_THE CARICATURES OF ISAAC ROBERT CRUIKSHANK._
THE BROTHERS CRUIKSHANK.
It was the misfortune of the brothers Cruikshank that they outlived
their popularity: in the case of the younger brother, this result (as we
shall presently see) must be attributed in a certain measure to his own
fault; but as regards Robert, his efforts as a caricaturist were
destined to be eclipsed by the greater novelty and attractions of HB,
whilst a tendency to carelessness, and the absence of actual genius,
prevented him from attaining lasting celebrity in the line of book
illustration which George made so peculiarly his own. The final result,
however, was the same in both cases; and the brothers might have said
with truth, that, in suffering both to die poor and neglected, the
British public treated both with the strictest impartiality. Here,
however, the impartiality ended; for whilst over two hundred articles
have been penned in praise of the brilliant man of genius, poor Robert
Transit[50] (a name strictly appropriate to his memory) reposes in his
nameless grave still unregarded and still forgotten. Few writers indeed
have wasted pen and ink about Robert Cruikshank or his work: Robert
William Buss, in his book on "English Graphic Satire" (a work published
for private circulation only), devotes exactly a line and a half to his
memory; his friend, George Daniel, gives him a few kindly words _in
memoriam_; Professor Bates's essay on his brother George contains
several pages of valuable information in relation to some of his book
illustrations; whilst Mr. Hamilton presents us with a dozen specimens of
work of this kind which are nothing less than libels on his graphic
powers. To the general public of to-day the name of Robert Cruikshank is
so little known, that comparatively few are cognizant of the fact that
he was one of the most popular and successful graphic satirists of his
time. It is the misfortune of the caricaturist that his wares attain
only a transitory popularity, whilst it is their peculiarity that after
he is dead their value is increased fourfold. It is by no means uncommon
for five and even seven shillings to be demanded and obtained for one of
the impressions of Robert's plates, which in his lifetime could have
been purchased at the cost of a shilling. It is the design of this
chapter to rescue the memory of a clever artist from undeserved
oblivion, and restore him to that place in comic art which he once
occupied, and which it seems to us he deserved to fill not only on
account of his own merits, but by reason of being associated in
illustrations of a different character with such men as his brother
George, Robert Seymour, Thomas Rowlandson, John Leech, and other artists
of genius and reputation.
Isaac Robert, or rather Robert Cruikshank (as he usually styled
himself), was born in 1790. He had as a boy acquired the groundwork of
his technical education as an artist and etcher under the direction of
old Isaac his father; but we personally have met with little of his work
prior to 1816, which is accounted for by the fact that he followed for a
short time a sea life in the service of the East India Company, and
after having thrown this up in favour of a calling more congenial to his
tastes, he devoted himself for some years almost exclusively to
miniature and portrait painting, by which he earned not only a fair
livelihood, but a certain amount of fashionable patronage. Gradually,
however (George tells us), he abandoned this occupation, and took almost
exclusively to designing and etching. He occasionally alternated his
work with water-colour drawing, in which he is said to have greatly
excelled. His works in this line are extremely rare, for Robert had
neither the means nor the patience to wait for the tardy patronage to be
commanded by a higher walk in art; there was a demand for caricatures
and comic etching in his day, which afforded a present means of
livelihood, and Robert's water colours were executed more by way of
relaxation than in the way of actual artistic pursuit. Among his early
caricatures we may mention a rough and coarsely coloured affair engraved
by him after the design of an amateur, published by Fores on the 28th of
April, 1816, entitled, _The Mother's Girl Plucking a Crow, or German
Flesh and English Spirit_. The Princess Charlotte, as we have seen, had
an undoubted will of her own, and could, as we have also seen, assert it
when occasion demanded. Here she is presented to us at the moment when a
hideous German duenna, catching her in the act of writing to her mother
abroad, orders her at once to desist. The princess, however, in plain
terms, enforced with a clenched fist, gives her clearly to understand
that she fully intends to have her own way. Another caricature,
published by T. Sidebotham, in 1817, bearing the title of _The Horse
Marine and his Trumpeter in a Squall_, is dedicated to the United
Service Club.
STRANGE FRENCH FASHIONS.
