,,the ,,life ,,of ,,george ,,cruikshank1
    ,,vol4 ,i4 7of ,,ii7    ,the ,life  
,of ,george ,cruikshank ,in ,two ,epochs
    ,by ,blanchard ,jerrold    ,with    
,numerous ,illustrations    ,in ,two    
,volumes--,vol4 ,i4    #ahhb        8,if
 ever you happen to meet with two       
volumes of ,grimm's #8,german           
,stories199 which were illustrated by   
,cruikshank long ago1 pounce upon  them 
instantly2 the etchings in them are the 
finest things1 next to  ,rembrandt's1   
that1 as far as ,i know1 have been done 
since etching was  invented40--,ruskin4 
8,all ,british people1 even publicans   
and distillers1 we should hope1 have  a 
kindly feeling for ,george              
,cruikshank40--,w4 ,m4 ,rossetti4       
8,am ,i stilted or turgid when ,i       
paraphrase that which ,johnson said of  
,homer and ,milton1 in re the ,iliad and
 the ,paradise ,lost1 and say  of       
,hogarth and ,cruikshank that ,george is
 not the greatest pictorial  humourist  
our country has seen1 only because he is

 not the  first80--,sala's 8,life of    
,william ,hogarth40                     
,,dedication4    ,,to ,,gustave ,,dor4  
,my dear ,dor1    ,when some            
five-and-twenty years ago we were       
waiting together1 at  ,boulogne1 for the
 arrival of the ,queen1 who was on her  
way to ,paris1 we  spent an evening at  
the hotel with the late ,herbert        
,ingram1 for whom we  had               
undertaken--you to illustrate1 and ,i to
 describe--the pageant for  the         
8,illustrated ,london ,news0 ,it was a  
pleasant evening1 closed by a  long     
moonlight ramble on the sands4 ,while we
 talked1 you1 filled a  vast sheet of   
paper with a medley of fancies1 squibs1 
caricatures1 and  satires1 in which     
public events were jumbled with private 
jokes2 while  the great folk1 of whose  
doings we were the chroniclers1 were    
marshalled  in procession with our      
humble selves4 ,i remember the          
astonishment  expressed on ,ingram's    
face when1 as we were leaving for our   

walk and  cigar1 he glanced over your   
shoulder at the hosts with which you    
had peopled the broad page before you4  
,it was a prodigious tour de  force1--so
 curious and complete an emanation of   
the humorous and  satirical part of your
 genius1 that ,i pardon ,ingram for     
having decamped  with it on the morrow  
morning before we were up4    ,it is the
 remembrance of all that sheet contained
 which has led me to  dedicate this     
record of our friend ,george            
,cruikshanks life and work to  you4     
,poring over his etchings and wood      
drawings1 my mind has constantly        
reverted to your work of the ,rabelais1 
,wandering ,jew1 and ,contes            
,drlatiques period2 and ,i have         
perceived a strong affinity between one 
aspect of your genius and that of 8the  
inimitable ,george40    ,it is to the   
illustrious illustrator of ,rabelais and
 of ,dante that ,i  dedicate these      
disjecta membra of a life of the        
illustrator of ,grimm1 of  ,oliver      

,twist1 and of ,shakespeare's ,falstaff4
    ,accept it1 my dear ,dor1 as a      
tribute to your genius1 but also as a   
public acknowledgment of your sterling  
qualities as a friend and of your  rare 
gifts as an intellectual companion4     
,,blanchard ,,jerrold4    ,new ,year's  
,day1 #ahhb4          ,,preface4    ,in 
the following pages ,i have endeavoured 
to present ,george ,cruikshank  to the  
reader--not only as he lived and moved  
and worked1 but also in  the light in   
which he was held by his many friends   
and his distinguished  critics4 ,the    
artist has been warned by the poet that 
he should 8rest in  art40 ,cruikshank   
was not of those who needed the warning4
 ,he remained  heart and soul in his    
creative work throughout a long career1 
content  to live modestly1 and to rest  
his claim to the respect of the world   
upon his labours4 ,if his indefatigable 
industry failed to bring him the        
fortune which fashion now lavishes upon 
his inferiors1 he was consoled  by the  

fervid admiration of such critics as    
,thackeray and ,ruskin1 and  other      
distinguished contemporaries1 whose     
opinions on his genius ,i  have freely  
given1 as the best aids to a thorough   
estimate of him as an  artist4    ,these
 volumes should be accepted as mmoires  
pour servir1 as material  towards a just
 judgment of the artist and the man4 ,i 
am indebted to  ,george ,cruikshank's   
friends for many personal anecdotes1 and
 to my own  recollections of him1       
ranging from my boyhood to his death1   
for the  general outline of the 8dear   
old ,george10 whose humour and          
eccentricity  delighted ,dickens1       
,douglas ,jerrold1 ,thackeray1 and their
 friends for  many years4 ,i am indebted
 to the late ,charles ,landseer1 to ,mr4
 ,frederick  ,locker1 the late ,mr4 ,w4 
,h4 ,wills 7co-editor with ,dickens of  
,household  ,words and ,all the ,year   
,round71 ,mr4 ,percival ,leigh1 the only
 survivor  of the original contributors 
to ,punch1 ,mr4 ,george ,augustus ,sala1

 ,dr4  ,b4 ,w4 ,richardson1 the late    
,mr4 ,gruneison1 ,mr4 ,percy            
,cruikshank1 ,cuthbert  ,bede1 and many 
others1 including the gentleman with    
whom ,cruikshank's  temperance campaign 
brought him in contact towards the close
 of his  life4    ,as a tribute to the  
genius of ,cruikshank1 ,gustave ,dor has
 contributed  a drawing1 called by him  
,the ,gin-,fiend1 which will remind the 
hosts  of ,english admirers of the      
illustrious ,french painter1 sculptor1  
and  illustrator1 of the time when he   
produced the ,contes ,drolatiques and   
the ,wandering ,jew4            ,,the   
,,life ,,of ,,george ,,cruikshank4      
,,epoch ,i4 #agid--ahdg4                
,,chapter ,i4 ,,two ,,epochs4    8,as a 
boy10 ,thackeray said of his friend     
,george ,cruikshank1 8he began  to fight
 for bread199 has been hungry 7twice    
a-day1 we trust7 ever since1  and has   
been obliged to sell his wit for his    
bread week by week4 ,and  his wit1      
sterling gold as it is1 will find no    

such purchasers as the  fashionable     
painter's thin pinchbeck1 who can live  
comfortably for  six weeks when paid for
 painting a portrait1 and fancies his   
mind  prodigiously occupied the while4  
,there was an artist in ,paris--an      
artist hairdresser--who used to be      
fatigued and take restoratives after    
inventing a new coiffure4         99    
,george ,cruikshank never felt the pinch
 of poverty4 ,his       family1 of which
 his careful mother was the head1 was   
never       in want4 ,it was a plain    
household1 much disturbed1 it must      
be said1 by the intemperate habits of   
the father1 as well as       of the two 
sons1 who were boisterous and bibulous  
young men       who fell into scores of 
scrapes2 but bed and board were         
always easily at command2 and ,george   
made money enough for       his         
pleasures even when he was drawing      
wood-blocks for ,hone       at ten      
shillings and sixpence each4 ,he could  
execute two or       three in the course

 of a day4    ,by no such gentle        
operation of hair-dressing has          
,cruikshank lived4 ,time  was 7we are   
told so in print7 when for a picture    
with thirty heads in  it1 he was paid   
three guineas--a poor week's pittance   
truly1 and a dire  week's labour4 ,we   
make no doubt that the same labour would
 at present 99  bring him twenty times  
the sum2 but whether it be ill paid or  
well1 what  labour has ,mr4             
,cruikshank's been1 and week by week1   
for thirty years1 to  produce something 
new--some smiling offspring of painful  
labour1 quite  independent and distinct 
from its ten thousand jovial brethren2  
in what  hours of sorrow and ill-health 
to be told by the world1 #8,make us     
laugh1  or you starve--give us fresh    
fun2 we have eaten up the old1 and are  
hungry6' ,and all this has he been      
obliged to do--to wring laughter  day by
 day1 sometimes1 perhaps1 out of want2  
often1 certainly1 from  ill-health and  
depression--to keep the fire of his     

brain perpetually  alight1 for the      
greedy public will give it no leisure to
 cool4 ,this  has he done1 and done     
well40 ,more than forty years ago       
,thackeray  was astonished at the many  
years of labour already performed by    
this  8indefatigable man10 and          
exclaimed1 8,what amazing energetic     
fecundity do  we find in him60 ,the     
author of 8,vanity ,fair0 was not often 
carried away  by his emotion1 but in the
 presence of the fire of his friend's   
genius  he warmed to an unwonted heat4  
8,he has told a thousand new truths in  
as many strange and fascinating ways2 he
 has given a thousand new and  pleasant 
thoughts to millions of people2 he has  
never used his wit  dishonestly2 he has 
never1 in all the exuberance of his     
frolicsome  nature1 caused a single     
painful or guilty blush40         99    
,this passage is extracted from an      
article on ,cruikshank       written by 
,thackeray1 in the ,westminster ,review 
7#ahdj72 an       article to which he   

frequently referred as having given     
great pleasure in the writing4    ,and  
yet1 in #ahdj1 ,george ,cruikshank was  
not quite midway on his career6  ,only  
the first great epoch of his life was   
drawing to a close4 ,for the  life of   
,cruikshank is broadly divisible into   
two ,epochs2 viz41 that  extending from 
his birth to #ahdg1 when he became a    
total abstainer2 and  that reaching from
 the year when he came to the conclusion
 that1 to use  his own words upon the   
title-page of the small edition of 8,the
 ,bottle0   7#ahgd71 8it was of no use  
preaching without setting an example10  
to his  death4    ,in order to put the  
entire man before the world1 it is      
necessary to deal  as thoroughly with   
the first epoch of his life as with the 
second4 ,nay1  it is only on this       
condition that the writer can make the  
whole deserts  of this singular ,british
 worthy manifest4 ,the present          
generation are  familiar merely with the
 ,george ,cruikshank of the last thirty 

years4 ,but  his course stretched       
through two generations of his          
fellow-men4    ,the public who knew the 
,cruikshank of the ,regency1 the ,reform
 ,bill1 and  of the dawn of the         
,victorian epoch1 had ceased to laugh or
 weep1 to  take notes and criticise1    
when the veteran artist summoned his    
fellow-countrymen to inspect his        
,triumph of ,bacchus4 ,cruikshank1 the  
frolicsome1 many-sided caricaturist1 who
 worked with ,hone and others  as a     
political and social reformer2 who gave 
the world an annual hearty  laugh for   
many years in his ,comic ,almanac2 and  
who gaily drove his  ,omnibus with that 
refined and poetic humourist1 ,laman    
,blanchard2 was a  roysterer1 fond of   
the pleasures of the world1 given to    
jovial parties1  the centre of a group  
of boon companions1 and a man who passed
 many  painful morrow mornings4 ,but1 as
 his friend ,thackeray1 who spent many a
  lively evening with him1 bears        
witness1 ,cruikshank1 after his wild    

youth  was passed1 seldom overstepped   
the bounds of modesty1 and never gave   
the  influence of his genius to a cause 
in which he was not a heart and soul    
believer4 ,from the earliest of his     
8years of discretion0 he used his  rare 
gifts as a sacred trust1 and never      
allowed hopes of fortune to  tempt him  
out of the simple ways of plain living  
and high thinking4    ,illustration3    
#jcb    ,the ,cruikshank of our later   
day--of his second epoch--will gain only
  in dignity by a knowledge of him in   
his youth4 ,we shall learn all he       
resisted2 how heroically he battled with
 himself2 and with what success1  while 
he purged his life of its grossness1 he 
kept his heart free from  asceticism2   
how the boy lived and laughed1 in short1
 in the hale and  hearty old man1 even  
when he had solemnly dedicated his      
genius to a  cause1 the triumph of which
 he believed to be the only foundation  
of a  pure and prosperous society4      
,illustration3 #jcc          ,,chapter  

,,ii4 ,,from ,,cranach ,,to             
,,cruikshank4    ,the history of        
caricature in ,england travels very     
little beyond ,george  ,cruikshank's    
lifetime4 ,the very word caricatura1    
used by ,sir ,thomas  ,browne in his    
,christian morals1 and transplanted to  
the ,spectator1  appeared first as an   
,english word in ,johnson's dictionary  
in the middle  of the last century      
,caricature--the modern word and the    
modern art  the use of the pencil and   
the etcher's point as ironical and      
satirical  weapons--may be said to have 
taken root in this country under the    
breath  of ,hogarth's genius4 ,it       
flourished in ,germany1--nay may be said
 to have  been born there1 during the   
,renaissance4 ,the ,reformation gave it 
its  first great impulse1 under the hand
 of ,lucas ,cranach4 ,from ,germany it  
travelled to ,france1 thence to         
,holland1 and from ,holland to ,england4
 ,the  famous caricaturists1 however1   
are not many4 ,cranach1 ,peter          

,breughel1  ,jacques ,callot--but       
particularly the latter--may be noted as
  caricaturists who made the way for our
 ,hogarth1 for the ,spaniard ,goya  7a  
caricaturist of infinite humour71 and so
 for ,gillray1 ,rowlandson1  ,daumier1  
the ,cruikshanks1 ,leech1 and the elder 
,doyle4 ,our earliest  caricaturists    
came over to us from the ,french and    
,dutch schools2 and  they flourished    
7albeit their names are forgotten now7  
until the genius  of ,hogarth rose1 and 
founded a ,british school of caricature1
 racy of the  soil4 ,the names of ,john 
,collet1 ,paul ,sandby1 ,bunbury1 and   
,woodward1 were  famous in their day2   
but they were destined to be eclipsed by
 the glory  of ,james ,gillray and the  
lesser light of ,rowlandson2 and these  
two1 with  ,goya in ,spain1 and the     
renowned ,daumier in ,france1 represent 
the power  which caricature exercised in
 the political world at the close of the
  last and in the early days of the     
present century4    ,a writer in the    

8,encyclopaedia ,britannica0 99 has     
remarked of the rise of  ,george        
,cruikshank1 8,the satirical grotesque  
of the eighteenth century  had been     
characterised by a sort of grandiose    
brutality1 by a certain  vigorous       
obscenity1 by a violence of expression  
and intuition1 that  appear monstrous in
 these days of reserve and restraint1   
but that  doubtless suited well enough  
with the strong party feelings and      
fierce  political passions of the age4  
,after the downfall of ,napoleon        
7#ahae71  however1 when strife was over1
 and men were weary and satisfied1 a    
change in matter and manner came over   
the caricature of the period4 ,in       
connection with this change1 the name of
 ,george ,cruikshank1 an artist  who    
stretches hands on the one side towards 
,hogarth and ,gillray1 and  on the other
 towards ,leech and ,teniiel1 deserves  
honourable mention4  ,cruikshank's      
political caricatures1 some of which    
were designed for the  squibs of        

,william ,hone1 are1 comparatively      
speaking1 uninteresting2 his  ambition  
was that of ,hogarth--the production of 
moral comedies40         99  ,ninth     
edition4    ,in an admirable article on 
the work and career of ,george          
,cruikshank1 by  ,mr4 ,john ,paget1     
published in ,blackwood 7,august #ahfc71
 an interesting  passage occurs1 showing
 how the link of historical caricature  
passed  unbroken from the hands of      
,gillray to those of ,george            
,cruikshank4    8,the political series  
of his 7,gillray's7 caricatures         
commences in the  year #aghb1 shortly   
before the coalition between ,fox and   
,lord ,north1 and  continues until      
#ahaj4 ,it comprises not less than four 
hundred plates1  giving an average of   
about fourteen for each year4 ,when it  
is remembered  that this period         
commences with the recognition of the   
independence  of the ,united ,states2   
that it extends over the whole of the   
,french  ,revolution1 and a considerable

 portion of the ,empire2 that it        
comprises  the careers of ,pitt1 ,fox1  
,burke1 ,sheridan1 ,wyndham1 ,erskine1  
and ,lord  ,thurlow1 and comes down to  
the times of ,castlereagh1 ,canning1    
,lord ,grey1  and ,sir ,francis         
,burdett1 and that the aspect of every  
actor who played  any conspicuous part  
during that period is faithfully        
preserved #8in his  habit1 as he lived1'
 his gesture and demeanour1 his gait1   
his mode of  sitting and walking1 his   
action in speaking--all1 except the tone
 of  his voice1 presented to us as if we
 gazed through a glass at the men of    
former times--we shall feel that we owe 
no small debt to the memory of  ,james  
,gillray4    8,nor is this all4 ,he has 
given to us with equal fidelity the     
portraits  of those actors who fill up  
the scene1 who sustain the underplot of 
the  comedy of life1 but have only a    
secondary share1 if any1 in the main    
action of the drama4 ,nor was he simply 
a caricaturist ,that he possessed  the  

higher qualities of genius--imagination1
 fancy1 and considerable  tragic        
power--is abundantly shown by many of   
his larger and more  important etchings1
 whilst a small figure of the unhappy   
,duchess of  ,york1 published in #agib1 
under the feigned signature of          
,charlotte  ,zethin1 gives proof that he
 was not wanting in tenderness or grace4
    8,of those who appear in the        
etchings of ,gillray the last has passed
 away  from amongst us within a year of 
the present time4 ,the figure of an old 
man1 somewhat below the middle height1  
the most remarkable feature in  whose   
face consisted of his dark overhanging  
eyebrows1 habited in a  loose blue coat 
with metal buttons1 grey trousers1 white
 stockings1 and  a thick pair of boots1 
walking leisurely along ,pall ,mall or  
,st4 ,james's  ,street1 was familiar to 
many of our readers4 ,the ,marquess of  
,lansdowne  7then ,lord ,henry ,petty7  
appears for the first time in ,gillray's
 prints  in the year #ahje2 and it is   

not difficult to trace a resemblance    
between  the youthful ,chancellor of the
 ,exchequer of more than half a century 
ago1 and the ,nestor of the ,whigs1 who 
survived more than three  generations of
 politicians4 ,the personal history of  
,gillray was a  melancholy one4 ,in     
#ahji his pencil showed no want of      
vigour1 but his  intellect shortly      
afterwards gave way under the effect of 
intemperate  habits4 ,the last of his   
works was #8,a ,barber's ,shop in       
,assize-time1'  etched from a drawing by
 ,harry ,bunting in #ahaa4 ,in four     
years  more--years of misery and        
madness--he slept in the churchyard of  
,st4  ,james's1 ,piccadilly4 ,a flat    
stone marks the resting-place1 and      
records  the genius1 of #8,mr4 ,james   
,gillray1 the caricaturist1 who departed
 this  life ,june #ast1 #ahae1 aged #eh 
years4'    8,at the time of the death of
 ,gillray1 ,george ,cruikshank was a    
young  man of about five-and-twenty     
years of age4 ,sir ,francis ,burdett was

 a  prominent figure in many of         
,gillray's latest caricatures in the    
year  #ahji4 ,one of the earliest of    
,george ,cruikshank's represents the    
arrest  of the ,baronet under the       
warrant of the ,speaker in #ahaj4 ,the  
series  is thus taken up without the    
omission of even a single link40 ,the   
same  writer distinguishes justly       
between the two political caricaturists4
 ,in  his early work ,cruikshank often  
so closely resembles ,gillray1 that it  
is  difficult to say in what minor      
points he is dissimilar2 but a study  of
 the political work of the two will show
 that ,gillray was the more  vigorous of
 the pair1 also the more audacious and  
unscrupulous4 ,the  writer in ,blackwood
 remarks that ,cruikshank in his own    
department is  as far superior to       
,gillray as he falls short of him in the
 walk of art  8in which no man before or
 since has ever approached the great    
,master of  ,political ,caricature4 ,in 
another1 requiring more refined1 more   

subtle1 more intellectual qualities of  
mind1 ,george ,cruikshank stands        
pre-eminent1 not only above ,gillray1   
but above all other artists4 ,he  is the
 most perfect master of individual      
expression that ever handled  a pencil  
or an etching-needle4 ,this talent is   
equally shown in his  earliest as in his
 latest works4 ,of the former1 one of   
the finest  examples is the first cut of
 the #8,queen's ,matrimonial ,ladder1'  
entitled  #8,qualification1' ,the       
attitude was probably suggested by      
,gillray's plate  of the same           
illustrious personage1 as #8,a          
,voluptuary suffering from the  ,horrors
 of ,indigestion1' ,but here the        
superiority of ,cruikshank over         
,gillray in this particular quality is  
at once apparent4 ,gillray's is a       
finished copper-plate engraving1        
,cruikshank's a light woodcut1 but there
  is not a line that does not tell its  
story4 ,down to the very tips of  his   
fingers the unhappy debauchee is        

