_ROBERT CRUIKSHANK_ (_Continued_).
_"LIFE IN LONDON" AND OTHER BOOK WORK._
In perusing various articles on George Cruikshank in which reference is
made to the "Life in London," we have been struck with the almost utter
absence of Robert Cruikshank's name; further than this, it seems to have
been the almost universal impression that it was his association with
George on this memorable book which secured such reputation as Robert
himself enjoyed. So far, however, was this from being the case, that not
only was Robert, in 1821, a caricaturist and satirist of acknowledged
reputation, but he was believed at this very time by the general public
to be the cleverer artist of the two. Robert, indeed, has been treated
with curious injustice in relation to this famous book, which owes its
very existence (as we shall presently see) to him alone. While according
to George (as in effect they do) the whole merit of the performance,
many of the writers of the articles referred to acknowledge that they
find it impossible to assign to him his share of the illustrations; and
that difficulty will be largely increased to any one who has studied
Robert Cruikshank's caricature work. The fact is that few of these
famous plates will bear comparison with the best of Robert's pictorial
satires; while the kindred book of the "English Spy," which was
illustrated (with the exception of one plate) by Robert alone, contains
designs quite equal to those which adorn the "Life in London." When it
is admitted that Robert executed three parts of these illustrations,
while those who have written upon him say that they are unable to
identify George's share of the work,[57] it seems unjust (to say the
least of it) that the credit of the _whole_ performance should be
assigned to him alone. Let us be just to Robert, even though his merit
as a draughtsman has been lost sight of in the fame which the younger
brother achieved by virtue of his greater genius.
POPULARITY OF "LIFE IN LONDON."
The reader need not be told--and we are not going to tell him what he
knows already--that the "Life" was dramatized by four writers for
different theatrical houses. The most successful version was the one
produced at the Adelphi, previously known as the _Sans Pareil_ theatre.
The first season of this house, which Messrs Jones and Rodwell had
recently purchased for L25,000, was only moderately successful; but the
fortune of the second was made by "Tom and Jerry." Night after night
immediately after the opening of the doors, the theatre was crowded to
the very ceiling; the rush was tremendous. By three o'clock in the
afternoon of every day the pavement of the Strand had become impassable,
and the dense mass which occupied it had extended by six o'clock far
across the roadway. Peers and provincials, dukes and dustmen, all grades
and classes of people swelled the tide which night after night rolled
its wave up the passage of the Adelphi. It was a compact wedge; on it
moved, slowly, laboriously, amid the shouts and shrieks, the justling
and jostling of the crowd which composed it, leavened by the
intermixture of numbers of the swell mob, who plied their vocation with
indefatigable industry and impunity. Nevertheless, the reader will be
surprised to learn (and it is probably little known) that in spite of
this amazing popularity, the first night of "Tom and Jerry" met with
such unexpected opposition that Mr. Rodwell declared it should never be
played again. Luckily for himself and his partner he was induced to
reconsider this decision. The tide was taken at the flood, and it
led--as the poet assures us that it will lead when so taken--to an
assured fortune.
[Illustration:
ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. _From "The Universal Songster."_
"By this take a warning, for noon, night, or morning,
The devil's in search of attorneys."]
[Illustration:
ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. _From "The Universal Songster."_
"With her flames and darts, and apple tarts, her ices, trifles,
cherry-brandy, O, she knew not which to choose, for she thought them
both the Dandy."
_Face p. 110._]
One night a stranger entered the private box of the Duke of York at the
Adelphi, and seated himself immediately behind his Royal Highness,
who took but little notice of the intruder. The mysterious stranger had
been brought in and was fetched by a plain green chariot; and the few
that saw him said that he was a portly gentleman, wrapped in a long
great coat and muffled up to the eyes. Keeping himself well behind his
Royal Highness, the portly stranger took a deep but unostentatious
interest in the performance. In his Haroun al-Raschid character he had
been present, with his friend Lord Coleraine (then Major George Hanger),
at some of the actual scenes represented; and in particular, by virtue
of the fact of his wearing "a clean shirt," had been called upon by the
ragged chairman at a convivial meeting of the "Cadgers" to favour them
with a song, which had been sung for him by his friend and proxy the
Major. The mysterious stranger in fact, as the reader has already
guessed, was his gracious Majesty King George the Fourth, and his visit
_incognito_ having been made by previous notice and arrangement, the
passages were kept as clear of the general public as possible.