Subjects for the pencil of a clever graphic satirist were not wanting
sixty years ago. France in those days set the fashion both in male and
female attire, and the strangest eccentricities had marked the
emancipation of that country from the thraldom of the Terror. There were
the _incroyables_, a set of young dandies who affected royalist
sympathies, and paraded the streets of Paris when young Napoleon was yet
a general in the service of the Directory. They wore short-waisted coats
with tails of preposterous length, cocked hats of ponderous dimensions,
green cravats, powdered hair plaited and turned up with a comb, while on
each side of the face hung down two long curls called dogs' ears
(_oreilles de chien_). These charming fellows carried twisted sticks of
enormous size, as weapons of offence and defence, and spoke in a
peculiarly affected manner.[51] Some fourteen or fifteen years later on,
when we had driven Joseph Bonaparte and his brother's legions out of
Spain, the fashions had not improved. The biographer of Victor Hugo
gives us the picture of one Gile, a Parisian dandy of that period, whose
coat of olive brown was cut in the shape of a fish's tail, and dotted
all over with metal buttons even to the shoulders. Young men who went to
moderate lengths in fashion were content to wear the waists of their
coats in the middle of their backs, but the waist of this Gile intruded
on the nape of his neck. His hat was stuck on the right side of his
head, bringing into prominent notice on the left a thick tuft of hair
frizzed out with curling irons. His trousers were ornamented with
stripes which looked like bars of gold lace; they were pinched in at the
knees and wide at the bottom, giving his feet the appearance of
elephant's hoofs. Our own costume had been strange enough, in all
conscience; but when Napoleon's continental system had been broken up
after Leipzig, and a free market had been once more opened out between
this country and foreign nations, fashions more strange and eccentric,
if possible, found their way into England. Thackeray, when writing his
"Vanity Fair," the scenes of which are laid prior and subsequent to the
battle of Waterloo, was fain to confess that he had intended to depict
his characters in their proper costumes; "but when he remembered the
appearance of people in those days, he had not the heart to disfigure
his heroes and heroines by costumes so hideous," and thenceforth he
habited these men and women of 1815 in the costume of the men and women
of 1848. George Cruikshank's "Monstrosities" are familiar to all
acquainted with his works; and his brother Robert and his contemporaries
were equally fond of ridiculing the preposterous fashions of their time.
We find in the year 1818 a pictorial satire by Robert, which shows us a
pair of _Dandies at Tea_, habited in the short-waisted, long-tailed
coats, tight breeches, terrific stocks, shirt collars, and top boots of
the period. "My dear fellow, Mr. Sim," one of them, asks, "is your tea
agreeable?" to which the other answers, "Charming, my dear Lollena;
where do you buy it?" They are seated in an attic, which, like that of
the cobbler, serves "for parlour and bedroom and all," and the washing
of the tenant hangs suspended on a line above the heads of the
interesting pair. We find another the same year, entitled, _Dandies
having a Treat_, wherein we are shown a couple of eccentricities in a
confectioner's shop; one of them, who eyes himself with much complacency
in the glass, has his back to us, and is habited, _a la Gile_, in a very
tight coat, whose tail commences just below its collar and narrows to a
very fine point when it reaches its extremity; short wide trousers
terminate at the knees, at which points they are met by a pair of
Wellington boots. He entreats his equally strangely dressed companion to
pay no attention to the uncomplimentary remarks of certain rude people
who stand at the door and seem strongly inclined to subject them to the
discipline of the pump. The pretty girl in attendance expresses to
herself a hope that "the creatures will leave the shop," as she fears
the exasperated people will do some mischief. Another caricature of the
same year shows us _A Dandy Shoemaker in a Fright, or the Effects of
Tight-lacing_. In stooping to measure a lady's foot, the fellow's stays
have given way, and he evidently fears he shall tumble to pieces. In
another subject, Robert shows us a couple of _dandies diving_ into a
countryman's pockets, in the neighbourhood of St. James's Palace; others
are entitled respectively, _A Dandy put to his Last Chemisette, or
Preparing for a Bond Street Lounge_; _A Dandy Cock in Stays_; and _The
Hen-pecked Dandy_. Besides those already mentioned, I find four or five
other coarse caricatures of Robert's, published by Fores in 1818.
Robert Cruikshank was "a man about town" in those days, and the
"dandies" whom he and his fellow caricaturists satirized and ridiculed
were the sham "Corinthians" of his time. Apart from the idea of
caricature they must have been queer fellows--these men with the large
eye-glasses, squat broad-brimmed hats, huge cravats and collars,
cauliflower frills, tight coats, short bell-shaped trousers, and
well-spurred Wellington boots! In one of the satires of the time (which
I take to be Robert's) we see five of them preparing for conquest in a
hairdresser's shop; and the "make up" comprises, in addition to the
tremendous neckties, cauliflower frills, and top-boots of the period,
false calves and stays, a pair of which the Frenchman hairdresser is
lacing for one of his customers. Another of the party, who has
completed the upper part of his toilet, is so hampered with the
voluminous folds and stiffening of his cravat that he cannot wriggle
into his unmentionables. The caricaturists take us into the garrets of
these fellows, abodes of squalor and wretchedness, and show us that
beneath their exterior magnificence there is nothing, or next to
nothing. In a pair of rough anonymous satires--_The Dandy Dressing at
Home_ and _The Dandy Dressed Abroad_--the former shows us how the
completed figure is built up. The absence of a shirt is concealed by an
amply frilled "dickey," the dirty feet protrude from the well-nigh
footless stockings, the bare arms are clothed at the extremities only by
the cuffs, while a pair of huge seals dangling from a ribbon guard form
pendants to a latch-key instead of a gold watch. The fellow's washing
bill, which lies on the dressing-table before him, comprises four
items--all of them collars. On the ground, side by side with the
Wellington boots, which he himself has just been cleaning, lie the open
pages of "The Beau's Stratagem." In a sketch by the always coarse
satirist Williams, two of these fellows have been decoyed into an
infamous house and drugged, and the indignation of the bully and his
female assistants is intense when they find that their watches are not
even pinchbeck, but only pincushions.