#8fuddled4' ,the exact stage of         
drunkenness is marked and noted down in 
the corners of the mouth and  eyes1 and 
the impotent elevation of the eyebrow40 
,cruikshank was a very young man when   
,gillray gave way to drunkenness1  and  
sank under it4 ,his last work appeared  
in #ahaa499         99 8,gillray's      
character affords a sad example of the  
reckless       imprudence that too      
frequently accompanies talent and       
genius4 ,for many years he resided in   
the house of his       publisher1 ,mr4  
,humphrey1 by whom he was most liberally
       supplied with every indulgence2  
during this time he produced            
nearly all his most celebrated works1   
which were bought up       with         
unparalleled eagerness1 and circulated  
not only over       all ,england1 but   
most parts of ,europe4 ,though under a  
positive engagement not to work for any 
other publisher1 yet       so great was 
his insatiable desire for strong        
liquors1 that       he often etched     

plates for unscrupulous persons1        
cleverly       disguising his style and 
handling40--,robert ,chambers' ,book    
of ,days1 vol4 i41 p4 #gbd4    ,mr4     
,ruskin1 in his ,appendix to his ,modern
 ,painters on 8,modern  ,grotesque10    
insists that 8all the real masters of   
caricature deserve  honour in this      
respect1 that their gift is peculiarly  
their own--innate  and incommunicable4  
,illustration3 #jdb    ,no teaching1 no 
hard study1 will ever enable other      
people to equal1 in  their several ways1
 the works of ,leech or ,cruikshank2    
whereas the power  of pure drawing is   
communicable1 within certain limits1 to 
every one who  has good sight and       
industry4 ,i do not1 indeed1 know how   
far1 by  devoting the attention to      
points of character1 caricaturist skill 
may be  laboriously attained2 but       
certainly the power is1 in the masters  
of the  school1 innate from their       
childhood4    8,further4 ,it is evident 
that many subjects of thought may be    

dealt with  by this kind of art1 which  
are inapproachable by any other1 and    
that its  influence over the popular    
mind must always be great2 hence it may 
often  happen that men of strong purpose
 may rather express themselves in this  
way 7and continue to make such          
expression a matter of earnest study71  
than turn to any less influential1      
though more dignified1 or even more     
intrinsically meritorious1 branch of    
art4 ,and when the powers of quaint     
fancy are associated 7as is frequently  
the case7 with stem understanding  of   
the nature of evil1 and tender human    
sympathy1 there results a bitter  or    
pathetic spirit of grotesque1 to which  
mankind at the present day owe  more    
thorough moral teaching than to any     
branch of art whatsoever4    8,in poetry
 the temper is seen1 in perfect         
manifestation1 in the works  of ,thomas 
,hood2 in art it is found both in       
various works of the  ,germans--their   
finest and their least thought of2 and  

more or less in  the works of ,george   
,cruikshank1 and in many of the         
illustrations of our  popular journals40
    ,in a note1 ,ruskin adds3 8,taken   
all in all1 the works of ,cruikshank    
have the most sterling value of any     
belonging to this class produced in     
,england40    ,let us now turn once more
 to ,thackeray's admirable estimate of  
his old  friend3--    8,we have heard   
only profound persons talk              
philosophically of the  marvellous and  
mysterious manner in which he has suited
 himself to the  time--fait vibrer la   
fibre populaire 7as ,napoleon boasted of
 himself71  supplied a peculiar want    
felt at a peculiar period1 the simple   
secret  of which is1 as we take it1 that
 he1 living amongst the public1 has with
  them a general wide-hearted sympathy2 
that he laughs at what they laugh  at2  
that he has a kindly spirit of          
enjoyment1 with not a morsel of         
mysticism in his composition2 that he   
pities and loves the poor1 and  jokes at

 the follies of the great2 and that he  
addresses all in  a perfectly sincere   
and manly way4 ,to be greatly successful
 as a  professional humourist1 as in any
 other calling1 a man must be quite     
honest1 and show that his heart is in   
his work4 ,a bad preacher will get      
admiration and a hearing with this point
 in his favour1 where a man with  three 
times his acquirements will only find   
indifference and coldness4  ,is any man 
more remarkable than our artist for     
telling the truth after  his own manner8
 ,hogarth's honesty of purpose was as   
conspicuous in  an earlier time1 and we 
fancy that ,gillray would have been far 
more  successful and more powerful1 but 
for that unhappy bribe1 which turned    
the whole course of his humour into an  
unnatural channel4 ,cruikshank  would   
not for any bribe say what he did not   
think1 or lend his aid to  sneer down   
anything meritorious1 or to praise any  
thing or person that  deserved censure4 
,when he levelled his wit against the   

,regent1 and did  his very prettiest for
 the ,princess1 he most certainly       
believed1 along  with the great body of 
the people whom he represents1 that the 
,princess  was the most spotless1       
pure-mannered darling of a ,princess    
that ever  married a heartless debauchee
 of a ,prince ,royal4 ,did not millions 
believe with him1 and noble and learned 
lords take their oaths to her  ,royal   
,highness's innocence8 ,cruikshank would
 not stand by and see a  woman ill-used1
 and so struck in for her rescue1 he and
 the people  belabouring with all their 
might the party who were making the     
attack1  and determining1 from pure     
sympathy and indignation1 that the woman
 must  be innocent because her husband  
treated her so badly4    8,to be sure1  
we have never heard so much from ,mr4   
,cruikshank's own lips1  but any man who
 will examine these odd drawings1 which 
first made him  famous1 will see what an
 honest1 hearty hatred the champion of  
woman has  for all who abuse her1 and   

will admire the energy with which he    
flings  his wood-blocks at all who side 
against her40 99         99 ,westminster
 ,review1 #ahdj4    ,thackeray dwells   
lovingly on ,cruikshank's success as a  
delineator  of children and the humours 
of childhood2 and particularly on his   
inimitable illustrations to children's  
books4 ,this is ,cruikshank's own  king 
dom1 by a right of genius which none can
 dispute4    8,how10 exclaims           
,thackeray1 8shall we enough praise the 
delightful ,german  nursery tales1 and  
,cruik-shank's illustrations of them8   
,we coupled his  name with pantomime    
awhile since1 and sure never pantomimes 
were more  charming than these4 ,of all 
the artists that ever drew1 from        
,michael  ,angelo upwards and downwards1
 ,cruikshank was the man to illustrate  
these  tales1 and give them just the    
proper admixture of the grotesque1 the  
wonderful1 and the graceful40 ,and      
further on the author of 8,vanity ,fair0
   exclaims3 8,look at one of ,mr4      

,cruikshank's works1 and we pronounce   
him  an excellent humourist4 ,look at   
all1 his reputation is increased by a   
kind of geometrical progression1 as a   
whole diamond is a hundred times  more  
valuable than the hundred splinters into
 which it might be broken  would be4 ,a 
fine rough ,english diamond is this     
about which we have been  writing40     
,and so ,thackeray concludes a paper on 
his friend1 whom he had not  forgotten  
many years after when he exhibited the  
8,triumph of ,bacchus40    ,let us now  
glance at the childhood and early       
manhood of this famous  ,englishman4 ,we
 shall see that he owed nothing to      
,fortune4 ,the coarse and  dangerous    
school of obscurity was his4 ,the       
splendid powers which he had  received  
from nature1 if they grew wild1 grew    
strong also4 ,he was the  son of ,isaac 
,cruikshank1 a struggling ,scotch       
artist1 who never won high  fame nor    
commanded rich rewards2 a fair painter  
in water-colours and  a successful      

grotesque etcher1 when the satirical    
grotesque was a  marketable produce4    
,isaac ,cruikshank 99 was the son of a  
,low-lander1 who  held at one time an   
appointment in the ,customs at ,leith4  
,he married the  daughter of a naval    
officer--a ,highlander from ,inverary1  
according  to ,dr4 ,charles ,mackay2 to 
whom ,george ,cruikshank often boasted  
that  although he had the misfortune to 
be born in ,london1 his blood was a     
mixture of the ,highlands and ,lowlands 
of ,scotland4 ,he boasted that his      
grandfather had fought at ,culloden1 and
 had become thereby impoverished4  ,the 
child of a ,lowland father1 and of a    
stern1 resolute ,highland mother2  bred 
in ,london1 with ,london streets for the
 fairyland of his young  imagination2   
inured as a child to taskwork in that   
busy house1 or  factory1 in ,dorset     
,street2 and his boyhood cast in the    
days of great  deeds and momentous      
events calculated to stir his blood to  
fever heat2  the genius of ,george      

,cruikshank budded and blossomed        
betimes4 ,his first  pencilling is dated
 #agii3 it was executed in his seventh  
year6 ,it may be  said that his baby    
fingers played with the graving tool4   
,while a boy1 he  illustrated children's
 penny books for the children's         
publisher1 ,james  ,wallis1 as well as  
comic valentines1 and ,twelfth ,night   
characters1 for  ,chappell1 the then    
publisher of ,london ,cries1 ,knight1   
,baldwyn1 and  others4         99  ,the 
,cruikshanks belonged to ,aberdeenshire1
 where they are       still a numerous  
sept4 ,probably some branches of them   
may be       found in the 8,poll-,book  
of ,aberdeenshire40 ,william            
,cruikshank1 a celebrated anatomist1    
flourished in ,edinburgh       toward   
the close of last century4    ,isaac    
,cruikshank1 his father1 was1 as ,i have
 said1 a fairly known  water-colour     
painter and etcher of popular subjects4 
,lottery tickets  were his 8pot         
boilers0--for there was a steady demand 

for designs for  these4 ,but1 with      
poorer skill than his gifted son1 he fed
 the popular  appetite for pictures of  
the time4 ,a grim outline of the        
guillotine1  a cramped representation of
 the execution of ,louis ,,xvi4 in      
#agic1 were  among the sterner subjects 
to which his name is attached4          
8,isaac ,cruikshank10 says ,mr4 ,wright1
 8was among the most active1 and        
certainly the most successful1 of the   
caricaturists of the beginning  of the  
present century20 and he adds1 that     
,isaac's works were equal to  those of  
his contemporaries1 after ,gillray and  
,rowlandson4 ,one of the  earliest      
examples1 bearing the well-known        
initials ,i4 ,c41 was published  on the 
#ajth of ,march1 #agid4 ,mr4 ,wright is 
mistaken in saying that this  was the   
year of his illustrious son ,george's   
birth2 for ,george was then  two years  
old4 ,isaac published many plates that  
made a noise in the  world1 as 8,the    
,royal ,extinguisher0 7#agie71 in which 

,pitt is represented  putting out the   
flame of ,sedition2 8,billy's           
,raree-,show20 ,fox as  8,the ,watchman 
of the ,state20 and 8,a ,flight across  
the ,herring ,pond10   published in     
#ahjj4 99 ,mr4 ,wright says3 8,the last 
caricature ,i possess1  bearing the     
initials of ,isaac ,cruikshank1 was     
published by ,fores1 on  the #aith of   
,april1 #ahaj1 and is entitled #8,the   
,last ,grand ,ministerial  ,expedition4'
 ,the subject is the riot on the arrest 
of ,sir ,francis  ,burdett1 and it shows
 that ,cruikshank was at this time      
caricaturing on  the ,radical side in   
politics40         99 ,england and      
,ireland are separated by a rough sea1  
over       which a crowd of ,irish      
8patriots0 are flying1 allured by the   
prospect of honours and rewards4 ,on the
 ,irish shore1 a few       wretched     
natives1 with a baby and a dog1 are in  
an attitude       of prayer1            
expostulating with the fugitives4444 ,on
 the       ,english shore1 ,pitt is     

holding open the 8,imperial ,pouch10    
and welcoming them4--,wright's ,history 
of ,caricature and       ,grotesque4    
,isaac ,cruikshank1 after his           
establishment in ,london1 married ,miss 
,mary  ,mac,naughton1 a young ,scottish 
lady from ,perth1 whose family owned a  
small property there4 ,her parents dying
 young1 she was brought up by the       
,countess of ,orkney1 from whom she     
concealed her marriage with an artist1  
as a msalliance the ,countess would not 
approve4 ,she was a lady  of strong will
 and temper1 while ,isaac1 her husband1 
was of quiet1  meditative temperament4  
,robert1 the eldest son of the marriage1
 was like  his father1 while ,george    
showed the hot head and imperious temper
 of his  mother4 99         99 ,the     
daughter1 ,eliza1 inherited the family  
skill in       drawing4 ,she designed   
the well-known caricature of the ,four  
,prues--,high ,prue1 ,low ,prue1 ,half  
,prue1 and ,full ,prue1 which       was 
etched by her brother ,george in his    

boldest style4 ,she       died young1 of
 consumption4    ,isaac ,cruikshank was 
living in ,duke ,street1 ,bloomsbury1   
when his  sons ,robert1 ,isaac1 and     
,george were born1 the latter on the    
#bgth of  ,september1 #agib1 the former 
on the same date in #aghi4 ,while the   
boys  were in their early infancy1 the  
family removed to #aag1 ,dorset ,street1
  ,salisbury ,square1 a house commodious
 enough for the admission of  lodgers1  
one of whom was ,mungo ,park4 ,among the
 constant visitors were  ,dr4           
,pettigrew1 the family doctor 7known    
afterwards as ,mummy ,pettigrew71  and  
,george ,dawe1 ,r4,a41 to whom ,isaac   
,cruikshank had given lessons as a  poor
 boy4 ,it was a busy establishment4     
,isaac ,cruikshank worked at his        
etchings on copper1 while his wife      
coloured the plates1 pressing her two   
boys into the service at a very early   
age4 ,this ,mary ,cruikshank1 if  a     
hot-tempered1 was a frugal and          
industrious wife1 and an excellent      

mother4 ,she used to boast how she had  
managed to save a thousand pounds1  and 
at the same time to bring up her        
children in ,god-fearing ways  7laying  
her hand on her ,bible she said she knew
 ,jerusalem as well as she  knew ,camden
 ,town71 sending them regularly to the  
,scotch ,church in ,crown  ,court1      
,drury ,lane4 ,she was a trifle too     
strict and serious1 according to  her   
husband2 and often when the clergyman   
from ,crown ,court was coming  to spend 
the evening1 he would escape to the ,ben
 ,jonson ,tavern in ,shoe  ,lane1 where 
he is said to have spent more time than 
was good for him4    ,her boys used to  
relate1 as illustrative of their        
mother's 8,highland  temper10 that on   
one occasion1 when a tradesman had sent 
her two bad  eggs1 she told them to     
return with them and 8throw them at the 
rascal's  head40 ,this command was      
obeyed to the letter1 to the great      
delight  of the pugnacious youngsters4  
,the two brothers were educated at an   

elementary school at ,edgeware1 but they
 were very early cast into the  rude    
business of life4 ,robert went to sea as
 a midshipman in the ,east  ,india      
,company's service1 his head full of the
 wonderful stories he had  heard from   
his mother's lodger1 ,mungo ,park4      
,he made only one voyage4 ,on his way   
home1 having gone on shore at ,st4      
,helena in command of a boat's crew1 and
 a storm having suddenly arisen1  he was
 left behind1 and reported to be lost4  
,he was passed home in a  whaler1 after 
having endured severe privations on the 
island2 and would  relate that the only 
noteworthy incident of the homeward     
voyage was the  speaking with a vessel  
which gave the news of the battle of    
,trafalgar4  ,when he presented himself 
in ,dorset ,street1 ,salisbury ,square1 
he was  astonished at the frantic       
excitement of his brother ,george on    
opening  the door4 ,the family were in  
mourning for him4    ,the elder brother 
found that ,george had made wonderful   

progress in  his art in the three years 
during which he had been at sea4 ,robert
 had  meantime lost ground as an artist1
 and had contracted bad habits4 ,isaac  
,cruikshank was at this time etching    
theatrical portraits and scenes for  a  
publisher named ,roach1 who dwelt in    
,vinegar ,yard1 ,drury ,lane4 ,this     
connection drew the two sons into an    
acquaintance with ,edmund ,kean1 then   
an obscure player1 and the three got up 
an amateur performance of 8,blue        
,beard0 in ,roach's kitchen1 ,kean      
taking the principal part1 ,robert and  
,george ,cruikshank playing the two     
brothers1 and ,miss ,roach appearing as 
,fatima4 ,the copper was the tyrant's   
castle4 99         99 ,in #ahee1 shortly
 before his death1 ,robert ,cruikshank  
made       a water-colour sketch of the 
scene1 for a life of ,edmund            
,kean1 projected1 but never written  by 
,mr4 ,michael ,nugent1 a       ,times   
parliamentary reporter4    ,the         
,cruikshanks--but particularly          

