity me.

MONTRIUL.

_The Bidet._--When all is ready, and every article is disputed and paid for in the inn, unless you are a little soured by the adventure, there is always a matter to compound at the door, before you can get into your chaise; and that is with the sons and daughters of poverty, who surround you. Let no man say, 'Let them go to the devil'--'tis a cruel journey to send a few miserables, and they have had sufferings enow without it. I always find it better to take a few sous out in my hand; and I would counsel every gentle traveller to do so likewise: he need not be so exact in setting down his motives for giving them--they will be registered elsewhere.

* * * * *

Having settled all these small matters, I got into my postchaise with more ease than ever I got into a postchaise in my life; and La Fleur having got one large jack-boot on the far side of a little _bidet_ (post-horse), and another on this (for I count nothing of his legs), he cantered away before me, as happy and as perpendicular as a prince.

But what is happiness! What is grandeur in this painted scene of life! A dead ass, before we had got a league, put a stop to La Fleur's career--his _bidet_ would not pass it; a contention arose betwixt them, and the poor fellow was kicked out of his jack-boots the very first kick.

La Fleur bore his fall like a French Christian, saying neither more or less upon it than _Diable!_ so presently got up and came to the charge again--then this way--then that way: and, in short, every way but by the dead ass. La Fleur insisted upon the thing--and the _bidet_ threw him.

'What's the matter, La Fleur,' said I, 'with this _bidet_ of thine?' '_Monsieur_,' said he, '_c'est un cheval le plus opiniatre du monde_.' 'Nay, if he is a conceited beast, he must go his own way,' replied I. So La Fleur got off him, and giving him a good sound lash, the _bidet_ took me at my word, and away he scampered back to Montriul. '_Peste!_' said La Fleur.

* * * * *

_Le Diable!_ which is the first and positive degree, is generally used for ordinary emotions of the mind, where small things only fall out contrary to your expectation, such as--the throwing one's doublets--La Fleur's being kicked off his horse, and so forth--cuckoldom, for the same reason, is always--_Le Diable!_

But in cases where the cast has something provoking in it, as in that of the _bidet's_ running away after--and leaving La Fleur aground in jack-boots--'tis the second degree. 'Tis then _Peste!_

As there was no hunting down a frightened horse in jack-boots, there remained no alternative but taking La Fleur either behind the chaise or into it.

I preferred the latter, and in half an hour we got to the post-house at Namport.

NAMPORT.

_The Dead Ass._--'And this,' said he, putting the remains of a crust into his wallet, 'and this should have been thy portion,' said he, 'had'st thou been alive to have shared it with me.' I thought by the accent it had been an apostrophe to his child; but it was to his ass, and to the very ass we had seen dead in the road, which had occasioned La Fleur's misadventure. The man seemed to lament it much; and it instantly brought into my mind Sancho's lamentation for his; but he did it with more true touches of nature.

The mourner was sitting upon a stone bench at the door, with the ass's pannel and its bridle on one side, which he took up from time to time--then laid them down--looked at them, and shook his head. He then took his crust of bread out of his wallet again, as if to eat it; held it some time in his hand, then laid it upon the bit of his ass's bridle--looked wistfully at the little arrangement he had made, and then gave a sigh.

The simplicity of his grief drew numbers about him, and La Fleur among the rest, whilst the horses were getting ready; as I continued sitting in the postchaise, I could see and hear over their heads.

He said he had come last from Spain, where he had been from the farthest borders of Franconia, and had got so far on his return home, when his ass died. Everyone seemed desirous to know what business could have taken so old and poor a man so far a journey from his own home.

It had pleased heaven, he said, to bless him with three sons, the finest lads in Germany; but having, in one week, lost two of them by the smallpox, and the youngest falling ill of the distemper, he was afraid of being bereft of them all; and made a vow, if heaven would not take him from him also, he would go, in gratitude, to St. Jago, in Spain.

When the mourner got thus far in his story he stopped to pay Nature her tribute, and wept bitterly.

He said heaven had accepted the conditions, and that he had set out from his cottage with this poor creature, who had been a patient partner of his journey--that it had eat the same bread with him all the way and was unto him as a friend. Everybody who stood about heard the poor fellow with concern. La Fleur offered him money. The mourner said he did not want it--it was not the value of the ass, but the loss of him. The ass, he said, he was assured loved him--and upon this told them a long story of mischance upon their passage over the Pyrenean mountains, which had separated them from each other three days: during which time the ass had sought him as much as he had sought the ass, and that they had neither scarce eat or drank till they met.

'Thou hast one comfort, friend,' said I, 'at least in the loss of thy poor beast: I am sure thou hast been a merciful master to him.' 'Alas!' said the mourner, 'I thought so when he was alive, but now he is dead I think otherwise. I fear the weight of myself and my afflictions together have been too much for him--they have shortened the poor creature's days, and I fear I have them to answer for.' 'Shame on the world!' said I to myself, 'did we love each other as this poor soul but loved his ass, 'twould be something.'

1809. _Butler's Hudibras_, in three parts, written in the time of the late wars, corrected and amended, with large annotations and preface, by Zachary Grey, LL.D. Embellished with engravings by T. Rowlandson, Esq. London: Printed for T. Tegg, 111 Cheapside. W. Hogarth, inv.; Rowlandson, sc.

1. Frontispiece. Hudibras and Ralpho in the Stocks.

2. Setting out.

Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
And out he rode a-colonelling.

3. The Battle.

The scatter'd rout return and rally,
Surround the place; the Knight does sally,
And is made pris'ner.

4. The Knight and Ralpho consult the Gymnosophist.

The Knight with various doubt posses't
To win the lady goes in quest
Of Sidrophel, the Rosy-Crucian,
To know the Dest'nies' resolution;
With whom b'ing met, they both chop logic
About the science astrologic;
'Till falling from dispute to fight,
The conj'rer's worsted by the Knight.

