,,john ,,leech ,his ,life and ,work ,illustration ,,john ,,leech ,his ,life and ,work ,,by ,,william ,,powell ,,frith1 ,r4,a4 ,illustration ,,with ,,portrait ,,and ,,numerous ,,illustrations ,,in ,,two ,,volumes ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,london ,,richard ,,bentley ,,and ,,son ,publishers in ,ordinary to ,her ,majesty the ,queen #ahia ,all rights reserved ,i ,dedicate this ,book ,,to ,,charles ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,leech',s ,,earliest1 ,,warmest1 ,,and ,,most ,,constant ,,friend2 ,,with ,,my ,,grateful ,,thanks ,,for ,,the ,,interest ,,he ,,has ,,taken ,,in ,,my ,,work1 ,,and ,,for ,,the ,,valuable ,,assistance ,,afforded ,,in ,,the ,,execution ,,of ,,it4 ,,preface ,i am very conscious of the many sins of commission and omission of which ,i have been guilty in my attempt to write the ,life and ,work of ,john ,leech2 but1 that ingratitude may not figure amongst my shortcomings1 ,i take advantage of the usual preface to acknowledge my obligations to friends and strangers from whom ,i have received assistance1 and to express my warmest thanks for their kindness4 ,the time that has elapsed since ,leech's death has terribly thinned the ranks of his friends and contemporaries2 but the leveller has spared and dealt tenderly with one of his earliest and most constant friends1 ,mr4 ,charles ,f4 ,adams1 whose store of ,leech's letters1 together with many pleasing reminiscences1 have been placed unreservedly at my disposal4 ,from ,mr4 ,kitton's memoir of ,leech ,i have derived1 through the author's kindness1 much advantage2 and to ,mr4 ,thornber1 a well-known collector of ,leech's works1 ,i owe the opportunity of selecting some of the best illustrations that grace the book4 ,i also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietors of ,punch1 who1 though unable to comply with my unreasonable demand to the full extent of it1 have given me most important help in my endeavours to do honour to the genius who was such an honour to ,punch4 ,i owe to those gentlemen no less than eight of the full-page illustrations1 to say nothing of numbers of small cuts4 ,i take this opportunity of thanking ,mr4 ,grego1 my neighbour ,mr4 ,mc,kenzie1 ,mr4 ,willert ,beale1 and ,mr4 ,maitland for their help in various ways2 not forgetting the ,eton boy1 whose anonymity ,i preserve according to his desire4 ,to ,sir ,john ,millais1 ,mr4 ,ashby ,sterry1 ,mr4 ,horsley1 ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt1 and ,mr4 ,cholmondeley ,pennel ,i also offer my warmest acknowledgment for the papers they have so kindly contributed4 ,in conclusion1 ,i permit myself a few words in explanation of that which ,i know will be laid to my charge1 namely1 that my book tells too little of ,leech and too much of his work1 and that it is chronologically deficient4 ,in excuse ,i plead that the life of ,leech as ,i knew it from its early days was1 like that of most artists1 entirely devoid of such incidents as would interest the public2 and that from the difficulty of acquiring certain information1 and the varying times at which it was supplied1 chronological accuracy was impossible4 ,,contents ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,chapter ,,page ,,prologue #a ,i4 ,,early ,,days #c ,,ii4 ,,early ,,work #bj ,,iii4 ,,mr4 ,,percival ,,leigh ,,and ,,leech #ge ,,iv4 ,,meeting ,,of ,,mulready ,,and ,,leech #ie ,v4 ,,the ,,physiology ,,of ,,evening ,,parties1 ,,by ,,albert ,,smith #ajd ,,vi4 ,,john ,,leech ,,and ,,the ,,eton ,,boy #acj ,,vii4 ,,mr4 ,,sponge',s ,,sporting ,,tour #acg ,,viii4 ,,the ,,marchioness ,,of ,,brinvilliers1 ,,by ,,albert ,,smith #aea ,,ix4 ,,the ,,marchioness ,,of ,,brinvilliers--,,continued #afc ,x4 ,a ,,man ,,made ,,of ,,money1 ,,by ,,douglas ,,jerrold #agh ,,xi4 ,,albert ,,smith ,,and ,,leech #bjf ,,xii4 ,,mr4 ,,adams ,,and ,,leech #bcc ,,xiii4 ,,comic ,,grammar ,,and ,,comic ,,history #bee ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page ,,portrait ,,of ,,john ,,leech ,frontispiece ,,hercules ,,returning ,,from ,a ,,fancy ,,ball ,to face p4 #c ,,physician ,,and ,,general ,,practitioner #bg ,,where ',,ave ,,we ,,bin8 ,,why1 ,,to ,,see ,,the ,,cove ',,ung1 ,,to ,,be ,,sure6 #bi ,,an ,,eye ,,to ,,business #ca ,,but ,,augustus',s ,,heart ,,was ,,too ,,full ,,to ,,speak #cc ,,sir6 ,,please1 ,,mr46 ,,sir6 ,,you',,ve ,,forgot ,,the ,,door-,,key6 #ch ,,eton ,,boy 7loq473 ,come1 governor6 just one toast--',the ,ladies'6 #ci ,,the ,,return ,,from ,,the ,,derby #dc ,,the ,,derby ,,epidemic #dd ,,something ,,like ,a ,,holiday #df ,,alarming ,,symptoms ,,on ,,eating ,,boiled ,,beef ,,and ,,gooseberry-,,pie #dg ,,so ,,you ,,have ,,taken ,,all ,,your ,,stuff1 ,,and ,,don',t ,,feel ,,any ,,better1 ,,eh8 #ej ,,awful ,,apparition ,,to ,a ,,gentleman ,,whilst ,,shaving ,,in ,,the ,,edgware ,,road1 ,,september #bi1 #ahdf4 #ea ,a ,,holder ,,and ,a ,,thinner ,,wine #ec ,,hollo6 ,,hi6 ,,here1 ,,somebody6 ,i',,ve ,,turned ,,on ,,the ,,hot ,,water1 ,,and ,i ,,can',t ,,turn ,,it ,,off ,,again6 #ed ,,symptoms ,,of ,a ,,masquerade #ee ,,the ,,rising ,,generation #eg ,,the ,,irrepressible ,,juvenile #eh ,,the ,,rising ,,generation #ei ,,servant-,,gal-,,ism #fc ,,the ,,rising ,,generation #fe ,,special ,,constable3 ,now mind1 you know--if ,i kill you1 it's nothing2 but if you kill me1 by ,jove6 it's murder6 #fg ,,recreations ,,in ,,natural ,,history #fi ,,cabman ,,is ,,supposed ,,to ,,have ,,taken ,a ,,wrong ,,turning1 ,,that',s ,,all #gj ,,mr4 ,,briggs ,,does ,a ,,little ,,shooting #gc ,,fiddle-,,faddle ,,fashions #ij ,,fiddle-,,faddle ,,fashions #ia ,,the ,,mulready ,,envelope #if ,,fores',s ,,comic ,,envelope #ig ,,mamma ,,and ,,the ,,girls #ajf ,,two ,,rude ,,young ,,men #ajg ,,the ,,head ,,of ,,the ,,house #ajh ,,an ,,olive-,,branch #aji ,,two ,,gangling ,,young ,,men #aaj ,,preparing ,,for ,,the ,,ball #aaa ,,the ,,assistant-,,waiter #aab ,,the ,,band #aab ,,wallflowers #aad ,,mr4 ,,ledbury #aae ,,mr4 ,,ledbury ,,and ,,miss ,,hamilton #aaf ,,the ,,waltz #aah ,,in ,,the ,,conservatory #aai ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,evening #abj ,,mr4 ,,ledbury',s ,,hat #aba ,,mr4 ,,percival ,,jenks #abc ,,clown3 ,oh1 see what ,i've found6 #abg ,,miss ,,cinthia ,,sings #abh ,,dreadful ,,for ,,young ,,oxford #aca ,,miss ,,lucy ,,and ,,mr4 ,,sponge #adi ,,le ,,premier ,,pas ,to face p4 #afj ,,death ,,of ,,st4 ,,croix #agb ,a ,,family ,,picture #ahi ,,and ,,there ,,stood ,,jericho #bjc ,,mr4 ,,simmons',s ,,attempt ,,at ,,reform #bae ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,month--,,august--,,taking ,a ,,constitutional ,,in ,,kensington ,,gardens4 ,,time1 #h ,a4,m4 #bba ,,the ,,balcony ,,nuisance #bbc ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,month--,,november--,,in ,,distress ,,off ,a ,,lee-,,shore--,,brighton ,,pier #bbi ,,now1 ,,jack1 ,,my ,,boy6 ,,there',s ,,no ,,time ,,to ,,lose6 ,,we',,ve ,,ten ,,miles ,,to ,,go ,,to ,,cover #bde ,,effects ,,of ,a ,,fall #bec ,,billy ,,taylor #bef ,,where ,,got',s ,,thou ,,that ,,goose8 ,,look6 #beg ,,queen ,,eleanor ,,and ,,fair ,,rosamond #bfa ,,king ,,edward ,,introducing ,,his ,,son ,,as ,,prince ,,of ,,wales ,,to ,,his ,,newly-,,acquired ,,subjects #bfb ,,unseemly ,,conduct ,,of ,,henry1 ,,prince ,,of ,,wales #bfc ,,the ,,duke ,,of ,,gloucester ,,goes ,,into ,,mourning ,,for ,,his ,,little ,,nephews #bfd ,,mary',s ,,elopement #bff ,,john ,,leech3 ,,his ,,life ,,and ,,work ,,prologue4 ',leech' 7spelt 'leich'7 is an old ,saxon word for 'surgeon1' writes a friend to me4 ,hence1 as you know1 the employment of the word 'leech' as a term applied in former times to doctors4 ,though ,leech is not a common name1 ,i have met with several bearers of it under every variety of spelling that the word was capable of--,leech1 ,lietch1 ,leich1 ,leeche1 ,leitch1 etc4 ,only two of the owners of these names became known to fame--,john1 of immortal memory1 and1 longo intervallo1 ,william ,leitch1 a ,scottish artist1 and landscape-painter of considerable merit1 whose pictures1 generally of a classic character1 found favour amongst a certain class of buyers4 ,a large subject of much beauty was engraved1 and1 ,i think1 formed the prize-engraving for the year for the ,art ,union of ,london4 ,i have no doubt ,william ,leitch was frequently asked if he were related to ,john4 ,the sound of the names was similar1 and few inquirers knew of the difference in the spelling4 ,whether ,william was asked the question or not ,i cannot speak to with certainty2 but that ,john was ,i am sure1 because he told me so himself1 and1 as well as ,i can recall them1 in the following words3 ,i was asked the other day if ,i were related to a man of the same name--a ,scotchman--a landscape-painter4 ,he spells his name ,l-e-i-t-c-h1 you know4 ,i said1 ',no2 the ,scotch gentleman's name is spelt in the ,scotch way1 with the 'itch in it4' ,not bad1 eh8 ,i hope nobody will tell him6 ,i met ,william ,leitch several times 7he died long ago71 and was always charmed by his refined and gentle manner2 but we never became intimate1 so ,i cannot say ,i had the following anecdote from himself2 but it was told me by an intimate friend of the artist1 who assured me that he had it from ,leitch direct4 ,leitch had a considerable practice as a drawing-master1 chiefly amongst the higher classes4 ,he taught the very highest1 for he gave lessons to the ,queen herself4 ,i have never had the honour of seeing any of her ,majesty's drawings1 but ,i have had the advantage of her criticism1 and ,i can well believe in the reports of the excellence of her work4 ,the story goes that one day1 in the course of a lesson1 the ,queen let her pencil fall to the ground4 ,both master and pupil stooped to pick it up2 and1 to the horror of ,leitch1 there was a collision--the master's head struck that of his royal pupil6 and before he could stammer an apology1 the ,queen said1 smiling3 ,well1 ,mr4 ,leitch1 if we bring our heads together in this way1 ,i ought to improve rapidly4 ,illustration3 ,hercules returning from a ,fancy ,bail4 ,r4 ,e4 ,s4 #ahhh4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,early ,,days4 ,on the #bith of ,august1 #ahag1 a boy was born in ,london gifted with a genius which1 in the short time allowed for its development1 delighted and astonished the world4 ,the child's name was ,leech1 and he was christened ,john4 ,the ,leech family was of ,irish extraction4 ,from information received1 it appears that the father of ,leech1 also called ,john1 was possessed of an uncle who had made a large fortune as the owner of the ,london ,coffee-,house1 ,ludgate ,hill4 ,with this fortune he retired1 leaving his nephew to reign in his stead at the ,coffee-,house1 not without a reasonable hope and expectation that the nephew would follow in the uncle's prosperous footsteps4 ,but times had changed4 ,clubs were being formed1 and the customers of the ,ludgate ,hill place of entertainment preferred to be enrolled as members of the novel institutions rather than subject themselves to the somewhat mixed company at the ,coffee-,house4 ,leech's establishment1 however1 struggled on into my early time1 for ,i can well remember being advised1 if ,i wished for a good and wonderfully cheap dinner1 consisting--as per advertisement--of quite startling varieties of dishes1 my desire might be gratified by payment of eighteen-pence to the authorities at the ,london ,coffee-,house1 ,ludgate ,hill4 ,i do not know the precise time at which the doors of the ,coffee-,house were finally closed and the father ,leech1 with his large family1 was thrown upon the world2 but it must have been some years after the subject of this memoir had been enrolled amongst the ,charterhouse scholars1 an event that took place when he was seven years old4 ,previous to this by about four years1 some feeble buds of the genius that blossomed so abundantly afterwards are said to have shown themselves1 and to have been observed by ,flaxman as the child sat with pencil and paper on his mother's knee4 ,the great sculptor is reported to have said3 ,this drawing is wonderful4 ,do not let him be cramped by drawing-lessons2 let his genius follow its own bent4 ,he will astonish the world4 ,i venture to think that for this story a grain of salt would be by no means sufficient4 ,no drawing done by a child of three years old1 however gifted1 could be wonderful in the estimation of ,flaxman2 and that such an artist as he was should have said anything so foolish as what is tantamount to advising a parent against learning to draw ,i take the liberty of disbelieving4 ,flaxman was a friend of the ,leeches1 and in after years1 while ,john ,leech was still a youth1 the sculptor again examined some of his sketches1 and1 after looking well at them1 he very likely said1 as is reported3 ,that boy must be an artist2 he will be nothing else4 ,a child of seven seems almost cruelly young to be subjected to the hardships of a public school4 ,i thought1 wrote ,john's father1 that ,i was not wrong in sending him thus early1 as ,dr4 ,russell1 the head-master1 had a son of the same age in the school1 and ,john was in the same form with him4 ,no doubt the elder ,leech felt much the parting from his little son1 but to ,mrs4 ,leech the boy's leaving home was a severe blow2 the mother's heart would no doubt realize and exaggerate the perils to mind and body arising from contact with something like six hundred fellow-pupils1 scarcely one so young1 and none so loving and lovable as her little boy4 ,john was boarded at a house close by the ,charterhouse1 and only allowed to go home at rare intervals4 ,the fond mother1 however1 could not live without seeing him1 and to enable her to gratify her longing1 a room was hired in a house overlooking the boy's playground1 from which1 carefully hidden1 she could see her little son as he walked and talked with the form-fellow1 the particular friend to whom a sympathetic nature had attached him2 or watch him as he joined heart and soul in some game--not too rough--for a fall from his pony1 by which his arm had been broken and was still far from strong1 made such rough sports as are common to schoolboys too dangerous to be indulged in4 ,the ,charterhouse rejoiced in a drawing-master named ,burgess4 ,upon what principles that master proceeded to train the youth of ,charterhouse ,i am unable to speak2 they were most likely those in vogue at the time of young ,leech's sojourn4 ,if they were of that description1 it was fortunate that ,leech paid--as is said--little or no attention to them1 finding a difficulty1 no doubt1 in applying them to the sketches that constantly fell from him on to the pages of his school-books4 ,it may be urged that when ,flaxman warned the boy's mother against teaching as being sure to cramp her son's genius1 he alluded to the ,burgess method4 ,that may have been so4 ,but a man like ,flaxman1 who had possessed himself by severest study as a young man of the means by which his powers were developed1 would1 ,i think1 have been sure to warn ,mrs4 ,leech of the difference between the teaching that would be mischievous1 and that which is proved to be indispensable by the universal practice of the greatest painters4 ,i am aware ,i shall be confronted with the case of ,john ,leech1 who was1 so to speak1 entirely self-taught2 but ,leech was not a painter1 and certainly never could have become a good one without training2 besides1 he was altogether exceptional--unique1 in fact4 ,in my opinion1 we are as likely to see another ,shakespeare or ,dickens as another ,leech4 ,this is a digression1 for which ,i apologize4 ,i cannot find that my hero--,i may call him such1 for he was ever a hero to me--paid much attention to classical knowledge4 ,latin verses were impossible to him1 but they had to be done2 so1 as he said1 he got somebody to do them for him4 ,in spite of his weak arm1 he fenced with ,angelo1 the school fencing-master2 but1 beyond the advantage of the exercise1 the accomplishment was of no use to him4 ,here ,i cannot resist an anecdote of which the fencing reminds me4 ,some years before ,leech's death the editor of a newspaper1 who was remarkable for the severity of his criticisms and for his extreme personal ugliness1 had made some caustic remarks on ,leech's work in general1 and on some special drawings in particular4 ,if that chap1 said ,leech to me1 doesn't mind what he is about1 ,i will draw and defend myself--an idle threat1 for nothing could have provoked that gentle1 noble nature into personality1 no trace of which is to be found in the long list of his admirable works4 ,several letters1 delightfully boyish1 written by ,leech to his father from the ,charterhouse1 are in my possession4 ,some of them1 ,i think1 may appropriately appear in this place4 ,septr #ai #ahbf ,,dear ,,papa ,i hope you are quite well4 ,i beg you will let me come out to see you for ,i am so dull here1 and ,i am always fretting about1 because ,i wrote to you yesterday and you would not let me come out4 ,i will fag hard if you will let me come out1 and will you write to me1 and the letter that you write put in when you are going to ,esex and when you return for ,i want to very particularly ,how is ,mamma1 ,brother and ,sisters ,i hope ,ester is quite well1 ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech ,i am very sorry that ,i stayed away from ,school with ---- but ,i promise never to do it again and ,i beg you will let me come out on ,sunday4 ,charter ,house ,october #b #ahbf ,,my ,,dear ,,papa4 ,you told me to write to you when the reports where made out1 they are made out now1 and mine is1 does his ,best4 ,i hope you are quite well1 and ,mamma the same4 ,i hope ,tom ,mary ,caroline1 and ,ester are quite well4 ,i have not spoken to ,mr ,chapman yet about the tuter1 and drawing ,master1 because ,i had not an oppertunity1 send me a cake as soon as it is convenient ,your affectionate son ,j ,,leech4 ,no date4 ,,my ,,dear ,,papa4 ,i write this note to know how poor little ,polly is ,i hope she is better to day pray write to me before the day is over and tell me how she is4 ,i hope you and ,mamma ,tom and ,fanny are all well since ,i left you last night4 ,i am happy to say ,i am at the very top off the ,form ,tell ,mamma not to forget to come and see me on ,wenesday as she said she would4 ,i would write to ,polly now only ,i have not time pray give ,polly a #ajjj kiss for me and ,fanny and ,tom the same4 ,as ,i said before ,i hope poor little ,polly is better4 ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech4 ,,my ,,dear ,,papa1 ,my report was made out yesterday but ,i forgot to write to you therefore ,i tell you to-day1 it was 7generally attentive7 ,if any afternoon or morning that you have time ,i should be very happy to see you4 ,you can see me in the morning from #ab to half-past two and in the evening from #d till #i4 ,send me another suit of clothes if you please and a cap4 ,mind the gloves4 ,i hope ,polly continues to get better and ,i hope you and ,mamma ,brother and sisters are quite well4 ,send me a penknife if you please4 ,i remain ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech4 ,,dear ,,papa ,will you let me come out to see you once before my sisters go to school1 for ,i feel quite unhappy here and miserable4 ,i am afraid ,i shall not be able to get promoted yet1 therefore ,i am afraid ,i shant be able to come out4 ,but you promised me that if ,i did not get promoted you would let me come out4 ,i try as much as ,i can to get promoted4 ,do let me come out once before my ,sisters go to ,school4 ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech ,tell ,mamma to send me a cake as soon as she can ,send me some money as soon as you can4 ,september #ad #ahbg ,,my ,,dear ,,papa4 ,i am happy to say that ,mr ,baliscombe says that for my ,holiday ,task ,i deserve promotion and says it is very well done indeed4 ,come and see me as soon as you can4 ,i think ,i shall get promoted when ,dr ,russell sees my ,holiday ,task--,in fact ,mr ,baliscombe is going to ask him to put me up4 ,i hope you and ,mamma are quite well4 ,springett went to the play he tells me and did not come back till the morning4 ,i hope dear old ,camello and the dear little ,baby ,bunning are quite well1 would you mind sending ,mrs ,jeffkins some partridges for ,i know she would like some4 ,tell ,mamma to write to me as soon as she possibly can4 ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech ,p4,s4 ,i would not send the porter only ,i have got neither wafer nor seal'wax4 ,sepr #afth #ahbg ,,my ,,dear ,,papa4 ,i am very happy indeed to say that ,i am promoted for ,i know it makes you happy4 ,let me come out next ,saturday and come and see me to-morrow4 ,i have no sealing wax or would not send the porter4 ,i hope you are quite well and ,mamma and ,old ,camello and the little ,baby ,bunning the same ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech4 ,,dear ,,papa ,as ,i am rather short of money and want to keep my money ,i've got1 ,i should be much obliged if you would give my ambassador #ah pence or so as ,i've promised a boy at school one of those small bladders to make balloons of1 if you remember you bought me one once4 ,i hope you are all well ,i remain ,your affectionate son ,j ,,leech4 ,,dear ,,papa ,will you be so kind as to send me half a crown by the porter and allowence me every week ,i was obliged to send the porter ,i hope you ,mamma ,brothers and sisters are quite well4 ,your affectionate son ,j ,,leech4 ,no date4 ,,my ,,dear ,,mamma ,i understand that you came to see me yesterday1 and me being in the green1 you did not see me1 so that made me still more unhappy1 ,i beg you will come and see me on ,saturday for ,i am very unhappy4 ,i want to see you or ,papa very much indeed4 ,your affectionate son ,j ,,leech4 ,,my ,,dear ,,papa4 ,you desired me to send you my report ,i have not had it since the last one4 ,i went into be examined by ,dr ,russell yesterday but ,i did not get promoted but ,i did not lose more than one or two places4 ,i will send you my next report4 ,i hope you are quite well4 ,mamma and ,brother and sisters the ,same ,your affectionate ,son ,j ,,leech4 ,i would have written to you sooner but ,i had not time4 ,leech made no way at the ,charterhouse2 never approaching the position held by ,thackeray1 who was four years his senior3 indeed1 ,i doubt that they saw1 or cared to see1 much of each other1 little dreaming that they would ultimately become dear and fast friends till death separated them1 only to meet again1 as we believe1 after the sad1 short interval that elapsed between the deaths of each4 ,i cannot say ,i believe in inherited talent1 but the fact that the elder ,leech was said to be a remarkable draughtsman seems to strengthen the theory held by some people4 ,i have never seen any specimens of the father's drawing1 nor did ,i ever hear the son speak of it4 ,anyway1 ,leech pere had no faith in the practice of art as a means of livelihood for his son1 for he informed the youth1 after a nine years' attendance at the ,charterhouse1 that he was destined for the medical profession4 ,there is no record of any objection on the part of ,leech to his father's decision1 at which ,i feel surprise2 for the flame which burnt so brilliantly in after-life must have been always well alight1 and very antagonistic to the kind of work required from the embryo surgeon4 ,leech's gentle yielding nature influenced him then as always2 and he went to ,st4 ,bartholomew's1 where under ,mr4 ,stanley1 the surgeon of the hospital1 he worked hard and delighted his master by his excellent anatomical drawings4 ,from these studies may be traced1 ,i think1 much of the knowledge of the human form1 and above all of proportion1 always displayed in his work2 for in those wonderful drawings1 whether a figure is tall or short1 fat or thin1 whether he deals with a child or a giant1 with a dog or a horse1 no disproportion can be found4 ,it appears that the elder ,leech's affairs were already in such an embarrassed condition1 that an intention to place his son with ,sir ,george ,ballingall1 an eminent ,scottish doctor1 was abandoned1 and after a time he was placed with a ,mr4 ,whittle1 a very remarkable person1 who figures under the name of ,rawkins in a novel written by ,albert ,smith and illustrated by ,leech4 ,smith's work1 with the title of ,the ,adventures of ,mr4 ,ledbury and his ,friend ,jack ,johnson1 was first published in ,bentley's ,miscellany4 ,mr4 ,rawkins1 says ,albert ,smith1 was so extraordinary a person for a medical practitioner that1 had we only read of him instead of having known him1 we should at once have put him down as the far-fetched creation of the author's brain4 ,he was about eight-and-thirty years old1 and of herculean build except his legs1 which were small in comparison with the rest of his body4 ,but he thought that he was modelled after the statues of antiquity1 and1 indeed1 in respect of his nose1 which was broken1 he was not far wrong in his idea--that feature having been damaged in some hospital skirmish when he was a student4 ,his face was adorned with a luxuriant fringe of black whiskers1 meeting under his chin1 whilst his hair1 of a similar hue1 was cut rather short about his head1 and worn without the least regard to any particular style or direction4 ,but it was also his class of pursuits that made him so singular a character4 ,every available apartment in his house not actually in use by human beings was appropriated to the conserving of innumerable rabbits1 guinea-pigs1 and ferrets4 ,his areas were filled with poultry1 bird-cages hung at every window1 and the whole of his roof had been converted into one enormous pigeon-trap4 ,it was one of his most favourite occupations to sit1 on fine afternoons1 with brandy-and-water and a pipe1 and catch his neighbours' birds4 ,he had very little private practice2 the butcher1 the baker1 and the tobacconist were his chief patients1 who employed him more especially with the intention of working out their accounts4 ,he derived his principal income from the retail of his shop1 his appointments of medical man to the police force and parish poor1 and breeding fancy rabbits4 ,these various avocations pretty well filled up his time1 and when at home he passed his spare minutes in practising gymnastics--balancing himself upon one hand and laying hold of staples1 thus keeping himself at right angles to the wall1 with other feats of strength1 the acquisition of which he thought necessary in enabling him to support the character of ,hercules--his favourite impersonation--with due effect4 ,it is not to be wondered at that ,mr4 ,whittle1 alias ,rawkins1 should find that stealing his neighbours' pigeons1 together with his other unprofitable accomplishments1 to say nothing of the sparseness of paying patients1 could have only one termination--bankruptcy4 ,mr4 ,whittle ended his career in a public-house1 of which he became proprietor after marrying the widow who kept it4 ,here he put off his coat to his work1 and in his shirt-sleeves served his customers with beer4 ,leech and ,albert ,smith1 and others of his pupils took his beer readily1 though they had always declined to take his pills4 ,it is said that he was originally a ,quaker1 and that he died a missionary at the ,antipodes4 ,leech stayed but a short time with the pigeon-fancying ,whittle1 whom he left to be placed under ,dr4 ,john ,cockle1 afterwards ,physician to the ,royal ,free ,hospital4 ,leech seems to have been a pretty regular attendant at anatomical and other lectures1 and it goes without saying that his notes were garnished with sketches1 for which his fellow-students sat unconsciously2 and plenty of them remain to prove the impossibility of checking an inclination so strongly implanted in such a genuine artist as ,john ,leech4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,early ,,work4 ,it was at ,st4 ,bartholomew's that ,leech made acquaintance1 which soon ripened into friendship1 with ,albert ,smith1 ,percival ,leigh 7a future comrade on the ,punch ,staff1 and author of the ,comic ,latin ,grammar1 ,pips' ,diary1 etc471 ,gilbert a ,beckett and many others1 all or most of whom served as models for that unerring pencil4 ,the impecunious condition of ,leech senior before ,john had reached his eighteenth year was such as to make his chances of getting a living by medicine or surgery1 even if successful1 so remote as to place them beyond consideration4 ,no doubt the elder ,leech's misfortunes were blessings in disguise1 for we owe to them the necessity that compelled the younger man to devote himself to art4 ,the art of drawing upon wood1 to which ,leech in his later years almost entirely confined himself1 dates back from very early times4 ,lithography1 or drawing upon stone1 is a comparatively modern invention1 and1 until the introduction of photography1 was used for varieties of artistic reproduction4 ,it was to that process we owe the first published work of ,leech4 ,the artist was eighteen years old when ,etchings and ,sketchings1 by ,a4 ,pen1 ,esq41 price #bs4 plain1 #cs4 coloured1 was offered tremblingly to the public4 ,the work was in the shape of four quarto sheets1 which were covered with sketches1 more or less caricatures1 of cabmen1 policemen1 street musicians1 hackney coachmen with their vehicles and the peculiar breed of animal attached to them1 and other varieties of life and character common to the streets of ,london4 ,this work is now very rarely to be met with2 it consisted chiefly1 ,i believe1 of characteristic heads and half-length figures4 ,to ,etchings and ,sketchings the young artist added some political caricatures1 also in lithography1 of considerable merit4 ,with these1 or1 rather1 with the heavy stones on which they were drawn1 we may imagine the weary wanderings from publisher to publisher2 the painful anxiety with which the verdict1 on which so much depended1 was waited for2 the hopes that brightened at a word of commendation1 only to be scattered by a few stereotyped phrases1 such as1 ,ah1 very clever1 but these sort of things are not in our way1 you see2 there is no demand1 and so on4 #ahcf1 when ,leech was still a boy1 saw the production of works called ,the ,boy's ,own ,series1 ,studies from ,nature1 ,amateur ,originals1 ,the ,ups and ,downs of ,life2 or1 ,the ,vicissitudes of a ,swell1 etc4 ,the delicate touch and the grasp of character peculiar to the artist are recognised at once in many examples4 ,leech's struggle for bread for himself and others must have been terrible at this time2 indeed1 up to the establishment of ,rowland ,hill's penny post1 when1 by what may be called a brilliant opportunity1 ,leech attracted for the first time the public attention1 which never deserted him4 ,the title of this book is ,the ,life and ,work of ,john ,leech4 ,of the former1 as ,i have shown1 there is little to tell2 on the latter1 volumes1 critical1 descriptive1 appreciative1 might be written4 ,an artist is destined to immortality or speedy oblivion according to his work1 and it was my earnest hope1 on undertaking this memoir1 that ,i should be able to prove1 by the finest examples of ,leech's genius1 that an indisputable claim to immortality was established for him4 ,to a great extent ,i have been permitted to do so2 but the law of copyright has debarred me from the selection of many brilliant pictures of life and character on which my1 perhaps unreasonably covetous1 eyes had rested4 ,the proprietors of ,punch and also of the copyright of most of ,leech's other works are1 no doubt1 properly careful of their interests1 and ,i can imagine their surprise at the extent of my first demands upon their good-nature4 ,in my ignorance ,i had thought that as my object was the honour and glory of ,john ,leech--a feeling1 no doubt1 shared by them--the treasures of ,punch would be spread before me1 with a request that ,i would help myself4 ,i do not in the least complain that ,i found myself mistaken4 ,there are1 no doubt1 good reasons for the limits to which ,i was restricted1 though ,i am unable to see them2 and1 granting the existence of those reasons1 ,i should be ungrateful if ,i did not express my thanks for the small number of illustrations from ,punch and other sources which ,i am allowed to use4 ,i confess ,i was delighted to find that the first few years of the existence of ,punch were free by lapse of time from copyright protection1 and as some of ,leech's best work appears in the volumes between #ahda and #ahdi1 ,i am able to show my readers further proofs of the justice of the artist's claim to be remembered for all time4 ,leech's hatred of organ-grinding began very early in his career4 ,,wanted1 ,,by ,,an ,,aged ,,lady ,,of ,,very ,,nervous ,,temperament1 ,a ,,professor1 ,,who ,,will ,,undertake ,,to ,,mesmerize ,,all ,,the ,,organs ,,in ,,her ,,street4 ,,salary1 ,,so ,,much ,,per ,,organ4 ,the drawing which appeared in ,punch in #ahdc1 with the above title1 was the first of the humorous series that continued almost unbroken for more than twenty years4 ,it is pitiable to think of the long martyrdom that ,leech suffered from an abnormal nervous organization1 which ultimately made street-noises absolute agony to him4 ,in the illustration the singular difference of dress in the organ-grinder of fifty years ago and him of the present time is noticeable1 as also are the perfect expressions of the small audience4 ,leech's chief contributions to ,punch at this time were the large cuts1 in which ,peel1 ,brougham1 the great ,duke of ,wellington1 and others1 play political parts in matters that would be of little interest to the reader of to-day1 nor are the drawings of exceptional merit4 ,in #ahdd there appeared an irresistible little cut1 the precursor of so many admirable variations of skating and sliding incidents4 ,,now1 ,,lobster1 ,,keep ,,the ,,pot ,a-,,biling4 ,what could surpass the impudence of the vigorous youngster1 or the expression of the guardsman of amused wonder as he looks down upon the audacious imp1 as ,goliath might have looked upon ,david8 ,the sensation created by the first appearance of the dwarf ,tom ,thumb remains vividly in my memory4 ,i saw him in all his impersonations2 that of ,napoleon1 in which he was dressed in exact imitation of the ,emperor1 was very droll4 ,the little creature was at ,waterloo1 taking quantities of snuff from his waistcoat pocket1 giving his orders for the final charge which decided his fate2 and when he saw that all was lost1 his distress was terrible3 he wrung his little hands and wept copiously1 amidst the uproarious applause and laughter of the audience4 ,then he was at ,st4 ,helena1 and1 standing on an imaginary rock1 he folded his arms1 and gazed wistfully in the direction of his beloved ,france4 ,after a long1 lingering look1 he shook his little head1 and with a sigh so loud as to astonish us1 he dashed the tears from his eyes1 and made his bow to the audience1 some of whom affected to be shocked by the laughter of the unthinking1 and loudly expressed their sympathy with the great man in his fall4 ,i well remember the great ,duke going to see the amusing dwarf1 but why ,leech should have represented him in the dancing attitude1 as shown in the illustration1 seems strange4 ,surely a more serious imitation of a ,napoleonic attitude would have been more telling and more comic4 ,the next print illustrates a paper in ,punch called ,physicians and ,general ,practitioners4 ,the physician almost invariably dresses in black1 says the writer1 and wears a white neck-cloth4 ,he also often affects smalls and gaiters1 likewise shirt-frills 7fancy a physician in these days thus dressed674 ,he appears1 no doubt very properly1 in perpetual mourning4 ,the general practitioner more frequently sports coloured clothes1 as drab trousers and a figured waistcoat4 ,with respect to features1 the ,roman nose1 we think1 is more characteristic of physicians2 while among general practitioners1 we should say1 the more common of the two was the snub4 ,the general practitioner and the physician often meet professionally1 on which occasion their interests as well as their opinions are very apt to clash2 whereupon an altercation ensues1 which ends by the physician telling the general practitioner that he is an impudent quack1 and the general practitioner's replying to the physician that he is a contemptible humbug4 ,illustration ,how perfectly ,leech has realized the scene for us the drawing abundantly shows4 ,it is1 perhaps1 not too much to say that he never surpassed in drawing1 expression1 and character1 these two admirable figures2 full of contempt for each other1 the emotion is expressed naturally1 and with due regard to the peculiarities1 widely varying1 of each of the disputants4 ,more years ago than ,i care to remember1 ,i met at dinner ,mr4 ,gibson1 the ,newgate surgeon4 ,at that time an agitation was afoot respecting public executions1 the advocates maintaining that the sight of a fellow-creature done to death acted as a deterrent on any of the sight-seers who were disposed to risk a similar fate1 the objectors declaring that the exhibition only made brutes more brutal1 and was in no way a deterrent4 ,as ,mr4 ,gibson had had a long experience of criminals and their ways1 it was thought worth while to ask his opinion of the matter in dispute4 ,the surgeon said that1 feeling strongly on the subject of public hanging1 he had made a point of asking persons under sentence of death if they had ever attended executions1 and he found that over three-fourths--he told us the exact number1 but ,i cannot trust my memory on the point--had witnessed the finishing of the law4 ,so much for the deterrent effect4 ,the disgraceful scenes that took place at the execution of the ,mannings produced a powerful letter to the press from ,dickens1 and an equally powerful article in the ,daily ,news1 by ,mr4 ,parkinson4 ,parliament was aroused1 and public executions ceased4 ,illustration3 ,,where ',,ave ,,we ,,bin8 ,,why1 ,,to ,,see ,,the ,,cove ',,ung1 ,,to ,,be ,,sure6 ,the ,leech drawing which follows appeared in #ahde1 some years before the ,manning murder1 and a considerable time previous to the agitation on the subject of hanging in public4 ,if ever a moral lesson was inculcated by a work of art1 this powerful drawing is an example4 ,who knows how much it may have done towards hastening the time when those horrible exhibitions ceased8 ,is this squalid group1 with debauchery and criminality in evidence in each figure1 likely to be morally impressed by the sight of a public hanging8 ,what are they but types of a class that always frequented such scenes8 ,the dreadful woman has carried her child with her2 the little creature's attenuated limbs point to the neglect and ill-usage sure to be met with from such parents4 ,to those unacquainted with the ,caudle ,lectures by ,douglas ,jerrold1 which appeared at this time in ,punch1 ,i recommend the perusal of those inimitable papers4 ,one of their merits is their having given occasion for an admirable drawing by ,leech4 ,lord ,brougham was1 in the eyes of ,punch and many others1 a firebrand in the ,house of ,lords4 ,he was irrepressible1 contentious1 and brilliant on all occasions1 quarrelsome in the extreme1 and a thorn in the side of whatever ,government was in power unless he was a member of it4 ,the ,woolsack1 more especially the object of his ambition1 was made a very uneasy seat to any occupant4 ,behold him1 then1 as ,mrs4 ,caudle--an excellent likeness--making night hideous for the unhappy ,caudle1 whose part is played by the ,lord ,chancellor--,lyndhurst--while the ,caudle pillow is changed into the ,woolsack4 ,,the ,,mrs4 ,,caudle ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,lords4 ,what do you say8 ,thank heaven6 you are going to enjoy the recess1 and you'll be rid of me for some months8 ,never mind4 ,depend upon it1 when you come back1 you shall have it again4 ,no1 ,i don't raise the ,house and set everybody by the ears2 but ,i'm not going to give up every little privilege1 though it's seldom ,i open my lips1 goodness knows6--,caudle ,lectures 7improved74 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,eye ,,to ,,business4 ,whether such a scene as the following ever took place may be doubted2 but that it might have happened1 and may happen again1 there is no doubt4 ,one meets with strange seaside objects1 and to bathe at the same time as one's tailor is within the bounds of possibility4 ,leech evidently thought so1 hence this delightful little cut1 wherein we see the creditor--evidently a tailor--improving the occasion to remind his fellow-swimmer of his little bill4 ,see the businesslike aspect of the one and the astonishment and alarm of the other1 who in the next few vigorous strokes will place himself beyond the reach of his creditor4 ,full of sympathy1 as ,leech was1 for human suffering1 and frequently as he dealt with sea-sickness1 he certainly never showed the least pity for the sufferers by that miserable malady4 ,its ludicrous aspect was irresistible to him1 as numbers of illustrations sufficiently prove1 and none more perfectly than the one introduced in this place1 with the title of ,love on the ,ocean1 representing a couple evidently married on the morning of this tempestuous day4 ,why1 oh why1 ,i can hear the unhappy bridegroom say to himself1 did we not arrange to pass our honeymoon in some pleasant place in ,england1 and so have avoided crossing this dreadful sea8 ,to be ill in the dear presence of--oh1 horror6 ,and the lady is so unconscious1 so serenely unconscious1 of the impending catastrophe6 ,she enjoys the sea1 and1 being of a poetical turn1 she thus improves the occasion3 ,oh1 is there not something1 dear ,augustus1 truly sublime in the warring of the elements8 ,illustration3 ,,but ,,augustus',s ,,heart ,,was ,,too ,,full ,,to ,,speak4 ,let anyone who suffers at sea fancy what it is to be spoken to at all1 when the fearful sensations1 the awful precursors of the inevitable1 have full possession of him1 and then to suffer in the very presence of the dear creature from whom every human weakness has been hitherto carefully hidden6 ,the drawing is followed by a poem1 in which the position of the unhappy ,augustus is described4 ,he could not speak in reply to his bride's appeal2 in the words of the poet3 ,she gazed upon the wave1 ,sublime she declared it2 ,but no reply he gave-- ,he could not have dared it4 ,oh1 then1 ',steward6' he cried1 ,with deepest emotion2 ,then tottered to the side1 ,and leant o'er the ocean4 ,poor miserable ,augustus6 his face is pale as death1 his treasured locks blown out of shape2 his eyeglass swings in the wind2 the distant steamer is making mad plunges into the heaving wave2 the rain falls1 and let us hope the romantic bride turns away as her young husband leans o'er the ocean4 ,only those who have passed from the tableland of life can recollect the passion for speculation in railways that took possession of the public in #ahde and the two or three following years4 ,i myself caught the disease1 and1 acting on the advice of one who knew1 ,i bought a number of shares in one of the new lines2 these were ,l#be shares1 on which ,l#h each had been paid4 ,i was assured by my adviser that ,i should receive interest at the rate of eight per cent4 till the year #ahej2 after that time the line would pay ten4 ,i awoke one morning to find that a panic was in full blast1 and all railway property depreciated4 ,my feelings may be imagined1 for ,i certainly cannot describe them1 when ,i found1 on reference to the ,times1 that my ,l#h shares--,l#ag being still due upon each--were quoted at half a crown apiece6 ,my friend had the courage of his opinions1 for he had invested the whole of his property in railway stocks4 ,he was completely ruined in mind and body1 and died miserably before the panic was over4 ,multiply these examples by thousands1 and you will arrive at a clear idea of the nature of a panic1 which seems to mystify the young gentleman immortalized by ,leech in the drawing illustrating the following dialogue3 ,i ,,say1 ,,jim1 ,,what',s ,a ,,panic8 ,,blowed ,,if ,i ,,know2 ,,but ,,there ,,is ,,von ,,to ,,be ,,seen ,,in ,,the ,,city4 ,it has been my fate in the course of a long life to attend several fancy-dress balls1 but ,i can scarcely call to mind a single example of the successful assumption of an historical character1 or1 indeed1 of any character that could disguise the very modern young lady or gentleman who was masquerading in it4 ,my first acquaintance with ,mark ,lemon1 so long the esteemed editor of ,punch1 began in the ,hanover ,square ,rooms1 at a fancy-dress ball given by a society--chiefly1 ,i think1 composed of the better class of tradespeople--called the ,gothics4 ,on that occasion might have been seen a young gentleman in the dress of one of ,charles ,,ii4's courtiers1 and looking about as unlike his prototype as possible--in earnest conversation with another courtier1 of the time of ,george ,,ii4 ,i was of the ,charles' period1 ,lemon of that of the ,georges4 ,those who remember ,lemon's figure later in life would have been surprised by the change that time had made in it1 if they could have witnessed the interview between the two young men1 one scarcely stouter than the other4 ,in proof of my idea that the greater number of guests were in trade1 ,i might give scraps of conversation between ,mary ,queen of ,scots and ,guy ,fawkes1 or between ,henry ,,viii4 and ,edward the ,black ,prince1 that would leave no doubt on the subject2 nay1 later in the evening ,i had convincing proof of the correctness of my surmise1 as you shall hear4 ,i danced with a ,marie ,antoinette of surpassing beauty1 with whom ,i fell incontinently in love4 ,more than once ,i danced with her1 and when supper was announced1 my earnest appeal to be allowed to conduct her to the banquet was successful4 ,my lovely friend was full of the curiosity peculiar to her sex1 which showed itself in her anxiety to know who and what ,i was4 ,to tell the truth1 ,i was equally curious to know who she was1 and what her friends were4 ,well1 said ,i1 if you will tell me who you are1 ,i will tell you who ,i am and what ,i am4 ,oh1 was the reply1 ,i think ,i know what you are2 but what's your name8 ,you know what ,i am8 said ,i1 surprised2 what am ,i8 ,well1 you are in the same line that we are1 ,i fancy4 ,and what line is that8 ,the army tailoring4 ,am ,i right8 ,in the illustration that accompanies these remarks ,leech has succeeded in presenting to us a ,norman knight completely characteristic1 a ,crusader more real1 ,i think1 than any modern could have rendered him4 ,the lady he escorts1 in a dress a few hundred years after ,crusading times1 is very lovely4 ,the capital little ,marchioness1 with the big door-key1 the four-wheeler1 and the laughing crowd1 make up a scene of inimitable humour4 ,we now come to the first of those precocious youths in whose mannish ways1 whose delightful impertinence to their elders1 whose early susceptibility to the passion of love for ladies three times older than themselves1 are shown by ,leech in many a scene ,i should have given to my readers1 but over them the ,copyright ,act stands guard4 ',tis true1 'tis pity1 pity 'tis1 'tis true1 that in a book intended solely to do honour to ,leech's genius1 so many of the most perfect examples of it are denied to us4 ,illustration3 ,,sir6 ,,please1 ,,mr46 ,,sir6 ,,you',,ve ,,forgot ,,the ,,door-,,key6 ,well may the governor stare with open-mouthed astonishment at such a proposal from such a creature6 ,look at him as he throws his little arm over his chair in the swaggering attitude he has so often observed in his elders1 and raises a full glass of claret6 ,just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined2 but that we know that in this instance the twig is indulging in a harmless freak1 one might be inclined to dread the tree's inclining4 ,illustration3 ,,eton ,,boy 7loq473 ,come1 governor6 just one toast--',the ,ladies'6 ,the political opinions of the writer of this book are of no consequence to himself or anybody else4 ,it would perhaps be pretty near the truth if he were to admit that he had no political opinions worth speaking of4 ,to those1 however1 who were interested in the struggle for ,free ,trade1 which in the year #ahdf raged with great fury1 the question was1 and still is1 one of vital interest4 ,the landed interest1 headed by most of the aristocracy on the one side1 and the manufacturing interest1 championed by ,cobden and ,bright1 on the other1 raised a storm in which language the reverse of parliamentary was tossed from side to side4 ,peel was ,prime ,minister1 and his ultimate conversion to the principles of ,free ,trade1 and consequent advocacy of the repeal of the ,corn ,laws1 horrified his supporters--by whom1 notably by ,disraeli1 he became the object of envenomed attack--but led to a settlement of the question1 and gave ,leech an opportunity for the production of drawings of the victor and the vanquished1 entitled1 ,cobden's ,bee's ,wing and ,richmond's ,black ,draught1 two of the most successful of the political cartoons4 ,the ,brook ,green ,volunteer gave ,leech the opportunity for many illustrations which1 to my mind1 are nearer approaching caricature than most of his work2 nor have they1 as a rule1 the beauty or human interest that so many of his drawings show4 ,i fear ,i must charge the volunteer himself with being in possession of an impossible face and a no less impossible figure2 his action also is exaggerated4 ,in compensation we have a delightful family group4 ,the mother with that naked baby perambulating her person is beyond all praise4 ,women do strange things1 but ,i deny the possibility of such a woman as ,leech has drawn ever finding it in her heart to marry that volunteer4 ,the little thing standing on tip-toe to dabble in baby's basin for the benefit of her doll1 the delighted lookers-on1 not forgetting the warrior riding his umbrella into action1 are invested with the charm that ,leech1 and ,leech only1 could give them4 ,the year #ahdf gave birth to the first fruit from a field in which ,leech found such a bountiful harvest4 ,the racecourse gave opportunities for the exhibition of life and character of which the great artist took advantage in numberless delightful examples4 ,pen and pencil record adventures by road and rail4 ,whether the excursionist is going to the ,derby or returning from it1 whether he is high or low1 a ,duke or a costermonger1 that unerring hand is ready to note his follies or his excesses1 always with a kindly touch1 or to point a moral if a graver opportunity presents itself4 ,a madman1 they say1 thinks all the world mad but himself2 and it is not uncommon for a drunken man to imagine himself to be the only sober person in the company4 ,that some feeling of this kind possesses the rider in the drawing opposite1 as he addresses the stolid postboy1 is evident enough2 his drunken smile1 his battered hat1 and his dishevelled dress1 are eloquent of his proceedings on the course2 and if his return from the ,derby is not signalized by a fall from his horse1 he will be more fortunate than he deserves to be4 ,in works of art the value of contrast is well known1 and a better example than the face of the postboy offers to that of his questioner could not be imagined4 ,he drunk1 indeed6 not a bit of it4 ,a pretty creature in the background must not be overlooked4 ,she is a perfect specimen of ,leech's power of creating beauty by a few pencil-marks4 ,her beauty has evidently attracted notice1 and caused complimentary remarks from passers-by1 which are resented by the old lady in charge1 who tells the speaker to go on with his imperdence6 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,return ,,from ,,the ,,derby4 ,,smith3 ,hollo6 ,poster1 ain't you precious drunk1 rather8 ,,postboy3 ,drunk6 not a bit of it6 ,i cannot resist presenting my readers with another ,derby sketch4 ,it is more than probable that if either of these young gentlemen had asked for leave of absence from his official duties for the purpose of going to the ,derby1 he would have met with stern denial4 ,the attraction1 however1 is irresistible1 and though the subterfuge by which it is achieved is not to be defended1 who is there that is not glad that the wicked boy is penning that audacious letter1 as it is the cause of our having a picture that is a joy for ever8 ,as a work of art1 whether as a composition of lines and light and shadow1 in addition to perfect character and expression1 this drawing takes rank amongst the best of ,leech's works4 ,note the admirable action of the youth who is putting on his coat--a momentary movement caught with consummate skill4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,derby ,,epidemic4 ,,gentlemen1 ,owing to sudden and very severe indisposition1 ,i regret to say that ,i shall not be able to attend the office to-day4 ,i hope1 however1 to be able to resume my duties to-morrow4 ,i am1 gentlemen1 ,yours very obediently1 ,,phillip ,,cox4 ,doctors differ1 as everybody knows2 and in no opinion do they differ more than in the way children should be treated4 ,one of the faculty will tell you that a healthy child should be allowed to eat as much as he or she likes2 another advises that as grown-up people are disposed to eat a great deal more than is good for them1 a boy is pretty sure to do the same unless a wholesome check is imposed upon his unruly appetite4 ,a great authority is reported to have said that as many people are killed by over-eating as by over-drinking2 in fact1 said he1 they dig their graves with their teeth4 ,if that be so1 the young gentleman in ,something like a ,holiday is destined for an early tomb4 ,comment on this wonderful youth is needless4 ,we can only share the alarm and astonishment so admirably expressed in the pastrycook's face4 ,that this awful juvenile's memory should serve him so perfectly when he has taken such pains to cloud it1 as well as every other faculty1 is also surprising4 ,illustration3 ,,pastrycook3 ,what have you had1 sir8 ,,boy3 ,i've had two jellies2 seven of those1 and eleven of these2 and six of those1 and four bath-buns2 a sausage-roll1 ten almond-cakes1 and a bottle of ginger-beer4 ,illustration3 ,,alarming ,,symptoms ,,on ,,eating ,,boiled ,,beef ,,and ,,gooseberry-,,pie4 ,,little ,,boy3 ,oh lor1 ma6 ,i feel just exactly as if my jacket was buttoned4 ,if a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind1 the boy in the following drawing would have delighted in the society of the gourmet at the pastrycook's4 ,boiled beef and gooseberry-pie are good things enough in their way1 but one may have too much of a good thing1 with the inevitable result of the tightening of the jacket4 ,this greedy-boy drawing appeared in #ahdf1 and created a great sensation in the youth of that day1 and many days since4 ,careful parents have been known to use this terrible example of over-eating as a warning to their offspring that a fit of apoplexy frequently followed the tightening of the jacket4 ,i think my married reader of the rougher sex will agree with me when ,i say that there are few more uncomfortable1 not to say alarming1 moments than those spent in the awful interview with the parents of his beloved1 during which he has to prove beyond all doubt that he is in every respect an individual to whom the happiness of a dear child can be safely entrusted4 ,what a bad quarter of an hour that is before the meeting1 when he has grave doubts as to the sufficiency of his income6 ,will it1 with other future possibilities1 be considered sufficient to assure to my daughter1 sir1 the comforts to which she has been accustomed8 ,this he will have to answer satisfactorily1 together with a few score more questions more or less agonizing4 ,leech drew a scene of common application when he produced the picture that follows1 which he calls ,rather ,alarming--,on ,horror's ,head1 ,horrors accumulate4 ,look at that terrible female and prospective mother-in-law6--think of satisfying such a woman that you are worthy of admission into her family6 ,how sincerely one pities that poor little ,corydon1 and how heartily one wishes him success6 ,,rather ,,alarming4 ,,lady3 ,you wished1 sir1 ,i believe1 to see me respecting the state of my daughter's affections with a view to a matrimonial alliance with that young lady4 ,if you will walk into the library1 my husband and ,i will discuss the matter with you4 ,,young ,,corydon3 ,oh1 gracious6 ,leech treats--how admirably6--another greedy boy1 or1 rather1 two greedy boys4 ,,jacky3 ,hallo1 ,tommy6 what 'ave you got there8 ,,tommy3 ,hoyster6 ,,jacky3 ,oh1 give us a bit6 ,a ,calais oyster1 no doubt--large enough for both2 but ,tommy will not share his happiness4 ,intensity of expression pervades him from his open mouth to his fingers' ends4 ,jacky's face and figure are no less expressive of eagerness to join in the banquet4 ,illustration3 ,,so ,,you ,,have ,,taken ,,all ,,your ,,stuff1 ,,and ,,don',t ,,feel ,,any ,,better1 ,,eh8 ,,well1 ,,then1 ,,we ,,must ,,alter ,,the ,,treatment4 ,,you ,,must ,,get ,,your ,,head ,,shaved2 ,,and ,,if ,,you ,,will ,,call ,,here ,,to-,,morrow ,,morning ,,about ,,eleven1 ,,my ,,pupil ,,will ,,put ,a ,,seton ,,in ,,the ,,back ,,of ,,your ,,neck4 ,if ever man suffered from embarras de richesse1 ,i am that individual in making a selection from the early drawings of ,leech2 where all1 or nearly all1 are so perfect1 choice becomes difficult indeed4 ,i cannot resist1 however1 the one that follows this remark4 ,for perfection of character and richness of humour1 it seems to me unsurpassable4 ,the doctor's attitude as he contemplates his victim--who seems to have brought with her the huge empty physic-bottles to prove that she has taken all her stuff--to say nothing of his startling individuality1 is ,nature itself2 and that immortal pupil with the big knife1 smiling in anticipation of the operation to-morrow about eleven6 ,one can read on the face of the patient a dull realization of the doctor's announcement that only a seton in the back of her neck--whatever that may mean to her--will be of any service now2 and to render the operation successful1 she must have her head shaved4 ,illustration3 ,,awful ,,apparition ,,to ,a ,,gentleman ,,whilst ,,shaving ,,in ,,the ,,edgware ,,road1 ,,september #bi1 #ahdf4 ,the statue of the ,duke of ,wellington1 which so long disgraced ,hyde ,park ,corner1 has disappeared1 to the satisfaction of the world in general1 though there were1 ,i believe1 a few dissentients who saw1 or said they saw1 beauty in one of the most hideous objects ever perpetrated by the hand of man2 yet the ayes had it1 and the monster has departed4 ,the effigy was manufactured in a studio near ,paddington ,green1 and it was on its journey through the ,edgware ,road to the arch now on ,constitution ,hill that the gentleman in ,leech's cartoon was startled by a very remarkable object1 to say the least of it4 ,speaking from my own experience1 ,i have always found a difficulty in giving the effect of wind in a picture2 the action of it on drapery1 trees1 skies1 etc41 is--from the almost momentary nature of the gusts--far from an easy task4 ,no one who ever handled a brush or a pencil has been so successful as ,leech in conveying the action of wind on every object1 and never did he succeed more completely than in an ,awful ,scene on the ,chain ,pier at ,brighton1 which is1 no doubt1 somewhat farcical2 but how intensely funny6 ,master ,charley has gone1 and his ma's parasol has accompanied him4 ,the horror-struck nursemaid is almost blown off her feet2 and ,charley's brother1 also terror-stricken1 will be down on his back in a moment2 whilst his little sister maintains her equilibrium with great difficulty4 ,the flying hat1 and the couple staggering against the blast in the distance1 all help to realize for us the exact effect of a wind-storm4 ,,nursemaid3 ,lawk6 there goes ,charley1 and he's took his ma's parasol6 ,what will missus say8 ,illustration3 ,,waiter3 ,gent in ,no4 #d likes a holder and a thinner wine1 does he8 ,i wonder how he'll like this bin6 ,as there is no condition in life that has not proved food for ,leech's pencil1 that of the waiter was fruitful in many never-to-be-forgotten scenes4 ,i introduce one which is very humorous1 and scarcely an exaggeration4 ,it is called ,how to ,suit the ,taste4 ,a guest seems to have found his port too new and strong4 ,illustration3 ,,hollo6 ,,hi6 ,,here1 ,,somebody6 ,i',,ve ,,turned ,,on ,,the ,,hot ,,water1 ,,and ,i ,,can',t ,,turn ,,it ,,off ,,again6 ,one of the peculiarities of ,leech's art is that time cannot wither it1 nor custom stale its infinite variety4 ,i defy the most serious ,scotchman to look at the sketch below without laughing at it4 ,as the gentleman who is on the highroad to being parboiled is in one of the sketches of #ahdf1 many of my readers may see him for the first time4 ,i envy that man2 but though ,i am very familiar with the wonderful little drawing1 a renewed acquaintance is always a delight to me4 ,we know the bather can jump out of the scalding water when he likes1 but there he is1 with clouds of steam rising about him1 screaming in deadly terror for somebody to come to his rescue4 ,illustration3 ,,symptoms ,,of ,a ,,masquerade4 ,,better-,,half 7loq473 ,is this what you call sitting up with a sick friend1 ,mr4 ,wilkins8 ,here follows a drawing of a different character1 opening up very appreciable possibilities1 and not very pleasant consequences for the hero of the piece4 ,mr4 ,wilkins left the domestic hearth to sit up with a sick friend4 ,yes1 my dear1 ,i can hear him say to his spouse1 ,i may be late2 for if ,i find ,i can comfort the poor fellow by my conversation1 ,i cannot find it in my heart to hurry away from him4 ,wicked ,mr4 ,wilkins6 ,what was there wrong in going to a masquerade8 and if it was criminal to do so1 why leave the evidence of your guilt where ,mrs4 ,w4 could find it8 ,was that a lady's mask8 ,in the eyes of the outraged wife ,i dare say it was1 though it may only have been used to cover the homely features of the deceiver1 whose pale face and empty soda-water bottle plainly prove that the evening's entertainment will not bear the morning's reflections4 ,illustration3 ,,juvenile3 ,i say1 ,charley1 that's a jeuced fine gurl talking to young ,fipps6 ,i should like to catch her under the mistletoe4 ,the first drawings of ,the ,rising ,generation1 in which are portrayed the premature affections and the amusing affectations of the manners and sayings of their elders that1 according to ,leech1 distinguished the jeunesse dore of ,england1 appeared in #ahdf1 and have been so admirably described by ,dickens elsewhere as to leave me only the task of placing some of the drawings before the reader1 carefully avoiding those the great writer has noticed so felicitously4 ,the young gentleman in the drawing introduced here would like to catch the pretty creature talking to the fascinating young man under the mistletoe1 no doubt6 ,we know his wicked intentions2 but how would he carry them out8 ,he is not tall enough to reach the lady's elbow2 but love in such passionate natures laughs at difficulties1 and he will find a way2 and he calls a man old enough to be his father young ,fipps6 ,delightful little dog6 and no less delightful is his friend ,charley1 who smiles encouragement1 and would do likewise4 ,these works of ,leech possess what it is not too much to call an historical interest1 as they chronicle truly the dresses of the time4 ,in the object of our young friend's admiration1 ,i fancy ,i see the approach of crinoline1 while her ringlets afford a striking contrast to the fringes of the present day4 ,an old lady would now create a sensation indeed if she appeared in a turban like that which bedecks the sitting figure4 ,illustration3 ,,juvenile3 ,uncle6 ,,uncle3 ,now1 then1 what is it8 ,this is the fourth time you've woke me up1 sir4 ,,juvenile3 ,oh6 just put a few coals on the fire and pass the wine1 that's a good old chap6 ,again the irrepressible juvenile1 under different conditions4 ,behold him practising upon a very testy old gentleman1 who has been so rude1 in the estimation of his young nephew1 as to go to sleep after dinner4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,rising ,,generation4 ,,juvenile3 ,ah1 it's all very well6 ,love may do for boys and gals2 but we1 as men of the world1 know 'ow 'ollow it is4 ,in his notices of the freaks of the rising generation ,leech did not confine himself to juveniles of the higher and middle ranks1 but occasionally he shows us the young snob1 of whom he makes--with modifications--the same mannish and amusingly vain creature as his confreres1 the little swells4 ,as an illustration1 ,i present my reader with a scene in a coffee-house1 in which two friends are refreshing themselves1 and exchanging philosophical reflections on the vanities of human life4 ,these lads look like shop-boys1 but--in their own estimation--with souls far above their positions in life4 ,the spokesman has found the truth of the poet's description of the course of true love in the conduct of some barmaid who has jilted him1 hence his bitterness4 ,in the year #ahdg ,leech produced much of his best work1 and in justification of this dictum ,i advise the study of a drawing full of character1 humour1 and beauty4 ,thousands of heads of households could vouch for the truth of the situation depicted there1 and where is the mistress whose mind has not misgiven her when a request from her pretty servant has been urged that she might go to chapel this evening8 ,chapel1 indeed6 one can hear her mutter to herself2 ,i've not the least doubt the baker's man is waiting for her round the corner6 ,i am loath to find fault with such a work as this1 but ,i do think that perfect maid deserved a more presentable lover than the pudding-faced1 knock-kneed soldier who is personating the bit of ribbin4 ,the artist appears to me to charge his story-telling maid with very bad taste indeed4 ,would the drawing have lost1 or gained1 if ,leech had given us a handsome young guardsman instead of this ugly fellow8 ,he would1 at any rate1 have made the little fib a little more pardonable4 ,the other figures deserve careful attention--notably1 the youth absorbed in the study of natural history4 ,,servant-,,maid3 ,if you please1 mem1 could ,i go out for half an hour to buy a bit of ribbin1 mem8 ,if there be amongst my readers any who are unfamiliar with ,cruikshank's illustrations of ,oliver ,twist1 ,i advise them to turn to them1 where they will find a drawing of ,fagin in the condemned cell at ,newgate1 one of the most awful renderings of agonized despair ever depicted by the hand of an artist4 ,this great work is travestied by ,leech in a manner so admirable as to make the travesty take rank with the original4 ,instead of ,fagin1 see ,king ,louis ,philippe smarting under the failure of his schemes and the