,robert--remained on intimate terms     
with ,kean after he had become famous4  
,the tragedian1 on one occasion1 to     
divert them1 threw somersaults on the   
stage of ,drury ,lane after playing     
,richard4 ,robert drew portraits of     
,kean in most of his characters4 99     
99 ,at the sale of ,mr4 ,lacy's         
,theatrical ,library1 ,robert           
,cruikshank's theatrical portraits in   
water-colours fetched       #bjj4    ,on
 the death of their father the two      
brothers kept on the house in  ,dorset  
,street1 with their mother and sister1  
working together4 ,they  had1 after the 
death of ,gillray1 the command of the   
whole field of  caricature1 supplying   
nearly all those coloured etchings on   
copper1  on the subjects of the day1    
which drew crowds about the             
print-sellers'  windows4 ,they were the 
rough forerunners of ,h4 ,b4's          
pencillings and of  ,leech's cartoons in
 ,punch4 ,the prize-fighter in those    
days was the  popular idol2 and the most

 notorious 8bruisers0 found their way to
 the  ,cruikshank studio on the second  
floor in ,dorset ,street1 to stand for  
their portraits4 ,the ,cruikshank       
brothers were not particular as to      
sitters1 even to murderers 99 ,it was a 
strange workroom1 decorated with  the   
most incongruous ornaments4 ,an         
undergraduate's cap 7the spoil of a     
town-and-gown riot7 upon a human skull  
with a pipe between the teeth1 a        
sou'wester from ,margate1 boxing gloves1
 foils1 masks1 and weapons of  all      
kinds1 proclaimed the wild tastes of the
 two artists1 who generally  invited    
their guests to a bout with the gloves4 
,both brothers  were expert boxers1 but 
,george had cultivated the science under
 a  distinguished professor more        
assiduously than ,robert4 ,it was in one
 of  his bouts with this professor that 
,george received a blow on his nose1    
which1 with other taps on the same      
point1 fixed that feature awry for  the 
remainder of his life4         99 ,the  

portrait of ,elizabeth ,fenning1 by ,i4 
,r4 ,cruikshank1       taken in         
,newgate1 is a very coarse work4    ,to 
this strange studio rough old ,ackerman1
 ,fores of ,piccadilly1 and  ,johnny    
,fairburn of the ,broadway1 ,ludgate    
,hill1 came with plentiful  commissions 
for both brothers4 ,when ,robert was in 
want of money and  expected ,johnny1 he 
placed an empty purse upon the          
mantelpiece1 marked  8unfurnished10 and 
the good-natured old printseller would  
take it up and  replenish it4 ,when     
,robert married1 the family removed to  
,king ,street1  ,holborn2 and it was    
here that the elder brother contrived to
 get  sittings1 through a keyhole1 of   
old ,mrs4 ,garrick1 in her ninetieth    
year1  while she was paying visits to   
her friend ,miss ,cotherly1 one of      
prudent  ,mrs4 ,cruikshank's lodgers4   
,the result was a finished1 full-length 
etching upon copper1 with the face      
carefully stippled4 ,it was in          
portraiture that ,robert excelled2 and  

to this branch of his art he  devoted   
himself4 ,when at the height of his     
success he removed to ,st4  ,james's    
,place1 ,st4 ,james's ,street1 where he 
established himself as  a fashionable   
artist1 carrying on1 at the same time1  
his work as a  caricaturist and         
illustrator4 99 ,george1 on parting from
 his brother1  went to live with his    
mother and sister to ,claremont ,square1
  ,pentonville4 ,on his marriage he     
removed only a few doors from his old   
residence1 and at #bb and #bc1 ,amwell  
,street1 he remained during the  thirty 
most brilliant years of his life1 9999  
as the addresses on some of  his best   
work attest4         99  ,he was1       
according to his son1 8still the pink of
 fashion1       even to designing a hat1
 a block for which was made at a        
cost of three guineas1 while all other  
details of costume       were treated   
regardless of cost4 ,george ,hibbert    
commissioned       ,robert to execute a 
set of etchings for the ,roxburgh ,club1

       at his own price1 from one of    
,boccaccio's tales in the               
#8,decameron4' ,sixty copies were       
printed1 and the plates were            
destroyed4 ,the ,english ,spy1          
illustrated by ,robert at this          
time1 was edited by ,charles ,molloy    
,westmacot1 said to be the       son of 
a sweep in ,newcastle ,court1 ,strand1  
named ,molloy4 ,he       ultimately     
became the owner of the ,age newspaper40
         9999  ,his mother went to live 
at ,finchley1 and died at the age       
of ninety4    ,when he had1 in part1    
emancipated himself from the bibulous   
boon  companions of his youth1 ,george  
fell into a regular system of hard work4
  ,he breakfasted punctually at eight   
o'clock1 after which he smoked a  pipe1 
and went to work at nine4 ,when biting  
up plates1 he would smoke  more in the  
course of the morning to drive away the 
fumes of the acid4  ,at twelve he       
lunched1 and then resumed work until    
three o'clock1 when  he dined4 ,after   

dinner he sat1 with a jug of porter     
before him1 enjoying  his pipe1 and     
talking with any friend who dropped in4 
,his visitors were  many4 ,at five he   
drank tea1 and then worked again from   
six o'clock  till nine1 when supper     
concluded the labour of the day1 and was
 the  preliminary to pipes and grog4    
,the establishment in ,amwell ,street   
was strengthened1 soon after its        
establishment1 by the addition of one   
,joseph ,sleap1 the son of the          
,finchley carrier4 ,joe was as eccentric
 as his master4 ,originally  employed as
 a help in the kitchen and a page in the
 parlour1 he at  once began to devour   
any book that came within his reach4 ,he
 became a  ravenous student of          
literature4 ,then he took to            
water-colour drawing1  and in the end   
made sketches from nature in the        
neighbourhood  7,pentonville was almost 
in the country in those days71 for which
 he  found a brisk sale4 ,his abilities 
soon caused his promotion from the      

kitchen1 to the studio1 where he helped 
to bite up the plates4 ,his  devotion1  
his artistic skill1 and the             
extraordinary capacity for storing  up  
knowledge which ,joe discovered1 won his
 way to ,george ,cruikshank's  heart1   
and he became his confidential friend4  
,the only drawback  to ,joe was his     
somnolent habits4 ,he was patient1      
quiet1  undemonstrative--qualities which
 galled ,cruikshank1 whose energy was   
vehement and sleepless4 99 8,what would 
,i not give for some of your uncle's    
devil80 said the carrier's eccentric son
 to ,george ,cruikshank's young  nephew4
 ,but ,joe went the wrong way to work4  
,he became an opium-eater4  ,he lived   
and worked1 and still read on in a      
dream4 ,on ,cruikshank's  recommendation
 ,joe was employed by ,thackeray1 when  
he etched his own  designs1 to bite up4 
8,george10 cried the novelist one day1  
8,joe knows a  great deal more than you 
or ,i40         99 ,another of          
,cruikshank's journeymen1--,sands1 the  

engraver1       who bit up his steel    
plates for him1--was recommended to     
,thackeray4 ,but ,sands was a difficult 
man to deal with1 and       he was      
dismissed4 ,he rushed to ,amwell ,street
 for comfort4 ,he       complained      
bitterly of the treatment he had        
received1 adding       that ,thackeray  
owed him for a 8glass10 a 8pint10 and a 
8quart40 ,cruikshank thought they had   
been drinking4 ,but the       8glass0   
was a magnifying one1 the 8pint10 an    
etching point1       and the 8quart0 a  
quarto plate6    ,poor ,joe's end was a 
dismal one4 ,he was found one night dead
 upon a  doorstep1 poisoned with an     
overdose of his drug6    ,the exploits  
of the wild brothers1 while the family  
lived in ,dorset  ,street1 were severely
 condemned by their strict mother4 99   
,occasionally  she even went the length 
of castigating ,george1 when he returned
 home in  the small hours from fairs or 
horse-races1 or the prize-ring1 far from
  sober2 or when he had been emulating  

the exploits of ,tom and ,jerry  with   
wild companions4 ,he is described at    
this early time as gifted  with         
extraordinary animal spirits1 and filled
 with a reckless spirit of  adventure1  
in the dangerous byways of ,london4     
,what he saw in these days  he carefully
 observed and set down4 ,his field of   
observation stretched  from the foot of 
the gallows to ,greenwich fair2 through 
coal-holes1  cider-cellars1 cribs1 and  
prize-fighters' taverns1 ,petticoat     
,lane1 and  ,smith-field4 ,its centre   
was ,covent ,garden market1 where the   
young bloods  drank and sang and fought 
under the piazzas1 something more than  
sixty  years ago4         99 8,take the 
pencil out of my sons' hands10 she used 
to say1       8and they are a couple of 
boobies40      ,illustration3 #jfc      
,illustration3 #jfd          ,,chapter  
,,iii4 ,,cruikshank',s ,,early ,,days4  
,directly ,isaac ,cruikshank's boys     
could hold a tool they appear to have   
been apprenticed to the father's        

art-trade4 ,robert1 the elder1 was a    
spirited worker--perhaps on a level with
 his father2 but the handsome1          
bright-eyed younger son1 ,george1 soon  
gave signs of a deeper original  power  
of observation1 and of surprising humour
 and fancy1 that drew  him away from    
sire and brother1 and gave him a strong 
and distinct  individuality4            
8,george0 7says ,mr4 ,sala7 8had both   
the ,geist and the ,naturgabe4  ,long   
before he was out of jackets he had     
learned to draw with facility1          
symmetry1 and precision2 and if we      
recollect right1 the collected          
exhibition of his original drawings1    
shown at ,exeter ,hall some years  since
 7#ahfc71 comprised some sketches in    
pencil of #8,coalies' at the old  #8,fox
 under the ,hill1' executed in #agii4   
,his manner of handling was1  at the    
first1 mainly founded on that of the    
renowned ,gillray1 to  whose position as
 a caricaturist1 political and social1  
he ultimately  succeeded1 although he   

never exhibited any traces of ,gillray's
  vices--revolting grossness1 and at    
last a downright madness in             
delineation1 rivalling that of the      
pictor ignotics1 ,william ,blake40      
,without unreservedly endorsing ,mr4    
,sala's opinion on ,gillray and ,blake1 
,i hasten to admit that ,cruikshank was1
 from his manhood onwards1 free1  with a
 few exceptions1 from their coarseness  
and wildness4 ,some of  his coarse      
coloured plates in 8,the ,scourge10     
dated #ahaa1 forbid the  assertion that 
he never1 even in youth1 transgressed   
the bounds of  modesty4 ,he always had1 
however1 a tenderness and grace1 an     
earnestness  and a lively sympathy1     
which were entirely his own4 ,in a few  
prefatory  words to 8,a ,catalogue of a 
,selection from the ,works of ,george   
,cruikshank1 extending over a period of 
upwards of sixty years1 from #agii  to  
#ahfc10 he said1 in his own whimsical   
way1 8#8,the ,george ,cruikshank        
,gallery1' as it is called1 originated  

in consequence of many persons  having  
expressed their belief that ,g4 ,c41 the
 caricaturist of former  days1 was the  
grandfather of the person who produced  
the #8,worship of  ,bacchus4' ,the      
committee1 therefore1 who are exhibiting
 the #8,worship of  ,bacchus1' requested
 to have some of my early works1 in     
order to show  that they were the       
production of one and the same person1  
or to prove1  in fact1 that ,i am not my
 own grandfather40 99         99 ,one   
day1 while ,dr4 ,b4 ,w4 ,richardson was 
engaged at his       house in ,hinde    
,street1 with an old patient who had    
been away       many years in ,india1   
,george ,cruikshank's card was handed to
       the doctor4 8,it must be the     
grandson1 or the son1 at any       rate1
 of the great artist ,i remember as a   
boy10 said the       patient4 8,it is   
impossible the ,george ,cruikshank of   
,queen       ,charlotte's trial time can
 be alive60 ,the doctor asked the       
vivacious ,george to come in4 ,he       

tripped in1 in his eighty-       fourth 
year2 and when the old officer expressed
 his       astonishment1 ,george        
exclaimed1 8,i'll show you whether he's 
alive60 ,with this he took the poker and
 tongs from the       grate1 laid them  
upon the carpet1 and executed the sword-
       dance before ,richardson's       
astonished patient4    ,it may be that  
,george ,cruikshank was in doubt        
sometimes1 in the course  of his        
boyhood1 as to the calling or profession
 he would adopt4 ,we know  that he was  
inclined towards the stage1 and         
delighted in acting to  the end of his  
days2 and he was full of military       
ardour1 as we shall  presently see4 ,but
 he had little or no time for dreams4   
,he had his daily  bread to win1 in his 
teens1 as a designer of 8,twelfth ,night
 ,characters10   and 8,lottery          
,tickets10 a rough illustrator of songs1
 or pictorial  delineator of any event  
or exhibition which excited public      
attention4 ,he  made a drawing of       

,nelson's funeral car in #ahje2 in      
#ahji1 the ,o4 ,p4 riots  at ,covent    
,garden engaged his pencil4 ,even in    
#ahbb he was the popular  pictorial     
commentator1 and his needle touched an  
extraordinary variety  of subjects1 even
 to the mermaid which drew crowds in    
,st4 ,james's ,street  in #ahbb4 ,his   
etching of this 8disgusting sort of a   
compound animal1  which contains in     
itself everything that is odious and    
disagreeable10 is  to be found          
reproduced in 8,the ,book of ,days40 ,he
 even tried his hand at  scene painting1
 in the days when his friends ,clarkson1
 ,stanfield1 and  ,david ,roberts were  
at ,drury ,lane4    8,his art in its    
better developments being essentially   
dramatic10 ,miss  ,alice ,thompson 99   
has truly remarked1 8the love of the    
actual drama was  not wanting4 ,in his  
circumstances1 however1 to become an    
actor meant to  become a strolling      
player2 while he was hesitating about   
the possibility  of embarking upon such 

a career1 he obtained a commission to   
paint  a drop-scene for ,drury ,lane    
,theatre1 on the stage of which he was  
ambitious of appearing4 ,the bit of     
scene-painting in question was a        
caricature of ,sir ,william ,curtis1 and
 the young artist depicted him  looking 
over a bridge1 and did it with so much  
humour that the picture  brought down   
the house4 ,george ,cruikshank's success
 in scene-painting  led to more         
employment of the same kind2 he shared1 
as an artist1 the  theatrical beginnings
 of ,stanfield and ,david ,roberts40    
99 8,a ,bundle of ,rue40 ,george        
,cruikshank4 ,the ,magazine of          
,art1 ,march #ahhj4    ,george          
,cruikshank was 8soldier-struck0 as well
 as 8stage-struck40 ,he was  a          
pugnacious man4 ,the ,rev4 ,charles     
,rogers1 who knew him in his old age1   
tells me that he used to regret to him  
that he had not entered the army4       
,describing his recollections of        
,england at the time of the threatened  

,french invasion1 he gives us some of   
his military reminiscences and          
aspirations as a child4 99         99   
8,a ,popgun fired off by ,george        
,cruikshank1 in defence of       the    
,british ,volunteers of #ahjc1 against  
the uncivil attack       upon that body 
by ,general ,w4 ,napier1 etc40          
,illustrated with       cuts4    8,great
 ,britain at this time might well be    
compared to the state of a  beehive when
 its inmates have been disturbed by     
accident or an intruder2  and we might  
quote ,dibdin's song of #8,the ,tight   
,little ,island1' and  say1--           
#8,buzz was the word of the island4'    
,every town was1 in fact1 a sort of     
garrison2 in one place you might hear   
the #8tattoo' of some youth learning to 
beat the drum2 at another place  some   
march or national air being practised   
upon the fife1 and every  morning at    
five o'clock the bugle-horn was sounded 
through the streets1  to call the       
volunteers to a two hours' drill from   

six to eight1 and the  same again in the
 evening2 and then you heard the pop1   
pop1 pop1 of the  single musket1 or the 
heavy sound of the volley1 or distant   
thunder of  the artillery2 and then     
sometimes you heard the #8,park' and the
 #8,tower1'  guns firing to celebrate   
some advantage gained over the enemy4   
,as soon  as these volunteers were      
taught 7by the regulars7 how to load and
  fire1 they were set to practise #8ball
 firing2' and when these regiments  were
 thought to be pretty well instructed in
 all points1 they were  inspected by    
general officers2 and if the inspecting 
officer thought  them sufficiently      
advanced1 a day was appointed1 and they 
were marched  off to a #8grand review4' 
8,i was but a boy--a little boy at that 
time--but ,i had a sharp critical  eye  
for all those military movements1 and   
used to be much amused at  the          
occasional blunders of the #8awkward    
squads2' and as ,i often had  the       
opportunity of witnessing the regulars  

#8exercise1' ,i judged of and  compared 
the evolutions of #8my father's         
regiment' by this standard2 and  ,i     
remember feeling considerable pride and 
pleasure when ,i saw the #8,loyal  ,st4 
,giles's and ,st4 ,george's ,bloomsbury 
,volunteers' wheel out of the old  gate 
of #8,montague ,house' 7then the        
,british ,museum1 and the site of the   
present building71 to march to ,hyde    
,park to be reviewed1 where they        
acquitted themselves in so soldier-like 
a manner as to gain the  approbation of 
the reviewers1 and1 of course1 of       
themselves4    8,when ,napoleon ,i4 was 
once speaking of the people of ,great   
,britain1 he  contemptuously called them
 #8a nation of shopkeepers4' ,this was  
told to  ,george ,,iii41 and when he    
reviewed the ,metropolitan ,volunteers  
in ,hyde  ,park1 and saw one fine sturdy
 body of infantry after another march   
past1  and then the splendid regiments  
of cavalry--the ,city of ,westminster   
,light ,horse1 commanded by the ,prince 

of ,wales1 the ,city ,light ,horse1 and 
other equally fine corps1 mounted upon  
as fine horses as ,england could        
produce1 and that is saying             
something--he was indeed much pleased   
by their martial appearance and general 
bearing1 and1 turning to  the general   
officers around him1 he exclaimed1 in   
the pride of his  good-natured heart1   
#8,shopkeepers6 shopkeepers6            
shopkeepers6'0    ,in the warmth of his 
military ardour1 ,cruikshank says3 8,as 
my father  served as a private in the   
#8,st4 ,giles's and ,st4 ,george's      
,bloomsbury  ,volunteers1' and as my    
late brother ,robert1 at a later period1
 served in  the rifle company of the    
#8,loyal ,north ,britons' 7in which     
corps he rose  to the rank of sergeant71
 and further1 as ,i 7at a still later   
date7  carried a rifle in the same      
company1 ,i think that ,i have a right1 
and  that ,i ought to stand forth for   
the defence of the military character of
  my relations1 my friends1 and my      

brethren-in-arms1 and myself40 99 ,he   
was  even ready to take the command of  
the army4 ,having severely criticised   
the military authorities of the day1 he 
says3 8,this is a very different  style 
of thing to what ,i would adopt1 if ,i  
had the command of our  forces2 but as  
that is not likely to be the case       
7although ,i flatter  myself that ,i am 
quite capable of doing so71 ,i must     
leave all these  matters to our ,royal  
,commander-in-,chief and his staff of   
general  officers4 ,people will here1   
perhaps1 smile at what they would term  
my vanity1 and wish to know upon what   
grounds ,i would dare to take so        
responsible a position2 to which ,i     
reply1 that ,i had1 as before stated1   
acquired as a child almost all the      
discipline necessary for an infantry    
soldier1 completing when a youth this   
part of my military education by        
serving as a volunteer4 ,this early     
acquaintance with soldiering led me  to 
study the sword exercise2 and           

understanding the small-sword1 and  the 
broadsword as well1 and the use of      
firearms1 ,i consider myself able  7with
 a properly trained horse7 to mount at a
 moment's notice1 to act as  an         
irregular cavalry man2 and having paid  
some attention to gunnery on  land1 and 
attended the gunnery practice on board  
,her ,majesty's ship ,the  ,excellent1  
in ,portsmouth ,harbour1 ,i could lend a
 hand to work a  gun afloat1 or1 of     
course1 as ,horse-,marine1--or1 if      
ashore1 as an  artilleryman2 and besides
 all this1 ,i have--although it is not  
generally  known1 nor do ,i lay too much
 stress upon it--yet ,i have served in  
the  ,militia--by substitute2 but as    
this was in a time of peace1 and as my  
representative was such a queer1        
uncommon1 wild-looking fellow--one who1 
,i am sure1 would not hurt anybody--,i  
don't think any harm was done in  any   
way except the picking of my pocket for 
the #8bounty4' ,but as they  #8drew' me 
for the ,militia1 ,i in return drew     

them--#8,drawing for the  ,militia'--as 
may be seen in #8,my ,sketch ,book4'0   
99 ,general ,sir ,w4 ,napier had aroused
 ,cruikshank's wrath by       writing a 
letter to the ,times1 in which he       
described the       volunteers as 8mere 
mimics1 without solidity to support the 
regular army20 as 8offering points of   
weakness to the       enemy10 and as    
irregulars who should they come in      
contact       with an enemy1 8would have
 had to trust to their legs40    ,the   
humourist peeps through the military    
reformer and the military  boaster1 as  
he peeped always through ,cruikshank's  
many grotesque  masqueradings4 ,even his
 earnestness took grotesque forms4 ,he  
was  extravagant in all his expressions1
 a caricaturist even 8,shillahoo6  ,who 
durst tread upon that8 ,is it yerself   
durst set yer ugly foot upon            
it80--,from 8,more ,mornings at ,bow    
,street40    ,his soldiering forcibly   
reminds the spectator and the reader of 
,bobadil2  albeit ,george ,cruikshank   

was brave as a lion1 and in downright   
earnest4  ,he had the simplicity1 also  
the faith1 of ,don ,quixote4            
,illustration3 #jge    ,he tells the    
story of his military career as a boy   
and a young man1 and  how it was brought
 to a close1 in his own peculiar        
fashion3--    8,not only did the men in 
#ahjc form themselves into regiments of 
volunteers1 but the boys of that day did
 so likewise1 and my brother 7of  whom  
,i have already spoken71 and who was my 
elder by three years1 formed  one of    
these juvenile regiments1 and appointed 
himself the colonel4  ,we had our drum  
and fife1 our #8colours1' presented by  
our mammas and  sisters1 who also       
assisted in making our accoutrements4   
,we also procured  small #8gun-stocks1' 
into which we fixed mop-sticks for      
barrels1 kindly  polished by #8,betty'  
with a tinge of blacklead1 to make'em   
look like  real barrels4    8,the boys  
watched their fathers #8drill'2 and #8as
 the old cock crows the  young one      

