,,john ,,leech ,his ,life and ,work ,illustration3 ,the ,marchioness going to execution4 ,,john ,,leech ,his ,life and ,work ,,by ,,william ,,powell ,,frith1 ,r4,a4 ,illustration ,,with ,,portrait ,,and ,,numerous ,,illustrations ,,in ,,two ,,volumes ,,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,london ,,richard ,,bentley ,,and ,,son ,publishers in ,ordinary to ,her ,majesty the ,queen #ahia ,all rights reserved ,,contents ,,of ,,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,punch #a ,,ii4 ,,cartoons #ae ,,iii4 ,,the ,,lawyer',s ,,story #ce ,,iv4 ,,love ,,of ,,field ,,sports #dj ,v4 ,,inventors ,,and ,,illustrators #ed ,,vi4 ,,ingoldsby ,,legends #ei ,,vii4 ,,dickens ,,and ,,thackeray ,,on ,,leech #ff ,,viii4 ,,dean ,,hole #hj ,,ix4 ,,types #hi ,x4 ,,leech ,,and ,,his ,,predecessors #if ,,xi4 ,,kenny ,,meadows #ajc ,,xii4 ,,comic ,,history ,,of ,,rome #ajf ,,xiii4 ,,personal ,,anecdotes #aac ,,xiv4 ,,personal ,,anecdotes--,,continued #aai ,,xv4 ,,sporting ,,novels #acj ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,bon ,,gaultier ,,ballads #acg ,,xvii4 ,,sporting ,,novels--,,continued #aeb ,,xviii4 ,,michael ,,halliday ,,and ,,leech #afc ,,xix4 ,,thomas ,,hood ,,and ,,leech #ahb ,,xx4 ,,dr4 ,,john ,,brown ,,and ,,leech #bah ,,xxi4 ,,autograph-,,hunters ,,and ,,others #bbi ,,xxii4 ,,artists' ,,lives #bci ,,xxiii4 ,,leech ,,exhibition #bdg ,,xxiv4 ,,millais ,,and ,,leech #bge ,,xxv4 ,,mr4 ,h4 ,o4 ,,nethercote ,,and ,,john ,,leech #bhc ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page ,,the ,,marchioness ,,going ,,to ,,execution ,frontispiece ,,the ,,drunken ,,post-,,boy #aa ,,they ,,may ,,be ,,officers1 ,,but ,,they ,,are ,,not ,,gentlemen #ac ,,jack ,,armstrong #ag ,,the ,,jew ,,and ,,skeleton ,,tailors #bi ,i',,ll ,,thin ,,your ,,top6 #cg ,,give ,,her ,,her ,,head1 ,,jack #db ,,oh1 ,,if ,,this ,,is ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,places ,,charley ,,spoke ,,of1 ,i ,,shall ,,go ,,back6 #dd ,,jack ,,johnson ,,attempts ,,to ,,rescue ,,derval ,to face p4 #eg ,,the ,,maid ,,and ,,the ,,head ,,of ,,gengulphus #fb ,,elopement ,,of ,,roman ,,youth ,,with ,,sabine ,,ladies #aji ,,rome ,,saved ,,from ,,the ,,gauls ,,by ,,geese #aaa ,,little ,,john ,,and ,,red ,,friar #adj ,,little ,,john ,,and ,,the ,,popish ,,bull #adb ,,george ,,of ,,gorbals #adi ,,the ,,lover',s ,,friend ,,and ,,the ,,lover #aej ,,after ,,aiming ,,for ,a ,,quarter ,,of ,,an ,,hour1 ,,mr4 ,b4 ,,fires ,,both ,,his ,,barrels1 ,,and ,,misses6 #agc ,,what ,,wide ,,reverses ,,of ,,fate ,,are ,,there6 #ahh ,,miss ,,kilmansegg #aia ,,the ,,foreign ,,count #aig ,,the ,,wedding--,,wilt ,,thou ,,have ,,this ,,woman8 #bjb ,,love ,,at ,,the ,,board #bjd ,,he ,,brought ,,strange ,,gentlemen ,,home ,,to ,,dine #bjh ,,the ,,torn ,,will #bab ,,bedtime #baf ,,he ,,blows ,,his ,,own ,,nose6 #bbh ,,the ,,seal #bce ,a ,,cypress ,,branch ,,for ,,the ,,tomb ,,of ,,john ,,leech #cja ,,john ,,leech3 ,,his ,,life ,,and ,,work ,,chapter ,i4 ,,punch4 ,in the year #ahda ,i exhibited a picture at the ,suffolk ,street ,gallery1 and ,i recollect accidentally overhearing fragments of a conversation between a certain ,joe ,allen and a brother member of the ,society of ,british ,artists in ,suffolk ,street4 ,allen's picture happened to hang near mine1 and we were both touching up our productions4 ,joe ,allen was the funny man of the society1 and1 though he startled me a little1 he did not surprise me by a loud and really good imitation of the peculiar squeak of ,punch4 ,look out1 my boy1 he said to his friend1 for the first number4 ,we 7,i suppose he was a member of the first staff7 shall take the town by storm4 ,there is no mistake about it4 ,we have so-and-so--naming some well-known men--for writers2 ,hine1 ,kenny ,meadows1 young ,leech1 and a lot more first-rate illustrators1 etc4 ,whether ,allen's friend took his advice and bought the first number of ,punch1 which appeared in the following ,july1 ,i know not2 but ,i bought a copy1 and remember my disappointment at finding ,leech conspicuous by his absence from the pages4 ,in the hope of finding him in the second issue1 ,i went to the shop where ,i had bought the first4 ,the shopman met my request for the second number of ,punch1 as well as ,i can recollect1 in the following words3 ,what paper1 sir8 ,oh1 ,punch6 ,yes1 ,i took a few of the first2 but it's no go4 ,you see1 they billed it about a good deal 7how well ,i recollect that expression671 so ,i wanted to see what it was like4 ,it won't do2 it's no go4 ,i have been told that1 like most newspapers1 ,punch had some difficulty in keeping upon his legs in his first efforts to move2 but as those elegant members1 so exquisitely drawn by ,tenniel1 have supported the famous hunchback for nearly half a century1 there is no need for his friends' anxiety as to his future movements4 ,though ,leech had engaged himself to the then proprietors of ,punch as one of the illustrators of the paper1 it seems strange that his first contribution did not appear till the #gth of ,august1 and in the fourth number1 and stranger still that its appearance should have damaged the paper4 ,under the heading of ,foreign ,affairs1 the artist represents groups of foreigners such as may be seen any day in the neighbourhood of ,leicester ,square4 ,the reader is told in a footnote that the plate does not represent foreign gentlemen1 an unnecessary intimation to anyone who knows a foreign gentleman4 ,it is said that this engraving sent down the circulation of ,punch to an alarming point4 ,i confess my inability to understand this1 and would rather attribute the decadence to some other cause1 contemporary with the production of ,foreign ,affairs4 ,the drawing is somewhat hard upon the foreign frequenters of the purlieus of ,leicester ,square1 and would only have been more acceptable to ,john ,bull on that account4 ,by ,leech's non-appearance in ,punch for many months after ,foreign ,affairs was published1 one is driven to the conclusion that the managers had little faith in him as an attraction4 ,the second volume contains very few of ,leech's designs1 while it bristles with inferior work4 ,my own admiration for ,leech's genius1 so constantly roused by his works1 with which ,i was familiar1 created a great desire for his acquaintance2 but being perfectly unknown at that time as an artist1 and knowing none of ,leech's friends1 ,i began to despair of the realization of my wishes1 when accident helped me4 ,a ,scottish painter--a ,highlander and fierce ,jacobite--named ,mc,ian1 who was also an actor and friend of ,macready1 to whose theatrical company he was attached1 lived with his wife1 an accomplished artist1 somewhere in the neighbourhood of ,gordon ,square4 ,calling one morning to see ,mrs4 ,mc,ian1 ,i found her in her studio1 not1 as usual1 hard at work at her own easel1 but superintending the labours of a pupil1 who was hard at work at another2 and the pupil1 a tall1 slim1 and remarkably handsome young man1 was ,john ,leech4 ,i made some remark about the different method in which he was employed to that with which he was familiar4 ,i forget what he was copying--some still life1 ,i think4 ,i like painting much better than what ,i have to grind at day after day1 if ,i could only do it1 said ,leech2 but it's so confoundedly difficult1 you know1 and requires such a lot of patience4 ,i fancy ,i thought his efforts in oil-painting on that occasion very promising2 but the exigencies of his position quite prevented the unceasing devotion to the study of painting which is required before any success can be assured4 ,leech was once heard to say that he would rather be the painter of a really good picture than the producer of any number of the kind of things he did4 ,i1 for one1 am very thankful that he never did produce a good picture1 for he would have been tempted to repeat the success1 to the loss of numbers of delightful sketches4 ,mrs4 ,mc,ian appeared to think that ,leech would soon cease to draw for ,punch2 indeed1 she doubted1 as did many others1 that ,punch would long succeed in attracting the public2 and ,i joined her in the hope--rather hypocritically1 ,i fear--that her young friend would persevere in mastering the difficulty of the technicalities of oil-painting1 and thus place himself amongst the best painters of the country4 ,leech had taken many lessons from ,mrs4 ,mc,ian1 and that lady seemed convinced that he had but to persevere and the difficulties would fall before him1 as1 to use her own figure1 the walls of ,jericho fell before the sound of the trumpet4 ,ah1 perseverance6 there's the rub4 ,from the time of my introduction to ,leech ,i became gradually very intimate with him1 and the more ,i knew of his nature1 the more ,i became convinced that he totally lacked the disposition for continuous1 steady1 mechanical industry necessary for success in painting4 ,he constantly ridiculed the care spent on the details in pictures2 finish1 in his opinion1 was so much waste of time4 ,when you can see what a man intends to convey in his picture1 you have got all he wants1 and all you ought to wish for2 all elaboration of an idea after the idea is comprehensible is so much waste of time--this was his constant cry1 a little contradicted by the fact that he as constantly tried to paint his ideas1 but in a fitful and perfunctory manner4 ,i can imagine the enthusiasm that was lighted up in ,leech upon his first sight of one of our annual exhibitions4 ,after a visit to one of them he was known to have gone home1 and getting out easel1 canvas1 and colours1 he would set to work in a fury of enthusiasm1 which evaporated at the encounter of the first technical difficulty4 ,he used to take pleasure in watching my own attempts at painting1 and ,i remember on one occasion1 when ,i was finishing a rather elaborate piece of work1 he said3 ,ah1 my ,frith1 ,i wasn't created to do that sort of thing6 ,i should never have patience for it4 ,he was right1 and1 happily for the world1 he became convinced that1 even if he had the power to fully carry out--as we call it--one of his drawings into a completed oil picture1 the time required would have deprived us of immortal sketches2 and though he undoubtedly left off where difficulties begin--as ,i once heard a painter1 who was exasperated at ,leech's sneers at his manipulation1 say to him--he has left behind him work which will continue to delight succeeding generations so long as wit1 humour1 character and beauty are appreciated--that is to say1 so long as human nature endures4 ,i feel ,i ought to apologize for what ,i am about to tell1 because it has nothing to do with my hero beyond the fact of its occurrence having taken place on the memorable morning when ,i first had the happiness of meeting him4 ,i have said that ,mc,ian was a ,scotchman1 a ,highlander of the clan ,mc,ian1 and a worshipper of ,charles ,stuart1 whose usual cognomen1 the ,pretender1 ,i should have been sorry to have used in the presence of my ,jacobite friend4 ,as ,leech left the room to go to his grind1 as he called his woodwork1 ,mc,ian entered1 and we were discussing ,leech's prospects when ,mc,ian's servant--an old1 hard-featured ,scotchwoman--hurried into the room1 and1 in an awe-stricken voice1 said3 ,sir--sir1 here's the ,preences6 ,the words were scarcely out of her mouth1 when two gentlemen entered--tall1 rather distinguished but melancholy1 looking young men4 ,no sooner did ,mc,ian and his wife catch sight of them1 than1 without a word1 they both dropped upon their knees1 and while the lady kissed the hands of one of the gentlemen1 her husband paid a similar attention to the hands of the other4 ,i was holding my hat1 and ,i remember ,i dropped it in my astonishment1 for ,i was not aware that ,i was in the presence of the last of the ,stuarts2 or that these two young men claimed to be the great-grandsons of the hero of ,culloden1 and amongst a large section of ,scotchmen1 and not a few ,englishmen1 had their claim allowed4 ,anyone curious about this delusion can read for himself how it was dispelled1 but the men themselves implicitly believed in their royal descent4 ,they are both dead now4 ,i once saw one of them again at a garden-party at ,chelsea ,hospital1 where his likeness to the ,stuarts was the talk of the company4 ,it was certainly striking4 ,it is a melancholy task to me to try to recall the social scenes in which ,leech so often figured--sad indeed to think how few of his friends1 more intimate with him than ,i1 now remain amongst us6 ,though ,leech very seldom illustrated any ideas but his own1 ,i can recall an example or two to the contrary2 and still oftener have ,i seen1 by the sparkle of his eye1 that something occurring in conversation had suggested a cut4 ,i think it was ,dickens who said that a big cock-pheasant rising in covert under one's nose was like a firework let off in that locality4 ,elsewhere we have ,leech's rendering of the idea4 ,when cards1 or some other way of getting rid of time after dinner1 had been proposed1 ,i have heard ,leech say3 ,oh1 bother cards6 ,let us have conversation4 ,and talk it was1 often good talk2 but ,leech was more a listener than a partaker4 ,not that he could not talk1 and admirably2 but he was always on the watch for subjects which he hoped something in conversation might suggest4 ,leech's mental condition was certainly deeply tinged with the sadness so common to men who possess wit and humour to a high degree4 ,he sang well1 but his songs were all of a melancholy character1 and very difficult to get from him4 ,indeed1 the only one ,i can remember1 and that but partially1 was something about ,king ,death1 with allusions to a beverage called coal-black wine1 which that potentate was supposed to drink4 ,as ,i write ,i can see the dear fellow's melancholy face1 with his eyes cast up to the ceiling1 where ,dickens said the song was written in ghostly characters which none but ,leech could read4 ,i may give another example--rare1 no doubt--of ,leech's having used a suggested subject4 ,many years ago my brother-in-law1 long since dead1 took a party of friends to the ,derby4 ,they drove1 or1 rather1 were driven1 down to ,epsom1 the usual post-boy being recommended as a careful1 steady driver--a character very desirable1 considering the crowded state of the road1 more especially on the return journey4 ,the post-boy quite realized all that was said of him as the party went to the course1 but when the time came for departure he was found1 after considerable searching1 to be as nearly dead-drunk as possible4 ,what was to be done8 ,the man could scarcely stand2 his driving was1 of course1 out of the question4 ,illustration ,well1 said my brother-in-law to his friends1 if you will trust yourselves to me1 ,i will ride and drive you back2 and1 after tying the post-boy on to the carriage1 where he soon fell fast asleep1 my brother mounted and drove his party safely home4 ,this ,i thought a good subject for ,leech1 and ,i suggested it to him4 ,he smiled faintly1 and said not a word4 ,very nearly a year after ,i had told him of the incident1 as ,i was walking with him one day1 he said3 ,by the way1 ,frith1 are you going to use the subject you mentioned to me of the drunken post-boy and your brother-in-law8 ,i8 ,no1 said ,i2 it's more in your way than mine4 ,then ,i'll do it next week4 ,he was as good as his word4 ,nothing could be less like my brother-in-law than the delightful swell who is driving home some charming women1 who are1 however1 left to our imagination2 and as to the post-boy1 the artist has awoke him to some purpose4 ,what could surpass that drunken smile8 ,illustration ,long1 long ago there might have been seen on the sands at ,ramsgate two stuffed figures1 the size of life1 intended to represent soldiers2 for they were bedecked with the red coat1 cap1 and trousers of the ordinary private4 ,the clothes were simply stuffed out into something resembling human forms1 but the effect1 as may be supposed1 was ludicrous in the extreme4 ,they were the work of a professor of archery1 who supplied his customers with bows and arrows1 with which the archer showed how seldom he could hit the target made by the two soldiers4 ,leech and ,i watched the shooting for some time1 till the little sketch-book was produced1 and ,leech made a rapid drawing of the two soldiers1 afterwards to figure in an inimitable cut in ,punch4 ,a young lady is seen bathing with her aunt1 whose attention she is directing to the two stuffed figures4 ,the aunt is short-sighted1 and the girl is wickedly pretending that the figures are live officers1 watching the bathers4 ,the aunt says1 ,they may be officers1 but they are not gentlemen1 etc4 ,i am sure that ,leech never used a model1 in the sense that the model is commonly used by artists1 for the thousands of human beings made immortal by his genius2 but that he made numberless sketches for backgrounds1 detail of dresses1 landscapes1 foregrounds1 and bits of character caught from unconscious sitters1 there can be no doubt4 ,how wonderful was the memory1 how sensitive the mental organization1 that could retain and reproduce every variety of type1 every variety of beauty and character6 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,cartoons4 ,as ,i fancy ,i am one of the few of ,leech's friends who have figured personally in ,punch1 ,i may be excused for the egotism of the following3 ,about the year #aheb ,i began the first of a series of pictures from modern life1 then quite a novelty in the hands of anyone who could paint tolerably4 ,when the picture which was called ,many ,happy ,returns of the ,day 7a birthday subject1 in which the health of the little heroine of the day is being drunk7 was finished1 ,leech came to see it1 and expressed his satisfaction on finding an artist who could leave what he called mouldy costumes for the habits and manners of everyday life4 ,as he was speaking1 two of my brother artists1 whose practice was on different lines to mine1 called1 and saw my picture for the first time4 ,they both looked attentively at it1 and the longer they looked--judging from their faces--the less they liked it4 ,i shall not forget ,leech's expression when ,i gave him a sort of questioning look as to the correctness of his judgment4 ,well1 what do you think of the picture8 said ,leech to one of the painters4 ,well1 really ,i don't know what to think1 was the reply4 ,it never occurred to me that the incident was one likely to serve my friend for a drawing2 lively was my surprise1 and great was my pleasure1 therefore1 when ,i saw myself immortalized for ever1 as my old master used to say1 in the pages of ,punch4 ,in this drawing may be seen a striking proof of the avoidance of personality which always distinguished ,leech4 ,i cannot see my own back1 but ,i have been assured by those who have had that privilege that there is a dashing1 not to say aristocratic1 character about ,jack ,armstrong to which ,i have no claim4 ,while ,messrs4 ,potter and ,feeble are quite curiously unlike the persons they are supposed to represent--neither of my high art friends wore beards--yet the attitudes of the men were exactly reproduced2 while the background1 with armour1 oak-cabinet1 etc41 for which no sketch was taken1 was a perfectly correct representation of my old painting-room4 ,illustration3 ,,jack ,,armstrong4 ,in one of my autumnal holidays ,leech stayed a few days with me4 ,he had not been well2 picking up a thousand stones in a thousand hours1 to which he likened his unceasing work1 had begun to tell upon him2 and in reply to my warning1 that1 for his own sake1 to say nothing of the interests of ,punch1 he should husband his strength--for1 ,i added1 ,if anything happened to you1 who are 'the backbone of ,punch1' what would become of the paper8--,i can see his smile as ,i hear him say1 ,don't talk such rubbish6 backbone of ,punch1 indeed6 ,why1 bless your heart6 there isn't a fellow at work upon the paper that doesn't think that of himself1 and with about as much right and reason as ,i should4 ,punch would get on well enough without me1 or any of those who think themselves of such importance4 ,among the many admirable qualities that adorned the character of ,john ,leech his modesty was remarkable2 he thought little or nothing of his own work4 ,talk of drawing1 my dear fellow1 he once said to me1 what is my drawing compared to ,tenniel's8 ,look at the way that chap can draw a boot2 why1 ,i couldn't do it to save my life4 ,though ,leech in his modesty chose to ignore the fact1 it was no less a fact that for nearly a quarter of a century he was the leading spirit of ,punch4 ,think1 said ,thackeray1 what a number of ,punch would be without a drawing by ,leech in it6 ,in addition to the wonderful political cartoons1 ,leech contributed more than three thousand illustrations of life and manners to the paper2 and it is said--,i know not how truly--that he received from first to last more than #dj1jjj for his contributions to ,punch alone4 ,if he did1 what did he do with the money8 ,that he was in no way extravagant ,i know1 and that he was frequently in dire straits after his connection with ,punch ,i also know4 ,let my reader imagine what pecuniary trouble must have been to this man1 whose mind was racked by the constantly recurring demands for intellectual work such as ,leech supplied week after week1 and often day after day6 ,did he lend or give away his hardly-earned money8 ,did he accept bills for so-called friends1 and find that he had to meet them8 ,leech was one of the most open-hearted and generous of men1 an easy victim to a plausible tale of real or fictitious distress4 ,i suppose we shall never know why a man who made so large an income1 who had not a large family to absorb much of it1 and who never lived expensively1 should have died comparatively poor4 ,let me leave these painful considerations and pursue the triumph and partake the gale of the artist's glorious career4 ,between ,cruikshank and ,leech there existed little sympathy and less intimacy4 ,the extravagant caricature that pervades so much of ,cruikshank's work1 and from which ,leech was entirely free1 blinded him a little to the great merit of ,cruikshank's serious work4 ,i was very intimate with ,immortal ,george1 as he was familiarly called1 and ,i was much surprised by the coolness with which he received my enthusiastic praise of ,leech4 ,yes1 yes1 said ,george1 very clever4 ,the new school1 you see4 ,public always taken with novelty4 ,for the larger part of fifty-seven years ,cruikshank told me he had been in the habit of drinking wine and spirits1 often a great deal too much of both2 but from his fifty-seventh birthday to his seventy-fifth1 when he lectured me for taking a single glass of sherry1 he had devoted himself to strict teetotalism1 the interests of which he advocated by tongue1 brush1 and etching-needle4 ,unlike ,leech1 ,cruikshank was a painter1 and the last years of his life were spent in painting a huge picture1 or1 rather1 a series of pictures upon one canvas1 which he called ,the ,worship of ,bacchus4 ,from this work he executed a large engraving1 a proof of which he presented to me1 telling me to study it well and ,i should see what dire results might arise from drinking a glass of sherry4 ,like most proselytes1 ,cruikshank carried his faith in his creed to the verge of absurdity1 and sometimes beyond it2 but in the ,worship of ,bacchus1 and more powerfully still in a series of etchings called ,the ,bottle1 he gave his tragic power full play1 and produced scenes and incidents in which the consequences of drink are portrayed--now with pathos1 now with the terrible retribution that often ends the drunkard's career in madness4 ,in one of the large cartoons in ,punch ,leech used the awful figure of ,fagin in the ,condemned ,cell 7one of ,cruikshank's finest illustrations to ,oliver ,twist71 changing him into ,king ,louis ,philippe4 ,that sovereign was always somewhat of a red rag to ,leech1 as many cuts1 in which the king is turned into ridicule1 prove2 and when the crash of #ahdh came1 ,leech received the fugitive with a shower of drawings1 culminating in the tragic figure exiled and in the condemned cell4 ,the student of ,leech does not require to be told that the artist was as great in the tragedies of life as he was when he shot the follies as they flew about him1 or when he touched so caressingly the beauty of childhood and of women4 ,during the ,crimean ,war1 when such fearful news came to us of the sufferings of our soldiers during the inclement winter of #ahed-ee1 the ,emperor of ,russia is said to have invoked the aid of ,generals ,january and ,february in our ruin4 ,those officers certainly destroyed many of our men1 but one of them laid his icy hand upon the man who had called him for so different a purpose4 ,never can ,i forget the impression that ,leech's drawing of the ,emperor's death-bed made upon me6 ,there lay the ,czar1 a noble figure in death1 as he was in life1 and by his side a stronger ,king than he--a bony figure1 in ,general's uniform1 snow-besprinkled1 who beckons him away4 ,of all ,leech's serious work1 this seems to me the finest example4 ,think how savage ,gillray or vulgar ,rowlandson would have handled such a theme6--the ,emperor would have been caricatured into a repulsive monster1 and ,death would have lost his terrors4 ,moreover1 neither of those artists was capable of conceiving the subject4 ,to show the infinite variety of ,leech's powers1 ,i may draw attention in this place to another of the political cartoons4 ,the uneasiness created in this country by what was called the ,papal ,aggression always seemed to me as absurd and unfounded as it has since proved to have been4 ,i remember asking ,cardinal ,manning1 then ,archbishop of ,westminster by order of the ,pope1 for his autograph4 ,he wrote his name for me1 but when ,i asked him to add his title1 he smiled and said1 ,i dare not do that2 ,i might be sent to prison if ,i wrote my ,popish title4 ,lord ,john ,russell was in power at that time1 and was of course very active in the crusade against the ,catholics4 ,the ,cardinal in ,england was ,wiseman2 and ,leech drew ,lord ,john as a street boy1 running away from the ,cardinal's door1 after chalking ,no ,popery upon it4 ,perfect in workmanship1 and perfect in idea1 is this admirable drawing4 ,i may note here one very bad consequence of the ,papal ,aggression--namely1 the secession of ,richard ,doyle from the ,punch staff4 ,doyle was a ,catholic2 it was therefore impossible for him to remain amongst men who1 by pen and pencil1 opposed what was called the audacious attempt to tithe and toll in our dominions4 ,it was a pity1 for ,doyle was1 next to ,leech1 by far the strongest man on the staff of ,punch artists--quaintly humorous1 and full of a delicate fancy1 but without the broad views of life or the grasp of character that distinguished ,leech4 ,of course1 as personality was the essence of the political cartoons1 the use of it was unavoidable2 but ,leech managed to be personal without being offensive to the chief actor1 unless1 as in the case of ,louis ,philippe and a few others1 he considered that their escapades deserved severe castigation2 he then took good care to apply the whip with a will4 ,lord ,russell1 in his ,recollections1 speaks of the ,no ,popery satire as a fair hit4 ,in many of the political cartoons official personages are represented as boys1 well-behaved or ill-behaved1 obstinate or stupid1 or both1 in the work appointed for them4 ,for example1 when ,sir ,robert ,peel resigned1 in #ahdf1 ,lord ,john ,russell figures as page-boy applying for the vacant place4 ,the ,queen looks the button boy up and down1 and then says1 ,i fear1 ,john1 you are not strong enough for the situation4 ,then we have ,disraeli1 also as a boy1 in whose figure that statesman's curious foppery in dress is felicitously noted1 confronted with a majestic figure of ,sir ,robert ,peel1 who says3 ,well1 my little man1 what are you going to do this ,session1 eh8 ,why--aw--aw--,i've made arrangements--aw--to smash everything4 ,events of the past1 looked at by the light of the present1 assume sometimes very strange1 almost incredible aspects4 ,can there have been a time1 one is inclined to ask1 when a man's religion could prove a bar to college1 ,bench1 and ,parliament8 ,assuredly there was such a time1 and not long ago--say forty years or so--when no ,jew could be a judge or a member of ,parliament2 and it was only after severe battles and many defeats that victory at last attended the ,jewish banner4 ,one of the most violent opponents of the ,jews was ,sir ,robert ,harry ,inglis1 a very conscientious and worthy gentleman4 ,by a happy thought of ,leech's1 ,sir ,robert is made to figure in one of the most humorous of the political cartoons4 ,about this time my old friend ,frank ,stone had painted two pictures in illustration of his favourite theme--love4 ,they were called ,the ,first ,appeal and ,the ,last ,appeal4 ,in the first a kind of peasant lover is beseeching his flame to listen to his vows4 ,she listens1 but without encouraging a hope in the swain that he will prevail4 ,time is supposed to pass1 leaving terrible traces of suffering--apparently to the verge of consumption--in the young man1 who1 on finding the girl at a well1 makes his last1 almost dying1 appeal4 ,he seizes her hand2 but she turns away1 deaf to his passionate beseeching4 ,in the ,leech drawing the composition of ,stone's picture is exactly preserved2 but in place of the lady we have ,sir ,robert ,inglis1 who turns away in horror from a young gentleman of a very marked ,jewish type indeed4 ,the present ,punch artists have greatly the advantage of ,leech1 in respect of the aid derivable from photography4 ,in these days1 there is scarcely a statesman whose photograph cannot be seen in the ,london shop-windows1 to the great advantage of the political caricaturists of to-day4 ,it was only at the latter part of ,leech's time that photography became so generally used to familiarize us with the features of our legislators1 and even then ,i doubt if ,leech took much advantage of it4 ,he had seen all these men1 and a rough sketch in his note-book1 aided by his marvellous memory1 was sufficient to enable him to produce unmistakable likenesses4 ,it remains for me to note some of the instances in which ,leech's powers were brought to bear upon the social questions of the time--questions admitting of a humorous or a pathetic treatment1 apart from those of a merely political character4 ,in #ahej a motion by ,lord ,ashley1 afterwards ,shaftesbury1 was carried against the ,government by a majority of ninety-three to sixty-eight1 ordering that the transmission and delivery of letters on ,sunday should cease in all parts of the kingdom4 ,the new law was acted upon for some weeks1 and caused so much public inconvenience1 and so great and indignant a popular outcry1 that the obnoxious rules were rescinded4 ,leech took full advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him4 ,his ready imagination supplied him with instances in which the operation of the new law would cause loss and suffering4 ,this was shown in a drawing which1 amongst other proofs1 depicts a mother in great distress because she can have no news of her sick child4 ,and when1 in ,september1 #ahej1 the obnoxious regulation was withdrawn1 ,leech celebrated the event in an admirable cartoon1 in which the promoters1 ,lords ,russell and ,ashley1 dressed as ,puritans1 are ruefully contemplating each other1 ,russell addressing his fellow-,puritan with1 ,verily1 ,brother ,ashley1 between you and me and the post we have made a nice mess of it6 ,the neglect of our troops during the ,crimean campaign afforded the artist many humorous and tragic subjects4 ,the ,government was accused1 rightly or wrongly1 of many sins of omission and commission2 amongst the rest1 of not providing the army with clothing suitable to the terrible winter which it was sure to have to pass in front of ,sebastopol4 ,and one of ,leech's most telling drawings represents two ragged soldiers shivering in the snow4 ,one tells the other that news has arrived of a medal that is to be awarded4 ,yes1 says his comrade2 but they had much better send us a coat to put it on4 ,two pictures may be noted--one by ,tenniel1 which is infinitely pathetic1 the other by ,leech1 ghastly in its contrast to the humorous side of the author's powers4 ,the first represents a fashionable lady1 whose magnificent ball-dress has just been fitted upon her by the dressmaker1 who says3 ,we would not have disappointed your ladyship at any sacrifice1 and the robe is finished ,,merveille4 ,but the sacrifice6 ,the lady turns to the looking-glass1 wherein she sees the dress1 and part of the cost of making it1 in the appalling figure of the workwoman1 whose haggard form leans back exhausted1 dully lighted by a dying lamp1 by the help of which all night long the lady has not been disappointed4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,jew ,,and ,,skeleton ,,tailors4 ,the sufferings of the workers1 through which their employers so often became rich1 touched the tender heart of ,leech1 and he never lost an opportunity of pointing out the selfish tyranny of both the men and women traders who almost ground the life out of their unhappy assistants4 ,if ,john ,leech could have entertained a prejudice against any human beings1 it must have been against the ,jewish race1 for there is scarcely an instance in which he deals with the ,jews that they do not suffer under his hand4 ,the points of their physiognomy are rather cruelly prominent sometimes1 even almost to caricature1 and they are constantly placed in ludicrous positions4 ,there can be no doubt that in some instances the tailor is no less a bloodsucker than the dressmaker1 but ,i think there are as many1 or more1 ,christian--or1 rather1 unchristian--tailors who sweat their workpeople as there are ,jewish4 ,however1 in one of ,leech's most powerful prints1 he gives the pas to the ,jew1 who watches a group of skeleton tailors as they labour in their bones for his benefit4 ,it is a gruesome drawing1 which1 once seen1 can never be forgotten4 ,leech was happily left to his own devices as regards the contributions to ,punch1 with the sole exception of the large cartoons1 the subjects of which were always settled by the whole staff at a dinner1 which took place every ,wednesday4 ,at this dinner no strangers were present4 ,this was1 and is still1 the rule4 ,exceptions1 however1 were made on one or two occasions in favour of ,charles ,dickens1 ,sir ,joseph ,paxton1 and some others4 ,it was1 of course1 open to any member to suggest a subject1 and in the early ,leech days it is said that the discussions on a proposed theme waxed fast and furious1 ,thackeray and ,douglas ,jerrold generally taking opposite sides4 ,the dinners were usually held in the front room of the first-floor of ,no4 #aa1 ,bouverie ,street--the business-place of the proprietors of the paper--and the ,bedford ,hotel1 ,covent ,garden1 was sometimes honoured by the presence of the staff4 ,during the summer months the dinners took place at ,greenwich1 ,richmond1 or ,blackwall2 and once a year there was a more comprehensive banquet1 at which compositors1 readers1 printers1 clerks1 etc41 assisted4 ,this dinner was called the ,way-goose4 ,i am speaking of long ago4 ,whether these details would apply to the present time ,i know not4 ,i never knew ,jerrold4 ,i have frequently seen him1 but always avoided an introduction2 for1 to speak the truth1 ,i was afraid of him4 ,i had heard so many stories of his making dead sets at new acquaintances as to disincline me to become one4 ,by anybody quick at repartee ,i was told he was easily silenced1 and an example was mentioned when a barmaid succeeded in stopping a torrent of chaff of which she was the victim4 ,it appears that ,jerrold went with some friends to a supper-room one night after the theatre4 ,the supper was topped up with hot grog1 which was served to the guests in large1 old-fashioned rummers4 ,there1 said the girl1 as she placed the big glass before ,jerrold1 there's your grog1 and mind you don't fall into it4 ,jerrold was a very little man1 and the hit told to the extent of dulling him for the rest of the evening4 ,at the ,wednesday dinner the whole of the contents of the forthcoming number of ,punch were discussed4 ,when the cloth was removed and dessert laid upon the table1 the first question put by the editor was3 ,what shall the cartoon be8 ,it is said of ,tenniel that he rarely suggested a subject for the cartoon1 but that the readiness with which he saw and explained the possibilities of a subject was remarkable4 ,during the ,indian ,mutiny1 ,shirley ,brooks proposed that the picture should represent the ,british ,lion in the act of springing upon the native soldiers in revenge for the cruelties at ,cawnpore4 ,tenniel rose to the occasion1 and1 as ,brooks told me1 he exclaimed1 ,by ,jove1 that will do for a double-page cut6 and a magnificent double-page drawing was made of it by him4 ,in the inevitable difference of opinion that arose on the occasion of these dinners--the chief disputants being1 as ,i have just observed1 ,thackeray and ,jerrold--,jerrold1 being the oldest as well as the noisiest1 generally came off victorious4 ,in these rows it is said to have required all the suavity of ,mark ,lemon to calm the storm1 his award always being final4 ,jerrold used to say3 ,it's no use our quarrelling1 for we must meet again and shake hands next ,wednesday4 ,the last editions of the evening papers were always brought in1 so that the cartoon might apply to the latest date4 ,on the ,thursday morning following the editor called at the houses of the artists to see what was being done4 ,on ,friday night all copy was delivered and put into type1 and at two o'clock on ,saturday proofs were revised1 the forms made up1 and with the last movement of the engine the whole of the type was placed under the press1 which could not be moved till the ,monday morning4 ,by means of the ,wednesday meetings1 the discussions arising on all questions helped both caricaturist and wit to take a broad view of things1 as well as enabled the editor to get his team to draw well together and give uniformity of tone to all the contributions4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,lawyer',s ,,story4 ,by the courtesy of the proprietors of ,punch1 ,i am allowed to reproduce in this place a delightfully humorous drawing1 the scene of which is laid in a barber's shop4 ,this picture explains itself1 but there is a circumstance connected with it which is1 ,i think1 well worth relating2 and as ,i heard it from ,leech's own lips at one of the pleasant ,egg dinners1 ,i will give it in ,leech's own words1 the strangeness of the incident having left a very vivid impression on my memory4 ,the usual company--,dickens1 ,forster1 ,lemon1 etc4--was present2 ,leech was singing4 ,we had listened for some time to the inevitable ,king ,death1 when ,dickens exclaimed3 ,there1 that will do2 if you go on any longer1 you will make me cry4 ,tell them about the lawyer who lost his client4 ,yes1 ,i know the story1 but they don't2 and ,i would much rather hear it again than listen to any more of that lugubrious song4 ,well1 here goes1 said ,leech4 ,i suppose there is no one at this table who neglects to improve his mind by the weekly study of ,punch2 at any rate1 all civilized people are familiar with the illustrations which adorn that famous periodical4 ,amongst those classical works the other day was a high-art drawing by me1 representing a gentleman in a barber's shop1 having his hair cut4 ,in the course of talk peculiar to his fraternity1 the little hairdresser remarks that his customer's hair is very thin on the top4 ,this mild observation moved the object of it1 a person of irascible temper1 into ungovernable fury4 ,he springs from his chair1 which he upsets in the action1 and flying at the terrified barber1 he exclaims1 ',confound you1 you puppy6 ,do you think ,i came here to be insulted and told of my imperfections8 ,i'll thin your top6' ,illustration3 ,i',,ll ,,thin ,,your ,,top4 ,well1 ,i don't see anything particularly facetious in the drawing1 but a friend of mine1 a lawyer in ,bedford ,row1 did1 and laughed whenever he thought of it4 ,unfortunately1 the day on which the drawing was published had been fixed for a consultation upon a matter in which an old and respected client's interests were seriously involved4 ,legal points of extreme intricacy and difficulty were to be examined and discussed2 hopes were to be encouraged1 and anxiety appeased4 ,in his information to his legal adviser1 the client had arrived at a point of extreme gravity1 when my unfortunate drawing obtruded itself upon the legal mind1 and so disturbed it as to cause the lawyer to repress a laugh with much difficulty4 ',i see you smile1' said the client4 ',surely the very serious character of the evidence which ,i put before you should strike you as convin----' ',oh1 ,i beg your pardon2 ,i was not smiling4' ',well1 you did something very like it4 ,i really must ask for your strictest attention to facts which are capable of such absolute---- ,there you go again6 ,my dear sir1 what can there be in my statement to cause a smile8 ,pray think of the gravity of the case--how deeply my interests are at stake--and give me your most serious attention4' ',i will--indeed ,i will1' said the lawyer1 mentally devoting me and my drawing to the devil4 ,for some minutes the legal gentleman succeeded in banishing the little barber and his enraged victim2 but suddenly they again ruthlessly seized upon his imagination1 and he laughed aloud4 ',good ,god6' said the client2 