The "Corinthian Kates" who figure in the satirical sketches of this
period are members of the _demi monde_. An excellent undated sketch,
signed "J. L. M. fect.," entitled, _A Dandyess_, is divided into two
compartments. The first scene shows us the completed figure (a most
absurd one), and the second (which is laid in the lady's garret) how the
magnificent result has been attained. We find her engaged in ironing her
chemisette; over the fire are suspended her stockings; on a stool near
her stand her bottles of cosmetic and a pot of rouge; on the floor her
"artificial hump"; while her preposterous bonnet and other articles of
costume hang from different articles of the scanty furniture.
1819.
Robert Cruikshank continues his attacks upon the fops in 1819. In that
year we meet with _A Dandy Sick_; _Dandies on their Hobbies_, and
_Female Lancers, or a Scene in St. James's Street_, chiefly remarkable
on account of the costume of the two men who figure therein. Besides
these we meet with a sort of pictorial allegory, entitled, _The
Mysterious Fair One, or the Royal Introduction to the Circassian
Beauty_, in which a foreign fair one is supposed to be introduced to the
Regent's harem. The veil being removed discovers to him the well-known
features of his neglected wife, from whom he recoils in abhorrence. The
bulky figure of the Regent who, under the influence of copious port wine
libations and general good living, had grown preposterously fat, is
admirably preserved by both the Cruikshanks. The head and wig, tapering
to an apex, remind one somewhat of the French _poire_ caricatures which
disturbed the serenity of Louis Philippe, and preceded the revolutionary
period of 1848.
Other caricatures by Robert of this year (1819) are labelled
respectively, _The Political Champion turned Resurrection Man_, having
reference to Cobbett and "Orator Hunt"; _The Master of the Ordnance
Exercising his Hobby_; _A Steward at Sea in a Vain Tempest, or Gaining
the Point of Matrimony in Spite of Squalls_; _A New Chancery Suit
Removed to the Scotch Bar_; _The Ladies' Accelerator_ (two women on
hobbies); _Collegians at their Exercises, or Brazen Nose Hobbies_; _A
New Irish Jaunting Car_; and a satire entitled _Landing at Dover and
Overhauling the Baggage_, which would appear to refer to some
incivilities on the part of the custom house authorities to the Persian
ambassador and his suite. The subject was probably only etched by the
artist from the design of another, and is so grossly treated that in
spite of the admirable workmanship we cannot further describe it.
Besides these we have the now well-known _Going to Hobby Fair_ (the only
caricature of Robert which would seem to be known to those who have
troubled themselves about him), and a far better one of contemporary
date, entitled, _Cruising on Land, or Going to Hobby Horse Fair_.
1820. THE QUEEN'S TRIAL.
Among the caricatures on the popular side in connection with the queen's
trial in 1820, we find one by Robert, entitled, _The Secret Insult, or
Bribery and Corruption Rejected_, which has reference to the overtures
which, as we have seen in the previous chapter, were made to her by the
ministers in the hope of avoiding, if possible, a public exposure; and
here Lord Liverpool is represented in the act of offering to Her
Majesty a purse. "Abandon," he says, "your claim to the throne, change
your name and the livery, and retire to some distant part of the earth,
where you may never be seen or heard of any more; and if L50,000 per
annum will not satisfy you--what will?" To which the queen (who assumes
an appearance of virtuous indignation) replies, "Nothing but a crown."
Brougham turns his back, saying, "I turn my back on such dirty work as
this," the fact being, as we have seen, that he had really entered into
negotiations with the ministers on the queen's behalf, which she
afterwards angrily repudiated. The devil pats him on the back. "Well
done, Broom," he says; "you have done your business well." By the side
of the queen stands a figure, possibly meant for Alderman Wood, carrying
"a shield for the innocent," and "a sword for the guilty"; behind her in
the distance is a ship, bearing the title of "The Wooden Walls of Old
England."