5. Sidrophel and Whacum consulting the firmament.

This said, he to his engine flew,
Plac'd near at hand in open view,
And rais'd it 'till it levell'd right
Against the glowworm tail of Kite,
Then peeping thro', Bless us (quoth he)
It is a planet, now I see,
And, if I err not, by his proper
Figure, that's like tobacco stopper,
It should be Saturn.

1809. _Surprising Adventures Of the Renowned Baron Munchausen._ Containing singular travels, campaigns, voyages, and adventures. Embellished with numerous engravings by T. Rowlandson. London: Printed for T. Tegg, 111 Cheapside.

Frontispiece.--Baron Munchausen's extraordinary flight on the back of an eagle, and supported by a second eagle, from Margate over the continents of Europe, South and North America, the Polar regions, and back to Margate, within thirty-six hours.

The Baron arrives at Ceylon, combats and conquers two extraordinary opponents (a lion and a crocodile).

The snow having melted, the Baron discovers his horse in the air, secured by the bridle to the church steeple; the Baron proves himself a good shot, cuts the bridle in two, and resumes his journey.

Is presented with a famous horse by Count Przolossky, with which he performs many extraordinary feats; the horse is cut in two by the portcullis of Oczakow, which the Baron only discovers when he leads his spirited steed to drink at the fountain, and the water flows out at the rear of the severed half.

Bathes in the Mediterranean, is swallowed by a fish, from which he is extricated by dancing a hornpipe.

The Baron jumps into the sea with a Turkish piece of ordnance on his shoulders (which fires a marble ball of three hundred pounds weight) and swims across the Simois.

The ship, driven by a whirlwind, a thousand leagues above the surface of the waters; the Baron discovers the inhabitants of the moon, with some traders from the Dog Star.

Travelling in the South Sea they lose their compass; their ship slips between the teeth of a fish unknown in this part of the world.

The Baron crosses the Thames without the assistance of a bridge, ship, boat, balloon, or even his own will; being blown out of one of the Tower guns in which he had fallen asleep, and the cannon is unexpectedly fired to celebrate an anniversary.

1809. _The Beauties of Sterne_; comprising his humorous and descriptive _Tales, Letters, &c._ Embellished by caricatures by Rowlandson, from original drawings by Newton. Published by T. Tegg, Cheapside.

Frontispiece. The Dance at Amiens, &c.

1809. _Poetical Magazine._ Dedicated to the lovers of the Muse by the Agent of the goddess, R. Ackermann. Published November 1, 1809, at R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 101 Strand.

Introduction to _The Schoolmasters Tour_. Vol. 1.--'In the Tour, with the first part of which we here present our readers, the author carries his hero through a great variety of whimsical adventures, to the Lakes and back again. As tours are a fashionable article in the literature of the present day, we trust that the poetical peregrinations of Doctor Syntax will come in for some share, at least, of the public applause, to which we conceive it to be entitled. The lovers of humour will not be displeased to be informed that it will be accompanied with a considerable number of illustrative engravings.'

CARICATURES SUPPLIED BY ROWLANDSON TO THE
_POETICAL MAGAZINE_.

VOLUME I.

1. Doctor Syntax setting out on his Tour to the Lakes May 1, 1809.

2. The Mansion House Monitor June 1 "

3. Doctor Syntax losing his way June 1 "

4. Doctor Syntax stopped by Highwaymen June 1 "

6. Doctor Syntax bound to a Tree by Highwaymen July 1 "

8. Doctor Syntax disputing his Bill with the Landlady Aug. 1 "

The Last Drop. A Woodcut. (Death striking the Drinker).
(See _April 5, 1811_) Aug. 1 "

10. Doctor Syntax copying the wit on the Window Sept. 1 "

12. Doctor Syntax entertained at College Oct. 1 "

13. Doctor Syntax pursued by a Bull Oct. 1 "

VOLUME II.

2. Doctor Syntax mistakes a gentleman's house for an Inn Nov. 1 "

4. Doctor Syntax meditating on the Tombstone Dec. 1 "

5. An illustration to 'Edwin and Matilda, or the Beach King.'
A legendary tale, in four cantos Dec. 1 "

The Baron addressing the Harpists at the banquet to Earl Edwin:--

'Cease, caitiffs! nor further insult with your noise
The ears of our noble young guest.
Hence, away! and bear with you those coarse thrumming toys!'
The minstrels departed,--when, raising his voice,
The Baron Earl Edwin address'd.

6. Doctor Syntax tumbling into the Water Jan. 1, 1810.

7. Illustration to 'Edwin and Matilda' Jan. 1 "
The Beach King discovering himself to Matilda:--

A truncheon of coral he grasp'd in his hand,
Which, tho' pond'rous, with ease he could swing:
Thus array'd was the monster so fear'd thro' the land;
Thus horribly form'd, by Matilda did stand
The mighty, enormous Beach King.

8. Doctor Syntax losing his money on the Raceground at
York Feb. 1, 1810.

10. Doctor Syntax at a Review March 1 "

12. Doctor Syntax with my Lord April 1 "

13. Doctor Syntax made free of the Cellar April 1 "

VOLUME III.

1. Doctor Syntax sketching the Lake May 1 "

3. Doctor Syntax sketching after Nature June 1 "

5. Doctor Syntax robbed of his Property July 1 "

7. Doctor Syntax sells Grizzle Aug. 1 "

9. Doctor Syntax and Rural Sports Sept. 1 "

11. Doctor Syntax and the Dairymaid Oct. 1 "

VOLUME IV.