'what is there to laugh at in that8' ',i assure you1 sir1 ,i was not laughing at what you told me1 which is important indeed1 but at a ludicrous idea that crossed my mind4' ',what business have ludicrous ideas in your mind when you require all its attention for business which--excuse my saying so--you are well paid for listening to8' ,the consultation proceeded2 graver and graver grew the details2 when1 at a moment of extreme importance1 the barber came again upon the scene1 and the lawyer laughed loud and long4 ',it's no use2 ,i can't get rid of it1' he said to his astonished and indignant visitor4 ',there is a drawing in ,punch to-day that is so irresistibly funny that ,i can't get it out of my head1 and ,i can't help laughing whenever ,i think of it4' ',i don't believe a single word you say6' said the angry client2 'and as you persist in treating my case with such insulting levity1 ,i will go elsewhere1 and endeavour to find someone who will attend to me4 ,and as for you1 sir1 ,i will never trouble you again on this or any other matter4' ,that1 said ,leech1 is how my friend lost his client4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,love ,,of ,,field ,,sports4 ,leech had long passed his boyish days before his love for field sports showed itself in his works4 ,i recollect his saying how fruitful of subject the hunting-field1 the stubble1 and the stream would prove to the artist who was also a sportsman4 ,in his early works1 dealing as they did chiefly with the ,london life of the street or the home1 we find the horse playing an inferior part2 and it was not till he felt the importance of varying his subjects1 and of supplying the public with the sporting scenes they love so much1 that1 mounted by his friend ,adams1 he joined the ,puckeridge and became one of the field4 ,leech was a timid rider4 ,he much preferred an open gate to a thickset hedge1 and the highroad to either4 ,he must1 however1 have frequently been in full career with the field2 how otherwise could he have acquired his knowledge of the thorough sportsman's seat on horseback1 the cut of his clothes--correct even to the number of buttons--and1 above all1 display that ,heaven-gifted power of showing the horse in repose1 as well as in all the varieties of action8 ,landseer and all the animal-painters within my knowledge studied the horse from casts1 often from the ,elgin marbles1 before they attempted drawing from the living animal4 ,landseer made himself acquainted with the superficial structure by dissection2 but ,leech1 without any preparatory study whatever1 drew the hunter1 the cab-horse1 the hackney1 the rough pony1 the cob--no matter which--in absolute perfection4 ,illustration3 ,,give ,,her ,,her ,,head1 ,,jack4 ,in the autograph letters which1 through ,mr4 ,adams' kindness1 ,i am permitted to publish1 ,leech's constant charge to his friend to get him a horse suitable to a timid1 elderly gentleman1 or to give the animal some preliminary gallops himself so as to take the freshness out of him1 prove1 as ,i said before1 that ,leech was anything but a daring rider4 ,in spite of his care1 however1 he had some ugly falls1 in which1 happily1 his hat was the greatest sufferer4 ,numbers of the hunting scenes were facts1 and the persons represented were ,leech and his friend--notably one in which the artist is riding a mare afflicted with the freshness he dreaded1 which his friend observing1 shouts1 ,give her her head1 ,jack6 give her her head6 while it is pretty evident that more head will lead to the rider being swept from the saddle by the branches through which the mare is plunging4 ,barlow1 ,derbyshire1 ,july1 #aheb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,charley1 ,you will see from the above address that ,i am still rusticating4 ,i expect to be in town soon after the #abth of ,august1 and then1 after ,i have done my month's work1 ,i am your man4 ,you say when1 and1 if you are quite sure it will not distress ,mrs4 ,adams1 ,i will bring my wife with me4 ,charles ,eaton ,mrs4 ,leech's brother says he will come too4 ,i am sure nothing would please him more than to run down to ,barkway4 ,don't make yourself uncomfortable about the quantity of sport4 ,i shall be quite satisfied with what you offer me4 ,i rejoice to hear such good accounts of your wife and little ones4 ,pray give our united regards to her and them1 and believe me ever1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,illustration3 ,,oh1 ,,if ,,this ,,is ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,places ,,charley ,,spoke ,,of1 ,i ,,shall ,,go ,,back6 ,yet another fact4 ,somewhere in the ,puckeridge country there is a deep gully1 or dried-up water-course1 with precipitous sides1 with which ,leech1 one hunting-morning1 found himself face to face4 ,some of the field had crossed1 and were climbing the opposite bank4 ,leech pulled up1 and said to his friend3 ,oh1 if this is one of the places ,charley spoke of1 ,i shall go back6 ,i am able here to give the rough sketch1 now in ,mr4 ,adams' possession1 from which the drawing was taken that afterwards appeared in ,punch4 ,some years ago ,i took my exercise chiefly on horseback1 and1 after risking my neck several times from the freshness of a thoroughbred mare1 ,i thought it best to get rid of her4 ,amongst the rest of my horsey friends1 ,i thought ,leech would be likely to know of an animal that might suit me1 and ,i spoke to him on the subject4 ,leech soon succeeded1 and sent the horse for my inspection4 ,the man who brought the animal for approval assured me that a child could ride him with perfect safety4 ,i liked his looks1 and bought him4 ,my first and last ride upon my new purchase was to ,rotten ,row in the height of the season4 ,whether he was a horse of ,radical or ,socialistic principles1 or not1 ,i cannot say2 but what ,i soon discovered was a determined dislike to the aristocratic company in which he found himself2 he shied at the ladies and kicked at the gentlemen1 and finally took to what is called buck-jumping1 an amusement which would speedily have relieved him of my company if ,i had not taken advantage of a momentary cessation of his antics and safely descended from his detestable back4 ,leech soon heard of the dangers ,i had passed1 when he wrote to me as follows3 #f1 ,the ,terrace1 ,kensington1 ,sunday4 ,,my ,,dear ,,frith1 ,i was shocked last night at the ,garrick to hear from ,elmore that ,i had nearly killed you through recommending a horse which had misbehaved himself in the ,park4 ,to be sure1 ,i told you that ,i had been to look at an animal for my little girl1 and that it did not suit1 and ,i told you that it might be worth your looking at1 as ,i had heard that it was young1 sound1 and steady2 but if you ride a beast that you know nothing about in ,rotten ,row1 and if that beast has not been out for a week1 or probably a fortnight1 ,i must protest against being made answerable for the consequences4 ,i most sincerely hope1 however1 that you are not hurt or come to grief in any way4 ,believe me1 ,yours always1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,it goes without saying that so true-hearted a man as ,john ,leech1 would be--as indeed he was--a model of the domestic virtues--the best of husbands and fathers1 and a most dutiful and affectionate son4 ,in evidence of the latter1 ,i put before my readers some letters written to his parents in his maturer years1 which will amply justify what ,i say of him4 #cb1 ,brunswick ,square1 ,february #be1 #ahed4 ,,my ,,dear ,,papa1 ,i am sure you will be glad to hear that you have a little granddaughter4 ,she came into the world at a quarter-past eleven o'clock--just now--and she is1 with dear ,annie 7to me a novel phrase71 'as well as can be expected4' ,kind love to all4 ,your affectionate son ,,john4 ,tell ,polly that the flag will be hoisted6 #h1 ,st4 ,nicholas ,cliff1 ,scarboro'1 ,august #cj1 #aheh4 ,,my ,,dear ,,mamma1 ,thank you with my best love for thinking of my birthday4 ,i hope you will be able to wish me happy returns of the day for many and many a year to come4 ,the children gave your kisses very heartily1 ,i assure you4 ,you will be glad to hear1 ,i am sure1 that they were never better4 ,thank ,god they are thriving beautifully1 which is a great happiness to me4 ,i wish you could see them making dirt pies and gardens on the sands4 ,a great many people notice them--indeed1 although ,i say it1 between you and me1 ,i don't see any nicer little folks down here4 ,if either you or papa could come here for a time we would endeavour to take the best care of you4 ,i am no great hand at pen-and-inking1 as you know1 so you will excuse a very short note4 ,i thought1 however1 that you would like to know that ,i got from ,ireland safe and sound1 and always believe me1 ,my dear mamma1 ,your affectionate son1 ,,john4 #a1 ,crescent1 ,scarboro'1 ,august #bi1 #ahei4 ,,my ,,dear ,,mamma1 ,it would be a great comfort to me1 and ,i think it would be pleasant for you1 if you would come here and see us for as long as you can spare the time4 ,i want very much to go into the north1 but ,i do not like leaving ,annie quite alone with the chicks4 ,we can give you a bed in1 ,i think you will say1 a tolerably comfortable house4 ,come as soon as you can1 and stay as long as you can4 ,i think it would do you good2 only bring warm things1 as when it is cold here1 it is very cold4 ,by the way1 it is my birthday4 ,what shall ,i say8 ,well1 ,i wish you many happy returns of the day1 and believe me1 with best love from all to all1 ,your affectionate son1 ,,john4 #e1 ,pleydell ,gardens1 ,sandgate ,road1 ,folkestone1 ,august #bi1 #ahfb4 ,,my ,,dear ,,mamma1 ,many thanks for your note this morning4 ,you will be glad to know1 ,i am sure1 that it found us all very well4 ,may you be able to send me such a congratulation for many a year to come4 ,and with best love to you1 and to all at home1 believe me ever1 ,your affectionate son1 ,,john4 ,tell papa that if he would like to run down here1 we can give him a bed4 ,he would like to see a couple of little brown faces4 ,i am going away for a few days 7on ,monday1 ,i think72 so if any of you could keep ,annie with the chicks1 and keep her company while ,i am absent1 it would be very nice1 ,i think4 ,a great deal has been said--and with a certain amount of truth1 no doubt--about the difference between a drawing on wood as it leaves the hands of the artist1 and as it appears after its sufferings at the hands of the wood-engraver4 ,leech is reported to have replied to an admiring friend1 who was extolling one of his drawings3 ,ah1 wait till you see what it looks like in ,punch next week4 ,i once saw one of ,leech's drawings on the wood1 and ,i afterwards saw it in ,punch1 and ,i remember wondering at the fidelity with which it was rendered4 ,some of the lines1 finer than the finest hair1 had been cut away or thickened1 but the character1 the vigour1 and the beauty were scarcely damaged4 ,to ,mr4 ,swain1 who for many years cut all ,leech's drawings1 the artist owed and acknowledged obligation2 he thought himself fortunate in avoiding certain other wood-cutters1 who were somewhat remorseless in their operations4 ,mr4 ,swain1 the wood-engraver1 writes3 ,for twenty-five years ,i engraved nearly all ,mr4 ,leech's drawings4 ,i always found him kind1 and willing to forgive any of my shortcomings in not rendering his touches in all things4 ,my work was always against time4 ,i seldom had more time than two days to engrave one of his drawings in4 ,photographing drawings on wood was not known in his time1 or it would have been a great advantage to him2 instead of drawing on the block1 he would then have drawn on paper1 as most artists do in the present day1 and had his drawings photographed on the wood1 thus preserving the finished drawings1 which would have been of great value now2 besides1 it would have been a great help to the engraver1 always to have the original drawing to refer to in engraving the blocks4 ,he never had any models1 and rarely ever made any sketches4 ,he showed me a little note-book once with a few thumb-nail sketches of bits of background1 but he seemed never to forget anything he saw1 and could always go back in his memory for any little bit of country street he might want for background1 etc4 ,it was generally very late in the week before he could get his drawings ready1 which gave very little time to the engraver to do justice to his work4 ,his first introduction to ,punch was through ,mr4 ,percival ,leigh4 ,mr4 ,leech was a man of very nervous temperament4 ,i will give you an instance of this4 ,mr4 ,mark ,lemon told me one day that ,leech had been invited to a gentleman's house in the country for a few days' hunting4 ,he arrived there in the evening4 ,he was awakened early in the morning by a grating noise made by the gardener rolling the gravel under his window--noise he could never endure4 ,this had such an effect upon his nerves1 that he got up1 packed his things1 and was off to town before any of the family were aware of it4 ,a barrel-organ was to him an instrument of torture4 ,he had lived in ,russell ,square for many years1 but for some time before his death he took a large house--#f1 ,the ,terrace1 ,kensington4 ,i remember going to see him at his new house4 ,he took great delight in showing me over it1 and pointing out that he had had double windows put in all over the house to keep all noises out4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,inventors ,,and ,,illustrators4 ,in looking at the plethora of lovely women's faces in the ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 the spectator may fairly ask himself to realize1 if he can1 anything more exquisite2 and if he fail1 he will also fail to imagine that the charming creatures could have suffered much in their passage from the wood to the paper4 ,i have said elsewhere that ,charles ,dickens was an occasional guest at the ,punch ,wednesday dinners2 he was also an intimate friend of several of the writers1 notably of ,leech1 ,lemon1 and ,douglas ,jerrold4 ,dickens was1 of course1 one of ,thackeray's warmest admirers1 but ,i am pretty sure that the friendship between those great men could never have reached intimacy4 ,though ,leech failed in his application for the post of illustrator of the ,pickwick ,papers1 he showed himself to be at one with the great writer in the etchings and woodcuts with which he ornamented ,dickens' ,christmas books1 in conjunction with ,stanfield1 ,maclise1 ,cattermole1 and others4 ,though ,leech's etchings are inferior as works of art to his wood-drawings1 they still show the same beauty1 and perfect realization of character2 in this assertion ,i am borne out by the illustrations in the ,christmas ,carol1 and by those in the ,haunted ,man and the ,battle of ,life4 ,in my own profession ,i have observed1 almost as a rule1 that the artist who habitually invents his own subjects--in other words1 draws upon himself for original ideas--generally fails1 comparatively1 in his attempts to realize the ideas of others4 ,may ,i not say the same of many writers8 ,dickens1 for instance1 wrote of the life about him2 but if1 like ,scott1 he had attempted to revive the past1 would he have produced work worthy to rank with ,david ,copperfield8 ,scott seems to me a still more conspicuous supporter of my theory1 for he tried modern life in ,st4 ,ronan's ,well1 and produced a book incontestably inferior to ,kenilworth4 ,our historical painters have almost invariably failed in their attempts upon everyday life2 this extends even to the painters of genre4 ,witness the works of the elder ,leslie1 who painted scenes from ,shakespeare1 ,molire1 and the poets of the last century1 with a success that would have delighted the authors2 but when he sought inspiration from the life about him1 the result was far from satisfactory--conspicuous1 indeed1 in its contrast with his perfect rendering1 of ,sir ,roger de ,coverley or ,uncle ,toby1 and the alluring ,widow ,wadman4 ,but the greatest of ,english painters is the greatest help to me in the contention into which ,i venture to enter4 ,hogarth was beguiled by a spirit1 which must have been evil1 into painting huge ,scripture subjects4 ,the size of these pictures1 always of the proportion of full life1 was unsuited to his hand1 while the themes became ludicrous under his treatment4 ,he failed completely also as an illustrator1 witness his designs from ,hudibras4 ,in the ,bristol ,gallery1 and in the ,foundling ,hospital1 these specimens of perverted genius may be seen2 and no one can look at them without regret that time should have been so misspent--time which might have given us another immortal series like the ,marriage la ,mode4 ,illustration3 ,jack ,johnson's attempt to rescue ,derval4 ,i fancy ,i can hear my readers say--,and what has all this to do with ,john ,leech8 ,well1 this3 ,leech is now about to pose as the destroyer1 in his own person1 of my theory--he is1 in fact1 the exception to my rule2 for though the incidents in ,albert ,smith's ,ledbury and ,brinvilliers bear no comparison in human interest with the delightful transcripts of real life to be found in such profusion in the pictures of ,life and ,character1 ,leech's rendering of them could not be surpassed4 ,the tragic and humorous powers of the artist are fully displayed in the examples which follow4 ,in the first1 from ,ledbury1 ,jack ,johnson attempts to rescue ,derval3 the awful swirl of the river as it engulfs the drowning man1 while his would-be rescuer1 finding the stream too strong for him1 clings frantically to a ring in the stonework of the bridge1 a full moon lightning up the scene1 and throwing the ,pont ,neuf which spans the ,seine in the distance into deep shadow--all are combined with admirable skill into1 perhaps1 the most powerful etching and the most perfect illustration in the book4 ,in the second example the artist is in full sympathy with his author--,mrs4 ,de ,robinson holds a ,conversazione of ,talented ,people2 and amongst them is the foreign gentleman who executes an air upon the grand piano4 ,here we have ,leech using the scene as a peg upon which he can hang the humorous character in which he takes such hearty1 healthy delight4 ,the performer himself is scarcely a caricature of the foreign pianist2 while his audience1 not forgetting the deaf old lady in the corner--includes the affected gentleman1 whose soul is in ,elysium2 together with a variety of types1 in which lovely woman is not forgotten4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,ingoldsby ,,legends4 ,in the ,ingoldsby ,legends ,leech found a very congenial field for the exercise of his powers4 ,though ,i will not presume to prophesy respecting literary merit1 ,i venture to think that1 during the course of his practice1 ,leech's illustrations have occasionally appeared attached to literature scarcely worthy of them2 they will1 doubtless1 in some cases1 act as the salt1 which will preserve for posterity certain books of an ephemeral character4 ,this remark cannot apply to the ,ingoldsby ,legends1 which is a work that the world will not willingly let die1 until delightful wit and humour1 wedded to no less delightful verse1 cease to charm4 ,the burden of the illustrations of the ,legends falls upon the worthy shoulders of ,john ,tenniel1 and they show some of the strongest work of that admirable artist4 ,leech appears in diminished force as to numbers1 but in the examples ,i give he leaves nothing to wish for4 ,for1 only see there6 in the midst of the ,square1 ,where1 perch'd upon poles six feet high in the air1 ,sit1 chained to the stake1 some two1 three1 or four pair ,of wretches1 whose eyes1 nose1 complexion1 and hair ,their ,jewish descent but too plainly declare2 ,each clothed in a garment more frightful by far1 a ,smock-frock sort of gaberdine called a ,samarra1 ,with three times the number of devils upon it-- ,a proportion observed on the sugar-loaf bonnet2 ,with this further distinction1 of mischief a proof1 ,that every fiend-,jack stands upright on his hoof6 ,while the picture flames1 spread over body and head1 ,are three times as crooked1 and three times as red6 ,all1 too1 pointing upwards1 as much as to say1 ',here's the real bonne-bouche of the ,auto da ,f6' ,torquemada1 meanwhile1 with his cold1 cruel smile1 ,sits looking on calmly1 and watching the pile1 ,as his hooded ',familiars' 7their names1 as some tell1 come ,from their being so much more 'familiar' than 'welcome'7 ,have by this begun to be 'poking their fun1' ,and their fire-brands1 as if they were so many posies ,of lilies and roses1 up to the noses ,of ,lazarus ,levi and ,moses ,ben ,moses1 ,and similar treatment is forcing out hollow moans ,from ,aby ,ben ,lasco and ,ikey ,ben ,solomons1 ,whose beards--this a black1 that inclining to grizzle-- ,are smoking and curling1 and all in a frizzle2 ,the ,king1 at the same time1 his ,dons and his ,visitors1 ,sit1 sporting smiles1 like the ,holy ,inquisitors6 #af1 ,lansdowne ,place1 ,brighton1 ,september #c1 #ahfc4 ,,my ,,dear ,,sir1 ,i have been obliged to make the ',auto da ,f' this size1 as ,i found ,i could not possibly get the subject on to a small block4 ,you will see1 too1 that ,i have altered the appearance of the victims4 ,it occurred to me that a real human being burning alive was hardly fun1 so ,i have made them a set of ,guy ,fawkeses1 and added1 ,i hope1 to the humour while getting rid of the horror4 ,believe me1 my dear ,sir1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,,richard ,,bentley1 ,,esq4 ,in the second example we have the figure of a maid at a well1 which ,leech has given us with the charm that never fails him4 ,her astonishment at the head in the bucket might have been indicated more forcibly1 but there1 ,i fancy1 the engraver must have been to blame2 yet he gives the head of ,gengulphus with such perfection of expression and character as to make one feel that the original drawing of it could scarcely have been better4 ,a ,,lay ,,of ,,st4 ,,gengulphus4 ,but scarce had she given the windlass a twirl1 ',ere ,gengulphus's head1 from the well's bottom said1 ,in mild accents1 ',do help us out1 that's a good girl6' ,illustration ,only fancy her dread when she saw a great head ,in her bucket--with fright she was ready to drop6 ,conceive1 if you can1 how she roared and she ran1 ,with the head rolling after her1 bawling out ',stop6' ,as this memoir progresses ,i propose to submit further illustrations from some of the many serials1 novels1 tales1 poems1 etc41 with which ,leech was connected4 ,i also propose1 in the course of my narrative1 to quote opinions of ,leech's powers from men better qualified to judge of them1 and able to express their opinions in far more felicitous language than mine4 ,amongst those ,dickens takes a foremost place4 ,i think the friendship between ,leech and ,dickens began very early in the life of the former2 the nature of ,leech's work1 and the modest and gentle character of the man1 were especially attractive to ,dickens4 ,in the amateur company of actors formed by ,dickens1 ,leech was a conspicuous figure2 but his heart was not in the work1 though he entirely sympathized with the object of it1 which was of a charitable nature1 resulting in many performances--very successful in a pecuniary sense--for the benefit of poor and deserving literary men4 ,the company consisted of ,dickens1 ,mark ,lemon1 ,john ,forster1 ,g4 ,h4 ,lewis1 ,douglas ,jerrold1 ,leech1 ,egg1 ,wilkie ,collins1 ,frank ,stone1 and others1 who christened themselves ,the ,guild of ,literature and ,art4 ,the late ,lord ,lytton took great interest in the ,guild1 for which he wrote a play called ,not so ,bad as ,we ,seem2 or1 ,many ,sides to a ,character1 and to this he added a gift of land on his estate in ,hertfordshire1 where some houses of a superior cottage form were built1 in which decayed artists and authors were to end their days2 but these gentlemen declined to begin any days there under the conditions prescribed2 and when the houses were built1 tenants for them could not be found4 ,the ,guild1 therefore1 was something of a fiasco1 with the exception of the relief it afforded in several instances to worthy objects4 ,leech acted in the first play that the amateurs ventured upon1 no less than ,ben ,jonson's ,every ,man in his ,humour1 in which ,dickens played ,bobadil and ,leech ,master ,matthew4 ,this occurred about #ahdg1 ,i think1 and ,i was honoured by an invitation to the first or second performance4 ,par parenthse1 ,i may add that ,i had the honour of being asked to join the company1 but feeling that ,i could not learn a part1 or1 if ,i did get over that difficulty1 the footlights would paralyze my memory1 and also having neither face nor figure for the stage1 ,i thought it best to stick to my last4 ,though ,leech had a good part in ,every ,man1 strange to say1 ,i have no recollection of his performance2 though that of ,dickens1 ,jerrold1 ,egg1 and others remains vividly in my memory4 ,dickens gave proofs in ,bobadil1 and in many other characters1 that he might have been a great actor4 ,the same1 nor anything like it1 could not be said with truth of ,leech1 if he played his other parts no better than he did that of ,slender in the ,merry ,wives of ,windsor4 ,it is only in that character that ,i can remember him1 though ,i must have seen him in others4 ,the tone in which he said ,oh1 sweet ,anne ,page6 can ,i ever forget8 ,there was a ring of impatience in his performance1 a kind of ,oh1 ,i wish this was all over6 that was plainly perceptible to those who knew him intimately4 ,leech's tall figure and handsome face told well upon the stage1 but with those his attractions as an actor ceased4 ,in ,lord ,lytton's play ,leech had no part1 ,i think1 but my old friend ,egg played that of a poor poet1 who is discovered in a miserable attic when the curtain rises1 and the poet soliloquizes to the effect that ,years ago1 when under happier circumstances--something or other4 ,egg always begun1 ,here's a go1 when under1 etc4 ,unlike ,leech1 ,egg was fond of acting1 but1 like ,leech1 he displayed no capacity for the art4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,dickens ,,and ,,thackeray ,,on ,,leech4 ,perhaps the most striking difference between ,leech and the caricaturists who preceded him1 as well as those who were his contemporaries1 was shown in the part that beauty played in every drawing in which it could be appropriately introduced2 he may be credited with the creation of many of the loveliest creatures that ever fell from the pencil of an artist4 ,leech revelled in beauty as ,gillray and ,rowlandson revelled in ugliness4 ,in #ahda a work appeared1 in book-form1 of sketches by ,leech1 entitled ,the ,rising ,generation1 in which the rising youth1 with their mannish manners1 were satirized4 ,of this book ,dickens wrote3 ,we enter our protest against those of the rising generation who are precociously in love being made the subject of merriment by a pitiless and unsympathizing world4 ,we never saw a boy more distinctly in the right than the young gentleman kneeling in the chair to beg a lock of hair from his pretty cousin to take back to school4 ,madness is in her apron1 and ,virgil1 dog-eared and defaced1 is in her ringlets4 ,doubts may suggest themselves of the perfect disinterestedness of the other young gentleman contemplating the fair girl at the piano--doubts engendered by his worldly allusion to 'tin1' although that may have arisen in his modest consciousness of his own inability to support an establishment2 but that he should be 'deucedly inclined to go and cut that fellow out' appears to us one of the most natural emotions of the human breast4 ,the young gentleman with the dishevelled hair and clasped hands1 who loves the transcendent beauty with the bouquet and can't be happy without her1 is to us a withering and desolate spectacle4 ,who could be happy without her8 ,the growing youths are not less happily observed and depicted than the grown women4 ,the languid little creature1 who 'hasn't danced since he was quite a boy1' is perfect2 and the eagerness of the small dancer1 whom he declines to receive for a partner at the hands of the glorious old lady of the house 7the little feet quite ready for the first position1 the whole heart projected into the quadrille1 and the glance peeping timidly at the desired one out of a flutter of hope and doubt71 is quite delightful to look at4 ,the intellectual youth1 who awakens the tremendous wrath of a ,norma of private life by considering woman an inferior animal1 is lecturing at the present moment1 we understand1 on the ,concrete in connection with the ,will4 ,the legs of the young philosopher who considers ,shakespeare an overrated man were seen by us dangling over the side of an omnibus last ,tuesday4 ,we have no acquaintance with the scowling young gentleman1 who is clear that 'if his governor don't like the way he is going on1 why1 he must have chambers and so much a week2' but1 if he is not by this time in ,van ,diemen's ,land1 he will certainly go to it through ,newgate4 ,we should exceedingly dislike to have personal property in a strong-box1 to live in the quiet suburb of ,camberwell1 and to be in the relation of bachelor uncle to that youth4 ,in all his designs1 whatever ,mr4 ,leech desires to do he does4 ,his drawing seems to us charming1 and the expression1 indicated by the simplest means1 is exactly the natural expression1 and is recognised as such at once4 ,some forms of our existing life will never have a better chronicler4 ,his wit is good-natured1 and always the wit of a gentleman4 ,he has a becoming sense of responsibility and restraint2 he delights in agreeable things1 and he imparts some pleasant air of his own to things not pleasant in themselves2 he is suggestive and full of matter1 and he is always improving4 ,into the tone as well as into the execution of what he does1 he has brought a certain elegance which is altogether new1 without involving any compromise of what is true4 ,popular art in ,england has not had so rich an acquisition4 ,in the endeavour to satisfy ,dickens with the type required for the characters in his stories1 ,leech encountered the difficulty that all the author's illustrators had to master4 ,phiz made many drawings in ,dickens' presence before he could realize the author's idea of ,mr4 ,dombey2 ,cruikshank was more than once required to redraw a whole scene from ,oliver ,twist2 and ,leech has often been heard to speak of the minute details as to feature1 height1 thinness or fatness--in fact1 every physical and1 so far as it could be shown by appearance1 mental quality--that ,dickens insisted upon before he could be satisfied with the vera effigies of one of his characters4 ,the feelings of the great author1 then1 may be imagined when he found--too late for correction--a terrible error into which ,leech had fallen in the drawing of a scene from ,the ,battle of ,life1 by introducing a personage into a scene which closes the second part of the tale1 who was not intended to have been present4 ,it was in ,december1 #ahdf1 that ,the ,battle of ,life made one of the series of ,christmas stories4 ,in ,leech's unfortunate illustration1 which represented the flight of the bride1 he made the mistake of supposing that ,michael ,warden had taken part in the elopement1 and introduced his figure with that of ,marian4 ,leech's error was not discovered until too late for remedy1 the publication of the book having been delayed to the utmost limit expressly for those drawings2 and it is highly characteristic of ,dickens1 and of the true regard he had for the artist1 that1 knowing the pain he must inflict1 under the circumstances1 by complaining1 he never reproached ,leech2 excusing him1 no doubt1 on the ground of the hurry and confusion under which so much of his work was produced2 but anyone who reads the story carefully will see what havoc the mistake makes of one of the most delicate turns in it4 ,dickens wrote thus to ,forster in reference to the grievous error3 ,when ,i first saw it1 it was with a horror and agony not to be expressed4 ,of course1 ,i need not tell you1 my dear fellow1 that ,warden had no business in the elopement scene2 he was never there4 ,in the first hot sweat of this surprise and novelty1 ,i was going to implore that the printing of that sheet might be stopped1 and the figure taken out of the block2 but when ,i thought of the pain this might give to our kind-hearted ,leech1 and that what is such a monstrous enormity to me as never entered my brain1 may not so present itself to others1 ,i became more composed1 though the fact is wonderful to me4 ,no doubt a great number of copies will be printed by the time this reaches you1 and therefore ,i shall take it for granted that it stands as it is4 ,leech otherwise is very good1 and the illustrations altogether are by far the best that have been done for any of my ,christmas books4 ,it may appear presumptuous in me to differ from ,dickens in respect to the illustrations to ,the ,battle of ,life2 but1 in my opinion1 these are not to be compared favourably with those of the ,christmas ,carol4 ,with the well-known readiness of people to ferret out mistakes1 it seems strange that the illustrator's mistake was never publicly noticed4 ,the first series of ,the ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 reprinted from ,punch1 appeared in #ahed4 ,they were heartily welcomed by the public2 and it is as follows that ,thackeray1 ,leech's intimate friend1 speaks of them in the ,quarterly ,review1 in an article published at that time3 ,this book is better than plum-cake at ,christmas4 ,it is one enduring plum-cake1 which you may eat1 and which you may slice and deliver to your friends1 and to which1 having cut it1 you may come again1 and welcome1 from year's end to year's end4 ,in the frontispiece you see ,mr4 ,punch examining the pictures in his gallery--a portly1 well-dressed1 middle-aged1 respectable gentleman1 in a white neck-cloth and a polite evening costume1 smiling in a very bland and agreeable manner upon one of his pleasant drawings1 taken out of one of his handsome portfolios4 ,mr4 ,punch has very good reason to smile at the work and be satisfied with the artist4 ,mr4 ,leech1 his chief contributor1 and some hundred humorists1 with pencil and pen1 have served ,mr4 ,punch admirably4 ,there is no blinking the fact that in ,mr4 ,punch's cabinet ,john ,leech is the right-hand man4 ,fancy a number of ,punch without ,john ,leech's pictures6 ,what would you give for it8 ,the learned gentlemen who wrote the book must feel that without him it were as well left alone4 ,look at the rivals whom the popularity of ,punch has brought into the field--the direct imitators of ,mr4 ,leech's manner--the artists with a manner of their own4 ,how inferior their pencils are to his humour in depicting the public manners1 in arresting and amusing the nation6 ,the truth1 the strength1 the free vigour1 the kind humour1 the ,john ,bull pluck and spirit of that hand are approached by no competitor4 ,with what dexterity he draws a horse1 a woman1 a child6 ,he feels them all1 so to speak1 like a man4 ,what plump young beauties those are with which ,mr4 ,punch's chief contributor supplies the old gentleman's pictorial harem6 ,what famous thews and sinews ,mr4 ,punch's horses have1 and how ,briggs on the back of them scampers across the country6 ,you see youth1 strength1 enjoyment1 manliness1 in those drawings1 and in none more so1 to our thinking1 than in the hundred pictures of children which this artist loves to design4 ,like a brave1 hearty1 good-natured ,briton1 he becomes quite soft and tender with the little creatures1 pats gently their little golden heads1 and watches with unfailing pleasure their ways1 their jokes1 laughter1 caresses4 ,enfants terribles come home from ,eton1 young miss practising her first flirtation1 poor little ragged ,polly making dirt-pies in the gutter1 or staggering under the weight of her nurse-child1 who is as big as herself--all these little ones1 patrician and plebeian1 meet with kindness from this kind heart1 and are watched with curious anxiety by this amiable observer4 ,now1 anyone who looks over ,mr4 ,leech's portfolio must see that the social pictures which he gives us are authentic4 ,what comfortable little drawing-rooms and dining-rooms1 what snug libraries1 we enter6 ,what fine young gentlemanly wags they are1 those beautiful little dandies1 who wake up gouty old grandpapa to ring the bell2 who decline aunt's pudding and custards1 saying that they will reserve themselves for anchovy-toast with the claret2 who talk together behind ball-room doors1 where ,fred whispers ,charley1 pointing to a dear little partner seven years old1 ',my dear ,charley1 she has very much gone off2 you should have seen that girl last season6' ,look well at the economy of the famous ,mr4 ,briggs4 ,how snug1 quiet1 and appropriate all the appointments are6 ,what a comfortable1 neat1 clean1 middle-class house ,briggs' is 7in the ,bayswater suburb of ,london1 we should guess from the sketches of the surrounding scenery76 ,what a good stable he has1 with a loose-box for those celebrated hunters which he rides6 ,how pleasant1 clean1 and warm his breakfast-table looks6 ,what a trim maid brings in the boots that horrify ,mrs4 ,b46 ,what a snug dressing-room he has1 complete in all its appointments1 and in which he appears trying on that delightful hunting-cap which ,mrs4 ,briggs flings into the fire6 ,how cosy all the ,briggs party seem in their drawing-room1 ,briggs reading a treatise on dog-breaking by a lamp1 mamma and grannie with their respective needlework1 the children clustering round a big book of prints--a great book of prints such as this before us1 at this season1 must make thousands of children happy by as many firesides6 ,the inner life of all these people is represented4 ,leech draws them as naturally as ,teniers depicts ,dutch boors1 or ,morland pigs and stables4 ,it is your house and mine2 we are looking at everybody's family circle4 ,our boys1 coming from school1 give themselves such airs1 the young scapegraces6 ,our girls1 going to parties1 are so tricked out by fond mammas--a social history of ,london in the middle of the nineteenth century4 ,as such future students--lucky they to have a book so pleasant6--will regard these pages2 even the mutations of fashion they may follow here1 if they be so inclined4 ,mr4 ,leech has as fine an eye for tailory and millinery as for horseflesh4 ,how they change1 these cloaks and bonnets6 ,how we have to pay milliners' bills from year to year6 ,where are those prodigious chatelaines of #ahej1 which no lady could be without8 ,where are those charming waistcoats1 those stunning waistcoats1 which our young girls used to wear a few seasons back1 and which caused ',gus1 in the sweet little sketch of ',la ,mode1' to ask ,ellen for her tailor's address8 ',gus is a young warrior by this time1 very likely facing the enemy at ,inkerman2 and pretty ,ellen1 and that love of a sister of hers1 are married and happy1 let us hope1 superintending one of those delightful nursery scenes which our artist depicts with such tender humour4 ,fortunate artist1 indeed6 ,you see he must have been bred at a good public school1 and that he has ridden many a good horse in his day2 paid1 no doubt out of his own pocket1 for the originals of those lovely caps and bonnets2 and watched paternally the ways1 smiles1 frolics1 and slumbers of his favourite little people4 ,as you look at the drawings1 secrets come out of them--private jokes1 as it were1 imparted to you by the author for your special delectation4 ,how remarkably1 for instance1 has ,mr4 ,leech observed the hairdressers of the present age6 ,mr4 ,tongs1 whom that hideous old bald woman who ties on her bonnet at the glass informs that 'she has used the whole bottle of ,balm of ,california1 but her hair comes off yet'--you can see the bears' grease not only on ,tongs' head1 but on his hands1 which he is clapping clammily together4 ,remark him who is telling his client 'there is cholera in the hair1' and that lucky rogue whom that young lady bids to cut off a long thick piece--for somebody1 doubtless4 ,all these men are different and delightfully natural and absurd4 ,why should hairdressing be an absurd profession8 ,the amateur will remark what an excellent part hands play in ,mr4 ,leech's pieces2 his admirable actors use them with perfect naturalness4 ,look at ,betty putting down the urn2 at cook laying her hands upon the kitchen-table1 whilst the policeman grumbles at the cold meat4 ,they are cooks' and housemaids' hands without mistake1 and not without a certain beauty1 too4 ,that bald old lady tying on her bonnet at ,tongs' has hands which you see are trembling4 ,watch the fingers of the two old harridans who are talking scandal2 for what long years they have pointed out holes in their neighbours' dresses and mud on their flounces6 ',here's a go6 ,i've lost my diamond ring6' ,as the dustman utters this pathetic cry and looks at his hands1 you burst out laughing4 ,these are among the little points of humour4 ,one could indicate hundreds of such as one turns over the pleasant pages4 ,there is a little snob1 or gent1 whom we all of us know1 who wears little tufts on his little chin1 outrageous pins and pantaloons1 smokes cigars on tobacconists' counters1 sucks his cane in the streets1 struts about with ,mrs4 ,snob and the baby 7the latter an immense woman1 whom ,snob nevertheless bullies71 who is a favourite abomination of ,leech1 and pursued by that savage humourist into a thousand of his haunts4 ,there he is choosing at the tailor's--such waistcoats6 ,yonder he is giving a shilling