impending fall of his dynasty4 ,by the ,spanish marriages the veteran trickster destroyed the power which he sought to consolidate4 ,domestic troubles and misadventures were represented by ,leech in many examples1 with a sympathetic humour that never wearies4 ,a party may be assembled for a dinner which is strangely delayed2 conversation flags into silence4 ,the host and hostess become uneasy1 when a button-boy appears with the ominous ,oh1 if you please1 'm1 cook's very sorry1 'm1 could she speak to you for a moment8 ,something has happened2 but we are left in uncertainty as to what it was4 ,or the dinner is served1 when an alarming announcement is made3 ,,servant 7rushing in73 ,oh1 goodness gracious1 master6 ,there's the kitchen chimley afire1 and two parish ingins a-knocking at the street door4 ,one of the happiest of the servant-gal-isms appears this year--the precursor of many excellent tunes on the same string--delightfully illustrative of the vanity which we all share1 more or less1 with our maids4 ,in the picture that follows1 the sight of the old lady's new bonnet and a convenient looking-glass have provided an opportunity that the pretty servant could not resist4 ,she must see how she looks in it--and behold the result6 ,illustration3 ,,domestic 7soliloquizing73 ,well1 ,i'm sure1 missis had better give this new bonnet to me1 instead of sticking such a young-looking thing upon her old shoulders4 7,the impudent minx has immediate warning47 ,i must refer my readers to ,punch's almanac for #ahdh1 copiously illustrated by ,leech1 for many admirable examples of his many-sided powers4 ,alas6 my space forbids the reproduction of any of them4 ,amongst the rest there is one of a gentleman suffering from influenza1 which1 by the way1 seems to have been as prevalent in #ahdh as it has been recently1 though not so fatal in its effects4 ,our sufferer is visited by a condoling friend3 he sits with his feet in hot water1 and1 with his hand on the bell-pull1 he says1 ,this is really very kind of you to call4 ,can ,i offer you anything8 ,a basin of gruel1 or a glass of cough mixture8 ,don't say no6 ,another of a rich old lady1 who stands before a pyramid of oyster-barrels1 all sent to her at ,christmas by her poor relations4 ,another--but ,i must pause1 and again refer my reader to the almanac4 ,i find yet one more of the ,rising ,generation series quite irresistible4 ,the two little bucks are perfect1 and the idea of such a report as that one of them was engaged to the magnificent woman--whose face we long to see--is so ludicrous as almost to reach the sublime of absurdity4 ,look at the eagerness with which the precocious youth impresses upon his friend the necessity of contradicting the rumour1 and the well-bred and considerate way in which the friend receives a communication which does not surprise him4 ,he does not smile at it4 ,there is nothing astonishing in a man's being in love with such a fine woman1 and he will certainly contradict anyone who repeats the report1 as his friend desires4 ,if the creatures had been six feet high instead of not so many more inches1 they could not have conducted themselves more naturally4 ,illustration3 ,,juvenile3 ,oh1 ,charley1 if you hear a report that ,i am going to be married to that girl in black1 you can contradict it4 ,there's nothing in it4 #ahdh witnessed the fall of the ,french throne and the tottering of others in ,europe4 ,it was a terrible time1 and though the ,english throne was safe enough1 a great deal of vague alarm existed in this country4 ,the ,chartists met in their thousands1 and prepared a bill of grievances with signatures1 making a document1 it was said1 some miles long4 ,this petition they announced their intention of presenting to ,parliament1 accompanied by a procession1 which was really to be some miles long2 but they reckoned without their host--of opponents4 ,special constables were enrolled 7amongst whom was ,louis ,napoleon71 soldiers were at hand1 skilfully hidden by the great ,duke1 and the ,chartist procession was peacefully stopped long before it got to ,westminster4 ,there were firebrands then as now1 and a meeting was called by one of them to be held in ,trafalgar ,square--see how history repeats itself6--where a ragamuffin assembly appeared2 so did the police1 and nothing came of it except a few broken heads and the inimitable drawings by ,leech4 ,how admirable they are6 ,the person who wanted more liberty1 equality1 and fraternity than was good for him or anybody else1 was a ,mr4 ,cochran1 and his adherents were called ,cochranites4 ,,cochranite3 ,hooray6 ,veeve ler liberty66 ,harm yourselves66 ,to the palis66 ,down with heverythink6666 ,in the second picture the ,cochranite has collapsed4 ,a stalwart policeman has taken him in hand1 and he cries1 ,oh1 sir--please1 sir--it ain't me1 sir4 ,i'm for ,god save the ,queen and ,rule ,britannier4 ,boo-hoo6--oh dear6 oh dear6 7bursts into tears74 ,below we have another result of the agitation1 touched in ,leech's happiest manner4 ,a special constable endeavours to arrest an agitator1 who evidently objects1 and prepares for resistance4 ,illustration3 ,,special ,,constable3 ,now mind1 you know--if ,i kill you1 it's nothing2 but if you kill me1 by ,jove6 it's murder6 ,a certain ,master ,jackey was a great favourite of ,leech's4 ,in an elaborate work this youth's pranks are chronicled under the heading of ,home for the ,holidays4 ,whether the hero of those adventures is the same as he who is pictured in the work ,i present to my readers ,i know not4 ,in all probability the taste for practical joking which flourished so vigorously in the holiday scenes began1 as we see1 in the nursery4 ,master ,jackey has been to the play1 where he has witnessed the performances of a contortionist1 and1 emulous of rivalling the professor1 he perils the limbs and lives of his brothers and sisters in his operations4 ,we know of the tendency to imitate in all children1 but when the propensity shows itself in the imitation of tricks that require long practice before they can be performed with safety1 the game1 though amusing to the players1 may be very dangerous to the played upon4 ,it is to be hoped that the rush of the terrified mother in this capital scene may be in time to save the baby from a perilous fall4 ,the little brothers have already tasted the consequence of ,master ,jackey's imitation4 ,the accompanying drawing was suggested by myself during an after-dinner conversation at a friend's house4 ,the talk had turned on the difficulty that the pronunciation of certain words would prove to one who had dined not wisely but too well1 when it occurred to me that ,plesiosaurus or ,ichthyosaurus would be troublesome1 and ,i said so4 ,leech smiled1 and said nothing1 but in ,punch of the week following his idea of the difficulty appeared4 ,illustration3 ,,recreations ,,in ,,natural ,,history4 ,,first ,,naturalist3 ,what1 the s-s-she-sherpent a-an 7hic67 ,ich-7hic67-thyosaurus6 ,nonshence6 ,,second ,,naturalist3 ,who said ,ich-7hic67-,ichthy-o-saurus8 ,i said ,plesi-o-7hic67-saurus plainenuff4 ,the cabman who doesn't know his way about ,london is exceptional1 but he is met with occasionally1 and very provoking he is2 but to have his little trap-door knocked off its hinges because he takes a wrong turning is a punishment in excess of his fault4 ,the young gentleman passenger is of an impatient turn1 and he will find that his impatience will have to be paid for unless the cabman is more good-natured than he looks4 ,illustration3 ,,cabman ,,is ,,supposed ,,to ,,have ,,taken ,a ,,wrong ,,turning1 ,,that',s ,,all4 ,flunkeiana cannot be omitted in this short summary of ,leech's work1 more especially as the first of a long series is one of the best4 ,nothing can be conceived more perfect than the man and the maid at the seaside--the girl1 ,french from top to toe2 the flunkey1 a most perfect type of the class4 ,,french ,,maid3 ,you like--a--ze--seaside--,m'sieu ,jean ,thomas8 ,,john ,,thomas3 ,par bokhoo1 mamzelle--par bokhoo4 ,i've--aw--been so accustomed to--aw--gaiety in town1 that ,i'm--aw--a'most killed with arnwee down here4 ,the immortal ,briggs made his first appearance in ,punch in the year #ahdi1 and with one or two records of his career ,i regret to say ,i must close my selected list of ,leech's early works4 ,to say ,i regret this is to say little1 for ,i am obliged to forego numberless delightful works1 many as good as1 and some perhaps better than1 those ,i have presented to my readers4 ,mr4 ,briggs first appears with newspaper in hand in his snug breakfast-room1 listening to a complaint from the housemaid that a slate is off the roof1 and the servant's bedroom in danger of being flooded4 ,mr4 ,briggs replies that the sooner it is put to rights the better1 before it goes any further--and he will see about it4 ,mr4 ,briggs does see about it2 he sees the builder1 who tells him that a little compo is all that is wanted4 ,the drawings show that eight or ten men are required to manage the little compo1 much to ,mr4 ,briggs' astonishment4 ,in the next scene a huge scaffolding is raised1 and a small army of labourers are at work on ,mr4 ,briggs's roof4 ,a noise enough to wake the dead has awoke ,mr4 ,briggs at the unpleasant hour of five in the morning4 ,flower-pots and bricks fall past his dressing-room window4 ,he finds no time has been lost1 and that the workpeople have already commenced putting the roof to rights4 ,the builder would not be true to his craft if he did not improve the occasion and show his employer how easy1 now that the workpeople were about1 it would be to make certain additions in the shape of a conservatory1 etc41 to the house4 ,briggs weakly listens to the voice of the charmer2 walls are battered down to enlarge the dining-room1 and the entrance-hall is enlarged4 ,mr4 ,briggs's health gives way1 and he calls in the doctor1 who prescribes horse exercise4 ,i think it was at one of those never-to-be-forgotten dinners at ,egg's that1 the talk having turned upon shooting experiences1 ,dickens said that the sudden rising of a cock-pheasant under one's nose was like a firework let off in that uncongenial locality4 ,the following week ,leech subjected ,mr4 ,briggs to the startling experience so admirably recorded in the drawing which faces this page4 ,illustration ,for a further acquaintance with ,mr4 ,briggs's performances on horseback1 as well as his escapades with gun and fishing-rod1 ,i must content myself with referring those curious on the matters to the pages of ,punch1 where they will find entertainment that is inexhaustible4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,mr4 ,,percival ,,leigh ,,and ,,leech4 ,in the death of ,mr4 ,percival ,leigh1 which took place a short time ago1 the last member of the original staff of ,punch passed away4 ,mr4 ,leigh never married1 and died at a very advanced age4 ,i frequently met him in society1 where his refined and gentle manners1 and his quaintly humorous conversation1 were what might have been anticipated from the author of ,pips his ,diary1 the ,comic ,grammars1 and other contributions to the paper to which he was so long and so faithfully attached4 ,from the days of their fellow-studentship at ,st4 ,bartholomew's 7with a short interval71 to the time of ,leech's death1 a firm friendship existed between these two distinguished men4 ,much alike in their sense of humour1 they also resembled each other in numberless amiable qualities of heart and mind4 ,leigh's pen was as free from personality1 and as conspicuous for the gentleness with which it dealt with folly1 as ,leech's pencil4 ,in early and late days1 when ,leech was in trouble1 ,leigh's was the hand--amongst others--ever ready to help2 and to those who can read between the lines in the paper which ,mr4 ,leigh has contributed to this book1 there will be little difficulty in discovering the friend who found purchasers for work that the producer was barred 7in a double sense7 from selling for himself4 ,i see little or no reason for weakening my assertion that ,leech arrived at his supreme eminence without any art education2 for the slight mechanical knowledge of the art of drawing upon wood which he acquired from ,mr4 ,orrin ,smith1 a wood-engraver1 is no more worthy the name of art-teaching1 than the few lessons in etching given to ,leech by ,george ,cruikshank can be called art-education4 ,following the example of ,sir ,john ,millais1 ,mr4 ,percival ,leigh 7to whom1 it will be remembered1 ,millais recommended my predecessor1 ,mr4 ,evans1 to apply7 furnished the following remarks for this memoir4 ,said ,mr4 ,leigh3 ,orrin ,smith has been dead many years4 ,how long ,leech was with him ,i cannot say precisely4 ,perhaps a twelvemonth or thereabouts4 ,smith was a sociable and rather a clever man1 but according to ,leech1 occasionally so economical that he would now and then try to get a little gratuitous work out of him4 ,on one occasion ,smith asked him to introduce a few figures1 so as to put a touch of action into a drawing on wood1 meant to illustrate a serious little book1 the work of a clergyman4 ,the scene represented was a quiet churchyard4 ,leech improved it with a group of little boys larking and boxing4 ,of course these embellishments1 on discovery1 were objected to as painfully incongruous1 and had to be cancelled4 ,i forget whether or no they had been actually engraven before they were taken out4 ,thus far ,mr4 ,leigh4 ,i think ,i can interpret the incongruity4 ,i fancy ,i can hear ,leech say1 after previous unrequited sketches1 ,oh1 hang it6 this is too bad4 ,well1 here goes2 he shall have a few figures1 and ,i hope he'll like 'em4 ,mr4 ,leigh continues3 ,the post-office envelope was one of ,leech's successes2 so were the ',comic ,histories' of ,england and ,rome1 and the ',comic ,blackstone'2 but his growth in popularity was gradual4 ,he had previously illustrated ',jack ,brag' for ,bentley1 and subsequently various articles for ,bentley's ,miscellany1 particularly the ',ingoldsby ,legends1' as well as other ephemeral works of the same publisher2 amongst them the ',comic ,latin' and ',english' ,grammars1 and the ',children of the ,mobility1' a travesty of the ',children of the ,nobility1' long since out of print4 ,he also furnished coloured illustrations to the ',fiddle-,faddle ,fashion-book1' a whimsical satire on the fopperies and literary absurdities of the period1 also out of print4 ,i venture again to interrupt the current of ,mr4 ,leigh's narrative with a word or two on the ,fiddle-,faddle book4 ,a copy of it1 date #ahdj1 has been lent to me4 ,the literary portion1 consisting mainly of a thrilling story of brigand life1 the blood-curdling tenor of which may be imagined from the title1 ,grabalotti the ,bandit2 or1 ,the ,emerald ,monster of the ,deep ,dell1 is the work of ,mr4 ,leigh4 ,the story opens thus3 ,italia6 oh1 ,italia6 blooming birthplace of beauty6 land of lazzaroni and loveliness6 clime of complines and cruelty1 of susceptibility and sacrilege1 of roses and revenge6 thy bright1 blue1 boundless skies serene ,i love2 thy verdant vales1 volcanoes1 vines1 and virgins6 ,thy virgins8 ay1 thy bright-eyed1 dark-haired virgins4 ,i love them--how ,i love them1 though mine1 alas6 they ne'er can be6 ,and there was one who1 in earlier1 happier hours1 before these locks were--no matter4 ,let me proceed with the calmness becoming a narrator with my tale4 ,and he proceeds with a vengeance to let us know that the spokesman of the above is an artist who had halted in a deep ravine in the ,abruzzi 7where1 on each side1 the cliffs frowned like fiends upon the quailing traveller7 to transfer to my portable sketch-book a slight souvenir of the celestial scene4 ,absorbed in my enthralling occupation1 ,i heeded not the approach of a visitant2 it was therefore with surprise1 not unmingled with alarm1 that ,i was aroused by a tap upon the shoulders1 accompanied by the following sarcastic greeting3 ',is thy maternal parent1 young man1 aware of thine absence from home8' ',quite so1' ,i replied1 in a tremulous tone1 anxiously glancing round to behold the speaker4 ,my acquaintance with literature--to say nothing of my constant attendance at the opera--at once convinced me that ,i was in the hands of a brigand4 ,had there been any possible doubt whatever1 it would have been instantly dispelled2 for after smiling in demoniacal derision1 the disturber of the sketcher said1 deliberately and tranquilly1 as he levelled a pistol at my head3 ',thy wealth or thy existence6' ,my sole remaining ducat was offered in vain4 ,at the shrill sound of his whistle the crags bristled with bandits1 and fifty carbines were pointed at my person4 ,blue with boiling agony1 ,i made as a last resource the ,masonic sign4 ,it succeeded4 ,at another signal every carbine was lowered1 and breathless expectation brooded over the heart of its bearer4 ,the bandits1 however1 were not so easily satisfied2 for a murmur of impatience1 mingled with discontent1 arose1 like the billows of emotion1 amongst the troop1 and some twenty weapons again kissed with their stocks as many manly shoulders4 ',back1 slaves1 for your lives6' shouted the infuriated ,grabalotti1 throwing himself in front of me4 ',one moment more1 and1 by the blood-stained power of the thundering ,avalanche1 the foremost of you dies6' ,cowering in cream-like humility1 each individual reversed his implement of death--all but one4 ,a ball from the pistol of ,grabalotti instantly crashed through his brain4 ,for a moment he writhed in sable pangs2 then all was over1 and darkness mantled over his impetuosity for ever4 ,then1 turning towards me1 the brigand chief gave me a civil invitation to spend the day with him1 which1 under existing circumstances1 ,i thought it best to accept4 ,on our way ,i took the opportunity thus furnished me to survey my lawless companion4 ,he was at least six feet and a half1 independent of the coverings of his feet1 in height2 his air was stern and commanding2 raven ringlets clustered down to his shoulders4 ,premature intensity glowed in his volcanic eyes2 his nose was ,roman1 and he wore mustachios4 ,the lines in the lower part of his face were indicative of death-fraught concentration2 and the teeth1 frequently disclosed by his smile of pervading bitterness1 were remarkably white4 ,the gloom of his conical hat was mocked by gay ribands4 ,he wore a jacket of green velvet 7an expensive article71 lustrously gemmed with gold buttons2 and those portions of his dress for which our language has no proper appellation were richly meandered with superior lace4 ,his legs were variously swathed in the manner so characteristic of his profession4 ,the carbine that slept in a snowy belt at his back2 the pistols bickering in his girdle2 and the stiletto reposing1 like candid innocence1 in its silver sheath1 with its ivory handle protruding from his sash1 were all of the most ornamental and valuable description4 ,this extraordinary robber and the artist arrive at the dwelling of the bandit1 which was eligibly situate among the most romantic scenery4 ,signor ,grabalotti conducted his visitor to a table groaning with fruit1 and supporting six sacramental chalices filled with the richest wine4 ,the brigand has made a great haul of prisoners1 whose friends have not shown the alacrity in rescuing them required by their captor1 who1 by way of entertaining his guest1 orders them all1 to the amount of a dozen1 into his presence1 and1 arranging them in a row along a trench in the background1 with the assistance of twelve of his men1 has them all shot4 ,almost ere the smoke had cleared away1 the earth was shovelled over the bodies4 ',and now1' said the chief1 'for a dance in honour of our guest4' ,four-and-twenty brisk young bandits1 clad in jackets1 green array1 were instantly joined by as many maidens1 each wearing the square coiffure1 short dress1 and petite apron1 and otherwise fully attired in the costume of the country4 ,each robber provided himself with a partner1 and a festive dance was performed with great spirit to a popular air4 ,their gaiety was at its height1 when suddenly the sound of a distant bell stole with milky gentleness on the ear4 ,in an instant all present fell on their knees1 and1 with their arms devoutly crossed upon their breasts1 raised1 in heavenly unison1 their hymn of votive praise to the ,virgin4 ,here endeth the first chapter of the ,emerald ,monster of the ,deep ,dell4 ,as a satire on the literary absurdities of the day1 to quote its author1 this capital fooling could not be surpassed2 indeed1 to those who remember1 as the present writer can distinctly1 the effusions in prose and verse--or1 as ,jerrold called it1 prose and worse--that more or less filled the pages of the ,keepsakes1 the ,books of ,gems and ,beauty of a long bygone time1 the ,monster of the ,deep ,dell is scarcely a caricature4 ,but ,i have not yet done with him4 ,the second chapter is devoted to an account in ,grabalotti language of the early life and loves of the interesting bandit3 ,rino ,grabalotti is my name1 he says4 ,italy is my nation2 the ,deep ,dell is my dwelling-place1 and--but no6 never shall monkish cant pollute the lips to baleful imprecation attuned for ever4 ,let the blue and hideous glare of the lightning1 and the ghastly gleam of the hag-ridden meteor1 illumine the deeds of my doing4 ,growl1 ye thunders6 ,roar1 ye tempests6 ,yell1 ye fiends1 and howl in hideous harmony a prelude to my tale6 ,he then proceeds to inform the artist 7who1 with an eye for copy1 ventures to hint that an outline of his history would be interesting7 that he was the son of a priest1 and born in ,naples2 and naturally much annoyed by the scandalous irregularity of his birth1 he devotes his life to robbing and murdering as many of his fellow-creatures as good fortune places in his hands in the practice of his profession4 ,but ,i anticipate4 ,grabalotti declines to say much about his infancy2 he seems to have been pretty often reminded of the scandal of his birth1 and as often he registered a vow that1 sooner or later1 he would close for ever the mouths of the slanderers4 ,it was in my sixteenth summer1 he continues1 that ,i really began to live4 ,though in years a boy1 ,i was in all else a man4 ,passion hurtled in my darkening eye1 and plunged my heart in lava4 ,i loved2 what ,italian at my age does not8 ,yes2 ,i--the ruthless1 the scathed1 the smouldering1 the sanguinary1 the ,emerald ,monster of the ,deep ,dell--,i1 even ,i1 gasped with tortuous anguish in the maddening transports of ,cupid4 ,giulia is the name of the fair creature who has caused the eruption of this volcanic passion2 and on what the bandit-lover calls an evening of rosy gladness1 he seeks his fair enslaver's window1 guitar in hand4 ,but the voice1 which was the best at a barcarole of any in ,naples1 had raised a very few love notes1 when a rough voice exclaims3 ',what dost thou here1 spurious offspring of sacrilege8' accompanying the inquiry by an equally rough salutation from behind 7oh1 madness67--'begone6' ,confusion simmered in my brain4 ,frenzied1 ,i turned2 one stroke of my stiletto1 and my wounded honour was salved--with gore4 ,it was that of ,giulia's father6 ,this sudden death of the author of her being offended ,giulia1 and she solemnly renounced young ,grabalotti for ever4 ,this intimation1 conveyed in a mixture of indignation mingled with scorn1 had an extraordinary effect4 ,says the lover3 ,twisting in bitterness awhile ,i lingered1 then rushed distracted from the spot1 and fled hissing with desperation to the mountains4 ,the beauties of the ,deep ,dell produced no soothing effect on the desperate bitterness that twisted the soul of ,grabalotti2 he issued from the ,dell to soak and steep his heart in blood4 ,the dewy wail of infancy1 the piercing zest of female innocence1 and the tremulous pleading of piping feebleness1 all mocked at the radiance of the crimson steel1 have poured their bootless incense o'er my breast4444 ,ha1 ha6 ,the nun1 her dove-like innocence devastated1 has broiled like a chestnut amid the ashes of her convent1 etc4 ,more copy in the style of the above is imparted to the artist4 ,but an interruption takes place4 ,a brigand enters1 and so irritates the monster by the abruptness of his appearance that1 had not the pistol with which his impatient master received him missed fire1 his brains would have been scattered to the winds of heaven4 ',ha6 dost thou dare to break in upon my mood8' roared ,grabalotti4 ',come to tell you1' said the robber 7speaking in the greatest possible haste71 'that the nun who escaped the sacking of the convent has been taken4' ',do as you list with her1 and chop her head off6 ,stay1 ,i would fain see it when it is done2 and here1 take this purse for the risk thou hast encountered4' ,yet another interruption--this time in the person of a brigand spy disguised as a peasant4 ,the chief anticipates startling and perhaps unpleasant news1 and saying3 ',excuse me1 signor1 for a few moments1' he retires with his emissary4 ,grabalotti was absent some little time1 during which the artist added another sketch to his small collection1 when the monster returned1 and informed his guest in a lively tone that they were about to have some fun4 ',of what description8' inquired the artist4 ',in an hour's time we shall be attacked by the military1' to whom he promises a warm reception2 and in the event of the robbers being overpowered by numbers1 a train communicates with the magazine below4 ,here the head of the unfortunate nun made its appearance on a silver dish4 ,its loveliness1 even in death1 was intensely overpowering4 ,with a grin of fiendish malice1 ,grabalotti seized it by the hair1 but no sooner did the features meet his eye1 than he relinquished his hold and fell1 senseless1 backwards1 faintly gasping1 like a dying echo1 '',tis she6 ',tis ,giulia66' ,unless the artist guest was possessed of courage uncommon among our fraternity1 he could not have contemplated being blown into the air with the robbers1 or being shot by the soldiers1 with equanimity2 and he must have been much relieved in any case by ,grabalotti1 who1 when the violence of frantic ferocity had given way to the calm profundity of despair1 muttered in a low and suppressed tone3 ,nay1 thou shalt live to tell the world my story6 and to enable his guest to do this eventually1 in a tone of sweetest melancholy he said3 ,stranger1 hence6 thy further stay is perilous4 ,yon by-path will conduct thee to the valleys4 ,rising from the valleys was a crag1 to the summit of which half an hour's walk would take the artist1 and from thence he was assured that if he turned his gaze backwards he should see something worth seeing4 ,the narrator tells us that he reached the crag in twenty-nine minutes exactly4 ,for one minute ,i gazed in the direction of the ,brigands' ,haunt1 from which1 precisely at the expiration of that time1 a vivid flash of flame1 shooting into the air1 accompanied by a dense column of smoke1 and followed by a terrific explosion1 proclaimed too plainly the last achievement of the ,emerald ,monster of the ,deep ,dell4 ,mr4 ,percival ,leigh contributes a second story to the ,fiddle-,faddle ,fashion-book1 in which the novel of fashionable life1 not uncommon fifty years ago1 is satirized under the title of ,belleville3 a ,tale of ,fashionable ,life1 not less happily than the sanguinary and terribly romantic writers are treated in the burlesque of ,grabalotti4 ,the ,clara ,matilda poets of the ,keepsake time are also amusingly parodied in some short poems1 which1 with comic advertisements1 occasionally very humorous1 fill up the literary portion of the ,fiddle-,faddle ,fashion-book4 ,this book is not the only one in which ,leech's powers have been enlisted--,i was nearly saying prostituted--in publications devoted to eccentricities in dress and the caprices of fashion4 ,in illustrations by him of the tale of fashionable life1 or of ,grabalotti1 the genius of that great artist would have had full play2 but as the draughtsman of fashion-plates it was1 in my opinion1 degraded4 ,in vindication of my judgment ,i present my readers with two plates from the ,fiddle-,faddle book1 in which ,leech portrays--no doubt under direction--caprices of fashion which could only have existed in his own imagination1 and produced with a feeling of caricature that is so conspicuous by its absence in his usual work4 ,i now return to the paper which ,mr4 ,leigh wrote with a view to this memoir4 ,illustration ,that ,leigh and ,leech first met as students at ,st4 ,bartholomew's ,hospital1 ,i have noted elsewhere2 and the details of his apprenticeship to the eccentric surgeon1 which ,mr4 ,leigh heard from ,leech himself1 ,i have also given1 with the exception of one incident of which ,i was ignorant4 ,illustration ,in his dispensary1 says ,mr4 ,leigh1 the doctor had one drawer amongst his boxes1 in which there were pills of gentle efficacy1 intended to be served out 7they were made1 ,i believe1 of bread and soap7 to the generality of his customers4 ,this receptacle bore the label of ',pil4 ,hum41'--abbreviation of humbug--or1 as their concoctor used to call them1 ',humbugeraneous ,pills4' ,the ,dr4 ,cockle to whom1 ,mr4 ,leigh says1 ,leech went after he left ,mr4 ,whittle1 was the son of the inventor of ,cockle's ,pills4 ,no sooner had he become of age1 continues ,mr4 ,leigh1 than he was induced1 in order to meet difficulties for which he was not responsible1 to accept an accommodation bill1 which the drawer of1 when it fell due1 failed to supply the means of meeting4 ,leech was consequently arrested for debt at the suit of this discounter1 and lodged in a sponging-house kept by a sheriff's officer1 a ,jew1 by name 7,i think7 of ,levi1 in ,newman ,street4 ,there he remained about a fortnight1 supporting himself in the meanwhile by drawing cartoons and caricatures4 ,he lithographed them on stone for ,spooner1 in the ,strand1 at a guinea each1 a friend having negotiated their sale4 ,at last1 an advance of money on a projected publication sufficient to discharge the debt having been obtained1 he was liberated4 ,but not long after1 a second scrape--a repetition of the first--cost him another temporary sojourn with another ,jew in another sponging-house in ,cursitor ,street4 ,this detention1 however1 lasted but a few days4 ,from that period to the close of his life he remained subject to repeated demands for pecuniary assistance under continued pressure1 which1 as at the outset1 he could not withstand4 ,the deficits he had to defray were always heavy2 the last of them1 as ,i understand1 a thousand pounds4 ,it cost him very hard work to make it good4 ,excess of generosity was his greatest failing4 ,i have no means of knowing1 nor do ,i desire to know1 who the borrowers were to whom ,percival ,leigh alludes2 but his revelations make the fact of ,leech having died a comparatively poor man comprehensible enough4 ,if ever man was killed by overwork1 ,leech was that man1 and this must be a painful reflection for those whose incessant demands upon him made it only possible for him to meet them by the incessant exertions which destroyed him4 ,mr4 ,leigh's paper concludes with the anecdote that follows3 ,leech and ,albert ,smith worked together very harmoniously as illustrator and writer in several books--',ledbury1' ',brinvilliers1' and many others--and one day when they were leaving ,smith's house together1 a street-boy stepped up to them1 and scoffing at the inscription on ,smith's large brass door-plate1 cried3 ',oh yes6 ,mr4 ,albert ,smith1 ,m4,r4,c4,s41 ,surgeon-,dentist4' ',good boy6' said ,leech1 putting a penny into the boy's hand2 'now go and insult somebody else4' ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,meeting ,,of ,,mulready ,,and ,,leech4 ,mr4 ,mulready1 ,r4,a41 was commissioned by the authorities to design a postal envelope for general use1 a penny stamp affixed insuring free delivery of letters all over ,england4 ,the design1 which should have been of a simple character1 was far too ornate and elaborate4 ,at the top ,britannia was represented in the act of despatching winged messengers with letters to all parts of the world1 and down the sides of the envelope were the recipients of letters which had conveyed heart-breaking news to one side1 and good tidings to the other4 ,as a work of art the ,mulready envelope has1 in my opinion1 great merit1 but it was ludicrously inappropriate to the purposes for which it was intended4 ,leech saw and seized the opportunity1 with the result appended4 ,the signature of the bottled leech1 so familiar afterwards1 is used here as ,mulready's signature1 and thereby hangs a tale1 which1 though the burden of it deals with a future time1 ,i venture to introduce in this place4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,fores',s ,,comic ,,envelopes ,no4 #a ,my friend ,augustus ,egg1 ,r4,a41 who lived in a charming house in ,queen's ,road1 ,bayswater1 was not only well known as an excellent artist1 but also as being the ,amphitryon whose hospitality was famous1 and whose dinners were still more famous by reason of the guests who were wont to surround his table4 ,where is the hungry man who would not have been enchanted to meet ,dickens and ,leech1 ,mark ,lemon and ,john ,forster 7,dickens's biographer71 ,hawkins1 ,q4,c4 7now the judge71 ,landseer1 ,mulready1 ,webster1 and other artists less famous8 ,of these dinners ,i shall have something to say by-and-by2 