The scenery of the Adelphi version was superintended by Robert
Cruikshank himself. "Tom and Jerry" brought a strange mixture of
visitors to attend the rehearsals. Corinthians (men of fashion)--members
of the turf and the prize ring, who found a common medium of
conversation in the sporting slang which Mr. Egan has made so familiar
to us. Naturally there was a mixture. Tom Cribb, whom the Cruikshanks
had temporarily elevated into the position of a hero, was indispensable;
and the silver cup which figures in Robert's sketch was every night made
use of in the scene depicting the champion's pot-house sanctum. Among
the frequenters at these rehearsals was a quiet man of unusually
unobtrusive deportment and conversation,--this man was Thurtell, the
cold-blooded murderer of Mr. Weare.
Since the days of the "Beggars' Opera," a success equal to that which
attended the "Life in London," and its several dramatized versions by
Barrymore, Charles Dibdin, Moncrieff, and Pierce Egan, had been unknown.
The exhausted exchequers of four or five theatres were replenished; and
as in the days of the "Beggars' Opera" the favourite songs of that piece
were transferred to the ladies' fans, and highwaymen and abandoned
women became the heroes and heroines of the hour, so, in like manner,
the Cruikshanks' designs were now transferred to tea-trays, snuff-boxes,
pocket-handkerchiefs, screens, and ladies' fans, and the popular
favourites of 1821 and 1822 were "Corinthian Tom," "Jerry Hawthorn,"
"Bob Logic," "Bob the dustman," and "Corinthian Kate."
The success of "Life in London" was not regarded with equal satisfaction
by all classes of the community; the serious world was horribly
scandalized. Zealous, honest, fervid, and terribly in earnest, these
good folks, in their ignorance of the world and of human nature, only
added to the mischief which it was their honest wish to abate. They
proclaimed the immorality of the drama; denounced "Tom and Jerry" from
the pulpit; and besieged the doors of the play houses with a perfect
army of tract droppers. Anything more injudicious, anything less
calculated to achieve the end which these good people had in view, I can
scarcely imagine; for it is a well-known fact that the best method of
making a book or a play a "commercial success," in England, is to throw
doubts on its moral tendency.[58] The more respectable portion of the
press did better service to their cause by showing that, in spite of
their popularity, "Tom and Jerry" were doing mischief, and that the
theatres lent their aid to disseminate the evil, by nightly regaling the
female part of society "with vivid representations of the blackest sinks
of iniquity to be found in the metropolis." Called on to defend his
drama, Moncrieff, strange to say, proved himself no wiser than his
assailants. All he could allege in its behalf was that "the obnoxious
scenes of life were only shown that they might be avoided; the danger of
mixing in them was strikingly exemplified; and every incident tended to
prove"--what? why,--"_that happiness was only to be found in the
domestic circle_"! This was special pleading with a vengeance! Of course
all that the theatres really cared to do was to fill their exhausted
exchequers; while as for Bohemian Robert and his friend Egan, the idea
of making the "Life in London" a moral lesson never once entered their
heads. The artist however was shrewd enough to take note of the
observation for future use; and seven years later on, when he and Egan
produced their "Finish to the Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic in
their Pursuits through Life in and out of London," endeavoured to profit
by the storm which had been raised by the good people of 1821, by
tagging a clumsy moral to the sequel.
By this time, however, the excitement which had attended the original
work had evaporated; by this time, too, the public had learnt to
discriminate between the pencils of the brothers Cruikshank; and the
"Finish," as compared with the original "Life," fell comparatively flat.
It made however some sort of sensation in its day, but has become not
only a scarce book, but one that is little sought after. The genius and
reputation of George and the pen of Thackeray have kept alive the
popularity of the "Life,"[59] while the "Finish"--left to the unaided
but clever hand of Robert--has like himself been almost forgotten.
And yet it scarcely merits this fate. It contains thirty-six etchings by
Robert Cruikshank, some of them of singular merit. Among them may be
mentioned, _The Duchess of Dogood_; _Splendid Jim_; _Logic Visiting his
Old Acquaintance on Board the Fleet_; _Corinthian Kate in the Last Stage
of Consumption, Disease, and Inebriety_; and if not the production of a
genius, the hand of an artist of singular merit, ability, and power is
manifest in the etchings entitled, _The Hounds at a Standstill_;
_Logic's Upper Storey_; and _The End of Corinthian Kate_.