learns1' so we children followed in the 
steps of our papas1  and we were ready  
for inspection quite as soon as our     
elders1 and could  march in good order1 
to have our #8,field-day1' from         
,bloomsbury ,church  to the fields1     
where ,russell and ,tavistock ,squares  
now stand4 ,this  account of my         
#8playing at soldiers' may appear to be 
rather trifling and  nonsensical1 but   
just see what it has done for me4 ,why1 
by my learning  the manual exercise with
 this mop-stick gun1 when a boy1 and at 
the same  time learning how to #8march1'
 #8countermarch1' and to #8mark time1'  
to  #8wheel' and to #8face1' etc41 ,,it 
,,has ,,made ,,me--,,aye1 ,,me1 ,g4 ,c41
 ,,fit ,,and  ,,able ,,to ,,handle ,a   
,,musket ,,or ,a ,,rifle1 ,,and ,,fall  
,,into ,,the ,,ranks ,,of ,,an          
,,infantry ,,regiment ,,at ,a           
,,moment',s notice4 ,i make this        
assertion with  confidence2 for when as 
a young man ,i joined a rifle company1  
,i found  that ,i required no drilling2 

the only additional knowledge necessary 
was to understand the #8calls' of the   
bugle and whistle1 which1 with the      
rifles1 are used instead of the #8word  
of command' when skirmishing2  and ,i   
can say1 having previously learned to   
prime1 and load1 and fire1  and hit a   
mark1 that ,i was a tolerable rifleman  
one week after ,i had  entered4 ,the    
fact is1 that learning the military     
exercise when young is  like learning to
 dance1 or to ride1 or to row1 or to    
swim1 or to fence1  or to box1 at an    
early age2 and when these very important
 parts of  male education or training   
are acquired in boyhood1 they are never 
forgotten4444 ,we all know that early   
pleasurable impressions1 as  well as    
very disagreeable ones1 are never       
effaced2 and as #8playing at  soldiers' 
does strongly engage the youthful mind1 
it is quite clear1 as  in my case1 that 
if every boy in these realms was taught 
the military  exercise as ,i was1 they  
would1 as they grew up to manhood1      

require  little or no training to make  
them sufficiently effective for defence2
  and if the whole male population of   
this country capable of bearing arms    
were to be in such a condition1 in such 
#8fighting order1' there never  would be
 any fighting at all1 for no nation1 or 
all the nations combined  together1     
would ever even so much as dream of     
invading a country where  they would    
have a difficulty of landing hundreds of
 thousands of their  men1 who would have
 to meet millions and millions of       
well-trained and  well-organized men to 
oppose them1 to say nothing of the      
tossing1 and  bumping1 and scraping they
 would be likely to get in getting over 
#8the  wooden walls of ,old ,england4'0 
,cruikshank describes in his own quaint 
way how his early military  experiences 
were brought to a close4    8,our       
regiment1 the ,loyal ,north ,britons1   
being commanded by a ,royal ,duke  7,h4 
,r4 ,h4 the late ,duke of ,sussex71 had 
the post of honour1 next to  the ,royal 

troops2 and as ,i had the honour of     
being present upon that  occasion 7the  
,grand ,review in ,hyde ,park1 given in 
honour of the ,emperor  ,alexander and  
,blucher1 after the ,allies had entered 
,paris71 ,i can assure  my friends that 
we made a very respectable military     
appearance1 and  that the pop1 pop1 pop 
of our #8feu de joie' was as regular as 
the  pop1 pop1 pop of the regulars4 ,but
 when we marched in review past the     
,prince ,regent1 his imperial visitor1  
and the crowd of general officers1  ,i  
remember feeling1 a considerable degree 
of chagrin at the paltry  appearance we 
made in point of numbers1 and wished    
most heartily that  these foreigners    
could have seen the #8mobs' of          
volunteers as they had  mustered in that
 park in #ahjc and #ahjd4    8,after    
this review1 our men retired from the   
service1 or rather1 went  about their   
business1 little imagining they would   
ever have been  called out again2 but   
they did rally round their colours once 

more when  ,napoleon ,i41 or #8,corporal
 ,violet1' as he was then designated1   
returned from ,elba4 ,but after the     
battle of ,waterloo1 and the apparent   
re-establishment of the ,bourbons1 the  
,british people and the ,government     
seemed to think that there never could  
be any more risk of invasion2  that     
fighting was quite done with everywhere1
 and that1 at any rate1  we were safe to
 the end of time2 that they had been    
assisting in the  completion of some    
great work1 which1 being now finished1  
the volunteers  gave back their         
tools--firearms--to the ,government1    
conceiving that  the swords were to be  
turned into ploughshares1 and the spears
 into  pruning-hooks4 ,i was not exempt 
from this national belief2 and1 as the  
war was over1 ,i exchanged my rifle for 
a fowling-piece1 and this ,i            
unfortunately lent1 with the            
powder-flask and shot-belt1 to a friend 
of  mine who was going into the country 
a-shooting4    ,illustration3 #jhb      

8,one day1 in his early volunteer days1 
when passing down ,ludgate ,hill in  his
 striking uniform1 of which a tall      
feather and tight green trousers  were  
the conspicuous features1 he was laughed
 at1 and followed by some  men and boys4
 ,he turned upon them and singled out   
the chief aggressor4 ,a  ring was formed
 in the street1 and ,private ,cruikshank
 gave his assailant  a sound thrashing1 
treating his second to a pot of beer    
afterwards by  way of acknowledgment4 99
 ,robert ,cruikshank was even more      
smitten with  soldiering than ,george1  
and the weakness remained with him to   
the end  of his life4 ,george jocularly 
dubbed ,robert 8the majar60 ,among the  
8majar's0 military exploits was that of 
exchanging his frock-coat with  a       
,grenadier1 in the course of a tipsy    
frolic1 and finding himself  ultimately 
before the magistrates at ,bow ,street1 
charged with being in  possession of    
,his ,majesty's property1 and under the 
necessity of paying  a fine of #e40     

99 ,robert ,cruikshank1 who was sergeant
 in the same corps with       his       
brother1 could not withstand the        
gratification of paying       a visit in
 uniform to the ladies' boarding school 
at       ,bromley1 where he gave        
lessons1 and on the following day his   
further services were dispensed with4   
,the military ardour of the brothers had
 extravagant outbursts  occasionally1   
even when they were middle-aged men4    
,george was a ,tory1  and ,robert was a 
,republican4 ,in #ahdh1 after the fall  
of ,louis ,philippe1  ,robert called on 
his brother to tell him the glorious    
news that a  republic had been          
established in ,france1 and that the    
,republican legions  would assuredly put
 an end to ,russian tyranny4 ,a very hot
 discussion  ensued1 in which ,robert   
declared that he was ready to lead the  
,french  army to ,st4 ,petersburg4      
,george started in a fury from his seat1
 and with what a friend used to  call   
his ,balfour of ,burley expression1     

roared at ,robert1 8,then1 by ,g--d1    
,i'll head the ,russians1 and meet you40
    ,robert retreated in disgust4       
,how ,george ,cruikshank was led to     
study the lower strata of society1  and 
to become the most masterly delineator  
of the poverty1 vice1 and  vulgarity of 
,london streets1 he has himself         
described in a categorical  series of   
reproofs which he administered by way of
 introduction to his  8,omnibus10 to a  
writer who had misrepresented him4      
,having described how  he had as a boy  
been saluted with 8,there goes a        
copperplate engraver10   by a little    
ragged urchin1 when he was carrying a   
plate home1 he replied  to the charge   
that he had studied low life by         
frequenting the taproom  of a miserable 
public-house in a lane by the ,thames1  
where 8,irish  coal-heavers1 hodmen1    
dustmen1 scavengers1 and so forth1 were 
admitted1  to the exclusion of everybody
 else40    8,i shall mention en passant1
 that there are no ,irish coal-heavers3 

,i  may mention1 too1 that the statement
 of the author adverted to 99 is not  to
 be depended on2 were he living1 ,i     
should show why4 ,and now to the  scene 
of my so-called #8first studies1' ,there
 was1 in the neighbourhood  in which ,i 
resided1 a low public-house2 it has     
since degenerated into  a gin-palace4   
,it was frequented by coal-heavers only2
 and it stood in  ,wilderness ,lane 7,i 
like to be particular71 between         
,primrose ,hill  and ,dorset ,street2   
,salisbury ,square1 ,fleet ,street4 ,to 
this house of  inelegant resort 7the    
sign was startling1 the #8,lion in the  
,wood'71 which  ,i regularly passed in  
my way to and from the ,temple1 my      
attention was  one night especially     
attracted by the sounds of a fiddle1    
together with  other indications of     
festivity2 when1 glancing towards the   
tap-room  window1 ,i could plainly      
discern a small bust of ,shakspeare     
placed over  the chimney-piece1 with a  
short pipe stuck in its mouth4 ,this was

 not  clothing the palpable and the     
familiar with golden exhalations from   
the  dawn1 but it was reducing the      
glorious and immortal beauty of ,apollo 
himself to a level with the commonplace 
and vulgar4 ,yet there was  something   
not to be quarrelled with in the        
association of ideas to  which that     
object led4 ,it struck me to be the     
perfection of the  human picturesque4   
,it was a palpable meeting of the       
,sublime and the  ,ridiculous2 the world
 of ,intellect and ,poetry seemed thrown
 open to  the meanest capacity2 extremes
 had met2 the highest and the lowest had
  united in harmonious fellowship4 ,i   
thought of what the great poet had      
himself been1 of the parts that he had  
played1 and the wonders he had  wrought 
within a stone's throw of that very     
spot2 and feeling that even  he might   
have well wished to be there1 the       
pleased spectator of that  lower world1 
it was impossible not to recognise the  
fitness of the pipe4  ,it was only the  

pipe that would have become the mouth of
 a poet in  that extraordinary scene1   
and without it1 he himself would have   
wanted  majesty and the right to be     
present4 ,i fancied that ,sir ,walter   
,raleigh  might have filled it for him4 
,and what a scene was that to preside   
over and contemplate6 ,what a picture of
 life was there6 ,it was all  life6 ,in 
simple words1 ,i saw1 on approaching the
 window1 and peeping  between the short 
red curtains1 a swarm of jolly          
coal-heavers6  ,coal-heavers all1 save a
 few of the fairer and softer sex--the  
wives  of some of them--all enjoying the
 hour with an intensity not to be       
disputed1 and in a manner singularly    
characteristic of the tastes and        
propensities of aristocratic and        
fashionable society2 that is to say1    
they were #8dancing and taking          
refreshments4' ,they only did what their
  8betters0 were doing elsewhere4 ,the  
living ,shakspeare1 had he been1        
indeed1 in the presence1 would but have 

seen a common humanity working  out its 
objects1 and have felt that the omega1  
though the last in  the alphabet1 has an
 astonishing sympathy with the alpha    
that stands  first4         99 ,the     
author of 8,three ,courses and a        
,dessert40    8,this incident1 ,i may be
 permitted to say1 led me to study the  
characters of that particular class of  
society1 and laid the foundation  of    
scenes afterwards published4 ,the       
locality and the characters were        
different1 the spirit was the same4 ,was
 ,i1 therefore1 what the statement  ,i  
have quoted would lead anybody to infer 
,i was1 the companion of  dustmen1      
hodmen1 coal-heavers1 and scavengers8 ,i
 leave out the #8and so  forth' as      
superfluous4 ,it would be just as fair  
to assume that ,morland  was the        
companion of pigs1 that ,liston was the 
associate of louts and  footmen1 or that
 ,fielding lived in fraternal intimacy  
with ,jonathan  ,wild40    ,further on  
he protests that he was not in the      

habit1 as charged1 with  sitting at his 
window on ,sundays1 to observe the      
patrons of the 8,vite  ,condick ,ouse0  
on the way to that popular place of     
entertainment4    ,in #ahgj he wrote the
 following account of himself and his   
family to ,mr4  ,reid1 while this       
gentleman was preparing the great       
collection of his  work1 which was      
published in three volumes by ,messrs4  
,bell and ,daldy3  8,in the compiling of
 such a list as this1 it is not at all  
surprising  that there should be errors1
 particularly when we look at the fact  
of  there being three in one family 7a  
father and two sons71 all working  in   
similar styles1 and upon the same sort  
of subjects4 ,my father1 ,isaac         
,cruikshank1 was a designer and etcher1 
and engraver1 and a first-rate          
water-colour draughtsman4    ,my        
brother1 ,isaac ,robert1 was a very     
clever miniature and portrait  painter1 
and was also a designer and etcher1 and 
your humble servant  likewise a designer

 and etcher4    8,when ,i was a mere    
boy1 my dear father kindly allowed me to
 play at  etching on some of his copper 
plates1 little bits of shadows1 or      
little  figures in the background1 and  
to assist him a little as ,i grew older1
  and he used to assist me in putting in
 hands and faces4 ,and when my  dear    
brother ,robert 7who in his latter days 
omitted the ,isaac7 left off  portrait  
painting1 and took almost entirely to   
designing and etching1 ,i  assisted him 
at first to a great extent in some of   
his drawings on wood  and his etchings2 
and all this mixture of head and hand   
work has led to  a considerable amount  
of confusion1 so that dealers or        
printsellers and  collectors have been  
puzzled to decide which were the        
productions of the  #8,i4 ,,ck4' the    
#8,i4 ,r4 ,,ck4' 7or #8,r4 ,,ck4'71 and 
the #8,g4 ,,ck'2 and this will  not     
create much surprise when ,i tell you   
that ,i have myself1 in some  cases1 had
 a difficulty in deciding in respect to 

early handwork1  done some sixty odd    
years back1 particularly when my        
drawings1 made on  wood-blocks for      
common purposes1 were hastily executed  
7according to  price7 by the engraver4  
,many of my first productions1 such as  
halfpenny  lottery pictures and books   
for little children1 can never be known 
or  seen1 having1 of course1 been       
destroyed long ago by the dear little   
ones  who had them to play with40       
,illustration3 #jij    ,illustration3   
#jia          ,,chapter ,,iv4           
,,cruikshank ,,as ,a ,,political        
,,caricaturist4    ,it is recorded that 
when it was proposed to cast a statue of
 ,sir ,robert  ,peel1 the portrait      
selected as most striking in its        
resemblance1 most  faithful to his      
natural expression1 was found in a      
cartoon by ,john  ,leech1 published in  
,punch2 and that from this drawing the  
head  was modelled4 ,the caricaturist is
 something more than the mere           
portrait-painter1 who produces his work 

after a few sittings1 and with  his     
model in a set position4 ,gillray1 for  
example1 spent his life in  studying his
 subjects4 ,he had never finished       
observing ,pitt1 and ,fox1  and ,burke1 
and ,sheridan4 ,from his vantage-ground 
over ,mrs4 ,humphrey's  shop in ,st4    
,james's ,street1 he caught his victims 
unawares4 ,he was  familiar with every  
angle and every shade of expression of  
the public  men who were his unconscious
 sitters4 99 ,in the same way1 ,leech   
snatched  a sitting from ,peel and      
,palmerston1 ,lord ,john and            
,wellington1 and had  thrust it safely  
into his waistcoat pocket1 in that small
 note-book  which he always carried4    
,and thus the public figures which      
,sandby and  ,gillray1 ,sayer1 ,bunbury1
 ,rowlandson1 the ,cruikshanks1 the     
elder ,doyle1  ,leech1 ,doyle1 and      
,tenniel have fixed with their needles  
or pencils upon  their cartoons1 present
 to us men and manners living as they   
rose1  with a vividness and truth and   

force the value of which can hardly be  
exaggerated4 ,estimate1 if you can1 the 
treasure a ,gillray of the time of      
,henry ,,viii41 a ,leech of the         
,commonwealth1 a ,cruikshank            
contemporaneous  with ,shakspeare1 would
 be6         99 ,pitt1 however1 paid the
 great pictorial satirist the           
compliment of giving him sittings for a 
serious portrait4    ,as ,i have already
 noted1 the art of the caricaturist does
 not date  beyond the time of ,hogarth  
in this country1 and he did little in   
the  way of political caricature4 ,what 
we understand by caricature--that is1   
pictorial satirical commentary on public
 events--arose while ,gillray  was a    
boy1 and when ,paul ,sandby and ,saver  
were at the height of their  fame4      
,sayer's caricatures of the early time  
of ,george the ,third were  the models  
on which the infant genius of ,gillray  
was nursed2 as that  of ,george         
,cruikshank's was fed five-and-twenty   
years later at the  print-shop windows  

of ,st4 ,james's ,street and            
,piccadilly1 where the crowd  stretched 
even into the roadway1 laughing at1 and 
discoursing over1  ,gillray's last4     
,cruikshank1 although he never had      
,gillray's academical  training1 enjoyed
 the benefit of his master's matchless  
skill and  infinite variety4 ,gillray   
unconsciously provided him with a rich  
inheritance4 ,it has been justly        
observed that the works of ,gillray     
preserve an entire social revolution2   
they form the link uniting the  habits1 
fashions1 and manners of the past1 with 
the later generation  which inaugurated 
our present ways of life4    ,this later
 generation it fell to the lot of       
,george ,cruikshank to  preserve for the
 edification of posterity4 ,as the      
etching-needle was  trembling and       
wandering in the hands of the poor      
demented ,gillray1 when                 
8,drooped the spent fingers from the    
nerveless wrist10    the keen1 flashing 
eyes of old ,isaac ,cruikshank's second 

son were making  perpetual rounds of    
observation in ,london streets1 and his 
hand  was learning that cunning which   
would enable him to point with his      
etching-needle the morals that lay thick
 about him1 in strange guises  and      
combinations of never-ending variety1 in
 the great world of ,london4    ,gillray
 8lived among the subjects of his       
satire1 almost within sight  of the     
palace1 whose inmate was aware of the   
proximity of this ,georgian  ,juvenal2  
he mixed with the men who possessed the 
power of suspending his  freedom1 and   
was himself as easy of recognition as he
 had made the faces  and figures of     
those whose caricatures he drew4444 ,his
 eye was quick to  detect the weakest   
point of the best-armed champion3 but   
the stab was  more often playful than   
cruel4 ,the same quiver furnished shafts
 for  friend and foe alike4 ,gillray    
stood alone1 and lent his aid to the    
side  which had the greatest need of his
 weapon4 ,strengthening and satirizing  

both factions in turn1 to neither side  
was he a servile champion2 his  own     
misfortunes1 his gratitude1 his         
necessities1 and his weaknesses1  were  
all powerless to confine his satire to  
the object of mere party  advancement4  
,no curb could control his irony4 ,his  
works are1 however1  stamped with one   
attribute--popularity--which is         
indispensable to  lasting success amidst
 the fluctuations of opinion4 ,his      
intuitive  knowledge of human nature had
 convinced him of the expediency of     
securing this advantage2 and by         
recognizing the force of public opinion1
  he1 it may be unconsciously1 assumed  
to a large degree1 as his works         
abundantly prove1 the responsibility of 
shaping and directing it2 so  far1 that 
is1 as the popular voice is subject to  
individual expression4  ,gillray and his
 caricatures enjoyed in their           
day--allowing for a little  excess of   
colouring to suit the age--the position 
that the ,times  and ,punch now fill4   

,his satire has a speciality3 it is     
often heroic1  elevating its object far 
above the heads of his fellow-men in the
  semblance of a demi-god1 dignified and
 commanding1 even when associated  with 
the attributes of burlesque40 99        
99 ,wright4    ,we find a quality akin  
to this in the burlesque work of ,george
  ,cruikshank4 ,he is inclined always to
 moralize with his etching-needle4  ,he 
dignifies some of his most fantastic and
 even repulsive scenes with a  lofty    
purpose4 ,of gentler disposition1 and a 
less ardent politician than  ,gillray1  
,cruikshank's political caricatures are 
tame when compared  with those of the   
8,georgian ,juvenal02 but he had walks  
and powers  which ,gillray never        
approached4 ,gillray is the rougher1    
sterner1 more  audacious genius1        
reflecting in these qualities the spirit
 of his times4  ,the son of one of      
,cumberland's swearing drinking         
troopers1 who had left  an arm at       
,fontenoy1 and was an out-pensioner of  