to the sweeper who calls him ',capting4' ,now he is offering a paletot to a huge giant who is going out in the rain4 ,they don't know their own pictures very likely2 if they did1 they would have a meeting1 and thirty or forty of them would be deputed to thrash ,mr4 ,leech4 ,one feels a pity for the poor little bucks4 ,just one word to the unwary specially to note the backgrounds of landscapes in ,leech's drawings--homely drawings of moor and wood and sea-shore and ,london street--the scenes of his little dramas4 ,they are as excellently true to nature as the actors themselves4 ,our respect for the genius and humour which invented both increases as we look and look again at the designs4 ,may we have more of them--more pleasant ,christmas volumes over which we and our children may laugh together6 ,can we have too much of truth and fun and beauty and kindness8 ,in this delightfully appreciative spirit wrote ,thackeray--a man of profounder genius than ,leech--of his friend's work4 ,it is said that when he was asked to name the most intimate and dearest friend of his life1 ,thackeray replied1 ,john ,leech4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,dean ,,hole4 ,in #aheh a second series of ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 and later a third1 were presented to a delighted public4 ,the history of the immortal ,briggs1 collected from ,punch's pages1 was also published in separate form4 ,in this year ,leech made the acquaintance of the ,rev4 ,s4 ,reynolds ,hole1 now ,dean of ,rochester1 a kindred spirit1 whose admiration of the artist's work had long created a burning desire for his personal acquaintance4 ,it was upon ,easter ,monday that the first meeting took place1 and thus ,mr4 ,hole describes very correctly ,leech's appearance3 ,well1 he was very like my idea of him1 only 'more so4' ,a slim1 elegant figure1 over six feet in height1 with a grand head1 on which nature had written 'gentleman'--with wonderful genius in his ample forehead2 wonderful penetration1 observation1 humour1 in his blue-gray ,irish eyes2 and wonderful sweetness1 sympathy and mirth about his lips1 which seemed to speak in silence4 ,these words bring my old friend again before me1 but ,i think ,mr4 ,hole fails to notice the slight shadow of melancholy that was never long absent from his handsome face4 ,mr4 ,hole says that1 vividly as the first interview comes back to him1 he can recall but little of the conversation4 ,it appears ,leech had been out with the hounds on this special ,monday1 in company with his friend ,adams1 in the ,belvoir country1 where his presence soon became known to the field2 and ,leech as speedily discovered1 by the whisperings among the sportsmen1 that he was expected to perform acts of horsemanship which would throw those of ,herne the ,hunter into insignificance4 ,he being the quietest and most retiring of riders1 much as he loved the sport1 and never going over a fence if he could find a gap or a gate1 it seemed1 nevertheless1 to be the general impression and belief of the yeomen who followed his ,grace of ,rutland's hounds that when a fox was found the celebrated ,mr4 ,leech would utter a wild ,irish yell1 clench his teeth1 put both spurs into his steed1 and bound over the country like a mad buck4 ,his complete inaptitude for these gymnastics1 and the consequent disgust and disappointment of the agricultural interest when he made early deviation from the chase in favour of the ,king's highway1 seemed to please him vastly4 ,mr4 ,hole also speaks enthusiastically of his first meeting ,thackeray at a dinner at ,leech's1 when he and ,thackeray stood up together1 like ,thornhill and ,olivia in the ,vicar of ,wakefield1 to see which was the taller4 ,mr4 ,hole won the day by proving himself to be two inches longer than ,thackeray1 who was six feet two1 the longer gentleman being six feet four4 ,the story of ,thackeray and a very tall friend going to see a giant1 and being asked by the man at the door of the exhibition if they were in the business1 ,i have heard told differently4 ,my friend ,alfred ,elmore1 ,r4,a41 who was intimate with ,thackeray1 in speaking of that great writer's personal appearance 7which1 never prepossessing1 had been injured by a broken nose acquired in the same way as that misfortune happened to ,michael ,angelo71 told me that he--,thackeray--was passing by an exhibition of a giant1 when the humour took him to ask the man at the door if he was in want of a giant4 ,well1 said the man1 yes1 we do2 but not such a d----d ugly one as you4 ,john ,leech's consideration for others1 says ,mr4 ,hole1 was patent wherever he went2 but his anxiety for his friends and their enjoyment and amusement in his own house was a very winsome sight to see4444 ,far too much of a gentleman to be a gourmand1 though he was wont to say he deserved a good dinner when he had done a hard day's work1 and that1 as a matter of economy1 he was reluctantly compelled to eat and drink of the best lest he should injure his manipulation1 he seemed to think1 nevertheless1 that his guests were bound to be greedy1 and that it was his duty to provide the material4 ,i remember that on one occasion the strawberries were so large that he put the largest on a plate and handed it to a servant1 with a request that it might be carved on the sideboard4 ,mr4 ,hole gives a charming picture of ,leech and himself in the sunny glades of ,sherwood ,forest4 ,after lamenting that the country might be dull to the artist with only his friend's company to amuse him1 and expressing his anxiety on the subject1 he says3 ,i soon saw that my anxiety was foolish4 ,it was evidently1 as he said1 a grand enjoyment to him simply to sit under a tree and rest2 to hear the throstle instead of the hurdy-gurdy2 to see the sun instead of the smoke4444 ,he could only sigh his admiration4 ,presently he opened his pocket sketch-book1 and put a point to his pencil2 but he turned from one bit of loveliness to another as he sauntered on1 and soon closed his book in a kind of profound but calm resignation4 ',much too beautiful for work1' he said2 ',i can do no work to-day4' ,so we sat among the bracken1 and drank that delicious air4444 ,mr4 ,hole was1 and perhaps still is1 a great rose-grower2 and the day after the forest walk he gave a garden-party in honour of ,leech and the roses4 ,the roses1 it appears1 were not only brilliant in their summer glory on their native trees1 but also glorious indeed on the faces of the young ladies who fluttered about ,leech1 with evident expectation of having their portraits taken1 for the future admiration of the world4 ,all this was delightful to ,leech1 but not to one young man of sullen temperament1 who1 after watching the idol of his heart 'making up1' as he called it1 to ,leech with her fascinations1 retired to a shrubbery to smoke1 and murmured a desire to 'punch that fellow's head4'444 ,i can well imagine the pleasure of ,leech in all his kind friends' care to gratify him2 and ,i can also imagine the perplexity and annoyance with which he listened to the lady--let us hope she was neither pretty nor young--who made him a speech in which she ended by telling him he was the delight of the nation4 ,it was in the evening of the day of the rose-show that ,leech proposed a visit to ,ireland for a fortnight's holiday1 begging his friend to go with him4 ,to this ,mr4 ,hole consented1 little dreaming that on the following morning1 just as he was leaving1 ,leech would say to him1 ,you must write your impressions1 and ,i will illustrate4 ,mr4 ,hole's modesty took alarm1 but with no reason1 as the ,impressions subsequently proved4 ,the result of this trip was the publication1 in #ahei1 of a volume entitled1 ,a ,little ,tour in ,ireland2 being a visit to ,dublin1 ,limerick1 ,killarney1 ,cork1 etc41 by an ,oxonian4 ,the ,oxonian was1 of course1 ,mr4 ,hole2 and the illustrations showed ,leech in his happiest vein4 ,these were in the form of coloured folding-plates and numerous woodcuts4 ,the travellers did a great deal in the fortnight4 ,they saw ,dublin1 ,galway1 the wild grandeur of ,connemara1 the scenery of the ,shannon from ,athlone to ,limerick1 the gentle loveliness of ,killarney1 the miniature prettiness of ,glengariff1 and that 'beautiful city called ,cork4' 444 ,ah me1 how happy we were6 ,looking from the steamer at the calm phosphorescent waves 7so thankful they were calm1 for we were miserable mariners1 though ,leech had represented himself in a letter as revelling in stormy seas71 or gliding along the rails1 or riding in cars1 or rowing in boats2 listening to quaint carmen1 oarsmen1 and guides2 talking and laughing in genial converse with each other1 or silent in the serene fruition of the exquisite scenery around4444 ,mr4 ,hole had ample opportunity for seeing ,leech's method of making notes from nature4 ,it was not sketching from nature in the true sense of the phrase1 but simply memoranda1 in a kind of shorthand1 which was afterwards elaborated into backgrounds1 which are as true to nature as the figures they relieve and foil4 ,the same with faces that attracted the artist from their peculiarities of character or expression2 a few touches were sufficient as guides for the finished heads and figures4 ,i have some examples in a sketch-book in my possession4 ,nothing1 says ,mr4 ,hole1 escaped him that was in any way absurd1 abnormal1 incongruous1 or in any way ridiculous2 and a touch of his elbow or a turn of his thumb drew my attention continually to something amusing in the aspect or the remarks of those about us at the table d'hte1 or the steamer1 or public car1 which else1 in my obtuseness1 ,i had never relished4444 ,it was always his rule1 however pressed for time1 surrounded with engagements1 or enticed by pleasures1 never to 'scamp' his work4 ,sometimes his rapidity of execution was marvellous1 but there was never haste4 ,i have known him to send off from my own house three finished drawings on the wood1 designed1 traced1 and rectified1 without much effort1 as it seemed1 between breakfast and dinner4 ,how ,i wish that the world could have seen those blocks6 ,they were entrusted1 no doubt1 to the most skilful gravers of the day1 but the exquisite fineness1 clearness1 the faultless grace and harmony of the drawing1 could not be reproduced4 ,if the position of an eyelash was altered1 or the curve of a lip was changed1 there might be an ample remainder to convey the intention and to win the admiration of those who never knew their loss1 but the perfection of the original was gone4 ,again and again ,i have heard him sigh as he looked over the new number of ,punch2 and as ,i1 seeing nothing but excellence1 would ask an explanation1 he would point to some almost imperceptible obliquity which vexed his gentle soul4 ,mr4 ,hole continued to be the intimate friend of ,leech during the latter part of a life that was indeed too short for friendship1 not for fame2 and he speaks of the many eminent men whom he met at ,leech's house1 with the gratification that might be expected from one who was fully able to share in the flow of soul that distinguished those meetings4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,types4 ,during one of the sittings which ,dickens gave me when ,i painted his portrait1 ,i asked him if1 when he drew the character of ,pecksniff1 any of his inspiration had arisen from a knowledge of the character1 and even personal appearance1 of an individual known to both of us1 whose name ,i mentioned4 ,why1 yes1 was the reply2 ,i had him in my eye4 ,in like manner1 ,i think1 in his most favourite type of beauty1 ,leech was thinking of his wife1 who was in all respects a charming woman4 ,she permeates a little to the destruction of variety of character many of the lovely figures in ,punch1 where now and again may be found an excellent likeness of ,mrs4 ,leech4 ,that she was a striking person is evident from the fact that she struck ,leech to the heart as he met her in the street2 so hard was the blow1 that the artist forgot his errand1 and followed the enslaver to her own door4 ,inquiries were set on foot2 an introduction followed2 he came1 he saw1 conquered1 and was married in #ahdc to ,miss ,eaton1 who made the best of wives and mothers4 ,it goes without saying that ,leech was a worshipper of female beauty in all its bewitching variety4 ,i remember watching with him the riders in ,rotten ,row1 and after some startlingly lovely creatures had passed us1 he said3 ,ah1 my ,frith1 don't you wish you were a ,turk1 and able to marry all that little lot8 ,only two of ,leech's children lived to maturity1 and both survived him4 ,his son1 ,john ,charles ,warrington ,leech--a fine boy1 whom ,i well remember--was the darling of his father's heart1 and the boy returned his love with all the fervour of his loving nature4 ,if ,leech had lived to learn that his son was accidentally drowned by the capsizing of a boat at ,south ,adelaide--a deplorable event that took place in #ahgf--the intelligence would have broken his heart4 ,this affliction was mercifully averted from him1 as also was the death of his daughter1 which occurred a few years ago1 soon after she became a happy mother4 ,leech's working coat was made of black velvet1 something in shape like a shooting-coat2 ,leech the younger1 at the age of five1 was allowed to dress exactly like his father2 and he might have been seen on most mornings1 palette in hand1 standing before a little easel1 working away at copies of the engravings in the ,illustrated ,london ,news1 which he coloured literally with all the colours of the rainbow1 whilst the father sat by with block and pencil4 ,the young gentleman not only inherited his father's love of art1 but also some of his humour2 for he informed a new servant1 who appeared for the first time in the nursery1 that his papa said that he was one of those children that can only be managed by kindness--,so please go and get me some sponge-cake and an orange4 ,this served ,leech for an excellent cut in ,punch4 ,mr4 ,hole gives another instance of ,master ,leech's ,leech-like cleverness4 ,he says3 ,my wife's maid had paid a long visit to the nursery for a chat with his lady-in-waiting1 and when he began some display of disobedience1 she said3 ',really1 ,master ,leech1 if you won't be good1 ,i must tell your mamma4' ',and ,i shall tell her1' he rejoined1 'if you do1 what a time you've been idling here4' ,i may add in this place an anecdote sent to me by an intimate lady friend of ,leech's1 who1 after speaking of his devotion to his wife and children1 tells me that she was taking luncheon with him one day at his house in ,brunswick ,square4 ,his two children dined at the same time4 ,leech said with a very grave voice3 ',now1 children1 say your grace4' ,both children began to say it together as fast as they could4 ,leech said when they had finished3 ',well run--,ada first1 ,bougie a good second4' ,mrs4 ,hall1 a daughter of ,mr4 ,adams--the ,chattie of ,leech's letters--supplies me with an example1 one out of many instances of great kindness to her as a child1 which ,i present to my readers3 ,i was about eight years old1 says ,mrs4 ,hall1 and on one rough morning during my stay with him at ,broadstairs ,i was sent in charge of a maid to play upon the beach4 ,the wind carried away my bonnet4 ,regardless of danger1 ,i rushed into the sea after it1 and after many struggles ,i recovered it1 but was horrified to find that a crowd had collected round me4 ,i was taken home dripping1 and feeling very guilty4 ,you can imagine the relief it was to find my dear friend ready to comfort and not to scold2 and ,i have a happy recollection of being snugly tucked up on his knee for some hours after the event1 while he continued his drawing4 ,the publication of my desire for information respecting ,john ,leech's youthful days has put into my possession one of his earliest drawings2 for this ,i am indebted to one of his ,charterhouse schoolfellows1 a very young old gentleman indeed4 ,mr4 ,charles ,maitland ,tate's name may be found in the first division of the fourth form in the list of scholars of #ahbh4 ,mr4 ,maitland's first acquaintance with little ,johnny ,leech began at ,brighton in #ahbc1 where he found our embryo six-year-old artist learning equestrian accomplishments1 with the help of a small pony and the instruction of an old retired jockey1 who was one of the stable servants of ,george ,,iv4 at the ,pavilion4 ,leech was a gentle1 dear little fellow1 says ,mr4 ,maitland4 ,i accompanied him on several of his pony excursions1 and the more ,i saw of him1 the better ,i liked him4 ,leech was entered at ,charterhouse in #ahbd1 ,maitland a year or two afterwards1 having grown into a strapping boy of eleven4 ,mr4 ,maitland's father was a ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's1 able1 no doubt1 from his position to procure a presentation--as he did from ,lord ,grey--for his son1 who entered as a ,gown boy1 thus taking1 and maintaining1 a higher position in the school than ,leech ever succeeded in reaching4 ,young ,maitland had been a few days in the ,charterhouse1 when he was accosted by a small boy1 who was obliged to tell his name before his early friend could recognise him4 ,boy-like1 ,maitland immediately took young ,leech under his protection1 and threatened dire consequences to anyone who bullied or ill-treated him4 ,the protector's prowess1 however1 was not wanted1 for ,leech never made an enemy then or afterwards4 ,amongst the scholars was one named ,douglas1 whose powers of sketching in caricature were very remarkable4 ,of this ,i convinced myself by a book of drawings in the possession of ,mr4 ,maitland4 ,douglas's talent made him very attractive to ,leech1 and the boys became great friends4 ,leech copied several of his friend's drawings1 says ,mr4 ,maitland2 but1 as might have been expected1 he soon abandoned copying and took to original work1 a specimen of which ,i give below1 as perhaps the earliest known drawing by ,leech4,a ,if1 before ,i had written the first portion of this book1 ,i had known ,mr4 ,maitland's story1 ,i should have introduced it earlier2 for this and other shortcomings and irregularities1 ,i hope to be forgiven on the ground of my inexperience and ignorance of the laws of literary composition4 ,with this apology ,i proceed to make more mistakes1 but mistakes only in the order in which the truth should be told4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,leech ,,and ,,his ,,predecessors4 ,john ,leech may be truly said to be sui generis2 there has been nothing like him before his time1 or since his bright and short career ended4 ,it would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast than that existing between the works of ,leech and those of his predecessors1 at the head and front of whom must be placed ,hogarth1 who stands longo intervallo above any of his successors4 ,in his terrible lashing of the vices and follies of his own time--vices and follies that are common to all time--,hogarth sometimes1 though rarely1 indulged in an exaggeration of character amounting to caricature4 ,leech dealt with the life about him in a totally different spirit2 his was a lighter1 a more genial1 and a kinder hand4 ,unlike ,hogarth1 he made us laugh at the follies of our fellow-creatures1 and would have nothing to do with their vices1 though he has shown us in many examples how keen was his sympathy with the poor and the oppressed1 and how intense was his hatred of the oppressor4 ,the name of caricaturist is as inappropriate to ,leech as it is to ,hogarth1 though instances may be found1 as in ,hogarth1 of occasional indulgence in exaggeration4 ,these examples are mostly to be found in the illustration of books which in themselves somewhat outrage the modesty of nature4 ,hogarth's pictures are often disfigured by a coarseness closely bordering on indecency2 instances may1 indeed1 be found where the great artist has passed the border with revolting audacity4 ,in the thousands of drawings by ,leech1 instead of the double entendre1 we have some delightful trait of child-life2 instead of the adulterous husband1 we have paterfamilias living a healthy1 happy life among his children1 only amused at his schoolboy son's tricks played upon his sisters4 ,consideration should1 no doubt1 be shown to ,hogarth and his immediate successors in respect of the coarseness of the time in which they lived2 certainly the works of ,bunbury1 ,woodward1 ,rowlandson and ,gillray require all the excuses that can be made for them4 ,compared to the two latter-named artists1 the two former may be said to be harmless4 ,in the hands of all four1 however1 caricature reigned triumphant4 ,rowlandson had less excuse for the constant displays of vulgarity and ugliness that abound in his works1 than the other designers1 who were destitute of any sense of beauty4 ,it was not so with ,rowlandson4 ,i have seen early drawings by him full of the charm of beauty in women3 refined1 and graceful4 ,this power1 which one would have thought was a part of the man's nature1 vanished altogether as he advanced in life2 swamped in the whirl of dissipation in which he lived1 his originally better nature became utterly vulgarized by his surroundings4 ,that ,rowlandson had a certain very coarse humour1 a facility in grouping masses of figures in large compositions1 and a power of inventing faces and figures for which he had no authority in nature1 cannot be denied2 but there is always an intense vulgarity1 in which the man seems to revel with as intense a pleasure4 ,gillray altogether differed from ,rowlandson1 both in his subjects and in the way he treated them4 ,in politics he was a savage partisan1 lashing his opponents with merciless fury and cruel personality4 ,gillray was in art what ,churchill was in literature4 ,he had a grim humour all his own2 witness his constant attacks upon ,bonaparte1 then1 and always1 the bte noire of this country4 ,there are many examples in which the ,corsican tyrant is made ridiculous1 ferocious1 or cowardly1 according to the events of the time and the humour of the artist4 ,in a parody of ,belshazzar's feast1 ,bonaparte1 as ,belshazzar1 has caught sight of the writing on the wall2 he looks with extended arms and an expression of cowardly horror at the warning4 ,by his side sits the ,empress1 an outrage upon the fattest of fat women1 ill-drawn and vulgar in the extreme4 ,a man with a face hideous beyond the dreams of ugliness 7caricature in excelsis7 is devouring the ,tower of ,london1 which figures as a plat in the banquet2 the rest of the guests round the monarch's table1 vying with the dreadful gourmand in repulsiveness1 are one and all caricatured out of nature4 ,the meats provided for this singular entertainment consist of what may be called ,english fare1 the pice de rsistance in front of ,bonaparte1 which he will presently demolish1 being the ,bank of ,england2 and that indigestible dish is flanked by ,st4 ,james's ,palace4 ,then we have the head of ,pitt1 which is labelled ,the ,roast ,beef of ,old ,england1 and served up appetizingly on a trencher1 etc4 ,behind the ,emperor stand his guards with huge uplifted sabres1 from which blood is dripping1 while behind the dropsical ,empress stand her ladies-in-waiting1 three female ghouls of wondrous hideousness1 in dresses so dcolett as to shock persons less nice than ,mrs4 ,grundy4 ,in another example the great ,corsican is represented as ,teddy ,doll1 the great ,french ,gingerbread ,baker1 drawing out a new ,batch of ,kings1 while his man1 ,talleyrand1 is making up the dough for others4 ,bonaparte is pictured in uniform1 with boots and spurs1 and a huge cocked-hat with an impossible feather1 drawing out a batch of newly-made kings--,bavaria1 ,wrtemburg1 and ,baden--from an enormous oven1 labelled ,new ,french ,oven for ,imperial ,gingerbread4 ,beneath the oven-door is what is called an ash-hole for broken gingerbread4 ,amongst the dbris which has been swept into the ash-hole by a broom labelled ,corsican ,besom of ,destruction1 ,spain1 a crowned death's head1 is prominent2 together with ,austria1 ,holland1 ,switzerland1 ,venice1 etc41 all in wild destruction blent4 ,in the background ,hanover is being destroyed by the ,prussian ,eagle1 as ,talleyrand is busy kneading up the dough to be presently passed from the ,political ,kneading-,trough1 to reappear in the shape of gingerbread kings of ,poland1 ,turkey1 and ,hungary1 after the manipulation of the ,king-maker and a visit to the ,french oven4 ,there is much grim humour in this piece1 and humour as well as a deeper meaning in the parody of ,belshazzar's ,feast2 but1 turning from such work and the thoughts that arise from it to that of ,leech is like turning from a slaughter-house to a flower-garden1 from ugliness to beauty4 ,from the time of ,gillray to that of ,leech1 there is little to be said of the caricaturists1 with one splendid exception1 ,immortal ,george4 ,i do not agree with those who place ,cruikshank above ,leech4 ,cruikshank was essentially a caricaturist2 ,leech was not4 ,comparisons1 as ,mrs4 ,malaprop says1 are odorous1 but we are sometimes forced into them2 and1 while admitting that there were certain paths--heights1 perhaps--which ,cruikshank ascended with honour1 and on which ,leech could not have found foothold1 there was a highroad1 bordered by beautiful things1 on which he would have easily distanced his formidable rival4 ,in my young days the political drawings of ,h4 ,b41 the father of ,richard ,doyle1 were much esteemed and in great request4 ,they dealt solely with the political events of the hour1 and1 though feebly drawn and ineffective as works of art1 the designer managed to produce unmistakable likenesses of ,sir ,robert ,peel1 the ,duke of ,wellington1 et hoc genus1 with remarkable certainty1 and always without a trace of caricature4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,kenny ,,meadows4 ,the reader has only to look at the early numbers of ,punch to see how inferior were the drawings compared to ,leech's work1 or to that of the excellent artists now at work on ,punch4 ,kenny ,meadows was perhaps the best2 indeed1 he was a fellow of excellent fancy1 quaintly humorous at times--seen1 ,i think1 at his best in his ,shakespeare illustrations2 which1 in spite of some extravagance1 are full of character1 and1 as in the ,midsummer ,night's ,dream1 almost poetical in their realization of the scenes of that immortal play4 ,but ,kenny was a sad ,bohemian1 a jovial soul1 loving company and the refreshments that attend it1 in which he indulged in happy forgetfulness till all but he departed4 ,in illustration of ,kenny's habits1 ,i introduce a little story told to me by himself4 ,long years ago ,mr4 ,carter ,hall edited a book of ,british ballads1 and engaged a number of artists to illustrate them2 ,kenny ,meadows amongst the rest4 ,i also had the honour of supplying a contribution4 ,when the drawings were finished1 we were invited one evening to the ,rosery--as ,mr4 ,hall called his ,brompton cottage--to submit our work for his criticism1 and approval or condemnation1 as the case might be4 ,our refreshment was coffee and biscuits1 a repast very unsatisfactory to all of us1 more or less--to ,meadows especially4 ,kenny bore his disappointment very well till we left the ,rosery--this we did at the earliest moment consistent with good manners--when he said1 after criticising our entertainment in strong language3 ,there is a house close by where we can get supper4 ,what do you fellows say8 ,we all said that was the place for us4 ,under ,meadows' guidance1 we found an inn and an excellent supper1 and about midnight1 when the fun was getting fast and furious1 ,i left2 ,meadows remaining with two or three other choice spirits--how long ,i only knew when ,i met him a few days afterwards4 ,the time of his return home may be guessed by what follows4 ,day was breaking as ,meadows stealthily entered his bedroom1 almost praying that ,mrs4 ,meadows might be asleep2 but that lady awoke1 and1 catching sight of her husband1 said3 ,you are very late1 ,meadows4 ,oh no1 said ,meadows1 ,i am not2 it's quite early4 7,so it was1 you know1 said the ,bohemian to me1 as he told me of his reception47 ,early6 exclaimed the wife4 ,why1 what o'clock is it8 ,oh1 about one1 or a little after1 said ,kenny4 ,unluckily1 at that moment the peculiar but unmistakable cry of the milkman was heard--and that pretty well settled the time1 you know1 ,frith4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,comic ,,history ,,of ,,rome4 ,the extreme difficulty--in some instances the impossibility--of procuring copies of some of the books illustrated by ,leech makes exact chronological sequence impossible in any attempt to describe the career of the artist4 ,i hope to be pardoned1 therefore1 for the irregularity of my dates4 ,in #aheb a ,comic ,history of ,rome appeared1 written by ,gilbert ,beckett1 with ten coloured etchings and numerous woodcuts by ,leech4 ,rome fares pretty much the same as ,england at the hands of both writer and illustrator4 ,in ,mr4 ,beckett's part of the work the history of ,rome becomes a very comic history indeed1 and ,leech1 of course1 enters into the spirit of the fun with all his exuberance of fancy and irresistible humour4 ,visitors to the ,national ,gallery1 should they be curious to see the difference of treatment of the same subject by different minds1 can be gratified by comparing ,rubens' ,rape of the ,sabines with ,leech's rendering of that famous historical event4 ,in one particular the illustration of the scene is identical in both pictures4 ,rubens dresses the ladies in the costume peculiar to his own time2 ,leech in the time of ,queen ,victoria4 ,in the great ,fleming's work the principal victim of the ,roman youth is the wife of the painter1 in the dress of ,rubens' day2 in ,leech's drawing1 strange to say1 we have an excellent likeness of ,mrs4 ,leech1 as she sits complacently on the shoulders of a ,roman youth4 ,rubens1 however1 pays more attention to truth in the habiliments of his ravishers1 for if they1 in all probability1 did not much resemble ,roman soldiers in their habits as they lived1 they present a tolerable resemblance to the ancient ,roman as we know him4 ,whereas ,leech--while preserving something like the form of the upper part of the ,roman costume--cannot be said to be correct when he puts ,hessian boots upon one man1 hunting-tops upon another1 and consigns the nether portion of a third to the military trousers1 boots and spurs of the modern ,life-,guardsman4 ,nobody1 ,i think1 will believe that umbrellas were known to the ,romans1 as ,leech would have us to understand1 by putting one as a weapon into the hands of the stout1 very modern woman belabouring the ,roman who is carrying off her daughter4 ,in explanation of the following cut1 ,i may remind readers of ,roman history that ,romulus sent cards of invitation to attend certain games to the ,latins and ,sabines1 with their wives and daughters4 ,the weather being propitious1 says ,mr4 ,beckett1 all the ,sabine beauty and fashion were attracted to the place1 and the games1 consisting of horse-racing1 gave to the scene all the animation of ,ascot on a ,cup-day4 ,suddenly1 at a preconcerted signal1 there was a general elopement of the ,roman youth with the ,sabine ladies1 who were in the most ungallant manner abandoned to their fate by the ,sabine gentlemen4 ,it is true the latter were taken by surprise1 but they certainly made the best of their way home before they thought of avenging the wrong and insult that had been committed4 ,had they been all married ladies who were carried off1 the cynic might have suggested that the ,sabine husbands would not have objected to a cheap mode of divorce2 but--to make use of an ,irishism--there was only one single woman who happened to be a wife in the whole of that goodly company4 ,illustration ,an ,etruscan ruler named ,porsenna had a difficulty with ,rome4 ,he speedily besieged that city1 frightening the people in the suburbs out of their wits and into the city1 where he never enjoyed a moment's peace till peace was concluded4 ,presently a treaty of peace was negotiated1 greatly to the advantage of ,porsenna2 for not only was ,rome compelled to restore the territory taken from the ,veii1 but the victor also claimed hostages1 among whom were sundry young ladies of the principal ,roman families4 ,one of these was named ,cllia1 who1 with other maidens1 having resolved on a bold plunge for their liberty1 jumped into the ,tiber's bed1 and swam like a party of ducks to the other side of the river4 ,this delightful drawing reminds one of many a seaside sketch in ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 leaving us wondering how a few pencil-lines can call up such visions of beauty4 ,everyone knows of the tradition of ,rome's being saved from the ,gauls by the cackling of geese1 and my readers are here presented with ,leech's historical picture of the event4 ,illustration ,the ,gauls1 says ,mr4 ,beckett1 crept up1 one by one1 to the top of the rock1 which was the summit of their wishes4 ,just as they had effected their object1 a wakeful goose commenced a vehement cackle1 and the solo of one old bird was soon followed by a chorus from a score of others4 ,marcus ,manlius1 who resided near the poultry1 was so alarmed at the sound that he instantly jumped out of his skin--for in those days a sheep-skin was the usual bedding--and ran to the spot1 where he caught hold of the first ,gaul he came to1 and1 giving him a smart push1 the whole pack behind fell like so many cards to the bottom4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,personal ,,anecdotes4 ,the late ,frederick ,tayler1 whose water-colour drawings are familiar to all lovers of art1 was a guest for some days at the mansion of the ,duke of ,athole--an elderly gentleman thirty years ago1 but how nearly connected with the present ,duke ,i am unable to say4 ,according to ,tayler1 the old ,duke was a very eccentric person2 one of his whims being an insistence upon all the male guests at his castle wearing the ,scottish national dress4 ,on my friend's pleading that he could not wear a costume that he didn't possess1 he was supplied with the kilt and the rest of it1 from a store kept for unprovided visitors--and1 said ,tayler1 ,i was immediately compelled to ride about eighteen miles in a condition of discomfort that may be imagined4 ,another little peculiarity was scarcely less distressing1 for dinner was never served till near midnight4 ,hungry guests were kept waiting till1 folding-doors being thrown open1 the major-domo appeared1 holding a wand1 and in solemn tones announced ,his ,grace6 ,in #ahej this remarkable ,duke took it into his head to close his beautiful ,glen ,tilt to tourists4 ,i was fortunate enough to have passed through it before this decree was issued2 but multitudes--noisy multitudes1 as they proved themselves--not having had my advantage1 became clamorous for their right1 as they believed1 of unobstructed passage through the lovely glen4 ,many letters from indignant tourists appeared in the press1 which almost universally condemned the ,duke's action1 ,punch's baton being brought into play in the tourists' cause2 and to this weapon was added ,leech's pencil1 which1 in a vigorous drawing1 portrayed the old ,duke as a dog in the manger1 with a snarl on his face that portended a bite if his position was assailed4 ,the drawing was entitled ,a ,scotch ,dog in the ,manger1 and was immediately followed by another blow1 happily paraphrasing ,scott's lines in the ,lady of the ,lake1 and supposed to apply to a scene from the burlesque recently performed at ,glen ,tilt3 ,these are ,clan ,athole's warriors true1 ,and1 ,saxons1 ,i'm the regular ,doo4 ,how far these drawings were the means of causing the ,duke to reverse his decision ,i know not2 but it was reversed1 and that he took ,leech's somewhat severe treatment good-humouredly is shown by his treatment of the artist1 whom he met near the glen soon after the drawings appeared4 ,leech was alone1 sketch-book in hand1 no doubt noting1 by pencil and observation1 for future use1 some of the beauties around him1 when a horseman approached1 attended by a groom4 ,leech was probably on forbidden ground1 for the rider1 who was the ,duke of ,athole1 immediately asked his name and what he was doing there4 ,under ordinary circumstances ,leech would have said1 ,what is your name8 for the matter of that1 and what do you want to do with mine if ,i give it to you82 but whether the manner of his questioner impressed him1 or conscious guilt shook him1 ,i cannot say4 ,it is certain1 however1 that he replied he was an artist1 and that his name was ,leech4 ,not ,john ,leech8 said the ,duke4 ,yes1 ,john1 was the reply4 ,and ,leech now1 feeling sure that he was in the presence of the ,duke1 and that he was about to hear some strong language about his daring to caricature so august a personage for merely asserting his rights1 proceeded to explain that he would not intrude further1 but return at once to his inn1 where he intended to pass the night4 ,the ,duke turned to his groom1 and told him to dismount1 and called to ,leech to take the servant's place4 ,leech obeyed1 when the ,duke said1 ,no1 sir2 no inn for you to-night3 you must dine and sleep at my house4 ,i am the ,duke of ,athole4 ,further hesitation on ,leech's part was met by a warmer and more pressing invitation4 ,leech yielded1 and the two rode off together4 ,the road to the castle lay through some rather perilous country1 culminating in a narrow and broken path1 with cliff on one side and a precipice on the other4 ,the artist hesitated2 the ,duke called upon him to come on4 ,has he brought me here to revenge himself by breaking my neck8 thought ,leech4 ,he timidly advanced1 and reached the ,duke1 who had stopped for him at a point where the path was most dangerous4 ,are you1 sir1 the man who has maligned me in ,punch8 fiercely demanded the ,duke4 ,the fearful position in which ,leech found himself1 terrible to anyone1 but to a nervous man especially frightful1 extorted from him an apologetic confession1 excusable under the circumstances4 ,your ,grace1 said he1 we--we--that is1 nearly everyone--has done something that he--he--regrets having done4 ,i am very sorry ,i have---- ,i regret very much that anything ,i have done should have given you any annoyance4 ,the ,duke's affected fierceness was exchanged for the jovial manner said to be peculiar to him1 and the pair rode off pleasantly together4 ,the castle was reached1 and ,leech was shown to a dressing-room1 where he made himself as presentable as he could under the circumstances1 in anticipation of the usual announcement that dinner was served4 ,i can imagine my friend's feelings as he waited in hungry expectation4 ,as he could not manage to break my neck1 thought ,leech1 as hour after hour passed without a summons to dinner1 he means to starve me4 ,at last1 thinking that perhaps his room was too far off for the sound of the gong to reach him1 he rang the bell4 ,a servant appeared4 ,i am afraid1 said ,leech1 that ,i did not hear the dinner-bell2 is dinner ready8 ,not yet1 sir2 you will be informed when it is4 ,another hour passed4 ,leech became desperate2 starvation seemed to stare him in the face4 ,again he rang the bell2 again the servant answered it1 and the reply was again1 ,not yet4 ,the clock had struck ten before the welcome sound of the gong reached the famished man4 ,if ,mr4 ,frederick ,tayler is to be believed1 the ,leech dinner with the ,duke was an early one4 ,no explanation was ever given to ,tayler of these abnormal dinner-hours1 but ,leech was told that his ,grace always took a nap after his rides1 and his guests were fed when he awoke4 ,leech was fond of telling of this adventure with the ,duke1 whose likeness can be seen in more than one of ,landseer's pictures4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,personal ,,anecdotes 7continued74 ,at the time when the troop of artists and literary men were stumping the country with their theatrical performances1 ,leech lived in ,alfred ,place1 which he soon left for a charming little house in ,notting ,hill ,terrace4 ,dickens wrote an amusing account of one of the amateur excursions1 which the immortal ,mrs4 ,gamp is supposed to join1 and about which she discourses to her friend ,mrs4 ,harris1 not forgetting her opinion of the artists1 ,cruikshank and ,leech3 ,if you'll believe me1 ,mrs4 ,harris1 ,i turns my head1 and sees the very man 7,george ,cruikshank7 a-making pictures of me on his thumb-nail at the window2 while another of 'em 7,john ,leech71 a tall1 slim1 melancolly gent1 with dark hair and a bage voice1 looks over his shoulder1 and with his head o' one side1 as if he understood the subject1 and coolly he says3 ',i've drawed her several times in ,punch1' he says1 too4 ,the owdacious wretch6 ',which ,i never touches1 ,mr4 ,wilson1' ,i says out loud--,i couldn't have helped it1 ,mrs4 ,harris1 if you'd took my life for it--'which ,i never touches1 ,mr4 ,wilson1 on account of the lemon6' ,from the nature of ,leech's work1 he was never able to take a holiday in the true sense of the word4 ,to say nothing of the numberless works which he had engaged himself to illustrate1 the inevitable ,punch must appear every week1 and almost equally inevitable was the appearance of one or two of ,leech's drawings in it4 ,proof is abundant of the rapidity with which those inimitable works were executed2 but it must be borne in mind that they were the outcome of a sensitive organization--a power of seeing and seizing the humorous and the beautiful in the everyday incidents of life2 in short1 of a mind always on the watch for