PIERCE EGAN.
Although modestly claiming for himself the merits of this book, Pierce
Egan stands in relation to it in the position of a showman, and nothing
more. He is not even entitled to the credit of being the
originator,--for the originator and suggestor was Robert Cruikshank, who
informs us of the fact (after his own characteristic fashion) by way of
footnote to his frontispiece to the "Finish."[60] But Egan is
undoubtedly a clever showman; if he displays rather more vulgarity than
we altogether like, we must not forget the audience to whom he addresses
himself, and for whom indeed his show is specially intended. We cannot
admit that the popularity of this book was _entirely_ due to the merit
of the artists whose canvas he elucidates and (after his own fashion)
explains. In common fairness some credit should be conceeded to Egan
himself. Of literary talents he had not a particle; and if he lacked
taste and refinement, it may at least be urged in his behalf that the
age was not one of refinement, and that sixty years ago we had scarcely
emancipated ourselves from the barbarism and vulgarity some remnants of
which had descended to us from the time of George the Second. The bent
of his taste and the scope of his abilities may be guessed from the fact
that his "account of the trial of John Thurtell, the murderer," passed
into at least _thirteen_ editions. A man of this stamp could scarcely be
expected to recognise the true value of the work with which he had the
honour to be associated; he never looked beyond his patrons of the day,
and as a natural consequence posterity has troubled itself little about
him. You will search the biographical dictionaries in vain for any
account of him;[61] and this oblivion he scarcely deserves, for not only
was he one of the most popular men of sixty years ago, but he would
scarcely have attained that position without a fair share of merit. He
was not deficient in energy, and his talent is shown by the fact that he
understood and (in a measure) led the taste of his day, taking advantage
of his knowledge to raise himself to a position unattainable had such
taste been of a more elevated and refined character. His descriptive
powers (such as they were) were sufficient to procure him the post of
recorder of the "Doings of the Ring" on the staff of the _Weekly
Dispatch_, which post he occupied at the time he officiated as literary
showman to "Tom and Jerry." He had however tried many trades,--had been
in turn a compositor, bookseller, sporting writer, newspaper reporter,
and even secretary to an Irish theatrical manager. The success of "Life
in London," which he arrogated to himself, raised up a crop of enemies
as well as friends, and he soon afterwards received his _conge_ from the
proprietors of the _Dispatch_. Pierce Egan, however, was not a man to be
daunted by any such discouragement; he was found equal to the occasion,
meeting his employers' _coup d'etat_ by starting a sporting paper of his
own, to which he gave the name of his successful book,--_Pierce Egan's
Life in London, and Sporting Guide_. This counter movement proved the
germ of a great enterprise. Probably his venture was no very great
success; it ran only for three years from its commencement on the 1st of
February, 1824. On the 28th of October, 1827, _Egan's Life in London_
was sold by auction to a Mr. Bell, and thenceforth assumed its well
known and now time honoured title of _Bell's Life in London_.
CHARLES MOLLOY WESTMACOTT.
Another friend of the artist was Charles Molloy Westmacott, as he called
himself, but who is supposed to have been--_filius nullius_ or _filius
populi_--the child of Mrs. Molloy, a pretty widow who kept a tavern at
Kensington. Westmacott was one of a class of writers who not only
existed but thrived in the early part of our century by the levying of
literary black-mail. The _modus operandi_ (as given by Mr. William
Bates, from whom we derive our information respecting this man) appears
to have been as follows: "Sometimes a vague rumour or hint of scandal,
accompanied perchance by a suggestive newspaper paragraph, was conveyed
to one or more of the parties implicated, with a threat of further
inquiry into its truth, and a full exposure of the circumstances which
excited the sender's virtuous indignation. This, if the selected victim
was a man of nervous, timid temperament, often produced the desired
effect; and although possibly entirely innocent of the allegation, he
preferred to purchase silence, and escape the suspicion which publicity
does not fail to attach to a name. If, on the other hand, no notice was
taken of the communication, the screw received some further turns. A
narrative was drawn up, and printed off, in the form of a newspaper
paragraph, and was transmitted to the parties concerned, with a letter,
intimating that it had been 'received from a correspondent,' and that
the publisher thought fit, prior to publication, to ascertain whether
those whose names were mentioned desired to correct, modify, or cancel
any part of the statement. There is no doubt that very large sums have
been extorted by these scoundrelly means, and a vast amount of anxiety
and misery occasioned."[62] This was "the sort of man" that Charles
Molloy Westmacott appears to have been; and I learn on the same
authority that by these means he was enabled in one instance alone to
net not much less than a sum of L5,000. "Pulls" of this kind enabled
this fellow to live at his ease in a suburban retreat situated somewhere
between Barnes and Richmond, which he fitted up (for he considered
himself, as some others of his more modern class appear to do, a "man of
letters") with books and pictures.