at present ,i confine myself to one special occasion4 ,it was on one day during the year #ahdg that ,egg said to me3 ,you know ,mulready better than ,i do2 ,i wish you would go and get him to fix a day to dine here--any day next week will suit me4 ,leech wants to meet him2 and1 somehow or other1 though both have dined here frequently1 they have never met4 ,good1 said ,i2 ,i will do your bidding4 ,and on the following ,sunday ,i called upon ,mulready4 ,egg will be pleased if you will dine with him any day next week1 sir1 that you may be disengaged4 ,he expects the usual set--,dickens1 ,landseer1 ,leech1 and the rest4 ,you have never met ,leech1 ,i think2 he is very desirous to make your acquaintance4 ,ah1 is he8 ,well1 ,i don't care about knowing ,leech4 ,really1 sir 7it was always the ,johnsonian sir to the old gentleman71 said ,i1 when ,i had recovered from my surprise1 may ,i ask why you won't meet ,leech8 ,yes1 you may1 said the old painter1 and ,i will tell you4 ,of course you remember that unfortunate postal envelope that ,i designed8 ,well1 ,leech caricatured it4 ,you needn't look so surprised--you don't think ,i am such a fool as to mind being caricatured2 but ,i do mind being represented as a blood-sucker6 ,what else can he mean by using that infernal little leech in a bottle in the front of his caricature as my signature8 ,you know well enough1 ,frith1 that ,i have never asked monstrous prices for my pictures4 ,you fellows get better paid for your work than ,i ever did1 and you wouldn't like to be called blood-suckers1 ,i expect4 ,mr4 ,mulready was an ,irishman1 and rather a peppery one2 and ,i am happy to say that ,i overcame my disposition to laugh in his face mainly through a feeling of astonishment that my old friend could be ignorant of the ordinary way in which ,leech signed his drawings4 ,do you happen to have a number of ,punch by you1 ,mr4 ,mulready8 said ,i4 ,no2 as a languid swell said when he was asked that same question1 ',i am no bookworm2 ,i never see ,punch4' ,as ,i could not give my angry friend ocular proof of his mistake by producing the usual signature to ,punch drawings1 ,i set to work to explain how the little leech came into the bottle1 and1 without much difficulty1 convinced my old friend that an insult to him was not intended4 ,the two artists met2 and it was delightful to watch ,leech's handsome face as ,mulready himself told of his misconception4 ,first there was a serious1 almost pained1 expression1 which1 no doubt1 arose in that tender heart from being the innocent cause of pain to another2 the serious look passed off1 to give place to a smile1 which broadened into a roar of laughter4 ,from that moment ,leech and ,mulready were fast friends4 ,with an apology for the interruption1 ,i return to my narrative4 ,alas6 ,i can well remember the appearance of the ,sketches by ,boz1 to be so quickly followed by the ,posthumous ,papers of the ,pickwick ,club4 ,none but those who witnessed it can conceive the enthusiasm with which that immortal work was received by an eager public1 who welcomed each number as it appeared1 month after month1 with hearty appreciation4 ,of course1 there were carping critics1 one of whom is reported to have said the author would go up like a rocket and come down like a stick4 ,that prophet1 a man of much literary ability1 drank himself into a debtors' prison1 where1 ,i was told1 he died of delirium tremens4 ,there is1 ,i think1 a vein of melancholy unusually developed in the nature of almost all humorists4 ,as an instance1 ,i may give the actor ,liston1 whose humour on the stage was to me unparalleled2 off it1 he was gloom personified4 ,gillray1 the caricaturist1 died melancholy mad2 and poor ,seymour1 the first illustrator of ,pickwick1 committed suicide4 ,i may remark in this place the surprise with which ,i heard ,leech say that he could see no fun in any of ,seymour's sketches4 ,in a walk that we took together1 ,i tried to convert him by naming several examples of what appeared to me humorous work4 ,no1 said ,leech2 the only drawing ,i ever saw by ,seymour that appeared funny to me was one in which two cockneys were represented out shooting4 ,they are about to load their guns1 when one says to the other3 ',i say1 which do you put in first--powder or shot8' ',why1 powder1 to be sure1' said his friend4 ',do you8' was the reply4 ',then ,i don't6' ,i can vividly recall the shock occasioned by ,seymour's death4 ,he was fairly prosperous1 ,i believe4 ,his engagement to illustrate ,pickwick was a lucrative one1 and he was much employed in other work4 ,in spite of all these advantages1 the humorist's melancholy was fatal to him4 ,i was present at the banquet at the ,royal ,academy when ,thackeray1 in returning thanks for literature--,dickens being present--told us how1 on finding there was a vacancy for an illustrator of ,pickwick1 he took a parcel of drawings to the author and applied for the place4 ,from my own knowledge of ,thackeray's limited powers as an artist1 ,i should have been sure of the failure of his application4 ,very different would have been the fate of ,leech1 who was also anxious to supply ,seymour's place2 but he was too late1 for ,dickens had already chosen ,hablot ,k4 ,browne1 who1 under the sobriquet of ,phiz1 worked in harmony with his author for very many years4 ,there was no doubt a disposition on the part of ,phiz to exaggeration in his illustration of ,dickens' characters 7already fully charged1 so to speak1 by their author71 sometimes to the verge of caricature1 and even beyond it2 this fault ,leech would have avoided1 as his exquisite etchings in ,dickens' ,christmas books fully prove4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,physiology ,,of ,,evening ,,parties1 ,,by ,,albert ,,smith4 ,i have already spoken of the extreme difficulty of collecting material for this book1 and to difficulty must be added the expense which is incurred by my publisher4 ,i bear the latter affliction with the equanimity common to those who escape it2 indeed1 there is a kind of satisfaction in finding that books which are perfectly worthless as literary productions are so highly valued on account of the prints which illustrate them4 ,i venture to give an instance in a very little book called ,the ,physiology of ,evening ,parties1 written by ,albert ,smith4 ,my reader will be able to judge by the extracts given in explanation of the drawings1 of the merits of ,mr4 ,smith's part in the ,physiology4 ,this work1 published at #bs4 #f;d4 when clean and new1 costs #ahs4 #f;d4 when well worn on the edge of time1 yellow1 dirty1 and unbound4 ,the ,physiology first saw the light in #ahdj4 ,i plead again for forgiveness for chronological shortcomings1 which my difficulties make unavoidable4 ,my first illustration represents a mamma and her two daughters in the serious business of selecting guests for an evening party4 ,it is evening1 says ,mr4 ,albert ,smith2 mamma and her two daughters are seated at a table arranging the names of the visitors upon the back of an old letter1 having turned out the dusty record of the card-basket before them in order that no one of importance may be forgotten4 ,,ellen 7loc473 ',i am sure ,i don't see why we should invite the ,harveys1 mamma4 ,they have been here twice1 and never asked us back again4' ,,fanny3 ',and we shall see those dreadful silver poplins again2 they must be intimately acquainted with the cane-work of all the rout-seats in ,london4' ,,ellen3 ',and ,william ,harvey is so exceedingly disagreeable2 he always looks at the ciphers on the plate to see if it is borrowed or not4' ,,fanny3 ',and last year he declared the pine-apple ice was full of little square pieces of raw potato2 and when ,mr4 ,edwards broke a tumbler at supper he told him not to mind1 for they were only tenpence apiece in ,tottenham ,court ,road4 ,the low wretch6 he thought he had made a capital joke4' ,,mamma3 ',well1 my dears1 ,i think your papa will be annoyed if they are left out2 but never mind him--we won't ask them4' ,illustration3 ,,mamma ,,and ,,the ,,girls4 ,the discussion respecting the guests goes on1 opinion as to eligibility widely differing4 ,mamma proposes ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,howard and the four girls1 to which ,miss ,ellen says3 ,all dressed alike1 and standing up in every quadrille4 ,i declare ,i will get ,george ,conway to put an ice in ,harriet's chair for her to sit down upon1 in revenge for her waltzing last year1 when she brushed down the ,joan of ,arc1 and knocked its head off4 ,this refined conversation continues till ,miss ,ellen speaks of her brother's disposition to interfere with the invitation-list2 she says3 ',we must tell ,tom not to overdo us so much with his own friends4 ,i declare last year ,i did not know half the young men in the room2 and it was so very awkward when you had to introduce them4' ,illustration3 ,,two ,,rude ,,young ,,men4 ,,fanny3 ',and they were not nice persons4 ,two of them were in the pit of the ,lyceum the next night1 and1 seeing us in ,mr4 ,arnold's box1 would stare us out of countenance4 ,with a single glass1 too6' ,and in this style1 says our author1 the list is arranged1 the hostess gradually becoming a prey to isinglass and acute mental inquietude1 which gradually increases as the day draws nearer1 until upon the morning of its arrival her very brain is almost turned to blancmange from the intensity of her anxiety6 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,head ,,of ,,the ,,house4 ,the whole house is1 of course1 turned topsy-turvy2 and ,leech gives us a picture of the master of the mansion surrounded by some of the consequences of giving an evening party4 ,this state of things1 says the chronicler1 much delights the olive-branches of the family1 who1 left entirely alone1 and quite overlooked in the general melee1 divert themselves by poking their little puddy fingers into the creams1 and scooping out the insides of divers patties with a doll's leg1 etc41 etc4 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,olive-,,branch4 ,the ball begins under sundry difficulties4 ,a most desirable person1 one for whom the party was almost given1 sends a melancholy statement of the very acute attack of influenza under which they are labouring1 which they extremely regret will prevent their accepting1 etc4 ,then one of the intended belles of the evening is obliged to go suddenly into the country1 to see a sick aunt1 but she sends her two brothers--tall1 gangling1 awkward young men who wear pumps and long black stocks1 and throw their legs about when they are dancing everywhere but over their shoulders1 etc41 etc41 says the author4 ,here is what ,leech thinks of the two brothers4 ,illustration3 ,,two ',,gangling' ,,young ,,men4 ,i have never met with the word gangling before2 is it an invention of ,mr4 ,albert ,smith's8 ,i can speak to the truth of the dress of these long brothers1 for ,i who write have worn the long black stock and the peculiarly cut coat and waistcoats at many an evening party4 ,the numerous illustrations of ,the ,physiology are such perfect examples of ,leech's earlier work1 and in themselves so good1 that ,i am induced to produce several more of them4 ,i don't know whether the fascinating person under the hands of the hair-dresser is ,miss ,ellen or ,miss ,fanny4 ,i confess ,i can scarcely believe she would talk like either of them2 happy barber6 perfect you are as you ply your vocation2 and in that vocation--insomuch as you have that sweet creature to contemplate--to be envied indeed6 ,illustration3 ,,preparing ,,for ,,the ,,ball4 ,then we have the greengrocer1 who is to assist in waiting4444 ,he wears white cotton gloves with very long fingers1 and was never known to announce a name correctly1 so the astonished visitor is ushered into the room under any other appellation than his own4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,assistant-,,waiter4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,band4 ,the band must not be forgotten4 ,the music arrives1 says the writer1 sometimes in the shape of a single pianist of untiring fingers and unclosing eyes2 sometimes as a harp1 piano1 and cornopean1 who are immediately installed in a corner of the room with two chairs1 a music-stool1 and a bottle of marsala4 ,i ask my reader to note the individuality in the four faces in this drawing--and in the figures no less than in the heads--each a strongly-marked personality precisely appropriate to the instrument upon which he performs4 ,how admirable is the cornet-a-piston gentleman contrasted with the pianoforte player6 ,the mistress of the house is described as making uphill attempts at conversation pending the arrival of a sufficient number of guests to make up a quadrille4 ,two old ladies1 however1 have already put in an appearance1 and have taken possession of the best seats to see the dancing1 from which all attempts to move them to the card-room are successfully resisted4 ,there they sit1 poor old wallflowers6 with all the advantage that false hair and turbans can give them4 ,though the execution of this drawing lacks the perfection of workmanship of ,leech's later manner1 he never surpassed it in expression and character4 ,the music strikes up1 the lady of the house throws a comprehensive coup d'oeil over her assembled visitors1 and at last pitches upon a tall young man--whom some of you may have met before--with short hair1 spectacles1 and turned-up wristbands1 as if he was about to wash his hands with his coat on4 ,his fate is sealed1 and she advances towards him1 blandly exclaiming3 ,illustration3 ,,wallflowers4 ,mr4 ,ledbury1 allow me to introduce you to a partner4 ,my own readers have heard of ,mr4 ,ledbury2 but as ,i think they are unacquainted with his personal appearance1 ,i propose to introduce him to them1 and here he is-- ,illustration3 ,,mr4 ,,ledbury4 ,mr4 ,ledbury is presented to a bouquet with a young lady attached to it--a ,miss ,hamilton--who freezes him completely4 ,a quadrille is formed4 ,mr4 ,ledbury cudgels his brains for five minutes4 ,the young partner seems to be searching after some imaginary object amongst the petals of her bouquet4 ,the mountainous ,ledbury brain is in labour4 ,behold the production6 ,,mr4 ,l4 ',have you been to many parties this season8' ,,miss ,h4 ',not a great many4' ,miss ,hamilton continues the bouquet investigation4 ,the gentleman invents another sentence4 ,,mr4 ,l4 ',what do you think of ,alfred ,tennyson8' ,,miss ,h4 ',i am sorry to say ,i have not heard his poetry4 ,have you8' ,illustration3 ,,mr4 ,,ledbury ,,and ,,miss ,,hamilton4 ,,mr4 ,l4 ',oh yes6 several times4 ,mr4 ,ledbury waits to be asked about ,mariana and ,locksley ,hall4 ,no inquiry1 so he rubs up an idea upon another tack3 ,,mr4 ,l4 ',what do you think of our vis-a-vis8' ,,miss ,h4 ',which one8' ,,mr4 ,l4 ',the lady with that strange head-dress4 ,do you know her8' ,,miss ,h4 ',it is ,miss ,brown--my cousin4' ,mr4 ,ledbury wishes he could fall through a trap in the floor4 ,the quadrille continues1 with occasional attempts on the part of the brilliant couple to make conversation4 ,the acme of imbecility seems to be reached when the lady asks if ,mr4 ,l4 plays any instrument8 ,he replies that he plays the flute a little4 ,does she admire it8 ,oh1 so very much6 she says4 ,a waltz is proposed1 but that form of dancing is1 says our author1 never established without a prolonged desire on the part of everybody to relinquish the honour of commencing it4 ,at last the example is set by one daring pair1 timidly followed by another couple1 and then by another1 who get out of step at the end of the first round1 and after treading severely upon the advanced toes of the old lady in a very flowery cap and plum-coloured satin 7one of our faded wallflowers71 who is sitting out at the top of the room1 and who from that instant deprecates waltzing as an amusement not at all consistent with her ideas of feminine decorum4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,waltz4 ,the young lady in this drawing has much of ,leech's charm2 but ,i should scarcely have selected it were it not for the figure of the gentleman1 which exactly resembles that of ,leech himself as ,i first knew him4 ,if conservatories1 or even staircases1 could speak1 what flirtations they could chronicle1 what love-tales they could tell6 ,mr4 ,smith says you will have to confess your inability to imagine what on earth the gentleman with the long hair1 who is carefully balancing himself on one leg against the flowerpot-stand1 and the pretty girl with the bouquet1 can find to talk about so long1 so earnestly4 ,i for one beg ,mr4 ,albert ,smith's pardon4 ,i can easily imagine what they are talking about4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,the ,,conservatory4 ,it would be a grave omission if ,the ,belle of the ,evening were left out of these extracts from the ,physiology of ,evening ,parties4 ,let me present her1 then4 ,now listen to the flourish with which the author introduces her3 ,room for beauty6 ,the belle of the evening claims our next attention1 the lovely dark-eyed girl so plainly yet so elegantly dressed1 who wears her hair in simple bands over her fair forehead1 unencumbered by flower or ornament of any kind1 and moves in the light of her own beauty as the presiding goddess of the room1 imparting fragrance to the enamoured air that plays around her6 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,evening4 ,rather tall talk1 this1 but excusable1 perhaps1 as applied to the lovely creature ,leech has drawn for us4 ,i feel ,i cannot close these extracts more appropriately than by allowing ,mr4 ,ledbury to appear again at the moment of his departure from a scene in which he has so distinguished himself by his conversational1 as well as by his terpsichorean1 powers4 ,he was destined to be guilty of one more folly--that of thinking he had but to ask for his hat to get it4 ,illustration3 ,,mr4 ,,ledbury',s ,,hat4 ,he walks downstairs1 says ,mr4 ,smith1 under the insane expectation of finding his own hat1 or madly deeming that the ticket pinned upon it corresponds with the one in his waistcoat pocket4 ,here ,i take my leave of ,the ,physiology of ,evening ,parties in presenting my reader with this charming little drawing1 in which one scarcely knows which to admire most--the bewildered expression of ,mr4 ,ledbury as he ruefully contemplates the rim of his hat1 or the sympathetic1 half-laughing face of the perfect little maid4 ,the artistic qualities of this illustration are excellent4 ,i say good-bye to ,evening ,parties only to meet ,mr4 ,albert ,smith again in a work by him called ,comic ,tales and ,pictures of ,life1 published1 ,i think1 about the time of the ,evening ,parties1 or perhaps earlier1 for the illustrations are1 on the whole1 inferior to those in the latter production4 ,the work under notice is composed of a series of short stories1 in which love1 comedy1 and deep tragedy play alternate parts4 ,leech's attention is mainly devoted to the comic scenes4 ,we are told of a ,mr4 ,percival ,jenks1 whose frequent visits to the theatre have led to the loss of his heart to a beauteous ballet-girl4 ,the third ballet-girl from the left-hand stage-box1 with the golden belt and green wreath1 in the ,pas des ,guirlandes1 or lyres1 or umbrellas1 or something of the kind1 had enslaved his susceptible affections4 ,illustration3 ,,mr4 ,,percival ,,jenks4 ,no one knew who ,mr4 ,jenks was1 or what he was4 ,even his landlady's information about him was confined to the idea that he was something in a house in the ,city4 ,that idea proved to be well founded1 for ,mr4 ,j4 was discovered by the head-clerk at the house in the ,city1 spoiling blotting-paper by drawing little opera-dancers all over it2 thus neglecting his accounts1 which he had to stay two hours after time to make up4 ,at half price1 nevertheless1 he was at the play again1 his whole existence centred on an airy compound of clear muslin and white satin that was twirling about the stage4 ,mr4 ,jenks burned to know his enslaver's name with a view to an introduction2 and for that purpose he haunted the stage-door1 but utterly failed to recognise1 amongst the faded cloaks1 and drabby bonnets that issued from that portal1 the angelic form of his charmer4 ,he then took to haunting the places where minor actors and other employes of the theatre most do congregate for the purpose of social intercourse and refreshment2 here at last he is rewarded4 ,do you know the young lady1 he says to a habitue1 who dances in the ballet with a green wreath round her head8 ,and a gilt belt round her waist8 asked the friend in turn4 ,oh1 it's ,miss--,miss--,i shall forget my own name next4 ,percival was about to suggest ,rosiere1 ,celeste1 ,amadee1 and other pretty cognomens1 when his companion caught the name1 and exclaimed3 ,miss ,jukes2 ,i thought ,i should recollect it4 ,the name certainly was not what ,percival had expected2 still1 what was in a name8 ,jenks was not poetical1 and ,jukes was something like it4 ,could you favour me with an introduction to her8 he asked4 ,in a minute1 if you wish it1 replied his companion4 ,you know her intimately then8 ,very2 ,i buy all my green-grocery of her4 ,the introduction takes place4 ,gracious powers6 how a minute broke the enchantment of many weeks6 ,the nymph of the ,danube was habited in a faded green cloak and straw bonnet1 with limp and half-bleached pink ribbons clinging to its form4 ,her pallid and almost doughy face was deeply pitted with smallpox2 her skin was rough from the constant layers of red and white paint it had to endure1 etc41 etc4 ,he fell back with a convulsive start4 ,from internal evidence ,i find the date of ,comic ,tales1 etc41 to be #ahda1 contemporary1 therefore1 with the establishment of ,punch4 ,there is a drawing of so pretty a conceit as to warrant my selecting it1 though artistically it is inferior to ,leech's work even at that time4 ,the drawing heads a paper entitled ,speculations on ,marriage and ,young ,ladies1 and as it tells its own story1 quotation from ,mr4 ,smith is needless4 ,in one amusing paper in ,comic ,tales1 the author treats us to an ,act for amending the representation of certain public sights1 termed equestrian spectacles1 in the habit of being represented at a favourite place of resort1 termed the ,royal ,amphitheatre1 ,westminster ,bridge4 ,the paper is framed in the form of an ,act of ,parliament1 and the author forbids the use of ancient jokes or stereotyped phrases in a very humorous manner4 ,be it enacted1 he announces1 after condemning a variety of objectionable practices1 that the clown shall not1 after the first equestrian feat1 exclaim3 ',now ,i'll have a turn to myself6' previous to his toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring2 nor shall he fall flat on his face1 and then collecting some sawdust in his hand1 drop it down from the level of his head1 and say his nose bleeds2 nor shall he attempt to make the rope-dancers' balance-pole stand on its end by propping it up with the said sawdust2 nor shall he1 after chalking the performers' shoes1 conclude by chalking his own nose1 to prevent his foot slipping when he treads upon it2 nor shall he pick up a small piece of straw1 for fear he should fall over it1 and afterwards balance the said straw on his chin as he runs about2 neither shall the master of the ring say to the clown1 when they are leaving the circus3 ',i never follow the fool1 sir6' nor shall the fool reply3 ',then ,i do6' and walk out after him4 ,i would draw attention to the figure of the clown in this cut1 which is simply perfect in expression and character4 ,the affected strut of the ring-master also is admirably caught4 ,a paper on ,christmas pantomimes is illustrated by such a perfect clown that ,i cannot resist my inclination to present him to my readers4 ,illustration3 ,,clown3 ,oh1 see what ,i've found6 ,comic ,tales and ,pictures of ,life contains1 at least1 one drawing that is equal to ,leech at his best4 ,the cut illustrates an article on ,delightful ,people1 a short essay1 amusing enough4 ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,cinthia ,,sings4 ,music1 whether performed by the band or by musical guests1 is an important factor in an evening party4 ,mr4 ,albert ,smith tells us that a lady of his acquaintance had secured those ,delightful ,people1 the ,lawsons1 for a large evening party she was about to give2 and after lauding the charming qualities of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lawson1 she put a final touch to the ,lawson attractions by informing her friend that their daughter1 ,miss ,cinthia ,lawson1 was not only a delightful girl1 but that she sings better than anyone you ever heard in private4 ,in the interval of dancing ,cinthia sings4 ,the young lady now dressed in plain white robes1 with her hair smoothed very flat round her head a la ,grisi1 whom she thought she resembled both in style of singing and features1 and consequently studied all her attitudes from the clever ,italian's impersonation of ,norma4444 ,at last the lady begun a bravura upon such a high note1 and so powerful1 that some impudent fellows in the square1 who were passing at the moment1 sang out ',vari-e-ty' in reply4 ,presently1 a young gentleman1 who was standing at her side1 chanced to turn over too soon1 whereupon she gave him such a look1 that1 if he had entertained any thoughts of proposing1 would effectually have stopped any such rash proceeding2 but her equanimity was soon restored1 and she went through the aria in most dashing style until she came to the last note1 whose appearance she heralded with a roulade of wonderful execution4 ,i remember ,grisi1 and ,i cannot share ,miss ,lawson's conviction of her resemblance to that great singer--personal resemblance1 ,i mean--and1 in all probability1 she had as feeble a claim to an equality of genius2 but that she had a powerful voice1 and that she gave it full effect1 is evident by ,leech's perfect rendering of that wonderful mouth1 from which one can almost hear the roulade4 ,all the lines of the figure1 with the movement of the hands1 and the backward action of the singer1 are true to ,nature4 ,the assistant at the music-book and the stolid old gentleman are also excellent4 ,with this1 the best of the drawings in ,comic ,tales1 ,i take my leave of the book4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,john ,,leech ,,and ,,the ,,eton ,,boy4 ,i had been told that a friend whose acquaintance ,i made many years ago was in possession of some correspondence with ,leech of considerable interest4 ,i wrote to him on the subject1 and received the following reply3 ,,dear ,,mr4 ,,frith1 ,i had intended waiting till my return to town to see whether ,i could find ,john ,leech's letters before writing to you2 but as you ask for the story1 here it is1 to the best of my recollection1 and it is heartily at your service4 ,when ,i was a boy at ,eton ,i sent to ,punch an incident which happened at a dance4 ,young ,oxford complaining to his partner of the dearth of 'female society' at the ,university1 she retorts1 ',what a pity you didn't go to a girls' school instead6' ,its appearance beneath an illustration of ,leech's caused great excitement in our house at ,eton1 and as great tales of ,mr4 ,punch's liberality were current--as1 for example1 that the sender of the advice ',to persons about to marry--don't1' had received ,l#ajj--;,i began to look anxiously for some tip for my contribution4 ,an enterprising pal said1 ',it's a beastly shame2 and if you'll go halves1 ,i'll write to ,punch and wake 'em up4' ,this speedily resulted in the receipt of a post-office order for two guineas from ,john ,leech1 accompanied by a rather dry note1 to the effect that ,mr4 ,punch considered that he had already done enough in providing an original illustration to my joke4 ,i was indignant1 and wrote back to ,leech returning the money1 but he would not hear of this4 ,he told me ,i could buy gloves with the money for the young lady if ,i liked--which ,i am afraid ,i didn't4 ,several kind letters from him followed1 with an invitation1 gladly accepted1 to call and see him in the holidays1 and a present1 which ,i still treasure1 of two volumes of his ',life and ,character4' ,illustration3 ,,dreadful ,,for ,,young ,,oxford4 ,,lady3 ,are you at ,eton8 ,,young ,,oxford3 ,aw1 no6 ,i'm at ,oxford4 ,,lady3 ,oxford6 ,rather a nice place1 is it not8 ,,young ,,oxford3 ,hum6--haw6 pretty well2 but then ,i can't get on without female society6 ,,lady3 ,dear6 dear6 pity you don't go to a girls' school1 then6 ,at the time ,i remember my schoolfellows considered me a born caricaturist1 an opinion ,i naturally shared4 ,leech was most indulgent to my early efforts--gave me some wood-blocks to work upon1 and encouraged me to persevere1 which1 alas6 ,i have not done1 etc4 ,yours truly4 ,here follows ,leech's dry note3 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,london1 ,june #f1 #ahei4 ,,dear ,,sir1 ,the editor of ,punch is the person who should be addressed upon all money matters connected with that periodical4 ,however1 in the present instance1 perhaps it will answer every purpose if ,i adopt the suggestion of your 'great friend and confidant1' and 'do the handsome and send a tip direct1' which ,i do in the shape of a post-office order for one guinea2 or1 as your 'entirely disinterested' young friend is to have half of what you get1 it will be even better if ,i make the order for two guineas instead1 as ,i do1 only you must not look upon this as a precedent4 ,i am afraid ,mr4 ,punch would have considered that the trouble and expense he was at to have an original design made to your few lines would have been ample recompense4 ,in future send to the editor your notion of what you expect for any contribution1 and he will accept or reject accordingly1 ,i dare say4 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,the ,eton boy was indignant1 and wrote back to ,leech returning the money1 to which ,leech replied as follows3 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,november #h1 #ahei4 ,,dear ,,sir1 ,no1 no2 it must be as it is2 besides1 the order is made out in your name1 and can be used by no one else4 ,after all1 your contribution was very amusing1 and pray consider yourself as quite entitled to the sum offered4 ,if you have any doubt as to how you should spend the money1 why1 then1 buy some gloves for the young lady who said the smart thing to the ,oxford man4 ,as to my being offended1 dismiss the notion from your mind at once4 ,your first note ,i consider perfectly good-natured1 and your second as frank and gentleman-like4 ,i hope you will do me the favour to accept two volumes of my sketches1 in which ,i hope you will find some amusement4 ,i will direct the volumes to be sent to you this afternoon4 ,believe me1 dear sir1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,encouraged by ,leech's kindness1 and being1 as he says1 a born caricaturist in the opinion of his friends1 the ,eton boy sent some sketches for ,leech's opinion4 ,to this application he received the following reply3 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,june #aa1 #ahei4 ,,my ,,dear ,,sir1 ,i am very busy1 so you must excuse a rather short note4 ,your sketches ,i have looked at carefully1 however1 and ,i have no hesitation in saying that they show a great perception of humour on your part4 ,they seem to me to be altogether very good2 and ,i have no doubt that with practice you might make your talent available in ,punch and elsewhere4 ,i don't know about your taking lessons1 except from ,nature1 and learn from her as much as possible4 ,try your hand at some initial letters--if drawn on the wood clearly1 so much the better--and ,i will1 with great pleasure1 hand them to the editor of ,punch4 ',the ,pleasures of ,eton' is capital2 the style1 ,i take it1 founded a little upon ,doyle's works4 ,i would not do that too much4 ,you have quite cleverness enough to strike out a path of your own1 and with my best wishes for your success1 ,believe me1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,in sending these letters the ,eton boy of old says he is sure that nothing would more thoroughly exemplify ,leech's genial wit and courteous kindliness than these replies to an unknown schoolboy4 ,i suppose the letter in which my friend was invited to call upon ,leech in the holidays is not to be found4 ,but that he did call and received a present of wood-blocks to work upon1 accompanied by encouragement to persevere1 which1 alas6 he has not done1 we have from himself4 ,this incident is especially delightful1 as it reflects perfectly the quality of heart and mind so characteristic of ,leech4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,mr4 ,,sponge',s ,,sporting ,,tour4 ,mr4 ,surtees1 the writer of the sporting novels1 possessed considerable powers of invention1 which he indulged--amongst other vagaries--in giving names to most of the characters in his books1 which served to enlighten his readers as to their physical and mental peculiarities1 and never more happily than when he christened the hero of this sporting tour ,mr4 ,soapy ,sponge4 ,mr4 ,sponge1 says our author1 wished to be a gentleman without knowing how2 but what ,mr4 ,sponge did know was how to sponge upon everybody with whom he could force an acquaintance1 and this he effected with surprising success4 ,hunting and good hunting quarters were the