subjects for illustration4 ,when one thinks of the constant wear and tear of such a life1 it is scarcely a matter for wonder that it was so lamentably short4 ,the localities of ,leech's so-called holidays can easily be recognised by his drawings1 or rather by their backgrounds1 which showed1 in admirable truthfulness1 whether the artist was at ,scarborough or ,broadstairs1 at ,folkestone1 ,dover1 ,lowestoft1 or ,ramsgate1 or1 by their unfamiliarity to us1 at some less frequented place4 ,it was in #ahdh1 and while ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,leech were staying with the ,dickens family at ,brighton1 that a very unpleasant incident of the visit took place3 no less than the sudden insanity of the landlord of the house in which the party lodged1 resulting in as sudden an exeunt of the lodgers4 ,but before the people still in their senses could take themselves off1 there was a duty to be done4 ,a doctor must be fetched2 and no sooner did he appear than the madman attacked him1 and would very soon have made a vacancy in the list of ,m4,d4's if ,dickens and ,leech had not rushed to the rescue4 ,in a letter to ,forster1 ,dickens gives a humorous description of ,mrs4 ,leech and ,mrs4 ,dickens doing their best--in their fear for their husbands' safety--to assist the maniac in his murderous endeavours by pulling their husbands back just as the doctor had fainted from fear4 ,more assistance1 however1 arrived1 and the mad landlord was soon rendered harmless4 ,i vividly recollect the alarm that the news of an accident to ,leech--in which it was rumoured that he had been seriously1 even dangerously1 injured--caused to everyone1 and acutely to his friends4 ,a huge wave was said to have struck him while bathing--killing him on the spot1 according to some reports2 fracturing his skull1 or producing concussion of the brain1 from which recovery was hopeless1 according to others4 ,these alarming accounts came to us from the ,isle of ,wight1 where ,leech was staying with ,dickens in the autumn of #ahdi4 ,the fact was1 that one of the tremendous waves that1 under certain atmospheric conditions1 roll in upon the shore at ,bonchurch1 struck ,leech on the forehead1 and rendered him senseless4 ,he was put to bed1 said ,dickens1 with twenty of his namesakes upon his temples4 ,the day following1 congestion of the brain became unmistakable1 accompanied by great pain2 ice was applied to the head1 and bleeding again was thought necessary1 this time in the arm4 ,for some days ,leech was in great danger1 ,dickens sitting up with him all night on more than one alarming occasion4 ,he says1 in a letter to ,forster3 ,my plans are all unsettled by ,leech's illness1 as of course ,i do not like to leave this place so long as ,i can be of any service to him and his good little wife4 ,ever since ,i wrote to you he has been seriously worse1 and again very heavily bled4 ,the night before last he was in such an alarming state of restlessness1 which nothing could relieve1 that ,i proposed to ,mrs4 ,leech to try magnetism4 ,accordingly1 in the middle of the night1 ,i fell to1 and1 after a very fatiguing bout of it1 put him to sleep for an hour and thirty-five minutes4 ,a change came on in his sleep1 and he is decidedly better4 ,i talked to the astounded ,mrs4 ,leech across him1 when he was asleep1 as if he had been a truss of hay4 ,whether from ,dickens' magnetic efforts or the efforts of ,nature1 ,leech gradually1 but very slowly1 recovered4 ,on being questioned about his accident1 ,leech is reported to have said that he remembered an enormous angry1 white-topped wave coming at him1 and1 in what seemed to him the next moment1 he found himself in bed in great pain--the interval having been some days4 ,in corroboration of this1 ,i may mention an accident that happened to ,mr4 ,elmore 7brother of the ,r4,a4 and great friend of ,leech71 who was terribly injured by a blow on the head in a railway accident on the ,marseilles line4 ,i was reading a novel1 said ,mr4 ,elmore to me1 and the next instant1 as it seemed1 ,i found myself suffering great pain in a strange bed1 with strange surroundings1 in what ,i afterwards found was a ,french cottage4 ,the sufferer also found that more than three weeks had elapsed between the blow and the recovery of consciousness from it4 ,where1 in my blind ignorance ,i venture to ask1 was the ever-living soul all this time8 ,one of the amusements of the visitors at ,folkestone consists in watching the arrival of the ,french packet2 and ,i have noticed that the more stormy the day1 the greater is the crowd that forms itself into an avenue1 through which the voyagers must pass in landing4 ,this amusement1 ,i think1 is not very creditable to us1 because it is derived from an enjoyment arising from the sufferings of our fellow-creatures4 ,the rosy passenger1 who is evidently a good sailor1 attracts no attention--we rather resent his condition as inappropriate to the occasion2 but the man from whose face every vestige of colour has flown1 whose legs can scarcely support him as he walks up the gangway1 is an object of great delight to us4 ,we are generally--not always--silent in our enjoyment1 scarcely ever receiving a poor sea-sick creature as ,leech was once welcomed at ,boulogne4 ,in #ahed1 ,leech and his wife went to ,boulogne to stay with ,dickens4 ,the day was stormy1 and when the artist stepped ashore1 he was received with cheers by a crowd of people1 mostly ,english1 who loudly congratulated him as looking more intensely miserable than any of the wretched passengers who had preceded him4 ,leech told ,dickens that he had realized at last what an actor's feelings must be when a round of applause greets his efforts4 ,i felt1 he said1 that ,i had made a great hit4 ,my intimacy with ,leech led to the usual exchange of hospitalities4 ,i recall with pleasure the occasions on which ,i had the great delight of welcoming him at my house in ,london or at the seaside4 ,he never varied from the simple1 modest demeanour of the perfect gentleman1 was never noisy or argumentative1 and always considerate of the feelings of others2 prodigal in his praise of his brother artists2 never1 if he could avoid it1 speaking of himself or his works1 but if1 in course of conversation1 allusion had been made to some cut more than commonly attractive1 he would meet it with3 ,glad you like it1 my dear fellow2 don't see anything particularly funny in it myself2 or1 ,ah6 ,i wish you could have seen it on the wood2 they seem to me to have cut all the prettiness out of the girl's face4 ,the first time ,i dined with ,leech was at his house in ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 on the occasion of some ,highland sports that took place in ,lord ,holland's park hard by1 out of which ,leech made some capital sketches1 that afterwards appeared in ,punch4 ,leech's dinners1 without being too lavish or extravagant1 were always unexceptionable as to food1 and notably so as to wine2 of the latter1 being no judge himself1 he took care it should be supplied by one who knew1 and who was also reliable4 ,one of the guests at this particular dinner was the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,white1 whose acquaintance our host had made at the ,isle of ,wight4 ,i mention this gentleman because he was not only a very jovial clergyman1 but a great friend of ,leech and ,dickens1 and the author of some plays which had more or less success--one of them1 with the title of ,the ,king of the ,commons1 was played under ,phelps' management1 and had a considerable run4 ,white1 ,leech whispered to me1 is a great judge of port4 ,i hope to goodness he will like some ,i have got on purpose for him--and for you1 my boy2 only you know nothing about it1 do you8 ,not a bit1 said ,i4 ,when the port appeared we watched the clergyman1 and1 judging by his expression1 the port was successful2 but ,leech was not satisfied till in reply to his inquiry as to its qualities the clergyman1 smacking his lips1 said3 ,sir1 the ,church approves4 ,at one of the delightful dinners at ,leech's double-windowed house--double-windowed to keep out noise1 which distressed him all his life--on the ,terrace1 ,kensington1 ,i first met ,shirley ,brooks1 thus commencing a life-long friendship with one of the most charming companions1 one of the wittiest men and the best story-tellers that ever made the hours go by on rosy wing4 ,one of the strongest men on the ,punch staff--afterwards editor--,brooks and ,leech became somewhat intimate1 but whether the intimacy ever became merged into close friendship1 ,i doubt4 ,i frequently dined at ,brooks's1 but never met ,leech there--indeed1 from what ,i have heard1 ,i am pretty sure that1 with the exception of his old fellow-student1 ,percival ,leigh1 who was one of his nearest and dearest friends1 ,leech's feeling towards his brother members of the ,punch staff never reached friendship in the true meaning of the word4 ,albert ,smith1 of whose entertainments ,leech said one of the severest things ,i or anyone ever heard him say--,after all1 ,frith1 it is only bad ,john ,parry--was a loud1 and1 to me1 a rather vulgar person--too antagonistic to the gentle ,leech for the growth of friendship4 ,at the ,punch meetings1 however1 ,i have it from one who was occasionally present1 that ,albert ,smith always addressed ,leech as ,jack1 being the only one of the company who used the familiarity4 ,this provoked ,douglas ,jerrold1 who had often winced under the infliction1 to ask ,leech one day1 ,how long is it necessary for a man to know you before he can call you ',jack'8 ,after this remark ,jack was less frequently heard4 ,my authority for the above is the late ,mr4 ,george ,hodder1 an author who ,i fear has left no footprints in the sands of time4 ,it was said of him that1 on being introduced to a very distinguished artist1 he remarked--perhaps feeling the necessity of making a complimentary speech--,art is a grand thing1 sir4 ,this unfortunate gentleman died from injuries received by the upsetting of a coach in ,richmond ,park4 ,it is not at all uncommon for middle-class entertainers--though they may possess a fair staff of servants--to seek outside assistance when they gather an unusual number of guests round their hospitable boards4 ,on one occasion--and very likely oftener--,leech sought such supplementary aid1 and found it in the form of his parish clerk1 a solemn person who was not too proud to add to his stipend by going out to wait4 ,as is usual with his class1 the clerk-waiter arrived in good time to help in furnishing forth the dinner-table1 having an eye to the placing of the flowers1 plate1 etc4 ,the guests1 amounting to ten or twelve1 were announced in due course1 all old acquaintances1 and all expecting their dinners with the punctuality for which their host was noted4 ,hungry men1 though they may be good talkers under happier circumstances1 are seldom brilliant2 on this occasion1 though ,dickens and ,jerrold may have been amongst the guests1 the conversation languished at last into silence4 ,half an hour passed4 ,what could have happened8 ,suddenly one of the guests--was it ,dickens or ,jerrold8--sprang from his chair1 and going to ,leech1 with extended hand1 said3 ,well1 it's getting late2 ,i'm afraid ,i must go4 ,thank you1 dear boy1 for a delightful evening2 the dinner was capital1 the turtle first rate--never tasted finer salmon2 and as to the champagne---- ,the puzzled looks of ,leech and his guests ended in a roar of laughter1 in the midst of which a black and solemn figure appeared1 and in the tones in which he would have given the responses at church1 said3 ,dinner is served4 ,the assembled guests received the welcome announcement with a chorus of ,,amen6 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,sporting ,,novels4 ,amongst the many books illustrated by ,leech are some sporting novels1 written1 ,i think1 by a ,mr4 ,surtees4 ,ask ,mamma1 ,handley ,cross1 ,plain or ,ringlets1 ,mr4 ,romford's ,hounds1 etc41 owe their origin to this prolific gentleman4 ,as these works are ornamented by coloured steel engravings and innumerable woodcuts by ,leech1 it has been my duty to look into them2 read them1 ,i cannot4 ,i hope if the author is still living he will attribute my want of appreciation to a want of sympathy with his heroes and heroines1 though ,i admit1 in the portions ,i have read1 that he shows considerable humour as well as power in expressing it4 ,this1 from one who knows his own ignorance of the subject in question1 should be gratifying to ,mr4 ,surtees4 ,though to my mind ,leech is quite at his best in ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 there are examples of his powers in all these books which quite justify my selection of some of them for the gratification of my readers4 ,mr4 ,romford's ,hounds is embellished with twenty-five large steel plates1 in one of which a certain ,mr4 ,facey1 who has a charming ,miss ,lucy for his hunting companion1 is checked by an obstacle which causes him to exclaim to ,lucy1 ,dash it6 this is a rum customer1 as he stood in his stirrups1 looking at what was on the far side4 ,oh1 throw your heart over it1 said ,lucy1 and then follow it as quickly as you can4 ,heart6 muttered ,facey4 ,i shall never find it again if ,i do4 ,it would be like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay4 ,let me try1 then1 said ,lucy4 ,it would be difficult indeed to surpass the beauty of the girl's figure in this drawing1 exquisitely drawn1 true in character and action as it is4 ,mr4 ,facey's expression1 too1 exactly conveys the idea that the longer he looks at the awkward place the less he likes it4 ,the horses--notably the action of the one ridden by the young lady--are in every way admirable4 ,the background1 with a few slight touches1 gives us a stretch of country--a withered tree1 a flock of birds1 and the cloudy sky1 with no doubt the southerly wind that proclaims the hunting morning4 ,mr4 ,romford's ,hounds gives us another sportsman1 who rejoices in the name of ,muffington4 ,this gentleman is possessed for the moment of a horse called1 or1 rather1 miscalled1 ,placid ,joe1 whose former name1 ,pull ,devil1 seems better-suited to his propensities1 as shown in the drawing1 in which ,placid ,joe has taken the bit between his teeth1 to the discomfiture of ,mr4 ,muffington4 ,from the following telegram it would seem that ,placid ,joe had been borrowed for the day's hunting4 ,thus it ran3 ,mr4 ,martin ,muffington1 at the ,white ,swan1 ,showoffborough1 to ,mr4 ,green1 ,brown ,street1 ,bagnigge ,wells ,road1 ,london4 ,that brute ,placid ,joe has no more mouth than a bull4 ,he's carried me right into the midst of the hounds1 and nearly annihilated the huntsman4 ,i will send him back by the #i4cj a4m4 train to-morrow1 and won't pay you a halfpenny for his hire4 ,the character of ,mr4 ,muffington1 together with his action as he tugs in vain at ,placid ,joe1 are admirable2 but the horse1 good as it is in action1 appears to me less well proportioned than ,leech's horses almost invariably are1 the head and neck being too small4 ,but what could surpass the huntsman and his steed just recovering from the cannoning received from ,placid ,joe8 ,the scattered hounds1 the riders behind1 and the landscape leave nothing to be desired4 ,plain or ,ringlets contains twelve coloured plates and no less than forty-three woodcuts4 ,judging from a slight acquaintance with the letterpress and a careful study of the illustrations in this book1 ,i find that the author deals less exclusively with the feats of the hunter than in ,mr4 ,romford's ,hounds2 shooting1 racing1 etc41 are allowed to figure prominently1 and the pursuit of lovely woman--in which there seem to be as many false scents and heavy falls as beset the chasing of the fox--plays an important part in ,plain or ,ringlets4 ,unlike the policeman's1 ,i have often thought that the riding-master's life must be a happy one4 ,i am borne out in this1 ,i think1 by the illustration1 in which ,leech is delightfully at home4 ,says our author3 ,smiling1 cantering bevies of beauties1 with their shining hair in gold or silver beaded nets1 and party-coloured feathers in their jaunty little hats1 alone imparted energy to the scene as they tit-tupped along with quickly following tramp1 led by the most magnificent and affable of riding-masters1 who thus advertise their studs1 just as ,howes and ,cushing advertise their grand ,united ,states ,circus4 ,bless us1 what a pace some of them go6 ,what life and motion there are in this group6 ,how is it1 by what occult influence do we find those two lovely creatures right and left of the riding-master1 instead of one place of honour being reserved for the stout middle-aged lady1 who1 strange to say1 seems quite contented with her position8 ,i don't believe those two girls want any teaching1 for do they not sit their horses with perfect grace1 as safely at home in their saddles as they would be in one of the lounges in their drawing-rooms1 which either of them would fill so charmingly8 ,look what pretty creatures the magician ,leech can call up for us by a few scratches of his pencil1 in the rear of this cantering procession6 ,the ,duke of ,tergiversation 7,phoebus1 what a name671 says the author of ,plain or ,ringlets1 found on inheriting his estate that the life had been eaten out of it before the death of his father put him in possession of his ancestral property4 ,the ,duke1 however1 seems to have made the acquaintance of a banker1 named ,goldspink1 who yielded to his persuasions and promises to the extent of allowing his aristocratic customer to overdraw his account to such a formidable amount as seriously to imperil the stability of the bank4 ,mr4 ,goldspink then seeks an interview with his ,grace1 which the ,duke1 after endeavouring by all sorts of shifts to avoid1 was at length compelled to grant4 ,ah1 my dear ,mr4 ,goldspink6 exclaimed the ,duke1 advancing with outstretched hands and all the cheerful cordiality imaginable as our crab-actioned friend followed the smoothly-gliding butler1 ,mr4 ,garnett1 into the presence4 ,ah1 my dear ,goldspink1 this is indeed most kind and considerate6 ,first neighbour that has come to greet us4 ,how1 may ,i ask1 is your worthy wife and your excellent son8 taking both the banker's hands and shaking them severely4 ,the banker makes a mental calculation of the ,duke's liabilities1 with a clear understanding that his ,grace is on the gammon-and-spinach tack1 and then says3 ,thank your ,grace--his ,grace--my ,grace--that is to say--they are both pretty well4 ,hope the ,duchess and ,lord ,marchhare---- ,the ,duchess and ,marchhare are both at this moment enjoying a quiet cup of tea in her pretty little boudoir1 where1 ,i am sure1 they will be most happy to see ,mr4 ,goldspink1 said the ,duke1 motioning him to the gilt-moulded white door opposite4 ,this cut seems to me to show ,leech's power of marking the difference of character in the persons represented in a degree noticeable by the most ordinary observer4 ,the ,duke is an aristocrat from top to toe2 the insincerity of his welcome even is apparent2 while the squat and crab-like figure of the banker is no less true to nature2 his delight at shaking hands with a ,duke making him forget for the moment the serious issues dependent upon the interview4 ,at the eleventh hour ,i find myself forbidden to show my readers any of the admirable drawings which illustrate this book4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,bon ,,gaultier ,,ballads4 ,i will here leave the sporting novels for a time and introduce my reader to the ,bon ,gaultier ,ballads1 and if he make his first acquaintance with that work through this introduction1 ,i respectfully advise him to improve it by a more intimate knowledge1 for he will not only find excellent reading1 but illustrations by ,richard ,doyle and others1 scarcely inferior to those by ,leech4 ,it will be remembered that at the time of the ,papal aggression ,lord ,john ,russell1 according to ,leech1 chalked ,no ,popery on ,cardinal ,wiseman's door and then ran away4 ,in the ,bon ,gaultier ,ballads we find his lordship face to face with ,cardinal ,wiseman1 disguised as a friar1 in ,sherwood ,forest1 where ,little ,john is supposed to reign in place of ,robin ,hood1 deceased4 ,the ballad is entitled ,little ,john and the ,red ,friar1 and begins3 ,the deer may leap within the glade1 ,the fawns may follow free-- ,for ,robin is dead1 and his bones are laid ,beneath the greenwood tree4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now1 ,little ,john was an outlaw proud1 ,a prouder ye never saw2 ,through ,nottingham and ,leicestershires ,he thought his word was law1 ,and he strutted through the greenwood wide ,like a pestilent jackdaw4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now1 word had come to ,little ,john1 ,as he lay upon the grass1 ,that a friar red was in merry ,sherwood ,without his leave to pass4 ,little ,john inquires from his little foot-page what manner of man is this burly friar who intrudes into his domain4 ',my master good1' the little page said1 ',his name ,i wot not well2 ,but he wears on his head a hat so red1 ,with a monstrous scallop-shell4 ',he says he is ,prior of ,copmanhurst1 ,and ,bishop of ,london town1 ,and he comes with a rope from our ,father the ,pope ,to put the outlaws down4' ,little ,john searches the forest for his scarlet enemy-- ,o'er holt and hill1 through brake and breere1 ,he took his way alone4 99 99 99 99 99 ,then ,little ,john1 he strutted on1 ,till he came to an open bound1 ,and he was aware of a ,red ,friar ,was sitting upon the ground4 ,his shoulders they were broad and strong1 ,and large was he of limb2 ,few yeomen in the north countrie ,would care to mell with him4 99 99 99 99 99 ',what dost thou here1 thou strong friar1 ,in ,sherwood's merry round1 ,without the leave of ,little ,john ,to range with hawk and hound8' ',small thought have ,i1' quoth the ,red ,friar1 ',of any leave1 ,i trow2 ,but ,little ,john is an outlawed thief1 ,and so1 ,i ween1 art thou6 ',know ,i am1 ,i am ,prior of ,copmanhurst1 ,and ,bishop of ,london town1 ,and ,i bring a rope from our ,father the ,pope ,to put the outlaws down4' ,then out spoke ,little ,john in wrath1 ',i tell thee1 burly frere1 ,the ,pope may do as he likes at home1 ,but he sends no ,bishops here6' ',up and away1 ,red ,friar1' he said1 ',up and away right speedilie2 ,and were it not for that cowl of thine1 ,avenged on thy body ,i would be6' ,illustration ',nay1 heed not that1' said the ,red ,friar1 ',and let my cowl no hindrance be2 ,i warrant ,i can give as good ,as ever ,i take from thee6' ,little ,john he raised his quarter-staff1 ,and so did the burly priest2 ,and they fought beneath the greenwood tree ,a stricken hour at least4 ,little ,john gets much the worst of the fight1 and endeavours to come to terms with the ,red ,friar3 ',there's some mistake1 good friar1' he said2 ',there's some mistake 'twixt thee and me2 ,i know thou art ,prior of ,copmanhurst1 ,but not beneath the greenwood tree4 ',and if you will take some other name1 ,you shall have ample time to bide2 ,with pasture also for your ,bulls1 ,and power to range the forest wide4' ',there's no mistake6' the friar said2 ',i'll call myself just what ,i please3 ,my doctrine is that chalk is chalk1 ,and cheese is nothing else but cheese4' ',so be it then6' quoth ,little ,john from his refuge in the tree1 to which1 according to ,leech1 he has been tossed by the ,popish ,bull4 ,cardinal ,wiseman1 as ,i remember him1 was a huge burly figure1 not unlike ,leech's drawing2 a stronger resemblance to ,lord ,john can be traced in the swaggering little figure in the first illustration and also in the second4 ,most of the ,bon ,gaultier ,ballads are illustrated by ,doyle and other hands4 ,leech's contributions are confined to four of them4 ,the next from which ,i select drawings is called ,the ,rhyme of ,sir ,launcelot ,bogle4 ,it appears that this valiant knight1 most terrible in fight1 had married the sister of another valiant knight named ,george of ,gorbals1 and with his bride he had retired to his castle near ,glasgow4 ,for some reason or other this marriage was very distasteful to the brother of the bride--so distasteful1 indeed1 that nothing but the blood of ,sir ,launcelot would wipe out the disgrace4 ,in pursuit of his revenge1 ,george of ,gorbals armed his followers and approached the castle1 where ,a donjon keep arose1 that might baffle any foes1 ,with its men-at-arms in rows ,on the towers4 ,illustration ,and the flag that flaunted there showed the grim and grizzly bear1 ,which the ,bogles always wear for their crest4 ,and ,i heard the warder call1 as he stood upon the wall1 ',wake ye up6 my comrades all1 ,from your rest6 ',for1 by the blessed rood1 there's a glimpse of armour good ,in the deep ,cowcaddens ,wood1 o'er the stream2 ,and ,i hear the stifled hum of a multitude that come1 ,though they have not beat the drum1 ,it would seem6 ',go tell it to my lord1 lest he wish to man the ford ,with partisan and sword just beneath2 ,ho1 ,gilkison and ,nares6 ,ho1 ,provan of ,cowlairs6 ,we'll back the bonny bears ,to the death4' ,to the towers above the moat1 like one who heedeth not1 ,came the bold ,sir ,launcelot1 half undressed2 ,on the outer rim he stood1 and peered into the wood1 ,with his arms across him glued ,on his breast4 ,and he muttered1 ',foe accurst1 thou hast dared to seek me first8 ,george of ,gorbals1 do thy worst2 for ,i swear ,o'er thy gory corpse to ride1 ere thy sister and my bride ,from my undissevered side ,thou shalt tear6' 99 99 99 99 99 ,sir ,launcelot1 not being sure that ,cowcaddens ,wood really hides his mortal enemy1 despatches a herald stout1 accompanied by ,sir ,roderick ,dalgleish1 and his foster-brother ,neish1 ,with his bloodhounds in the leash1 to see whether the party in the wood are friends or foes4 ,all doubt on the subject is put to rest by a shower of arrows which ,sped their force1 and a pale and bleeding corse ,he 7the herald7 sank from off his horse ,on the plain6 ,back drew the bold ,dalgleish1 back started stalwart ,neish1 ,with his bloodhounds in the leash from ,brownlee4 ',now shame be to the sword that made thee knight and lord1 ,thou caitiff thrice abhorred1 ,shame on thee6' ,after this burst of not unnatural rage at the unhandsome treatment of a herald1 whose office should have made his person sacred1 ,sir ,launcelot gives orders that there must be ',forthwith no end of those heavy bolts2 ,three angels to the brave who finds the foe a grave1 ,and a gallows for the slave ,who revolts6' ,ten days the combat lasted2 but the bold defenders fasted1 ,while the foemen1 better pastied1 fed their host2 ,you might hear the savage cheers of the hungry ,gorbaliers1 ,as at night they dressed the steers ,for the roast4 ,and ,sir ,launcelot grew thin1 and ,provan's double chin ,showed sundry folds of skin down beneath2 ,in silence and in grief found ,gilkison relief1 ,nor did ,neish the spell-word 'beef' ,dare to breathe4 ,then ,edith1 the bride1 made her appearance upon the ramparts4 ,and she said unto her lord1 as he leaned upon his sword1 ',one short and little word may ,i speak8 ,i cannot bear to view those eyes so ghastly blue1 ,or mark the sallow hue ,of thy cheek4 ',i know the rage and wrath that my furious brother hath ,is less against us both than at me4 ,then1 dearest1 let me go1 to find among the foe ,an arrow from the bow1 ,like ,broomlee6' ,to this noble offer of self-sacrifice ,sir ,launcelot will not listen for a moment4 ,he replies3 ',all our chances are not lost1 as your brother and his host ,shall discover to their cost rather hard6 ,ho1 ,provan6 take this key2 hoist up the malvoisie1 ,and heap it1 d'ye see1 ,in the yard4 ',of usquebaugh and rum you will find1 ,i reckon1 some1 ,beside the beer and mum1 extra stout2 ,go straightway to your task1 and roll me all the casks1 ,and also range the flasks ,just without4 ',if ,i know the ,gorbaliers1 they are sure to dip their ears ,in the very inmost tiers of the drink4 ,let them win the outer court1 and hold it for their sport1 ,since their time is rather short1 ,i should think6' ,with a loud triumphant yell1 as the heavy drawbridge fell1 ,rushed the ,gorbaliers pell-mell1 wild as ,druids2 ,mad with thirst for human gore1 how they threatened and they swore1 ,till they stumbled on the floor ,o'er the fluids4 ,down their weapons then they threw1 and each savage soldier drew ,from his belt an iron screw in his fist2 ,george of ,gorbals found it vain their excitement to restrain1 ,and1 indeed1 was rather fain ,to assist4 ,with a beaker in his hand1 in the midst he took his stand1 ,and silence did command all below2 ',ho1 ,launcelot the bold6 ere thy lips are icy cold1 ,in the centre of thy hold ,pledge me now6' 99 99 99 99 99 ,dumb as death stood ,launcelot1 as though he heard him not2 ,but his bosom ,provan smote and he swore1 ,and ,sir ,roderick ,dalgleish remarked aside to ,neish1 ',never1 sure1 did thirsty fish ,swallow more6 ',thirty casks are nearly done1 yet the revel's scarce begun2 ,it were knightly sport and fun to strike in6' ',nay1 tarry till they come1' quoth ,neish1 'unto the rum-- ,they are working at the mum ,and the gin6' ,then straight there did appear to each gallant ,gorbalier ,twenty castles dancing near1 all around2 ,the solid earth did shake1 and the stones beneath them quake1 ,and sinuous as a snake ,moved the ground4 ,why and wherefore had they come seemed intricate unto some1 ,but all agreed the rum was divine2 ,and they looked with bitter scorn on their leader highly born1 ,who preferred to fill his horn ,up with wine4 ,like the fateful moment at ,waterloo1 the time had now come to strike1 and ,sir ,launcelot and his friends took full advantage of it4 ',now make the trumpets blast1 and comrades follow fast1 ,smite them down unto the last1' ,cried the knight4 99 99 99 99 99 ,saint ,mungo be my guide6 it was goodly in that tide ,to see the ,bogle ride in his haste2 ,he accompanied each blow with a cry of 'ah6' or 'oh6' ,as he always cleft the foe ,to the waist4 ',george of ,gorbals1 craven lord6 thou didst threat me with the cord2 ,come forth and brave my sword1 if you dare6' ,but he met with no reply1 and never could descry ,the glitter of his eye ,anywhere4 ,the ,gorbaliers were destroyed to a man1 and in obedience to an order from ,sir ,launcelot the casks and empty flasks were removed by the cellar master1 but not without a shock-- ,for he swore he heard a shriek ,through the door4 ,when the merry ,christmas came1 and the ,yule-log lent its flame ,to the face of squire and dame in the hall1 ,the cellarer went down to tap ,october brown1 ,which was rather of renown ',mongst them all4 ,he placed the spigot low1 and gave the cask a blow1 ,but his liquor would not flow through the pin2 ',sure1 'tis sweet as honeysuckles6' so he rapped it with his knuckles1 ,but a sound as if of buckles ,clashed within4 ',bring a hatchet1 varlets1 here6' and they cleft the cask of beer-- ,what a spectacle of fear met their sight6 ,there ,george of ,gorbals lay1 skull and bones all blanched and gray1 ,in the arms he bore the day ,of the fight6 ,illustration ,from ,leech's contributions to the ,bon ,gaultier ,ballads my third selection consists of an illustration of ,the ,lay of the ,lover's ,friend4 ,the ,lay is a capital skit on the propensity of certain lovers to inflict the sorrows caused by the loss of their hearts upon friends to whom the loss is a matter of indifference4 ,says the friend3 ,illustration ',i would all womankind were dead1 ,or banished o'er the sea2 ,for they have been a bitter plague ,these last six weeks to me4 ,it is not that ,i am touched myself1 ,for that ,i do not fear2 ,no female face has shown me grace ,for many a bygone year4 ,but 'tis the most infernal bore1 ,of all the bores ,i know1 ,to have a friend who's lost his heart ,a short time ago4 ',whene'er we steam it to ,blackwall1 ,or down to ,greenwich run1 ,to quaff the pleasant cider-cup1 ,or feed on fish and fun2 ,or climb the slopes of ,richmond ,hill ,to catch a breath of air-- ,then1 for my sins1 he straight begins ,to rave about his fair4 ,oh1 'tis the most tremendous bore1 ,of all the bores ,i know1 ,to have a friend who's lost his heart ,a short time ago4' ,judging from the angry face of the lover's friend as he stretches out his hand towards the claret1 it will require even more than the consolation to be derived from the finest brand to enable him to endure his friend's moaning with common patience4 ,one studies with wonder and admiration the few touches with which the story is told in this little drawing4 ,see the handsome frowning face of the lover's friend1 so perfectly in contrast with that of the absorbed lover1 whose voice can almost be heard expatiating on the beauty of the lost one1 and the hardness of her heart6 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,sporting ,novels 7continued74 ,handley ,cross is another of the sporting novels so admirably illustrated by ,leech4 ,the hero of this book is a certain ,mr4 ,jorrocks1 a retired great city grocer of the old school4 ,a fortune gained in the grocery business enabled ,mr4 ,jorrocks to retire into country life1 where the sports of the field awaited him4 ,he became a mighty hunter1 the possessor of the finest horses and the best pack of 'ounds in all the world1 who would make the foxes cry ,capevi6 ,he is ,m4,f4,h41 and so great an authority on sporting matters as to warrant his announcing himself as a lecturer on the duties of all concerned in the truly ,british sport of the chasing of the fox4 ,mr4 ,jorrocks's antecedents were such as to preclude the possibility of the display of brilliant oratorical powers4 ,his mode of expression--including the absence of the letter h1 where it should be used1 and its presence where it should not--was what might have been expected from the retired grocer whose little figure adorns the illustration4 ,leech's old friend1 ,mr4 ,adams1 tells me that a man named ,nicholls1 ,lady ,louise ,clinton's coachman1 was the model for ,mr4 ,jorrocks4 ,leech never went anywhere1 not even to church1 without his little sketch-book2 and on a special ,sunday at ,barkway ,church1 where ,lady ,clinton had her pew1 she was followed by a little man who1 after handing her ladyship her books of devotion1 took his seat outside the pew1 and became an unconscious study for ,leech2 who in a few minutes transferred an exact likeness to the sketch-book1 which was afterwards as exactly reproduced in the hunting lecture4 ,a curious reader can study ,mr4 ,jorrocks's lecture in the pages of ,handley ,cross4 ,he will there wonder with me how it came about1 that so distinguished an audience of aristocratic men1 and lovely women1 could listen for many minutes to an oration which must have lasted at least two hours1 and which ends with the following peroration3 ,so shall little ,spooney jog on rejoicin'6 ,each succeedin' year shall find him better mounted1 and at each fresh deal he will become a wiser and ,i 'opes a nappier man4 ,mr4 ,jorrocks concluded amidst loud and universal applause4 ,leech's mastery of character--unexaggerated1 true to nature1 without a trace of caricature--can be seen in the foreground figures of this etching4 ,the man standing behind the lady with the lovely profile is a gentleman1 though perhaps not a wise one2 but what can the beautiful profile find in ,mr4 ,jorrocks's discourse to amuse or enlighten her8 ,and those pretty creatures in the distance1 who certainly seem a little bored1 how is it that they did not slip away with their cavaliers behind them1 and so leave ,mr4 ,jorrocks to talk about 'unting to 'is 'eart's content8 ,one of ,mr4 ,jorrocks's sporting friends is ,mr4 ,charley ,stobbs1 a good-looking young gentleman who finds himself belated after a hard day's hunting4 ,he wanders about an unknown country1 darkness comes upon him1 and he endeavours in vain to find his way to ,handley ,cross4 ,the night was drear and dark1 the wind whistled and howled with uncommon keenness1 the cutting hail drifted with the sharpness of needles against his face4 ,horse and rider were equally dispirited1 says the chronicler4 ,this free and easy1 or1 rather uneasy1 fox-hunter1 determined to seek shelter for the night at the first house he came to1 that promised from its appearance a comfortable bed1 with1 perhaps1 an introductory supper4 ,he soon found himself under the lee of a large house1 and having dismounted1 and broken his shins against a scraper1 he at length discovered a bell-pull in the door-post1 which having sounded1 the echoing notes from afar proclaimed the size and importance of the mansion4 ,a little maiden gave ,charley admission1 and1 with surprising alacrity1 provided him with ham sandwiches1 hot water1 lemon1 nutmeg1 etc41 to say nothing of a bottle of sherry6 ,to the common mind the ease with which ,mr4 ,charles ,stobbs managed to procure for himself a supper and lodging in a stranger's mansion will be a matter of surprise2 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred he would have met with a very different reception4 ,we rejoice in his success1 because it gives us a likeness of his good-looking self1 in conjunction with that of one of the prettiest and daintiest waiting-maids ever created by ,leech's pencil4 ,had ,i been permitted ,i should have selected a drawing from ,handley ,cross1 which heads a chapter called ,the ,waning ,season1 not from its subject 7which has little interest71 but because it is an admirable example of ,leech's mastery of landscape4 ,the figure of the old hedger1 with his big gauntlets and bill-hook1 is as true as possible to nature1 well drawn1 and perfect in action1 as he stoops over the faggots he has collected2 but ,i would call more attention to the drawing of the foreground and distance of the landscape2 the stunted tree and the wattled fence in its perspective cunningly going off almost to the horizon--thus leading the eye into space--with its lines so skilfully broken by the leafless trees4 ,the sky1 too1 though represented by a few lines1 composes artistically with the forms in the distance and the rest of the wintry landscape4 ,with ,ask ,mamma--another of the many sporting books illustrated by ,leech--,i shall close my selections from that kind of literature for the present4 ,in the frontispiece of the book1 which represents ,the ,ancestors of our ,hero1 the female ancestor is such a bewitching creature as to make a reproduction of her in this place irresistible4 ,this charming person is ,mrs4 ,william ,pringle1 ne ,willing1 about whose birth1 parentage1 and education history is silent4 ,her acquaintance is first made by the reader of ,ask ,mamma in the position of assistant in a milliner's shop1 which she soon left for a shop of her own4 ,in this venture ,miss ,willing failed disastrously1 and1 leaving dressmaking1 she became a lady's-maid in the service of the beautiful1 newly-married ,countess ,delacey4 ,it was to the service of the ,countess ,delacey1 says our author1 that ,miss ,willing was indebted for becoming the wife of ,mr4 ,william ,pringle4 ,the acquaintance between ,miss ,willing and ,mr4 ,pringle1 which soon ripened into love and marriage1 began on the stage-coach1 in which ,miss ,willing was journeying to ,london to buy dresses for her mistress1 the ,countess4 ,alas6 it must be confessed that ,miss ,willing was an unscrupulous adventuress1 and ,mr4 ,pringle a very green goose indeed2 for when he found ,miss ,willing installed in the ,countess's house in ,grosvenor ,square1 dressed in her mistress's emerald-green velvet costume1 he believed her to be1 as she represented herself1 the mistress of the mansion4 ,a big footman played into ,miss ,willing's hand1 and my lady'd her to her heart's content1 and to the delight of ,mr4 ,pringle1 as the refreshments were supplied to which the victim had been invited4 ,under the inspiring influence of brandy-and-water ,mr4 ,pringle's love grew apace2 and in reply to the lady's prudent inquiries as to his means of keeping her surrounded by the luxury to which she had been accustomed1 she was assured that she should have everything she wanted3 a tall footman with good legs1 an ,arab horse1 an ,erard harp1 a royal pianoforte1 a silver tea-urn1 a gold coffee pot1 a service of gold1 eat gold if she liked2 and1 as he made this declaration1 he dropped upon his salmon-coloured knees1 and with his glass of brandy in one hand and hers in the other1 looked imploring up at her--a beautiful specimen of heavy sentimentality4 ,as one looks at the comical figure of ,mr4 ,pringle1 it would be difficult to believe that1 even with the golden advantages with which he surrounds himself1 he could be rendered acceptable to the lovely creature of ,leech's fancy2 if a finger could not be put upon couples amongst our own acquaintances even more strangely contrasted4 ,with respect to personal appearance1 ,mr4 ,pringle fares better at ,leech's hands in a drawing representing a halt in the stage-coach journey to ,london4 ,the passengers have stopped for refreshment4 ,the coachman attends for his fee4 ,mr4 ,pringle1 who was bent upon doing the magnificent1 produced a large green-and-gold tasselled purse1 almost as big as a stocking1 and drew therefrom a great five-shilling piece1 which he handed ostentatiously to the man1 saying3 ',for this lady and me1' just as if she belonged to him4 ,here ,mr4 ,pringle fairly resembles a good-looking buck of sixty years ago1 and the coachman might have been one of those whom ,i remember on my own first journey to ,london1 with his ,beg pardon1 sir1 ,i've drove you fifty miles1 when his fee was less than he expected4 ,the coat of many capes1 the red cheeks