"THE ENGLISH SPY."
In 1825 this man brought out, under his pseudonym of "Bernard
Blackmantle," a veritable _chronique scandaleuse_ of the time, entitled,
"The English Spy," the title page of which describes it as "an original
work, characteristic, satirical, and humorous, containing scenes and
sketches in every rank of society; being portraits of the Illustrious
Eminent, Eccentric and Notorious, drawn from the Life by Bernard
Blackmantle." This extraordinary work presents us with pictures of
"life" at Eton, at Oxford, and in fashionable society in London,
Brighton, Cheltenham, Bath, and elsewhere; and the seventy-two admirable
copperplate aqua-tinted etchings, with one exception (which is by the
veteran Rowlandson), are the work of Isaac Robert Cruikshank. This is a
far rarer and more valuable book than the "Life in London." In place of
"Corinthian" hook-nosed Tom, rosy-cheeked Jerry, and the vulgar
_gobemouche_ Logic, we find figuring amongst the interesting groups,
scenes, and characters all the notabilities of the day: celebrities such
as George the Fourth and his favourite sultana the Marchioness of
Conyngham, the Princess Augusta, Charles Kemble, Matthews, Fawcett,
Farren, Grimaldi, Macready, Young, T. P. Cooke, Elliston, Dowton,
Harley, Munden, Liston, Wallack, Madame Vestris, Townsend (the Bow
Street "runner"), "Pea Green" Hayne, Lord William Lennox, Colonel
Berkeley, Hughes Ball, and others. The etchings are singularly clear and
distinct, and the colouring bright and pleasing. Among the illustrations
which specially deserve notice are: _The Oppidans' Museum_; _The Eton
Montem_ (an admirable design); _The First Bow to Alma Mater_; _College
Comforts_ (a freshman taking possession of his rooms); _Kensington
Gardens Sunday Evenings, Singularities of 1824_ (woodcut); _The Opera
Green-room, or Noble Amateurs viewing Foreign Curiosities_; _Oxford
Transports, or Albanians doing Penance for Past Offences_; _The King at
Home, or Mathews at Carlton House_; _A Visit to Billingsgate_;
_Characters on the Steyne, Brighton_; _The Cogged Dice, Interior of a
Modern Hell_; _City Ball at the Mansion House_; _The Wake_; _The
Cyprians' Ball at the Argyle Rooms_; _The Post Office Bristol, Arrival
of the London Mail_; _The Fancy Ball at the Upper Rooms, Bath_; and
_Milsom Street and Bond Street_, containing portraits of Bath
fashionables.
The so-called _Oppidans'[63] Museum_ is composed of the signs stolen by
Eton scapegraces from the local tradesmen; a mock court is in progress,
at which the injured parties attend and either claim or receive
compensation for their stolen property. The tradesmen in the plate
before us look anything but injured persons, and as a matter of fact the
award is sufficiently ample to make amends for all damage. The two
persons officiating as assessors and apportioning compensation to the
various claimants, are Westmacott and "Robert Transit" (the artist
himself). The illustration is full of life and character. Among the
groups may be noticed a young fellow holding a bull-terrier suspended by
its teeth from a handkerchief; a bet depends on the dog's patience and
strength of jaw, and an interested companion watches the result,
chronometer in hand. _The King at Home_, represents a scene which is
said to have actually taken place when Mathews was giving his
entertainment at Carlton House. The performer was imitating Kemble, when
the king started up, and to the surprise of every one, particularly of
Mathews, interrupted the performance by a personal and very clever
imitation of the actor, who, by the way, had taught him elocution.
This, indeed, was one of George's strong points, who, if not a good
king, was at least an admirable mimic. Says old Dr. Burney (writing to
his daughter on the 12th of July, 1805), "He is a most excellent mimic
of well-known characters; had we been in the dark, any one would have
sworn that Dr. Parr and _Kemble_ were in the room."[64] In this plate we
find likenesses not only of the king and of Mathews, but also of the
Princess Augusta and the too celebrated Marchioness of Conyngham.