objects of ,mr4 ,sponge's machinations1 and upon a half-hearted invitation from a ,mr4 ,jawleyford1 of ,jawleyford ,court1 an invitation given without an idea that it would be accepted 7as sometimes happens71 ,mr4 ,sponge found himself installed in the ancestral mansion of the ,jawleyfords4 ,mr4 ,jawleyford was one of the rather numerous race of paper-booted1 pen-and-ink landowners1 says ,mr4 ,surtees1 whose communications with his tenantry were chiefly confined to dining with them twice a year in the great entrance-hall after the steward1 ,mr4 ,screwemtight1 had eased them of their rents4 ,then ,mr4 ,jawleyford would shine forth the very impersonification of what a landlord ought to be4 ,dressed in the height of fashion1 he would declare that the only really happy moments of his life were those when he was surrounded by his tenantry4 ,in the background of this admirable drawing we see ,mr4 ,jawleyford's portrait1 flanked by his ancestors1 on canvas and in armour1 hanging on the panelled walls of his gorgeous home4 ,the variety of character in the chawbacons1 each a marked individuality1 contrasts effectually with his quasi fashionable landlord4 ,for the first banquet at ,jawleyford ,court1 ,mr4 ,sponge1 says the author1 made himself an uncommon swell4 ,his dress is minutely described1 and faithfully depicted by ,leech1 in the etching in which we see the sponger conducting a very portly ,mrs4 ,jawleyford1 followed by her daughters1 to the dining-room4 ,the young ladies who have entered the drawing-room in the full fervour of sisterly animosity1 according to the author1 seem--in the lovely group that ,leech makes of them--to have speedily made up their quarrel1 as their entwined arms and pretty1 happy faces prove4 ,the solemn butler1 who looks with awe at his aristocratic master1 is in ,leech's truest vein1 while ,mr4 ,jawleyford himself is simply perfect4 ,in the footmen and page the illustration is less successful2 they seem to approach1 if not to reach1 caricature4 ,when ,mr4 ,sponge found himself in good quarters1 no hint however strong1 no looks however cold1 no manner however unpleasant1 would move him1 until he had provided himself with others to his liking4 ,under the impression that he was rich1 the ,misses ,jawleyford set their caps at him4 ,amelia and ,emily rivalled each other in tender attentions to the adventurer1 who1 after hesitating as to which of them he should throw the handkerchief to1 fixed upon ,miss ,amelia1 who found her sister in the act of playing the agreeable with ,mr4 ,sponge as she sailed into the drawing-room before dinner2 then1 with a haughty sort of sneer and toss of the head to her sister1 as much as to say1 ',what are you doing with my man8'--a sneer that suddenly changed into a sweet smile as her eye encountered ,sponge's--she just motioned him off to a sofa1 where she commenced a sotto-voce conversation in the engaged-couple style4 ,during his stay at ,jawleyford ,court1 ,mr4 ,sponge's time was passed in hunting1 smoking all over the house--a habit the owner detested--and in making love to ,miss ,amelia2 taking care1 however1 not to commit himself until he had discovered from papa what the settlements were to be4 ,we who are behind the scenes know that ,jawleyford ,court is mortgaged up to the chimney-pots1 and that ,mr4 ,j4 is over head and ears in debt besides4 ,we know also that ,mr4 ,sponge is impecunious1 his hunters are hired2 he is1 in fact1 as his author describes him1 a vulgar humbug4 ,jawleyford began to suspect that ,sponge might not be the great 'catch' he was represented1 says the author4 ,no doubt in finding himself baffled in his attempts to sound his host upon the subject of settlements1 ,mr4 ,sponge also began to suspect that neither of the ,misses ,jawleyford would be the catch that he wanted4 ,still1 he held on to his quarters in defiance of the attempts to get rid of him4 ,he was removed from the best bedroom to one in which it was impossible to light a fire1 or1 rather1 to endure it when it was alight1 because of an incurable smoky chimney4 ,he was given poor food and corked wine1 still he stayed1 until he had provided himself with a temporary home at the house of a hunting gentleman named ,puffington4 ,mr4 ,puffington1 who made ,sponge's acquaintance at the covert-side where ,lord ,scamperdale's hounds met1 got it into his head that ,mr4 ,sponge was a literary man1 whose brilliant pen was about to be employed in the interest of fox-hunting in general1 and of certain runs of ,mr4 ,puffington's hounds in particular4 ,mr4 ,puffington was the son of a great starch-maker at ,stepney4 ,puffington1 senior1 made a large fortune1 which enabled his son to become the owner of ,hanby ,house1 and of the ,mangeysterne--now ,hanby-,hounds1 because he thought they would give him consequence4 ,our author says1 ,mr4 ,puffington had no natural inclination for hunting1 but he seems to have become ,m4,f4,h4 so that he might entertain some of the sporting friends he had made at college1 such dashing young sparks as ,lord ,firebrand1 ,lord ,mudlark1 ,lord ,deuceace1 ,sir ,harry ,blueun1 ,lord ,legbail1 now ,earl of ,loosefish1 and so on4 ,my space1 or1 rather1 the want of it1 prevents my telling how it was that ,mr4 ,sponge awoke and found himself famous as an author4 ,in conjunction with a friend1 who steered him through the spelling and grammar1 he concocted an article for the ,swillingford ,patriot--,grimes1 editor--which appeared in the middle of the third sheet1 and was headed1 ',splendid ,run with ,mr4 ,puffington's ,hounds4' ,mr4 ,grimes was ably assisted in his editorial duties by his eldest daughter1 ,lucy--a young lady of a certain age1 say liberal thirty--an ardent ,bloomer1 with a considerable taste for sentimental poetry1 with which she generally filled the ,poet's ,corner4 ,as ,mr4 ,puffington quite expected to be immortalized in some work of general circulation1 his indignation knew no bounds when he found himself relegated to a corner of the county paper1 and all his hopes of his doings being read by the ,lords ,loosefish1 the ,sir ,toms and ,sir ,harrys of former days grievously disappointed4 ,never1 surely1 were disgust1 disappointment1 and rage more perfectly expressed than in the second portrait of ,mr4 ,puffington3 not only the face1 but the whole figure--one can fancy how the hand in the pocket of the dressing-gown is clenched--denotes the surprise and exasperation of the miserable man4 ,mr4 ,sponge's literary effort has done for him with ,mr4 ,puffington4 ,he must go4 ,easier said than done4 ,couldn't you manage to get him to go8 asked ,mr4 ,puffington of his valet4 ,don't know1 sir4 ,i could try1 sir--believe he's bad to move1 sir1 said the valet4 ,driven to despair1 the host scrawled a miserable-looking note1 explaining how very ill he was1 how he regretted being deprived of ,mr4 ,sponge's agreeable society--hoped he would come another time1 and so on4 ,even the sponger felt the difficulty of parrying such a palpable notice to quit4 ,he went to bed sorely perplexed1 and in his waking moments trying to remember what sportsmen had held out the hand of good fellowship and hinted at hoping to have the pleasure of seeing him2 he could think of no one to whom he could volunteer a visit4 ,but ,fortune favours the brave sponger1 as she often does unworthy people1 and in ,mr4 ,jogglebury ,crowdey1 an eccentric individual whose acquaintance ,sponge had made in the hunting-field1 he found another host4 ,at the suggestion of ,mrs4 ,jogglebury1 who1 without the slightest reason1 had taken it into her head that ,mr4 ,sponge was a wealthy man1 and would make a satisfactory godfather to one of her children1 ,mr4 ,jogglebury called on ,mr4 ,sponge at the ,puffington mansion1 and invited him to pay us a visit4 ,no sooner does our hero grasp the situation than he says3 ,well1 you're a devilish good fellow1 and ,i'll tell you what1 as ,i am sure you mean what you say1 ,i'll take you at your word and go at once4 ,and in this determination he persists1 though ,mr4 ,j4 pleads for some delay1 as ,mrs4 ,jogglebury ,crowdey requires some little time for preparation in receiving so distinguished a guest4 ,the visit to ,puddingpote ,bower1 as the ,jogglebury dwelling was called1 proved as unfortunate as the previous visits2 the more people saw of ,mr4 ,sponge the less they liked him1 and this time the dislike was mutual4 ,jog and ,sponge1 says the author1 were soon most heartily sick of each other4 ,mr4 ,sponge soon began to think that it was not worth while staying at ,puddingpote ,bower for the mere sake of his keep1 seeing there was no hunting to be had from it4 ,within twelve or thirteen miles from the ,bower there lived ,sir ,harry ,scattercash1 a very fast young gentleman indeed4 ,he kept an ill-supported pack of hounds1 that were not kept upon any fixed principles2 their management was only of the scrimmaging order1 but ,mr4 ,sponge1 scenting an invitation1 determined to make one amongst the field4 ,in his attempt to go it1 my lord was ably assisted by ,lady ,scattercash1 late the lovely and elegant ,miss ,glitters1 of the ,theatre ,royal1 ,sadler's ,wells4 ,lady ,scattercash could ride--indeed1 she used to do scenes in the circle 7two horses and a flag71 and she could drive1 and smoke1 and sing1 and was possessed of many other accomplishments4 ,what a winning creature ,leech has made of her1 and the scarcely less delightful little tiger behind her1 may be seen in the illustration which the law of copyright prevents me from introducing1 as it also prohibits the appearance here of ,sir ,harry1 her husband1 the happy possessor of the charming ,lady ,scattercash4 ,sometimes1 says the author of ,sponge1 ,sir ,harry would drink straight on end for a week6 ,mr4 ,sponge made desperate efforts to take up his abode at ,nonsuch ,house1 but ,sir ,harry was surrounded by congenial spirits1 who1 one and all1 had taken prejudice against that worthy2 so1 beyond a hunting dinner1 at which everybody1 including the ladies1 took more wine than was good for them1 ,mr4 ,sponge and ,nonsuch ,house were strangers to each other for a time4 ,but1 as the hunting-field is open to all and sundry1 ,mr4 ,sponge1 not easily daunted1 put in a frequent appearance1 in the sure and certain hope that admission to free quarters at ,sir ,harry's was only delayed4 ,beyond what is elegantly called peck and perch1 ,nonsuch ,house contained a very powerful attraction in the form of ,miss ,lucy ,glitters1 sister to ,lady ,scattercash4 ,miss ,lucy was a lovely person1 and her charms were increased in ,mr4 ,sponge's eyes because he persuaded himself that the sister-in-law of a baronet must necessarily be a rich woman4 ,miss ,lucy had also the conviction that ,mr4 ,sponge was a rich man2 how else could he spend his time in the sports of the field1 with all their expensive accompaniments8 ,miss ,glitters was a bold rider1 and that accomplishment also endeared her to the gentleman in whom the passion of love burned suddenly1 and with a very furious flame indeed2 till on one fateful hunting day the amorous couple found themselves in at the death3 they had distanced the field1 they were alone4 ,mr4 ,sponge secured the brush1 and said3 ,we'll put this in your hat1 alongside the cock's feathers4 ,i now quote my author3 ,the fair lady leant towards him1 and as he adjusted it becomingly in her hat1 looking at her bewitching eyes1 her lovely face1 and feeling the sweet fragrance of her breath1 a something shot through ,mr4 ,sponge's pull-devil pull-baker coat1 his corduroy waistcoat1 his ,eureka shirt1 angola vest1 and penetrated to the very cockles of his heart4 ,he gave her such a series of smacking kisses as startled her horse and astonished a poacher who happened to be hid in the adjoining hedge4 ,on the return of the happy pair ,lucy rushes to her sister with the good news4 ,lady ,scattercash was delighted1 because ,mr4 ,sponge was such a nice man1 and so rich6 ,she was sure he was rich--couldn't hunt if he wasn't4 ,would advise ,lucy to have a good settlement1 in case he broke his neck4 ,on further inquiry1 however1 her ladyship had good reason to suspect that a red coat and two or three hunters were not satisfactory proofs of wealth2 and in reply to one who knew1 she retorted1 ,well1 never mind1 if he has nothing1 she has nothing1 and nothing can be nicer4 ,with the conviction that nothing could be nicer1 ,lady ,scattercash warmly espoused ,mr4 ,sponge's cause1 the consequence being his instalment in splendid quarters at ,nonsuch ,house1 where he made himself thoroughly at home4 ,it was very soon 'my hounds1' 'my horses1' and 'my whips1' etc41 being untroubled by his total inability to keep the angel who had ridden herself into his affections1 for he made no doubt that something would turn up4 ,if it were not for the introduction of a delightful drawing by ,leech1 ,i should take no note of a ,steeplechase1 in which ,mr4 ,sponge comes before us for the last time4 ,this function is not a favourite with ,mr4 ,surtees1 nor is it looked upon without much anxiety by ,miss ,lucy4 ,she has made ,mr4 ,sponge a white silk jacket to ride in1 and a cap of the same colour4 ,altogether1 he is a great swell1 and very like a bridegroom1 says the author4 ,illustration ,if this drawing suffered in the hands of the wood-engraver1 it must have been beyond imagination beautiful1 for1 as it is1 it shows us ,leech in his full strength4 ,nothing1 it seems to me1 could surpass the figure of ,lucy1 whose expression of loving fear for the safety of the bold ,sponge is shown to us in one of the prettiest faces conceivable4 ,sponge himself is no less successfully rendered as he smiles reassuringly at his beloved4 ,the race--admirably described by the author--is run1 and won by ,mr4 ,sponge4 ,and now for the hero and heroine of our tale4 ,the ,sponges--for our friend married ,lucy shortly after the steeplechase--stayed at ,nonsuch ,house till the bailiffs walked in4 ,sir ,harry then bolted to ,boulogne1 where he afterwards died4 ,being at length starved out of ,nonsuch ,house1 says the historian1 he--,sponge--arrived at his old quarters1 the ,bantam1 in ,bond ,street1 where he turned his attention very seriously to providing for ,lucy and the little ,sponge1 who had now issued its prospectus4 ,he thought over all the ways and means of making money without capital4444 ,professional steeplechasing ,lucy decried1 declaring she would rather return to her flag exercises at ,astley's as soon as she was able than have her dear ,sponge risking his neck that way4 ,our friend at length began to fear fortune-making was not so easy as he thought2 indeed he was soon sure of it4 ,something had to be done2 accordingly1 after due consultation with ,lucy1 he invested his all in fitting up and decorating the splendid establishment in ,jermyn ,street1 ,st4 ,james's1 now known as the ,,sponge ,,cigar ,,and ,,betting ,,rooms1 where noblemen1 gentlemen1 and officers in the ,household troops may be accommodated with loans on their personal security to any amount4 ,we see by ,mr4 ,sponge's last advertisement that he has ,l#aaf1jjj to lend at #ca_/b per cent4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,marchioness ,,of ,,brinvilliers1 ,,by ,,albert ,,smith4 ,december #bj1 #ahdd4 ,,my ,,dear ,,sir1 ,here we are at the #bjth of the month1 and ,i have only four pages of ,smith's new story--no incident4 ,really1 it is too much to expect that ,i can throw myself at a moment's notice into the seventeenth century1 with all its difficulties of costume1 etc41 etc4 ,what am ,i to do8 ,there is a great want of system somewhere4 ,i received a note from ,mr4 ,marsh last night1 stating for the first time that there would be two illustrations to ',the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers1' and also urging me to be very early with the plates1 it being ,christmas and all that6 ,but1 as ,i said before1 ,i have not the matter to illustrate4 ,what am ,i to do8 ,added to all this1 ,i must be engaged one day in the early part of next week on the melancholy occasion of the funeral of a poor little sister of mine4 ,pray1 my dear sir1 do what you can to expedite matters1 and ,believe me1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ---- ,,morgan1 ,,esq4 ,the above is one of the many letters that might be quoted to show the aggravating delays and difficulties under which so much of ,leech's work was produced4 ,i take ,mr4 ,morgan to have been one of the officials of ,mr4 ,richard ,bentley's establishment1 whose patience must have been sorely tried again and again by the pranks of that genus irritabile1 the writer4 ,judging from the humorous character of ,albert ,smith's ,ledbury and other works1 one is hardly prepared for the horrors that make us shudder over the pages of ,the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers--horrors in which the writer seems to revel with a zest as keen as that he takes in the fun and frolic of ,ledbury4 ,the shilling shocker of the present day is a mild production indeed1 in comparison with the history of the poisoner and adulteress1 ,brinvilliers1 in which on horror's head horrors accumulate4 ,the authors of the modern productions are1 for the most part1 inventors of the blood-and-murder scenes that adorn their books4 ,not so ,mr4 ,albert ,smith1 whose pages describe but too truly the career of the most notorious of the many criminals that flourished in the most profligate period of ,french history4 ,louis ,,xiv4 set an example in debauchery to his subjects which the highest of them eagerly followed2 but the most fearful factor of this terrible time was poison1 by which the possessors of estates who lagged superfluous on the scene were made to give place to greedy heirs2 husbands1 inconveniently in the way1 were put out of it by their wives1 whose affections had been disposed of elsewhere2 state officers1 whose positions were desired by aspirants unwilling to wait for them1 were struck by sudden and mysterious illness1 speedily followed by death1 for which the faculty of the time could in no way account4 ,marie1 ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers1 lived with her husband in the ,rue des ,cordeliers in ,paris4 ,the ,marquis was a man of easy morals1 and the ,marchioness was a woman of still easier morals1 for she had many lovers2 she also amused her leisure hours by the study of the nature and properties of a great variety of deadly poisons2 thinking1 no doubt1 as she was of a jealous disposition1 that the time might arrive when her knowledge would be useful in depriving her lover of the temptation which had led him to forget his duty to her4 ,the ,marchioness was a very beautiful woman2 she had eyes of a tender blue2 her complexion was of dazzling whiteness1 with cheeks of a delicate carnation2 her expression was angelic1 and she wore her hair of pale gold in bushy ringlets1 in obedience to the fashion of the time4 ,we first become acquainted with the ,marchioness under painful circumstances1 for she made--and kept--an appointment with one lover without being sufficiently careful to disguise her doings from another4 ,that other was the ,chevalier ,gaudin de ,sainte-,croix1 who proceeded to the lodgings of his rival1 ,m4 ,camille ,theria4 ',the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers is here1 ,i believe1' said ,gaudin to the grisette at the door4 ',will you tell her she is wanted on pressing business8' ,the ,marchioness appeared4 ,a stifled scream of fear and surprise1 yet sufficiently intense to show her emotion at the sight of ,gaudin1 broke from her lips as she recognised him4 ,but she immediately recovered her impassibility of features--that wonderful calmness and innocent expression which afterwards was so severely put to the proof without being shaken--and she asked1 with apparent unconcern3 ',well1 monsieur1 what do you want with me8' ',marie6' exclaimed ,gaudin1 'let me ask your business here at this hour' 7it was rather late7 'unattended1 and in the apartment of a scholar of the ,hotel ,dieu8' ',you are mad1 ,sainte-,croix1' said the ,marchioness4 ',am ,i to be accountable to you for all my actions8 ,m4 ,theria is not here1 and ,i came to see his wife on my own affairs4' ',liar6' cried ,gaudin4 ,the lady had not told the truth1 for ,m4 ,theria had no wife1 and he was so near by that he heard the angry voice of ,m4 ,sainte-,croix1 who so convinced the ,marchioness of her perfidy that in an instant the accustomed firmness of the ,marchioness deserted her1 and she fell upon her knees at his feet on the cold1 damp floor of the landing4 ,in this powerful etching nothing could surpass the beauty of the face and figure of the ,marchioness2 she exactly realizes our ideal4 ,but the ,chevalier1 though full of passion1 is1 to my mind1 verging on the theatrical4 ,finding that her entreaties to the ,chevalier to go away have no effect1 she threatens suicide4 ,there is but one resource left1 she says1 as she springs up from her position of supplication4 ,where are you going8 asked ,sainte-,croix1 as she rushed to the top of the flight of stairs4 ,hinder me not6 returned ,marie4 ,to the river6 ,but before she could reach the river--to which she would no doubt have given a very wide berth--she fainted1 or pretended to faint1 in the courtyard at the bottom of the staircase4 ,here the pair were overtaken by ,m4 ,theria4 ,a few hot and hurried words passed on either side1 and the next instant their swords were drawn and crossed4 ,the fight was short1 and ended in ,sainte-,croix thrusting his rapier completely through the fleshy part of the sword-arm of the student1 whose weapon fell to the ground4 ',i have it6' cried ,camille4 ',a peace1 monsieur6 ,i have it6' he continued1 smiling1 as he felt that his wound1 though slight1 was too serious to have been received in so unworthy a cause4 ,as he was speaking1 ,marie opened her eyes and looked around4 ,but the instant she saw the two rivals1 she shuddered convulsively1 and again relapsed into insensibility4 ',she is a clever actress1' continued ,camille1 smiling4 ',we have each been duped1' answered ,gaudin4 ',she will play me no longer4 ,as far as ,i am concerned1' said ,theria1 'you are welcome to all her affections1 and ,i shall reckon you as one of my best friends for your visit this evening4' ,the visit was destined to have an unexpected end1 however1 for the attention of the ,guet ,royal1 or night-guard1 had been called to the clashing of swords4 ,some young men1 who had come up with the guard as they were returning from their orgies1 pressed forward with curiosity to ascertain the cause of the tumult4 ,but from one of them a fearful cry of surprise was heard as he recognised the persons before him4 ,sainte-,croix raised his eyes1 and found himself face to face with ,antoine1 ,marquis of ,brinvilliers6 ,the late combatants threw dust in the eyes of the lady's husband cleverly enough by pretending that ,sainte-,croix had rescued her from the unwelcome attentions of ,theria1 who had mistaken her in the uncertain light for a lady with whom he had an appointment4 ,the cloak which the ,marchioness wore1 together with the darkness of the night1 had prevented his discovering that she was not the person he expected until her cries had brought in ,sainte-,croix1 who was passing1 as he said himself1 to his lodgings in the ,rue des ,bernardins4 ,the lady went home with her husband1 and ,sainte-,croix retired to his lodgings1 there to meditate on the perfidy of his mistress4 ,the ,chevalier de ,sainte-,croix was even more learned in poisons1 and less scrupulous in the use of them1 than his mistress2 and in his first gusts of passion1 on discovering her treachery1 he was inclined--in the hate of her that took temporary possession of him--to subject her to their effect2 but reflection produced demoniacal results4 ,she should be spared to kill those who ought to be near and dear to her6 ',i will be her bane--her curse6' he exclaimed4 ',i will be her bad angel6444 ,and ,i will triumph over that besotted fool1 her husband1' etc4 ,he opened a small1 iron-clamped box1 and brought from it a small packet1 carefully sealed1 and a phial of clear1 colourless fluid4 ',i have it6 ,it is here--the source1 not of life1 but of death6' ,almost as he speaks1 he is summoned by the femme de chambre of the ,marchioness to an interview at her residence at her father's house1 the ,hotel d',aubray4 ,the ,chevalier found the enchantress in studied disarray4 ,she might have been made up after one of ,guido's ,magdalens1 says the author1 so beautiful were her rounded shoulders1 so dishevelled her light hair1 etc4 ,the lovers were speedily reconciled1 but the lady had an important communication to make--no less than the discovery of their intimacy by her husband1 whom she felt sure had revealed the fact to her father1 ,m4 d',aubray4 ,a long pause1 broken by ,sainte-,croix3 ',marie1' he said1 'they must die1 or our happiness is impossible4' ,the ,marchioness was not yet hardened enough to receive this announcement with equanimity2 and the lovers were still discussing the pros and cons of it1 when they were surprised by ,monsieur d',aubray1 who1 entering by a secret door1 stood looking on the scene before him4 ,any doubts of guilty intimacy1 if he had any1 were dispelled2 and1 after ordering his daughter to her chamber1 he turned to ,sainte-,croix1 and said3 ',monsieur de ,sainte-,croix1 ,i will provide you with a lodging where you will run no risk of compromising the honour of a noble family4' ,and so saying1 he produced a lettre de cachet1 armed with which the exempts1 who were waiting for him1 speedily deposited ,m4 de ,sainte-,croix at the ,bastille4 ,the ,marchioness1 separated from her children and her husband1 was exiled to ,offremont1 a family place some distance from ,paris4 ,here she lived with her father1 who so entirely believed in her repentance and determination to lead a new life that he proposed a speedy return to ,paris4 ',i have no wish to go1 mon pere1' replied the hypocrite2 ',i would sooner remain here with you--for ever6' ,after much talk and reiterated professions of sorrow for the past1 the ,marchioness says1 in reply to her father's order that she shall never speak to ,sainte-,croix--who had been released from the ,bastille--or recognise him again3 ',you shall be obeyed1 monsieur--too willingly4' ,the words had not long left her lips when she placed a lamp in the window of the room1 to guide her lover to a prearranged assignation4 ,the awful interview that followed is described in ,mr4 ,smith's book4 ,the greater villain ran the risk of interruption in his lengthened arguments in favour of parricide2 but hearing approaching footsteps1 ,sainte-,croix hurried away4 ,illustration ,m4 d',aubray had gone to bed4 ,a servant suggested the night-drink4 ',i will give it to him myself1 ,jervais1' said the ,marchioness4 ,taking a jug from the man1 she poured the contents into an old cup of thin silver2 then1 with a hurried glance round the room1 she broke the seals of the packet ,sainte-,croix had left in her hands1 and shook a few grains of its contents into the beverage4 ,no change was visible2 a few bubbles rose and broke upon the surface1 but this was all4 ,sleep had surprised ,m4 d',aubray4 ,his daughter touched him lightly1 and he awoke with the exclamation of surprise attendant upon being suddenly disturbed from sleep4 ',i have brought your wine1 mon pere1' said the murderess4 ',thanks1 thanks1 my good girl1' said the old man1 as he raised himself up in bed1 and took the cup from the ,marchioness4 ,he drank off the contents1 and then1 once more bestowing a benediction upon his daughter1 turned again to his pillow4 ,let those who desire to see how beauty can be retained1 though disfigured by devilish passion1 study the face of the ,marchioness in this drawing4 ,for skilful arrangement of light and shade1 and of the objects that go to make up the mise en scene1 and for natural action in the figures2 this drawing takes the lead of all the admirable illustrations in the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,the ,,marchioness ,,of ,,brinvilliers 7continued74 ,a great reception was given at ,versailles by the ,king4 ,m4 d',aubray was suffering from a sudden and fearful indisposition1 but he insisted upon his daughter accepting an invitation1 were it only to establish her entree into society4 ,there1 amongst the trees in the gardens1 the ,marchioness encounters ,sainte-,croix4 ,his face looked ghastly in the moonbeams1 and his eyes gleamed with a light that conscience made demoniac in the eyes of the ,marchioness4 ',you here6' she exclaimed4 ',where should ,i be but in the place of rejoicing just now8' replied ,gaudin through his set teeth1 and with a sardonic smile4 ',i am this moment from ,paris4 ,we are free6' ',my father8' cried the ,marchioness1 as a terrible expression overspread her countenance4 ',he is dead1' returned ,sainte-,croix1 'and we are free6' ,there was a pause1 and they looked at each other for nearly a minute4 ',come1' at length said the ,marchioness1 'come to the ball4' ,a prominent and very interesting figure in ,mr4 ,smith's book is ,louise ,gauthier1 a girl of comparatively humble birth1 who had the misfortune to love ,sainte-,croix with the intense self-sacrificing love that good women so often show for bad men1 who return their affection with coldness and neglect4 ,this girl1 who had become the friend of ,marotte ,dupre1 one of the actresses in the plays of ,moliere which were part of the attraction at the ,versailles fete1 accompanied the actress to ,versailles1 where she accidentally overheard a conversation between the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers and ,m4 de ,sainte-,croix1 which not only convinced her that the love for her that ,sainte-,croix had once professed was given to another1 but that some fearful tie existed between the two1 caused by actions which had destroyed their happiness here and their hopes of it hereafter4 ,she came from her concealment1 and was received with jealous fury by the ,marchioness1 who believed1 or affected to believe1 that the girl was at the grotto by appointment with ,sainte-,croix4 ,she bestowed what is commonly called a piece of her mind upon her lover1 and concluded her rhapsody by informing him that from henceforth we meet no more4 ,louise1 however1 convinced the passionate ,marchioness that she had made no appointment1 but was at the grotto by1 perhaps1 a dispensation of ,providence1 in order that she might1 having overheard their guilty conversation1 so act upon their consciences as to save them both4 ,the first result of her good intentions is a declaration to the ,marchioness by ,sainte-,croix that1 though there had been some love-passages between him and the girl1 they were madness1 infatuation--call it what name you will2 but you are the only one ,i ever loved4 ,thus the ruffian speaks in the presence of the woman he had betrayed2 but her love1 though crushed1 still urges her to become the man's good angel1 and1 seizing his arm1 she cries3 ',hear me1 ,gaudin4 ,by the recollection of what we once were to each other--although you scorn me now1 and the shadowy remembrance of old times--before these terrible circumstances1 whatever they may be1 had thus turned your heart from me and from your ,god1 there is still time to make amends for all that has occurred4 ,i do not speak for myself1 for all those feelings have passed1 but for you alone4 ,repent and be happy1 for happy now you are not6' ,gaudin made no reply1 but his bosom heaved rapidly1 betraying his emotion4 ',this is idle talk1' said the ,marchioness4444 ',will you not come with me1 ,gaudin8' ',marie6' cried ,gaudin faintly1 'take me where you list4 ,in life or after it1 on earth or in hell1 ,i am yours--yours only6' ,a flush of triumph passed over her face as she led ,sainte-,croix from the grotto1 etc4 ,by the death of her father the ,marchioness hoped1 not only to have freed herself and her lover from an ever-recurring obstacle to their intercourse1 but also to have inherited a much-needed sum of money--no less than one hundred and fifty thousand livres were to have been the legacy to his daughter1 ,madame de ,brinvilliers--and1 what was more1 her absolute freedom to act as she pleased4 ,the money had passed to her brothers1 in trust for her1 and she was left entirely under their surveillance4 ',this must be altered1' said the ,chevalier ,sainte-,croix in an interview with the alter ego of an ,italian vendor of poisons named ,exili4' ,this man undertakes the alteration1 or1 in other words1 the murder1 of the two brothers for a consideration in the form of one-fifth of whatever may fall to the ,marchioness thereupon4 ',of course1 there is a barrier between the brothers of ,madame de ,brinvilliers and myself1' said ,sainte-,croix to his accomplice1 'that must for ever prevent our meeting4 ,i will provide the means1 and you their application4' ,sainte-,croix had the right to claim the merit of this scheme for enriching the ,marchioness1 and at the same time relieving her from a guardianship that was impenetrable by her lover4 ,the murder of her brothers seemed a trifling affair after the poisoning of her father1 and she readily consented to assist in procuring a situation for the poisoner's assistant--a man named ,lechaussee--in the household of her brothers1 who happened1 very fortunately1 to be in want of a servant at the moment4 ,how this wretch administered the