In our last chapter we mentioned the estimation in which the witnesses
against Caroline of Brunswick were held by her sympathizers and the
general public, and Robert's political views naturally inclined him to
take the popular side. Those who saw them before they were housed in
Cotton Garden, describe them as swarthy, dirty looking fellows, in
scanty ragged jackets and greasy leathern caps; at the bar of the House,
however, they looked as respectable as fine clothes and soap and water
could make them. To this a caricature of Robert's, entitled, _Preparing
the Witnesses--a View in Cotton Garden_, refers. Three dirty foreigners
are being washed, with no satisfactory result, in a bath labelled,
"Waters of Oblivion," "Non Mi Ricordo," and "Ministerial Washing Tub."
One of the operators (probably the Attorney-General, Sir Robert Gifford)
remarks that "he never had such a dirty job in his life"; seated around
are a number of equally dirty foreigners awaiting their turn. On the
same theme and in the same year we find _The Milan Commission_ (a very
rough affair); _The Master Cook and his Black Scullion composing a Royal
Hash_; and a satire on the alderman, who, in spite of his Carolinian and
popular sympathies, figures therein under the familiar title of "Mother
Wood."
1821.
The following year gives us _All My Eye_ (a skit upon Hone's "Eulogium
on the Radical Press"), representing a large eye, within the pupil of
which we see a printing press, whereon rests a portrait of Queen
Caroline; and also an admirable work, divided into two compartments,
bearing respectively the titles of _The Morning after Marriage_, and
_Coke upon Albemarle--not Coke upon Littleton_.
1822. DUEL BETWEEN THE DUKES OF BUCKINGHAM AND BEDFORD.
A somewhat ludicrous affair of honour took place in 1822. In consequence
of some words used by the Duke of Bedford in reference to the Duke of
Buckingham at the Bedfordshire county meeting, a hostile meeting took
place in Kensington Gardens between the two noblemen on the 2nd of May.
The seconds were Lord Lynedock and Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. Both
parties fired together at a distance of twelve paces, but without
effect; when the Duke of Buckingham, observing that the Duke of Bedford
fired into the air, advanced to his grace, and remarking that for that
reason the affair could go no farther, said: "My Lord Duke, you are the
last man I wish to quarrel with; but you must be aware that a public
man's life is not worth preserving unless with honour." The Duke of
Bedford replied, that "upon his honour he meant no personal offence to
the Duke of Buckingham, nor to impute to him any bad or corrupt motive
whatever"; and here this somewhat absurd event terminated. Robert
commemorates it in a caricature, entitled, _A Shot from Buckingham to
Bedford_, which cannot be said to be complimentary to either of the
principals, one of the walls bearing the inscription in very large
letters of "Rubbish may be shot here." Another admirable caricature of
the year is entitled, _The Treadmill, or Stage-struck Heroes, Blacklegs,
and Cadgers stepping it to the tune of Mill, Mill O!_ a sort of general
satire; card-sharpers, decayed "Corinthians," and other vagabonds, are
undergoing a course of hard labour upon the wheel, which was then a
comparatively new invention,[52] their movements being accelerated by a
gaoler armed with a heavy whip, who bears some resemblance to, and is
probably intended for, the artist himself. A third excellent pictorial
satire of the same year bears the title of _Pope Mistaken_.
1823. FRENCH INTERPOSITION IN SPAIN.
The year 1823 is remarkable for the interposition of the French Bourbon
king into Spanish politics. The Spanish military, under the influence of
Riego and other officers, and encouraged by the discontent of the middle
classes, had revolted in 1820 against the despotism of Ferdinand, and
succeeded in establishing a constitution, which, in spite of its
imperfections, was preferable to the absolute and irresponsible
government of the Spanish monarchy. This state of things was peculiarly
distasteful to Louis XVIII., on account of the evil example it afforded
to his subjects; and, fortified by the sympathy of the "Holy Alliance"
(which may be shortly described as a sort of trades union of sovereigns
to resist all political changes not originating with themselves), he
determined to put it down. In his speech to the chambers on the 28th of
January, he announced that, "the infatuation with which the
representations made at Madrid had been rejected, left little hope of
preserving peace. I have ordered," he said, "the recall of my minister;
one hundred thousand Frenchmen, commanded by a prince of my family [the
Duc d'Angouleme]--by him whom my heart delights to call my son--are
ready to march, invoking the God of St. Louis, for the sake of
preserving the throne of Spain to a descendant of Henry the Fourth, of
saving that fine kingdom from its ruin, and of reconciling it with
Europe." The real cause of interposition, however, is indicated a few
sentences afterwards: "_Let Ferdinand the Seventh be free to give to his
people institutions which they cannot hold but from him_, and which, by
securing their tranquillity, would dissipate the just inquietudes of
France, [and] hostilities shall cease from that moment."
We have neither time, space, nor inclination to relate the events of
this invasion; suffice it to say that, owing to the cowardice of the
Spaniards, it was a complete "walk over" for the French, who, in five
months after they had crossed the Bidassoa, had penetrated to Cadiz,
dispersed the Cortes, and restored the despotism of Ferdinand.