Thomas Rowlandson's single pictorial contribution to the "English Spy,"
_R---- A----ys of Genius Reflecting on the True Line of Beauty at the
Life Academy_, is described by Mr. Grego under date of 1825. This is not
the only time in which the artist was associated in work with
Rowlandson. There is a rare work (one of an annual series)--"The Spirit
of the Public Journals," for the year 1824, with explanatory notes by C.
M. Westmacott, a collection of whimsical extracts from the press, which
appeared in print in the previous season, which has illustrations on
wood by four distinguished coadjutors: Thomas Rowlandson, George
Cruikshank, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, and Theodore Lane.
"FITZALLEYNE OF BERKELEY."
The Foote _v._ Hayne affair mentioned in our last chapter afforded grist
for the kind of mill driven by literary blacklegs of the class of
"Bernard Blackmantle." The black-mail system was tried at first, and
when that failed he produced the now rare _FitzAlleyne of Berkeley: a
Romance of the Present Times_, a pair of libellous volumes, the
_dramatis personae_ of which comprise the persons whose names were
mentioned in connection with the case. "Maria Pous" was of course Maria
Foote; Samuel Pous, her father; Lord A----y, Alvanley; Major H----r,
Major George Hanger, afterwards Lord Coleraine; Optimus, Mr. Tom Best
(who shot Lord Camelford in a duel); the Pea-green Count and FitzAlleyne
of Berkeley speak for themselves; while "Mary Carbon" is the butcher's
daughter of Gloucester, mother of the Colonel, and afterwards Countess
of Berkeley. Such a character as Molloy, otherwise Westmacott, was
bound to get sometimes into trouble (in these days he would probably
receive his reward for "endeavouring to extort money by threats"); and
if he did not get exactly what he deserved, he did get, on the tenth of
October, 1830, a tremendous thrashing from Charles Kemble. References to
the memorandum books of this Ishmaelite of the press, in which he
entered (for future use) some of the scandalous chronicles of his time,
and which were offered for sale at his death in 1868, will be found in
Mr. Bates's interesting book, from which we have already quoted.
"POINTS OF HUMOUR."
Returning to his friend and coadjutor, Robert Cruikshank, the best of
the artist's coloured illustrations to the "English Spy" are contained
in the first volume; in the second he falls into those habits of
carelessness which, with all his ability and artistic talent, were a
besetting weakness. Robert lacked the genius, the fine fancy, the
careful, delicate handling of George. Up to the publication of the
"Life," the brothers as we have seen had worked together frequently, but
after this period they separated. George had already achieved one of his
earliest triumphs in book illustration--"The Points of Humour," which
provoked the universal admiration of the critics, and proclaimed him one
of the most original geniuses of the time. The "Life," however, had made
both brothers famous, and the general public had scarcely yet learnt to
distinguish between the pencils of George and Robert. This confusion was
taken advantage of by unscrupulous publishers (a practice at which
Robert himself seems to have connived) to trade upon the popularity of
the Cruikshank name. We frequently find, for instance, in literary
advertisements of the time, that a forthcoming book is illustrated by
"Cruikshank," and the work we have just named is a case in point. No
sooner had the "Points of Humour" appeared and made their mark, than
they were followed by an announcement by Sherwood, Jones & Co., of the
"Points of Misery," the letterpress by Charles Molloy Westmacott, and
the designs by "Cruikshank," that is to say--Robert. Although this
publication is marred by the slovenliness of execution which
characterised the artist in his careless moods, a few of the designs
are excellent, and the tailpieces--_A Six Inside_, at page 36; _Cleaned
Out_, at page 88; and the _Pawn Shop_, at page 87--suffice to show of
how much better work Robert Cruikshank was capable. George, as was usual
with him on these occasions, was horribly annoyed, and loudly and (as it
seems to us) unnecessarily proclaimed to the world that he had no
connection with the work. Probably this manifesto did no good to a book
little calculated either by its literary or pictorial merits to command
success; and as the copy before us remained uncut from the date of the
publication until the present, the inference is that the speculation of
Messrs. Sherwood, Jones & Co., proved scarcely a remunerative one.