poison to the two brothers1 who died instantly from its effect1 the curious reader may ascertain--together with the other dramatic particulars--by consulting ,mr4 ,albert ,smith's book1 in which the incidents are told with great force and skill4 ,by eavesdropping in somewhat improbable places--notably at a grand fete at the ,hotel de ,cluny1 given by the ,marquis de ,lauzan1 the ,italian poisoner ,exili becomes master of the guilty pair's secrets4 ,the ,marchioness's jealousy had been aroused during the evening by ,sainte-,croix's attention to an actress2 and she left the great salon1 and retired with her friend to a cabinet1 in which1 after the usual denial and reconciliation1 secure1 as they thought1 from interruption1 they discussed their demoniacal schemes4 ,as they were about to pass from the room1 a portion of a large bookcase1 masking a door1 was thrown open1 and ,exili stood before them4 ,the somewhat theatrical character that ,leech gives to the figure of ,sainte-,croix is much less apparent in this powerful drawing2 and in the figures of ,exili and the ,marchioness there is not a trace of it4 ,though the ,brinvilliers is masked according to a habit of the time1 we feel that the mask conceals a beautiful face1 distorted by fear1 no doubt1 but still lovely4 ,the ,italian is altogether excellent4 ,exili loses no time in turning his information to account1 and in reply to ,sainte-,croix1 who asks him what he wants1 he replies that his trade as a sorcerer is failing1 and as a poisoner he is in a yet worse position1 thanks to the ,lieutenant of ,police1 ,m4 de la ,regnie4 ',i must have money1' he adds1 'to enable me to retire and die elsewhere than on the ,greve4' ,he ends by extorting from ,sainte-,croix an undertaking to share with him the wealth obtained through the murder of the brothers4 ,but if ,exili relied upon the bond as a security of value1 he displayed a degree of ignorance of the human nature of such individuals as ,sainte-,croix that was surprising in so astute a person4 ,to elude the payment of ,exili's bond1 says the author1 he had determined upon destroying him1 running the risk of whatever might happen subsequently through the physician's knowledge of the murders4 ,and he had1 therefore1 ordered a body of the ,guard ,royal to attend1 when they would receive sufficient proof of the trade ,exili was driving in his capacity of alchemist4 ,sainte-,croix visited the ,italian with excuses for the non-payment of the money early in the evening of the day on which the arrest was planned to take place later4 ,to those excuses the poisoner listened angrily2 he discovered some valuable jewels which ,sainte-,croix wore4 ,he had purposely brushed his hand against ,sainte-,croix's cloak1 and in the pocket of it he felt some weighty substance4 ,the chink assured him it was gold4 ',you cannot have that1' said ,gaudin confusedly2 'it is going with me to the gaming-table to-night4' ',you have rich jewels1 too1 about you1' continued ,exili1 peering at him with a fearful expression4 ',the carcanet becomes you well4 ,that diamond clasp is a fortune in itself4' ',not one of them is mine1' said ,sainte-,croix4 ',they belong to the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers4' ,the ,italian affected to be satisfied with the assurance that the money should be paid next day1 and ,sainte-,croix's doom was sealed4 ,the alchemist turned to the furnace to superintend the progress of some preparation that was evaporating over the fire4 ',what have you there8' asked ,gaudin1 who was anxious to prolong the interview till the guard could arrive4 ',a venom more deadly than any we have yet known--that will kill like lightning1 and leave no trace of its presence to the most subtle tests4' ',you will give me the secret8' asked ,gaudin4 ',as soon as it is finished1 and the time is coming on apace4 ,you have arrived opportunely to assist me4' ,he took a mask with glass eyes1 and tied it round his face4 ',if you would see the preparation completed1 you must wear one as well4' ,exili took another visor1 and1 under pretence of rearranging the string1 he broke it from the mask2 and then1 fixing it back with some resinous compound that would be melted by the heat of the furnace1 he cautiously fixed it to ,sainte-,croix's face4 ',i will mind the furnace whilst you go1' said ,gaudin1 in reply to the alchemist1 who said he must fetch some drugs required for further operations4 ,at that moment ,sainte-,croix heard an adjacent bell sound the hour at which he had appointed the guard to arrive4 ',there is no danger in this mask1 you say8' ',none1' said ,exili4 ,anxious to become acquainted with the new poison1 and in the hope that as soon as he had acquired the secret of its manufacture the guard would arrive1 ,gaudin bent over the furnace4 ,exili had left the apartment1 but as soon as his footfall was beyond ,sainte-,croix's hearing he returned1 treading as stealthily as a tiger1 and took up his place at the door to watch his prey4 ,as ,gaudin bent his head to watch the preparation more closely1 the heat of the furnace melted the resin with which the string had been fastened4 ,it gave way1 and the mask fell on the floor1 whilst the vapour of the poison rose full in his face almost before1 in his eager attention1 he was aware of the accident4 ,one terrible scream--a cry which1 once heard1 could never be forgotten--not that of agony1 or terror1 or surprise1 but a shrill and violent indrawing of the breath1 resembling rather the screech of some huge1 hoarse bird of prey irritated to madness1 than the sound of a human voice--broke from ,gaudin's lips4 ,every muscle of his face was contorted into the most frightful form2 he remained a second1 and no more1 wavering at the side of the furnace1 and then fell heavily on the floor4 ,he was dead4 ,this terrible death-scene has found a perfect illustrator in ,john ,leech4 ,how admirable is the fiendish expression of the poisoner as he gloats over the body of his victim1 which is drawn with a power and truthfulness altogether perfect6 ,every detail of the laboratory how skilfully introduced1 how effectively rendered6 ,the alchemist behaved on the occasion as might be expected4 ,illustration ,he darted at the dead body like a beast of prey2 and drew forth the bag of money1 which he transferred to his own pouch4 ,he next tore away every ornament of any value that adorned ,gaudin's costly dress4444 ,while at this congenial occupation1 the bristling halberts of the guard appeared4 ',back6' screamed ,exili4 ',keep off1 or ,i will slay you and myself1 so that not one shall live to tell the tale6 ,your lives are in my hands1' continued the physician1 'and if you move one step forward they are forfeited4' ,he darted through a doorway at the end of the room as he spoke1 and disappeared4 ,the guard pressed forward2 but1 as ,exili passed out at the arch1 a mass of timber descended like a portcullis and opposed their further progress4 ,a loud and fiendish laugh sounded in the souterrain1 which grew fainter and fainter1 till they heard it no more4 ,the poisoner escaped--for a time4 ,he was captured afterwards1 tried1 and1 of course1 condemned to death--a merciful death compared with that which befell him on his way to execution at the hands of the infuriated people1 by whom his guards were overpowered1 and after being almost torn to pieces1 he was thrown into the ,seine4 ,the toils were now closing round the miserable ,marchioness de ,brinvilliers4 ,the wretched woman had reached the inconceivable condition of degradation said to be common to successful murderers when impunity has followed their first crimes--that of killing for killing's sake4 ,she put on the clothes of a religeuse1 attended the hospitals1 and poisoned the patients4 ,their dying cries were music to her1 their agonies afforded her the keenest pleasure4 ,to the student of ,french criminal history this is no news4 ,i note it here so that the historian of the woman's crimes should not be thought to have invented incidents that existed only in his imagination4 ,mr4 ,smith had the best authority for all the murders with which he charges ,madame de ,brinvilliers4 ,the death of ,sainte-,croix was followed by the usual police regulation where foul play is suspected4 ,seals were affixed to his effects1 amongst which poisons were discovered that were proved to be the property of the ,marchioness of ,brinvilliers4 ,the murderess1 terror-stricken1 fled from ,paris2 and1 though hotly pursued1 she escaped into ,belgium1 and sought refuge in a religious house1 where she took sanctuary4 ,the pursuers were so near that1 as she jumped from her carriage at the convent-door1 she left her cloak in the hands of the exempt4 ,she turned upon him1 says the author1 with a smile of triumph that threw an expression of demoniac beauty over her features1 and cried3 ',you dare not touch me1 or you are lost body and soul6' ,i must again refer my reader to ,mr4 ,albert ,smith's book if he wishes to learn how the exempt1 disguised as an abbe1 beguiled the ,marchioness from her sanctuary1 and content myself with showing--or rather in letting ,leech show--how she looked when the police-officer dropped his disguise and she found herself seized by his men4 ,the details given by ,mr4 ,albert ,smith of the last hours of ,madame de ,brinvilliers are1 though painful reading1 very remarkable4 ,the ,docteur ,pirot1 who passed nearly the whole of his time at the ,conciergerie1 has left records of which the author has availed himself1 as well as from the letters of ,madame de ,sevigne4 ,those who wish to sup full of horrors can satisfy themselves by reading the account of the torture by water which was inflicted upon the miserable woman to induce her to betray her accomplices4 ,but there were none to betray4 ,her only accomplice was dead4 ,her sufferings on the rack very nearly cheated the headsman1 for1 as they culminated in a piercing cry of agony1 after which all was still1 the graffier1 fearing that the punishment had been carried too far1 gave orders that she should be unbound4 ,on her way to execution1 she was attended by the constant ,pirot4 ,the tumbrel stopped before the door of ,notre ,dame1 and a paper was put into her hands1 from which she read1 in a firm voice1 a confession of her crimes4 ,the tumbrel again advanced with difficulty through the dense crowds1 portions of which1 slipping between the horses of the troops who surrounded it1 launched some brutal remark at ,marie with terrible distinctness and meaning2 but she never gave the least sign of having heard them1 only keeping her eyes intently fixed upon the crucifix which ,pirot held up before her4 ,in this drawing ,leech's power over individual character may be noted in the diversity of type amongst the hooting crowd round the tumbrel4 ,the shrinking form of the prisoner is very beautiful4 ,when the ,place de ,greve was reached the execrations of the mob had ceased1 and a deep and awful silence prevailed1 so perfect that the voices of the executioner and ,pirot could be plainly heard1 says the chroniclers4 ,i pass over harrowing details4 ,the beautiful head of the poisoner was struck off by a single sword-stroke1 and the executioner1 turning to ,pirot1 said3 ',it was well done1 monsieur1 and ,i hope madame has left me a trifle1 for ,i deserve it4' ,he then calmly took a bottle from his pocket and refreshed himself with its contents4 ,if the short extracts from the history of this great criminal have enabled my readers more clearly to understand and enjoy ,leech's illustrations1 my object in selecting them has been realized4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,a ,,man ,,made ,,of ,,money4--,,douglas ,,jerrold4 ,knowing that this extraordinary book was illustrated by ,john ,leech1 and hearing that it contained some of his best work1 it became my duty to make a sufficient acquaintance with the book to enable me to criticise and explain the drawings to my readers4 ,i tried skimming1 but the power of the book1 and the brilliancy of the wit in it1 so attracted me that ,i read the whole of it4 ,it is not my province1 and it is certainly not in my power1 to pose as a critic of literary work2 and the hero--the man made of money1 with a heart made of bank-notes instead of flesh and blood1 containing within himself a bank that could be drawn upon to any amount--is so wonderful a being as to place him out of the category of human creatures1 and altogether beyond criticism4 ,this gentleman's name was ,jericho4 ,he had waited till he was forty1 and then he married a widow with three children2 two of them were girls1 the third a young gentleman of whom those who knew him best said1 ,he was born for billiards4 ,there was no love lost between ,mr4 ,jericho and his step-children2 in fact1 they cordially hated him1 and he returned the compliment4 ,their name was ,pennibacker1 inherited from their father1 ,captain ,pennibacker1 whose loving wife was made a widow at two-and-twenty by an ,east ,indian bullet4 ,mr4 ,jericho was one of that large class which1 though really needy1 manoeuvres successfully to be considered wealthy4 ,his step-children considered him as a rich plum-cake1 to be sliced openly or by stealth among them4 ,the widow ,pennibacker was first attracted to him by a whispered announcement that he was a ,city gentleman4 ,hence ,jericho appeared to the imagination of the widow with an indescribable glory of money about him4 ,mrs4 ,jericho desired to make a few purchases1 and she approached her husband with a cry familiar to most of us3 ',mr4 ,jericho1 when can you let me have some money8' ,the lady's confidence in her husband's wealth ought to have been shaken by what followed her application4 ,mr4 ,jericho turned a deaf ear to the appeal1 which was repeated in every variety of tone and accent4 ,at length1 waving her right hand before her husband's face with a significant and snaky motion1 she reiterated her demand with a terrible calmness3 ',when can ,i have some money8' ',woman6' cried ,jericho vehemently1 as though at once and for ever he emptied his heart of the sex2 and1 rushing from the room1 he felt himself in the flattering vivacity of the moment a single man4 ',i'm sure1 after all1 ,i do my best to love the woman1' thought ,jericho1 'and yet she will ask me for money4' ,disgusted with these unreasonable demands for money1 ,mr4 ,jericho determines to revenge himself by taking a day's pleasure with three special friends1 to be ended by a quiet banquet at which the human heart would expand in good fellowship1 and where the wine was above doubt4 ,the dinner was a great success4 ,it was very late--or rather somewhat early1 as the sparrows were twittering from the eaves--when ,mr4 ,jericho sought the marital couch1 in which1 too1 his wife ,sabilla was evidently in a sound1 deep1 sweet sleep4 ,untucking the bed-clothes1 and making himself the thinnest slice of a man1 ,jericho slides between the sheets2 and there he lies feloniously still1 and he thinks to himself--,being asleep1 she cannot tell how late ,i came to bed4 ,at all events1 it is open to dispute1 and that is something4 ',mr4 ,jericho1 when can you let me have some money8' ,with open eyes1 and clearly ringing every word upon the morning air1 did ,mrs4 ,jericho repeat this primal question4 ,and what said ,jericho8 ,with a sudden qualm at the heart1 and with a stammering tongue1 he answered3 ',why1 my dear1 ,i thought you were sound asleep4' ,here follows a dialogue in the vein of the ,caudle ,lectures1 in which ,jerrold gives his wit and humour full play4 ,to the perusal of the give-and-take passage of arms ,i cordially commend my readers4 ,the dialogue closes with these words3 ',i'm sure it's painful enough to my feelings1 and ,i feel degraded by the question1 nevertheless ,i must and will ask you--,when will you let me have some money8' ,this was the last straw1 and ,jericho groaned out3 ',i ,,wish ,,to ,,heaven ,i ,,was ,,made ,,of ,,money6' ,to which ,mrs4 ,jericho retorted1 in a low1 deep1 earnest voice3 ',i wish to ,heaven you were6' ,silence came at last1 and in the midst of it ,jericho subsided into muddled sleep2 snoring heavily1 contemptuously1 at the loneliness of his spouse4 ,and now two fleas--an elder and younger flea--come upon the scene1 and proceed to dine1 or sup1 upon ,mr4 ,jericho's brow4 ,a long conversation ensues between these interesting creatures1 in which the elder flea describes to his son how a man's heart was changed into inexhaustible bank-notes4 ',miserable race6' said the father flea1 with his beautiful bright eye shining pitifully upon ,jericho2 'miserable1 craving race1 you hear1 my son6 ,man in his greed never knows when he has wherewithal4 ,he gorges to gluttony2 he drinks to drunkenness2 and you heard this wretched fool who prayed to ,heaven to turn him--heart1 brain1 and all--into a lump of money4' ,how the operation was effected may be learnt from ,mr4 ,jerrold's book4 ,one result of it was a most troubled and miserable night to the dreamer ,jericho1 whose complaints to his wife when he awoke met with no sympathy4 ',if ,i were to live a thousand years1 ,i shouldn't forget last night6' groaned ,jericho4 ',very likely not1' said ,mrs4 ,jericho2 ',i've no doubt you deserve to remember it4 ,i shouldn't wonder----' ,mrs4 ,jericho's want of money is intensified by the wants of her son ,basil1 whose luck at billiards may have failed him just when his creditors were most pressing4 ',well1 what does the old fellow say1 the scaly old griffin8 ,what's he got to answer for himself8' ,this was the sudden question put to ,mrs4 ,jericho on her return to the drawing-room1 after the interview with her husband4 ',come1 what is it8 ,will he give me some money8 ,in a word1' asked young hopeful1 'will he go into the melting-pot1 like a man and a father8' ',my dear ,basil1 you mustn't ask me1' replied ,mrs4 ,jericho4 ',oh1 mustn't ,i1 though6' cried ,basil4 ',ha1 you don't know the lot of people that's asking me2 bless you1 they ask a hundred times to my once6' ,the ,jerichos have some rich friends1 the ,carraways1 who live in a mansion called ,jogtrot ,hall1 the one central grandeur1 the boast and the comfort of the village of ,marigolds4 ,to a fete at the ,hall comes an invitation to the ,jerichos4 ,it had always been ,mrs4 ,jericho's ambition that her girls should--in her own nervous words--make a blow in marriage1 and she felt that perhaps the time had come4 ,but the girls' dresses--the war-paint1 as ,mr4 ,basil put it--there was the difficulty1 only to be surmounted by ,mr4 ,jericho's yielding to the repeated cry1 ,when will you let me have some money8 ,with but faint hopes of success1 ,mrs4 ,jericho seeks her husband in his study4 ,in a long colloquy1 she urges the importance of her daughters' appearance at this grand party1 and the necessity for an advance to enable them to do so properly4 ,mr4 ,jericho turns a deaf ear to her appeal1 till suddenly a wonderful change comes over him4 ,quite a new look of satisfaction gleamed from his eyes1 and his mouth had such a strange smile of compliance6 ,what could ail him8 ,the charm was working1 the marvellous change was in operation4 ,mrs4 ,jericho fears for her husband's sanity4 ',he doesn't look mad1' thought ,mrs4 ,jericho1 a little anxious4 ',i feel as if ,i had got new blood1 new flesh1 new bones1 new brain6 ,wonderful6' ,jericho trod up and down the room and snapt his fingers4 ',something's going to happen1' said he4 ,and something did indeed happen4 ,the transformation was complete2 the hard heart had given place to illimitable money4 ',you will let me have the money8' repeated ,mrs4 ,jericho4 ,jericho answered not a word1 but withdrew his hand from his breast4 ,between his finger and his thumb he held in silver purity a virgin ,bank of ,england note for a hundred pounds4 ,mrs4 ,jericho ran delightedly off with the money4 ,and ,jericho sat with his heart beating faster4 ,again he placed his hand to his breast1 again drew forth another bank-note4 ,he jumped to his feet1 tore away his dress1 and1 running to a mirror1 saw therein reflected1 not human flesh1 but over the region of the heart a loose skin of bank-paper1 veined with marks of ink4 ,he touched it1 and still in his hand lay another note4 ,his thoughtless wish had been wrought into reality4 ,solomon ,jericho was in very truth a ,man made of ,money4 ,the fete at ,jogtrot ,hall was a great success4 ,the guests were many1 and some of them distinguished4 ,the ,honourable ,mr4 ,candytuft1 ,colonel ,bones1 ,commissioner ,thrush1 and ,dr4 ,mizzlemist1 of ,doctors' ,commons1 must be noted1 as they have to be dealt with pictorially by ,leech hereafter4 ,after a variety of entertainments1 some twenty or thirty hungry guests graced a table under a long1 wide tent1 on which there were the most delicious proofs of the earth's goodness1 with every kitchen mystery4 ,the host1 ,mr4 ,carraway1 took the head of the table2 ,mr4 ,jericho1 dignified and taciturn1 graced the board4 ,the orator on the occasion was ,dr4 ,mizzlemist1 who had been seized with a passion to drink everybody's health4 ,for the third time he rose to give the health of ,solomon ,jericho1 ,esquire1 an honour to his country4 ,in the course of his speech the ,doctor delivered himself with so much energy that at the same time he stuck the fork1 which had served him in emphasizing the ,jericho virtues1 between the bones of ,mr4 ,jericho's right hand1 pinning it where it lay4 ',it is nothing1' said the philosophic ,jericho4 ,the change in ,mr4 ,jericho's appearance1 from the full-faced1 healthy-looking individual of ,leech's first drawing1 to the spare1 hollow-cheeked man at the banquet1 is to be accounted for by the fact that1 after each application to the strange bank established in ,mr4 ,jericho's breast1 his whole form shrinks2 he becomes thinner and thinner1 to the alarm of his tailor1 who says1 as he measures the changed man3 ',six inches less round the body1 as ,i'm a sinner6 ,six inches less1 ,mr4 ,jericho1 and ,i last took your measure six weeks ago4' ,at the ,carraway fete the ,misses ,jericho made1 and improved1 the acquaintance of the ,hon4 ,mr4 ,candytuft1 and of an incredible idiot1 ,sir ,arthur ,homadod4 ,the idiot was as beautiful as he was foolish2 he was therefore handsome beyond the dreams of beauty4 ,whatever had taken the place of the mind in the baronet was impressed by ,miss ,agatha ,pennibacker1 and that virgin's heart being free1 she lost it to ,sir ,arthur4 ,the ,hon4 ,mr4 ,candytuft1 having an eye to the enormous fortune supposed to be possessed by ,mr4 ,jericho1 and being desirous to secure the portion of it that would of course fall to his step-daughter1 made love to ,miss ,monica with considerable success4 ,in the meantime the ladies wish to go to ,court2 in this they are encouraged by ,candytuft2 and1 to enable them to make a proper figure there1 costly jewels are required4 ,to ,candytuft and ,jericho enter ,mrs4 ,j41 with a magnificent suite of jewels4 ',aren't they beautiful1 my dear ,solomon8' said she4444 ',you know1 my dear1' said ,mrs4 ,jericho1 in her sweetest1 most convincing voice1 'it would be impossible to go to ,court without diamonds4 ,one isn't dressed without diamonds4' ',court6' ,jericho opened his eyes1 and a wan smile broke on his thin1 blank cheek4 ',are you going to ,court8' ',why1 of course--are we not1 dear ,mr4 ,candytuft8 ,what would be thought of us if we did not pay our homage to----' ,the sentence was broken by the sudden appearance of ,monica and ,agatha1 each bearing a jewel-case1 and looking radiant with the possession4 ',thank you1 dear papa1' said ,monica1 curtseying and smiling her best to ,jericho4 ',they're beautiful4 ,thank you--dear1 dearest papa1' cried the more impulsive ,agatha4 ',look6' said ,monica1 and she exhibited her treasure4 ',look6' cried ,agatha1 and she half dropped upon one knee1 on the other side1 to show her jewels4 ',beautiful6' cried ,candytuft4 ',pray1 ladies1 don't stir4' ,the girls1 with pretty wonder on their faces1 kept their positions on either side of ,jericho4 ',my dear madam'--and ,candytuft appealed to ,mrs4 ,jericho--'is not this a delightful group--an exquisite family picture8 ,it ought to be painted4' ,illustration3 ,a ,family ,picture4 ,mr4 ,candytuft is right4 ,the graceful figures of the girls1 the attenuated figure of papa1 in whose hopeless expression one sees the dread of further attenuation1 together with his own perfect presentment1 would make--indeed1 does make--an admirable picture4 ,the jewels cost one thousand pounds3 ten calls have to be made upon the supernatural bank4 ,they are made1 and the jeweller is paid4 ,and the result6 ,for some minutes after the departure of the tradesman ,jericho sat motionless--all but breathless4 ,he would1 however1 know his fate4 ,he took out the silk lace with which an hour ago he had measured his chest4 ,again he passed it round his body4 ,he had drawn upon the bank1 and he had shrunk an inch4 ,truly he was a man made of money--money was the principle of his being1 for with every note he paid away a portion of his life4 ,poor ,mr4 ,carraway was ruined through no fault of his own4 ,jogtrot ,hall was sold1 and ,jericho bought it4 ,thirty thousand pounds' worth of flesh had he sacrificed to buy to himself a country mansion4 ,he had become a member of ,parliament1 and at the same time become so thin that his tailor declared1 ,it's like measuring a penknife for a sheath4 ,why1 said the tailor to his wife1 he isn't a man at all1 but a cotton-pod4 ,he can't have no more stomach than a 'bacco-pipe4 ,in fact1 it was the growing belief of a large circle that ,jericho was no flesh1 no man1 at all4 ,he was made up of coats1 ran the rumour1 like an onion4 ,the insolence that is sometimes the accompaniment of great riches took full possession of ,mr4 ,jericho1 and he found an occasion to treat ,colonel ,bones to a specimen of it4 ,almost without provocation the ,colonel was called a toad-eater6 a bone-picking pauper6 etc4 ,for this insult the ,colonel declared he would have ,mr4 ,jericho's blood1 and in pursuance of that object he sent the millionaire a challenge4 ,jericho fought very hard to avoid fighting1 but his second1 ,mr4 ,candytuft1 prevailed1 and the belligerents met in ,battersea ,fields4 ,mr4 ,commissioner ,thrush waited upon the angry ,colonel1 and the celebrated ,dr4 ,dodo was there to attend to the wounded4 ,the seconds confer2 the men are placed4 ,candytuft looked at them with an eye of admiration4 ,the signal was given4 ,colonel ,bones fires1 and his ball goes clear through ,jericho's bosom1 knocking off a button in its passage1 and striking itself flat against a pile of bricks4 ',a dead man6' cried the doctor1 running to ,jericho4 ',my friend1' exclaimed ,candytuft1 'have you made your will8' ',eh8 ,what's the matter8' said ,jericho4 ',matter6' exclaimed ,dr4 ,dodo1 and he pointed his cane to the hole in the front of ,jericho's coat1 immediately over the region of his heart4 ',matter6 ,it's the first time ,i ever heard a man with a bullet clean through his breast ask--,what's the matter6' ,the ,colonel's ball had passed through ,jericho's bank-note-paper breast1 and ,jericho lived and moved and was none the worse for it4 ,jericho fired in the air4 ,an ugly atmosphere was collecting about ,mr4 ,jericho1 and he was aware of it4 ,his own family saw in him a man of mysterious attributes4 ,monica turned pale at the smallest courtesy of her parent1 and ,agatha1 suddenly meeting him on the staircase1 squealed and ran away as from a fiend4 ,mr4 ,jericho went on a rejoicing conqueror4 ,his huge town mansion1 burning with gold--massive1 rich1 and gorgeous2 for the ,man of ,money was far the most substantial1 the most potent development of his creed1 whereby to awe and oppress his worshippers---- ,mrs4 ,jericho had made up her mind that it was time her daughters were settled in life1 and she said as much to her husband4 ',your girls1 my dear1 have my free permission to settle when and where they like1' said the husband4 ,but in sounding ,mr4 ,jericho as to his intentions in the matter of settlements1 she could make no way whatever4 ,at last she put the point-blank question3 ',what do you propose to give the dear child8' 7alluding to ,monica1 for whose hand ,candytuft was about to ask74 ',give6 ,i'll give a magnificent party on the occasion4' ',but the dowry2 what dowry do you give8' ',dowry6 ,i thought1 my dear1 you observed marriage was no bargain8 ,why1 you're making it quite a ready-money transaction6' ,at this point the conversation was interrupted by ,mr4 ,candytuft1 who1 before advocating his own case1 warmly espoused that of his foolish friend1 ,sir ,arthur ,homadod1 the accepted of ,agatha4 ',he's as bashful as--as--upon my life ,i am at a loss for a simile4 ,and as he and ,i are old friends1 and as he knew that ,i should see you--in fact1 he's in the house at this moment1 and came along with me--he desired me to inform you that ,miss ,agatha had consented to fix the--the--what d'ye call it--the happy day4' ',wish them joy1' said ,jericho4 ',as to the young lady's dowry8' hesitated ,candytuft4 ',i can't give a farthing2 can't afford it1 my dear ,candytuft4' ,the ambassador then speaks for himself3 ',you may have remarked my affection for ,miss ,monica8 ,you must have remarked it8' ',i beg a thousand pardons1' said the wag ,jericho1 'but it has quite escaped me4' ,candytuft wanly smiled4 ',in a word1 my dear sir1 we have come to the sweet conclusion that we were made for one another4' ',dear me6 ,well1 how lucky you should have met6' ,mr4 ,candytuft beats about the bush for awhile1 but at last comes abruptly to the point1 saying3 ',i must ask--you force me to be plain--what will you give with the young lady8' ',not a farthing6' cried ,jericho4 ',not one farthing6' said the man of money with determined emphasis4 ',what is the matter8' said ,mrs4 ,jericho1 who entered the room at this juncture4 ',pooh6 you know well enough1' cried ,jericho4 ',mr4 ,candytuft wants to marry rich2 but that's not all--he wants to be handsomely paid for the trouble4' ,after awhile ,jericho affects to agree to dower his step-daughter1 and he says3 ',let us settle the sum1 eh6 ,well1 then1 what sum would satisfy you8' ,it was a delicate question to put thus nakedly4 ',come1 name a figure4 ,say five thousand pounds4' ,candytuft looked blankly at ,jericho1 moving not a muscle4 ',what do you say to seven8' ,candytuft gently lifted his eyebrows1 deprecating the amount4 ',come1 then1 we'll advance to ten8' ,the lover's face began to thaw1 and he showed some signs of kindly animation4 ',at a word1 then1' cried ,jericho with affected heartiness1 'will you take fifteen thousand8' ',from you--yes1' cried ,candytuft2 and he seized ,jericho's hand4 ,the man of money looked at ,candytuft with a contemptuous sneer1 and with a wrench twisted his hand away4 ,he then dropped into a chair1 and a strange1 diabolical scowl possessed his countenance4 ,the man of money looked like a devil4 ',and where--where do you think this money is to come from8 ,where8' asked ,jericho1 and he rose from his chair1 and it seemed as though the demon possessing him would compel the wretch to talk--would compel him to make terrible revelations4 ,each word he uttered was born of agony4 ,but there he stood1 forced to give utterances that tortured him4 ',i will tell you1' roared ,jericho1 'what this money is4 ,look about you6 ,what do you see8--fine pictures1 fine everything4 ,why1 you see me--tortured1 torn1 worked up1 changed4 ,the walls are hung with my flesh--my flesh you walk upon4 ,i am worn piecemeal by a hundred thieves1 but ,i'll be shared among them no longer4' ,by this time the girls and ,sir ,arthur ,homadod1 alarmed by the cries of ,jericho1 had entered the room4 ',and you had a fine feast1 had you not8' cried the possessed man of money1 writhing with misery and howling his confession4 ',and what did you eat8--my flesh4 ,what did you drink8--my blood6' ,it would be impossible to imagine a more satisfactory realization of this powerful scene than ,leech's rendering of it4 ,the shrinking figure of ,candytuft as he retreats before the fury of the moneyed man2 the awful passion of the shrivelled ,jericho2 above all1 the vacuous expression of ,sir ,arthur1 all are done to perfection and without exaggeration4 ,beyond the endeavour to make the meaning of the illustrations in the ,man made of ,money clear to my readers1 ,i have little or nothing to do with the story4 ,i may note1 however1 that young ,basil ,pennibacker falls in love with ,bessy1 the pretty daughter of the ruined merchant ,carraway1 and that bold bankrupt1 who is about to seek a new fortune at the ,antipodes1 calls upon ,jericho to ask his consent to his stepson's marriage4 ,how the announcement of the engagement was received may be imagined1 or if my reader be not satisfied with his idea of what may have taken place1 he can read in ,mr4 ,jerrold's book how ,mr4 ,carraway was met by his old friend4 ,he will also find an illustration of an interview between ,the ,pauper and the ,man of ,money1 but as ,i do not think it quite worthy of ,leech1 ,i do not reproduce it4 ,i may as well add that ,basil--who turns out to be a very good fellow--does marry ,bessy1 and the happy pair1 with the parent pair of ,carraways1 depart for ,australia in the good ship ,halcyon4 ,mr4 ,jericho's explosion1 and his unpleasant conduct generally--especially regarding ,monica's dowry--had altered ,mr4 ,candytuft's