[Illustration:
R. CRUIKSHANK _fecit_. A. G.--_Published May, 1823._
"JOHN BULL FLOURISHING IN A DIGNIFIED ATTITUDE OF STRICT
NEUTRALITY!!!!"
_Face p. 99._]
The contemplated crusade had aroused a certain amount of sympathy in
favour of Spain in England, but it did not go farther than the giving of
a splendid entertainment to the Spanish and Portuguese ambassadors at
the London Tavern on the 7th of March, under the presidentship of Lord
William Bentinck. The truth was that John Bull had not forgotten the
ungrateful and cowardly conduct of the Spaniards when we drove the
French out of their country in Napoleon's time; added to which England
was saddled with a heavy national debt, which made us still less
inclined to intermeddle with the affairs of our neighbours. Robert
Cruikshank produced a caricature in reference to our position, called,
_John Bull Flourishing in an Attitude of Strict Neutrality_, wherein he
shows us Spain in the act of imploring his assistance, which, however,
poor John is in no position to render, seeing that he wants help
himself, being placed in the stocks and heavily burdened with the weight
of "last war's taxes." In the distance appears fat Louis, mounted on a
cannon, driven by the Pope, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in allusion,
of course, to the "Holy Alliance" (the three latter powers had recalled
their ambassadors from Madrid on the 5th of January), while the devil
condescends to lend his assistance by pushing on behind. This caricature
is probably the best that Robert ever designed. Another satire on the
same subject bears the title of _King Gourmand XVIII. and Prince
Posterior in a Fright_.
HUGHES BALL.
One of Robert's satires of this year, entitled _The Golden Football_,
has obvious reference to Hughes Ball, known at Eton by his surname of
Hughes only, but who took the further name of _Ball_ on coming into a
fortune of forty thousand a year left him by his uncle, Admiral Sir
Alexander Ball, and thenceforth received his appropriate nickname of the
"Golden Ball." He was considered a great catch by all the mothers in
London; but, notwithstanding his money, was unfortunate in love, being
jilted by Lady Jane Paget, rejected by Miss Floyd (afterwards the wife
of Sir Robert Peel), and then by Lady Caroline Churchill. The young
ladies hearing of his numerous disappointments, were disinclined to
encourage a man so proverbially unfortunate. By way, perhaps, of
revenge, Hughes Ball this year ran off with and married Mademoiselle
Mercandotti, _premiere danseuse_ at His Majesty's Theatre, a beautiful
girl of sixteen, reported in the scandal of the day to be a natural
daughter of the Earl of Fife. The incident of Lady Jane Paget we have
mentioned is thus referred to by Charles Molloy Westmacott, the Ishmael
of the press of his day, in the _English Spy_, a work which, as we shall
presently see, was also illustrated by the artist:--
"Now, by my faith, it gives me pain
To see thee, cruel Lady J----,
Regret the _Golden Ball_.
'Tis useless now: 'The Fox and Grapes'
Remember, and avoid the apes
Which wait an old maids' fall."
Other of Robert's satires of the same year bear the title of _The
Commons versus the Crown of Martyrdom, or King Abraham's Coronation
Deferred_; and _A View in Cumberland_, that is the royal duke of that
name--a most unpopular personage, and of course proportionately fertile
subject of satire in his time.
1824. THE TENTH HUSSARS.
Among Robert's pictorial satires of 1824, I find one entitled _Arrogance
or Nonchalance? of the Tenth Reported_,--the "tenth" here referred to
being the Tenth Hussars. This distinguished regiment set the pencils of
the Brothers Cruikshank and their fellow caricaturists in motion at this
period, and I find an amazing number of caricatures of the date of 1824,
of which they form the subject. The officers would seem to have acquired
considerable unpopularity by the exclusive airs they gave themselves in
society, refusing to dance, declining introductions at public and
private balls, and otherwise assuming an arrogant and exclusive tone
which made them supremely ridiculous. So far did they carry these
absurdities, that they even declined to associate with an officer of
their own regiment unless he previously submitted to them the
particulars of his birth, parentage, and education, and general claim to
be admitted to the privilege of their august society. A certain Mr.
Battier, who seems to have been ignorant of the peculiar arrangement
they had established in opposition to the rules and policy of the
service, had obtained from the Duke of York a cornetcy in the regiment,
but not having submitted himself to the examination referred to, or
possibly not answering to the exclusive requirements of the regiment,
was forthwith sent to Coventry by his courteous brother officers. The
result, of course, was that the unlucky gentleman, finding no one to
speak to him, was forced to retire on half pay, which he was unfortunate
enough afterwards to forfeit by not unnaturally sending a challenge to
the colonel of the regiment.[53]
MISS FOOTE.