,chelsea ,hospital at  twenty-five1     
,gillray was brought up in a hardy      
school4 ,his father1 like  a true ,scot1
 albeit himself reduced to the position 
of a sexton1 managed  to give his boy   
the rudiments of a sound education4     
,then seeing that  he was for ever      
poring over the popular plates of       
,hogarth and the  caricaturists of the  
day1 and was nimble with his pencil1 he 
humoured  the lad's bent by placing him 
under a letter engraver2 and so the     
foundation of his future skill as an    
etcher was laid4 99 ,but he was a       
,bohemian1 and went forth gipsying with 
strolling players4 ,in this wild  school
 he saw many picturesque and striking   
aspects and contrasts of  life which    
were of vast consequence to him in      
after-life4 ,when1 tired of  the barn   
stage1 and impelled irresistibly by his 
genius1 he threw up the  hare's foot1   
and obtained admission to the ,royal    
,academy as a student1  he entered with 
a stout heart upon the career in which  

he was to find1  but never to enjoy1    
lasting fame4 ,the life of ,gillray with
 ,mrs4 ,humphrey  and her maid ,betsy is
 one of the saddest records of a man of 
genius  ,i remember4 ,his habits were   
dissipated1 and he kept low company4 ,he
  resorted to dishonest shifts1 it is   
said1 to obtain money for strong  drink4
 ,but he remained independent in spirit4
         99 ,it has been surmised that  
he afterwards studied under             
,bartolozzi and ,byland4    ,if ,george 
,cruikshank had the advantage of        
,gillray in the teaching of  a father   
who held no mean place in that          
profession which his son was  destined  
to adorn1 ,gillray had1 so far as we    
know1 the better education1  and the    
help of academical training4 ,the       
knowledge after which  ,cruikshank      
longed1 with affecting earnestness and  
sadness1 after he had  passed the prime 
of life1 and which he even attempted to 
master in his  decline1 was ,gillray's  
in his youth4 ,cruikshank saw his master

 sink and  die a dreadful death1 a      
pensioner on the bounty of his          
publisher1 while  he himself advanced to
 take his place1 and indeed those of    
,bunbury and  ,rowlandson1 and his own  
father4    8,i was cradled in           
caricature10 said ,cruikshank to        
,cuthbert ,bede1  who adds1 8,he told me
 that it was not because he despised    
academical  instruction that he had     
never availed himself of its salutary   
discipline1 but simply because the      
pressure put upon him in his early      
years was so great that he had no       
leisure for the lectures or work of an  
art student40 99         99 ,i think he 
told me that he had submitted to ,fuseli
 some       drawings from 8the round10  
with a view to secure his       entrance
 into the schools of the ,academy2 but1 
any way1 ,i       remember that he      
mimicked ,fuseli's voice and            
manner--which       ,cruikshank's       
histrionic talent enabled him to do very
       cleverly--when the ,professor of 

,painting told him that 8if       he    
wished to attend his lectures he would  
have to fight for       a place40 ,as   
,fuseli's 8,lectures on ,painting0 were 
delivered       and published in #ahjd1 
this anecdote would probably refer to   
that period1 when the young artist was  
twelve years of age1       and was      
already an illustrator of children's    
books1 before       he had got into his 
8teens40 ,this was the preparation for  
his early work in the ,scourge and the  
,meteor1 and the       prelude to those 
famous political hits in ,hone's        
pamphlets1       that brought the artist
 great fame1 but little money2 for      
the publishers only gave him half a     
guinea for a drawing       that produced
 upwards of fifty pounds for ,hone's    
pocket4--       ,cuthbert ,bede's       
8,personal ,recollections of ,george    
,cruikshank40    ,thrown early into the 
midst of the hard life of ,london1 as we
 have  seen1 and made to feel in early  
boyhood 8the bewildering care0 of       

bread-earning1 ,george ,cruikshank1 with
 his brother ,isaac ,robert1 had no     
time save for school culture4 ,he rose  
from his cradle1 and went straight  into
 the bitter fight4 ,for a time he worked
 by his father's side1 and  caught very 
early from his practised hand the       
cunning tricks of his  craft4 ,how the  
life into which he was thrown quickened 
and forced the  growth of his genius1   
without impairing its vigour1 the long  
list of his  extraordinarily various    
works bears witness--ranging as it does 
from his  sheet of children's pictures  
published by ,mr4 ,belch1 ,newington    
,butts1  in #ahjc1 to his exquisite     
etching of ,fairy ,connoisseurs         
inspecting ,mr4  ,frederick ,locker's   
collection of drawings1 which forms the 
frontispiece  to ,mr4 ,george ,william  
,reid's descriptive catalogue of his    
works1 which  is dated #ahfh4           
,referring to ,george ,cruikshank's     
early work1 ,mr4 ,reid observes3 8,it is
  to no recent period that the greater  

part of ,cruikshank's work recalls  us4 
,in times which to the younger          
generation are now historic1 before  the
 present century was ten years old1 he  
had already commenced the long  career  
which has been spent so industriously in
 amusing and instructing  the public4   
8,and that now 7#ahga71 after a life of 
almost eighty years1 there are many  to 
whom the work which occupied the earlier
 portion of it is practically  unknown1 
is perhaps not surprising2 nor can we   
wonder if many of those  who may more   
strictly be called ,cruikshank's        
contemporaries have become  somewhat    
unmindful of his name1 and of the       
associations which it carries  with it40
    ,somewhat unmindful6 ,in #ahge1 when
 a committee was raising money to  buy  
the collection of ,cruikshank's works   
which is now in the ,london  ,aquarium1 
he told one of the members of it that he
 had not made a  shilling by his art for
 the last ten years4 ,he was quite      
willing to  receive commissions1 and he 

had refused none4 ,none had reached him6
  ,other men1 of lesser genius1 had     
arisen and taken his place4 ,he had been
  voted old-fashioned4 ,his figures were
 of a time gone by4 ,his women were  the
 grandmothers of the living generation  
in their youth4 ,he had passed  from the
 shop-windows1 where laughing crowds    
used to greet him1 to  the portfolios of
 collectors4 ,how great ,cruikshank's   
popularity once  was--that is1 his      
popularity with the masses of his       
countrymen--a few  of our older readers 
may recollect4 ,his hits at the follies 
and vices  of the day struck home4 ,he  
was constantly before the public1 and   
yet the  laughing crowds never had too  
much of him4 ,while ,gillray1           
,rowlandson1  and later poor ,seymour1  
fell out of the ranks of his rivals1 he 
constantly advanced in the quality of   
his work and the dignity of his         
conceptions4 ,his father died and was   
forgotten2 his brother 7albeit  a       
stalwart worker1 and of excellent humour

 into the bargain1 as the  collection of
 his works abundantly testifies7 faded  
out of the public  mind2 while ,george  
,cruikshank1 in hundreds of original    
forms of  fancy--now humorous1 now      
moral1 and now wildly                   
fantastic--presented  himself with an   
ever-deepening welcome to his           
contemporaries4 ,when the  street folk  
were languidly before the print-shop    
windows1 thoughtful men  were looking   
quietly over their shoulders1 perceiving
 in the artist much  more than the      
caricaturist of the follies of the hour4
 8,the scene may  be coarse10 says ,mr4 
,reid1 8the actors vulgar1 their        
features unnatural2  but beneath all    
this it will require little attention to
 discern the  real power of the artist1 
the reality of conception1 the firmness 
and  correctness of drawing1 the truth  
and almost living force of expression1  
especially in the representation of     
rapid motion1 the mastery with which    
the unexpressed is suggested1 the lively

 humour or the suppressed irony1  it may
 be1 which pervades the whole40         
,referring to the early times when the  
young ,george ,cruikshank kept  crowds  
at the print-shop windows1 ,thackeray   
exclaims1 in #ahdj3  8,knight's1 in     
,sweeting's ,alley2 ,fairburn's1 in a   
court off ,ludgate  ,hill2 ,hone's1 in  
,fleet ,street--bright1 enchanted       
palaces1 which ,george  ,cruikshank used
 to people with grinning1 fantastical   
imps1 and merry1  harmless              
sprites--where are they8 ,fairburn's    
shop knows him no more2 not  only has   
,knight disappeared from ,sweeting's    
,alley1 but1 as we are given  to        
understand1 ,sweeting's ,alley has      
disappeared from the face of the  globe4
 ,stop6 the atrocious ,castlereagh1 the 
sainted ,caroline 7in a tight  pelisse1 
with feathers in her hand71 the #8,dandy
 of sixty1' who used  to glance at us   
from ,hone's friendly windows1--where   
are they8 ,mr4  ,cruikshank may have    
drawn a thousand better things1 since   

the days  when these were2 but they are 
to us a thousand times more pleasing    
than  anything else he has done4        
,illustration3 #ajd    ,how we used to  
believe in them6 to stray miles out of  
the way on  holidays1 in order to ponder
 for an hour before that delightful     
window  in ,sweeting's ,alley6 ,in walks
 through ,fleet ,street1 to vanish      
abruptly  down ,fair-burn's passage1 and
 then make one at his #8charming gratis'
  exhibition4 ,there used to be a crowd 
round the window in those days of       
grinning1 goodnatured mechanics1 who    
spelt the songs1 and spoke them out  for
 the benefit of the company1 and who    
received the points of humour  with a   
general sympathising roar4 ,where are   
these people now8 ,you never  hear any  
laughing at ,h4 ,b42 his pictures are a 
great deal too genteel  for that--polite
 points of wit1 which strike one as     
exceedingly clever  and pretty1 and     
cause one to smile in a quiet1          
gentlemanlike kind of  way40            

,thackeray insists that there is no mere
 smiling with ,cruikshank4 8,a man  who 
does not laugh outright is a dullard1   
and has no heart2 even the old  dandy of
 sixty must have laughed at his own     
wondrous grotesque image1 as  they say  
,louis ,philippe did1 who saw all the   
caricatures that were made  of himself4 
,and there are some of ,cruikshank's    
designs which have the  blessed faculty 
of creating laughter as often as you see
 them40 ,the  reviewer takes an         
instance4 8,there is a fellow in the    
#8,points of ,humour'  who is offering  
to eat up a certain little general1 that
 has made us  happy any time these      
sixteen years2 his huge mouth is a      
perpetual well  of laughter--buckets    
full of fun can be drawn from it4 ,we   
have formed  no such friendships as that
 boyish one of the man with the mouth4  
,but  though1 in our eyes1 ,mr4         
,cruikshank reached his apogee some     
eighteen  years since1 it must not be   
imagined that such is really the case4  

,eighteen sets of children have since   
then learned to love and admire  him1   
and may many more of their successors be
 brought up in the same  delightful     
faith60 ,few will be disposed to endorse
 ,mr4 ,thackeray's  opinion that ,george
 ,cruikshank reached his apogee about   
#ahbb1 at the  time when he had his     
,slap at ,slop4 ,few1 ,i apprehend1 will
 be inclined to  admit that his humour1 
albeit it is his master-quality1 his    
mainspring1  his invariable motive-power
 which sets him working at his best1 is 
his  highest gift4 ,he had a perception 
of tragedy of a very remarkable kind2   
and he could realize his solemn meanings
 with the hand of a master4 ,his  early 
work1 however1 was nearly all humorous  
and satirical1 even when he  fell among 
the fairies2 and with this we have to do
 just now4    ,a chronological catalogue
 raisonn of the works of ,george        
,cruikshank  would present to the reader
 a picture of his prodigious activity as
 an  artist1 that would be absolutely   

astonishing4 ,it comprises something    
over five thousand subjects1 ranging    
from childish drawings of ships1        
illustrating halfpenny sheets for       
infants1 to finished historical  scenes1
 and the ambitions conceptions of a fine
 imagination4 ,the first  efforts of the
 boy show an untutored hand1 but at the 
same time an  observant eye4 ,the       
children's lottery pictures1 drawn and  
etched about  his twelfth year 78the    
first10 he says1 8that ,george          
,cruikshank was  ever employed to do and
 paid for072 the etchings of            
horse-racing and  donkey-racing1        
executed about his thirteenth year1 are 
the original work  of a sharp observer4 
,coal-heavers1 ,lord ,nelson's funeral  
car1 ,scavengers  reposing1 ,salisbury  
,square1 ,fleet ,street 7the boy-artist1
 as we have  noted1 lived about this    
time in ,dorset ,street72 the fashions  
about the  year #ahjd-e1 rude           
illustrations to popular songs1 the     
,town at ,kingsgate1  ,margate1 and     

,temple4    ,illustration3 #ajh    ,mr4 
,cadwallader shouting 8murder0 out of   
the window at the studio of ,mr4        
,pimpernel1 the portrait-painter2 the   
,pimpernels restraining him1 and the    
scandaliser of the artistic             
neighbourhood seizing hold of the       
curtains1  and the united strength of   
the family hanging on to his coat-tails2
 the  curtains give way1 and the poste  
of people are sent sprawling4--,from    
8,more ,mornings at ,bow ,street40      
,gardens--all put forth before the year 
#ahaj--;are interesting1 not for  any   
remarkable artistic merit in them1 but  
as indicating the active  intelligence  
and alert life of the boy4 ,directly    
afterwards we have  distinct evidence of
 the latent whim1 humour1 and fancy     
which were to  carry young ,cruikshank  
to a place in the art history of his    
country1  equal at least to that of the 
poor demented genius who was wearing out
  his remnant of life in old ,mrs4      
,humphrey's shop1 and who was about to  

make his final appearance1 dishevelled  
and unclad before his wondering         
customers1 on the eve of his death4     
,colonel ,pattypan and ,sir ,john       
,sugarstick 7#ahjh or #ahji71           
,metropolitan ,grievances 7#ahaa-ab71   
,double  ,bass1 ,proposals for          
,practical ,duets1 adapted to any       
instrument 7#ahaa72  ,matthews the      
,comedian1 singing a song in a piece    
called 8,the ,beehive0   7#ahab72 ,sir  
,francis ,burdett taken from his house2 
,bonaparte1 being  an illustration to a 
song sung at the ,surrey ,theatre by    
,mr4 ,elliston  7#ahaa71 will reward    
examination by the student of           
,cruikshank's genius1  as affording     
distinct germs of the various powers of 
his mind at a  later time4 ,colonel     
,pattypan and ,sir ,john ,sugarstick are
 essentially  ,cruikshankian in their   
humour4    ,between #ahaa and #ahaf we  
have to note rapid strides in strength1 
in  range of experience1 and development
 of sympathy with the progress  of the  

world4 ,feeling and sentiment underlie  
nearly all ,cruikshank's  creations4    
,within this interval ,cruikshank broke 
ground1 and made  a stand as a political
 caricaturist4 ,he began to make his    
mark as a  satirical illustrator in the 
,meteor 7#ahac74 ,for this 8,monthly    
,censor0   ,george ,cruikshank drew the 
cover4 ,the allegorical design          
represents a  meteor personified by a   
humorous little fellow1 bearing a       
lantern1 and  flying through space4     
,beneath him ,satire holds up a mirror  
to ,folly2  and a champion shielded by a
 8free press10 armed with ,truth and    
,justice1  protects himself against     
,licentiousness1 ,fraud1 and ,hypocrisy4
 ,the  projectors of the ,meteor1 it    
will be seen1 meant well4 ,national     
,frenzy1 or ,john ,bull and his         
,doctors1 preparing ,john ,bull for     
,general  ,congress2 ,tabitha ,grunt on 
the ,walking ,hospital2 ,napoleon's     
,trip from  ,elba to ,paris1 and from   
,paris to ,st4 ,helena1 8,a ,swarm of   

,bees hiving  in the ,imperial          
,carriage6 who would have thought it80  
and1 finally1 the  coloured etching of  
the ,battle of ,waterloo1--are coarsely 
executed in  the style of ,isaac and    
,robert ,cruikshank1 and of ,rowlandson2
 but they  are remarkable for that power
 of telling a story1 and of             
concentrating  every figure and detail  
of a picture upon the effect or emotion 
to be  produced1 for which ,cruikshank  
in his prime was unrivalled4 ,the       
progress  is continuous to #ahbj2 and   
the work thrown off becomes prodigious4 
,besides illustrations of the ,o4 ,p4   
,riots at ,covent ,garden ,theatre      
7#ahai71 fashionable portraits1 and     
other haphazard work1 he produced  8,the
 ,humourist 7#ahbj7--;his first         
remarkable separate work--#8in which    
the special and peculiar humorous powers
 of the artist are developed in  forty  
subjects1 drawn from the living present0
 in ,london4    ,very early in his      
career ,george ,cruikshank came in      

contact with ,hone4 ,of  this           
connection1 ,dr4 ,k4 ,shelton ,mackenzie
 has given an account which is  stamped 
with the authority of the artist1 since1
 in 8,the ,artist and the  ,author10 he 
cites the doctor as armed with          
information given by himself4    8,in   
the year #ahai1 while ,cruikshank was a 
mere youth2 ,mr4 ,william ,hone         
observed his peculiar ability1 and      
determined to exercise it ,at that  time
 the political condition of this country
 was about as unpleasant and            
unsatisfactory as it could be4 ,the     
people clamoured for reform1 which  the 
,government steadily and sturdily       
resisted4    ,illustration3 #aab        
,then came the straggle between ,right  
and ,might2 and1 by means of what  was  
called the strong arm of the law1' the  
right was baffled for  the time1 albeit 
not beaten4 ,to add strength to #8the   
strong arm' in  question1 the ,habeas   
,corpus ,act was suspended1 and six     
,acts were passed4  ,these were         

enactments avowedly framed to prevent   
the expression of  public opinion1      
whether at public meetings or by the    
medium of the  press4 ,the anti-press   
ordinances of ,july #ahcj1 which were   
the means  of hurling the ,bourbons from
 the throne of ,france1 were scarcely   
more  tyrannic than the gagging ,acts in
 question4 ,they drove ,cobbett to      
,america4 ,we believe that they were    
especially levelled against him and  his
 plain-speaking #8,register4' ,they     
nearly drove the multitude into         
insurrection4 ,they did resist1 but the 
resistance was in vain2 for the         
,government1 believing that #8strong    
measures' were necessary1 did not       
hesitate to take them4 ,the manner in   
which the expression of public  opinion 
was sternly and ruthlessly #8put down'  
at ,manchester on the too  famous #afth 
of ,august1 #ahai1 showed that the      
,government would have quiet  at any    
cost4    8,at this crisis the late ,mr4 
,william ,hone1 who felt warmly in      

politics1  and had a particular         
antipathy to ,castlereagh1 ,canning1    
,sidmouth1 and  ,wellington1 determined 
to try what might be done by bringing   
the ,fine  ,arts against the ,ministry4 
,at that time ,canning was chiefly known
 as  a flashy1 clever speech-maker1 who1
 after having fought a duel with        
,castlereagh1 had finally returned to   
the ,government1 and held a place  under
 him1 whose want of capacity he had     
formerly denounced4 ,castlereagh        
himself1 with an unhappy notoriety as   
one who had used unscrupulous  means to 
effect the legislative union between    
,great ,britain and ,ireland1  was the  
most unpopular man in the kingdom1 not  
only on that account1  but because1     
scorning the people1 he had never       
concealed his feelings  towards them1   
and had denounced their #8ignorant      
impatience of taxation4'  ,lord         
,sidmouth1 to whom ,canning had given   
the #8sobriquet' of #8,the  ,doctor'    
7from his father1 ,dr4 ,addington71 was 

peculiarly hated1 as ,home  ,secretary1 
and the ostensible person on whom       
devolved the ungracious  task of        
employing #8the strong arm of the law'  
against the multitude2  and #8,the      
,duke1' though only ,master-,general of 
the ,ordnance1 and 7if we  remember     
rightly7 not in the ,cabinet1 was       
disliked at that time1 from a  general  
belief that he had recommended that all 
disaffection should be  summarily dealt 
with1 as he had dealt with the ,french1 
by cannon-ball  and bayonet4 ,the four  
thus named were the principal members of
 ,lord  ,liverpool's ,cabinet4 ,the     
,premier himself was a nobody4 ,his     
fitness for  the high and responsible   
office may be judged from the fact that1
  some time before he was seized with   
paralysis1 which ended in utter         
prostration of mind and body1 he        
mentioned to a friend that #8for years  
he had not opened an official despatch  
without apprehension and alarm4'    8,at
 such a crisis1 and against such a      