and redder nose1 the action of the man as he holds his hat and whip1 are all true to life2 here again without the least exaggeration4 ,in composition1 light and shade1 and general effect1 this drawing leaves nothing to wish for4 ,the expression of ,miss ,willing1 as she looks sideways at her victim1 should be noted4 ,mr4 ,william ,pringle did not long enjoy his married life1 for his only son 7the hero of ,ask ,mamma7 was but a child1 when1 after an inordinate kidney supper1 ,mr4 ,pringle was found dead in his chair4 ,the widow was very rich1 and after educating her son regardless of expense1 she launched him into high life1 and somehow or other brought about an acquaintance between ,billy and a sporting nobleman1 the ,earl of ,ladythorne4 ,from that time ,ask ,mamma becomes a chronicle of sporting adventure1 with which ,i shall not trouble my reader1 beyond the explanation required for the understanding of one or two examples of ,leech's work4 ,the noble ,earl of ,ladythorne seems to have been a very impressionable personage1 in a constant state of suffering from ,cupid's shafts2 and though for some reason or other he objected to hunting ladies1 an equestrian coquette1 ,miss ,de ,glancey1 of half the watering-places in ,england1 and some on the ,continent1 had but to show herself amongst the field and the noble lord was again transfixed2 this time the dart seems to have gone through and through the tender heart1 only to be released by an event which occurred shortly afterwards4 ,it appears that ,miss ,de ,glancey's love of hunting was affected1 in order to further her designs upon the ,earl2 she really feared and hated it2 and though on the fatal day1 which was destined to extinguish her hope of becoming a ,countess1 she had ridden boldly by the ,earl through what he calls a monstrous fine run1 she found no fun in it at all1 and was monstrous glad when it was over4 ,no sooner was the fox despatched1 than the sky darkened1 the lightning flashed1 the thunder bellowed1 and the rain came down in torrents4 ,poor ,miss ,de ,glancey1 says our author1 was ready to sink into the earth4 ,there was nothing for it but to seek the nearest shelter1 which seems to have been the ,punch ,bowl at ,rockbeer1 in search of which my lord and the coquette ride off together4 ,an opportune flash of lightning so lit up the landscape as to show the clump of large elms at the entrance to ,rockbeer4 ,the hard driving rain beats downways and sideways1 frontways and backways--all ways at once4 ,the horses know not which way to duck to evade the storm4 ,in less than a minute ,miss ,de ,glancey is as drenched as if she had taken a shower-bath4 ,the smart hat and feather are annihilated2 the dubious frizette falls out2 down comes the hair2 the bella-donna-inspired radiance of her eyes is quenched2 the crinoline and wadding dissolve like ice before the fire2 and ere the love-cured ,earl lifts her off her horse at the ,punch ,bowl at ,rockbeer1 she has no more shape or figure than an icicle4 ,indeed1 she much resembles one1 for the cold sleet1 freezing as it fell1 has encrusted her in a rich coat of iced lace1 causing her saturated garments to cling to her with the utmost pertinacity4 ,a more complete wreck of a belle was perhaps never seen4 ,brief as woman's love1 says ,shakspeare4 ,that this remark will sometimes apply to man's love cannot be contested1 for have we not an example before us in the rapid way in which our noble friend's passion was1 so to speak1 washed out of him8 ,the love-stricken ,earl cured by a shower of rain6 ,we ought to be thankful for the downpour1 for it was the cause of ,leech's drawing1 in which the unfortunate coquette is still1 under the artist's tender treatment1 an elegant creature1 with grace and beauty in every line of her bedraggled form4 ,how admirable1 too1 is the ,earl6 the rain dripping from the brim of his hat1 and with every opportunity for making him ridiculous1 he is still dignified1 his face and figure noble1 as he bends forward to meet the storm4 ,it goes without saying that the horses are admirable in character and action1 and that the whole scene exactly realizes a wet and stormy night4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,michael ,,halliday ,,and ,,leech4 ,no man can put more into a picture than there is in himself1 says ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4 ,as an art student ,i have always felt the force of this aphorism4 ,i would even go further1 and add that no man can avoid the disclosure in numberless ways of what there is in himself of special mental organization1 under the heads of taste1 temper1 delicacy1 honesty1 kindliness1 and the true and full appreciation of the beauties of nature4 ,i cannot see nature as you represent it1 someone is said to have remarked to ,turner4 ,don't you wish you could8 was the reply4 ,it is not the subject of a great artist's work that we admire1 but the artist's mind as reflected in his subject4 ,reynolds was fortunate in having for his sitters most of the beauties of the last century1 and they were more fortunate still in falling into the hands of a painter who had such intense sympathy with their loveliness--so intense in some instances as to emphasize it somewhat to the sacrifice of individuality4 ,it is what ,turner sees in nature that we reverence1 producing beauties for us to which we were blind1 till they were called up by the spell of the great magician4 ,heads as fine as any of those painted by ,vandyke can be seen any day1 but there is no ,vandyke to show us the impression they make upon him4 ,let anyone compare ,vandyke's ,charles ,i4 with a contemporary rendering of that monarch1 and he will feel with me that it is the great painter's power of penetrating the inner man before him1 so to speak1 added to his sympathy with the melancholy and dignified ,king1 that1 combined with his transcendent technical power1 enabled him to present to us both the person and the mind of the unfortunate ,king4 ,the contemporary painters give us but the husk and shell of him4 ,but of all artists who have reflected themselves in their works1 ,leech is the best example4 ,save when his hatred of injustice and oppression is aroused1 the man's loving1 tender nature1 and his honest ,english1 manly character1 are apparent in everything he does4 ,as he was to all who knew him well1 he shows himself in his treatment of every theme he touches with his pencil4 ,of his life--quiet1 studious1 and ever observant--there is little to relate that cannot be gathered from his works4 ,his passionate love of children and childish ways and tricks1 his sympathy with beauty in all its forms1 his eager participation in manly sports1 with numberless other delightful qualities1 are part and parcel of the man who was never tired of giving us unconscious revelations of himself in his drawings4 ,even when a certain amount of ridicule is attached to the principal incidents in the career of a ludicrous personage1 we never have a feeling for him approaching contempt4 ,in the history of ,messrs4 ,briggs and ,tom ,noddy these gentlemen present themselves in positions of laughable difficulty4 ,laugh at them we certainly do1 but we never despise them2 for do they not show the good qualities of courage and fortitude8 ,tom ,noddy is thrown from his horse2 nothing daunted1 he instantly remounts4 ,he drops his whip2 he recovers it3 is thrown again1 and this time his horse gallops off2 but though the little hunter pursues as fast as his little legs can go1 the horse has the best of it and escapes4 ,an ordinary being would despair and bemoan his loss2 not so ,tom ,noddy1 who gives up the pursuit for a time1 and being no doubt a little tired1 lights a cigar as he sits upon a stile4 ,when refreshed by tobacco and repose he resumes his horse-chase1 and ultimately succeeds in finding the animal in the possession of a rustic1 who had amused himself by nearly galloping him to death4 ,tom ,noddy is a delightful little creature2 his numerous escapades are plentiful in ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 and will be for all time a hearty1 healthy pleasure to all who study them4 ,many attempts were made to betray ,leech into personality4 ,subjects were suggested1 and offers were made to him1 by persons who had real or imaginary grievances1 to place well-known public characters in positions ridiculous or contemptible4 ,those attempts would not have been made if the proposers had known ,leech2 such suggestions were always rejected1 and sometimes in terms very unpleasant to their proposers4 ,i was not aware that ,tom ,noddy had a prototype until ,i was informed by my old friend1 ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt1 in a paper of ,leech reminiscences1 originally intended for this memoir1 that ,mike ,halliday1 a man ,i knew well forty years ago1 was the original ,tom ,noddy4 ,halliday's figure was intended for an ordinary-sized man1 but when ,nature had produced his head and shoulders she seemed to have changed her intention1 and the rest of his figure was that of a diminutive form1 a full foot shorter altogether than an ordinary middle-sized man4 ,when ,i first became acquainted with ,halliday he was a clerk in the ,house of ,lords4 ,he then1 says ,holman ,hunt1 took to poetry1 to love that never found its earthly close1 and to our art--for he found time for all4 ,so well did he succeed in picture-making that he once completed an oil-painting of two lovers sitting under a ruined abbey window1 habited in contemporary costume1 the gentleman intent on taking the size of the lady's marriage-finger4 ,i remember this picture being exhibited at the ,royal ,academy in #ahef2 ,i thought highly of it1 and looked1 but in vain1 for a repetition of a success so complete as to cause the purchase of the picture by a well-known dealer1 who had an engraving made from it1 the print meeting with extensive popularity4 ,halliday's face was a very plain one1 but totally unlike that of ,tom ,noddy3 his hair was pale yellow1 a vapoury moustache joining a soft beard1 long but sparse whiskers2 he was slightly lame1 and altogether an elf-like quaintness in his appearance made him quite a remarkable little figure4 ,leech1 says ,mr4 ,hunt1 became intimate with him1 and so under many names and ingenious disguises did ,leech's public make his acquaintance--,tom ,noddy1 and a variety of names he figured under4 ,leech told of an expedition which formed a small party with ,halliday one evening in the country1 where there was to be a meet with the hounds next morning4 ,as they dined and chatted1 the attractions became greater every minute to the cavalier instincts of ,halliday's youth4 ,leech and the others had horses coming1 and on inquiry it was found that it would be possible for ,mike to find a mount at hand1 and so it was pointed out that he could sleep there and have a good day on the morrow4 ',no1' said ,halliday1 ',i must find a train from town in time to be at the cover4' ',why1 in the name of mystery--why go to town8' said they all4 ,but all was useless--the little man would go1 and would come back by a train starting very early from town2 and so1 to the bewilderment of all1 he did4 ,the next morning the friends went to see the train come in4 ,as it stopped1 down jumped the little ,nimrod1 decked out in carefully preserved pink1 well-stained cords1 with top-boots1 and falling over the rim a tassel of ribbons in emulation of ,sixteen-stringed ,jack1 as dandy hunting-men had dressed twenty years before4 ,he was capped with hunting-helmet1 and he carried a magnificent riding-whip in hand4 ,seeing him thus walking and skipping with that outward turn of the feet1 which is denominated in horsey parlance 'dishing1' ,leech said that with all the desire in the world to treat the matter with supreme seriousness1 as ,halliday did1 it was almost impossible for him to curb his provoked risibility4 ,leech1 in speaking of ,halliday at a party1 of which ,holman ,hunt made one1 said3 ,mike is a mine of resource to me4 ,whenever ,i am in difficulties ,i can remember something of him that it is possible to turn into a 'subject'2 and1 he added earnestly1 ,i do hope he never recognises the resemblance1 for ,i often put some point to prevent recognition4 ,the surprise at this innocence made the whole table burst into laughter1 but in undeceiving ,leech we were able to assure him that ,halliday was by no means pained by the darts which had struck him2 that he wore them proudly as decorations1 and so disarmed the ill-nature that might be disposed to take advantage of the chance4 ,he often achieved this by drawing the attention of his visitors to the last addition to his gallery of ,punch portraits1 exhibited on the walls of his studio4 ,it must have been from some peculiarity of dress or manner1 to which ,halliday's attention was called by a candid friend1 that he discovered that in drawing ,tom ,noddy ,leech had him in his eye2 for1 as ,i said before1 his face was as unlike that of ,tom ,noddy as ,leech's own face was unlike the round1 good-humoured physiognomy of ,mr4 ,briggs1 though some of the escapades of ,briggs had their origin in ,leech's personal experiences3 a happy accident to the roof of ,leech's house1 and the noise and varied troubles caused in repairing it1 was the suggestion of the famous scene of the ,briggs disaster2 and it was ,leech himself who was caught by the leg by a policeman as--finding his front door blocked by scaffolding--he was attempting to enter in what that functionary considered a burglarious manner4 ,leech was more fortunate than another artist of my acquaintance1 for the officer listened to his explanation of the unusual way of entering his house1 and1 believing the statement1 assisted him to make himself at home4 ,but my other friend1 who had been dining1 finding something the matter with his latch-key--for do what he would he could not induce it to perform its usual office--mounted his area railings1 and would very likely have fallen into the area if he had not been stopped by a policeman4 ,the artist's attempts to explain his position were either incomprehensible by the officer1 or they were not believed1 for he was taken to the station and locked up for the night4 ,leech gives us no hint by which we might guess in what condition of life the immortal ,briggs made the fortune that enabled him to retire to his comfortable home in ,bayswater2 whatever his pursuit may have been1 the taste for sport of every kind must have possessed the prosperous gentleman1 to be indulged to the full--happily for us--when he had achieved independence4 ,leech's powers are seen in their highest development in the ,briggs drawings4 ,mr4 ,briggs is unfortunate in respect of horseflesh2 the animals he selects are none of them free from vice1 and in their various--and often successful--attempts to unseat their rider1 they give the artist opportunities of showing his power of representing almost every action of which the horse is capable in the indulgence of that propensity4 ,the enterprising sportsman chases the fox1 coming in at the death1 or soon after it--anyway1 in time to give the huntsman half-a-sovereign for the brush1 only he must say nothing about it4 ,he rides steeplechases1 and though he is half drowned in a water-jump1 and suffers other hindrances1 he wins the race4 ,but it is in the shooting and fishing exploits that the sportsman and his illustrator shine most4 ,among so many triumphs of art and sportsmanship1 it is difficult to say which of the many excellent examples is to be preferred2 all are admirable1 but ,i think the one ,i have chosen for illustration is my favourite4 ,mr4 ,briggs is deer-stalking1 and though he occasionally suffers1 even to prostration1 from the heat of the weather1 and the difficulties presented by hills1 rocks1 and heather1 he really enjoys creeping and hiding with his gillies1 until the royal hart1 which the forester has seen through his glass1 is well within rifle shot4 ,he fires1 misses2 and behold the result6 ,illustration3 ,,after ,,aiming ,,for ,a ,,quarter ,,of ,,an ,,hour1 ,,mr4 ,b4 ,,fires ,,both ,,his ,,barrels ,,and ,,misses66 ,,tableau3 ,,the ,,forester',s ,,anguish4 ,in expression1 drawing1 character1 and action1 the figure of the forester is perfect2 there is a tragic grandeur in the pose that would be appropriate in the gravest scene of misfortune4 ,poor ,mr4 ,briggs plainly shows us that he not only suffers from the mortification of having missed so splendid an opportunity of distinguishing himself1 but also from the misery his mishap has inflicted upon the forester4 ,the skilful way in which this drawing is composed--the three figures separated from each other presenting a difficult problem to the artist--excites one's admiration4 ,without the connecting links afforded by the forms in the landscape1 and the lines made by the dogs in the leash1 held by the young gilly1 the figures would be unpleasantly separated4 ,as it is1 with the masterly effect of light and shadow1 this drawing is above all criticism4 ,my elderly readers may remember a certain ,mr4 ,rarey1 an ,american1 ,i think1 who took the town by his horse-taming feats4 ,a horse named ,cruiser1 which was in the habit of indulging in every wickedness that could disgrace a horse1 became docile under the ,rarey treatment4 ,the tamer's method was a profound secret2 he allowed no one to witness the working of the charm by which a furious animal was changed into lamb-like meekness4 ,in ,cruiser's case1 what was certain was1 that a creature unapproachable without risk to limb and life1 was transformed to such an extent that a child might--and did--ride him4 ,in a number of admirably humorous drawings1 ,leech pictures ,mr4 ,briggs1 who comes to grief in all his attempts to emulate ,mr4 ,rarey4 ,he evidently does not possess the secret1 and though we laugh over his failures1 we respect the courage which led to them4 ,mr4 ,briggs tries his shooting pony is an inimitable drawing4 ,mr4 ,b4 has no doubt been assured that the pony will take no more notice of a gun when fired from his back than if you was to whistle a tune as you was riding of him4 ,in perfect confidence in the truthfulness of the dealer's assurance1 ,mr4 ,briggs fires4 ,the pony instantly flies1 rather than gallops1 away--without1 however1 unseating ,mr4 ,briggs1 who clings to the saddle1 clutching his gun still smoking from the recent discharge4 ,mr4 ,briggs goes to ,scotland after salmon1 as well as deer and grouse4 ,as a fisherman he is more successful with the rod than he was as a deer-stalker with the gun4 ,a huge salmon1 for which he would not take a guinea a pound1 rewards him for a long and desperate struggle1 in which he encounters obstacles in the shape of the slippery rocks and deep-water holes that distinguish a ,highland river4 ,in ,scottish scenery ,leech is as much at home as he is in the turnip-field or the covert4 ,no praise can be too extravagant for all the backgrounds that form so perfect a setting for the gem-like figures of ,mr4 ,briggs4 ,nor must his attendants be forgotten4 ,witness the difference of character1 so completely marked1 between the snuff-taking bearer of the gaff1 with his ,scotch bonnet1 and the forester in his kilt1 who so pathetically mourns ,mr4 ,briggs' failure1 and who afterwards makes him free of the forest by smearing his face with the blood of a stag which has died by the accidental discharge of his gun4 ,during the quarter of a century of ,leech's work1 the ,british public had its crazes--,bloomerism1 crinoline1 spirit-rapping1 and other less dangerous absurdities than the last1 seized upon the minds of large portions of the people1 to be thrown aside and replaced by other ridiculous fancies4 ,even games1 after a time1 seem to pall upon the players3 cricket1 happily1 bids fair to be perennial2 but croquet1 once so fashionable1 is no more4 ,when one looks at ,leech's drawings1 in which crinolines figure so prominently1 it is really difficult to believe that the artist has not exaggerated a frightful fashion2 from observation ,i can assure a doubter that ,leech has frequently under1 rather than over1 done the swell of those voluminous skirts4 ,of course1 whenever they are permitted to do so1 servants will imitate their masters and mistresses1 and it was by no means uncommon for the ribs of a housemaid's crinoline to assert themselves through the outer skirt1 as we see in some of ,leech's drawings4 ,i would draw attention to the opposite1 or antithesis1 of this4 ,in some of the cuts1 prior1 ,i think1 to the crinoline mania1 ,leech's delightful girls wear jackets of a form that follows the lines of nature1 and of a very picturesque shape4 ,these have a very short reign1 being discarded in their turn by that ,goddess of ,fashion1 the dressmaker1 for something new and outrageous4 ,there is amongst the ,pictures of ,life and ,character a drawing of a dinner-party in which the male guests are so hidden and covered by ladies' crinolines that their heads and a small portion of their shoulders only are visible4 ,how the gentlemen's hands are to be used in the consumption of their dinners is left to the imagination of the beholder1 and of the sufferers4 ,for the unexaggerated truth of this print ,i1 who write1 can vouch2 for have ,i not again and again been obliged to solve the difficulty of using my knife and fork8 ,in spite of the attacks upon it1 crinoline had its day--and far too long a day it was4 ,the ,bloomer costume--a ,yankee invention--made but a feeble struggle for existence1 though it had many advocates1 notably a belle ,americaine1 one of whose lectures at the ,hanover ,square rooms ,i had the curiosity to attend4 ,the lady wore a red velvet overcoat and loose trousers1 a broad-brimmed black hat and feather1 and looked and talked like a pretty boy4 ,bloomerism afforded ,leech many opportunities of showing that his pencil could invest eccentricity with beauty4 ,a study of the ,bloomer sketches will also show that the attempt to adopt the manly dress was1 in his estimation1 an insidious attempt to usurp manly work and offices4 ,in proof of this see the charming ,bloomer omnibus-conductor1 who is threatened by an elderly male passenger with a summons for abusive language2 or the group of ,bloomer police1 who fly from a riotous mob instead of arresting the ringleaders4 ,look at her again as the man at the wheel who must not be spoken to4 ,those who have suffered from sea-sickness will see by the expression of the ,bloomer's countenance why she should not be spoken to1 and what the effect of conversation under the circumstances would most probably be4 ,leech gave his imagination full play in this fruitful theme4 ,granting the assumption of the masculine dress1 he sees no reason why a proposal should not be made by the female lover instead of the male4 ,why1 he seems to ask1 should the gentleman have to undergo that terrible ordeal8 ,i advise my reader to seek in ,pictures of ,life and ,character for a drawing of an elopement in which the positions of the principals are reversed4 ,it is the lady who is pouring words of passionate persuasion into the ears of her frightened and half-reluctant lover1 as he looks back at the home he is leaving for ever2 she almost drags him to the carriage which is to bear the happy pair away to ,gretna ,green4 ,spirit-rapping1 table-turning1 and the rest of it1 fare badly at the hands of ,leech4 ,happy was the thought that possessed him when1 by a touch of his magic pencil1 he changed the heads of a seance-party into those of geese4 ,and how admirably humorous is the drawing in which furniture starts into life at the bidding of a medium1 to the astonishment and dismay of the housemaid6 ,hats were supposed to turn about and wheel about under the influence of encircled hands round the brims4 ,it would be a mistake to suppose that the handsome ,guardsman who1 with the assistance of the fingers of those pretty creatures1 so patiently waits for the hat to move1 has either the expectation or the desire that the experiment will be successful4 ,no1 he greatly enjoys the situation1 and is eager to prolong it for any unreasonable time4 ,here ,i cannot resist interposing a little anecdote of an experience of which ,i should like to have an explanation by the spiritualists4 ,the incident took place on one of the many occasions when ,i served as a member of the dreaded ,hanging ,committee of the ,royal ,academy4 ,as is well known1 the ,academicians have a vast variety of works of art offered for exhibition1 perpetrated1 as a rule1 by human hands4 ,but there is no rule without an exception1 and it was my fate to witness the exception in the form of pictures painted by spirits1 and sent for exhibition by their thrice-blessed proprietor4 ,these were very striking works indeed4 ,at first sight they looked like masses of many-coloured weeds1 very weird vegetation1 unlike anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath4 ,on nearer inspection1 some childishly-drawn1 half-naked figures were discernible amongst the weeds1 intended to represent spiritual forms of departed friends1 probably1 who had been changed into these unfortunate figures4 ,these works received our most careful examination1 created laughter1 and were rejected4 ,now1 ,i respectfully ask what the spirits were about thus to subject themselves and their doings to the ignorant ribaldry of the ,academicians8 ,they must have known that we were in a state of darkest unbelief1 and the least they could have done was to warn the owner of these works of their certain fate at our hands1 and thus have saved him the trouble of sending them to ,burlington ,house1 to say nothing of the expense of the handsome frames in which they were enshrined4 ,i pause for a reply4 ,archery and croquet afforded ,leech opportunities for the display of beauty in many forms4 ,his lady-archers are bewitching creatures1 their male competitors always manly1 graceful gentlemen4 ,the pursuit of both amusements offered chances of love-making and flirtation1 of which full advantage is sometimes taken2 indeed1 in one instance we see a game of croquet stopped altogether by a couple who find an interchange of--shall we say vows8--more interesting than the game2 a feeling which1 judging from the other players1 is by no means shared4 ,leech seems to have left no phase of human life and character untouched3 whether he deals with the aristocrat or the plebeian1 the ,duchess or the beggar1 the very poor or the very rich1 the beautiful or the ugly1 he is ever true to ,nature2 turning away from our vices1 dealing lovingly with us in all ways1 touching our follies lightly1 humorously1 and always good-naturedly--in short1 invariably reflecting in his work his own disposition to what is pure1 manly1 and true4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,thomas ,,hood ,,and ,,leech4 ,the difficulty of gauging public taste in matters literary and artistic can be proved by numberless examples4 ,how often does the manager of a theatre place in trembling anxiety a piece before his audience which afterwards runs for hundreds of nights6 ,our ,boys has had a long life upon the stage2 but so doubtful was everyone connected with its production of its living for one night even1 that another play was held in readiness to take the place of the damned one4 ,books that have made reputations for their authors have been refused by publisher after publisher4 ,engravings run the same perilous course4 ,print-sellers1 from long experience of public wants1 should know what will satisfy them2 but they seem to find the difficulty that befalls publishers and the managers of theatres4 ,many years ago a very pretty servant-maid became a part of my household4 ,i induced her to sit for me1 having noticed the graceful way in which her various duties were performed2 and ,i made a half-length figure of her carrying a silver salver1 on which was a decanter1 thinking that the contrast between the silver1 glass1 and a pretty gray dress would make an effective scheme of colour4 ,the picture was beautifully engraved by ,holl1 and offered for publication by a friend1 who bought it1 to one of the most experienced print-sellers in ,london4 ,to please my friend1 to whom the print-seller was under great obligation1 he bought the right of publication2 but having no faith in its success1 my pretty servant was passed on--at a sacrifice--to another print-seller1 and she afterwards found great favour with the public1 and was highly remunerative to her proprietor1 under the name and title of ,sherry1 sir8 ,this title was the happy thought of the print-seller1 who1 on my remonstrating with him for vulgarizing my picture1 informed me that the title had been the sole cause of the success of the engraving4 ,a print was published many years ago of three chorister boys in surplice and cassock1 who1 with open mouths and upturned eyes1 are supposed to be singing4 ,in a moment of inspiration the artist1 who1 ,i believe1 was also the engraver1 christened his subject1 ,we praise ,thee1 ,o ,lord6 and then offered it at most of the principal print-shops in ,london1 where it was invariably refused4 ,the artist published ,we praise ,thee1 etc41 himself1 and1 ,i was told1 made more than two thousand pounds by it4 ,all this is introductory to the most astonishing example that could be conceived of the fallacy of what ,i may call expert opinion1 on literary merit and public taste4 ,i am not sure of the precise date1 but ,i think it was about #ahdh or #ahdi that ,hood's ,song of the ,shirt appeared in ,punch4 ,there is1 or was1 a letter in existence from ,hood to ,mark ,lemon1 then editor of ,punch1 in which the writer tells his friend he has enclosed a poem that he may publish in ,punch if he likes2 but he most likely won't like1 and refuse it1 as the publishers1 one and all1 to whom it has been offered1 had done without hesitation4 ,in that case1 said ,hood1 tear it up1 and put it in the waste-paper-basket2 for ,i am sick of the sight of it4 ,this was the ,song of the ,shirt1 one of the most powerful1 touching1 and pathetic poems in the ,english language4 ,my old friend1 ,willert ,beale1 whose recently-published ,light of ,other ,days has charmed so many readers1 sends me the following account of the introduction of the ,song of the ,shirt into ,punch3 ,mark ,lemon 7then editor of ,punch7 was looking over the immense heap of ,punch letters on his desk1 when he opened one enclosing a poem1 which the writer said had been rejected by three contemporaries1 and if unavailable for ,punch1 he begged the editor1 whom he knew but slightly1 to consign the paper to his waste-basket1 as he was sick of the sight of it4 ,the poem was signed ',tom ,hood1' and entitled ',the ,song of the ,shirt1' now so famous among us all4 ,of a totally different character to anything that had previously appeared in the pages of ,punch1 most of the staff were dead set against the insertion of it2 but ,mark ,lemon1 whose quick appreciation of its merits made him unwilling to let so valuable a prize slip from his grasp1 over-ruled all objections with quiet though firm determination1 and brought it before the public through the medium of ,punch4 ,the insertion trebled the sale of the number4 ,mark ,lemon was always very proud of this success1 which was certainly attributable to his efforts4 ',hood wants but one thing to make him famous1' he used to say1 'and that is death4' ,his words were verified1 for in poverty and comparative obscurity died one of ,england's cleverest men4 ,in #ahdi some very painful disclosures were made in the ,metropolitan police-courts1 when it appeared that numbers of poor sempstresses were paid by the slop-sellers only three-halfpence for making a shirt1 and in proportion for other articles of ready-made clothing4 ,in all probability these disclosures suggested the ,song of the ,shirt1 as they assuredly did the charming designs by ,leech1 called ,pin-,money and ,needle-,money4 ,it seems to me almost an impertinence for a commentator on such admirable designs as these to point out the beauties so palpable to all who look at them4 ,we sympathize with each of these classes of beings1 for they are both the results of conditions that they have done nothing to create4 ,it is certain that one of them is miserable1 and it is by no means sure that the lovely girl's pin-money brings happiness with it4 ,there was everything in the shape of similarity of thought and feeling to have brought ,leech and ,hood into intimacy1 but ,i doubt if they ever saw much of each other4 ,hood's comparatively premature death1 preceded by much sickness and seclusion1 took place while ,leech was far from the position in public estimation that he afterwards reached4 ,in proof of similarity of humour ,i give the following note from ,hood to ,dickens3 #ag1 ,elm ,tree ,road1 #ahda1 ,saturday4 ,,dear ,,dickens1 ,as you are going to ,america1 and have kindly offered to execute any little commission for me1 pray1 if it be not too much trouble1 try to get me an autograph of ,sandy ,hook's4 ,i have ,theodore's4 ,yours very truly1 ,,thos4 ,,hood4 ,my boy does not wait for an answer4 ,miss ,kilmansegg and her ,precious ,leg3 a ,golden ,legend1 is perhaps one of the best1 as it is certainly the longest1 of ,hood's poems1 remarkable1 indeed1 for its puns and ingenious play upon words1 its felicitous rhyming1 and its underlying moral4 ,miss ,kilmansegg was born with a golden spoon in her mouth1 and her condition is shown in the charming drawing with which ,leech illustrates the following lines3 ,what wide reverses of fate are there6 ,whilst ,margaret1 charmed by the ,bulbul rare1 ,in a ,garden of ,gull reposes1 ,poor ,peggy hawks nosegays from street to street1 ,till--think of that1 who find life so sweet6-- ,she hates the smell of roses6 ,illustration3 ,,what ,,wide ,,reverses ,,of ,,fate ,,are ,,there6 ,not so with the infant ,kilmansegg-- ,she was not born to steal or beg1 ,or gather cresses in ditches2 ,to plait the straw1 or bind the shoe1 ,or sit all day to hem and sew1 ,as females must--and not a few6-- ,to fill their insides with stitches4 ,the christening of the golden child was an affair so splendid as to tax the poet's invention for tropes and figures worthy of the occasion3 ,gold6 and gold6 and nothing but gold6 ,the same auriferous shine behold ,wherever the eye could settle6 ,on the walls--the sideboard--the ceiling--sky--1 ,on the gorgeous footmen standing by1 ,in coats to delight a miner's eye ,with seams of precious metal4 ,gold6 and gold6 and besides the gold1 ,the very robe of the infant told ,a tale of wealth in every fold-- ,it lapped her like a vapour6 ,so fine6 so thin6 the mind at a loss1 ,could compare it to nothing except a cross ,of cobweb with banknote paper4 ,powerful as the poet's imagination shows in these glittering rhymes1 it fails him in his endeavour to find a prefix in the form of a name worthy of accompanying ,kilmansegg4 ,he says3 ,then the babe was crossed and blessed amain1 ,but instead of ,kate1 or ,ann1 or ,jane1 ,which the humbler female endorses-- ,instead of one name1 as some people prefix1 ,kilmansegg went at the tails of six1 ,like a carriage of state with its horses4 ,the names1 therefore1 are left to the imagination of the reader1 who may learn1 if he will1 some particulars of the nameless ,kilmansegg's childhood3 ,turn we to little ,miss ,kilmansegg1 ,cutting her first little toothy-peg ,with a fifty-guinea coral-- ,a peg upon which ,about poor and rich ,reflection might hang on a moral4 ,born in wealth1 and wealthily nursed1 ,capp'd1 papp'd1 napp'd1 and lapp'd from the first ,on the knees of ,prodigality1 ,her childhood was one eternal round ,of the game of going on ,tiddler's ground1 ,picking up gold in reality4 99 99 99 99 99 ,gold6 and gold6 'twas the burden still6 ,to gain the heiress's early goodwill ,there was much corruption and bribery4 ,the yearly cost of her golden toys ,would have given half ,london's charity boys ,and charity girls the annual joys ,of a holiday dinner at ,highbury4 ,the kind of education permitted to this unfortunate heiress may be gathered from the following extracts3 ,long before her ,a ,b and ,c ,they had taught her by heart her s4 d41 ,and as how she was born a great heiress2 ,and as sure as ,london was made of bricks ,my ,lord would ask her the day to fix ,to ride in a fine gilt coach and six1 ,like her ,worship the ,lady ,mayoress4 ,the very metal of merit they told1 ,and praised her for being as 'good as gold'6 ,till she grew as a peacock haughty2 ,of money they talked the whole day round1 ,and weighed desert like grapes1 by the pound1 ,till she had an idea from the very sound ,that people with naught were naughty4 ,gold6 still gold4444 ,gold ran in her thoughts and filled her brain1 ,she was golden-headed1 like ,peter's cane1 ,with which he walked behind her4 ,illustration ,leech's drawings which decorate ,miss ,kilmansegg display his appreciation of beauty and character1 and are1 in some examples1 of great artistic excellence--notably in the portrait of the foreign gentleman who became the husband of the heiress4 ,some of them are1 of course1 deficient in the artistic qualities with which his long practice enabled him to enrich his latest work4 ,my space will not permit of my making many extracts from ,hood's admirable work--only1 indeed1 so far as to explain ,leech's drawings2 but to those of my readers who make ,miss ,kilmansegg's acquaintance for the first time in these pages1 ,i heartily recommend a perusal of the poem1 and envy them the pleasure they will find in reading it4 ,of course ,miss ,kilmansegg 444 learnt to sing and to dance1 ,to sit on a horse although he should prance1 ,and to speak a ,french not spoken in ,france ,any more than at ,babel's building4 ,the steed was a thoroughbred of great spirit-- ,a regular thoroughbred ,irish horse1 ,and he ran away1 as a matter of course1 ,with a girl worth her weight in guineas4 ,i think it would be very difficult to find a description of any event in any book to equal ,hood's account of the mad career of the ,irish horse and its unfortunate rider3 ,away went the horse in the madness of fright1 ,and away went the horsewoman mocking the sight2 ,was yonder blue flash a flash of blue light1 ,or only the flash of her habit8 ,away she flies1 and the groom behind-- encountering all the perils of ,london streets1 till the inevitable catastrophe takes place3 ,on and on6 still frightfully fast6 ,dover ,street1 ,bond ,street1 all are past6 ,but--yes--no--yes6--they're down at last6 99 99 99 99 99 ,there's a shriek and a sob ,and the dense dark mob ,like a billow closes around them6 ',she breathes6' ',she don't' ',she'll recover6' ',she won't4' ',she's stirring6 she's living by ,nemesis6' ,gold1 still gold1 on counter and shelf1 ,golden dishes as plenty as delf1 ,miss ,kilmansegg's coming again to herself ,on an opulent goldsmith's premises6 ,the heiress recovers2 but1 alas6 in her fall she broke her leg1 and as the limb was doomed it couldn't be saved4 ,a substitute must be found4 ,of what1 then1 shall the proxy limb be made8 ,she couldn't--she shouldn't--she wouldn't have wood6 ,nor a leg of cork1 if she never stood2 ,and she swore an oath1 or something as good1 ,the proxy limb should be golden6 ,so a leg was made in a comely mould ,of gold--fine virgin1 glittering gold-- ,as solid as man could make it2 ,solid in foot1 and calf1 and shank1 ,a prodigious sum of money it sank2 ,in fact 'twas a ,branch of the family ,bank1 ,and no easy matter to break it4 ,the golden leg became the talk of the town1 kicking away all other attractions4 ,the new novel1 the new murder1 even wild ,irish riots and rum-pusses1 were neglected2 in fact1 the leg was in everybody's mouth1 and a grand fancy ball was given at the ,kilmansegg mansion to celebrate the heiress's recovery1 as well as to exhibit the golden leg4 ,all the world and his wife worship at the golden shrine3 ,in they go--in jackets1 and cloaks1 ,plumes and bonnets1 turbans and tokes1 ,as if to a congress of nations3 ,greeks and ,malays1 with daggers and dirks1 ,spaniards and ,jews1 ,chinese and ,turks-- ,some like original foreign works1 ,but mostly like bad translations4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but where--where--where8 with one accord ,cried ,moses and ,mufti1 ,jack and my ,lord1 ,wang-,fong and ,il ,bondacani-- ,when slow and heavy1 and dead as a dump1 ,they heard a foot begin to stump1 ,thump6 lump6 ,lump6 thump6 ,like the spectre in ',don ,giovanni6' ,and lo6 the heiress1 ,miss ,kilmansegg1 ,with her splendid1 brilliant1 beautiful leg1 ,in the garb of a ,goddess olden-- ,like chaste ,diana going to hunt ,with a golden spear--which of course was blunt1 ,and a tunic looped up to a gem in front1 ,to show the leg was golden4 ,the fancy ball was a great success1 and at supper--which the poet describes in glowing language--the heiress's health was proposed3 ',miss ,kilmansegg1 ,full glasses ,i beg4 ,miss ,kilmansegg and her ,precious ,leg6' ,and away went the bottle careering6 ,wine in bumpers6 and shouts in peals6 ,till the clown didn't know his head from his heels1 ,the ,mussulman's eyes danced two-some reels1 ,and the ,quaker was hoarse with cheering6 ,the party being over1 and the last guest gone1 ,miss ,kilmansegg went to bed and to dream3 ,miss ,kilmansegg took off her leg ,and laid it down like a cribbage-peg1 ,for the rout was done and the riot2 ,the square was hushed1 not a sound was heard ,the sky was gray1 and no creature stirr'd ,except one little precocious bird ,that chirped--and then was quiet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and then on the bed her frame she cast1 ,the time for repose had come at last2 ,but long1 long after the