Maria Foote at this time was one of the most popular actresses in
London. Some years before she had come on a starring tour to Cheltenham,
a town much affected by the notorious Colonel Berkeley, who being
passionately devoted to the stage, and possessed moreover of some
histrionic ability, gallantly offered to perform for her benefit. The
colonel was notorious for his gallantries; under a promise of
marriage--which could not then, he said, be carried into effect,
inasmuch as he was then petitioning the Crown to grant him the dormant
peerage, which a marriage with an actress could not fail to
prejudice--he succeeded in accomplishing her seduction, and she
continued to live under his "protection" till, on the birth of her
second child, she arrived at the true conviction that he never had any
intention of fulfilling his promise. There was at this time a silly
fellow about town, Mr. Joseph Hayne, of Burderop Park, Wiltshire,
familiarly known (in reference to the colour of his coat) as "Pea Green
Hayne," who fell in love with and proposed to the fascinating actress.
There was no attempt at concealment on her part: it was stated at the
trial which followed that she herself wished to communicate to him the
circumstance of her connexion with Colonel Berkeley, when this gallant
gentleman saved her the trouble of doing so, and one night when they
were in the pit of the opera together, took the characteristic course of
making Hayne acquainted with the liaison, and the fact that it still
existed. Hayne immediately broke off the engagement; but soon afterwards
not only renewed it, but fixed the day of marriage. Again he broke it
off, again yielded to the fascinations of his enslaver, and this time
not only was the wedding-day fixed and the license obtained, but "Pea
Green Hayne" took a solemn vow that nothing should separate him from the
object of his affections. Believing that all was safe, Miss Foote now
threw up her engagement and disposed of her theatrical wardrobe, but the
weak-minded, vacillating creature, who could not summon up resolution
either to have or to leave her, let matters go on to the very day, and
again failed to put in an appearance. Some preliminary letters having
passed between the parties, Maria then issued a writ, and recovered
L3,000 damages in the action which followed. The plaintiff, who seven
years afterwards became Countess of Harrington, died in 1867.
"Pea Green" Hayne was also known as the "Silver Ball," in allusion to
his large income, which was smaller however than that enjoyed by his
friend and contemporary, Hughes Ball. After his exposure in the action
Foote _v._ Hayne, he received the far more appropriate nickname of
"Foote-Ball."
The opportunity of course was improved by the caricaturists, and
Robert's contributions on the subject (1824 and 1825) are labelled
respectively, _Miss Foote in the King's Bench Battery_; _Miss Foote
putting her Foot in it_; and _A Foot on the Stage and Asses in the Pit,
or a New Year's Piece for 1825_. Other pictorial satires of Robert's
bearing the date of 1824, are: _A Civic Louse in the State Bed_; _A Cut
at the City Cauliflower_; _The Corinthian Auctioneer_; two very coarse
but well drawn subjects--_Moments of Prattle and Pleasure_ and _Moments
of Parting with Treasure_; and an exquisitely drawn sketch bearing the
title of _Madame Catalani and the Bishop of Limbrig_, having reference
to some musical festival at Cambridge, the point of which has been lost,
but which is remarkable for the admirable likeness of the popular
singer.
1825.
The conduct of Colonel Berkeley in reference to the case Foote _v._
Hayne, called forth, as might have been expected, some severe strictures
from the press, and in particular Mr. Judge, editor of the _Cheltenham
Journal_, which place the colonel honoured with his patronage and
society, had occasionally indulged in animadversions on his conduct. In
one of the numbers of his paper an article appeared, in which some
satirical observations were made with reference to the annual "Berkeley
Hunt" ball. On the afternoon of that day Colonel Berkeley accompanied,
by two of his friends, called at Mr. Judge's residence, and being
invited to walk in, the colonel asked Mr. Judge if he would name the
author of the papers which had appeared in the _Journal_. Mr. Judge said
he did not know whom he had the honour of addressing, and on learning
who he was, proposed that he should call at the office of the paper,
"where he would give him every satisfaction." Colonel Berkeley replied,
"No, sir! Now, sir! Now, sir!" and without further notice commenced a
cowardly attack on the unarmed man by beating him _over the head_ and
face with the butt-end of a heavy hunting whip. To make the dastardly
affair more dastardly if possible, one of the two fellows with him stood
at the door, and the other near the fire place, so as to prevent Judge
from seizing any weapon or calling any one to his assistance. For this
ruffianly assault, which placed poor Judge for some time in considerable
danger of his life, he subsequently recovered substantial damages
against his cowardly antagonist. The Colonel got a far worse dressing
from Robert Cruikshank who, in a severe contemporary skit, named (in
allusion to the colonel's notorious illegitimacy) _Colonel Fitz
Bastard_, depicted him and his friends in the act of assaulting the
editor of the _Cheltenham Journal_.
EDMUND KEAN.