matrimonial intentions for the present3 there were delays4 ,he had suddenly discovered some dormant right to some long-forgotten property1 and he meant to secure that1 and lay it as an offering at the feet of his bride4 ,how the foolish ,sir ,arthur agreed to marry ,agatha without a dowry1 to the intense delight of ,jericho--how splendid preparations for the wedding were made--how the wedding-party1 ,jericho included1 waited at the church for the bridegroom1 who never came 7he had overslept himself in consequence of an overdose of medicine taken to steady his nerves7--for these details my reader is again referred to ,mr4 ,jerrold1 who describes the whole most enjoyably4 ,leech draws the baronet awakened by his servant1 but too late3 the canonical hour has passed4 ,a report was spread that ,sir ,arthur had taken poison to avoid the ,jericho connection4 ,just at this time ,mr4 ,jericho was offered a most satisfactory mortgage--so any way there was land for his money--no less than five-and-forty thousand pounds1 by his friend the ,duke of ,st4 ,george4 ,jericho lent the money1 in the hope of climbing into the ,house of ,lords with the assistance of the ,duke2 but this last drain upon his resources1 with its penalty of attenuation1 had left very little of him to go anywhere4 ,he had shrunk1 says the author4 ,how horribly he had dwindled1 how wretchedly small he had become6 ,ay1 how small6 ,he would measure himself1 he would know the exact waste4 ,whereupon ,jericho took the silken cord and passed it round his breast4 ,why1 it would twice encircle him--twice6 and a piece to spare4 ,with horror and loathing he flung the cord into the fire4 ,he would never again take damning evidence against himself4 ,it became evident to ,jericho that1 if he desired to retain enough of his person to enable his friends and relations to recognise him1 the drain upon the chest notes must cease4 ,he would1 therefore1 not draw another note--no1 not another4 ,he would live upon what he had4 ,he would turn the foolish superfluities about him into hard1 tangible money4 ,bent upon turning everything belonging not only to himself1 but to his wife and daughters1 into cash1 he sent for ,mrs4 ,jericho4 ,the trembling wife had scarcely power to meet the eyes of her helpmate4 ,in two days twenty years seemed to have gathered upon him4 ,his face looked brown1 thin1 and withered as last year's leaf4 ,his whole body bent and swayed like a piece of paper moved by the air4 ,as he held his hand aloof1 the light shone through it4 ,it was plain there was some horrid compact between her lord and the infernal powers1 or--it was all as one--the tyranny of conscience had worn him to his present condition4 ',mrs4 ,jericho1 madam1 you will instantly bring me all your diamonds--jewellery--all4 ,give like orders to your daughters1 the mincing harpies that eat me4' ,the terrified woman remonstrated1 asked for an explanation1 offered to send for the doctor4 ',away with you6 do as ,i command4 ,bring me all your treasures--all4 ,and your minxes6 ,see that they obey me too1 and instantly4' ',yes1 my love1 to be sure1' said ,mrs4 ,jericho1 for she was all but convinced that ,solomon's reason was gone or going4 ,it was best to humour him4 ',and why1 my love1 do you wish for these things8 ,of course you shall have them1 but why8' ',to turn them into money1 madam1' cried ,jericho1 rubbing his hands4 ',we have had enough of the tomfoolery of wealth--,i now begin to hunger for the substance4 ,i'll do without fashion4 ,i'll have power1 madam--power6' ,the conversation continued1 and ,mrs4 ,jericho became more and more convinced that her husband was mad4 ',oh that ,dr4 ,stubbs would make a morning call6' silently prayed the wife4 ,the man of money1 having determined to dismantle his house and send his wife and daughters adrift1 retired with one servant1 all the rest being discharged1 into one of his garrets1 a den of a place1 where the scullion had slept4 ,the servant was the pauper grandfather of one of his footmen1 an old man of congenial weakness with ,jericho4 ,indeed1 there looked between them a strange similitude1 twin brethren damned to the like sordidness1 the like rapacity4 ,jericho had nicknamed the old man ,plutus4 ,jericho and ,plutus were in face and expression as like as two snakes4 ,mrs4 ,jericho1 assured of her husband's madness1 took counsel with her friends4 ,drs4 ,stubbs and ,mizzlemist1 ,colonel ,bones1 ,commissioner ,thrush1 and ,candytuft met in conclave and listened to ,mrs4 ,jericho's account of her husband's ravings2 but she failed to convince the doctors that what a jury would consider insanity1 was apparent in anything that the man of money had said or done4 ,as ,dr4 ,mizzlemist delivered this opinion1 a crash was heard in an adjoining room--another1 and another1 and then a loud triumphant laugh from the throat of ,jericho4 ,wife and daughters1 with jury of friends1 started to their feet4 ,candytuft1 ere he was aware--for had he reflected a moment1 he would as soon have unbarred a lion's cage--opened the doors4 ,and there stood ,jericho1 laden with spoil4 ,though ,mr4 ,jericho was voted sane by the doctors1 his conduct displayed a brutality for which madness would be the only excuse4 ,the ,jews were coming1 everything was to be sold4 ',why stay you here8' cried the man of money to his wife4 ',why will you not be warned8 ,in a few hours there will not be a bed for your fine costly bones to lie upon4 ,now will you depart8' ,the ,jews wandered about the rooms1 appraising everything4 ,jericho was anxious to avoid a public hubbub1 as he called a sale4 ',i want1' said he to the brokers1 'at a thought1 to melt all you see1 and have seen1 into ready money4 ,take counsel together1 ,i say1 and make me an offer1 a lumping offer1 for the whole--eh8' ,illustration3 ,and there stood ,jericho4 ,the man of money ascended to his garret and awaited the ,jews' offer1 which was promised for the evening4 ,he was alone1 evening closed in1 and the moon rose and looked reproachfully at the miser4 ,the garret door opened1 and ,plutus appeared4 ',well1 has it come8' cried the master4 ',here it is1' answered the servant1 as he laid a letter upon the table4 ',well1 now for their conscience6' exclaimed the man of money4 ,light was required2 there was a candle upon the table1 and paper prepared to light it4 ,most precious paper--the heart's flesh and blood of the man of money6 ,for the devilish serving-man had folded a note 7how obtained can it matter87--a note peeled from the breast of his master1 a piece of money1 a part of the damned ,jericho sympathizing with him4 ,the man of money took the paper--the devil1 with his ear upturned1 crept closer to the door--and thrust it amidst the dying coals4 ,a moment1 and the garret is rent as with a lightning flash4 ,yelling1 and all on fire1 the man of money falls prostrate with hell in his face4 ,then his lips move1 but not a sound is heard4 ,and the fire communicated by the sympathy of the living note--the flesh of his flesh--like a snake of flame glides up his limbs1 devouring them4 ,and so he is consumed3 a minute1 and the man of money is a thin black paper ash4 ,now the night wind stirs it1 and now a sudden breeze carries the cinereous corpse away1 fluttering it to dust impalpable4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,albert ,,smith ,,and ,,leech4 ,in ,july1 #ahea1 a new work appeared1 under the name and title of the ,month3 a ,view of ,passing ,subjects and ,manners1 ,home and ,foreign1 ,social and ,general1 by ,albert ,smith and ,john ,leech4 ,the publication was a serial one--monthly1 in fact2 and as it contained many amusing skits by ,albert ,smith1 and much of ,leech's best work1 notice of it is incumbent upon a writer of ,leech's life4 ,eighteen fifty-one1 as everybody knows1 was the year of the ,great ,crystal ,palace ,exhibition in ,hyde ,park4 ,i well remember visiting the huge glass building in ,february1 #ahea1 in company with ,dickens and ,sir ,joseph ,paxton4 ,dickens was wrapped in furs1 and we shivered through the place1 which was only partially roofed2 and seemed altogether so far from completion as to cause great doubts in our minds of the possibility of its being ready for its contents by the first of ,may4 ,i put the question to ,paxton1 and his reply was3 ,i think it will2 but1 mind1 ,i don't say it will4 ,paxton's thought was justified2 for the ,exhibition was opened by the ,queen in great state at the date fixed1 though many of its intended exhibits were still to come4 ,i confess ,i shared the foolish dread that the opening would be so crowded as to be very uncomfortable1 if not dangerous1 to sight-seers2 and ,i therefore declined to accompany my brother1 who was braver than ,i2 and sorry enough ,i was when ,i found that the panic had been so universal as to enable the few courageous visitors to have the show1 as my brother expressed it1 all to themselves4 ,the first number of the ,month appeared in ,july1 #ahea1 and the last was issued towards the close of that year4 ,it seems to have been the intention of the authors to have taken typical young ladies1 and1 under the heading of ,belles of the ,month1 have used them as prefixes to each monthly part4 ,unfortunately1 ,i think this idea was only partially carried out4 ,true1 we have ,belles of the ,park1 and ,belles of the ,ball1 and one or two ,belles of the ,month1 so charmingly done by ,leech as to make it a matter of surprise that such great attractions were not more frequently admitted to the paper4 ,the literary portion which begins the ,month is very ,albert ,smithian indeed4 ,in proof1 ,i quote some of his description of ,the ,hyde ,park ,belle3 ,the charming young lady introduced to me1 says ,mr4 ,smith1 was of middling stature1 with oval face1 chestnut hair1 dark eyes1 and very white and regular teeth4 ,she had on a white transparent bonnet1 and light muslin dress all en suite4 ,in answer to my questions1 she replied as follows3 ',i shall be nineteen in ,august1 and have been out two years and a half4 ,have ,i ever been engaged8 ,only once1 and that was broken off because ,i went on a drag to ,richmond with the officers of the --th4 ,lady ,banner was inside--it was all perfectly proper4 ,she is a very nice woman--always ready to chaperone anybody anywhere if her share is paid4 ,only sometimes she bores one dreadfully4 ,edmund went to ,india4 ,i don't know where he is now2 ,i have not heard4 ,i dare say he is somewhere4 ,he bored me dreadfully at last4 ,i work very hard--oh1 very hard indeed6--that is1 in the season4 ,my maid always sits up to make tea for me when ,i come home4 ,her hours are very regular1 considering4 ,she goes to bed every morning about four2 but1 then1 she doesn't have to dance half the night4 ,yes2 ,i like the ,crystal ,palace4 ,oh6 ,i get so tired there--walking1 and walking1 and walking1 you can't think how far6 ,i know the ,crystal ,palace fountain and ,dent's clock1 and the stuffed animals and the envelope-machine4 ,i don't think ,i have seen anything else2 ,i have never been out of the nave and the transept--nobody goes anywhere else4 ,i did not know that there was anything to see upstairs1 except large carpets4 ,i am sure they would bore me dreadfully4 ,we are engaged every night4444 ,we had scarcely time to dress for the ,grapnels' dinner-party2 and then we went to ,mrs4 ,crutchley's1 to meet the ,lapland ,ambassador4 ,we could not get into the room1 and stood for two hours on the landing4 ,old ,mr4 ,tawley was there1 and would keep talking to me2 he always bores me dreadfully4 ,he is going to take mamma and me to see some pictures somewhere4 ,i hate seeing pictures2 they bore me dreadfully4 ,after ,lady ,crutchley's1 we went to ,mrs4 ,croley's amateur concert1 which was nearly over4 ,she had only classical music4 ,i don't know what classical music is2 ,i only know it bores me dreadfully4 ,ashton ,howard says the same people who like classical music buy old china and wear false hair4 ,i wish people would give up classical music4 ,it never amuses anybody--that is1 anybody worth amusing4 ,i don't know whether ,the ,huguenots is classical music or not2 ,i only know that when they give it at the ,royal ,italian ,opera nobody seems bored then4 ,i don't know that ,i am exactly4' ,whether in these boxes full of beauties one amongst them is intended by ,leech to personate ,mr4 ,smith's dreadfully bored young lady1 ,i cannot say4 ,certainly there is not one who seems in the condition described as not being exactly bored4 ,the ,belle of ,hyde ,park continues3 ',i go into the ,park every day with mamma1 but it bores me dreadfully4 ,i see nothing but the same people1 and ,i know all the trees and rails by heart4 ,i ride sometimes2 ,i like it better than the carriage4 ,but papa don't ride very often2 and if he don't ,i can't1 except with the ,pevenseys and their brothers4 ,john ,pevensey is very stupid1 and talks to me about farming4 ,i get very tired2 but ,i am obliged to go1 because the ,pevenseys know so many receivable people4 ,but they bore me dreadfully2 in fact1 ,i don't know who or what does not4 ,i long for the season to be over2 and when ,i go into the country1 ,i long for it to begin again4 ,i wish ,i could do as ,i pleased1 like ,marshall--that's my maid--when she has a holiday4 ,she is going to marry the man at the hairdresser's2 and last ,sunday they went down all by themselves to ,gravesend4 ,i see mamma's face if ,ashton ,howard was to propose to take me to ,gravesend next ,sunday1 and without ,lady ,banner6 ,i wish sometimes ,i was ,marshall4 ,now and then ,i would give a good deal for a good cry4 ,i can't tell you why--,i don't know2 only that everything is a trouble1 and bores me dreadfully4' ,in reply to further inquiries from ,mr4 ,smith1 the young lady tells him what she pays for her satin shoes1 which are worn out after two parties4 ,does she have her gloves cleaned8 ',certainly2 but not for evening parties--the men's coats blacken them in an instant4 ,they do very well for the opera and evening concerts--nothing else4 ,the ,pevenseys wear cleaned gloves4 ,everybody knows it2 and ,ashton ,howard always asks out loud if a camphine-lamp has gone out when they come into the room4 ,you can get a nice bouquet for five or six shillings4 ,old ,mr4 ,rigby1 in the ,regent's ,park1 told me ,i might cut any flowers from his conservatory4 ,but ,i don't care for that--,i would sooner buy them2 he bores me dreadfully4' ,it cannot be denied that ugliness has reached its climax in men's dress of the present day4 ,it would be extremely difficult to find a garment more hideous than a dress-coat2 and it is impossible for any head-covering to exceed the stove-pipe hat in ugliness1 to say nothing of inconvenience and detestable uncomfortableness4 ,these sentiments were fully shared by one of the ,month's correspondents1 a gentleman named ,simmons1 who emerged from his residence at ,islington on the day of the opening of the ,great ,exhibition with the intention of showing to the multitudes who were expected to attend that ceremony the kind of hat that should depose1 at once and for ever1 the detestable chimney-pot4 ,it was1 in fact1 says the bold reformer1 merely a wide-brimmed1 flat-crowned wideawake1 to which ,i thought a feather--in these days of foreign immigration--would not be an out-of-the-way addition4 ,i had contemplated my own features beneath it in as much variety of light and shadow as ,i could obtain from my shaving-glass for half an hour preceding my departure1 and had arrived at such a satisfactory conclusion as to its effect1 that ,i regarded myself as a sort of modern ,william ,tell1 about to release my country1 by a bold example1 from an oppressive and degrading subjection to a detested hat4 ,a love of change is said to be inherent in human nature2 but attacks upon custom--indeed1 innovations of all kinds--are usually futile unless very special conditions attend the attempts4 ,if the famous hat invented by a ,royal ,prince was received with overwhelming ridicule1 as my older readers will remember that it was2 a less melancholy fate could scarcely be expected for the wideawake and feather of the little gentleman from ,islington4 ,my appearance in the street certainly created a sensation1 says ,mr4 ,simmons2 but it was one exceedingly mortifying to my feelings4 ,omnibus drivers winked at each other1 and pointed at me with their whips4 ,occasionally a stray boy would indulge in personal observations1 or a grown-up ragamuffin would sputter out an oath1 and burst into a horse laugh1 which to my mind appeared totally unwarranted by the circumstances of the case4 ,the managers of the ,month very wisely placed this etching in the front of their first number4 ,in all respects ,leech is here seen at his best4 ,the figure of the poor little victim of reform1 the street-boys and their surroundings1 are all unsurpassable2 while to an artist the composition of the figures and the arrangement of light and shadow are excellent4 ,after escaping from the attentions of ,leech's inimitable ,arabs1 ,mr4 ,simmons reaches ,hyde ,park to find fresh troubles4 ,the feathered wideawake creates a sensation1 but not of the kind that its wearer expected2 he was asked where he bought it1 and if he would sell it2 if he made it himself2 and if he had another at home like it to spare for a friend1 and so on4 ,the air of unconsciousness that the reformer assumed irritated his assailants1 whose offensive remarks and insolent mirth were soon exchanged for attentions more uncomfortable4 ,illustration3 ,mr4 ,simmons's attempt at ,reform4 ,says ,mr4 ,simmons3 ,a bright flash of practical jocularity suddenly illumined the mind of an original genius1 who at once carried it into effect by casting at my decided article of costume a large tuft of grass1 which struck me on the back of my neck1 broke into dry dirt1 and raised a perfect roar of delight at my expense4 ,instead of patiently enduring this assault1 as a prudent man would have done when surrounded by enemies1 the valiant ,simmons turned upon his assailant1 and struck the wit a severe blow in the face4 ,that was a death-blow to the picturesque hat1 which afforded some slight sport as a football for a few moments1 and then vanished and was seen no more4 ,it will be seen by the quotations that the literary portion of the ,month is of the slight character--though sometimes clever and amusing--to which so much of ,leech's work has been allied4 ,a sketch1 entitled ,home from the ,party1 gives occasion for the accompanying drawing by ,leech of a young gentleman who has danced all night till the broad daylight1 and gone home by himself in the morning4 ,on his journey a brougham overtakes him1 containing the handsome dark girl with the clematis and fuchsia wreath1 looking pale and pretty1 with a pocket-handkerchief over her head cornerwise1 held together at the chin4 ,we think about that brougham-girl till she is out of sight1 and wonder if we appeared to the best advantage as she passed4 ,we don't much think we did4 ,one of the springs of our hat was out of order1 and we were carrying our gloves in our hand1 crumpled up to the size of a walnut1 as though we were going to conjure with them2 and we were blinking as we met the sun at the corner1 and holding a seedy bouquet in our hand1 which evidently she had not given us4 ,the remarks1 conversations1 comments1 and so forth1 that generally accompany ,leech's drawings were invariably his own composition1 and in their humorous aptness are almost as admirable as the drawings they explain4 ,in illustration ,i note a design under the heading of ,moral ,courage4 ,,scene--,a ,station of the ,shoeblack ,brigade4 ,,first ,,boy3 ',here's another swell1 ,bill1 a-coming to be blacked4' ,,second ,,boy3 ',ooray6' ,,third ,,boy3 ',ain't his boots thin neither8' ,,fourth ,,boy3 ',wouldn't they pinch my toes if ,i had 'em8 ,oh my6' ,,fifth ,,boy3 ',they don't pinch his'n4' ,,sixth ,,boy3 ',yes1 they do4' ,,first ,,boy3 ',go easy1 ,blacky2 mind his corns4' 7,swell winces47 ',that was a nasty one4' 7,the comments are extended from the swell's boots to his costume and appearance generally4 ,and all this for a penny74 ,mr4 ,thackeray's ,four ,georges are1 no doubt1 familiar to my readers1 some of whom may also remember his delivery of them in the form of lectures to large audiences4 ,in that great writer's early time he wrote many essays1 art-criticisms1 etc41 under the name of ,michael ,angelo ,titmarsh1 and it is under that title that he is represented in the drawing by his friend ,leech1 as he appeared at ,willis's ,rooms in his celebrated character of ,mr4 ,thackeray4 ,in the ,month1 ,mr4 ,albert ,smith makes ,leech's drawing a peg upon which he hangs some justly complimentary remarks on the ,thackeray lectures which took the town by storm forty years ago4 ,whether the ,belle of ,hyde ,park or the ,belle of the ,ball is to be considered the belle of the ,month's ,july issue is left in doubt2 but there is no doubt whatever about the claim of the pretty creature 7who1 accompanied by an extremely plain and dissolute-looking cavalier in the costume of ,charles ,,ii4's time1 enters an imaginary ball-room7 to a loveliness that it would be difficult to surpass1 as the drawing amply proves4 ,this cut is accompanied by some verses which appear to me quite unreadable2 ,i therefore spare my readers from the infliction of any of them4 ,the frontispiece to the ,month for ,august is an etching by ,leech of singular beauty1 called ,charade ,acting4 ,i have looked in vain through the letter-press for any explanation of this charade1 so ,i suppose the meaning is purposely left for discovery to the intelligence of the observer4 ,it represents the clever performance of ,mr4 ,smiley and ,miss ,corgy4 ,mr4 ,smiley evidently represents a valorous knight--else why that dish-cover shield1 that saucepan helmet1 that long surcoat of nightshirt in the place of mail8 ,the knight has armed himself further with sword and lance 7sword of any period1 lance a roasting-spit74 ,those warlike preparations must have been made in defence of that delicious girl leaning over the back of the ancient chair4 ,is she supposed to be a distressed damsel leaning from her prison-window and listening to ,mr4 ,smiley's vows of liberating her or dying in the attempt8 ,if so1 where is the word that will express as much8 ,not in the brain of the stout old gentleman who is fast asleep amongst the audience1 nor in that of the pretty little girl who sits in front of him apparently wondering why people should be so silly4 ,the lady who tries to hide a yawn with her fan has evidently given it up1 and the two lovely women near her are much in the same condition4 ,now we come to the belle of the month of ,august1 who is riding with her papa in ,kensington ,gardens4 ,an attempt was made--later1 ,i think1 than the ,exhibition year--to extend ,rotten ,row into ,kensington ,gardens1 and thus deprive pedestrians--notably children and nursemaids--of their promenades amongst the trees4 ,for some months the equestrian habitues of ,rotten ,row careered in the ,gardens1 to the terror and danger of children1 and the disturbance of many groups of soldiers and nursemaids4 ,this usurpation created very strong opposition4 ,i lived in the neighbourhood1 and ,i accompanied a deputation to ,sir ,cornewall ,lewis--then in power--with a view of impressing upon that ,minister the desirability of rescinding the objectionable privilege which had been granted to the riders4 ,we had some eloquent talkers1 but their oratory seemed to me to make no impression upon ,sir ,c4 ,lewis1 who may have listened1 but during the harangues he was always writing letters1 and no sooner was one finished than he began another2 and we left him without an intimation of our success or failure4 ,but what is certain is1 that within a week of our interview the equestrians disappeared--,i hope for ever--from ,kensington ,gardens4 ,leech being a constant rider1 both spoke and drew in favour of the new ride4 ,drawings may be found in the ,punch series in which he laughs at the opponents of the horses in the ,gardens1 and ,i remember his indignation when ,i told him of our deputation and its successful issue4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,month--,,august--,,taking ,a ,,constitutional ,,in ,,kensington ,,gardens4 ,,time1 #h ,a4,m4 ,leech was never happier than in the infinite variety of his pictures of life at the seaside2 his invention was inexhaustible1 as numberless groups of seaside visitors engaged in the search of health or pleasure--from the small digger on the sands to the valetudinarian at the ,spa--sufficiently prove4 ,never was he more delightful than in dealing with the charming lady bathers1 one of whom plays the part of the ,month's ,belle of ,september4 ,i think this picture might have inspired the poet of the ,month1 but his lyre is silent4 ,the ,balcony ,nuisance6 ,without some explanation the drawing that follows this title would be perfectly incomprehensible4 ,how1 in the name of common-sense1 of propriety1 or of justice1 can the word nuisance be applicable to the occupants of that balcony8 ,well1 it is in this wise3 ,a correspondent of the ,month1 who signs himself ,narcissus1 lives in a suburban square1 from which he indites a remarkable letter4 ,according to ,narcissus1 suburban squares are famous for the production of vast numbers of single ladies4 ,he calls his square a realm of girldom1 the proportion of the belles being very great over the marriageable young men1 and therefore they watch with keen eyes for any new flirtations4 ,and now1 said he1 comes my complaint4 ,i cannot call at any house where there are daughters but1 the instant ,i knock1 every balcony near me is filled with waves of rustling muslin1 and a dozen pairs of bright eyes are on the qui vive for every movement or expression4 ,i need not say how annoying this is4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,balcony ,,nuisance4 ,i see no trace of annoyance in the simpering buck who is the cynosure of all eyes in the drawing4 ,leech evidently saw through the affectation of annoyance1 and depicted the ,narcissus mind in its real condition of gratified conceit4 ,the ,month's ,october issue contains a good deal of ,leech's work4 ,the number contains a ,belle of the ,month1 but she is so inferior in attractiveness to her sisters that ,i am ungallant enough to pass her by4 ,i find1 however1 a pretty musical group entitled ,pestal4 ,in #ahea ,mr4 ,albert ,smith says that ,pestal1 who was a ,russian officer1 was imprisoned for marrying without the consent of his ,sovereign1 and cast for death4 ,of course1 though1 according to ,mr4 ,smith1 this unfortunate man may have been a ,pestal-ent person1 we are not expected to believe the crime for which he was executed was only that of neglecting to ask the ,czar's consent to his marriage4 ,on the eve of his execution1 as he lay ironed1 awaiting the next morning's mangling1 continues the inveterate punster1 in a happy moment of enthusiasm1 he composed the waltz that bears his name4 ,the pretty music seems to have sentimentalized the handsome youth1 and drawn him closer to the performer1 who is one of those sweet creatures with whom the artist has made us so familiar4 ,i cannot refrain from presenting my readers with an example of the poetry that adorns the ,month1 so that they may be convinced of the propriety of giving them as little of it as possible4 ,forty-one verses1 of which the two following are fair examples1 accompany the drawing called ,pestal3 ,in ,london1 as usual1 last season ,i spent1 ,to ,pocklington ,square my notes were addressed all1 ,and wherever ,i rambled or wandered or went1 ,i was pestered with that horrid pest of a ',pestal4' ,i thought this mysterious1 moreover1 and queer1 ',tis better at once that the truth be confest all-- ,that all through the city one word should appear1 ,and that word the incomprehensible ',pestal4' ,the ,great ,dinner-,bell ,nuisance not only gives occasion for a capital drawing by ,leech1 but the title also heads a capital paper1 in which the absurdity of the function1 when there is not the least necessity for it1 is well satirized4 ,a retired lawyer named ,watkins ,brown lives in a village which contains at most #cdg people1 in a comfortable sort of house in the ,italian style1 which he christened ,somerford ,villa4 ,he has no children1 and his establishment consists of five persons1 ,mrs4 ,w4 ,b41 ,betsy1 the cook1 etc41 including ,buttons1 the page4 ,this boy1 armed with a bell1 is a nuisance to the neighbourhood2 he performs upon it three times a day4 ,now1 says the indignant writer1 why does ,buttons do this8 ,is it to echo back the sound that comes at the same hours from ,sir ,marmaduke ,hamilton's1 of ,somerford ,hall1 and to impress people that ,brown and ,sir ,marmaduke are the only gentlemen in the neighbourhood8 ,it can't be to let ,brown and his wife know that luncheon or dinner is ready1 for in nine cases out of ten they are in the room when the cloth is laid4 ,again ,i ask1 why does ,buttons do this8 ,if he is of opinion that his master is unaware it is time to dress for dinner1 why doesn't he tell him so at once when he is in the room1 instead of using such an absurd system of information8 ,however1 by six o'clock ,brown and his wife are in the drawing-room1 and ,buttons seeing them there1 and perceiving that they are just about to go to the dining-room1 rushes out to the little court-yard1 and then to the door of the miniature conservatory1 and again commits the offence he had committed half an hour before4 ,in the baby courtyard there are two dogs chained1 and two other sporting dogs in a model of a kennel4 ,well1 ,buttons appears in the presence of the dogs with his great bell1 and the sensible brutes1 conscious of the pain they are about to endure1 immediately set up a howl of quadruple agony1 to which the bell tolls its awful accompaniment4 ,exactly fifty years ago ,i went on a portrait-painting tour into the country4 ,some sitters were promised to me1 and ,i had hope1 subsequently justified1 that they would be the precursors of others4 ,amongst my patrons was a clergyman of aristocratic lineage2 who1 though he had inherited little in the shape of money1 was possessed of certain tastes common to the upper ten1 in which he could not afford to indulge2 but amongst them was the dinner-bell1 in which he did indulge1 to the great annoyance of his neighbours4 ,the ,vicarage was an unpretending house with a small garden about it1 in a small village2 the inhabitants were chiefly ,methodists1 and the congregation at church was the smallest ,i ever saw4 ,the ,vicar was not popular2 the villagers disliked what they called his airs and graces1 and they detested his dinner-bell4 ,after sittings from the ,vicar1 he and ,i took occasional walks together1 and one day1 as we were passing a cobbler's shop1 the proprietor of it1 a detestable little ,radical ,methodist1 as the ,vicar called him1 appeared at his door with a huge bell in his hand2 he stepped into the middle of the road1 and1 affecting not to see us1 he rang it furiously4 ,man6 man6 cried the ,vicar1 stop that6 ,what are you making that dreadful noise for8 ,well1 ye see1 replied the cobbler1 in the language of the county1 it's ma dinner-time1 and aase joust ringin' mysen in1 to a bit of berry pudden4 ,i was so vividly reminded by the ,month's ,dinner-,bell ,nuisance of my early experience1 that ,i could not resist my inclination to introduce it into what purports to be the life of ,john ,leech1 in which it has no business whatever to appear4 ,once more ,i apologize1 and hope ,i may not be tempted to do it again4 ,of all the ,belles of the ,month1 the belle of the month ,november is perhaps the most lovable4 ,there she stands on ,brighton ,pier--stands1 that is to say1 as well as she can on those pretty feet of hers1 against a wind that is so boisterously rude to her and to her mother1 whose figure1 blown out of shape1 makes a striking contrast to her daughter's4 ,the little dog declines to face the gale1 which seems likely to carry him away altogether1 as well as the struggling child behind4 ,the touches of cloud and sea1 together with the screaming gulls1 are indicated with the facile skill peculiar to ,leech4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,belle ,,of ,,the ,,month ,,november ,,in ,,distress ,,off ,a ,,lee-,,shore--,,brighton ,,pier4 ,in a paper headed ,hotels1 ,mr4 ,smith expatiates somewhat tediously on the old-established house of the old coaching days4 ,he says the inmates of the coffee-room were mostly commercial travellers4 ,those gentlemen may have been permitted to use the coffee-room2 but my recollection of such places tells me that the commercials always had a room of their own1 specially provided for them4 ,the writer goes on to tell us that the commercial gents1 on the occasion of his discovery of them in the coffee-room1 pulled off their boots--not a very delicate performance--before everybody2 and then1 after sitting over the fire1 and drinking hot brown brandy and water until they were nearly at red heat1 ordered 'a pan of coals1' and went to bed4 ,yes2 and provided an excellent subject for ,leech1 worthy of being reproduced here1 or anywhere1 if only for that inimitable old chambermaid1 who has lighted commercial gents to bed any time these forty years4 ,judging from the twist of the commercial's necktie as he follows1 or rather