Among the forgotten books of half a century ago, we meet with one whose
title reminds us of the "Life in London." It is called, "Doings in
London; or, Day and Night Scenes of the Frauds, Frolics, Manners, and
Depravities of the Metropolis." It came out in threepenny numbers, in
1828, and its professed object (in the queer language of George Smeeton,
its compiler and publisher) was to "show vice and deception in all their
real deformity, and not by painting in glowing colours the fascinating
allurements, the mischievous frolics and vicious habits of the
profligate, the heedless, and the debauchee, tempt youth to commit those
irregularities which often lead to dangerous consequences, not only to
themselves but also to the public." This shot of course was aimed at
Pierce Egan, who, engaged at that time in bringing out the "Finish," not
unnaturally considered these "Doings" an attempt to derive profit by an
indirect infringement of his own title. The title in fact _was_ a
misleading one, and the book a specimen of a class of useless literature
of the time, by which paste-and-scissors information compiled from
books, newspapers, and statistics by some one at best imperfectly
acquainted with his subject, was attempted to be conveyed by means of
questions and answers, supplemented by dreary and unnecessary remarks of
a moralizing tendency. The persons in whose company Smeeton would send
us round, in order that we may form a just conception of the "vice and
deception in all their real deformity," of which he speaks, are a
couple of idiots, one Peregrine Wilson, and an attendant mentor, whom we
drop at the earliest convenient opportunity. Information combined with
morality is all very well. The "History of Sandford and Merton" may have
been, as Lord Houghton assures us it was, "the delight of the youth of
the first generation of the present century." As one of the youth of the
generation referred to, we refuse to admit it, and we are perfectly
certain that the youth of the present generation would have nothing
whatever to do with it. We resign ourselves preferentially to the
guidance of Isaac Robert and George Cruikshank, sensible that they at
least, while conversant with the scenes they so graphically describe,
will not bore us with unnecessary moral reflections. We prefer, if the
truth must be told, to "sport a toe among the Corinthians at Almack's"
with hooked-nosed Tom and rosy-cheeked Jerry; to visit with these merry
and by no means strait-laced persons, Mr. O'Shaunessy's rooms in the
Haymarket; the back parlour of the respected Thomas Cribb, ex-champion
of England; to take wine with them "in the wood" at the London Docks; to
enjoy with them, if they will, "the humours of a masquerade supper at
the opera house." The work which Smeeton designed with such indifferent
success was subsequently carried out in a far more efficient manner by
Mr. James Grant, in his "Sketches in London,"[65] and at a later date by
Mr. Mayhew, in his well-known "London Labour and the London Poor."
The "Doings in London" owe whatever value they possess to the
thirty-nine curious designs on wood of Isaac Robert Cruikshank, engraved
by W. C. Bonner, which, on the whole fair examples of his workmanship in
this style, strongly remind us of the smaller woodcuts in Hone's
"Every-Day Book."
The best specimens, however, of Robert's designs on wood are those which
will be found in two small volumes, known indifferently as "Facetiae" and
"Cruikshank's Comic Album," which contain a series of _jeux d'esprits_,
published between the years 1830 and 1832, and comprising _Old Bootey's
Ghost_ and _The Man of Intellect_, by W. F. Moncrieff; _The High-mettled
Racer_ and _Monsieur Nongtongpaw_, by Charles Dibdin; _Margate and
Brighton_; _The Devil's Visit_; _Steamers and Stages_; _Monsieur
Touson_; _Monsieur Mallet_, by H. W. Montague; _Mathew's Comic Annual_
(a miserable _melange_ by our friend Pierce Egan); the famous _Devil's
Walk_, by Coleridge and Southey, etc., etc. These little volumes, which
are now rare, contain nearly one hundred excellent examples of Robert
Cruikshank's workmanship, the woodcuts being executed after the artist's
designs by W. C. Bonner and other wood engravers of eminence. We can
stay only to describe one, which illustrates one of the many experiences
of John Bull in his memorable visit to France. Struck with the
appearance of a French lady, "young and gay," the stanza tells us--
"Struck by her charms he ask'd her name
Of the first man he saw;
From whom, with shrugs, no answer came
But, '_Je vous n'entends pas._'"
Three other books (two of them exceedingly rare) must suffice to
complete our survey of Robert's merits as a designer and book
illustrator. These are "Colburn's Kalendar of Amusements" (1840), "Job
Crithannah's Original Fables" (1834), and Eugene Sue's "Orphan." There
is an Irishman sitting on a barrel in one of the woodcuts to the
"Kalendar," who quite equals any of the Hibernians of George. The
eighty-four designs to the "Fables" are admirable specimens of the
artist's best manner, and George himself rarely executed better
illustrations than those of the _Farmer and the Pointer_, at page 110,
_The Cow and the Farmer_, at page 163, and _The Old Woman and her Cat_,
at page 219. This rare and choice book abounds with admirable
tailpieces; one of which exhibits a sufferer down in the agonies of
gout, the treatment of which subject may even be compared with the more
elaborate and admirable design by the brother described by Thackeray.