The artist's tastes and sympathies threw him much in the society of
actors. The following year his thoroughly Bohemian friend, Edmund Kean,
was mulcted in L800 damages, in consequence of a disgraceful liaison
with the wife of Alderman Cox; and while audiences thronged the one
theatre to testify their sympathy for a favourite and popular actress,
they crowded the other to howl and hiss at the thoroughly disreputable
and disgraced tragedian. The episode is referred to by the artist in
three of his contemporary caricatures, labelled respectively, _Wolves
Triumphant, or a Fig for Public Opinion_; _A Scene from the Pantomime of
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, lately performed at Drury Lane with unbounded
applause_; and the _Hostile Press, or Shakespeare in Danger_, all of
which contain perhaps the best theatrical portraits of the popular
tragedian which are extant.
Sir Walter Scott also figures in one of Robert's satires of this year
entitled, _The Great Unknown lately discovered in Ireland_, wherein he
is represented in Highland costume, with the Waverley novels on his
head, holding by the hand a small figure in hussar uniform, intended for
his son, Captain Scott of the 18th hussars, who this year had married
Miss Jobson, of Lochore. The pair after their marriage returned to
Ireland, where the captain was quartered, and where he and his wife were
visited by Sir Walter in August of this year. Although the fact was
pretty well known, the authorship of the novels was not avowed until
February of the following year, when with Sir Walter's consent it was
proclaimed by Lord Meadowbank at a theatrical dinner on the 27th of
February.
THE LIVING SKELETON.
A very curious personage makes his appearance in Robert's sketches of
this year, who would seem at first sight to be the most outrageously
caricatured of any of his subjects, and yet this in truth is not the
case. This person was the celebrated Claude Ambroise Seurat, "the living
skeleton," who was exhibited at the Chinese saloon in Pall Mall, and
whose portrait from three different points of view was taken by Robert
Cruikshank, and afterwards appeared in the first volume of Hone's
"Every-day Book," where a full account of this very singular personage
will be found. The repulsive object, who (with the exception of his
face) presented all the appearance of an attenuated skeleton, was
exhibited in a state of complete nudity with the exception of a fringe
of silk about his middle, from which (out of two holes cut for the
purpose) protruded his dreadful hip bones. Seurat, as might have been
expected, forms the subject of numerous contemporary caricatures; and in
one of these, by way of comical contrast, the worthy but corpulent
alderman, Sir William Curtis, distinguished by a similar scantiness of
attire, figures with the living skeleton in a lively _pas de deux_.
William Heath, in another of contemporary date, represents the fat
alderman standing on a map of England, and Seurat on a map of France.
Says Sir William: "I say, friend, did you ever eat turtle soup?" to
which Claude Ambroise replies, "No, sare; but I did eat de soupe
maigre." In another (also I think by the same artist), labelled,
_Foreign Rivals for British Patronage_, the living skeleton and a
favourite male Italian singer of the time are represented in the act of
preparing for mortal combat.[54]
A number of the caricatures of 1825 (and among them many by Robert) are
singularly illustrative of the morals of the time. About this year had
been published a work professing to contain the memoirs of an apt
disciple of Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke, which was made the vehicle of
extorting money. The _modus operandi_ appears to have been as follows.
In the month of March, 1825, a well-known M.P. of that day received a
letter from this creature in the following terms:--
"NO. 111, RUE DU FAUBOURG ST. HONORE,
A PARIS.
Sir,--People are buying themselves so fast out of my book, ...[55]
that I have no time to attend to them; should be sorry not to give
each _a chance_, if they _chuse to be out_. You are quizzed most
_unmercifully_. Two noble dukes have lately taken my word, and I have
never named them. I am sure ---- would say you might trust me never to
publish, or _cause_ to be published, aught about you, if you like to
forward L200 directly to me, else it will be too late, as the last
volume, in which you _shine_, will be the property of the editor, and
in his hands. Lord ---- says he will answer for aught I agree to; so
will my husband. Do _just as you like_--consult only yourself. I get
as much by a small _book_ as you will give me for taking you out, or
more. I attack no poor men, because they cannot help themselves.
"Adieu. Mind, I have no time to write again, as what with writing
books, and then altering them for those who _buy out_, I am done
up--_frappe en mort_.
"Don't trust to bag[56] with your answer."
That this extraordinary communication was no idle threat was proved by
the fact that a respectable statuary, carrying on business in
Piccadilly, who had refused to pay _black-mail_, brought an action for
libel in the King's Bench on the 1st of July against a man named
Stockdale, publisher of the infamous production referred to, and
recovered L300 damages. The same year Popple, the printer, brought his
action against this fellow; but Mr. Justice Best directed him to be
nonsuited, on the ground that he was not entitled to remuneration for
printing a work of such a character.