1. Doctor Syntax at Liverpool Nov. 1 "

3. Doctor Syntax reading his Tour Dec. 1 "

5. Doctor Syntax Preaching Jan. 1, 1811.

7. Doctor Syntax and the Bookseller Feb. 1 "

9. Doctor Syntax at Covent Garden March 1 "

11. Doctor Syntax returned from his Tour April 1 "

13. Doctor Syntax taking possession of his Living May 1 "

The intermediate plates are landscapes, after anonymous artists, engraved in aquatint by Hassell and others.

1809. Beresford (James). _An Antidote to the Miseries of Human Life._ 8vo.

1809. _Rowlandson's Sketches from Nature._ Twelve views, drawn and etched by T. Rowlandson. Aquatinted by Stadler.

1809. _The Art of Ingeniously Tormenting._ Republished by Tegg. Plates by Woodward. 12mo.

1809. _Annals of Sporting._ By Caleb Quizem, Esq., and his various Correspondents. Published by T. Tegg.

The Courtier is thrown in pursuit of his game,
The Poet's too often laid low,
Who, mounted on Pegasus, rides after Fame,
With 'Hark forward! Huzza! Tally-ho!'

1809. _The Trial of the Duke of York._ In 2 volumes. Published by T. Tegg.

1809. _Annals of Sporting._ By Caleb Quizem. Republished by Tegg. Plates by Woodward. 12mo.

Frontispiece. _The Bucephalus Riding Academy for Grown Gentlemen._ H. Bunbury del., Rowlandson sc.

Titlepage. Vignette; the Author thrown from his Pegasus. Designed and etched by T. Rowlandson.

Introduction. _Caleb Quizem, Esq._ Woodward del., Rowlandson sc.

_The Maid of Mim._

_Hounds._--1. Rugged and Tough. The Lion Hound. 2. The Black Straddler. The Short-legg'd Stag Hound. Woodward del., Rowlandson sc.

_Game Wigs._--1. A Long Bob. A Short Bob. A Black Scratch. A Physical Tie. A Sir Cloudesley Shovel. A Three Tier. 2. A Cauliflower. A Full Bottom. A Short Queue. A Long Queue. A Rose Bag. A Full Bag.

Costume of Hog's Norton.--1. A back-front view of Miss Dickinson's New Dress. 2. The Morning Dress of a Lady and Gentleman of Hog's Norton.

Fashionable Furniture at Hog's Norton.--1. Chimney Ornaments. Improved Trencher. Hogs Norton Recess. Fashionable Looking-glass. Fashionable Clock. 2. The Stocking Sweep. Colonnade of Streets. Fashionable Table. Cobweb Frieze. Sarcophagus, Cellaret, Coal-scuttle. Fashionable Chair.

How a Man may Shoot his own Wig.

The Bailiff's Hunt:--

1. Going out in the Morning.
2. In Full Scent.
3. Breaking Cover.
4. The Pursuit.
5. At Fault.
6. The Second Escape.
7. Double and Squat.
8. The Seizure.

_The True Method of Sitting a Horse, Mathematically Delineated._

1. Mathematical Horsemanship.--Mr. Ralph Marrowbone, forming an obtuse angle. 2. Tom Timorous, forming an acute angle. 3. Dickey Diaper, forming a right angle. 4. Mr. Robert Rasp, letting fall a perpendicular from his saddle. 5. Mr. Benjamin Buckskin and his horse performing their evolutions within the circumference of a circle.

How to Vault from the Saddle.

1809. _Advice to Sportsmen_, selected from the notes of Marmaduke Markwell. Republished by Tegg. Plates by Woodward, 12mo.

1809. _Advice to Sportsmen_, rural or metropolitan, noviciates or grown persons; with anecdotes of the most renowned shots of the day, exemplified from life, including recommendatory hints on the choice of guns, dogs, and sporting paraphernalia. Also characters, costume, and correspondence. Selected from the original notes of Marmaduke Markwell, Esq., with sixteen illustrations by Thomas Rowlandson:--

But a bold pheasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.

'_Dedication._--To the most enlightened Sportsman in the metropolis of the British Empire; equally keen in pursuit of the hare, the haunch, the partridge, pheasant, woodcock, wild fowl, black or red game; devourer of the amphibious turtle, and terror of the Dutch; dead shot at a patriot; a marksman whose brilliant and sporting elocution can start a _Jubilee_ in the worst of times, whose merry jokes can create sport, and are the cause of sport to others: To Sir William Curtis, Bart., M.P. &c., &c., &c., these effusions of a City Sportsman are with all respect inscribed by his most devoted and obedient servant,

'MARMADUKE MARKWELL.
'Turn-again Lane, September 1, 1809.'

_Frontispiece._ The Cockney's first attempt at shooting flying.

_Illustrations._ Rat-hunting.
How to twist your neck.
Night.
Noon.
Morning.
The dangerous consequences of sporting.
Miss Spitfire's encounter.
Advantage of coupling sporting dogs.
Finishing a gamekeeper.
How to come in at the death.
How to cool your courage.
A duck hunt in Bartholomew Lane.
Neck or nothing.
A shooting parson or pot-hunter.
Evening.

1809. _The Pleasures of Human Life._ By Hilari Benevolus & Co., with five plates by Rowlandson, &c. Published by Longmans.

1809. _The Pleasures of Human Life._ Investigated cheerfully, elucidated satirically, promulgated explicitly, and discussed philosophically, in a dozen dissertations on male, female, and neuter pleasures. Interspersed with various anecdotes and expounded by numerous annotations by Hilari Benevolus & Co. (Fellow of the London Literary Society of Lusorits). (Mottoes from Milton, Dibdin, and Peter Pindar.) Embellished with five illustrations and two headpieces. London: Longmans & Co. Crown 8vo.

Front engraved by W. Bond, after W. Satchwell. Physiognomical vignette on title-page engraved by W. Bond, from _Bell's Anatomy of Expression_.