,ministry1 ,william ,hone had the       
boldness to enter the lists4 ,he        
commenced the publication of cheap      
pamphlets1 in which the literature was  
below par1 and the main reliance  was   
upon the telling points of the woodcuts4
 ,the first was #8,the  ,political      
,house that ,jack ,built1' with thirteen
 cuts after designs by  ,george         
,cruikshank4 ,this was a parody upon the
 old nursery rhyme4 ,it  took amazingly4
    ,upwards of #ajj1jjj copies sold4   
,george ,cruikshank was too young at the
  time to have any very decided         
politics1 but there is no doubt that    
then1  as now1 his sympathies were with 
the people4 ,at any rate1 he did his    
work well4 ,every one laughed at what   
,hone had issued2 and though it did  the
 ,ministry a thousand times the actual  
damage which even ,cobbett's            
#8,register' could have done1 they could
 not prosecute it4 ,the                 
,attorney-,general would have been      
laughed out of ,court1 had he attempted 

anything of the kind4 ,the light arrows 
of ridicule went through the  armour    
which a heavier weapon could not enter4 
,all the world laughed2  ,canning1      
,castlereagh1 and ,company enjoying the 
joke1 no doubt1 as well  as the rest of 
the people40 99 ,but ,george ,cruikshank
 was working for  ,william ,hone1       
according to his own showing1 in #ahag  
or #ahah1 when he  produced his 8,bank  
,note not to be ,imitated0--a modest    
work to which he  was wont to revert to 
the end of his life with infinite       
satisfaction1  because he attributed to 
it the withdrawal of ,bank of ,england  
one-pound  notes1 and consequently to   
8the punishment of death0 for such      
offence4  ,in a letter to ,whitaker1    
dated from the ,hampstead ,road1 in     
#ahge1 he  said1 entitling his account  
8,how ,i put a stop to ,hanging03--     
99 ,the ,london ,journal1 ,november     
#bjth1 #ahdg4    8,dear                 
,whitaker1--,about the year #ahag or    
#ahah there were one-pound ,bank  of    

,england notes in circulation1 and1     
unfortunately1 there were forged        
one-pound bank notes in circulation     
also2 and the punishment for passing    
these forged notes was in some cases    
transportation for life1 and in  others 
death4    8,at that time ,i resided in  
,dorset ,street1 ,salisbury ,square1    
,fleet  ,street1 and had occasion to go 
early one morning to a house near the   
,bank of ,england2 and in returning home
 between eight and nine o'clock1  down  
,ludgate ,hill1 and seeing a number of  
persons looking up the ,old  ,bailey1 ,i
 looked that way myself1 and saw several
 human beings hanging  on the gibbet    
opposite ,newgate prison1 and1 to my    
horror1 two of these  were women2 and1  
upon inquiring what these women had been
 hung for1 was  informed that it was for
 passing forged one-pound notes4 ,the   
fact that  a poor woman could be put to 
death for such a minor offence had a    
great  effect upon me--and ,i at that   
moment determined1 if possible1 to put  

a stop to this shocking destruction of  
life for merely obtaining a few         
shillings by fraud2 and well knowing the
 habits of the low class of  society in 
,london1 ,i felt quite sure that in very
 many cases the rascals  who forged the 
notes induced these poor ignorant women 
to go into the  gin-shops to #8get      
something to drink1' and thus pass the  
notes1 and  hand them the change4       
8,my residence was a short distance from
 ,ludgate ,hill 7,dorset ,street72  and 
after witnessing this tragic scene ,i   
went home1 and in ten minutes  designed 
and made a sketch of this #8,bank-note  
not to be imitated4'  ,about half an    
hour after this was done1 ,william ,hone
 came into my room1  and saw the sketch 
lying upon my table2 he was much struck 
with it1 and  said1 #8,what are you     
going to do with this1 ,george8'        
,illustration3 #abj    8#8,to publish   
it1' ,i replied4 ,then he said1 #8,will 
you let me have it8'  ,to his request ,i
 consented1 made an etching of it1 and  

it was published4  ,mr4 ,hone then      
resided on ,ludgate ,hill1 not many     
yards from the spot  where ,i had seen  
the people hanging on the gibbet2 and   
when it appeared  in his shop windows1  
it created a great sensation1 and the   
people  gathered round his house in such
 numbers that the ,lord ,mayor had to   
send  the ,city police 7of that day7 to 
disperse the crowd4 ,the ,bank directors
  held a meeting immediately upon the   
subject1 and after that they issued  no 
more one-pound notes1 and so there was  
no more hanging for passing  forged     
one-pound notes2 not only that1 but     
ultimately no hanging1 even  for        
forgery4 ,after this ,sir ,robert ,peel 
got a ,bill passed in ,parliament  for  
the #8,resumption of cash payments4'    
,after this he revised the ,penal       
,code1 and after that there was not any 
more hanging or punishment of  death for
 minor offences4    8,in a work that ,i 
am preparing for publication ,i intend  
to give a copy  of #8,the ,bank ,note1' 

as ,i consider it the most important    
design and  etching that ,i ever made in
 my life2 for it has saved the lives of 
thousands of my fellow-creatures2 and   
for having been able to do this         
,christian act ,i am indeed most        
sincerely thankful1 and am1 dear friend1
  yours truly1    8,george ,cruikshank4 
8#bfc1 ,hampstead ,road1    8,december  
#abth1 #ahge40      ,here it will be    
seen ,cruikshank assumed much4 ,in the  
catalogue of his  collected works1      
printed by the ,executive ,committee for
 securing the  collection to the nation1
 he went further1 saying1 8,so the final
 effect  of my note was to stop hanging 
for all minor offences40 ,the labours of
  the famous writers and speakers who   
advocated a milder code went1  then1 for
 nothing6 ,it was in connection with    
,william ,hone that ,george  ,cruikshank
 suddenly rose to supreme               
popularity--out rivalling his  compeers1
 including ,rowlandson1 then poor and   
dissipated like ,gillray1  and near his 

end4 ,cruikshank's own father's latest  
political caricature  had appeared in   
#ahaj4    ,the work which ,cruikshank   
did for ,hone1 as 8,the ,political      
,house that  ,jack ,built10 8,the       
,political ,showman at ,home10 and1     
lastly1 a 8,slap  at ,slop10 produced at
 the time of ,queen ,caroline's trial1  
enjoyed an  extraordinary popularity1   
and commanded an immense circualation4  
,illustration3 #abe    8,the ,queen's   
,matrimonial ,ladder0 99 was a great    
success4 ,the drawings1  8all by ,mr4   
,george ,cruikshank10 as ,mr4 ,hone     
advertised1 were severely  satirical    
throughout from the first1 where the    
royal husband drunk1 with  a broken     
wine-glass in his hand1 the garter      
falling from his leg1 cards  and dice   
and bottles scattered at his feet1 and  
the candles guttering in  the sockets1  
maunders alone to where the fat ,adonis 
is being borne away  in a barrow to the 
8,english cry0 of 8,cats' meat40 8,non  
mi ,ricordo0 was  another squib of this 

year4         99 ,the edition before me1
 dated #ahbj1 is the thirteenth4    ,in 
the 8,political ,showman at ,home10 with
 twenty-four cuts by ,cruikshank1  the  
satire is biting1 and the ideas are     
plentiful4 ,the showman1 by way  of     
introduction1 addresses his readers3    
8,ladies and gentlemen1 walk up6  walk  
up6 and see the curiosities and         
creatures--all alive6 alive ,o6 ,walk   
up6 now's your time6 ,only a shilling4  
,please to walk up6    8,here is the    
strangest and most wonderful artificial 
cabinet in  ,europe6--made of           
nothing--but lackerd brass1 turnery1 and
 papier  mche--all fret work and        
varnish1 held together by steel points6 
,very crazy1 but very curious6          
8,please to walk in1 ladies and         
gentlemen--it's well worth seeing6 ,here
  are the most wonderful of all         
wonderful living animals4 ,take care6   
,don't  go within their reach--they mind
 nobody but me6 ,a short time ago they  
got loose1 and1 with some other vermin  

that came from their holes  and corners1
 desperately attacked a lady of quality2
 but1 as luck would  have it1 ,i and my 
#8four-and-twenty men' happened to come 
in at the  very moment3 we pull'd away1 
and prevented #8em from doing her a     
serious  mischief4 ,though they look    
tame1 their vicious dispositions are    
unchanged4 ,if anything was to happen to
 me1 they'd soon break out again1  and  
show their natural ferocity4 ,i'm in    
continual danger from #8em  myself2 for 
if ,i didn't watch'em closely1 they'd   
destroy me4 ,as the  clown says1 #8there
 never was such times1'--so there's no  
telling what  tricks they may play yet4 
8,ladies and gentlemen1--these animals  
have been exhibited at ,court  before   
the king and all the royal family6      
,indeed1 ,his ,majesty is so fond  of   
#8em1 that he often sees'em in private1 
and feeds #8em2 and he  is so diverted  
by'em1 that he has been pleased to      
express his gracious  approbation of all
 their motions4 ,but they're as cunning 

as the old  one himself6 ,bless you1 he 
does not know a thousandth part of their
  tricks4 ,you1 ladies and gentlemen1   
may see'em just as they are6--the       
,beasts and ,reptiles--all alive6 alive 
,o6 and the ,big ,booby--all a-light6  a
 light ,o6    8,walk in1 ladies and     
gentlemen6 walk in6 just a-going to     
begin4 ,stir #8em  up6 stir #8em up     
there with the long pole4    8,before ,i
 describe the animals1 please to look at
 the show-cloth  opposite--0    ,the    
show-cloth is a drawing of the          
transparency 8exhibited by ,william     
,hone during the illumination commencing
 on the #aath and ending on the  #aeth  
of ,november1 #ahbj1 in celebration of  
the victory obtained by the  press for  
the liberties of the people1 which had  
been assailed in the  person of the     
,queen2 the words1 #8,triumph of the    
,press1' being displayed  in variegated 
lamps as a motto above it ,on the #bith1
 when the ,queen went  to ,st4 ,paul's1 
it was again exhibited1 with ,lord      

,bacon's immortal words1  #8,knowledge  
is power1' displayed in like manner4    
,the transparency was  painted by ,mr4  
,george ,cruikshank40    ,the animals1  
the beasts and reptiles1 are political  
figures4 ,the  crocodile wears the ,lord
 ,chancellor's wig1 the black rats are  
lawyers1  the scorpion has the ,duke's  
nose and cocked hat4    ,cruikshank's   
illustrations to 8,slap at ,slop0       
include ideas enough to  enrich half a  
dozen comic papers of our day4 ,the     
hitting is hard1 but  it is never       
indecent1 and it is always on the right 
side4 ,the author of  8,the ,political  
,house that ,jack ,built0 describes ,dr4
 ,slop in downright  ,english3 8,a      
minion of ministers1 a parasite to      
despotism throughout  the world2 public 
virtue is the object of his unprincipled
 hate  and unsparing abuse ,hence there 
is not a #8public principle that his    
mendacity has not perverted'2 not a man 
of disinterested public conduct  that he
 has not vilified2 not a measure of     

advantage to the country1  emanating    
from such men1 that he has not derided2 
not a measure of  ministerial profligacy
 that he has not promoted2 not a public 
job that  he has not bolstered2 not a   
public knave that he has not shielded2  
not  an inroad upon the ,constitution   
that he has not widened2 not a treason  
against the people's liberties that he  
has not advocated2 not a sore  upon the 
people's hearts that he has not         
enlarged40 99         99 ,dr4 ,stoddart 
7afterwards ,sir ,john ,stoddart71      
contributor       to1 and editor of1 the
 ,times1 from about #ahaj to #ahae or   
early in #ahaf1 was attacked as ,dr4    
,slop by ,moore4 ,he was       removed  
in consequence of the unmeasured        
violence and       coarseness of his    
attacks on ,napoleon4 8,the ,corsican   
scoundrel0 was a common phrase of his4  
,he started the ,new       ,times1 in   
opposition to ,mr4 ,walter's journal2   
but although       he conducted it with 
distinguished ability1 it failed1 and   

died after a short life4    ,dr4        
,mackenzie1 who saw all these squibs    
when they first appeared1 and           
remembered the effect they immediately  
made1 bears testimony to their          
popularity and to their value as        
political agents3--    8,during the     
excitement of the period1 when the      
sympathy of the multitude  was          
unquestionably in favour of ,queen      
,caroline1 and even most of  the        
non-political portion of society thought
 that1 under existing  circumstances1   
her husband should not have proceeded   
against her as he  did1 ,hone sent out  
several other brochures with            
illustrations by ,greorge  ,cruikshank4 
,that was about six-and-twenty years    
ago--we saw them at the  time1 and we   
have not seen them since--but we have a 
vivid recollection  of every one of     
them4 ,there was the #8,queen's         
,matrimonial ,ladder1'  described as a  
,national ,toy1 with fourteen           
step-scenes1 and  illustrations in      

verse1 and eighteen other cuts4 ,there  
was #8,non ,mi  ,ricordo1' founded on   
the convenient forgetfulness of         
,theodore ,majocci1  the principal      
witness against the ,queen4             
,illustration3 #aca    ,there was the   
#8,political ,showman4' ,there were     
others which also told  well on the     
public mind1 and there is no doubt very 
greatly influenced  it in favour of the 
,queen and against the ,king and his    
ministers4 ,it was  impossible for any  
one to avoid laughing heartily at these 
publications4  ,there was no mistaking  
any one character introduced4 ,there was
 ,canning1  recognized by his bald head 
and his peculiar attitude4 ,there was   
,sidmouth1 with an enema-bag in his     
hand1 and thus1 if the likeness  were   
not striking1 showed that he was indeed 
#8,the ,doctor499 ,there was            
,wellington1 spare in figure1 with his  
,roman nose and keen1 cold eye4  ,there 
was ,castlereagh1 duly ticketed as      
#8,derry-down-triangle1' in memory  of  

the tortures which he allowed to be     
inflicted in ,ireland during the        
rebellion of #agih4 ,but chief of all   
was the ,king4 ,never before nor since  
was royalty made so ridiculous4 ,the    
towering wig1 the false whiskers1  the  
padded garments1 the enormous bulk1 the 
affectation of juvenility  by #8the     
dandy of sixty' were all inimitable1 and
 not to be mistaken4  ,lawrence himself 
might have painted more powerful        
portraits of the  ,sovereign1 but none  
half so characteristic as these4 ,we    
remember one  which gave us a back view 
of #8big ,greorge1' with the proportions
 of his  sitting part ludicrously       
exaggerated1 and a star or two stuck    
upon  the narrow tails of the coat1     
which did not cover the sitting part1 as
  aforesaid4 ,it was impossible to avoid
 laughing at these--the likeness  so    
good1 the figure so correct1 the        
attitude so irresistibly funny4 ,then   
the doggrel letter-press1 to explain    
what wanted no explanation4 ,fancy  such

 a figure stuck in the centre of the    
page1 with such a running  commentary   
beneath as the following3--             
#8,the dandy of sixty       ,who bows   
with a grace2       ,the laughable      
figure       ,who wears a crown1        
,with crosses and badges1 and stars of  
renown1       ,who honour and virtue has
 trampled down1       ,by insulting the 
,queen that ,jack found4'    8,the      
present generation1 examining these     
things1 might wonder at  the effect they
 had upon the public mind2 but we can   
tell them that  thousands and ten       
thousands recollect that the effect was 
extraordinary4  ,there was a rush and a 
crush to get them4 ,edition after       
edition went off  like wildfire4 ,of    
some1 as many as a quarter of a million 
copies were  sold4 ,some ran into the   
thirtieth edition4 ,in #ahbb1 ,mr4 ,hone
 brought  out #8,a ,slap at ,slop and   
the ,bridge ,street ,gang1' a very      
cleverly  written broadsheet1 newspaper 
size1 with fictitious advertisements and

  intelligence1 every line of which had 
a direct political or personal  aim4    
,this had also the advantage of ,george 
,cruikshank's illustrations2  and with  
this concluded his essays in the        
political line4 ,the system of          
government improved hereafter1 and the  
artist thought1 no doubt1 that a  wider 
and better field was before him for the 
exercise of his talents4  ,henceforth1  
then1 no one could say of ,george       
,cruikshank that he         #8,to party 
gave up what was meant for mankind4'0   
,having said that he believed           
,cruikshank's attacks upon the ,prince  
,regent  to have been his only effort as
 a party politician1 99 and referred to 
his 8regular ,john ,bull style of       
treating the ,corsican officer1 ,boney1 
as he was pleased always to call        
,napoleon ,i410 ,thackeray points out   
how  soon the caricaturist's heart      
relented when the ,emperor had yielded  
to  stern fortune4 ,the fine drawing of 
,louis ,,xvi4 trying ,napoleon's boots  

on his gouty feet1 is cited in          
evidence19999 ,but ,cruikshank could    
never  master his bull-dog contempt for 
,frenchmen1 ,this is clear in all his   
drawings where they appear3 in those    
published in 8,life in ,paris10 as  well
 as the series first issued between     
#ahag and #ahbj1 and reissued  by ,mr4  
,mc,lean1 of the ,haymarket1 in #ahce4  
,the ,cruikshank ,frenchmen  are 8almost
 invariably thin1 with ludicrous        
spindle-shanks1  pig-tails1 outstretched
 hands1 shrugging shoulders1 and queer  
hair and  moustachios40         99      
,which is a mistake4 ,cruikshank        
produced some notable       political   
pictures many years later1 as the reader
 will see4         9999 ,he even went   
the length1 in one of his temperance    
speeches1 of apologising for his attacks
 on the ,prince       ,regent4    ,we   
have merely glanced at the early        
caricatures of this indefatigable       
observer and worker4 8,long before he   
was out of jackets10 says ,mr4 ,sala1   

who knew him well in his later years1   
and understood every facet of his       
brilliant genius1 8he had learned to    
draw with facility1 symmetry1  and      
precision2 and if we recollect right1   
the collected edition of his  original  
drawings1 shown at ,exeter ,hall some   
years since1 comprised some  comic      
sketches in pencil of #8,coalies' at the
 old #8,fox under the ,hill1'  executed 
in the year #ahii4444    8,the earliest 
bread-winning engagement of young       
,george appears to have  been in        
connection with a satirical periodical  
called the ,scourge1 and  another light1
 the ,meteor1 which latter he published 
conjointly with a  man of letters named 
,earle4 ,in the time of the ,russian    
campaign of #ahab  he was very busy with
 aquatint tableaux of the disaster and  
shameful  flight of ,napoleon ,i41 whom 
he always heartily hated2 and in the    
,waterloo year he #8illustrated' a comic
 song1 sung #8every night with          
tremendous applause' at the old ,surrey 