Sue's "Orphan" has numerous carefully executed etchings by the artist,
after the style and manner of his brother; in the very signature,
"Robert Cruikshank," we trace a distinct copy of George's peculiar
trademark or sign-manual. Mr. Walter Hamilton, in his essay on the
brother, presents us with a dozen copies of Robert's designs, eight of
which, although unacknowledged, are taken from Crithannah's "Fables,"
and will bear as much comparison with the original and beautiful
woodcuts as the work of a common sign-painter with a finished painting
by Landseer. A detailed but probably imperfect list of the artist's book
work will be found in the _appendix_.
The name of Robert Cruikshank has slipped out of the place it once
occupied in public estimation; and his good work and his poor work being
equally scarce, his name and his claims to rank high among the number of
English caricaturists and comic artists have been forgotten even by the
survivors of the generation to which he himself belonged. In bringing to
the remembrance of those who do know, and to the knowledge of those who
do not know, some of the work which entitled him in our judgment to
occupy a leading place amongst the number of those of whom we write, we
have endeavoured to brush away the dust of oblivion which for so many
years has obscured the name and reputation of an artist, who, in spite
of much slovenliness and carelessness of execution, was both an able
caricaturist and a skilful draughtsman. George writes of his dead
brother in terms of affection, and describes him as "a very clever
miniature and portrait painter, and also a designer and etcher;" his
friend and coadjutor, the late George Daniel, gives him credit for
genius, of which however (in the sense in which we use and understand
the word) he did not possess a particle. He tells us that "he was apt to
conceive and prompt to execute; he had a quick eye and a ready hand;
with all his extravagant drollery, his drawing is anatomically correct;
his details are minute, expressive, and of careful finish, and his
colouring is bright and delicate." In the early part of his career, as
we have seen, the two brothers had been so closely associated in life
and in art, that the history of Robert is, to some extent, the history
of George; but when they separated, when each was left to his own
individual resources, George then struck into a path which neither
Robert nor any of his contemporaries might hope to follow. By the time
Robert had realized this fact, HB had appeared, and the art of
caricaturing, as theretofore practised, received a blow from which it
will never rally. Besides being an able water colour artist, he had at
one time achieved some reputation as a portrait painter; but the latter
pursuit he had long practically abandoned, while success in the former
required a closer application and the exercise of a greater amount of
patience than a man of his age and temperament could afford to bestow.
He was, in fact, too old to commence life afresh; and so it came
inevitably to pass that, as his brother did in after life (but from
causes, as we shall see, widely different), Robert gradually dropped
behind and was forgotten. He had not the genius or pride in his art of
his brother, and looked rather to that art as a means of present
livelihood than of acquiring a permanent and enduring reputation. If
George--with all his pride in his art, with all his genius, with all his
rare gifts of imagination and fancy--was destined to be left behind in
the race of life, what could poor Robert hope for? It is sad to think
that in later life, poor easy-going, thriftless, careless, Bohemian
Robert sank into neglect and consequent poverty. He died (of bronchitis)
on the 13th of March, 1856, in his sixty-sixth year.
FOOTNOTES:
[57] In this I cannot agree. George designed about a third of the
plates, and those who know his workmanship thoroughly will not fail
to identify it.
[58] A fact which testifies to the curiosity and _not_ the immorality
of our people.
[59] I have known as much as L10 asked for a copy; but _a first
edition_ (a rarity) may be purchased sometimes of a respectable
bookseller for L8.
[60] "Fair Play! Robt. Cruikshank, invt. et fect., original suggestor
and artist of the 2 vols. Adieu!"
[61] A list of his works will be found in Dr. Brewer's "Handbook."
[62] "The Maclise Portrait Gallery," by William Bates (ed. 1883), p.
236.
[63] The name given to the students of Eton School who board in the
town.
[64] Diary of Madam d'Arblay.
[65] W. S. Orr & Co., 1838.