staggers1 after the ancient maid1 the brown brandy has done its work2 and it is ten to one against his carrying that box of patterns safely upstairs4 ,one boot is successfully removed from commercial number two1 and it will evidently not be the fault of the man who is struggling with the other if it does not follow suit4 ,let the observer note the marked difference in character in all these figures1 as well as the skill and truth with which the details in the room are rendered4 ,in #ahea ,bloomerism was in full bloom1 or rather the attempts of few foolish people to make it prevail amongst us were so persistent as to bring upon them attacks by pen and pencil4 ,as ,i have already drawn attention to the craze1 and to some examples of the way ,leech dealt with it1 ,i should have made no further allusion to the subject had ,i not found in the pages of the ,month drawings of such charm that1 in justice to the magazine and my readers1 ,i felt ,i must notice them4 ,first1 then1 we have a ,bloomer whip tooling her friends down to the races4 ,if ,bloomerism prevailed1 this is the sight that ,epsom might have seen in the year #ahea1 to say nothing of equestrian bloomers of whose horsewomanship ,leech shows us examples4 ,i think in my last selection from the ,month ,i might claim for myself a position resembling that of the pyrotechnic artist whose display of fireworks culminates in a glorious blaze in the last scene of his entertainment1 if ,i were permitted to introduce it4 ,my firework takes the form of a bouquet of young ladies at some ancestral home in the country1 who have just received a box of books from ,london--perhaps from ,mudie4 ,what a bevy of beauties6--two of them already absorbed in the last new novel1 while another makes off with an armful of treasures4 ,when ,i say that this drawing--whether we regard it as a composition of figures and of light and shade1 or as an example of ,leech's supreme power over grace of action and beauty--is worthy of admiration for itself1 and of our gratitude to the ,month for the opportunity of reproducing it1 ,i fear no contradiction4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,mr4 ,,adams ,,and ,,leech4 ,in the pursuit of material for this memoir1 ,i have had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of one of ,leech's earliest and most constant friends1 ,mr4 ,charles ,f4 ,adams1 of ,barkway1 ,hertfordshire4 ,this gentleman is the beau-ideal of a country squire--handsome1 hale and hearty1 though far past middle age4 ,the letters ,i am privileged to publish show the terms on which the friends lived1 and prove beyond a doubt that many of the hunting scenes which sparkle so brilliantly and so frequently in the pages of ,life and ,character owe their origin to the opportunities afforded to the artist by his friend4 ,this long-continued intimacy commenced when the men were both young2 and the very first development of ,leech's taste for horses began with his acquaintance with ,mr4 ,adams4 ,it is told of that gentleman that1 being the possessor of two horses1 and being at that early time employed in business in ,london during the day1 the night served him and ,leech for a wild career1 ,adams driving his horses tandem-fashion far into the country1 rousing sleepy toll-keepers and terrifying belated wayfarers1 while ,leech's watchful eye noted incidents for future illustration4 ,that ,leech could sing1 and sing well1 ,i know1 for ,i have often heard him troll forth in a deep voice his favourite song of ,king ,death2 but that he had ever performed in public ,i was unaware till enlightened by ,mr4 ,adams1 who told me that it was a favourite and not infrequent prank of these two spirits to disguise themselves in imitation of street-musicians1 and1 with the assistance of a young fellow named ,milburn1 as wild as themselves1 descend upon the ,london streets1 and by singing glees make a lot of money4 ,leech used to go round with the hat1 said ,adams2 but we never could make the fellow look common enough4 ,still1 he collected a good deal1 though he failed on one occasion2 for1 on presenting his hat to a bystander1 who had been an attentive listener1 the man claimed exemption as being in 'the profession1' in proof of which he produced a fiddle from behind him4 ,barkway is in the heart of a hunting country1 and the meets of the ,puckeridge frequently took place near ,mr4 ,adams' house1 or at an easy distance from it4 ,the house itself--a large mass of red brick1 ivy1 gables1 and twisted chimneys--is one of those old places which have been enlarged to suit modern convenience without any sacrifice of the original design and quaint character4 ,ah1 said my host1 as he showed me into his dining-room1 what happy times we have had in this room1 when ,leech1 ,millais1 ,lemon--editor of ,punch1 you know1 long ago--,tenniel1 and others1 found themselves round that table6 ,the following letters1 with their too few characteristic sketches1 prove the affectionate intimacy between ,leech and his friend4 ,,to ,,charles ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,august #i1 #ahdg4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,you will be glad to hear that ,i have got a little daughter1 and that both mother and child are doing well4 ,mrs4 ,leech was taken ill1 unfortunately1 at the end of our trip to ,liverpool--where1 as perhaps you are aware1 ,dickens and some of us had been acting for ,leigh ,hunt's benefit--and she was confined at the ,victoria ,hotel1 ,euston ,square1 where she is now4 ,i thought you would like to hear the news1 so send off these few lines4 ,give my kindest regards to ,mrs4 ,adams1 and believe me1 old boy1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,in a letter written to ,mr4 ,adams a week later1 ,leech recommends a young gentleman to the care of his friend1 in the hope that if ,mr4 ,adams has the opportunity1 he will give the applicant something to do in his profession4 ,the letter closes by this announcement3 ,you will be glad to hear1 ,i am sure1 that ,mrs4 ,leech1 and my daughter6 are both 'going on' famously4 ,ever1 my dear ,charley1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,given up hunting8 ,not a bit of it4 ,january --1 #ahdg4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,mark 7,lemon7 and ,i were talking only the other day about beating up your quarters towards the end of this month2 and1 with your permission1 if the frost goes1 we intend to do so4 ,we thought of riding down--,i on the old mare2 and he on a 'seven-and-sixpenny4'444 ,is there anything in the shape of a good cob that could hunt if wanted down in your parts8 ,possibly ,i could get rid of the mare in the way of a chop4 ,i have been riding a nearly thoroughbred mare for the last week on trial4 ,a very nice thing1 but too much in this way4 ,i want something more of this kind--a good one to go1 and pleasant to ride4 ,yours ever faithfully1 ,j4 ,l4 ,april #ag1 #ahdh4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 4444 ,old ,mark and ,i were special constables on ,monday last4 ,you would have laughed to see us on duty1 trying the area gates1 etc41 ,mark continually finding excuses for taking a small glass of ale or brandy and water4 ,policeman's duty is no joke4 ,i had to patrol about from ten at night till one in the morning1 and heartily sick of it ,i was4 ,it was only my loyalty and extreme love of peace and order that made me stand it4444 ,ever yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,my elderly readers will bear in mind ,april #aj1 #ahdh1 and the monster petition of the ,chartists1 which they were not allowed to present to ,parliament in the threatening form they had arranged1 with other alarming signs of that troubled time--the flight of ,louis ,philippe1 ,continental thrones tottering1 and the rest of it4 ,in his correspondence with ,mr4 ,adams1 ,leech constantly reminds his friend of his objection to high-spirited horses4 ,under date ,february #ah1 #ahdi1 he asks ,mr4 ,adams if he can hire an 'unter from ,ware4 ,i should prefer1 he adds1 something like the old brown horse ,mark had last year4 ,if he comes1 of course he must have the same nag he had when he was at ,barkway2 but1 mind1 ,i won't have a beast that pulls1 or bolts1 or any nonsense of the kind4 ,i come out for pleasure1 and not to be worried4 ,tell ,mrs4 ,adams ,i shall not be half such an objectionable visitor as ,i have been heretofore1 seeing that ,i have left off ,,smoking6444 ,my very kind regards to ,mrs4 ,adams1 your little ones1 and my good friends in your neighbourhood4 ,believe me1 old fellow1 ,yours ever faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,february #g1 #ahej4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,i am longing to see you1 and have a ride across country with you4 ,do you think ,i could have the horse ,mark ,lemon had when he was down at ,barkway8 ,or if ,i couldn't have that one1 do you know of any other that would be equally ,,temperate and ,,well-,,behaved8 ,i have no horse at present4 ,the last ,i had came down2 and ,i am rather particular in consequence4 ,give me a line1 old fellow1 and let me know when the hounds meet near you4444 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,one of ,mr4 ,adams' daughters1 ,charlotte1 surnamed ,chatty--then a small child1 now a lady whose age is borne so well as to make it difficult to believe that she lived so long ago as #ahej--whose acquaintance ,i had the pleasure of making the other day1 told me of her frequent visits to the ,leeches1 and of the never-ceasing care and tenderness of ,leech4 ,in a letter from ,broadstairs1 written in the autumn of #ahej to ,mr4 ,adams1 ,leech says3 ,you will be glad to hear that ,chatty is as well as possible1 and is now going to have a long day's work 767 on the sands4 ,again1 after a good deal of horsy talk3 ,mrs4 ,leech and ,chatty with her will return for good to ,notting ,hill on ,saturday1 when we shall be glad to have her with us as long as you can spare her4 ,apropos of dear ,chatty1 ,i am sure her mamma will be glad to hear that she has been uninterruptedly cheerful and well1 and has certainly proved herself one of the best-tempered1 best-hearted little creatures possible4 ,she desires me to send you all her best love and kisses4444 ,ever faithfully1 ,j4 ,l4 #ca1 ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 ,february #ah1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,it will give me the greatest pleasure to come and see you4 ,mark 7,lemon7 says he will accompany me at the end of this month4 ,will that suit ,mrs4 ,adams8 ,i want much to ,,see some hunting1 as ,i want some materials for the work ,i am illustrating--indeed1 ,i was going to propose a run down to you myself4 ,will you let us know when the hounds meet near you8 ,is the horse ,i had before still alive1 ,i wonder8 or could you1 if ,i came1 get me a horse 'in every way suitable for a timid1 elderly gentleman'8 99 99 99 99 99 ,i was very glad to hear from you1 old boy4 ,in great haste1 but with our united best regards to ,mrs4 ,adams and yourself4 ,believe me1 ,ever yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,punch ,office1 #he1 ,fleet ,street1 ,saturday1 ,february #bh1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ',the change in the administration' so upset our arrangements that ,i could not settle what day to come down to you4 ,i propose now to come down to-morrow 7,sunday7 evening1 so if you can get me a rocking-horse1 or a clothes-horse1 or any horse excessively quiet and accommodating1 ,i will go out with you on ,monday4 ,mark1 having an appointment early on ,monday with 'her ,majesty1' or somebody1 will come on ,tuesday1 to hunt on ,wednesday1 and back again on ,thursday morning4 ,all this1 of course1 if it suits your convenience4 ,at any rate1 ,i will come to-morrow1 and then if there is any difficulty1 we can send up to town4 ,with kindest regards to ,mrs4 ,adams1 ,believe me always1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 #ca1 ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 ,wednesday1 ,march #ag1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,i had almost made up my mind to come down on ,friday evening to hunt on ,saturday2 but it would suit me infinitely better to come at the end of the week following1 as ,i am just now in the agonies of my periodical work2 so let me know when the meets are1 and in the meantime ,i will peg away and get my business done so as to have a comfortable day with you4 ,if ,i came on ,friday1 ,i should have to work day and night before ,i went1 and come back directly to work day and night again1 which is not a pleasant state of things2 ,i hope1 therefore1 that we shall be able to see the hounds next week4 ,i don't think ,lemon would be able to come1 as he is busy moving2 but ,i will ask him4 ,i will make you the sketch of the house1 or of anything else you like1 when ,i come4 ,believe me1 ,ever yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,look in this week's ,punch for a sketch on the ,royston ,hills4 #ca1 ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 ,wednesday1 ,july #g1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,i congratulate both of you most heartily and cordially4 ,mrs4 ,adams ,i hope is well1 and will keep so1 ,i trust4 ,i will take upon myself to say that ,i don't know any man more thoroughly capable of understanding and enjoying domestic happiness than yourself2 and1 moreover1 ,i don't know any man who more thoroughly deserves to have it4 ,you wish it had been a boy1 do you8 ,well1 never mind2 the son and heir will make his appearance in good time1 ,i dare say4 ,for my part1 my unhappy experience makes me love little girls4 99 99 99 99 99 ,pray give my kindest regards to ,mrs4 ,adams1 and my love to ,chatty1 who is to kiss the baby for me1 and ,believe me1 my dear ,charley1 ,always yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,barlow1 ,derbyshire1 ,july #ca1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,you will see from the above address that ,i am still rusticating4 ,i expect to be in rooms soon after the #abth of ,august1 and then1 after ,i have done my month's work1 ,i am your man4 ,you say where 444 ,don't make yourself uncomfortable about the quantity of sport2 ,i shall be quite satisfied with what you offer me4444 ,yours always faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,here follows an admirable sketch of ,mr4 ,adams waking up ,leech with1 ,now1 ,jack1 my boy6 ,there's no time to lose2 we've ten miles to go to cover4 ,illustration3 ,now1 ,jack1 my boy6 ,there's no time to lose4 ,we've ten miles to go to cover6 ,tuesday1 ,december #ad1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley ,,boy1 ,hip6 hip6 hurrah6 ,the almanack is finished1 and now for a day with the ,puckeridge4 ,i shall come down if you will take me in on ,friday evening1 to hunt on ,saturday and ,monday1 ,i hope4 ,mark talked of coming4 ,i wish he would4 ,he says he should not ride1 but that's all nonsense4 ,do you think ,pattison has got a horse that would carry him8 ,oh1 ,i have had a rare benefit of work6 ,i have been positively at it ever since ,i saw you4 ,i want freshening up1 ,i assure you4444 ,lots of fresh work1 old fellow1 so ,i think ,i may manage a real horse soon4 99 99 99 99 99 ,with kindest regards4 ,ever faithfully yours1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 ,january #bf1 #ahec4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,if you could ride my horse to-morrow 7,thursday71 pray do2 it would save your own1 and do her good4 ,and the meet is close to you--,langley ,green4 ,i should have written before1 but ,i have been harassed with work beyond measure4 ,and as it is1 the first number of ',handley ,cross' cannot come out until ,march4 ,mind you have the mare well worked1 there's a good fellow1 as ,i don't want1 like our friend ,briggs1 to find her disagreeably fresh4 99 99 99 99 99 ,believe me always yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,saturday1 ,february #bf1 #ahec4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,i suppose the frost has departed in the country1 and that you have now what is called 'open weather4' ,it is very disagreeable here--wet1 cold1 and boisterous4 ,however1 if you can spare time 7after riding your own1 of course71 ,i wish you would give the mare a benefit4 ,i expect she will otherwise be a great deal too much for me4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i am1 my dear ,charley1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,saturday1 ,january #ba1 #ahed4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,thank you for your note4 ,i can't come down to-morrow1 but ,i hope after next week to make up for lost time4 ,i have got through some work that has been fidgeting me4 ,i shall have a little more leisure4 ,the meet on ,monday is ,dassett's1 ,i see1 so pray give it the mare2 ,i have been so queer myself that ,i shall want her particularly 'tranquil4' ,i have sacrificed the moustaches for fear of frightening the horses in the field4 ,they were getting too tremendous4 ,if1 if ,i can get away next week at all1 depend upon it ,i will1 for ,i want fresh air and a little horse exercise4 ,with kindest regards1 old fellow1 ,believe me always yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,saturday1 ,december #bb1 #ahee4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,how is the country8 ,i suppose no hunting as yet1 for ,i have not received any card4 ,the weather here to-day is mild and wet4 ,i am working away in the hope of getting a day or two by-and-by comfortably4 ,in the meantime1 if there is anything going on1 give my horse a turn across country1 that's a good fellow4 ,with kindest regards1 believe me1 ,yours faithfully1 ,j4 ,l4 ,if you can't spare time to hunt the mare1 would it not be a good thing to send her to ,patmore1 and make him ride her8 ,but do you attend to her if you can manage it4 #h1 ,st4 ,nicholas ,cliff1 ,scarbro'1 ,august #cj1 #aheh4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,your note was forwarded here1 and ,i only found it on my return from ,ireland1 where ,i have been for the last three weeks4 ,the consequence is that ,i am1 of course1 in rather a muddle with my work1 and ,i am afraid ,i must forego the pleasure of shooting with you--at any rate1 for the early part of the season2 so pray do not deprive other friends of sport on my account4 ,i shall hope to have a day or two with you before the season is over4 ,i am not a very greedy sportsman1 you know1 and as long as ,i get a good walk am pretty well satisfied4 ,i am sorry you have been so unwell--you should really give yourself a holiday4 ,the bow should be unstrung sometimes4 ,i know ,i find it must4 ,i wish you could have seen me catch a salmon in ,ireland--a regular salmon6 ,when ,i say catch1 ,i should say hook1 rather1 for he was too much for me1 and after ten minutes' struggle he bolted with my tackle4 ,it was really a tremendous sensation4444 ,believe me always1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,c4 ,f4 ,,adams1 ,,esq4 ,white ,horse1 ,baldock1 ,friday evening1 ----1 #aheh4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 99 99 99 99 99 ,for the present ,i have arranged with ,little to make this place my headquarters1 it is so handy to the train1 and ,i can come so much quicker and later to ,hitchin4 ,the slow railway journeys take it out of me1 so that my pleasure is almost destroyed by the fatigue of travelling and bother to get off4 ,i hope1 nevertheless1 that we shall have many evenings together to talk over the tremendous runs that we hope to have4 ,i have bought a horse and brought it down here4 ,i hope you will be out to-morrow to see it4 ,i like it very much2 it is a most excellent hackney1 and sufficiently good-looking1 although not perfect1 ,i suppose2 and it is represented to me as being a temperate hunter in addition to his other qualities4 ,well1 we shall see4 ,the black mare ,i shall send to ,tattersall's next week4 ,she was as fresh as could be last ,saturday1 and ,i was quite glad ,i had not sold her2 but1 alas6 she was as lame in the afternoon as possible1 and next morning was a pretty spectacle6 ,she would not do at all4 ,so much for horseflesh4 ,with kindest regards1 ,yours always1 ,j4 ,l4 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,w4,c41 ,november #bj1 #ahfb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,if you ever have the time--which ,i never have--,i should feel so glad if you would go some day and see how the 'party' at ,kensington has done his work4 ,i suppose 'that little form' of paying the bill must very soon be gone through1 and ,i should like to know from a competent authority that the work has been well and properly done4 ,how about the hunting8 ,i am continually tormented here by noble sportsmen going by my window in full fig4 ,yours always1 ,j4 ,l4 #f1 ,the ,terrace1 ,kensington1 ,november #bg1 #ahfb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,i am obliged to go to ,st4 ,leonards to-night1 but ,i should be very glad if you would to-morrow1 ,friday 7as you propose71 look at my new house4 ,in the corner of one of the new rooms ,i see it looks a little damp1 although they considered it dry before they papered4 ,i must say ,i am pleased with the new residence1 and ,i think by degrees ,i shall be able to make it pretty comfortable4 ,we shall hardly get in here1 ,i expect1 much before ,christmas4 ,there is yet so much to do4 ,i shall be very glad of any hints about improvements that may occur to you4 ,kind regards1 and believe me1 ,always yours1 ,j4 ,l4 ,there is amongst the pictures of ,life and ,character a drawing of a sportsman who has been thrown from his horse4 ,he has fallen upon his head1 and as he raises it1 stunned and bewildered1 and but half conscious1 the sensations that must have possessed him are realized for us in a manner so marvellous1 so wonderful in its originality and truth1 as to convince one that the accident must have happened to the man who drew the picture2 and this was the case1 for the fallen man was ,leech himself1 says ,mr4 ,adams1 who in charging a fence was thrown1 his horse falling at the same time4 ,if ,i had been told that the sensations inevitable under the circumstances were required to be reproduced by pencil and paper1 ,i should have said such a feat was beyond the reach of art2 but there they are6 ,as the prostrate man looks up1 he sees sparks of fire1 horse's head1 legs1 hoofs mingled together in a whirl of confusion round his prostrate figure4 ,illustration ,no doubt the work he undertook for ,bell's ,life in ,london1 a long-established and long-discontinued paper1 in which sport of all kinds was the most prominent feature--and which occupied much of ,leech's time in his youthful days--contributed to the creation of a taste and love for field sports that always distinguished him4 ,quite a band of comic artists1 including ,cruikshank1 ,kenny ,meadows1 ,phiz1 ,seymour1 and ,leech1 contributed sketches illustrative of a variety of subjects by a variety of authors2 ,leech's work being easily distinguishable from that of his brethren of the pencil4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,comic ,,grammar ,,and ,,comic ,,history4 ,the friendship1 begun in their student-days at ,st4 ,bartholomew's1 between ,leech and ,percival ,leigh flourished in renewed strength by the discovery of similarity of taste--,leigh unable to draw1 but possessing a truly humorous pen2 so the friends laid their heads together1 the result being the production of the ,comic ,latin ,grammar1 letter-press by ,leigh1 illustrations by ,leech4 ,the first intention of the authors was that this should be a mere skit1 a trifling brochure1 consisting of a few pages2 but1 as so often happens1 the work grew under their hands1 and when published in #ahdj it had assumed somewhat formidable proportions1 and was followed by a work of similar character1 with the title of ,the ,comic ,english ,grammar4 ,the ,comic ,english ,grammar was a work full of pleasant humour1 charmingly illustrated by ,leech with upwards of fifty characteristic woodcuts4 ,it is curious to observe in these drawings the contrast that they afford to the artist's later and more perfect work4 ,there is a timidity1 and what we call a hardness1 from which the sketches in ,pictures of ,life and ,character are entirely free2 the general drawing1 too1 is faulty1 but the humour and character are all there4 ,illustration ,the first illustration1 given above1 is from a ballad called ,billy ,taylor1 popular in my young days1 in which ,billy's true love--with the reluctance to part from him common to persons suffering from that passion--disguises herself as a man before the mast1 and shares the dangers of the sea with her sailor-lover3 ,ven as the ,captain comed for to hear on't1 ,wery much applauded vot she'd done4 ,illustration ,the verb applauded has here no nominative case1 whereas it ought to have been governed by the pronoun he4 ,he very much applauded1 etc41 says the writer of the ,comic ,grammar for our instruction4 ,the second example1 given above1 seems to me capital fooling1 and an excellent proof of the necessity for care in punctuation and accent4 ,imagine1 says the writer1 an actor commencing ,hamlet's famous soliloquy thus3 ',to be or not to be2 that is4 ,the question1' etc4 ,or saying1 in the person of ,duncan in ',macbeth'3 ',this castle hath a pleasant seat1 the air4' ,or1 as the usurper himself1 exclaiming3 ',the devil damn thee black1 thou cream-faced loon6 ,where got's thou that goose8 ,look6' ,here we have the fault of hardness that ,i speak of1 and something of feeble drawing1 but the humour is perfect4 ,after the publication of the ,comic ,grammar1 written by ,gilbert a ,beckett1 one of the ,punch staff1 a somewhat similar experiment upon the public and on a larger scale was tried by the same author in the issue of a ,comic ,history of ,england4 ,this venture was warmly opposed at its inception by ,jerrold1 whose wrath at the idea of burlesquing historical personages was expressed with vehemence4 ,gilbert a ,beckett persisted1 however1 and the history appeared1 with over three hundred illustrations on wood and steel by ,john ,leech4 ,the book is1 as might be expected1 very light reading1 containing many puns and much play upon words4 ,leech's work seems to me to be slight1 hurried1 and even careless1 compared with that of his later time2 but the spirit of rollicking fun with which grave historical incidents are treated1 and the humorous satire that the principal personages receive at the hands of the illustrator1 make the ,comic ,history of ,england amusing enough4 ,the following extract1 with the drawing that illustrates it1 will show the truth of my estimate of both4 ,a story is told of a certain ,fair ,rosamond1 and1 though there is no doubt of its being a story from beginning to end1 it is impossible to pass it over in ,english history4 ,henry1 it was alleged1 was enamoured of a certain ,miss ,clifford--if she can be called a certain ,miss ,clifford1 when she was really a very doubtful character4 ,she was the daughter of a baron on the banks of the ,wye1 when1 without a why or a wherefore1 the ,king took her away1 and transplanted the ,flower of ,hereford1 as she well deserved to be called1 to the ,bower of ,woodstock4 ,in this bower he constructed a labyrinth something like the ,maze at ,rosherville1 and as there was no man stationed on an elevation in the centre to direct the sovereign which way to go1 nor exclaim1 ',right1 if you please6' ',straight on6' ',you're right now1 sir6' ',left6' ',right again6' etc41 etc41 his ,majesty had adopted the plan of dragging one of ,rosamond's reels of silk along with him when he left the spot1 so that it formed a guide for him on his way back again4 ,this tale of silk is indeed a most precious piece of entanglement1 but it was perhaps necessary for the winding up of the story4 ,while we cannot receive it as part of the thread of history1 we accept it as a means of accounting for ,eleanor's having got a clue to the retreat of ,rosamond4 ,the ,queen1 hearing of the silk1 resolved naturally enough to unravel it4 ,she accordingly started for ,woodstock one afternoon1 and1 suspecting something wrong1 took a large bowl of poison in one hand and a stout dagger in the other4 ,having found ,fair ,rosamond1 she held the poniard to the heart and the bowl to the lips of that unfortunate young person1 who1 it is said1 preferred the black draught to the steel medicine4 ,later on in the history we have another good example of ,leech's humour4 ,king ,edward1 having subdued the ,welsh1 endeavoured to propitiate his newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in the conquered country4 ,his wife ,eleanor gave birth to a son in the castle of ,caernarvon1 and he availed himself of the circumstance to introduce the infant as a native production1 giving him the title of ,prince of ,wales1 which has ever since been held by the eldest son of the ,british sovereign4 ,illustration3 ,,queen ,,eleanor ,,and ,,fair ,,rosamond4 ,illustration3 ,,king ,,edward ,,introducing ,,his ,,son ,,as ,,prince ,,of ,,wales ,,to ,,his ,,newly-,,acquired ,,subjects4 ,a well-known historical scene is parodied as follows3 ,henry ,,iv4 being ill1 the ,prince of ,wales was sitting up with him in the temporary capacity of nurse1 says ,mr4 a ,becket4 ,the son1 however1 seemed rather to be waiting for his father's death than hoping for the prolongation of his life2 and the ,king having gone off in a fit1 the ,prince1 instead of calling for assistance or giving any aid himself1 heartlessly took that opportunity to see how he should look in the crown1 which always hung on a peg in the royal bedchamber4 ,young ,henry was figuring away before a cheval glass with the regal bauble on his head1 and was exclaiming1 ',just the thing1 upon my honour6' when the elder ,henry1 happening to recover1 sat up in bed and saw the conduct of his offspring4 ,illustration3 ,,unseemly ,,conduct ,,of ,,henry1 ,,prince ,,of ,,wales4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,duke ,,of ,,gloucester ,,goes ,,into ,,mourning ,,for ,,his ,,little ,,nephews4 ',hallo6' cried the ,king1 'who gave you leave to put that on8 ,i think you might have left it alone till ,i've done with it4' ,the savage and hypocritical character of ,richard ,,iii4 afforded ,leech an opportunity for satire in his design of that monarch1 when still ,duke of ,gloucester1 in the shape of a crocodile shedding tears for the death of the two ,princes in the ,tower4 ,richard1 says the chronicler1 by whom the outward decencies of life were very scrupulously observed1 in order to make up for the inner deficiencies of his mind1 determined to go into mourning for the young ,princes1 and repaired to the same maison de deuil which he had honoured with his presence on a former occasion when requiring the 'trappings of woe' for himself and his retainers on the death of his dear brother4 ,with the escape of ,mary1 ,queen of ,scots1 ,i must close the extracts from the ,comic ,history of ,england4 ,when the ,queen was imprisoned at ,lochleven1 a certain ,george ,douglas1 says the historian1 with the sentimentality peculiar to seventeen1 fell sheepishly in love with the handsome ,mary4 ,she gave some encouragement to the gawky youth1 but rather with a view of getting him to aid her in her escape than out of any regard to the over-sensitive stripling4 ,going to his brother's bedroom in the night1 the boy took the keys from the basket in which they were deposited1 and1 letting ,mary out1 he handed her to a skiff and took her for a row1 without thinking of the row his conduct was leading to4 ,illustration3 ,,mary',s ,,elopement4 ,a considerable interval of time elapsed between the publication of a ,beckett's ,comic ,english ,grammar and the same writer's ,comic ,history of ,england1 the former being produced in #ahdj1 and the latter seven years afterwards2 but as there is little or no appreciable difference between the two works1 either as regards the literary or artistic merit1 ,i have thought it well to introduce them in this place4 ,these efforts show but one side of ,leech's many-sided power4 ,it was in ,the ,children of the ,mobility1 a satire on a production just then published1 in which the children of the nobility were put before the world in all the splendour of their aristocratic surroundings1 that ,leech's genius had full play1 the little ,duke affording an instructive contrast to the street arab1 and the shivering1 half-naked beggar-girl becoming infinitely pathetic in her rags4 ,this work was executed in lithography1 consisting of seven prints2 and though1 as works of art1 they bear no comparison to the wood-drawings of a later time--they are not even so good as the ,fly-,leaves published at the ,punch ,office later on--still1 comparatively imperfectly as they are rendered1 they show the artist's intense sympathy with suffering childhood1 as well as enjoyment in the games and larks by which the sufferings are for a time at least forgotten4 ,i now approach the period when the establishment of a comic newspaper was destined to afford ,leech opportunities for the display of his powers1 opportunities of which he availed himself with a prodigality almost as marvellous as the powers4 ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,billing ,,and ,,sons1 ,,printers1 ,,guildford4 ,j4 ,d4 ,co4