,theatre1 in which the final  downfall  
of the ,corsican usurper and tyrant was 
narrated in a style  which would have   
delighted ,m4 ,lanfray4 ,but it was in  
#ahbj that  ,george first made a decided
 hit40 ,this1 as illustrator of the     
,hone  publications1 the literary       
portion of which was worthless4 ,of     
8that  strange1 wayward man1 ,william   
,hone10 first bookseller and writer of  
lampoons and parodies of the ,litany and
 ,church catechism1 and in the  end     
antiquary and mild collector of         
folk-lore1 ,cruikshank said1 in the     
fragment of his autobiography which     
opens his 8,omnibus10 in reply to  a    
remark that he had once been on terms1  
not only of intimacy1 8but of  warm     
friendship10 with 8the most noted       
infidel of his day40    ,the proprietor1
 ,earl1 was an unprincipled man1 who    
persuaded ,george  ,cruikshank to put   
his name to a bill4 ,when it fell due1  
the drawer was  in the ,fleet prison4   
,the acceptor's mother was not a lady to

 take such  a deception lightly4 ,she   
repaired to the ,fleet1 but obtained no 
satisfaction from the debtor4 ,the      
editor of the ,scourge1 8,jack10 or     
8,mad0 ,mitford1 was worthy of the      
proprietor4 ,he had been an officer  in 
the navy1 but fell through infamous     
conduct to be the rhymester of  running 
patterers4 ,his principal work1 8,johnny
 ,newcome in the ,navy10   was written  
in the gravel-pits near ,bayswater1     
where he had hidden1 and  whither his   
publisher sent him a shilling daily1 to 
buy gin and cheese1  in return for      
8copy40 ,he died in ,st4 ,giles's       
workhouse4    8,what ,mr4 ,hone's       
religious creed may have been at that   
time1 ,i am far  from being able to     
decide2 ,i was too young to know more   
than that he  seemed deeply read in     
theological questions1 and1 although    
unsettled in  his opinions1 always      
professed to be a ,christian4 ,i knew   
also that his  conduct was regulated by 
the strictest morality4 ,he had been    

brought up  to detest the ,church of    
,rome1 and to look upon the #8,church of
 ,england'  service as little better    
than popish ceremonies2 and with this   
feeling  he parodied some portions of   
the ,church service for purposes of     
political satire4 ,but with these       
publications ,i had nothing whatever  to
 do2 and the instant ,i heard of their  
appearance1 ,i entreated him to         
withdraw them4 ,that ,i was his friend  
is true2 and it is true1 also1 that     
among his friends were many persons1 not
 more admired for their literary        
genius1 than esteemed for their zeal in 
behalf of religion and morals40    ,this
 manly vindication of his friend was    
characteristic of ,george  ,cruikshank4 
8,when ,hone was arraigned for          
blasphemy1 ,cruikshank10 says  a writer 
on him in the ,london ,review 7,december
 #bhth1 #ahfg71 who  knew him1 8was     
consulted1 and he dictated a letter1    
begging the  ,attorney-,general not to  
take proceedings4 ,this letter1 one of  

,hone's  little children took to that   
,crown officer's private house4 ,but in 
vain4  ,the action went on1 and the     
ill-paid artist stood nobly by his      
friend4  ,it is even said that the trial
 was rehearsed in ,cruikshank's studio1 
and  that he and ,hone concocted the    
defence together40    ,when ,hone died1 
,cruikshank insisted upon going to the  
funeral of  his friend4 ,dickens used to
 describe a serio-comic scene with ,mrs4
  ,cruikshank at the time1 who implored 
him to intercede1 not only because  she 
feared ,george might be indiscreet and  
get into trouble1 but because  she could
 not bear 8those horrid ,miss ,hones40  
,hone1 on his side1 bore  handsome      
testimony to the genius of the artist4  
,hone's 8,ancient ,mysteries            
,described10 fcap4 #hvo1 #ahbc1 contains
 two  illustrations by ,george          
,cruikshank2 viz41 8,the ,giants in     
,guildhall10 and  8,fools' ,morris      
,dance40 ,in an allusion to the giants1 
,mr4 ,hone observed3  8,in order to     

perpetuate their appearance they are    
drawn and etched by  ,mr4 ,george       
,cruikshank1 whose extraordinary talents
 have been happily  exercised on my more
 original fancies4 ,as this may be the  
last time that  ,i shall ever write ,mr4
 ,cruikshank's name for the press1 ,i   
cannot but  express my astonishment that
 a pencil which commands the admiration 
of  any individual qualified to         
appreciate art1 should be disregarded by
  that1 class whose omission to secure  
it in their service is a remarkable     
instance of disregard to their own      
interests as the midwives of            
literature40    ,illustration3 #adc     
,,chapter ,v4 8,,life ,,in ,,london10   
8,,life ,,in ,,paris10 8,,points ,,of   
,,humour10 ,,etc4    8,and yet it is no 
trifle to be a good caricaturist10      
exclaimed ,professor  ,wilson1 writing  
an article on ,cruikshank1 in           
,blackwood1 in ,july #ahbc4  8,forbid   
the thought1 ye shades of ,bunbury and  
,gillray6 forbid it1 even  thou1 if thou

 be still in the land of the living1    
good ,dighton6 forbid  it1 charming1    
laughter-moving ,rowlandson6 ,bunbury   
was a great genius1  and would have been
 a great caricaturist1 had he been      
possessed of art  at all in proportion  
to his imagination4 ,but he could not   
draw--not he4  ,as far as faces went1 he
 was at home1 and admirable2 and even as
 to  the figure1 provided he was allowed
 the benefit of loose breeches and      
capacious coats1 and grizzly wigs1 and  
tobacco smoke1 he could get  on well    
enough4 ,but this is not the thing4 ,the
 caricaturist should  be able to        
represent everything2 and then he can   
represent what he  chooses in a very    
different style from that of a man whose
 ignorance1  not his choice1 limits the 
sphere of his representation4           
,rowlandson1  again1 is a considerable  
dab at drawing2 but1 somehow or other1  
his vein  is ultra1 his field is not    
comedy1 but farce--buffoonery--and this 
will not do with the ,english           

temperament1 except for merely temporary
  purposes4 ,the ,rev4 ,brownlow ,north 
7worthy of bearing that illustrious     
name1 ,o ,christopher67 is another      
capital caricaturist4444 ,gillray was   
in himself a host4 ,he is the first name
 on the list of ,political              
,caricaturists1 strictly so called4     
,george ,,iii4 7honest man671 and       
,boney1 and ,fox1 and ,sheridan1 and    
,pitt1 and ,windham1 and ,melville1 and 
,grenville1 are his peculiar property4  
,his fame will repose for ever on  their
 broad bottoms4 ,cruikshank may1 if he  
pleases1 be a second ,gillray2  but1    
once more1 this should not be his       
ambition4 ,he is fitted for a  higher   
walk4 ,let him play ,gillray1 if he     
will1 at leisure hours--let him  even   
pick up his pocket-money by             
,gillrayizing2 but let him give his days
  and his nights to labour that         
,gillray's shoulders were not meant for1
  and rear 7for he may7 a reputation    
such as ,gillray was too sensible a     

fellow to dream of aspiring after40     
,this article was provoked by the       
success of 8,life in ,london10          
illustrated by the brothers ,robert and 
,george ,cruikshank1 followed by  that  
revelation of ,george's genius1 his     
8,points of ,humour10 and not by  the   
scores of political caricatures he was  
throwing off for ,humphrey1  ,fores1 and
 others4 ,he had not yet broken away    
from the uncongenial  political ground  
to the social2 but he had opened that   
vast gallery of  ,london scenes which he
 had been accumulating during twenty    
years of hard  toil in the metropolis4  
,wilson gives us a peep behind the      
curtain of  ,cruikshank's life at this  
time1 as he had heard it described over 
a glass with ,egan and other roystering 
friends4 ,he even ventures to  lecture  
his protg3--    8,it is high time that  
the public should think more than they  
have  hitherto done of ,george          
,cruikshank2 and it is also high time   
that  ,george ,cruikshank should begin  

to think more than he seems to have     
done hitherto of himself4 ,generally    
speaking1 people consider him as  a     
clever1 sharp caricaturist1 and nothing 
more--a freehanded1 comical  young      
fellow1 who will do anything he is paid 
for1 and who is quite  contented to dine
 off the proceeds of a #8,george ,,iv4' 
to-day1 and those  of a #8,hone' or a   
#8,cobbett' to-morrow4 ,he himself1     
indeed1 appears to be  the most careless
 creature alive1 as touching his        
reputation4 ,he  seems to have no       
plan--almost no ambition--and1 ,i       
apprehend1 not much  industry4 ,he does 
just what is suggested or thrown in his 
way1 pockets  the cash1 orders his      
beef-steak and bowl1 and chaunts1 like  
one of his  own heroes1--               
#8,life is all a variorum1       ,we    
regard not how it goes4'    ,now1 for a 
year or two1 to begin with1 this is just
 as it should be4  ,cruikshank was      
resolved to see life2 and his sketches  
show that he has  seen it1 in some of   

its walks1 to purpose4 ,but life is     
short1 and art is  long2 and our gay    
friend must pull up40 ,then the         
,professor remarks that  perhaps he is  
not aware of the fact himself1 but a    
fact it undoubtedly  is1 that he        
possesses genius--genius in its truest  
sense--strong1  original1 ,english      
genius4 8,look round the world of ,art10
 says the  ,professor1 and ask1 how many
 are there of whom anything like this   
can  be said8 ,why1 there are not half a
 dozen names that could bear being      
mentioned at all2 and certainly there is
 not one1 the pretensions of  which will
 endure sifting more securely and more  
triumphantly than that  of ,george      
,cruikshank40    ,he is venerated as 8a 
total despiser of that venerable humbug0
 which  was 8the prime god of the       
idolatry0 of his contemporaries4 ,the   
lecturer  proceeds3--    8,i am of      
opinion that ,george ,cruikshank is one 
of the many young  gentlemen whose      
education 7like that of the ,english    

opium-eater7 has  been neglected4 ,but  
there is no time lost2 he has1 ,i hope1 
a long life  and a merry one before him 
yet2 and he may depend upon it1 his life
 will  be neither the shorter nor the   
duller for his making it something of a 
studious one4 ,he should                
read--read--read4 ,he should be         
indefatigable in  reading4 ,he should   
rise at six in the morning4 ,if he can't
 work till  he has had something to     
settle his stomach 7my own case71 he can
 have a  little coffee-pot placed on the
 hob over-night1 and take a cup of that 
and a single crust of toast1 and he will
 find himself quite able for  anything4 
,what a breakfast he will be able to    
devour about nine or  half-past nine1   
after having enriched his mind with     
several hours of  conversation with the 
greatest and the wisest of his species6 
,he may  rely upon it1 this hint is     
worth taking4 ,then let him draw1 etch1 
and  paint1 until about two o'clock     
p4m41 then take a lounge through the    

streets1 to see if anything is          
stirring--step into ,westminster ,hall1 
the  fives court1 the ,rev4 ,edward     
,irving's chapel 7if it be ,sunday71 or 
any  other public place1 jotting down   
la ,hogarth all the absurd faces he     
falls in with upon his finger-nails4 ,a 
slight dinner and a single bottle  will 
carry him on till it is time to go to   
the play1 or the ,castle  ,tavern1 or   
the ,house of ,commons1 or the evening  
preaching1 or the ,surrey  lecture1 or  
the like4 ,at first sight it may appear 
that ,i am cutting  short the hours of  
professional exertion too much1 but this
 ,i am  convinced is mere humbug4 ,does 
the author of ,waverley eat1 or drink1  
or ride1 or talk1 or laugh1 a whit the  
less because he writes an octavo  every 
month8 ,no such thing4 ,does ,jeffrey   
plead his causes a bit  the worse       
because he is the editor of the         
,edinburgh ,review8 ,does  ,wordsworth  
write worse poems1 for collecting the   
taxes of ,cumberland2 or  ,lamb1 worse  

,elias1 for being clerk to the ,india   
,house8 ,the artists are  all of them   
too diligent--that is the very fault ,i 
want to cure them of4  ,their pallets   
are never off their thumbs--their sticks
 are eternally in  their fingers40      
,he goes on to say that the advantage of
 a little proper reading may be         
illustrated by the history of ,george   
,cruikshank1 8as well as by that  of any
 other individual ,i have the pleasure  
of not being personally  acquainted     
with40 ,he commends ,cruikshank's early 
caricatures as 8in  their several ways  
excellent things40    8,but10 he        
exclaims1 8what a start did he make when
 his genius had  received a truer and   
diviner impulse from the splendid       
imagination of  an ,egan6 ,how          
completely1 how toto colo did he        
out-,cruikshank himself1  when he was   
called upon to embody the conceptions of
 that remarkable  man in the designs of 
,tom and ,jerry6 ,the world felt        
this--and he himself  felt it4          

8,again1 no disparagement to my friend  
,pierce ,egan 7who is one of the        
pleasantest as well as one of the       
greatest men now extant1 and with  whom1
 last time ,i was in town1 ,i did not   
hesitate to crack a bottle  of          
,belcher's best71 ,cruikshank made      
another1 and a still more striking      
stride1 when he stepped from ,egan to   
,burns1 and sought his inspiration  from
 the very best of all ,burns's glorious 
works1 #8,the ,jolly ,beggars4'  ,it is 
of this work 7the #8,points of ,humour'7
 that ,i am now to speak4 ,it  was for  
the purpose of puffing it and its       
author1 and of calling upon  all who    
have eyes to water and sides to ache to 
buy it1 that ,i began  this leading     
lecture4 ,it is1 without doubt1 the     
first thing that has  appeared since the
 death of ,hogarth4 ,yes1 ,britain      
possesses once more an  artist capable  
of seizing and immortalizing the traits 
of that which  ,i consider as by far the
 most remarkable of our national        

characteristics--the ,humour of the     
,people4 ,ex pede ,herculem3 the  man   
who drew these things is fit for        
anything4 ,let him but do himself       
justice1 and he must take his place     
inter lumina ,anglorum40    ,of 8,life  
in ,london10 and 8,life in ,paris10     
which followed it1 ,thackeray1  writing 
seventeen years after ,wilson1 utters   
the opinion which is  likely to be the  
final one on the literary and artistic  
merits of these  works3--8,a curious    
book1 called #8,life in ,paris1'        
published in #ahbb1  contains a number  
of the artist's plates in the aquatint  
style2 and  though we believe he had    
never been in that capital1 the designs 
have a  great deal of life in them1 and 
pass muster very well4 ,a villainous    
race  of shoulder-shrugging mortals are 
his ,frenchmen indeed4 ,and the heroes  
of the tale1 a certain ,mr4 ,dick       
,wildfire1 ,squire ,jenkins1 and        
,captain  ,o',shuffleton1 are made to   
show the true ,british superiority on   

every  occasion when ,britons and       
,french are brought together4 ,this book
 was one  among the many that the       
designer's genius has caused to be      
popular2 the  plates are not carefully  
executed1 but1 being coloured1 have a   
pleasant1  lively look4 ,the same style 
was adopted in the once famous book     
called  #8,tom and ,jerry1 or ,life in  
,london1' which must have a word of     
notice  here2 for1 although by no means 
,mr4 ,cruikshank's best work1 his       
reputation was extraordinarily raised by
 it4 ,tom and ,jerry were as  popular   
twenty years since as ,mr4 ,pickwick and
 ,sam ,weller now are2  and often have  
we wished1 while reading the biographies
 of the latter  celebrated personages1  
that they had been described as well by 
,mr4  ,cruikshank's pencil as by ,mr4   
,dickens's pen4    8,as for ,tom and    
,jerry1 to show the mutability of human 
affairs1 and the  evanescent nature of  
reputation1 we have been to the ,british
 ,museum and  no less than five         

circulating libraries in quest of the   
book1 and #8,life  in ,london1' alas1 is
 not to be found at any one of them4 ,we
 can only1  therefore1 speak of the work
 from recollection1 but have still a    
very  clear remembrance of the leather  
gaiters of ,jerry ,hawthorn1 the green  
spectacles of ,logic1 and the hooked    
nose of ,corinthian ,tom4 ,they were    
the schoolboys' delight2 and in the days
 when the work appeared1 we  firmly     
believed the three heroes above named to
 be types of the most  elegant1         
fashionable young fellows the town      
afforded1 and thought  their occupations
 and amusements were those of all       
high-bred ,english  gentlemen4 ,tom     
knocking down the watchman at ,temple   
,bar2 ,tom and ,jerry  dancing at       
,almack's2 or flirting in the saloon at 
the theatre2 at the  night-houses1 after
 the play2 at ,tom ,cribb's1 examining  
the silver cup  then in the possession  
of that champion2 at ,bob ,logic's      
chambers1 where1  if we mistake not1    

#8,corinthian ,kate' was at a cabinet   
piano1 singing a  song2 ambling         
gallantly in ,rotten ,row1 or examining 
the poor fellow at  ,newgate who was    
having his chains knocked off before    
hanging2 all  these scenes remain       
indelibly engraved upon the mind1 and so
 far we are  independent of all the     
circulating libraries in ,london4       
8,as to the literary contents of the    
book1 they have passed sheer away4  ,it 
was1 most likely1 not particularly      
refined2 nay1 the chances are that  it  
was absolutely vulgar4 ,but it must have
 had some merit of its own1  that is    
clear2 it must have given striking      
descriptions of life in some  part or   
other of ,london1 for all ,london read  
it1 and went to see it in  its dramatic 
shape4 ,the artist1 it is said1 wished  
to close the career  of the three heroes
 by bringing them all to ruin2 but the  
writer1 or  publishers1 would not allow 
any such melancholy subjects to clash   
the  merriment of the public1 and we    

believe ,tom1 ,jerry1 and ,logic were   
married off at the end of the tale1 as  
if they had been the most moral         
personages in the world4 ,there is some 
goodness in this pity which  author and 
the public are disposed to show towards 
certain agreeable1  disreputable        
characters of romance4 ,who would mar   
the prospects of  honest ,roderick      
,random1 or ,charles ,luface1 or ,tom   
,jones8 ,only a very  stern moralist    
indeed4 ,and in regard of ,jerry        
,hawthorn and that hero  without a      
surname1 ,corinthian ,tom1 ,mr4         
,cruikshank1 we make little doubt2  was 
glad in his heart that he was not       
allowed to have his way40    ,according 
to ,mr4 ,sala1 only a few of the        
pictures in 8,life in ,london0   were   
the production of ,george ,cruikshank4  
8,we are not even quite  certain10 he   
says1 8as to whether the irresistibly   
ninth provoking group  of #8,dusty ,bob 
and ,black ,sal' can be claimed by him4 
,robert ,cruikshank  was the chief      

illustrator of ,pierce ,egan's          
questionable magnum opus2  and1 oddly   
enough1 until attention was drawn to    
,george's commanding  talents by        
,professor ,wilson and ,blackwood1 it   
was ,robert or #8,bob'  ,cruikshank who 
was imagined1 by a careless public1 to  
be the genius  of the family4 ,his more 
gifted brother1 nevertheless1 was the   
sole  illustrator in some forty         
admirable aquatint engravings of a kind 
of  pendant to #8,life in ,london1'     
called #8,life ,paris4' ,the letterpress
 of  this production was not furnished  
by ,pierce ,egan2 nor could ,george at  
the end of his life remember by whom it 
was written1 although the man's  name1  
he was wont to say1 #8was always on the 
tip of his tongue4'0    ,george         
,cruikshank's sketches of the           
,boulevards and the ,palais ,royal1     
elaborated from sketches furnished to   
him1 were wonderfully spirited and      
true2 albeit he had never been across   
the ,channel ,indeed1 he never got      

beyond a ,french seaport in the course  
of his long life4    ,a day at ,boulogne
 comprehended all his continental       
experiences4 ,his  contemporary1 ,bryan 
,waller ,procter1 had never seen the    
ocean when  he wrote 8,the ,sea02 again1
 neither ,schiller nor ,rossini had seen
  ,switzerland when they wrote their    
8,william ,tell40 ,cuthbert ,bede       
asserts  that ,cruikshank originated    
8,life in ,london10 and 8was greatly    
displeased  and distressed at the way in
 which the author wrote up to his       
designs40   ,in those days the          
,cruikshanks were not in a position to  
command ,pierce  ,egan4 ,it is clear    
that the designs illustrate the written 
work4 ,it is  quite true that ,george   
lamented the coarseness and the plan of 
it2  but the plates have1 throughout1   
his signature in conjunction with his   
brother's4    ,mr4 ,percy ,r4           
,cruikshank1 the son of ,robert ,isaac1 
had the following  account of the origin
 of ,tom and ,jerry from his father3    