Of Rowlandson's illustrations the author observes, in his preface: 'The five illustrative commendatory etchings do not require any verbal explanation.'

Five prints by Rowlandson:--

1. Christopher Crabtree in the Suds. 2. Mr. Ego's marvellous
Story.
3. Connoisseurs, or Portrait Collectors!

(The 'collector' in question is slily pocketing a print while the shopman's attention is diverted.)

4. A Brace of Full-grown Puppies, or my Dog and me.
5. Pleasures of Bond Street, or Fashionable Driving.

1809. T. Smollett: _Miscellaneous Works_. Twenty-six illustrations by Rowlandson. 5 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh.

1809. _Gambado. An Academy for Grown Horsemen, &c._ 8vo. Published by T. Tegg. (See 1808.)

1809. _Beauties of Tom Brown._ Frontispiece and illustrations by T. Rowlandson. Published by T. Tegg. 12 mo.

1809. _Views in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Isle of Wight, &c._

1809. _Scandal: Investigation of the Charges brought against H.R.H. the Duke of York by G. L. Wardle, Esq., M.P. for Devon, with the Evidence and Remarks of the Members._ Containing fourteen scarce portraits by Rowlandson, amongst which are Mrs. M. A. Clarke, Sir F. Burdett, Duke of York, Colonel Wardle, &c. 2 vols., 12mo.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] Mary Moser, the lively lady Royal Academician, and famous flower-painter, writing to Mrs. Lloyd, the first wife of the gentleman she subsequently honoured with her hand, conveys the following account of the reigning mode in town, to her friend in the country: 'Come to London and admire our plumes; we sweep the sky! a duchess wears six feathers, a lady four, and every milk-maid one at each corner of her cap! Your mamma desired me to inquire the name of something she had seen in the windows in Tavistock Street; it seems _she_ was afraid to ask; but _I_ took courage, and they told me they were _rattle-snake tippets_; however, notwithstanding their frightful name, they are not unlike a _beaufong_, only the quills are made stiff, and springy in the starching. Fashion is grown a monster! pray tell your operator that your hair must measure just three quarters of a yard from the extremity of one wing to the other.'

[11] 'Eighteen years before the date of the investigation (February 1809), Mrs. Clarke, then being about fourteen years of age, resided with her mother and step-father in Black Raven Passage, Cursitor Street. She was a very pretty, sprightly, gaily-disposed girl, being very fond of showing herself, and attracting attention. At this time Mr. Joseph Clarke, son of a respectable builder on Snow Hill (his father was the "great contractor" of his day, and a _man reputed to be enormously rich_) became enamoured of Miss Thompson, who readily received his addresses. She eloped with him, and they lived together about three years, when he married her. She conducted herself with propriety, and they lived together decently several years; in the course of which she bore him several children, four of whom are alive.'--_Gentleman's Magazine_, February, 1809.

[12] The name of Mrs. Clarke's father was Thompson, and he, it appears, was a master printer of some respectability, residing in Bowl and Pin Alley, near White's Alley, Chancery Lane, where Miss Thompson was ushered into the world, as Sterne has it, with 'squalls of disapprobation at the journey she was compelled to perform.'

Upon the death of Mr. Thompson, his widow married a Mr. Farquhar, who was engaged as a compositor in the printing house of Mr. Hughes. Miss Thompson was occasionally employed in reading copy to the person engaged as corrector of the press, in which situation she soon attracted the notice of the son of the overseer, who, recognising her abilities, had her placed at a boarding school at Ham, where the young lady, whose 'capacity for elegant improvements' was, if we trust her biographers, of an advanced order, soon acquired ornamental accomplishments; and, from the natural quickness of her parts, she returned, after an absence of two years, so completely altered in her ideas that she thought proper to despise and treat with coldness the attentions of Mr. Day, the well-meaning young gentleman who had been at the charge of finishing her education, it is said, with the view to a future union with this sprightly and promising female prodigy.

Her biographers have hinted at least one flirtation, possibly of a harmless description, before she arrived at the age of seventeen, when she threw in her future with Mr. Joseph Clarke, the hopeful son of a wealthy builder and contractor in Snow Hill. After a union of many years, during which she had experienced various vicissitudes, we find that the misconduct of her husband, who seems, on the whole--from the accounts of some of his contemporaries--to have done his best to deserve the treatment he received, although there are two sides to this story, determined the fascinating Mary Ann to trust to her own resources for support.

During her tenure of the 'neutral territory,' the name of more than one gentleman of gallant reputation and of rank was coupled with her own; but passing over the list of her admirers, we must mention a certain Mr. Dowler (whose name occurred frequently during the investigation), who seems to have had more faithful regard for the lady than her other doubtful lights of love. Mrs. Clarke further became ambitious of shining on a larger scale, and she had the honour of appearing on the boards of the Haymarket Theatre in the character of Portia. Great praise was awarded her performance; her natural abilities, with a certain vivacity, added to a well modulated voice and graceful action, were sufficient to qualify her for a successful actress; but she felt that her proper stage was the world, and she merely secured her introduction to the histrionic profession as an experiment towards promoting the foundation of her future fortunes, and her object in this regard seems to have been secured and her plans were successfully realised.

[13] _Minutes of Evidence_; and _Annual Register_, 1809.