storm is past ,rolls the turbid1 turbulent billow4 ,she dreams3 ,gold6 she saw at her golden foot ,the ,peer whose tree has an olden root2 ,the ,proud1 the ,great1 the ,learned to boot1 ,the handsome1 the gay1 and the witty-- ,the man of ,science--of ,arms--of ,art1 ,the man who deals but at ,pleasure's mart1 ,and the man who deals in the ,city4 ,the poet now rhymes delightfully of the time--the perilous time--when a choice has to be made of a partner in life for the heiress4 ,the dream was realized so far as regards the number of her suitors1 for-- to tell the rigid truth1 ,her favour was sought by ,age and ,youth1 ,for the prey will find a prowler6 ,she was followed1 flattered1 courted1 address'd1 ,woo'd and coo'd and wheedl'd1 and press'd ,by suitors from ,north1 ,south1 ,east1 and ,west1 ,like that ,heiress in song1 ',tibbie ,fowler4' ,the embarras de choix resulted1 as often happens1 in the selection of the worst of the group3 ,a foreign ,count--who came incog4 ,not under a cloud1 but under a fog1 ,in a ,calais packet's fore-cabin1 ,to charm some lady ,british-born1 ,with his eyes as black as the fruit of the thorn1 ,and his hooky nose1 and his beard half shorn1 ,like a half-converted ,rabbin4 99 99 99 99 99 ,he was dressed like one of the glorious trade-- ,at least1 when ,glory is off parade-- ,with a stock1 and a frock1 well trimmed with braid1 ,and frogs--that went a-wooing4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,foreign ,,count4 ,he could act the tender1 and do the cruel2 ,for amongst his other killing parts1 ,he had broken a brace of female hearts1 ,and murdered three men in a duel4 ,savage at heart1 and false of tongue2 ,subtle with age1 and smooth to the young1 ,like a snake in his coiling and curling1 ,such was the ,count--to give him a niche-- ,who came to court that heiress rich1 ,and knelt at her foot--one needn't say which-- ,besieging her ,castle of ,sterling4 ,in the whole range of ,leech's art1 no more subtle realization of character can be found than this wonderful drawing presents2 in every touch1 in every line1 can be read the savage brutality of the man to whom the happiness of ,hood's poor rich heroine is confided4 ,how evident is the trail of the serpent over features not unhandsome6 ,the love that could fail to be warned by such a face must be blind indeed4 ,the poet's comments1 and the contrast he shows between the lots of those who marry for money and those in whom simple and true love have been the guiding stars1 are delightful4 ,i add an example3 ,but1 oh6 the love that gold must crown6 ,better1 better1 the love of the clown1 ,who admires his lass in her ,sunday gown1 ,as if all the fairies had dressed her6 ,whose brain to no crooked thought gives birth1 ,except that he never will part on earth ,with his truelove's crooked tester6 ,alas6 for the love that's linked with gold1 ,better1 better a thousand times told-- ,more honest and happy and laudable1 ,the downright loving of pretty ,ciss1 ,who wipes her lips1 though there's nothing amiss1 ,and takes a kiss1 and gives a kiss1 ,in which her heart is audible4 ,the ,count has been accepted2 he has presented his betrothed ,with a miniature sketch of his hooky nose1 ,and his dear dark eyes as black as sloes1 ,and his beard and whiskers as black as those4 ,the lady's consent he requited3 ,and instead of the lock that lovers beg1 ,the ,count received from ,miss ,kilmansegg ,a model1 in small1 of her precious leg-- ,and so the couple were plighted6 ,but a short time probably elapsed between the betrothal and the marriage1 which was solemnized1 with golden splendour1 of course1 at ,st4 ,james's ,church4 ,thus the poet sings3 ',twas morn--a most auspicious one6 ,from the golden east1 the golden sun ,came forth his glorious race to run ,through clouds of most splendid tinges2 ,clouds that had lately slept in shade1 ,but now seemed made ,of gold brocade1 ,with magnificent gold fringes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in short1 'twas the year's most golden day1 ,by mortals called the first of ,may1 ,when ,miss ,kilmansegg1 ,of the golden leg ,with a golden ring was married4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and then to see the groom6 the ,count ,with ,foreign ,orders to such an amount1 ,and whiskers so wild--nay1 bestial2 ,he seemed to have borrowed the shaggy hair1 ,as well as the stars1 of the ,polar ,bear1 ,to make him look celestial6 ,of course the church was crowded inside and out1 ,for next to that interesting job1 ,the hanging of ,jack1 or ,bill1 or ,bob1 ,there's nothing that draws a ,london mob ,as the noosing of very rich people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and then1 great ,jove6 the struggle1 the crush1 ,the screams1 the heaving1 the awful rush1 ,the swearing1 the tearing1 the fighting2 ,the hats and bonnets1 smashed like an egg1 ,to catch a glimpse of the golden leg1 ,which between the steps and ,miss ,kilmansegg ,was fully displayed in alighting4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but although a magnificent veil she wore1 ,such as never was seen before1 ,in case of blushes1 she blushed no more ,than ,george the ,first on a guinea6 99 99 99 99 99 ,bravely she shone--and shone the more1 ,as she sailed through the crowd of squalid and poor1 ,thief1 beggar1 and tatterdemalion2 ,led by the ,count1 with his sloe-black eyes1 ,bright with triumph1 and some surprise1 ,like ,anson1 in making sure of his prize1 ,the famous ,mexican galleon4 99 99 99 99 99 ,six ',handsome ,fortunes1' all in white1 ,came to help the marriage rite1 ,and rehearse their own hymeneals2 ,and then the bright procession to close1 ,they were followed by just as many beaux-- ,quite fine enough for ideals4 ,and how did the bride perform her part8 ,like any bride who is cold at heart1 ,mere snow with the ice's glitter2 ,what but a life of winter for her8 ,bright but chilly1 alive without stir1 ,so splendidly comfortless1 just like a fir ,when the frost is severe and bitter4 ,yet wedlock's an awful thing6 ',tis something like that feat in the ring ,which requires good nerve to do it1 ,when one of a 'grand equestrian troop' ,makes a jump at a gilded hoop1 ,not certain at all ,of what may befall ,after his getting through it4 ,such were the future of man and wife1 ,whose bale or bliss to the end of life ,a few short words were to settle3 ,wilt thou have this woman8 ,i will--and then1 ,wilt thou have this man8 ,i will1 and ,amen---- ,and those two were one flesh in the angels' ken1 ,except one leg--that was metal4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,wedding--,,wilt ,,thou ,,have ,,this ,,woman8 ,here we have the ,count in profile1 only more agreeable because the view affords less of his villainous face4 ,i confess ,i am disappointed with ,leech's rendering of ,miss ,kilmansegg4 ,i cannot see why she should be deprived of a portion of the sympathy one always feels for beauty in distress4 ,why should she be represented as the commonplace1 red-nosed creature who plays the part of the bride in ,leech's drawing8 ,to be sure1 the contrast she affords to the sweet little bridesmaid behind her heightens that young lady's attractions2 but ,i cannot help thinking the heiress is hardly treated4 ,i pass over the wedding-breakfast1 which was composed of everything in season1 and of much that was out of it-- ,for wealthy palates there be that scout ,what is in season for what is out1 ,and prefer all precocious savour2 ,for instance1 early green peas1 of the sort ,that costs some four or five guineas a quart1 ,where mint is the principal flavour4 ,the inevitable honeymoon follows-- ,to the loving a bright and constant sphere ,that makes earth's commonest scenes appear ,all poetic1 romantic1 and tender2 ,hanging with jewels a cabbage-stump1 ,and investing a common post or a pump1 ,a currant-bush or a gooseberry clump1 ,with a halo of dream-like splendour4 ,oh1 happy1 happy1 thrice happy state1 ,when such a bright planet governs the fate ,of a pair of united lovers6 ,tis theirs1 in spite of the serpent's hiss1 ,to enjoy the pure primeval kiss1 ,with as much of the old original bliss ,as mortality ever recovers4 ,illustration3 ,,love ,,at ,,the ,,board4 ,i hope my readers will agree with me1 that amongst the pleasures we receive from this delightful poem1 one of the greatest is the charming little sketch which it has suggested to ,leech in these two happy lovers1 completely wrapped up in each other1 with love in the cottage1 at the board1 and all about them4 ,but the ,kilmansegg moon6 ,now1 the ,kilmansegg moon1 it must be told1 ,though instead of silver it tipped with gold1 ,shone rather wan1 and distant1 and cold2 ,and before its days were thirty1 ,such gloomy clouds began to collect1 ,with an ominous ring of ill-effect1 ,as gave but too much cause to expect ,such weather as seamen call dirty4 ,she hated lanes1 she hated fields1 ,she hated all that the country yields1 ,and barely knew turnips from clover2 ,she hated walking in any shape1 ,and a country stile was an awkward scrape1 ,without the bribe of a mob to gape ,at the leg in clambering over4 ,gold1 still gold1 her standard of old-- ,all pastoral joys were tried by gold1 ,or by fancies golden and crural1 ,till ere she had passed one week unblest ,as her agricultural uncle's guest1 ,her mind was made up and fully imprest ,that felicity could not be rural4 ,and the ,count8 ,to the snow-white lambs at play1 ,and all the scents and sights of ,may1 ,and the birds that warbled their passion1 ,his ears1 and dark eyes1 and decided nose1 ,were as deaf1 and as blind1 and as dull as those ,that overlook the ,bouquet de ,rose1 ,the ,huile ,antique1 ,and ,parfum ,unique1 ,in a ,barber's ,temple of ,fashion4 ,and yet had that fault been his only one1 ,the pair might have had few quarrels or none1 ,for their tastes thus far were in common2 ,but faults he had that a haughty bride ,with a golden leg could hardly abide-- ,faults that would even have roused the pride ,of a far less metalsome woman4 99 99 99 99 99 ,he left her1 in spite of her tender regards1 ,and those loving murmurs described by bards1 ,for the rattling of dice and the shuffling of cards ,and the poking of balls into pockets4 ,moreover1 he loved the deepest stake ,and the heaviest bets the players would make1 ,and he drank--the reverse of sparely6 ,and he used strange curses that made her fret2 ,and when he played with herself at picquet1 ,she found to her cost-- ,for she always lost-- ,that the ,count did not count quite fairly4 ,and then came dark mistrust and doubt1 ,gathered by worming his secrets out1 ,and slips in his conversation-- ,fears which all her peace destroyed1 ,that his title was null1 his coffers were void1 ,and his ,french chteau was in ,spain1 or enjoyed ,the most airy of situations4 ,but still his heart--if he had such a part-- ,she--only she--might possess his heart1 ,and hold her affections in fetters4 ,alas6 that hope1 like a crazy ship1 ,was forced its anchor and cable to slip ,when1 seduced by her fears1 she took a dip ,in his private papers and letters-- ,letters that told of dangerous leagues1 ,and notes that hinted as many intrigues ,as the ,count's in the ',barber of ,seville4' ,in short1 such mysteries came to light ,that the ,countess-bride1 on the thirtieth night1 ,woke and started up in a fright1 ,and kicked and screamed with all her might1 ,and finally fainted away outright1 ,for she dreamt she had married the ,devil6 ,in short1 poor ,miss ,kilmansegg1 or1 rather1 the ,golden ,countess1 was utterly wretched3 ,her cheek is pale1 and her eye is dim1 ,and downward cast1 yet not at the limb ,once the centre of all speculation2 ,but downward drooping in comfort's dearth1 ,as gloomy thoughts are drawn to the earth-- ,whence human sorrows derive their birth-- ,by a moral gravitation4 ,how blessed the heart that has a friend ,a sympathizing ear to lend ,to troubles too great to smother6 ,but friend or gossip she had none ,to hear the vile deeds the ,count had done1 ,how night after night he rambled2 ,and how she learned by sad degrees ,that he drank and smoked1 and1 worse than these1 ,that he 'swindled1 intrigued1 and gambled'6 99 99 99 99 99 ,he brought strange gentlemen home to dine ,that he said were in the ,fancy ,line1-- ,and they fancied spirits instead of wine1 ,and called her lap-dog ',wenus4' ,illustration3 ,,he ,,brought ,,strange ,,gentlemen ,,home ,,to ,,dine4 ,leech has pretty well marked the profession of the strange gentlemen in this admirable drawing2 their attitudes1 the cut of their clothes1 the character in their figures1 to say nothing of the sticking-plaster on a face that could belong to no one but a fighting man1 sufficiently proclaim their habits4 ,the figure of the ,count is tragic in its intensity of drunken self-abandonment4 ,a leg of solid gold would1 no doubt1 if turned into cash1 represent a large sum of money4 ,it seems to have been the determination of the ,countess1 while still ,miss ,kilmansegg1 to have reserved to herself all rights over the golden leg1 for that auriferous limb was settled1 as well as fixed upon herself1 to be disposed of by will or otherwise1 as she pleased4 ,says the poet3 ,so the ,countess1 then ,miss ,kilmansegg1 ,at her marriage refused to stir a peg ,till her lawyers had fastened on her leg1 ,as fast as the law could tie it4 ,means which seem illimitable very speedily vanish when they fall into the hands of such people as the foreign ,count4 ,it was said of a famous rou of the last century that he practised every vice except prodigality and hypocrisy--his insatiable avarice exempted him from the first1 and his matchless impudence from the second4 ,our ,count seems to have surpassed his prototype1 whose impudence may not have been of the brutal character from which the poor ,countess suffered2 whilst a slight dash of avarice might have prevented the golden leg from being all that was left of her golden fortune4 ,the following lines eloquently describe the ,count's state of mind after his orgies3 ,and then how wildly he used to stare1 ,and shake his fist at nothing1 and swear1 ,and pluck by the handful his shaggy hair1 ,till he looked like a study of ,giant ,despair ,for a new edition of ,bunyan6 ,for dice will run the contrary way1 ,as is well known to all who play1 ,and cards will conspire as in treason4 ,at all events1 cards1 dice1 and other expensive amusements had so reduced the ,count that he had not a leg to stand upon1 except his wife's golden one1 and as that limb was in her own control1 it was but a doubtful security4 ,the ,countess had made a will in which the leg was left to the ,count1 but life is uncertain--the ,countess might outlive her husband2 moreover1 he was so placed that delay was not only dangerous1 but inconvenient4 ,the chronicler thus continues3 ,now1 the precious leg while cash was flush1 ,or the ,count's acceptance worth a rush1 ,had never excited dissension2 ,but no sooner the stocks began to fall1 ,than1 without any ossification at all1 ,the limb became what people call ,a perfect bone of contention4 ,for altered days made altered ways1 ,and instead of the complimentary phrase ,so current before her bridal1 ,the ,countess heard1 in language low1 ,that her precious leg was precious slow1 ,a good 'un to look at1 but bad to go1 ,and kept quite a sum lying idle4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but spite of hint1 and threat1 and scoff1 ,the leg kept its situation2 ,for legs are not to be taken off ,by a verbal amputation4 ,firmly then--and more firmly yet-- ,with scorn for scorn1 and with threat for threat1 ,the proud one confronted the cruel2 ,and loud and bitter the quarrel arose1 ,fierce and merciless--one of those ,with spoken daggers1 and looks like blows-- ,in all but the bloodshed a duel4 ,rash and wild1 and wretched and wrong1 ,were the words that came from weak and strong1 ,till1 maddened for desperate matters1 ,fierce as a tigress escaped from her den1 ,she flew to her desk--'twas opened--and then1 ,in the time it takes to try a pen1 ,or the clerk to utter his slow ',amen1' ,her will was in fifty tatters6 ,but the ,count1 instead of curses wild1 ,only nodded his head and smiled1 ,as if at the spleen of an angry child2 ,but the calm was deceitful and sinister6 ,and a lull like the lull of the treacherous sea-- ,for ,hate in that moment had sworn to be ,the golden leg's sole legatee1 ,and that very night to administer4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,torn ,,will4 ,that very night6--one more night of golden dreaming1 in the midst of which comes death2 the deliverer from an existence which the worship of gold has made so pitiful3 ',tis a stern and startling thing to think1 ,how often mortality stands on the brink ,of its grave without any misgiving3 ,and yet in this slippery world of strife1 ,in the stir of human bustle so rife1 ,there are daily sounds to tell us that life ,is dying1 and ,death is living6 ,but breath and bloom set doom at nought-- ,how little the wretched ,countess thought1 ,when at night she unloosed her sandal1 ,that the fates had woven her burial-cloth1 ,and that ,death1 in the shape of a death's head moth1 ,was fluttering round her candle6 ,as she looked at her clock of ormolu1 ,for the hours she had gone so wearily through ,at the end of a day of trial1 ,how little she saw in the pride of prime ,the dart of ,death in the hand of ,time-- ,that hand which moved the dial6 ,as she went with her taper up the stair1 ,how little her swollen eye was aware ,that the shadow which followed was double6 ,or when she closed her chamber-door1 ,it was shutting out1 and for evermore1 ,the world and its worldly trouble4 ,little she dreamt as she laid aside ,her jewels--after one glance of pride-- ,they were solemn bequests to ,vanity2 ,or when her robes she began to doff1 ,that she stood so near to the putting off ,of the flesh that clothes humanity4 ,and when she quenched the taper's light1 ,how little she thought1 as the smoke took flight1 ,that her day was done and merged in a night ,of dreams and duration uncertain2 ,or along with her own ,that a hand of bone ,was closing mortality's curtain6 99 99 99 99 99 ,thus1 even thus1 the ,countess slept1 ,while death still nearer and nearer crept1 ,like the ,thane who smote the sleeping2 ,but her mind was busy with early joys1 ,her golden treasures and golden toys1 ,that flashed a bright ,and golden light ,under lids still red with weeping4 ,the golden guineas in silken purse1 ,and the ',golden ,legends' she heard from her nurse1 ,of the ,mayor in his gilded carriage-- ,and ,london streets that were paved with gold1 ,and the golden eggs that were laid of old-- ,with each golden thing ,to the golden ring ,at her own auriferous marriage6 ,and still the golden light of the sun ,through her golden dream appeared to run1 ,though the night that roared without was one ,to terrify seamen or gipsies-- ,while the moon1 as if in malicious mirth1 ,kept peeping down at the ruffled earth1 ,as though she enjoyed the tempest's birth1 ,in revenge of her old eclipses4 ,but vainly1 vainly the thunder fell1 ,for the soul of the sleeper was under a spell1 ,that time had lately embittered-- ,the ,count1 as once at her foot he knelt-- ,that foot which now he wanted to melt6 ,but1 hush6 'twas a stir at her pillow she felt1 ,and some object before her glittered4 ',twas the golden leg6 she knew its gleam6 ,and up she started and tried to scream2 ,but even in the moment she started1 ,down came the limb with a frightful smash1 ,and1 lost in the universal flash ,that her eyeballs made at so mortal a crash1 ,the spark called vital departed4 ,gold1 still gold1 hard1 yellow1 and cold1 ,for gold she had lived1 and died for gold-- ,by a golden weapon1 not oaken2 ,in the morning they found her all alone-- ,stiff1 and bloody1 and cold as a stone-- ,but her leg1 the golden leg1 was gone1 ,and the 'golden bowl was broken4' ,,her ,,moral4 ,gold6 gold6 gold6 gold6 ,bright and yellow1 hard and cold1 ,molten1 graven1 hammered1 and rolled2 ,heavy to get1 and light to hold2 ,hoarded1 bartered1 bought1 and sold1 ,stolen1 borrowed1 squandered1 doled2 ,spurned by the young1 but hugged by the old ,to the very verge of the churchyard mould2 ,price of many a crime untold2 ,gold6 gold6 gold6 gold6 ,good or bad a thousandfold6 ,how widely its agencies vary-- ,to save1 to ruin1 to curse1 to bless-- ,as even its minted coins express1 ,now stamped with the image of good ,queen ,bess1 ,and now of ,bloody ,mary6 ,illustration3 ,,bedtime4 ,the admirable design--the tailpiece to the legend of ,miss ,kilmansegg and her ,golden ,leg--which ,leech calls ,bedtime1 is reproduced1 not only for its excellence as a composition1 but also in evidence of the readiness of the artist's imagination to adopt an idea that has been suggested by the poem1 and of the skill with which that cunning hand has realized it4 ,the little old miser has been counting out his money with the delight that time cannot wither1 nor custom stale4 ,his shrunken shanks1 thin face and hands1 betray his age4 ,death cannot be far off2 but no thought apart from the treasure can be spared for the inevitable visitor who surprises the miser at last in the midst of his golden worship4 ,he is far from being tired2 but he must go to bed1 and sleep the sleep that knows no waking4 ,his skeleton nurse has come for him2 her bony hands encircle him4 ,his shroud is on her arm2 she cannot wait--no1 not for him to handle once more those glittering coins1 on which his eye sparkles1 and his claw-like fingers make vain attempts to reach4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,dr4 ,,john ,,brown ,,and ,,leech4 ,whether that charming writer1 ,dr4 ,john ,brown1 knew ,leech in the flesh or not1 ,i cannot say2 but that he knew and fully appreciated him in spirit is evident enough in a paper published in a collection of essays entitled ,hor ,subseciv4 ,i gather from the concluding passages of the ,doctor's brilliant essay that it had been his intention to have written ,leech's life1 having collected much material for the purpose1 but that ill-health put a stop to this congenial labour4 ,how admirably the labour would have been executed may be shown by the following extracts3 ,leech1 says ,dr4 ,brown1 was singularly modest1 both as a man and an artist4 ,this came by nature1 and was indicative of the harmony and sweetness of his essence2 but doubtless the perpetual going to ,nature1 and drawing out of her fulness1 kept him humble1 as well as made him rich--made him 7what every man of sense and power must be7 conscious of his own strength4 ,but before 'the great mother' he was simple and loving1 attentive to her lessons as a child1 for ever learning and doing4 ,again3 ,of all our satirists1 none have such a pervading sense and power of girlish1 ripe1 and womanly beauty as ,leech4444 ,there is a genuine domesticity about his scenes that could come only from a man who was much at his own fireside1 and in the nursery when baby was washed4 ,you see1 he is himself pater familias1 with no ,bohemian trait or raffish turn4 ,what he draws1 he has seen2 what he asks you to live in1 and laugh at and with1 he has laughed at and lived in4 ,it is this wholesomeness and 7to use the right word7 this goodness that makes ,leech more than a drawer of funny pictures1 more even than a great artist4 ,it makes him a teacher and an example of virtue in its widest sense1 from that of manliness to the sweet devotion of a woman1 and the loving open mouth and eyes of parvula on your knee4 ,i find it difficult to believe that these remarks were written by one who had no personal knowledge of ,leech2 indeed1 ,i should have thought the writer must have enjoyed an amount of intimacy with him4 ,if ,dr4 ,brown and ,leech were strangers to each other1 the writer's accurate estimate of the artist shows how exactly the drawings reflect the delightful nature of their producer1 so familiar to his nearest friends4 ,what we owe to him1 adds ,dr4 ,brown1 of wholesome1 hearty mirth and pleasure1 and of something better than either--good as they are--purity1 affection1 pluck1 humour1 kindliness1 good-humour1 good-feeling1 good-breeding1 the love of ,nature1 of one another1 of truth1 the joys of children1 the loveliness of our homely ,english fields1 with their sunsets and village spires1 their glimpses into the pure infinite beyond1 the sea and all its fulness1 its waves 'curling their monstrous heads and hanging them1' their crisping smiles on sunlit sands--all that variety of ,nature and of man1 which is only less infinite than its ,maker6 ,something of this and of that mysterious quality called humour1 that fragrance and flavour of the soul1 which ,god has given us to cheer our lot1 to help us to 'take heart and hope and steer right onward1' to have our joke1 that lets us laugh and make game of ourselves when we have little else to laugh at or play with1 of that which gives us when we will the silver lining of the cloud1 and paints a rainbow on the darkened sky out of our own 'troublous tears'--something of all these has this great1 simple-hearted1 hard-working artist given to us and to our children as a joy and a possession for ever4 ,let us be grateful to him2 let us give him our best honour1 affection1 and regard4 ,walking with ,leech one day1 we met an old gentleman1 to whom ,i introduced my friend3 early in the fifties it was4 ,the old man1 though well stricken in years1 sported a dark and heavy moustache4 ,and so1 said ,leech1 when1 after a few commonplaces1 we separated1 that is old ,mr4 ,blank the portrait-painter1 is it8 ,what on earth induces him to wear purple moustachios8 ,purple they were1 certainly1 and of rather a bright tinge4 ,well1 ,i replied1 he has dyed them1 for they were white the other day4 ,in my opinion1 said ,leech1 only soldiers should be allowed moustachios4 ,in my early days1 that hirsute appendage created such a prejudice against the wearers as would not be credited in these beard-bearing times4 ,there were places of business the doors of which were closed against the moustache4 ,at a well-known bank complete shaving of moustache and beard is insisted upon to this day4 ,the sufferings of our troops in the ,crimea were sufficiently agonizing without the torment or even the possibility of the morning's shave2 and it is to the ,russian campaign we owe the beard movement1 which from that time to the present is so universal4 ,our officers returned from their battles covered with glory and hair1 and so much improved by the latter--in the opinion of those whose approval was most valued--as to make a sacrifice of it out of the question4 ,little did ,leech imagine when he made his sweeping objection to the moustache1 what a factor he would find it in his future work4 ,how many delightful sketches turn upon it6 ,who can forget those two little rival snobs--rivals in the love of some fair approver of beards--who have withdrawn themselves from society during the incubation of their moustachios1 and who1 having accidentally sought the same suburban retirement1 meet face to face1 stubbly beard to stubbly beard1 at a corner of a lane8 ,and that precocious young gentleman who asks his sisters if they approve of the removal of a moustache1 the presence of which they had never been able to discover6 ,under the heading of ,the ,beard ,movement1 we have a ,british swell in a fainting state in the arms of a policeman2 this serious condition having arisen from the sight of a postman with moustachios4 ,in another drawing1 policemen are marching to their posts of duty decorated by beards of such magnitude as to strike terror into the street boys1 who scatter in all directions at the sight of them4 ,in ,pictures of ,life and ,character other examples of the alarm excited by the beard movement are given with the refined humour peculiar to ,leech4 ,i find ,i have to modify somewhat my conviction that ,leech rarely adopted the subjects proposed to him for illustration2 no doubt by far the largest number were the outcome of his own conception1 or observation of incidents in his experience2 but ,i have proof of several examples to the contrary4 ,for instance1 ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt says3 ,one ,friday night ,i had sat down to much correspondence1 intending before concluding to write of two or three amusing facts picked up that might suit him 7,leech7 for illustration4 ,it had become very late1 and ,i was clearing away my paper1 when1 with vexation1 ,i remembered his letter had not been written4 ,i seized the pen1 and on a page ,i drew two horizontal lines quite dividing the space4 ,in the top ,i put3 ',scene--,kitchen garden1 country cottage4 ,dramatis ,person3 ,factotum1 master entering1' and then a line or two of dialogue4 ,the second subject ,i treated similarly1 and the third also1 which was not so promising4 ,i enclosed this without a word to ,leech1 and posted it with my other letters about two in the morning4 ,the following ,wednesday the two subjects1 admirably treated1 were in ,punch4 ,when next ,i saw him he was eager with excuses for not having written4 ,he added3 ',the letter when it was opened at breakfast was most opportune1 for ,i had to leave town by five1 and ,i was bound to furnish two designs before going1 and ,i had come down without having the wildest notion what to do4 ,the subjects in your note were ready-made1 and ,i was able to sketch them without a moment's waste of time4 ,mr4 ,hunt tells an anecdote of ,kenny ,meadows1 the jovial ,bohemian1 whom1 ,i hope1 the reader of these pages may remember1 that is so characteristic and amusing1 and illustrative of his own nature and of that of ,leech1 that ,i insert it in this place4 ,meadows was quite at the head of the ,punch artists when ,leech joined them1 and was naturally delighted by the praise bestowed upon his drawings by 'this ruler amongst the illustrators of ,punch4' ,he--,meadows--declared that a sight of ,leech's illustrations had so disgusted him with his own work that he felt inclined to give up art altogether4 ',why1' said he1 'should ,i go on giving proof after proof of my incapacity when you leave me so far behind8' ,this modest effusion was uttered early in the evening1 and before the setting in of the gin-and-water period1 which was destined to effect a striking change in ,meadows' estimate of himself1 and of the recent addition to the pictorial staff4 ,leech was a sincere admirer of ,meadows' work1 and of this he assured the self-condemning artist in no measured terms1 instancing for special praise many of ,kenny's designs brimming over with poetic conceits in the illustrations of ,shakespeare4 ,meadows listened to ,leech's compliments1 and said it was 'deuced liberal' of him to say what he did4 ,he then mixed himself a glass of gin and water1 saying1 ',well1 after all1 it's wise to make the best of things1 and be as jolly as one can under all circumstances4' ,the two artists then fell into general conversation1 and into--on the part of one of them--the imbibing of much gin and water4 ,under the influence of the latter1 ,meadows returned to the subject of his own works1 and proceeded to show in what respect they surpassed those of others--even ,leech's1 which were worthless from the absence of 'poetry1' which ought to sanctify all art4 ',give me imagination or nothing1 my dear boy6' he exclaimed4 ',i don't want your commonplace facts done with a little trick of caricature1 as it is called4 ,why don't you aim at something better1 something higher8 ,i would rather do nothing than the things you do1 which1 not only in design1 but in execution1 are unworthy of a true artist4' ,all this was told to my friend by ,leech himself1 and1 says ,mr4 ,hunt1 ,leech's shrug of the shoulders1 expressive of bearing infinite disgrace1 was the gesture of a comedian1 but a hearty1 good-natured laugh gave the real expression of the feeling left in his kind soul2 there was not a jot of malice there against the severe judgment upon himself4 ,the ,scandinavian hero returning so sedate from victory that he might have been supposed to have suffered a defeat1 or from disaster in the field1 so composed that he might have been thought victorious1 could not have surpassed ,leech's manner in accepting both the praise and the censure of his elder rival4 ,another old friend of mine1 ,mr4 ,horsley1 ,r4,a41 offers further proof of ,leech's occasional acceptance of suggestions for his designs4 ,in the course of a walk ,mr4 ,horsley was accosted by one of those itinerant traders to whom the street is the shop1 and solicited to buy a rope of onions4 ,take the last rope1 sir1 says the man4 ,my friend looks like a prosperous gentleman1 to whom the offer might be made with a prospect of success1 though the awkwardness of his appearance with the addition of a long rope of large onions in his hand would most likely prove a deterrent to the purchase4 ,mr4 ,horsley declined the offer1 but it instantly occurred to him that such a proposal1 if made to one of ,leech's swells1 would be intensely comic1 and he accordingly mentioned the incident to ,leech1 who smiled as usual and said nothing4 ,a drawing1 however1 appeared immediately in ,punch1 but1 strange to say1 the incident is defrauded of much1 if not all1 its humour4 ,the swell leaves nothing to be desired1 except that he certainly should have been alone1 and not1 as according to ,leech1 accompanied by a lady1 to whom the onions might have been useful4 ,the absurdity surely consisted in the ludicrous position of a young gentleman who was subjected to an offer of which he would scarcely know the meaning1 and much less likely to take advantage of it4 ,my friend expressed his disappointment to ,leech1 who1 with characteristic modesty1 acknowledged his mistake4 ,i may mention another curious failure1 says ,mr4 ,horsley4 ,leech came into my room one day roaring with laughter at a story he had just heard of two small boys who had been overheard discussing the age of a companion1 and one said to the other1 ',well1 ,i don't 'zactly know how old ,charley is2 but he must be very old1 for he blows his own nose4' ,this is delightful as coming from the little chaps that ,leech drew so perfectly2 but1 wonderful to relate1 he represented the conversation as passing between a boy looking fourteen or fifteen and a girl in a riding-habit4 ,illustration ,i subjoin the first idea of that which seems to be the incident told to ,mr4 ,horsley1 though it fails to illustrate the scene as described by ,mr4 ,horsley1 or the rendering of it afterwards adopted by ,leech4 ,the sketch1 however1 will show the rough manner in which all the thoughts so perfectly expressed on the wood-block were first sketched by the artist4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,autograph-,,hunters ,,and ,,others4 ,no doubt all painters1 poets1 literary men1 ,churchmen--in short1 all men who have attained to more or less celebrity--become the prey of the autograph-hunter1 either in the form of a boy at school1 a young lady whose life is made continuous sunshine by the contemplation of your pictures or the study of your delightful poems1 or an elderly gentleman who has watched your career with intense interest from its beginning4 ,each of these applicants1 strange to say1 avers that he or she will be made happier by the possession of your name on a card or a piece of paper which is enclosed for your signature1 and in addition to your valued name1 if you happen to be an artist1 if you will add a slight sketch1 the gratitude of the hunter will know no bounds4 ,i have been guilty on one or two occasions of complying with a desire that seems to verge upon the unreasonable2 but my folly is as nothing compared to that of ,edwin ,landseer1 who was a frequent and willing victim to such imposition4 ,on one of the many occasions when ,i had the happiness of receiving ,landseer at my house1 the conversation turned upon the autograph-hunter1 whose habits were strongly anathematized by some of us2 the great painter defended the craze as harmless1 easily gratified1 and complimentary to the objects of it4 ,only this morning1 said he1 ,i had an application from someone at ,birmingham for my name1 and for a sketch of a dog's head added to it2 well1 ,i complied with both desires4 ,i confess to my surprise when ,i heard this1 and ,i was amused on hearing artists who were present exclaim loudly against such a proceeding1 as creating a precedent that they would be expected to follow4 ,harmless1 however1 is the autograph pest in comparison with the really terrible album1 which bids unblushingly for work that may consume many hours of the time of the painter or the poet4 ,here1 again1 ,landseer was a great sinner2 many a splendidly bound album lies at this moment on gilded tables in stately ,english mansions1 the homes of our old nobility1 with delightful drawings of sporting scenes by that cunning hand2 and there are instances1 ,i am sorry to say1 of the possessors being unable to resist the sums offered for the purchase of their treasures so cheaply acquired4 ,as ,i am speaking of ,edwin ,landseer1 ,i seize the opportunity of expressing my great regret that my friend ,mr4 ,sidney ,cooper1 ,r4,a41 in his recently published memoirs1 should have created an impression in the public mind that ,landseer was a drunkard4 ,from my intimate knowledge of ,landseer1 ,i can aver that nothing could be further from the fact4 ,i have dined in his company scores of times1 and ,i have met him in all kinds of society1 and under conditions which would have made the propensity1 if it possessed him1 irresistible2 and never in a single instance did ,i1 or anyone else1 see ,landseer even excited by drink4 ,this was the habit of the man until about a year and a half before his death1 when the brain disorder began which afterwards destroyed him4 ,i cannot disguise from myself that if ,mr4 ,cooper had questioned the physicians who attended ,landseer in his last illness1 he would have been told that a craving for drink of every kind is one of the peculiarities of the disease which every sufferer from it is quite unable to resist4 ,i know that great care was taken to keep stimulants from the illustrious patient2 but that he may have secretly possessed himself of wine or spirits on certain occasions1 and in that way given a colour to the report of his drunken habits1 is probable enough2 but ,i venture to think a brother-artist--even if the charge of habitual intoxication could have been proved against this great painter--should have been mournfully silent2 how much more careful1 then1 should he have been1 if he desired--perhaps as a warning--to proclaim this terrible failing1 to ascertain whether he had truthful ground to go upon4 ,i do not in the least apologize for the above1 though it is far wide of the purpose of this chapter2 but ,i feel that my complaint against albums is a little ungracious and ungrateful in the face of the admirable page of sketches with which my publisher has supplied me4 7,see note at the end of this chapter47 ,mr4 ,richard ,bentley was the possessor of an autograph-book and album combined2 but he did not solicit the aid of strangers to fill it1 thereby creating a wide difference between himself and the ordinary album nuisance4 ,my father1 says ,mr4 ,george ,bentley1 started an autograph-book1 and got ,cruikshank1 ,leech1 and some others to give a sketch1 or1 if not an artist1 an autograph4 ,leech did one in colour4 ,it was so superior to anything in the volume that ,i cut it out and framed it1 and so see it every day in my life4 ,the idea is to reproduce some of the characters he was so fond of sketching1 and some he had actually given2 for instance1 the girl in bed is1 ,i think1 from the scene where a man gets up at night to fire at some cats4 ,the wife suddenly awakes1 and finds him looking out of window1 gun in hand1 and imagines thieves4 ,the voyez vous,illustration is delicious1 and the old gentleman with ,now1 it's my opinion1 etc41 ,i am pretty sure is taken from a sketch in some work he had illustrated4 ,so far ,mr4 ,george ,bentley1 who shows that his father1 who was the liberal employer of ,leech1 ,dickens1 ,cruikshank1 and so many others1 had a raison d'tre for his requests in favour of his album4 ,i supplement ,mr4 ,bentley's remarks on this delightful page by calling my readers' special attention to that charming little boy and his dreadful old grandmother--,will ,charley come and live with his gran-ma8 ,study well that little boy's face1 beautiful as an angel's1 as he looks wondering at the hideous old woman--will he live with her8 not1 ,i think1 if he can help it4 ,see1 also1 the lovely little group of the ill-assorted couple--old husband and young wife4 ,more terrible the lady's fate there than ,charley's with his ,gran-ma4 ,i have now to notice another album belonging to no less a person than the late ,duke of ,devonshire4 ,leech made the ,duke's acquaintance while staying with ,millais at the ,peacock1 ,baslow1 a place within easy distance of ,chatsworth2 where1 by the way1 ,millais painted the perfect likeness of ,leech which1 by his kindness1 is allowed to enrich this volume1 and where1 by ,sir ,joseph ,paxton1 ,i think1 ,leech was introduced to the ,duke1 and entertained with much kindness at ,chatsworth4 ,how the album was introduced to ,leech1 and whether the ,duke asked for a sketch or the artist volunteered it1 ,i have no evidence to offer2 but that a design was made and repeated1 the following letters from the ,duke sufficiently prove3 ,august #f1 #ahea4 ,,dear ,,sir1 ,i am so much charmed with your device that ,i must have a seal engraved from it4 ,perhaps you would have the kindness to renew the sketch for me on a smaller scale1 as ,i am unwilling