The new-made Countess treads enchanted ground,
And madly whirls in pleasure's airy round;
From Circe's cup delicious poison quaffs,
And, drunk with pomp, at cold discretion laughs.
While the soft warbling of a senseless song,
Pour'd from a neutral nothing,[13] charms the throng;
To love's fond tale the fair her ear inclines,
To Satan's agent all her soul resigns.
Beware his soft insidious smiles,
Fly from his glance, and shun his wiles;
Avoid the serpent's poisonous breath,
'Tis fraught with infamy and death.--E.
[Illustration: MARRIAGE A LA MODE. PLATE IV.]
By the old Peer's death our fair heroine has attained the summit of
her wishes, and become a Countess. Intoxicated by this elevation,
and vain of her new dignity, she ranges through the whole circle
of frivolous amusements, and treads every maze of fashionable
dissipation. Her excesses are rendered still more criminal by the
consequent neglect of domestic duties; for, by the coral on the
back of her chair, we are led to suppose that she is a mother. Her
morning levee is crowded with persons of rank, and attended by her
paramour, and that contemptible shadow of man, an Italian singer,
with whose dulcet notes two of our right honourable group seem in
the highest degree enraptured. This bloated animal, carelessly and
consequentially leaning back in his chair, is dressed in a richly
embroidered coat, and every finger is loaded with a diamond. Though
in a morning, his solitaire, kneebands, and shoes are decorated with
gems.[14] He is quavering,
"The seeming echo of what once was song,
Sweet by defect, and impotently strong."
That our extravagant Countess purchased the pipe of this expensive
exotic in mere compliance to the fashion of the day, without any real
taste for his mellifluous warblings, is intimated by the absorbed
attention which she pays to the Advocate, who, with the luxuriant
indolent grace of an Eastern effendi, is lolling on a sofa at her
right hand. By his pointing to the folding screen, on which is
delineated a masquerade revel,[15] at the same time that he shows his
infatuated _inamorato_ a ticket of admission, we see that they
are making an assignation for the evening. The fatal consequences of
their unfortunate meeting is displayed in the two succeeding plates.
A Swiss servant, who is dressing her hair, has all the grimace of his
country; he is the complete Canton of the _Clandestine Marriage_.
The contemptuous leer of a black footman, serving chocolate, is
evidently directed to the singer, and forms an admirable contrast to
the die-away lady seated before him,[16] who, lost to every sense but
that of hearing, is exalted to the third heaven by the enchanting
song of this pampered Italian. On the country gentleman,[17] with a
whip in his hand, it has quite a different effect; with the echoing
"Tally ho!" he would be exhilarated; by the soft sounds of Italia,
his soul is lulled to rest. The _fine feeling_ creature, with a fan
suspended from _its_ wrist, is marked with that foolish face of
praise which understands nothing, but admires everything that it is
the _ton_ to admire! The taper supporters of Monsieur _en papillote_
are admirably opposed to the lumbering pedestals of our mummy of
music. The figure behind him[18] blows a flute with every muscle of
his face. A little black boy in the opposite corner, examining a
collection of grotesque china ornaments which have been purchased
at the sale of Esquire Timothy Babyhouse, pays great attention to
a figure of Acteon, and with a very significant leer points to his
horns. Under a delineation of Jupiter and Leda, on a china dish, is
written, "Julio Romano!" The fantastic group of hydras, gorgons, and
chimeras dire, which lie near it, are an admirable specimen of the
absurd and shapeless monsters which disgraced our drawing-rooms until
the introduction of Etrurian ornaments. By the fantastic decorations
upon a chimney-piece in the second plate, we saw that our fashionable
pair had a taste, and this taste may have been one source of their
embarrassments. Another of their follies which, when gaming is united
to it, will level their lofty forests and lay their proudest mansions
in the dust, is displayed in the cards of invitation scattered on
the floor. They afford a good specimen of polite literature, and the
writers deserve a niche in the catalogue of royal and noble authors.
The list follows:--
"Count Basset desire to no how Lady Squander sleep last nite."
"Lord Squander's company is desired at Lady Townley's drum. Monday
next."
"Lady Squander's company is desired at Miss Hairbrain's rout."
"Lady Squander's company is desired at Lady Heathen's drum-major.
Sunday next."
The pictures in this dressing-room are well suited to the profligate
proprietor, and may be further intended as a burlesque on the
strange and grossly indelicate subjects so frequently painted by
ancient masters: Lot and his daughters; Ganymede and the Eagle;[19]
Jupiter and Io; and a portrait of the young Lawyer, who is the
favourite--the _cicisbeo_--or more properly, the seducer of the
Countess.
This print was engraved by Ravenet, who has preserved the characters.