[14] Mr. Burton's defence. _Minutes of Evidence._

[15] _Gentleman's Magazine._

[16] Colonel Wardle had promised, or clearly given it to be understood by Mrs. Clarke, that he would furnish a house for her at Westbourne Place, in part payment for her services in the prosecution of the Duke of York. Colonel Wardle, afterwards finding it convenient to deny that he had come under any such obligation, was sued at law by an upholsterer who had furnished the house; and, on the evidence of Mrs. Clarke and the upholsterer's brother, obliged to pay about 2000_l._, with costs. The day after judgment was given in this cause, Colonel Wardle published, in several newspapers, a note addressed to the people of the three kingdoms, declaring before God and his country that a verdict had been obtained against him only through perjury. During the progress of the trial, the colonel had written to his men of law again and again, desiring that Major Dodd, Mr. James Glennie, heretofore of the corps of engineers, and other respectable witnesses, should be examined; but the lawyers thought this unnecessary. The evidence of Mrs. Clarke, and of the brother of the upholsterer, on oath, would be overthrown by that of the respectable witnesses whom he had to bring forward on a second trial for which he had made application. But if so, what is to be thought of the evidence of Mrs. Clarke against the Duke of York?--_Annual Register_, 1809.

[17] March 23, 1809.--The Speaker put the question: 'That it is the opinion of this House that General Clavering in the said evidence is guilty of prevarication,' which was agreed to without a division; and General Clavering was ordered to be forthwith taken into the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms.

March 24.--The Serjeant-at-Arms, having reported that General Clavering was in custody, Mr. W. Wynne moved, 'That, for his prevarication before the Committee of the whole House, General Clavering be now committed to Newgate, and the speaker do issue his warrant accordingly;' which was agreed to.

March 27.--Mr. Fane presented a petition from Captain Sandon, which, after stating his services in the army for upwards of thirty years in various parts of the globe, concludes with apologising for his conduct at the Bar of that House, by attributing it to the hardships he had recently undergone in Spain, combined with an injury sustained on the brain some time since, and the novelty of his situation when called on to give evidence.

March 28.--On the motion of Mr. Fane, Captain Huxley Sandon was called to the Bar; and, after a very impressive reprimand from Mr. Speaker, was ordered to be discharged out of custody on paying the fees.

[18] Sometimes the word 'York' is erased from the plate 'Transforming a Footboy into a Captain.'

[19] During the Parliamentary enquiry Mrs. Clarke appeared at the Bar of the House dressed in a pelisse and skirt of light blue silk, trimmed with white fur, with a white muff, and wearing a hat and veil of white, the latter turned up to show her face. Her features are described as more pleasing than handsome, according to recognised standards of regular types of countenance. Her complexion was remarkably clear and animated; and her eyes, which were blue, were large and full of light and vivacity. She was somewhat small in stature, her figure was well turned; and as her arms were much admired for their shapely form, she was partial to attitudes which showed them off to advantage.

[20] The Duke of York was reinstated in the office of Commander-in-Chief, May 26, 1811.

[21] Townshend, the Bow Street Runner.

1810.

_March 30, 1810._ _The Winding up of the Medical Report of the Walcheren Expedition._--The members of the Medical Board are standing in the stocks; on the green, in front of the sign of _The Goose_, which is surrounded with stores for the Walcheren Expedition, are laid the bodies of various sufferers, 'sent home for inspection.' The nature of the stores is somewhat exceptional. A case of champagne, marked 'Chelsea Hospital,' innumerable barrels of port and claret, marked 'T.K., for the hospital and for home consumption.' Barrels of porter, bales of cobwebs, and oak bark, 'charms for the cure of agues,' tincture of arsenic, and bottles of gin.

_April 12, 1810._ _Libel Hunters on the Look-out, or Daily Examiners of the Liberty of the Press._ Published by T. Tegg (4).--A committee of the _Rotten Borough Society, established in 1810_ (Gibery Vixe, president; Leatherbreech, vice), is met to consider the licence of the press, to bring all their faculties to bear for the detection of any lurking evidences of libel or treason. The President is reading aloud, with the assistance of a magnifying glass to enlarge any suspicious paragraphs; the members of the committee are all on the _qui vive_ to note any libellous allusions. Cobbett's _Register_ is under examination, _Magna Charta_ is trodden under foot, and the _Bill of Rights_ is thrown on one side. From the papers pasted as memoranda on the wall we are informed that 'Sir Francis Burdett is committed to the Tower;' that '_The Morning Chronicle_ knows no bounds and must be checked;' that 'Enquiries into the expedition to Walcheren be voted treasonable;' 'That the _Statesman_ must beware,' and 'A watchful eye be kept on the _Examiner_;' A 'Black list of those who vote in the minority,' &c.; 'A view of the Tower,' and 'Instructions to the Keeper of Newgate,' are among the notices put up for attention.

_April 20, 1810._ _A New Tap Wanted._ Published by T. Tegg.

_April 26, 1810._ _The Boroughmongers Strangled in the Tower._ Tegg's caricatures (8).--Sir Francis Burdett, while confined within the Tower, is signalising his prowess by the slaughter of a brace of the 'Caterpillars of the State;' like the infant Hercules, he is taking the dealers in corruption by the neck and throttling them. One of the beefeaters is enjoying the spectacle, crying, 'Bless him, I say; he's a rum un.' Over the portcullis of the Tower gate is an escutcheon representing the 'British Lion roused.' On one side of the postern is an apposite quotation from Shakespeare:--

This dear, dear land--
Dear for her reputation through the world--
Is now leas'd out ...
Like to a tenement, or pelting farm;
England, bound in with the triumphant sea,
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds.'--_Richard II._

An extract from the Liberal Baronet's own speech is posted on the other side:--

From this foul and traitorous traffic our Boroughmonger Sovereigns
derive an immense revenue, cruelly wrung from the hard hand of
honest labour. I do, however, now entertain an ardent hope that
this degraded and degrading system, to which all our difficulties,
grievances, and dangers are owing, will at length give way to the
moderate but determined perseverance of a whole united people.--SIR
FRANCIS BURDETT.

One of the boroughmongering crew is already demolished; by his side, on the ground, are two money-bags, 'Rapine,' and 'Drainings from the hard hand of the industrious poor.' Of the twin wretches who are being strangled without mercy at the hands of Sir Francis Burdett one has in his pocket 'Barrow (borough?), in Cornwall, bought and sold; apply to----;' two money-bags, 'Extortion money,' and 'Bribery and Corruption bag,' are dropping from his hands; while in the pocket of the other nefarious agent may be seen 'Rotten borough to be disposed of.'