to extract the leaf made valuable by you from the book4 ,the stone should not be larger than this1 which1 ,i fear1 makes my request hardly possible4 ,most sincerely yours1 ,,devonshire4 ,illustration ,the reduced scale proved no obstacle1 and the success was gracefully acknowledged as follows3 ,london1 ,april #ad1 #aheb4 ,,dear ,,sir1 ,in these critical days of the ,crystal ,palace1 let me request your acceptance of the seal for which you gave me the idea4 ,and that you may not have any feeling as to depriving me of it1 ,i must tell you that ,i have another4 ,believe me1 ,most sincerely yours1 ,,devonshire4 ,but what was the subject of the drawing8 ,in a courteous reply to my inquiry1 ,i find from the present ,duke that he has no such drawing in any of his books1 and he knows nothing of the seal4 ,in a postscript to one of ,leech's letters to his friend ,adams1 however1 ,i find the following mention of it3 ,look at the seal on this envelope4 ,i told you1 ,i think1 some time ago about my making a little sketch for the ,duke of ,devonshire1 and how kind he was about it1 saying he must have a seal made of it4 ,well1 he called here himself1 and left me a most handsome and valuable seal the other day1 of which1 ,i confess1 ,i am proud to send you an impression4 ,as you say of some of your people1 ',it's very nice to be treated so1 isn't it8' ,the design of the seal is a spade turning up the ,crystal ,palace1 in allusion to ,paxton being a gardener4 ,ever yours1 my dear ,charley1 ,,john ,,leech4 #ca1 ,notting ,hill ,terrace1 ,april #bj1 #aheb4 ,though the present ,duke of ,devonshire knows nothing of the seal1 or the drawing from which it was made1 ,i am happy to say that ,i am able to present to my readers an impression from it1 through the kindness of ,leech's son-in-law1 ,mr4 ,gillett1 to whom ,i applied in my perplexity4 ,everybody may not know that ,sir ,joseph ,paxton1 the ,duke of ,devonshire's gardener1 was the architect of the glass house of #ahea1 afterwards christened the ,crystal ,palace1 which--greatly enlarged--now flourishes at ,sydenham4 ,i conclude this chapter with an extract from ,notes and ,queries1 evidently written by a friend of ,leech4 ,the writer1 under date ,november1 #ahfd1 says3 ,leech's success was owing to his almost daily practice of jotting in his note-book every remarkable physiognomy or incident that struck him in his rambles4 ,such1 at any rate1 was his practice at the commencement of his too brief career4 ,on one occasion he and ,i were riding to town together in an omnibus1 when an elderly gentleman in a very peculiar dress1 and with very marked features1 stepped into the vehicle1 and sat down immediately in front of us4 ,we were the only inside passengers4 ,for whom or for what he took1 or probably mistook1 us1 ,i know not2 but he stared so hard1 and made such wry faces at us1 that ,i could hardly refrain from laughter4 ,my discomfiture was almost completed when ,leech suddenly exclaimed1 ',by the way1 did ,prendergast ever show you that extraordinary account that has been recently forwarded to him8' and1 showing me his note-book1 added1 ',just run your eye up that column1 and tell me what you can make of it4' ,instead of a column1 the features of the old gentleman were reflected upon the page with life-like fidelity4 ,on another occasion ,i saw him strike off with promptitude and skill the scene of a quarrel between some dirty little urchins in a suburban village4 ,note4--,to my great regret1 ,i find that the material in which ,mr4 ,bentley's drawing was executed made its reproduction impossible4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,artists' ,,lives4 ,silent1 gentle1 forbearing1 his indignation flashed forth an eloquence when roused by anything mean or ungenerous4 ,manly in all his thoughts1 tastes1 and habits1 there was about him an almost feminine tenderness4 ,he would sit by the bedside1 and smooth the pillow of a sick child with the gentleness of a woman4 ,no wonder he was the idol of those around him1 but it is the happiness of such a life that there is so little to be told of it4 ,i do not know to what friend of ,leech's we are indebted for these few words2 which are1 however1 sufficient to convey a perfect idea of the subject of them to those to whom he was only known by his works4 ,the lives of most artists are uneventful4 ,leech's short life was especially so4 ,his incessant labour prevented his giving the time to what is called society--that is so often devoted to it--to the loss of the happiness that home always afforded to him4 ,he was a self-sacrificing and most dutiful son1 a good and loving father and husband1 and a true and faithful friend4 ,in the quotation above we read that there is little to be told of ,leech's life4 ,i have talked with those who had the happiness of greater intimacy with him than ,i can boast of1 without being able to learn anything beyond the ordinary events of an everyday life1 void of dramatic incident1 commonplace in fact1 except for the constant triumph of an unapproachable genius4 ,leech had a large circle of friends and acquaintances1 with here and there an aristocrat amongst the latter2 but his intimates were few3 between them and him1 however1 there were unusually strong ties of affectionate regard2 his nervous1 modest1 retiring nature often conveyed a false impression of him to casual acquaintances4 ,i have heard him described as haughty1 stand-offish1 cold1 and so on2 and his manner to some of those who may have met him for the first time1 occasionally admitted of that construction2 but it arose from nervousness1 or from an aversion to loud and ill-timed compliment1 feeling1 as he sincerely did1 his little sketches deserved no such eulogium4 ,though ,leech's life offers no field for the description of stirring events1 the delightful nature of the man affords matchless opportunities for study1 reflection1 and emulation2 and that study may be pursued in the examination of his works1 in which1 as in a looking-glass1 the nature of their producer is reflected4 ,there may be seen ever-recurring proofs of the artist's intense love of ,nature in all her forms2 whether he deals with woman1 the most beautiful of all ,nature's works1 or with children in the endless variety of their attractiveness1 absolute truth1 tenderness and beauty are paramount2 and not only are these creatures natural and beautiful1 but the artist is at one with them in all their doings1 from the sympathy peculiar to him with all that is simple1 pure1 and lovable4 ,side by side with this tenderness of heart1 we have a robust manliness which shows itself constantly4 ,as a matter of course ,leech's love of ,nature was not confined to humanity1 but was extended to the animal creation1 to the trees and the fields1 the sea-shore and the sea--in short1 to every form of animate and inanimate nature4 ,think what a delight such a constituted heart and mind must be to the possessor of them6 and not only to him1 but to us to whom he so freely offers the results of his sympathies1 making us certainly happier1 and it is to be hoped better1 by the taking in of so much that is exhilarating1 healthy1 and true4 ,evidence is frequent of pity for the sufferings of the poor and the oppressed4 ,in many a scene ,leech becomes a warm sympathizer with unmerited distress2 and constantly his honest heart is stirred into indignation at some instance of injustice2 then we find that the pencil which can deal so gently with childhood and woman can also1 in indelible lines1 stigmatize the stony-hearted oppressor4 ,underlying the refined and delicate humour that distinguishes the greater part of ,leech's work we frequently find some more or less serious social grievance smartly satirized4 ,in ,servant-,gal-ism1 for example1 the airs and graces1 the impudent assumption1 and the dishonesty even1 which sometimes disgrace those otherwise worthy people1 are shown to us in drawings so humorous as to make us laugh heartily1 but at the same time we feel the full force of the satire intended4 ,in the encounters between servant-girls and their mistresses the ladies sometimes get the worst of it2 notably in a drawing that represents a mistress and her maid in conflict respecting the dressing of their hair4 ,the old lady has tortured her few remaining locks into miserable little ringlets1 that make a shocking contrast to the long curls of her young and pretty servant2 and no sooner does she catch sight of the girl's ringlets1 than she angrily tells her she will not permit such bare-faced imitation of the way she chooses to wear her hair4 ,here ,i am afraid we cannot help feeling a certain amount of contempt for the blind vanity and tyranny of the mistress1 while we sympathize with the maid4 ,footmen afford a wide field for the good-humoured banter of ,leech4 ,amongst the many striking proofs of the genius that distinguished him1 is one that to me1 as an artist1 is astonishing4 ,i allude to the individual character with which ,leech invests each of his servant-girls and footmen1 as well as every type that comes under his hand4 ,i have not counted the number of servants of all sorts and sizes that appear in ,pictures of ,life and ,character1 but ,i am quite sure that a comparison of one with another will prove that not one can be found in the slightest degree to resemble another2 each is an individual by himself or herself1 separate and distinct--a footman from top to toe2 take away his uniform1 and1 from some peculiarity of manner or action1 he is unmistakably a footman still4 ,the same may be said of the maid-servants1 in whom ,leech's wonderful power of individualizing is shown even more palpably2 for the cook is a cook1 and perfectly distinct from the scullery-maid and the charwoman2 and no two cooks or kitchen-maids resemble each other personally1 but only in their offices4 ,the same may be truly said of numberless types immortalized by ,leech2 but1 strange to say1 it cannot be said of the young ladies3 they almost all have a family likeness to one another--a resemblance that can be traced to ,mrs4 ,leech4 ,this fault1 for it is a fault1 and a grave one1 is as strange to me as the infinite variety shown in his representation of all sorts and conditions of men and women is astounding4 ,in marking this ,i point to the only shortcoming in all ,leech's work1 and though1 as ,i think 7,i may be wrong71 he has this fault in his treatment of young ladies1 it is absent in his drawings of elderly or old ones2 the aristocratic or plebeian old women are as well marked in personal contrast with each other as the rest of his delightful creations4 ,the rest of his creations6 ,what a dazzling1 bewildering mass of humanity crowds upon the mind when one attempts to point out special scenes for examination and criticism6 ,if ,i were to say a tithe of what ,i feel about hundreds of ,leech's drawings1 ,i should greatly exceed the space permitted to me in this book1 and ,i should also show how inferior my powers of analysis are to those of ,dickens and ,thackeray1 and others whose delightful appreciation of beauty1 humour and character are so eloquently set forth elsewhere in this memoir2 and perhaps ,i may add that ,i have sufficient respect for the intelligence of my readers to convince me that they require no directions from me as to when they should laugh and when look grave1 or where to discover the point of a joke that is palpable to the meanest capacity4 ,with ,leech's work in an artistic sense ,i have more to do4 ,considering the limited means employed1 the results produced are very wonderful4 ,nothing is left to desire in character or expression2 the story is perfectly told in every drawing2 and it can be read without reference to the few lines beneath1 which in the wording of them appear to me as perfect as the cuts themselves4 ,the composition of groups and figures1 which looks so simple and natural1 is the result of consummate art4 ,the drawing1 notably of figures and animals in action1 is always correct4 ,chiaroscuro is too comprehensive a word to apply to the light and shadow of ,leech's drawings2 but in what we call black and white1 or1 in other words1 in the distribution of the masses of dark1 and what ,i may term semi-dark1 and light1 they are always skilfully effective4 ,i have been told that ,leech's work1 in the opinion of a high authority in matters of art1 resembles1 and successfully rivals1 the silver-point drawings of the old masters4 ,i have seen many examples of those beautiful drawings1 but ,i have never seen one that bore the faintest resemblance to the way in which ,leech lays his lines4 ,the same judge tells us that ,leech's work betrays an ignorance of the principles of effect--in other words1 a neglect of the laws that should guide an artist in the selection of his scheme of light and shadow4 ,an intelligent glance at any of ,leech's drawings will show the fallibility of that judgment4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,leech ,,exhibition4 ,about the year #ahfj--or thereabouts--there was exhibited in ,london a huge picture of ,nero contemplating the ruins of ,rome1 by a ,german artist named ,piloti4 ,on seeing the picture ,i was much struck by a certain somewhat coarse vigour in the work1 which asserted itself in spite of crude and harsh colouring2 the principal figure--as often happens--was disappointing and theatrical4 ,nero stood in a melodramatic posture1 with his arms folded1 enjoying the destruction of the city4 ,leech1 accompanied by his friend1 the late ,sir ,edgar ,boehm1 ,r4,a4 7the eminent sculptor who made an admirable statuette of ,leech71 saw the picture1 and after a long study of it he turned to ,boehm and said3 ,i would rather have been the painter of that picture than the producer of all the things ,i have ever perpetrated6 ,leech's friend received this avowal with incredulous laughter1 and1 pointing out some of the glaring faults of the ,nero1 endeavoured to convince his companion that one of his drawings was worth acres of such work as ,piloti's2 in which ,i1 for one1 entirely agree with him4 ,the hankering after oil-colours which always possessed ,leech was destined to be gratified2 for soon after this--in #ahfb--;he came before the public as the painter of a series of sketches in oil1 being reproductions of his own drawings in ,punch4 ,these--almost virgin--attempts were exhibited at the ,egyptian ,hall1 where they were visited by thousands of admiring spectators1 who left several thousand pounds behind them4 ,everyone knows what a few inches of space are taken up by one of ,leech's drawings as it appears in ,pictures of ,life and ,character4 ,a sketch of such small dimensions would have been ineffective in colours1 and it was owing to an invention by which the originals were enlarged1 that the artist was enabled to offer to the public copies of drawings four or five inches square1 increased in some instances to three feet by two4 ',the idea originated1' says ,dr4 ,brown1 'with ,mr4 ,mark ,lemon1 ,leech's friend and colleague1 who saw that by a new invention--a beautiful piece of machinery--the impression of a block in ,punch being first taken on a sheet of indiarubber1 was enlarged2 when by a lithographic process the copy thus got could be transferred to the stone and impressions printed upon a large sheet of canvas4 ,having thus obtained an outline groundwork1 consisting of his own lines enlarged to some eight times the area of the original block1 ,leech proceeded to colour these4 ,his knowledge of the manipulation of oil-colours was very slight1 and it was under the guidance of his friend ,millais that his first attempts were made1 and crude enough they were4 ,he used a kind of transparent colour1 which allowed the coarse lines of the enlargement to show through1 so that the production presented the appearance of indifferent lithographs slightly tinted4 ,in a short time he obtained great mastery over oil-colour1 and instead of allowing the thick1 fatty lines of printer's ink to remain on the canvas1 he1 by the use of turpentine1 removed the ink1 particularly with regard to the lines of the faces and figures4 ,these he redrew with his own hand in a fine and delicate manner4 ,to this he added a delicacy of finish1 particularly in flesh-colour1 which greatly enhanced the value and beauty of his later works4 ,the catalogue to the sketches in oil is prefaced by a few modest words by the artist1 who concludes some remarks upon their production thus3 ,these sketches have no claim to be regarded1 or tested1 as finished pictures4 ,it is impossible for anyone to know the fact better than ,i do4 ,they have no pretensions to a higher name than the name ,i give them1 ',sketches in ,oil4' ,the exhibition consisted of sixty-seven works1 and the room containing them was filled all day long by a laughing crowd4 ,leech shrank from crowds at all times1 and an assembly drawn together by his own works would have special terrors for him4 ,after the opening of the gallery he was never known to visit it1 mainly from his innate modesty1 but also from his dread of being caught and talked at by enthusiastic people4 ,a story is told of a visit of a sporting lord who took his huntsman--whose judgment of hounds and horses was celebrated for its acumen--to give his verdict on the ,leech ,exhibition in general1 and on dogs and horses in particular4 ',ah1 my lord1 nothin' but a party as knows 'osses could have drawed them there 'unters4' ,if the huntsman offered an opinion on other features of the exhibition1 it is not recorded2 he criticised only what he understood--therein giving a much-needed example to many critics4 ,in the few remarks in the way of criticism on the ,leech ,exhibition which ,i allow myself to make1 ,i claim to be in the position of the huntsman whose experience of the horse made his opinion of that animal valuable2 my own experience of pictures1 as it extends over fifty years1 may fairly claim for me the right of judgment1 and ,i acknowledge myself to be one of those who thought the exhibition of ,sketches in ,oil did not increase ,leech's reputation2 though it happily did increase his own fortune1 or the fortune of somebody else4 ,dr4 ,brown says that ,leech obtained a great mastery over oil-colours4 ,the huntsman may have thought as much2 if he did1 he was as much in error as ,dr4 ,brown4 ,the sketches lost much charm by their enlargement1 and they were further greatly damaged by the crude and inharmonious way in which they were coloured4 ,the girls' lovely faces1 which delight us so thoroughly in their pencilled forms1 became almost vulgar under the artist's attempts to paint flesh--the most difficult of all things to render truly4 ,when he first gives them to us fresh from the wood block1 conveying to us1 as he does1 the most ravishing beauty by a few pencil-marks1 we paint the faces for ourselves with the colours and brushes of the mind1 with a result unattainable by the colourman's tools unless they are in the hands of a ,reynolds or a ,vandyke4 ,leech's delightful backgrounds1 too1 were terribly spoilt by his oil-paints3 air and distance disappeared altogether in many of them4 ,but it is time my grumbling gave place to what ,mr4 ,thackeray had to say about the ,leech ,exhibition in the ,times of ,june #ba1 #ahfb3 ,now1 while ,mr4 ,leech has been making his comments upon our society and manners1 one of the wittiest and keenest observers has been giving a description of his own country of ,france in a thousand brilliant pages2 and it is a task not a little amusing and curious for a student of manners to note the difference between the two satirists--perhaps between the societies they describe4 ,leech's ,england is a country peopled by noble elderly squires1 riding large-boned horses1 followed across country by lovely beings of the most gorgeous proportions1 by respectful retainers1 by gallant little boys emulating the pluck and courage of the sire4 ,the joke is the precocious courage of the child1 his gallantry as he charges his fences1 his coolness as he eyes the glass of port1 or tells grandpapa he likes his champagne dry4 ,how does ,gavarni represent the family father1 the sire1 the old gentleman1 in his country--the civilized country8 ,paterfamilias1 in a dyed wig and whiskers1 is leaning by the side of ,mademoiselle ,coralie on her sofa in the ,rue de ,brda4 ,paterfamilias1 with a mask and a nose half a yard long1 is hobbling after her at the ball4 ,the enfant terrible is making papa and mamma alike ridiculous by showing us mamma's lover1 who is lurking behind the screen4 ,a thousand volumes are written protesting against the seventh commandment4 ,the old man is for ever hunting after the young woman2 the wife is for ever cheating the husband4 ,the fun of the old comedy never seems to end in ,france1 and we have the word of their own satirists1 novelists1 painters of society1 that it is being played from day to day4 ,in the works of that barbarian artist1 ,hogarth1 the subject which affords such playful sport to the civilized ,frenchman is stigmatized as a fearful crime1 and is visited by a ghastly retribution4 ,the ,english savage never thinks of such a crime as funny1 and1 a hundred years after ,hogarth1 our modern 'painter of mankind' still retains his barbarous modesty1 is tender with children1 decorous before women1 has never once thought he had the right or calling to wound the modesty of either4 ,mr4 ,leech surveys society from the gentleman's point of view4 ,in old days1 when ,mr4 ,jerrold lived and wrote for that famous periodical1 he took the other side2 he looked up at the rich and great with a fierce1 a sarcastic aspect1 and a threatening posture1 and his outcry or challenge was3 ',ye rich and great1 look out6 ,we1 the people1 are as good as you4 ,have a care1 ye priests1 wallowing on a tithe pig and rolling in carriages and four2 ye landlords1 grinding the poor2 ye vulgar fine ladies1 bullying innocent governesses1 and what not--we will expose your vulgarity1 we will put down your oppression1 we will vindicate the nobility of our common nature1' and so forth4 ,a great deal has to be said on the ,jerrold side1 a great deal was said1 perhaps1 even1 a great deal too much4 ,it is not a little curious to speculate upon the works of these two famous contributors to ,punch1 these two 'preachers1' as the phrase is4 ',woe to you1 you tyrant and heartless oppressor of the poor6' calls out ,jerrold as ,dives' carriage rolls by4 ',beware of the time when your bloated coachman shall be hurled from his box1 when your gilded flunkey shall be cast to the earth from his perch1 and your pampered horses shall run away with you and your vulgar wife and smash you into ruin4' ,the other philosopher looks at ,dives and his cavalcade in his own peculiar manner4 ,he admires the horses and copies1 with the most curious felicity1 their forms and action4 ,the footmen's calves and powder1 the coachman's red face and flock wig1 the over-dressed lady and plethoric gentleman in the carriage1 he depicts with the happiest strokes2 and if there is a pretty girl and a rosy child on the back seat1 he 'takes them up tenderly' and touches them with a hand that has a caress in it4 ,the artist is very tender to all these little people4 ,it is hard to say whether he loves girls or boys most--those delightful little men on their ponies in the hunting field1 those charming little ,lady ,adas flirting at the juvenile ball1 or ,tom the butcher's boy on the slide1 or ragged little ,emily pulling the go-cart1 freighted with ,elizerann and her doll4 ,steele1 ,fielding1 ,goldsmith1 ,dickens1 are similarly tender in their pictures of children4 ,we may be barbarians1 monsieur2 but even savages are occasionally kind to their papooses4 ',when are the holidays8' ,mothers of families ought to come to this exhibition and bring the children4 ,then there are the full-grown young ladies--the very full-grown young ladies--dancing in the ball-room or reposing by the sea-shore3 the men can peep at whole seraglios of these beauties for the moderate charge of one shilling1 and bring away their charming likenesses in the illustrated catalogue 7two-and-six74 ,in the ',mermaids' ,haunt1' for instance1 there is a siren combing her golden locks1 and another dark-eyed witch actually sketching you as you look at her1 whom ,ulysses could not resist4 ,to walk by the side of the much-sounding sea and come upon such a bevy of beauties as this1 what bliss for a man or a painter6 ,the mermaids in that haunt1 haunt the beholder for hours after4 ,where is the shore on which those creatures were sketched8 ,the sly catalogue does not tell us4 ,the outdoor sketcher will not fail to remark the excellent fidelity with which ,mr4 ,leech draws the backgrounds of his little pictures4 ,the homely landscape1 the sea1 the winter road by which the huntsmen ride1 the light and clouds1 the birds floating overhead1 are indicated by a few strokes which show the artist's untiring watchfulness and love of ,nature4 ,he is a natural truth-teller1 as ,hogarth was before him1 and indulges in no flights of fancy4 ,he speaks his mind out quite honestly like a thorough ,briton4 ,he loves horses1 dogs1 river and field sports4 ,he loves home and children--that you can see4 ,he holds ,frenchmen in light esteem4 ,a bloated 'mosoo1' walking ,leicester ,square with a huge cigar and a little hat1 with billard and estaminet written on his flaccid face1 is a favourite study with him2 the unshaven jowl1 the waist tied with a string1 the boots which pad the quadrant pavement--this dingy and disreputable being exercises a fascination over ,mr4 ,punch's favourite artist4 ,we trace1 too1 in his work a prejudice against the ,hebrew nation1 against the natives of an island much celebrated for its verdure and its wrongs4 ,these are lamentable prejudices indeed1 but what man is without his own8 ,no man has ever depicted the little 'snob' with such a delightful touch4 ,leech fondles and dances this creature as he does the children4 ,to remember one or two of these dear gents is to laugh4 ,to watch them looking at their own portraits in this pleasant gallery will be no small part of the exhibition2 and as we can all go and see our neighbours caricatured here1 it is just possible that our neighbours may find some smart likenesses of their neighbours in these brilliant1 life-like1 good-natured ,sketches in ,oil4 ,the publication of this sympathetic article in such a paper as the ,times1 by such a writer as ,thackeray1 no doubt increased the popularity of ,sketches in ,oil4 ,however that may have been1 its appearance gave the keenest pleasure to ,leech1 who is said to have rejoiced like a child1 exclaiming3 ',that's like putting a thousand pounds into my pocket6' ,by far the best examples of ,leech's oil paintings are in the collection of his old warmly attached friend1 ,mr4 ,charles ,adams1 of ,barkway4 ,instead of a garish stain of washy colour merely passed over an engraving1 these small sporting subjects are painted in a good solid style1 well drawn and carefully finished2 carrying with them the conviction1 to my mind1 that ,leech might possibly have been as great with the brush as he was with the lead pencil4 ,amongst the ,pictures of ,life and ,character there is a drawing of two young ladies sitting vis--vis on a rustic seat2 from the books held by both of them it might be supposed they were reading1 as no doubt they were1 till one of them caught sight of their partners at the ball the night before1 who by a strange coincidence are advancing upon them through the wood4 ,the drawing is entitled ,remarkable ,occurrence1 with the following explanation3 ,on the morning after the dispensary ball1 as ,emily ,deuxtemps and ,clara ,polkington were sitting in the plantation1 who should come to the very spot but ,captain ,fastman and young ,reginald ,phipps6 ,i forget the year in which this drawing appeared4 ,the scene is laid at ,scarborough1 where ,leech was passing his summer holiday4 ,i was so taken with the beauty of the girls1 the composition of the drawing1 and its general adaptability to the making of an oil picture1 that ,i wrote to the artist2 and1 pointing out these characteristics1 begged him to paint the subject4 ,i received no reply to my entreaty1 but on meeting him afterwards in ,london1 he apologized1 and declared he would take my advice4 ,you don't mind my not answering you1 old fellow3 ,i hate letter-writing4 ,it was very kind of you to write--glad you like the girls on the garden-seat4 ,well1 ,i will try my hand at it the moment ,i have time to spare4 ,the time never came4 ,a ,remarkable ,occurrence did not even appear amongst the ,sketches in ,oil4 ,it would have been a very onerous task for a man in perfect health1 and accustomed to the use of the brush1 to have prepared those sixty-seven sketches in oil for exhibition1 even if his time could have been wholly devoted to it4 ,to ,leech1 with the hand of ,death nearly touching him1 in almost entire ignorance of the method in which he was working--the ordeal was terrible4 ,to the entreaties of his friends that he should stick less closely to his easel at ,lowestoft or ,whitby1 he would reply that the fine air of the former1 and the picturesque scenery abounding at the latter1 were intended for idle people1 and not for him4 ,to the man with well-strung nerves ,leech's sensibility to noises of all kinds seems incomprehensible2 but for years before the oil sketches were undertaken ,i knew of his sufferings from himself2 and the world must have guessed them from his attacks upon the organ-grinders1 the bellowing street-hawkers1 and the thousand and one noises that distress the ,london householder whose livelihood depends upon his brain4 ,of course most of the drawings in which the organ-grinder and the itinerant vendor of stale fish figure1 are highly humorous2 causing the unthinking to laugh1 unconscious of the terrible seriousness under which they have been produced4 ,humour was so much a part of ,leech's nature that it sometimes asserted itself incongruously4 ,for example3 ,one evening a convivial party of the ,ancient ,order of ,foresters returning from1 perhaps1 the ,crystal ,palace1 where high festival had been held1 roused poor ,leech almost to madness by a yelling uproar opposite his door4 ,he left his work1 and rushed bare-headed amongst them4 ,what are you making this horrible row for8 ,then seeing the extraordinary ,robin ,hood kind of costume affected by these people1 he said3 ,what's it all about--who are you8 ,we are ,foresters1 that's what we are1 was the reply4 ,then1 why on earth don't you go into a forest and make your infernal row there1 instead of disturbing a whole street with your noise8 said ,leech4 ,there is no doubt that hyper-sensitiveness to noises troubled ,leech from his youth up1 for we find in comparatively early drawings in ,punch examples of the nuisances created by the fish-hawkers1 and the sellers of the great variety of things that nobody wants1 at the different seaside places where he took his so-called holidays4 ,he was naturally hard upon the encouragers of these pests4 ,there is an inimitable sketch of an old lady who has called an organ-grinder into her parlour4 ,the man1 a perfect type of the ,italian performer1 grinds away at his instrument1 the old woman snaps her fingers and kicks up her heels in mad delight2 her parrot screams1 and her dog howls an accompaniment4 ,cake and wine are on the table1 and there is a stuffed cat in a glass case on the wall4 ,the drawing is called a ,fancy ,sketch of the ,old ,party who rather likes ,organ-grinding4 ,in another sketch an elderly paterfamilias is seen sitting upon the beach attempting to read his newspaper under the difficulties caused by a boy with guinea-pigs1 and others with something to sell2 a sailor proposes a sail1 an old woman has a box of baby linen1 and the inevitable sweetstuff merchant looms in the near distance4 ,the drawing is entitled ,the ,bores of the ,beach1 with the following explanatory lines3 ,so1 as it's a fine day1 you'll sit on the beach and read the paper comfortably1 will you8 ,very good6 ,then we recommend you to get what guinea-pigs1 brandy-balls1 boats1 and children's socks1 to say nothing of shell-work boxes1 lace collars1 and the like you may want1 before you settle down4 ,perhaps the drawing that most happily illustrates the terrible suffering that is caused by those wandering minstrels1 the ,italian organ-grinders1 is in double form--two scenes1 so to speak4 ,the first represents a dignified1 middle-aged father of a family who stands at his door expostulating with an organ-grinder1 who is defying him with extreme insolence1 alternated with performances on the instrument of torture1 says ,leech4 ,the ,italian1 who is an embodiment of brutal impudence1 says1 ,ha6 ha6 ,p'lice6 ,where you find p'lice8 ,in the second drawing we see why the noise is more than commonly distressing1 for it represents a bedroom in the indignant father's house1 where a sick boy1 tended by his mother1 is suffering from nervous fever4 ,i dwell at some length upon these drawings1 because they greatly aided ,mr4 ,bass in his efforts to put a stop to some extent--alas6 only to some extent--to a serious public nuisance4 ,the ,bill which that gentleman carried through ,parliament still requires amendment before the author1 the musician1 the artist1 or the tradesman even1 can pursue his calling in the peace so essential to success4 ,an eminent artist friend of mine lived in a part of the town where organ-grinders greatly congregate4 ,the interruptions to his work were constant and terrible4 ,after finding that remonstrance1 threats of the police1 and other inducements1 failed to procure relief1 he armed himself with a pea-shooter1 with which he practised upon his lay figure until he acquired considerable skill in the use of it2 and when he considered he was enough of a marksman1 he stood by his shutter window and waited2 not for long1 for the notes of ,champagne ,charley is my name--a favourite melody some years ago--pierced his ears from an instrument of torture opposite to his window4 ,through a narrow aperture made by the shutter the pea-shooter was projected1 a smart blow on the cheek of the organ-grinder stopped ,champagne ,charley in the middle of one of his notes2 the man rubbed his face and looked about him1 up and down and round about1 with an expression of pained surprise pleasant to behold4 ,he then took up the tune where he had left it1 and had produced a few more notes when a blow upon the grinding hand1 and another almost instantly on his face1 again stopped the performance4 ,it was very gratifying1 said my friend1 to study the puzzled expression of the fellow as he looked about for the cause of his trouble4 ,after another attempt to play out his tune1 and another salute from the pea-shooter1 he shouldered his organ and took himself off4 ,yes1 said the sportsman1 after a while they found me out1 but they couldn't get at me1 and now ,i am never troubled by any of them4 ,i am writing these pages at ,lowestoft1 where ,leech passed several summer holidays4 ,under the name of ,sandbath1 this place had the honour of appearing in ,punch as the scene of several humorous incidents1 notably of one in which the street-horrors are stigmatized under the heading of ,how to ,make a ,watering-place ,pleasant1 particularly to ,invalids4 ,time #f4cj a4m4 7a hint to the powers that be at ,sandbath74 ,the principal performer is an admirably drawn figure of a big burly ruffian--ugliness personified--from whose monstrous mouth one can almost hear ,yah-ha-bloaters6 ,two little boys1 carrying baskets of shrimps1 are yelling ,ser-imps1 fine ser-imps6 while two more youths add to the din by ringing bells by way of announcing other delicacies likely to be in request early in the morning4 ,the date of this drawing can be fixed pretty accurately1 for ,i hear from ,mr4 ,adams that several of the sketches in oil exhibited in #ahfb were finished at this place1 ,mr4 ,adams constantly watching his friend as he worked4 ,to the unexaggerated truth of the incident ,i can speak1 for the cry of ,bloaters6 arouses me every morning1 and precisely at the time indicated by ,leech4 ,added to this1 even as ,i write about the organ-grinder detested of ,leech1 comes one1 as if in revenge1 under my window2 and in reply to my threat of police1 ,i am told to go and find a policeman--an impossibility1 as the wretch well knows1 for there is but one in ,sandbath--as far as my observation goes--and he never appears in this part of it4 ,a petition1 very numerously signed by eminent members of all the professions1 and by others1 was a formidable weapon in ,mr4 ,bass's hands in his crusade against street musicians and other peace-breakers4 ,the ,bill passed both ,houses1 and became law4 ,leech signalized the success by an admirable drawing called ,the ,rival ,barrels4 ,three cheers for ,bass and his barrel of beer1 and out with the foreign ruffian and his barrel-organ4 ,one of ,mr4 ,bass's draymen is using a cask of beer in the form of a weapon as he rolls it against a foreign organ-grinder1 who finds himself perilously near the edge of a cliff at ,dover or ,folkestone1 en route from the country he has tormented so long4 ,the brutal ,italian scowls and threatens as the barrel rolls upon him1 but we feel he must go2 the stalwart1 good-humoured drayman is too much for him4 ,if--as ,i feel sure--the brilliant powers possessed by ,leech were certain to be attended by a highly sensitive and nervous organization1 absolute tranquillity and ease of mind were required for the exercise of them2 but in this unhappy case what do we find8 ,no repose--no cessation--no peace4 ,the conditions under which these wonderful drawings were produced were no doubt to some extent uncontrollable--the public appetite grew with what it fed on2 it was not ,punch only who insisted upon his weekly portion1 but numberless publications1 stories1 biographies1 poems1 taxed the genius of the popular illustrator4 ,it was not till ,i undertook this task that ,i had any idea of the quantity of work done by ,leech3 to say nothing of the excellence of it1 the quantity is astonishing4 ,but surely1 ,i hear my reader say1 though ,punch required ever-recurring contributions1 other demands upon the artist were within his own control4 ,there are men1 and plenty of them1 who would have turned deaf ears to appeals from relatives and friends2 but ,john ,leech was not one of those1 and ,i fear it cannot be denied it was to meet pressing solicitation for money from various quarters that we must look to account for the worn brain and the shattered nerves that throbbed with agony at noises which would scarcely have disturbed a healthy man4 ,for some years before his death he suffered from sleeplessness1 and at length he yielded to the suggestion of his friends and the order of his doctor--that change of air and scene should be tried as a remedy4 ,mark ,lemon became his companion1 and the two went to ,biarritz1 staying a short time in ,paris on their way4 ,that ,leech's pencil was not idle on this holiday1 says ,shirley ,brooks1 two well-known pictures will testify4 ,one of them is a general view of that now famous watering-place1 with specimens of its curious frequenters4 ,the other is a very remarkable drawing4 ,it represents a bull-fight as seen by a decent ,christian gentleman1 and1 for the first time since the brutal fray was invented1 the cold-blooded barbarity and stupidity of the show is depicted without any of the flash and flattery with which it has pleased artists to treat the atrocious scene4 ,that grim indictment of a nation professing to be civilized will be on record for many a day after the offence shall have ceased4 ,this brief visit1 continues ,mr4 ,brooks1 to the ,continent was his last but one4 ,his strength did not increase1 and he no longer found pleasure in hunting1 of which he had been exceedingly fond1 and later he discontinued riding on horseback4 ,he was then not merely advised1 but ordered to travel4 ,about this time the great man who had been to him as a brother1 the schoolmate of his boyhood1 the chief friend of his manhood--,thackeray--died4 ,he told ,millais of his presentiment that he1 too1 should die suddenly1 and soon4 ,in the summer of #ahfd he went to ,homburg1 accompanied by his friend1 ,alfred ,elmore1 and afterwards he sojourned at ,schwalbach4 ,his mind was amused if his body was not strengthened by these visits to new scenery1 and his sketch-book was soon filled with memorials1 some of which he embodied in his last large ,punch engraving--a view of the place where the residents of ,schwalbach meet to drink the waters1 and with figures of illustrious political people4 ,soon after his return he resolved to try what pure fresh ,english air would do for him1 and accompanied by his family he went to ,whitby4 ,several friends were also staying there at the same time1 and he wrote to ,london that he liked the place4 ,in ,september1 on his writing to me that he would prolong his stay if ,i and wife would come down1 we went1 and remained at ,whitby till he left it1 on the #crd of ,october4 ,the scenery round ,whitby is varied1 and some of it is exceedingly fine2 and ,leech1 when we could induce him to leave the painting in oil--to which he devoted far too many hours--enjoyed the drives into the wild moors1 and up and down the terrible but picturesque roads2 and he was still more delighted with the rich woods1 deep glades1 and glorious views around ,mulgrave ,castle4 ,i hoped that good was being done2 but it was very difficult to stir him from his pictures1 of which he declared he must finish a great number before ,christmas4 ,it was not for want of earnest and affectionate