The Catholic Relief Bill, which was thrown out this year, is the subject
of several of Robert's satires, bearing the titles of _John Bull versus
Pope Bull_; _Defenders of the Faith_; _The Hare Presumptuous, or a
Catholic Game Trap_; _A Political Shaver, or the Crown in Danger_. _The
Catholic Association, or Paddy Coming it too Strong_, has reference to
Mr. Goulburn's motion to suppress the Catholic Association of Ireland,
which was carried by 278 to 123, and the third reading by a majority of
130. The language used by Mr. O'Connell on the occasion was so strong
that an indictment was subsequently preferred against him, which,
however, was thrown out by the grand jury. _Matheworama_ for 1825
depicts that celebrated impersonator in thirteen of his characters.
_Duelling_ deserves particular mention by reason of the admirably
designed landscape and figures. It represents one of the principals (who
looks very far from comfortable) waiting, with his second and a doctor,
the advent of the other parties. _The Bubble Burst, or the Ghost of an
old Act of Parliament_, has reference to the speculation mania of 1825.
Others of his satires for the year are labelled respectively, _Frank and
Free, or Clerical Characters in 1825_; _A Beau Clerk for a Banking
Concern_; _The Flat Catcher and the Rat Catcher_; and _A Pair of
Spectacles, or the London Stage in 1824-5_, which, although unsigned
and bearing no initials, I have no hesitation in assigning to Robert
Cruikshank.
I am unable to indicate the dates of the following: _Football_, very
clever, and probably earlier than any of those already mentioned;
_Waltzing_, "dedicated with propriety to the lord chamberlain," a very
coarse and severe satire upon the immoralities of the Prince Regent.
Besides those we have already mentioned, we have others with which the
volume miscalled "Cruikshankiana" (so often republished) has made the
general public probably more familiar, such as the _Monstrosities of
1827_; _A Dandy Fainting, or an Exquisite in Fits_; _The Broom Sold_
(Lord Brougham); _Household Troops_ (a skit on domestic servants); and
_A Tea-party, or English Manners and French Politeness_, all of which
may be dismissed with the remark that they are the worst specimens of
Robert's work which could probably have been selected.
SCARCITY OF ROBERT'S SATIRES.
With the year 1825, our record of Isaac Robert Cruikshank's caricature
work somewhat abruptly terminates. We cannot assert that after that date
it wholly ceased, but, inasmuch as we have selected those we have named
from a mass of some of the rarest pictorial satires published between
the years 1800 and 1830, I think we are fairly justified in assuming
that after this period his contributions to this branch of comic art
became fewer. If this be the fact, it confirms the conclusion at which
we have arrived, that at this time caricature had begun its somewhat
hasty decline. Those I have named comprise over seventy examples; and
their value, which is great on account of their scarcity, will be
increased by the possibility that in the conception and execution of
some of them the mind and hand of Robert might have been assisted by
those of the more celebrated brother. "When my dear brother Robert,"
says George in writing to the compiler of the famous catalogue of his
own works, "when my dear brother Robert (who in his latter days omitted
the Isaac) left off portrait painting, and took almost entirely to
designing and etching, I assisted him at first to a great extent in some
of his drawings on wood and his etchings." If this be the case, it is at
least possible that he lent the assistance of his cunning hand and
original fancy to the preparation of some of these contributions to
pictorial satire. It appears to us, therefore, that a just idea of
George's own work as an artist can scarcely be arrived at (especially
his share of the famous "Life in London") until we have first considered
the early work of himself and his brother Robert as graphic satirists
and caricaturists. They were closely associated in artistic work during
their early career; and it was not until both had given up social and
political satire, and devoted themselves to the then comparatively new
field of book illustration and etching on copper, that the superiority,
originality, and genius of the younger brother became so manifest and
incontrovertible.
FOOTNOTES:
[50] The name given him by Bernard Blackmantle.
[51] Further particulars of them will be found in the "Memoirs of the
Duchess d'Abrantes" (Madame Junot). The fashions of the years which
immediately preceded the Revolution appear to have been almost as
funny. I have somewhere seen a French semi-caricature depicting
fashionables of the Palais Royal in 1786, and the people who had
their heads cut off in '93 were almost as queer as the dandies of the
Directory and the Consulate.
[52] The treadmill was the invention of Mr. (afterwards Sir William)
Cubitt, of Ipswich. It was erected at Brixton gaol in 1817, and was
afterwards gradually introduced into other prisons.
[53] The Marquis of Londonderry.
[54] What became of Seurat we do not know, but we lately came across
the following: "the Siamese twins married; the _living skeleton_ was
crossed in love, but afterwards consoled himself with a corpulent
widow." The authority is George Augustus Sala in "Twice Round the
Clock." We strongly suspect that the wit extracted the information
out of his own "inner consciousness."
[55] We purposely omit the title.
[56] Presumably post "bag."