_May 1, 1810._ _Views of the Colleges. Front View of Christ Church, Oxford._

_May, 1810._ _Emmanuel College Garden, Cambridge._

_May, 1810._ _Emmanuel College, Cambridge._ (A nobleman presenting busts.) Published by R. Ackermann.

_May, 1810._ _St. Mary's Church. Radcliffe Library._ Published by R. Ackermann.

_May, 1810._ _Inside of the Public Library, Cambridge._ Published by R. Ackermann.

'Rowlandson's views in Oxford and Cambridge, 1810, deserve notice for the slight and pleasing manner with which he has characterised the architecture of the places mentioned; but it is impossible to surpass the originality of his figures. The dance of students and _filles de joie_ before Christ Church College is highly humorous, and the enraged tutors grin with anger peculiar to this artist's pencil. The professors in the view of the Observatory at Oxford are made as ugly as baboons, and yet the profundity of knowledge they possess is conspicuous at the first glance, and we should know them to be Masters of Arts without the aid of a background. The scene in Emmanuel College garden, Cambridge, exhibits the learned in a state of relaxation; several handsome lasses remove apples from a tree, and the indolent curiosity with which they are viewed by these sons of ease is very characteristic.'--_Malcolm's 'History of Caricature.'_

_May 5, 1810._ _A Bait for Kiddies on the North Road, or that's your sort--prime, bang up to the mark._ Tegg's caricatures (12).--The widow Casey's hotel offers 'genteel accommodation' on the road to 'York Races.' The prudent widow has supplemented the attractions of her house by engaging a handsome and buxom maid, who is attached to the inn as a decoy for the 'sprigs of fashion' who may happen to be driving on the North Road. The charioteer of a four-in-hand, a 'dashing blade,' made up in correct coaching style--voluminous necktie, coat down to his heels, and capes innumerable--has called for a bowl of punch, and is standing in the doorway, stroking the redundantly developed waitress under the chin.

_May 10, 1810._ _Kissing for Love, or Captain Careless shot flying by a girl of fifteen, who unexpectedly put her head out of a casement._

_May 10, 1810._ _Easterly Winds, or Scudding under Bare Poles._ Published by T. Tegg (2).--One of the landing stairs on the river. A gale is blowing, and the boats are dancing about. The watermen are pulling a skiff to the stairs; at the same moment a breeze is blowing off a parson's wig and hat, and carrying away his fair companion's parasol, bonnet, &c. The landing steps show a succession of disasters, an ascending flight of hats, caps, and wigs, of which the astonished wearers are suddenly denuded.

_May 15, 1810._ _Three Weeks after Marriage, or the Great Little Emperor Playing at Bo-peep._ Tegg's caricatures (16).--The new Empress is in a fierce passion, wreaking her vengeance on all around; Talleyrand is levelled with the floor by a blow from the sceptre; he is crying, 'Be Gar, she will give us all de finishing stroke.' A marshal is seeking refuge behind the curtains and declaring: 'Marbleu, vat a crown-cracker she be!' The little Emperor is dodging behind an armchair, beseeching his stricken prime minister, 'Tally, Tally,' to 'rise and rally.' The Empress is threatening to hurl the Imperial crown at her intimidated lord and master, protesting, 'By the Head of Jove, I hate him worse than famine or disease. Perish his family! let inveterate hate commence between our houses from this moment, and meeting, never let them bloodless part.' The coronation throne has the crown knocked off; and, kicked on the floor by this untamable Austrian, are all the conquered diadems of Europe, including the Pope's tiara and the iron crown of Italy.

_May 15. 1810._ _A Bonnet Shop._ Rowlandson del. Tegg's collection (17).--This plate is best described from the advertisement of the proprietress, displayed on her premises, for the manufacture of the straw bonnets and hats which were the _mode_ at the beginning of the century: 'Miss Flimsey's fashionable warehouse; the greatest variety of straw hats and bonnets made up in the most elegant taste. A large stock of Spanish, Flemish, Provincial, Gipsy, Cottage, Woodland, &c., &c., adapted to show every feature to advantage.'

An old fright is trying on an unbecoming straw-bonnet at a mirror, while a handsome saleswoman is puffing her wares. A number of pretty apprentices are trimming hats, and an antiquated quiz, with his spyglass, is poking his head through the window, and saluting the bevy of beauties with a satyr-like grin.

'_Miseries à la Mode._--The being over-persuaded by a canting shopwoman, in endeavouring to puff off a stale article, that it is the most becoming and suitable to your style of features; but on consulting your friends and acquaintance they pronounce it the most frightful, hideous, and unfashionably formed thing--that would disgrace Cranbourne Alley.'

_May 20, 1810._ _Peter Plumb's Diary._ Published by T. Tegg (18).--The picture represents the drawing-room of a 'warm citizen,' evidently 'worth a plum.' The corpulent master of the house and the no less well-favoured partner of his bosom are seated before a capital fire; the comfortable couple have drunk their port and supped their punch, of which a capacious bowl is ready to hand on a table between them; the host has smoked a whiff of 'Turkey' and then dropped off to sleep in his armchair; his wife has followed his example; and a fat poodle, snugly laid on a soft cushion before the fender, is dozing luxuriously; the motto of the house is written over the mantel: 'Eating, drinking, and sleeping, with the generality of people, form the three important articles of life.' The blooming daughter, a melting young damsel, has her own creed on the subject. An opportunity is offered for a little flirtation; a gallant and good-looking young buck is saluting her with a tender embrace; the pair have sat down to perform _duetto prestissimo_, but the swain's flute is discarded, and the fair pianist is negligently touching the keyboard to a lively air, _Lucy's Delight_, while the flirtation is proceeding undisturbed by the presence of the slumbering parents.