remonstrance close by his side1 nor for lack of such remonstrance being seconded by myself and others1 that he persevered in over-labour at these paintings1 which he had undertaken with his usual generosity1 in order to provide a very large sum of money for the benefit of his relatives1 not of his own household4 ,it need hardly be said that he was never pressed for work by his old friend the editor of ,punch4 ,his contributions to that periodical had not exceeded one half-page engraving for some time1 until he volunteered to compose the large ,schwalbach picture4 ,let me note another instance of his kindness to utter strangers4 ,a deputation from the ,whitby ,institute waited upon him to ask him to attend a meeting1 and to speak in promotion of the interests of the association4 ,he was on that day too ill to bear an interview with more than one of the gentlemen1 and was1 of course1 compelled to refuse their request4 ,but it occurred to him that they might think his refusal ungracious 7as ,i am sure they could not71 and he sent for all his ',sketches of ,life and ,character' from ,london1 and presented them to the ,institution4 ,amongst the party at ,whitby was ,mr4 ,george ,du ,maurier1 whose charming drawings are familiar1 not only to the readers of ,punch1 but also as excellent illustrations in other newspapers and periodicals2 especially good are they in ,thackeray's great novel of ,esmond4 ,du ,maurier only made ,leech's acquaintance a few months before his death1 but he tells me that in the ,whitby walks and talks he found him to be the most delightful companion1 and the most lovable of men4 ,my friend also tells me that he was the last of the craft that shook the hand to which we all owe so much4 ,du ,maurier called upon ,leech the day before his death to present a little drawing to him2 he seemed much as usual1 and the artists parted1 little dreaming that they had parted for ever4 ,on the day after ,mr4 ,hill's party the weekly dinner of the ,punch staff took place4 ,leech attended as usual1 but the readiness with which he was wont to make suggestions1 or to discuss those already made1 seemed to have deserted him4 ,he was dull1 silent1 and appeared1 says ,shirley ,brooks1 scarcely to understand what was going on--requiring a question to be repeated two or three times before he could frame a reply to it1 and then his answer was often wide of the mark4 ,this condition1 ,i suppose1 showed the alternations of the disease that was killing him1 for he was perfectly free from such a distressing symptom only the night before the ,punch dinner1 and as free from it1 according to ,du ,maurier1 the day before his death4 ,the journeys abroad1 and the ,whitby sojourn1 even if the sufferer could have been prevailed upon to cease work altogether1 came too late4 ,the sword had worn out the scabbard4 ,leech's conversation and letters after his return from ,whitby expressed ardent hope1 but feeble conviction1 that he had materially benefited by the change of air and scene4 ,i think he knew that his prophecy1 so mournfully spoken to ,millais by the death-bed of ,thackeray1 was near its fulfilment4 ,in common with all ,leech's friends1 ,i knew that he had suffered from attacks of angina pectoris1 or breast pang2 but in our ignorance of the serious character of the disease1 most of us thought lightly of its attacks4 ,one idea amongst us was that he had strained1 and perhaps injured1 some muscle in one of his hunting tumbles4 ,that the agony of the spasms was very dreadful we knew1 because on one occasion1 after a severe attack1 he said1 ,if it had lasted a little longer1 ,i must have died4 ,but how often have sufferers used the same words when they were in no danger whatever6 ,i approach the end of my endeavour to show my illustrious friend in his true colours1 with sad feelings1 grievously increased by the conviction that under happier circumstances he might have been the delight of all who did--and did not--know him for many years beyond the time so cruelly shortened4 ,the letter to a friend which follows--written at ,kensington after his return from ,whitby--gives us in his own melancholy words a sad account of his condition4 #f1 ,the ,terrace1 ,kensington1 ,october #f1 #ahfd4 ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i received your most kind note last night on my return from ,whitby in ,yorkshire1 where ,i have been with my family since ,i came from ,germany2 and ,i assure you ,i have so many things to put in order1 that to go away from my work would be impossible just now4 ,i was amused with ,homburg1 and to some extent ,i think the waters did me some good2 but ,i am sorry to say ,i can give but a sorry account of my health4 ,nothing seems to quiet my nervous system1 and ,i suffer still from sleeplessness dreadfully4 ,alas for ,sheldrake6 ,why1 ,i could not ride him if ,i had him2 anything out of a walk would bring on a spasm that would occasion me to drop from his back4 ,i trust ,i may be able to ride some time yet1 but do not see my way4 ,as for shooting1 you would see me disappear amongst the turnips in about five minutes from exhaustion4 ,but1 however1 ,i look forward with hope1 and with a will1 shall try and make myself a better man2 and ,i am not yet incapable1 thank ,god1 to enjoy the society of a friend1 and hope you will find me out--no1 not out1 but at home--should you come to ,london this autumn or winter4 ,you must see a pantomime1 you know4 ,i have one great consolation--that the air of ,yorkshire did my wife and children great good2 and hoping that you and all your kind relations at 444 are well1 ,believe me1 ,yours faithfully1 ,,john ,,leech4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,millais ,,and ,,leech4 ,the way to a certain place is said to be paved with good intentions4 ,if that be so1 a large space in the pavement must be filled by intentions to write the life of ,leech4 ,in the ,dean of ,rochester--the intimate friend of the artist when known as the ,rev4 ,reynolds ,hole--the intention still exists1 as ,i gather from a letter received from him in reply to my appeal for assistance4 ,the ,dean tells me he possesses above a hundred letters by ,leech--one and all denied to me--barred by the intention1 which seems to have come to life again1 after being resigned by him many years ago in favour of ,dr4 ,john ,brown2 who in his turn relegated his intention to its place in the pavement4 ,i think it was about the year #ahhb that1 when calling on my old friend ,sir ,john ,millais1 ,i was introduced to a ,mr4 ,evans1 who was presented to me as a literary man engaged in writing the life of ,leech--a stranger to ,millais in quest of information4 ,though ,i felt that ,millais1 in the genial and hearty way peculiar to him1 over-estimated the importance of my assistance in his advice to ,mr4 ,evans to tax my memory1 and he would find the tax paid in full1 ,i promised to try to remember something of interest1 and communicate with him further4 ,the result of the taxation was a paper1 which ,i sent to the address given to me at ,manchester4 ,years passed1 and as ,i heard nothing ,i concluded that the ,evans life was abandoned1 and thought no more of the matter4 ,alas6 events proved that the ,evans intention was destined to take its place amongst the others1 for the promoter died2 but not till he had collected a quantity of material1 to which ,i have been greatly indebted in writing this memoir4 ,after my interview with ,mr4 ,evans at ,millais'1 ,i never saw or heard from him1 except in acknowledgment of my contribution2 and it is strange to me1 that with every requisite for the carrying out of the intention1 into which1 judging from his manner1 he entered enthusiastically and lovingly1 he should have made such little way with it--probably from ill-health--when the material fell into the hands of ,messrs4 ,bentley1 and from theirs into mine4 ,amongst the papers ,i found the following from ,sir ,john ,millais1 of all the friends of ,leech one of the dearest1 the most loving and steadfast1 and the best able to appreciate his qualities as an artist and a man4 ,in a letter to ,mr4 ,evans--,february1 #ahhb--,millais says3 ,i knew ,john ,leech intimately1 and ,i think saw more of him than any other of his friends4 ,he was one of the very best gentlemen ,i ever knew1 with an astounding appreciation of everything sad or humorous4 ,he was both manly and gentle1 nervous and brave1 and the most delightful companion that ever lived4 ,i loved ,john ,leech 7and another who is also gone7 better than any other friends ,i have known4 ,in a further communication1 ,sir ,john says3 ,i will endeavour to find some letters which may be of interest4 ,unfortunately1 ,i have given most of them away at the time ,i received them1 many containing sketches2 ,i cannot remember now where they are4 ,i am sure ,i had more than anyone1 as ,i was for years his daily companion4 ,there is another friend of his--,percival ,leigh1 attached to ,punch--whom you do not mention4 ,you should see him1 as he could give you a great deal of information4 ,mr4 ,adams was a hunting friend1 and many times ,leech and myself stayed with him4 ,mr4 ,parry was the master of the ,puckeridge hounds1 and most of the hunting sketches were the upshot of scenes in ,hertfordshire4 ,leech stayed with me twice in ,scotland1 and out of those visits came ,mr4 ,briggs's exploits in deer-stalking1 salmon-fishing1 and grouse-shooting4 ,the late ,duke of ,athole asked him to ,blair1 and took him for a deer-drive4 ,previously to that there had been a good deal written in the papers against the ,duke1 in consequence of his ,grace having stopped two ,university men from crossing the forest2 and ,leech made a drawing in ,punch by no means complimentary of the ,duke1 who was represented turning back the tourists1 exclaiming1 ',i am the regular ,do-,dhu4' ,but you must turn to ,punch1 and you will find the illustration for yourself4 ,i speak from memory as to the exact words2 but ,i well recollect ,leech1 in his jocose way1 asking me whether ,i thought he would be safe in the ,duke's hands after that squib4 ,i afterwards heard his ,grace was delighted with it1 and carried the woodcut about in his pocket to show to his friends4 ,i have seen ,leech make his first sketch 7of which ,i have specimens71 and trace them on to the block1 scores of times4 ,the first was rapid2 but on the wood he was very deliberate1 knowing how necessary clearness of execution is to the engraver4 ,the late ,mr4 ,trelawney--the intimate friend of ,byron and ,shelley--speaking one day to me of his recollections1 said that ,shelley and ,leech were the two men he had loved best1 and that he cared to know me only because ,i was a great friend of the man he admired so much4 ,here ,i may interpose to remind my readers that the figure of the sailor in ,millais' superb picture of the ,north-,west ,passage was painted from ,trelawney1 who is supposed to say1 ,it should be done1 and ,england must do it4 ,the man's head1 painted with all ,millais' power1 is a most perfect likeness of ,shelley's friend4 ,millais goes on to tell us that some of the happiest days we spent together were at the ,peacock ,inn at ,baslow1 in ,derbyshire1 close to ,chatsworth1 where every kindness was shown to ,leech by the ,duke and ,sir ,joseph ,paxton--shooting1 fishing1 and cricketing4 ,i again interpose to say that the portrait given as frontispiece to this volume was drawn on one of the happy days at the ,peacock ,inn at ,baslow4 ,we played together in a match with a neighbouring village1 and at a supper which he gave to the teams he sang ',king ,death' with becoming gravity1 and was much entertained by the local amorous ditties sung by the young farmers4 ,in further advice to ,mr4 ,evans1 ,sir ,john says3 ,you cannot dwell too much on his tender anxiety for his wife and children1 almost distressing at times to those about him4 ,the great painter continues3 ,i should tell you that he was always careful in his dress1 and always went to the best houses for everything he purchased1 probably from having early in life discovered the wisdom of such a course--see his satire of everything shoddy--but chiefly from inherent good taste4 ,his choice was so quiet that one only felt he was perfectly attired4 ,leech was six feet high1 slim1 well but rather delicately made4 ,strangers felt when they were introduced to him that they were in the presence of a gentleman grave and courteous always1 and a merry fellow when harmless fun was demanded4 ,like ,landseer1 he had the power of telling a story in the fewest words1 and with astonishing effect upon his hearers2 but as a rule he was averse to taking the initiative in conversation4 ,he would sit placidly smoking his cigar in an easy-chair1 and only chime in to cap what was said by some voluble speaker1 and then retire again into the full enjoyment of his weed and silence4 ,in his evidence before a ,committee of the ,house of ,commons which was formed to inquire into the constitution and working of the ,royal ,academy1 with a view to certain changes in that body1 ,millais said that he thought ,leech was deserving of full membership in the institution1 for1 indeed1 said he3 ,very few of us painters will leave behind us such good and valuable work as he has left--work which is in great part historical4 ,his appreciation of the pathetic was as strong as his sense of the ridiculous1 and you will never find a bit of false sentiment in anything he did4 ,landseer is reported to have said--after expressing enthusiastic admiration of ,leech's genius--that the worst thing he ever did deserved to be framed and placed before students as an example for their emulation and improvement4 ,sir ,john ,millais concludes his remarks upon his friend--remarks for which ,i am sure my readers will be as grateful as ,i am--by a few pathetic words heralding the sad and final scene3 ,he became so nervous latterly that he used to take my arm when we were walking together1 jerking it perceptibly at any sudden noise1 or at any vehicle passing rapidly near us2 lingering an unnecessary time at the street crossings2 and the morning he came from ,thackeray's house1 on coming downstairs after seeing his dead friend1 he said1 ',i also shall die suddenly4' ,i arrived from a ,continental tour1 concludes ,millais1 the day of his death1 and by arrangement went immediately to his house to dine with him4 ,his wife told me he had been asking for me2 but ,i did not think it wise to disturb him then4 ,a little later ,i returned1 ran upstairs to his bedside1 and found him dead4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,mr4 ,h4 ,o4 ,,nethercote ,,and ,,john ,,leech4 ,for the following interesting paper my readers are indebted to ,mr4 ,nethercote1 of ,moulton ,grange1 ,northamptonshire1 who sent it to my predecessor1 ,mr4 ,evans1 amongst whose ,leech material ,i found it4 ,as ,mr4 ,nethercote's anecdotes were intended for publication1 ,i reproduce them without alteration or abbreviation4 ,mr4 ,nethercote and ,leech were at ,charterhouse together4 ,leech1 says his friend1 was the most popular boy in the school1 and the margins of his grammars were a delight to boyish eyes4 ,after leaving ,charterhouse ,i lost sight of him for many years2 but through the medium of our common friend ,reynolds1 now ,canon ,hole1 we came together again when he was living in ,brunswick ,square1 and we frequently met at each other's houses4 ,on one occasion1 after telling me of his sufferings from street bands1 he said3 ',may ,i come to you with wife and family for a few days8 ,i am dying of ,dixie's ,land4' ,he came1 and the very first day after dinner1 on taking our evening stroll round the garden1 our ears were greeted with the hateful tune6 ,the village band had just mastered the homicidal air1 and were inadvertently making themselves particeps crimines in the murder of my friend4 ,i shall never forget his delightful smile as1 when the doleful tune burst upon our ears1 he said3 ',ah1 well6 ,dixie's ,land in ,brunswick ,square and ,dixie's ,land at ,moulton ,grange are two very different tunes2 in the latter case a mile of atmosphere intervenes between it and me1 and in the former ,i was in the very bowels of it4' ,he was fond of going to see a meet with hounds1 but he was no rider4 ,he once asked me to sell him a horse ,i was riding1 on the ground of its apparent quietness4 ,i declined doing this because it was not right in its wind4 ',all the better1' said he2 'it will not be able to run away far2' and he bought it4 ,he was fond of being here 7at ,moulton ,grange71 and used to enjoy taking quiet rides along the lanes1 and over the many-acred1 well-gated grass fields1 full of heavy ,hertford and ,devon cattle2 and many a delightful chat have ,i had with him in rebus ,punchibus1 its contributors1 artists1 publishers1 editors1 etc4 ,i am inclined to think that the man he liked best in the world was ,r4 ,hole1 and then ,thackeray and ,millais2 but of course ,i cannot say this with any certainty4 ,i stop ,mr4 ,nethercote's narrative for a moment for ,mrs4 ,leech to be heard2 that lady assured ,canon ,hole--now ,dean of ,rochester--after ,leech's death1 that the two men whom her husband loved best in the world were himself and ,millais4 ,thackeray was asked to name the man he loved above all others1 and he named ,leech2 but on another occasion1 when he was asked the same question by his daughter1 as recorded in ,fitzgerald's ,memoirs1 he said3 ,why1 ,fitz1 to be sure2 and next to him ,brookfield4 ,we will now listen again to ,mr4 ,nethercote1 who says3 ,by his desire ,i accompanied him one night to see ',lord ,dundreary1' and ,i shall never forget his dismay on seeing that neither the farce nor the acting had 'fetched' me4 ,he could not understand my feeling that the whole thing was non-natural1 and that no lord who ever lived was half so great a fool as ,lord ,dundreary4 ,on one occasion he was staying at ,moulton ,grange on the eve of the great fight between ,tom ,sayers and ,heenan4 ,a lady of great beauty1 one of the party1 was enlarging overnight on the brutality of all prize-fights1 and expressed a hope that this fight might be prevented4 ,on hearing of ,sayers' conduct in the fight1 the lady could not help expressing her admiration of his bravery1 whereon ,leech made a charming sketch of his fair friend crowning ,sayers with a laurel-wreath1 and entitled it ',beauty crowning ,valour4' ,i need not say how greatly the sketch is valued by its possessors4 ,leech used to like hearing his work criticised by friendly amateurs1 and seemed to take in and1 as it were1 masticate their comments4 ,i remember once1 over our after-dinner cigar1 telling him that ,i considered he failed in portraying the periphery of a wheel--that he made it over-fluffy--and failed also in drawing a stake and bound fence4 ,the latter he admitted1 and begged me to find him a model to study4 ,this ,i did1 and an excellent 'stake and bound' appeared in the ,punch of the following ,wednesday4 ,he stuck to his wheel1 and doubtless he was right and ,i was wrong4 ,the last letter ,i received from him was in reply to an invitation to come for a week's shooting4 ,i knew that he had been ill1 and hoped it might do him good4 ,his answer was3 ',shoot1 my dear ,nethercote2 ,i couldn't walk round a turnip4' ,when that was written the end was not far off4 ,the news reached me as ,i left home to hunt1 and heavy indeed was my heart all that day1 and for many a succeeding one1 and still is when ,i think of him1 the warmest-hearted1 most generous1 gracious1 kindly1 hospitable1 endearing friend that man ever had4 ,such are some of the recollections of my dear friend1 written off in a hurry4 ,if they prove of any use to you1 you are most welcome to them4 ,h4 ,o4 ,,nethercote4 ,october #ab1 #ahhe4 ,,mr4 ,,ashby ,,sterry4 ,the name which heads the few words below is one that is very familiar as the writer of many charming verses2 and it is no wonder that ,mr4 ,evans1 on discovering the sonnet addressed to ,miss ,rosie ,leech1 should have mistaken the source of its inspiration1 the more readily1 as ,miss ,leech was christened ,ada ,rose4 ,in the belief that my readers will be glad to have the verses1 and ,mr4 ,ashby ,sterry's account of their production1 ,i add them to ,mr4 ,sterry's sympathetic appreciation of ,leech4 ,for as long as ,i can remember1 ,i have had the most profound admiration for the genius of ,john ,leech1 says ,mr4 ,sterry2 and he gave me as much delight in my childhood as he subsequently did when ,i became a man4 ,i am grieved to say that ,i hardly knew him at all2 it was many years after his death that ,i became connected with ,punch4 ,i should be most happy for you to quote the lines to ,miss ,rosie ,leech2 they1 however1 do not refer to ,john ,leech's daughter4 ,several girls that ,i knew some years ago reminded me forcibly of the works of various artists4 ,i sketched their portraits in sonnets1 and added their ,christian name to the surname of the master they represented4 ,rosie was emphatically a ,leech girl in all respects1 and one that he would have gloried in drawing4 ,,miss ,,rosie ,,leech4 ,down on the sands there strolls a merry maid1 ,aglow with ruddy health and gladsome glee2 ,she breasts the breezes of the summer sea1 ,and lets each zephyr trifle with each braid2 ,laughs gaily as her petticoats evade ,her girlish grasp and wildly flutter free1 ,as1 bending to some boisterous decree1 ,the neatest foot and ankle are displayed4 ,her rounded youthful figure you may trace ,half pouting1 as rude ,boreas unfurls ,a wealth of snowy frillery and lace1 ,a glory of soft golden-rippled curls4 ,comes blushing with a rare unconscious grace1 ,the bonniest of ,england's bonny girls6 ,,mr4 ,h4 ,,cholmondeley ,,pennell ,,and ,,leech4 ,,puck ,,on ,,pegasus4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,pennell 7loquitur73 ,my acquaintance began with his making some illustrations for my book ',puck on ,pegasus4' ,i found him liberal to generosity in all his professional dealings with me4 ,indeed1 ,i have since ascertained that1 seeing ,i was a dbutant in literature1 he only let me pay him about half his usual price--a generosity in which he was equalled by my friend ,mr4 ,john ,tenniel4 ,the charming drawings of these two inimitable artists on wood were1 ,i have not the slightest doubt1 the principal cause of the success of the verses to which they were so unequally mated4 ,the ,athenum1 ,i recollect1 whilst using the scalping-knife freely on the letterpress1 observed that 'the illustrations were of ,leech's loveliest4' ,naturally1 ,i have always felt towards ,leech and ,tenniel the gratitude which a young author owes to men who1 already famous themselves1 so frankly and generously first lent him a helping hand4 ,i think ,mr4 ,tenniel and ,mr4 ,leech were at the time ,i speak of great friends1 and ,i remember their once asking me to go down somewhere to hunt with them--an invitation which ,i have since regretted not being able to accept4 ,leech was an enthusiast about hunting1 and hence his admirable and accurate delineations of horses and hunting scenes4 ,he was a decidedly handsome man2 tall1 square1 and well built1 and in manners delightfully genial and frank4 ,i was young when ,i knew him1 and had not had much experience of the world2 but ,i have often thought since that he was one of the most fascinating men it has ever been my good fortune to meet4 ,out of the artists whose pencils graced the pages of ',puck on ,pegasus1' not only those ,i have mentioned1 but also ,sir ,john ,millais and ,sir ,nol ,paton1 are1 as everyone knows1 striking instances of exceptional--well1 what shall ,i call it1 to spare their blushes8--say 'good looks4' ,since ,i last met the ',queen's ,limner for ,scotland1' his hair has become gray1 but1 notwithstanding1 as ,i told ,lady ,paton a few weeks ago1 her husband is still the handsomest man in ,north ,britain4 ,the only little special circumstance ,i can recall of ,leech's 'individualism1' so to speak1 is the fondness he had for sitting half on the table--one leg resting on the ground1 and one dangling--the attitude in which he is represented in the photograph ,i have of him4 ,as the foregoing--found amongst ,mr4 ,evans' ,leech material--was evidently intended for publication1 ,i make no scruple in presenting it to my readers4 ,without presuming to pose as a literary critic1 ,i venture to differ from the author of ,puck on ,pegasus where he relegates his rhymes so far to the limbo of poetical failures as to claim for their chief merit that of having been the cause of some most admirable illustrations4 ,mr4 ,cholmondeley ,pennell was unusually fortunate in all his illustrators2 but surely such brilliantly clever youthful efforts as ,puck on ,pegasus displayed well deserved their good fortune4 ,i confess ,i was disappointed in finding two drawings only which1 from internal evidence1 ,i can attribute to ,leech2 these1 and1 indeed1 most of the others1 strange to say1 are unsigned4 ,readers of ,longfellow will1 ,i think1 agree with me that the ,song of ,in-the-,water is an admirable imitation of the manner of the ,american poet's ,hiawatha1 without the caricature1 not to say vulgarity1 which so often disfigures those attempts4 ,the ,song of ,in-the-,water is short1 and ,i am tempted to treat my readers to the whole of it4 ,i also note the delightful little initial letter ,w1 pictorially rendered1 evidently by ,doyle3 ,when the summer night descended ,sleepy1 on the white witch water1 ,came a lithe and lovely maiden1 ,gazing on the silent water-- ,gazing on the gleaming river-- ,with her azure eyes and tender ,on the river glancing forward1 ,till the laughing wave sprang upward1 ,upward from his reedy hollow ,with the lily in his bosom1 ,with his crown of water lilies-- ,curling every dimpled ripple ,as he sprang into the starlight1 ,as he clasped her charmed reflection ,glowing to his crystal bosom1 ,as he whispered1 ',fairest1 fairest1 ,rest upon this crystal bosom6' ,and she straightway did accordin'2-- ,down into the water stept she1 ,down into the wavering river1 ,like a red deer in the sunset-- ,like a ripe leaf in the autumn3 ,from her lips1 as rose-buds snow-filled1 ,came a soft and dreamy murmur1 ,softer than the breath of summer1 ,softer than the murm'ring river1 ,than the cooing of ,cushawa-- ,sighs that melted as the snows melt1 ,silently and sweetly melted2 ,sounds that mingled with the crisping ,foam upon the billow resting3 ,yet she spoke not1 only murmured4 ,from the forest shade primeval1 ,piggey-,wiggey looked out at her2 ,he1 the very ,youthful ,porker-- ,he1 the ,everlasting ,grunter-- ,gazed upon her there1 and wondered6 ,with his nose out1 ,rokey ,pokey-- ,and his tail up1 ,curley ,wurley-- ,wondered what on earth the joke was1 ,wondered what the girl was up to-- ,what the deuce her little game was1 ,why she didn't squeak and grunt more6 ,and she floated down the river ,like a water-proof ,ophelia2 ,,for ,,her ,,crinoline ,,sustained ,,her4 ,we may look1 and look in vain1 through the long list of ,leech's delightful creations for anything more lovely1 more exquisitely dainty1 than this floating damsel1 with grace and charm in every line of her4 ,i am sure my readers will join me in gratitude to ,mr4 ,pennell for having given occasion for a picture that is a joy for ever4 ,leech's remaining drawing illustrates a poem entitled ,rejected ,addresses1 not in any way1 ,i think1 intended as a parody of any of the celebrated ,rejected ,addresses of ,messrs4 ,smith--addresses1 it will be remembered1 that were written in the manner of various poets who flourished early in this century4 ,mr4 ,pennell deals with a certain ,alderman1 a ,sir ,toby1 who was ,an ,alderman of the very first degree1 ,but neither wife nor son had he3 ,he had a daughter fair-- ,and often said her father1 ',cis1 ,you shall be dubbed my ,lady1 ,miss1 ,when ,i am dubbed ,lord ,mayor4' ,sir ,gobble ,grist was the aged swain of parental choice1 but1 as is not uncommon in such cases1 the choice was not favoured by one of the parties concerned in it4 ,the ,alderman was1 however1 peremptory1 for he says to the pretty ,cis3 ',the day ,i don the gown and chain1 ,in ,hymen's modern ,fetter ,lane ,you wed ,sir ,gobble ,grist2 ,and whilst with pomp and pageant high ,i scrape1 and strut1 and star it by ,st4 ,george's in the ,east1 you'll try ,st4 ,george's in the ,west4' ,oh1 vision of parental pride6 ,oh1 blessed ,groom to such a ,bride6 ,oh1 happy ,lady ,cis6 ,yet sparks must always strike the match1 ,and miss may chance to lose her 'catch1' ,or he may catch a miss6 ,such things do happen1 here and there ,when knights are old1 and nymphs are fair1 ,and who can say they don't8 ,when ,worldly takes the gilded pill1 ,and ,dives stands and says1 ',i will1' ,,and ,,beauty ,,says1 ',i ,,won',t4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,alas6 that beaus will lose their spring1 ,and wayward belles refuse to 'ring1' ,unstruck by ,cupid's dart6 ,alas that--must the truth be told-- ,yet oft'ner has the archer sold ,the 'white and red' to touch 'the gold1' ,and ,diamonds trumped the ,heart6 ,that luckless heart6 too soon misplaced1 ,why is it that parental taste1 ,on sagest calculation based1 ,so rarely pleases ,miss8 ,let those who can the riddle read2 ,for me1 ,i've no idea indeed1 ,no more1 perhaps1 had ,cis4 ,it may be that she found ,sir ,g4 ,less tender than a swain should be1-- ,young--sprightly--witty--gay4 ,it might have been she thought his hat ,or head too round1 or square1 or flat1 ,or empty--who can say8 99 99 99 99 99 ,i know not6 but the ,parson waited1 ,the ,bridegroom swore1 the ,groomsmen rated1 ,till two o'clock or near2-- ,then home again in rage and wrath1 ,whilst pretty ,cis--was rattling ,north ,with ,jones the ,volunteer6 ,surely the poet has no occasion to blush for these verses1 or to think that they needed ,leech's aid to preserve them4 ,to me they seem admirable of their kind1 and well worthy of affording employment for ,leech's inimitable pencil2 and how perfectly has he realized for us the happy pair6 ,let us hope that pretty ,cis has made a prudent choice in the handsome ,volunteer1 whose uneasy glance conveys a fear that the journey 'due ,north' may still be interrupted4 ,to those who desire to read sprightly verse1 and to see the verse illustrated with very uncommon perfection by such artists as ,doyle1 ,millais1 ,tenniel1 ,sir ,nol ,paton1 and others1 ,i heartily commend ,puck on ,pegasus4 ,on ,tuesday1 the #beth of ,october1 #ahfd1 ,i dined at the house of ,mr4 ,hills1 in ,queen ,ann ,street4 ,the party consisted of several gentlemen1 most of whose names ,i forget4 ,i think ,landseer and ,millais were amongst the guests4 ,i am sure ,leech was1 for ,i sat next to him4 ,i cannot say ,i noticed much difference in his appearance2 he was perhaps even quieter than usual1 and when he joined in general conversation ,i fancied ,i noticed a slight change in his deep voice1 which seemed to me to have a kind of far-away sound in it1 more noticeable still when he spoke to me4 ,i heard he had not been well1 and1 in reply to my inquiry1 he said he should be well enough if he could get away from the horrible noises that never seemed to cease in his neighbourhood4 ,back and front of his house1 he said1 noises of all kinds were incessant2 his servant's time was taken up in sending away street musicians2 the cries of the hawkers were awful1 work was impossible to him except under agonizing conditions--a butcher's cart passed and repassed his house repeatedly with a dog in it that barked continually4 ,he then mentioned other nuisances1 and concluded his grievances with a sentence which ,i can never forget4 ,rather1 ,frith1 he said1 than continue to be tormented in this way1 ,i would prefer to go to the grave where there is no noise4 ,before that day week his desire was accomplished1 his ever-to-be-honoured grave had received him1 and he was deaf to all noises for evermore4 ,leech's doctors had warned him against excitement of any kind2 he was forbidden to ride on horseback or to walk rapidly2 and he was told that1 if he would cease to work1 and dismiss all anxiety from his mind1 they had good hope of his recovery4 ,cease to work and dismiss anxiety6 ,what vain words to a man who was consumed by the desire to raise money1 which nothing but work would bring6 ,and for whom were these dying energies put forth8 ,clearly not for himself or his own household4 ,the day before his death ,leech went to see ,dr4 ,quain1 who again prescribed absolute rest as his only chance4 ,and how did the poor fellow follow this advice8 ,he went home and wrote to the ,punch office1 saying that a messenger might be sent for a drawing in progress1 which he would finish if he could4 ,strange to say1 the fancy was as bright and the imagination as powerful as ever1 and1 for the moment1 the hand itself had lost none of its cunning2 but the physical strength failed utterly1 and the pencil fell from that wonderful hand for ever4 ,the messenger came1 and was sent empty away4 ,on the day of his death--having spent the rest of the previous day1 after his failure to complete the ,punch drawing1 in bed--he begged to be allowed to draw4 ,it would amuse me1 he said4 ,a medical friend who was present gave a reluctant permission1 and seeing no immediate appearance of danger1 the doctor left him to his amusement4 ,instead1 however1 of beginning at once1 says ,miss ,leech1 he threw himself upon a couch in the room1 and after a little while he was persuaded to go to bed and keep himself perfectly quiet4 ,this he did1 but scarcely had he composed himself for sleep than he suddenly started up and1 calling to his father and sister1 fell back and expired in their arms without a sigh4 ,thus1 on the #bith of ,october1 #ahfd1 died ,john ,leech1 done to death by overwork in his anxiety for others1 who1 let us hope1 were worthy of the sacrifice4 ,it is not too much to say that the death of this inimitable artist was a sorrow to all ,english-speaking people1 and no less to many foreign peoples1 who--as one touch of nature makes the whole world kin--fully relished the beauty1 truth1 and humour of all ,leech's work4 ,of this we have ample proof in the elaborately appreciative remarks of ,french and ,german writers4 ,among the former1 ,m4 ,ernest ,chesnau1 in the ,gazette des ,beaux ,arts of ,june1 #ahge1 has an exhaustive article on ,leech and his works--too long for reproduction here4 ,of the loving sympathy felt by his ,german brethren1 the following tribute from the ,german ,punch--the ,kladderadatsch--offers ample evidence4 ,it is entitled ,a ,cypress ,branch for the ,tomb of ,john ,leech4 ,poor ,john6 ,thy ,german brethren1 too1 stand in the shape of a weeping willow at thy grave1 for our locks are turned to mourning branches that droop down over thy simple cross4 ,ungrudgingly we behold thy glory1 thy 'like nature' which stirred up the foul carp-pond of life4 ,we remember thy fox-hunting and angling gentlemen1 thy ladies1 the pretty ones and the declining1 thy blue stockings1 thy gentlemen1 thy volunteers1 thy sportsmen1 thy ,flunkeiana1 and thy immortal ,mr4 ,briggs1 this pearl of ,english bonhommie4 ,mr4 ,punch1 too1 whose greatest ornament thou wert1 sits mourning on thy tomb4 ,he has cast off his merry ,punchinello costume1 and is nothing but a sorrowing old man4 ,farewell1 merry ,john1 thou boy of endless good-humour4 ,we erect this little monument in thy own spirit1 with an eye that laughs through tears1 for after thou hadst conquered the first bitter pangs of death1 thou must surely at thy last moment have smiled at leaving this miserable world4 ,illustration ,the ,english journals vied with each other in expressions of sorrow for this irreparable loss4 ,the death of ,garrick1 said ,dr4 ,johnson1 eclipsed the gaiety of nations4 ,how much more truly this may be said of the premature death of ,leech6 ,never was man so loved and honoured by his personal friends1 never was a man's death more sincerely mourned than that of dear1 kind ,john ,leech by those who had the delightful privilege of knowing intimately all the endearing qualities of his heart and mind4 ,see what that great man1 who was so soon to follow him to the grave1 says1 and think what the simple words imply6 ,says ,dickens1 in a letter to ,forster written a few days after ,leech's death1 ,i have not done my number 7',our ,mutual ,friend'74 ,this death of poor ,leech has put me out woefully4 ,it was predicted that ,leech's death would be death to ,punch4 ,how false and foolish that prophecy was1 none knew so well as ,leech himself2 but while admitting to the full the great talent of the present ,punch staff of artists1 it cannot be denied that ,leech's place is vacant1 and ,i assume the prophetic mantle and proclaim 7,i hope mistakenly7 that it will never be filled4 ,it should always be borne in mind that though it is impossible to exaggerate the benefit that ,punch derived from ,leech's pencil1 the artist is also deeply indebted to ,punch for the exceptional opportunities the peculiar character of the paper offered for the display of his powers4 ,the fact is1 the paper and the illustrations were exactly suited to each other1 and always worked harmoniously together4 ,that ,leech's death would be keenly felt by all connected with ,punch goes without saying1 and if tears are evidences of grief1 those that fell from the eyes of the whole of the staff as they stood round ,leech's grave gave full assurance of their sorrow4 ,on the #crd of ,november1 by a notice in the daily papers1 the public were informed that the funeral of ,john ,leech would take place at ,kensal ,green on the following day4 ,at two o'clock on the afternoon of the #dth1 great crowds of people lined the ways from the chapel to the grave1 which was already surrounded by the friends and acquaintances of the dead4 ,the pall-bearers were ,mark ,lemon1 ,shirley ,brooks1 ,tom ,taylor1 ,j4 ,e4 ,millais1 ,r4,a41 ,horace ,mayhew1 ,m4 ,evans 7,bradbury and ,evans1 of ,punch71 ,john ,tenniel1 ,f4 ,c4 ,burnand1 ,samuel ,lucas1 and ,henry ,silver 7all members of the staff or contributors to ,punch74 ,these were followed by ,john ,leech1 the artist's father2 ,dr4 ,quain1 poor ,leech's unwearied attendant in his illness2 ,charles ,keene1 ,george ,du ,maurier1 and others1 all more or less associated with ,leech in their relation to ,punch4 ,in attendance were ,charles ,dickens1 ,w4 ,h4 ,russell1 ,perceval ,leigh1 ,edmund ,yates1 ,charles ,f4 ,adams1 ,german ,reed1 ,h4 ,k4 ,browne 7',phiz'71 ,thomas ,landseer1 ,a4,r4,a41 ,george ,cruikshank1 ,godfrey ,turner1 ,creswick 7the tragedian71 ,marcus ,stone1 ,j4 ,phillip1 ,r4,a41 ,w4 ,p4 ,frith1 ,r4,a41 and many others4 ,the red coats of two soldiers made bright spots amongst the sombre crowd4 ,the service for the dead was read by the ,rev4 ,s4 ,r4 ,hole1 now ,dean of ,rochester1 whose warm friendship for ,leech distressingly affected him in his delivery of the solemn passages in the burial service4 ,the last words had scarcely ceased when we crowded together1 and without a dry eye amongst us1 as we took our farewell look into the resting-place of the man we loved so well4 ,one tomb only divides the graves of ,thackeray and ,leech4 ,of both these men it may be justly said that1 like ,saul and ,jonathan of old1 they were beautiful in their lives1 and but a short time and a small space divide them in their deaths4 ,leech's wife and children soon followed him to the grave2 and though1 to the surprise and regret of all who knew of the immense mass of work that he produced1 he was unable to leave even a moderate fortune behind him1 it is satisfactory to know that his family did not suffer4 ,anything approaching privation was warded off by means which it is not necessary to particularize4 ,the whole world is the inheritor under the will of ,leech2 and what a legacy he has bequeathed6 ,posterity will be able to study us in our habits as we lived1 in our pleasures and our pains1 in our follies and eccentricities1 in our sports and amusements--in short1 in every condition of life1 high and low4 ,a type1 or types1 of every class1 from the very poor to the very rich1 from the beggar to the ,king1 spring perfect from ,leech's pencil4 ,he revels in beauty2 tenderness and manly strength combine in his works1 as they did in himself1 a love of what is good and pure1 and a hatred of the ignoble and the base is shown in all he drew1 and in every act of his private life4 ,my endeavour in these pages has been to convey to those to whom ,leech will be but a name1 as clear an idea as lay in my power of the life and character of the author of the matchless works which will be a delight for all time4 ,death only sanctifies the loving memory in which ,leech will be held by those who knew him4 ,the kindly and intelligent of future generations will1 ,i hope and believe1 not only appreciate the humour and character1 the fun and frolic1 in ,leech's drawings1 but discover also the delightful nature of their producer in many a tender touch1 in many a good-natured rendering of matter that was susceptible in other hands of severe or vulgar treatment2 and if ,i can create for him something of the affectionate regard in the future that is universally felt for him in the present1 my object in writing this imperfect memoir will be attained4 ,illustration ,,footnotes3 ,a ,i regret to say that1 from the nature of the material in which this early drawing is made1 it has been found impossible of reproduction4 ,,billing ,,and ,,sons1 ,,printers1 ,,guildford4 ,j4 ,d4 ,co4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,hyphenation has been standardised4 ,duval has been changed to ,derval on page #eg for consistency4