Peter Plumb is a desirable father-in-law, and his commercial interests are set forth in 'a view of Wapping Docks,' and a plan, suspended on rollers, for the 'new improvement of the Cattle Market in Smithfield.'

The existence of the sleeper would appear an easy one; witness the extract from _Peter Plumb's Diary_. This honest man being of greater consequence in his own thoughts than 'in the eye of the world,' had for some years past kept a journal of his life. _Videlicet_, the following exciting example:--

'_Monday._--Eight o'clock: I put on my clothes, washed hands and face. Nine o'clock: Tied my knee-strings, put on my double-soled shoes, took a walk to Islington. One o'clock: Took a luncheon. Between two and three returned. Dined on a knuckle of veal and bacon. Three: Nap as usual. Four to six: Walked in the fields. Wind S.S.E. From six to ten: Went to the club; was half-an-hour before anybody else came. Ten at night: Went to bed. Slept without waking till nine next morning. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Little or no variation.'

_May 30, 1810._ _A Table d'Hôte, or French Ordinary in Paris._ (20).--The _Table d'Hôte_ is an appropriate companion to the _Paris Diligence_. The travellers have duly reached the capital, and a scene of Parisian life is shown on their arrival in the French metropolis. The _salle à manger_, where the ordinary is held, is a handsome apartment, decorated in showy taste with enrichments in plaster, canopies, curtains, mirrors, &c. The repast is in active course, and its humours are improved on with an observant eye. The company is diversified; there are _bourgeois_ and their wives, _petits-maîtres_, marquises, fat friars, and ladies of various degrees, all complaisance and graciousness. A Savoyard, with a hurdy-gurdy, and her daughter, with a triangle, are 'discoursing sweet sounds' to enliven the repast. A dog is taught to beg for food. The manners of the feeders are of different shades. Pledging toasts, flirtations, and small gallantries animate the severer business of the hour. Several whimsical accidents are introduced, results of awkward or inattentive service on the part of waiters; one grave citizen is receiving a scalding _bouillon_ in his eye, while a _bouilli_ is simultaneously poured over a bowing dandy; a glass of wine is capsized into a lady's plate while her attention is diverted; and a piggish priest, whose soup is suffered to stream down the corners of his fat jowl, has his shaven pate saluted by a cascade from a bottle tilted up by a heedless fair _domestique_, whose regards are engaged by the pleasantries of an amorous old fogey by her side, with whom she is exchanging jocularities.

1810 (?). _Paris Diligence._ Rowlandson del. et sculp. Published by T. Tegg.--This print is one of a class somewhat superior to the average series published in Cheapside. The scene is a favourite one with the artist, and his early experiences in France here serve him in valuable stead. It is in pictures of Continental life, before the aspects of the quaint and picturesque surroundings were entirely transmogrified by the French Revolution, that we recognise Rowlandson at his best. The value of these sketches is perhaps greater than of any other works his facile hand has bequeathed us, and the interest of these subjects is found to appeal to a larger circle of admirers.

The _diligence_ is starting from a massively built and handsome innyard, the sign of the _Coq en Pâte_. The 'machine' is a cumbersome vehicle, clumsy and heavy to an incredible degree. It is drawn--at no rapid pace, it is certain--by four strong, long, ill-favoured steeds, harnessed with ropes to the Noah's Ark-like contrivance, and ridden by two postilions, who are cracking their long thonged whips without producing much acceleration of speed in the toiling team. The timber of the diligence would be heavy for a gun-carriage, and the construction of the entire concern is perfectly primitive. A huge basket in front, about the size of a porter's lodge, is presumably the 'luggage boot;' below this are two small and heavy wheels, while at the other end of the machine are two enormous hind-wheels. The elongated body of the vehicle seems also to be made of rough basket-work. Through the unglazed spaces for windows are seen the occupants, who are travelling Pariswards: an assortment of corpulent and shaven monks, peasant women, and an old veteran with a formidable pigtail; a fashionable lady in feathers is ogling a beau wearing a powdered wig and enormous _solitaire_. The roof itself is also loaded; another fat friar, with shaven poll, is reading his book, over which is peeping a _débonnaire_ damsel of redundant charms, who is flirting a gigantic fan; an officer, with an enormous cocked-hat and a massive club, has his hands in a muff of pantomimic magnitude; by his side is a lively _grisette_, with a parasol; another officer is reclining behind.

The _diligence_ is attended by the usual mendicants, vociferously appealing for alms. The background is a quaint French town of some importance; a jack-booted rider is clattering along in the rear of a travelling-carriage, which is posting to the capital, driven by a postilion. Down the street is shown a procession of well-fed friars; and a party of devout nuns are striking attitudes at the foot of a carved figure. The whole picture recalls the precise aspect France wore at the time Sterne made his famous 'Sentimental Journey,' and the scene might well be a chapter from that picturesque pilgrimage.

_June 4, 1810._ _Love and Dust._ Published by T. Tegg. Republished. (See 1799.)

_June 5, 1810._ _Boxing Match for Two Hundred Guineas betwixt Dutch Sam and Medley, fought May 31, 1810, on Moulsey Hurst, near Hampton._ Published by T. Tegg. Tegg's caricatures (22).--The artist has drawn the fight, judging from the appearance offered by the opponents, during the first round, while all was cool and scientific. The champions, stripped to the waist, are sparring round one another on guard; their seconds are eagerly following up the principals; the two bottle-holders are seated on the grass. The spectators, a very orderly company, according to the picture, are arranged on the grass in a wide circle, while beyond the amateurs on foot is a ring of vehicles, on the roofs of which are perched the more fashionable portion of the patrons of the Ring, amongst whom are seen some of the softer sex.

'The concourse of people exceeded anything we have ever witnessed. The spectators were computed at ten thousand. At one o'clock the champions entered the ring, and Sam had for his second Harry Lee, whilst Joe Ward officiated for Medley. After a severe and bloody contest of forty-nine rounds victory was decided in favour of Sam.'

_August 8, 1810._ _Smuggling Out, or Starting from Gretna Green._ Rowlandson del. Schultz scul. Published by R. Ackermann, 101 Strand.--A gallant officer is assisting a pretty and precocious boarding-school miss to elope from a balcony window; a post-chaise is waiting in readiness to carry the fugitives 'across the Border,' and a servant in attendance has secured the damsel's personal belongings in a portmanteau on his shoulders.

_August 8, 1810._ _Smuggling In, or a College Trick._--The picture represents the corner of a college quadrangle. Three festive and mischievously disposed collegians appear at the window of their rooms; with the contrivance of a sling and a stout rope they are managing to draw up, clandestinely, as they fondly imagine, a pretty, modish, and, we fear, wanton maiden, who is not in the least terrified or abashed at her situation, but is entering into the spirit of the adventure. A frowning proctor, who is scandalised at these reprehensible irregularities, is standing in an angle, half-concealed in the shadow, scowling at the party, and waiting to dart out and surprise the violators of the academical proprieties at the critical moment for their detection.

_September 8, 1810._ _Procession of the Cod Company from St. Giles's to Billingsgate._ Published by T. Tegg (11).--A view of old Billingsgate, overlooking the river, with the fish being landed from the crowds of smacks at the old covered jetty, since swept away. The pilgrimage of the sturdy members of _The Cod Company_, we presume, is made to the craft on the river to take in cargoes of fish. The procession is composed of corpulent old Irish women, of colossal breadth and strength, all balancing their fish-baskets on their heads, some smoking their cherished clay pipes, and carrying their stoutly developed arms crossed, akimbo, or on their hips, after their individual proclivities.

_September 25, 1810._ _Rigging out a Smuggler._ Published by T. Tegg (8).--A party of sailors in a cabin are fitting out a handsome young creature to 'run the gauntlet' of the Custom-house officers, or rather to go on shore, with as full a cargo of excisable articles as they can secure round her person. Huge pockets of 'old Japan china, tea, gum,' &c. are disposed round her waist, together with a small keg of 'coniac,' and a flagon of otto of roses. Chests of Congou and Souchon and flasks of arrack are standings about.

_September 30, 1810._ _Dramatic Demireps at their Morning Rehearsal._ Published by T. Tegg (10).--The intention of this burlesque is a pun on _dram-atic_; the theatrical demireps being very ungallantly displayed in the Hundreds of Drury, inhabiting an attic, and indulging in matutinal potations of gin. The surroundings do not give a very cultivated idea of the actresses or their belongings. _The Chapter of Accidents_ seems to be the piece in rehearsal. The toilettes of the fair performers are shockingly neglected. Over the mantelpiece are various professional announcements 'for the benefit of the Theatrical Fund,' &c. By the side of an '_À la mode_ beef jug' is a melon marked 'Ripe--rotten,' and other ironical allusions to current scandals and personages then well recognised are posted on the walls, as sketches for portraits: _Peg and the Duke_, _Bald as a Coote_, _Little Darby O! Ever Craving_, and _Old Q._, and various innuendoes hardly flattering to the originals indicated.

_October 5, 1810._ _Sports of a Country Fair._ Part the First. Published by T. Tegg.--The bustling picture of a country fair in full operation. In the rear are swings, booths, and theatrical shows. In the foreground is shown a cart overset; a man is holding on to the head of the horse, which in rearing has snapped his girths and tilted the cart on end, while the late occupants are thrown down in motley confusion, sprawling on the turf, pommelling, kicking, shrieking, and throwing up their limbs, while eager groups of spectators are hurrying up to enjoy the disaster.

_October 5, 1810._ _Sports of a Country Fair._ Part the Second.--A nearer view of the same fair: the thick of the crowd; stick-throwing for snuffboxes, oyster-opening, pocket-picking, and a round-about swing; one of the boats is giving way, and a fair swinger and her swain are falling through. There is an inn where cordials are supplied, through the windows of which various scenes of love-making are visible. In the distance may be seen Polito's stage-booths, horse-racing, and other diversions.

_October, 1810._ _Sports of a Country Fair._ Part the Third. Published by T. Tegg.--The interior of another booth-theatre; the play is interrupted; the only performer on the stage is thrown into consternation, and the whole of the audience are dispersing in terror at an unexpected intruder. A royal Bengal tiger has made his escape from an adjoining show, and is bounding through the canvas walls of the theatrical booth, threatening to descend plump into the auditorium. The effect on the frightened playgoers may be well imagined. Some are prostrate with terror; one man is down on his knees and cannot move for fright; ladies are fainting; husbands are manfully endeavouring to carry off their wives out of the way of the terrible visitor, and everything is turned topsy-turvy.

1810. _Sports of a Country Fair._--The sport in this case is accidental, and the amusement verges on peril of a terrible character. A temporary theatre, _Cockburn's Company_, is on fire, and the spectators are escaping as best they may. The entrance is from a balcony reached by a flight of steps, and the frightened spectators are pouring out of the building, which is burning furiously, and throwing themselves pellmell down the steps, at the bottom of which they are sprawling, kicking, and plunging in fright and confusion. Certain buxom damsels are climbing over the balustrade and dropping from the balcony, with the musicians, into the arms of those below. A bill on the booth announces the _Last Night, Pizarro_ and _Don Juan, A Shower of Real Fire_, and _A View of the Infernal Regions_. Crowds are scudding away in the distance, and the other attractions of the fair are at a standstill.