8,the wonderfully  successful ,tom and  
,jerry1 or ,life in ,london1 although   
ostensibly ,pierce  ,egan's idea1 was   
universally given to ,george            
,cruikshank1 whereas the  original      
notion and very designs were mostly     
,robert's4 ,he conceived the  notion1   
and planned the designs1 while showing a
 brother-in-law1 just  returned from    
,china1 some of the 8life0 which was    
going on in ,london  at the time4 ,he   
designed the characters of ,tom1 ,jerry1
 and ,logic from  himself1              
brother-in-law1 and ,pierce ,egan1      
keeping to the likenesses of  each      
model4 ,robert offered the work to      
,messrs4 ,sherwood1 ,gilbert1 and       
,piper1 of ,paternoster ,row1 who saw   
nothing in it1 but at length accepted   
the offer1 and by doing so realized a   
large sum of money1 the etchings  taking
 immensely4444 ,george ,cruikshank1     
shortly before his death1 said  to his  
nephew ,percy1 8,when your father       
proposed ,tom and ,jerry to me1 ,i      

suggested that it should be carried out 
in a series of oil paintings1  after the
 manner of ,hogarth1 but he objected1   
considering etching was  safer1 and more
 rapidly convertible into ready money40 
99         99 ,in the introduction to   
the #ahfi edition of the work1 ,mr4     
,john ,camden ,hotten supposes the      
following origin3 8,one day       it    
occurred to the editor of ,boxiana that 
if ,londoners       were so anxious for 
books about country and out-of-door     
sports1 why should not provincials1 and 
even cockneys       themselves1 be      
equally anxious to know something of    
#8,life in       ,london'8 ,the editor  
of ,boxiana was our ,pierce ,egan1 who1 
as       the literary representative of 
sport and high life1 had       already  
been introduced to ,george ,,iv4 ,the   
character of the       proposed work was
 mentioned to the ,king1 and ,his       
,gracious       ,majesty seems to have  
heartily approved of it1 for he at      
once gave permission for it to be       

dedicated to himself4 ,the              
services of ,messrs4 ,i4 ,r4 and ,george
 ,cruikshank were secured       as      
illustrators1 and on the #aeth of ,july1
 #ahba1 the first       number1 price   
one shilling1 was published by ,messrs4 
,sherwood1 ,neely1 and ,jones1 of       
,paternoster ,row40    ,to the ,tom and 
,jerry plates ,thackeray returned in a  
,roundabout ,paper  in the ,cornhill    
,magazine1 after a visit to the ,british
 ,museum to  renew his acquaintance with
 the lively pair1 or ,thomas and        
,jeremiah--his  8witty way10 he says1 of
 calling them4 ,he found the reading    
so-so--8even  a little vulgar1 well1    
well40    8,but the pictures60 he       
exclaims4 8,oh6 the pictures are noble  
still60   ,that ,george ,cruikshank did 
not withdraw his name or his            
etching-needle  from the adventures of  
,tom and ,jerry1 at any time of their   
career of  extraordinary success1 is    
proved by one or two facts4 ,when1 after
 all  the theatres had been filled with 

dramatic versions of ,egan's 8,life in  
,london10 and the author himself        
prepared an extravaganza on his book    
for ,astley's in #ahbb1 the songs and   
parodies introduced into it  appeared   
8with a highly finished picture of the  
pony races1 by ,george  ,cruikshank40   
8,it is not generally known10 says ,mr4 
,hotten1 8that ,george ,cruikshank      
painted a public-house sign to celebrate
 the success of ,dusty ,bob in  #8,torn 
and ,jerry4' ,walbourn1 the comedian1   
who personated this character  with     
extraordinary success1 kept the         
#8,maidenhead' public-house at  ,battle 
,bridge1 and the artist painted a       
whole-length portrait of him  in        
character1 which was hung out as his    
signboard4 ,moncrieff 7who  dramatized  
#8,tom and ,jerry'7 used to say that the
 three characters1 ,tom1  ,jerry1 and   
,logic1 stood for ,george ,cruikshank1  
,robert ,cruikshank1  and ,pierce ,egan2
 that many of the adventures in the book
 were in part  autobiographical1 and    

that the portraits of the heroes in the 
pictures  bore a striking resemblance to
 the portraits of the three artists in  
actual life40 ,if the artist did not    
paint a public-house sign1 like         
,hogarth1 he carefully etched a large   
portrait of ,mr4 ,walbourn as ,dusty    
,bob1 with his fantail under his arm1   
which was published in ,st4 ,james's    
,street2 and prepared another copy of   
this same portrait1 with a thin         
additional line round the print1        
inscribed above1 8,messrs4 ,reid and    
,co4's ,entire10 and below1 8,w4        
,walboum1 ,wine and ,spirit ,merchant1  
,maidenhead1 ,battle ,bridge40 99 ,nor  
is this all2 ,george was 8in at the     
death10 to use a phrase appropriate to  
,egan's work4 ,on the #ast ,february1   
#ahbc1 a broadside was issued 8for      
,pierce ,egan10 from his 8,tiny ,crib10 
#ga1 ,chancery ,lane1 price one         
shilling1 bearing an affecting title1   
8,the  ,tears of ,pierce ,egan for the  
,death of ,life in ,london2 or1 ,the    

,funeral  of ,tom and ,jerry4 ,by ,t4   
,greenwood1 ,esq4 ,dedicated to ,i4 ,r4 
and ,george  ,cruikshank40 ,the         
broadside which represents the joy of   
the ,charlies at  ,tom and ,jerry being 
8floored0 by death1 and the funeral     
procession of  ,tom and ,jerry1 is      
marked 8,g4 ,cruikshank fecit40 ,the    
back resembles  a sack of flour upon a  
post1 and the front view suggests the   
idea of  #8,dusty ,bob in a ,blanket4'  
#8,lumber-,troopers1' two very stout    
men1 seated  at a table1 smoking and    
drinking2 other designs around40 99     
99 8,two rows of figures form the       
procession1 which is led by       two   
crossing-sweepers1 who clear the way2   
then boys with       links1 mutes1      
jockeys1 flower and match girls2 ,logic1
 with       his broken umbrella up2     
,kate and ,sue1 servants1 pugilists1    
and a man bearing the ropes of the      
prize-ring2 ,dusty ,bob       and ,sal1 
,billy ,waters1 ,little ,jemmy in his   
sledge1 fish-       women1 men with     

banners1 #8,charlies' bringing up the   
rear1       dancing and shouting40--,mr4
 ,g4 ,w4 ,reid's ,descriptive           
,catalogue of the ,works of ,george     
,cruikshank4    ,dusty ,bob was always a
 favourite character with ,george4 ,the 
two  brothers1 who enjoyed their frolics
 together very much in their early      
days1 having resolved to go to a        
masquerade at ,covent ,garden1 ,robert1 
who was fond of dress1 selected a       
gorgeous cavalier costume1 while        
,george resolved to appear as a dustman4
 ,the dustman of those days1 in  his    
,sunday clothes1 was a picturesque      
object1 with his well-blacked           
fan-tailed hat1 white flannel jacket1   
scarlet plush breeches1 white           
stockings1 and neat gaiters4 ,he had a  
liberal display of linen1  and about his
 neck a bright-tinted 8,barcelona0      
kerchief4 ,but ,george  ,cruikshank     
resolved to go as the workaday dustman1 
as he had studied him  in his low       
haunts4 ,he obtained a dustman's old    

patched suit1 begrimed  his face and    
hands artistically1 put a dirty clay    
pipe in his mouth1  and strolled on a   
summer's evening from ,dorset ,street to
 ,covent ,garden  ,theatre1 where1 with 
all a dustman's roughness1 he presented 
his ticket4  ,the collector hesitated1  
amazed that so low a fellow could have  
obtained  possession of the ticket4     
8,haint it reg'lar80 shouted the        
dustman4    ,the difficulty was cleared 
up by the appearance of the splendid    
cavalier  ,robert1 who took the         
dustman's arm into the theatre1 where he
 executed  the 8double shuffle10 to the 
great diversion of the dissipated       
company4    ,that the adventures of ,tom
 and ,jerry and ,logic were in some     
degree the  experiences of ,egan and the
 brothers ,cruikshank can hardly be     
doubted499  ,it is quite clear that the 
artists 8went the rounds0 of            
dissipation1 if  only to make up their  
pictures4 ,egan was at home in the      
scenes which he  described2 nor1 as we  

have seen1 were the young ,cruikshanks1 
in those  days1 puritanical in their    
ways of life4 ,george1 we find1 was     
reputed  to be so wild1 that ,professor 
,wilson1 who admired his genius1        
admonished  him to bring himself down to
 a bottle at dinner1 and to moderate his
  amusements4         99 ,g4 ,cruikshank
 had worked for ,egan in #ahad4 ,he had 
etched       for him ,the ,entrance of  
,louis ,,xviii1 into ,paris1 as a       
frontispiece to a ,map-book1 which was  
published by ,egan1 at       his        
establishment in ,great ,marlborough    
,street1 in this year4    ,if we take   
8,life in ,london0 in conjunction with  
the daily hand-to-mouth  work which     
,george ,cruikshank had been executing  
for the popular  publishers of          
caricatures1 and particularly from the  
day when ,mrs4  ,humphreys invited him  
into her shop to take up the            
etching-needle of her  helpless invalid 
upstairs1 we shall see that1 although   
the young  artist had what would now be 

called strong moral proclivities and    
quick  sympathies1 he was ready to      
conform to the spirit of the times1 to  
hit  hard1 and to make bold steps on    
very delicate ground4    ,the           
miscellaneous work which ,cruikshank    
threw off1 in the midst of the  labours 
of a higher class1 and more congenial to
 his genius1 between  #ahbj and #ahcj1  
was prodigious4 ,he was1 indeed1 the    
pictorial chronicler  and satirist and  
moralist of the time4 ,before entering  
upon this part  of his labours1 let us  
glance at the best collection of them to
 which  he gave a distinctive form4 ,his
 8,points of ,humour0 are among the best
  expressions of his observation and    
skill1 in his vivacious mood4 ,they     
delighted his good friend and generous  
admirer1 ,thackeray4 ,the mood1  the    
manner of the outlook upon passing      
events1 often suggest ,thackeray        
himself4 ,cruikshank's flunkeys were the
 progenitors of ,jeames and ,tummus  of 
,thackeray and ,leech1 as his beadles   

were the forefathers of ,bumble4        
8,mr4 ,cruikshank's next important      
public appearance10 says ,mr4           
,thackeray1  8was with his #8,points of 
,humour' 99 7#ahbb and #ahbd71 after    
#8,life in ,london  and ,paris'--some   
twenty copper-plates selected from      
,various works40         99 ,in a note  
to his essay on ,george ,cruikshank in  
,blackwood1 ,professor ,wilson          
says3--8,the #8,points of ,humour'      
are to appear in occasional numbers4    
,no4 ,i4 contains about a       dozen   
etchings1 and fifty pages of very well  
written       letterpress4 ,the work is 
published by ,c4 ,baldwyn1 ,newgate     
,street1 ,london1 and the price per     
number is only eight       shillings1   
which is dog-cheap1 as things go40      
8,the collector of humorous designs10   
,mr4 ,thackeray remarks1 8cannot fail   
to have them in his portfolio1 for they 
contain some of the very best  efforts  
of ,mr4 ,cruikshank's genius2 and though
 not quite so highly  laboured as some  

of his later productions1 are none the  
worse1 in our  opinion1 for their       
comparative want of finish4 ,all the    
effects are  perfectly given1 and the   
expression as good as it could be in the
  most delicate engraving upon steel4   
,the artist's style1 too1 was then      
completely formed2 and1 for our part1 we
 should say that we preferred  his      
manner of #ahbe to any which he has     
adopted since4 ,the first picture1      
which is called #8,the ,point of        
,honour1' illustrates the old story of  
the  officer who1 on being accused of   
cowardice for refusing to fight a duel1 
came among his brother officers1 and    
flung a lighted grenade down upon  the  
floor1 before which his comrades fled   
ignominiously4 ,this design is  capital1
 and the outward rush of heroes1        
walking1 trampling1 twisting1  scuffling
 at the door1 is in the best style of   
the grotesque4 ,you see  but the back of
 most of these gentlemen1 into which1   
nevertheless1 the  artist has managed to

 throw an expression of ludicrous agony 
that one  could scarcely have expected  
to find in such a part of the human     
figure4  ,the next plate is not less    
good4 ,it represents a couple who1      
having  been found one night tipsy1 and 
lying in the same gutter1 were1 by a    
charitable though misguided gentleman1  
supposed to be man and wife1 and  put   
comfortably to bed together4 ,the       
morning came3 fancy the surprise  of    
this interesting pair when they awoke   
and discovered their situation4  ,fancy 
the manner1 too1 in which ,cruikshank   
has depicted them1 to which  words      
cannot do justice4 ,it is needless to   
state that this fortuitous  and         
temporary union was followed by one more
 lasting and sentimental1  and that     
these two worthy persons were married1  
and lived happily ever  after4    8,we  
should like to go through every one of  
these prints4 ,there is the  jolly      
miller1 who1 returning home at night1   
calls upon his wife to  get him a       

supper1 and falls to upon rashers of    
bacon and ale4 ,how he  gormandises1    
that jolly miller6 rasher after         
rasher1--how they pass away  frizzling  
and smoking from the gridiron down that 
immense grinning gulf  of a mouth4 ,poor
 wife6 how she pines and frets at that  
untimely hour of  midnight to be obliged
 to fry1 fry1 fry perpetually1 and      
minister to the  monster's appetite4    
,and yonder in the clock1 what agonised 
face is that  we see8 ,by heavens1 it is
 the squire of the parish6 ,what        
business has he  there8 ,let us not ask4
 ,suffice it to say1 that he has1 in the
 hurry of  the moment1 left upstairs his
 brs---- his--psha6 a part of his dress1
  in short1 with a number of bank-notes 
in the pockets4 ,look in the next  page1
 and you will see the ferocious1        
bacon-devouring ruffian of a  miller is 
actually causing this garment to be     
carried through the  village1 and cried 
by the town-crier4 ,and we blush to be  
obliged to  say that the demoralised    

miller never offered to return the      
bank-notes1  although he was so mighty  
scrupulous in endeavouring to find an   
owner  for the corduroy portfolio in    
which he had found them4    8,passing   
from this painful subject1 we come1 we  
regret to state1 to a  series           
representing personages not a whit more 
moral4 ,burns's famous  #8,jolly        
,beggars' have all had their portraits  
drawn by ,cruikshank40    ,illustration3
 #afi    ,george ,cruikshank's          
8,phrenological ,illustrations0 7#ahbf71
 8,illustrations  of ,time0 7#ahbg71 and
 8,scraps and ,sketches0 7#ahbh71 in    
which the  celebrated scene 8,what is   
,taxes1 ,thomas80 will be found all     
published by  the artist himself1 may be
 said to have furnished the pictorial   
material  for the first attempt at      
illustrated journalism4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,c4    
,rogers1 a  friend of ,cruikshank's1    
describes the transaction as he had it  
from the  wronged artist4 99         99 
,notes and ,queries1 #dth series1 vol4  

v41 p4 #cja4    8,the #8,gallery of     
,comicalities1' originated in the       
circumstance that some  forty years ago 
he 7,george ,cruikshank7 was applied to 
by ,mr4 ,dowling1  the editor of ,bells 
,life in ,london--with whom he had been 
on terms of  intimacy--for leave to     
reproduce some half-dozen of the        
etchings from  his works called         
#8,phrenological ,illustrations1'       
#8,illustrations of ,time1'  and        
#8,scraps and ,sketches1' in the pages  
of the journal named4 ,acting on  the   
qualified permission so obtained1 ,mr4  
,claremont1 the proprietor1 to  the     
utter astonishment of the artist1       
appropriated for his newspaper the      
whole1 or nearly all1 of ,george        
,cruikshank's designs1 contained in the 
works in question4 ,when remonstrated   
with by the artist1 and required  to    
stay the issue of the number of the     
paper in which these appeared1  on the  
ground that it was seriously interfering
 with the sale of the  artists own      

works1 ,mr4 ,claremont1 through his     
editor1 peremptorily  declined4         
,consulting a professional friend       
holding a post in the ,court  of        
,chancery1 to know whether an injunction
 might not be obtained to  restrain ,mr4
 ,claremont in the course he had thought
 proper to follow1  the artist was      
advised to suffer the wrong rather than 
enter into  litigation1 the result of   
which in any court would entail         
pecuniary  loss4    8,these             
illustrations1 ,i have said1 first      
appeared in the columns of  ,bells ,life
 in ,london1 under the heading1         
#8,gallery of ,comicalities4'  ,they    
were afterwards published separately by 
,mr4 ,claremont4 ,a very large  number  
were sold1 and large profits realized4  
,george ,cruikshank neither  received   
nor would have accepted a single        
farthing4444 ,george ,cruikshank  never 
contributed directly to the #8,gallery  
of ,comicalities1' ,his  designs1       
obtained in the manner described1 were  

copied by an ordinary  wood engraver    
from his etchings4 ,the average cost of 
these1 he informed  me1 would not exceed
 thirty shillings each4 ,mr4 ,claremont1
 finding the  thing a profitable        
venture1 continued the publication1 and 
employed  ,kenny ,meadows and others to 
furnish new designs4 ,it is asserted    
that if  there were any designs by his  
brother ,isaac ,robert1 they were no    
doubt  appropriated in the same immoral 
manner40    8,the ,gallery of           
,comicalities0 was a great success4 ,mr4
 ,william ,bates1  of ,birmingham1 says 
of it1 in ,notes and ,queries1 8,i am   
happily able to  count myself among     
those collectors who possess these witty
 sheets--the  delight of my boyhood--in 
a perfect state40 ,the eight series into
  which the gallery is divided1         
introduces us for the first time to     
,kenny ,meadows and ,john ,leech1 as    
well as to rich stolen fruit from       
,cruikshank's highly productive orchard2
 and1 according to ,mr4 ,bates1  to     

plentiful gleaning from the works of    
,isaac ,robert ,cruikshank4 ,here       
,meadows' sketches from ,lavater        
appeared1 including 8,the ,phisogs of   
the  ,traders of ,london10 and giving a 
foretaste of his 8,heads of the ,people 
and in the gallery are some of poor     
,seymour's sketches of the 8,sporting   
,cockney10 and drawings by              
,chatfield1--an artist now forgotten1   
but  a light in the early times of      
,douglas ,jerrold1 ,dickens1 ,thackeray1
  ,meadows1--and ,leech's early         
drawings2 and the great variety of      
subjects  treated with a vigorous1      
fresh1 racy humour by them and others1  
are  a foretaste of ,punch that was to  
start in a few years4 ,the popular      
appetite for caricature1 and for        
humorous and sarcastic commentaries  on 
the subjects of the day1 was diffused   
among the people by ,cleave's  coarser  
and cheaper pictorial gallery4    ,the  
taste for pictorial journalism was      
distinctly the creation of our          

caricaturists4 ,founded by ,james       
,gillray and his humbler contemporaries1
  it was developed by the genius of     
,rowlandson and ,george ,cruikshank1 and
  so popularised by the latter1 that his
 drawings were1 as we have seen1        
actually carried into the columns of a  
newspaper4 ,even this paper he may  be  
said to have indirectly created4 ,bells 
,life in ,london originally  appeared in
 #ahbd1 as ,pierce ,egan's ,life in     
,london1 and ,sporting  ,gazette4 ,egan 
was1 when ,tom and ,jerry took the town 
by storm1 the  sporting contributor to  
the ,weekly ,dispatch2 and the success  
of this  work so roused the jealousy of 
the ,dispatch conductors1 that they gave
  ,egan his cong4 ,his dismissal1 and   
the popularity he enjoyed at  the       
moment1 emboldened him to start a paper 
on his own account4 ,it  flourished     
awhile1 and in #ahbg ,mr4 ,egan sold it 
to a ,mr4 ,bell1 who  placed his name   
upon the title-page1 where ,egan's had  
stopd4 ,so that the  journal which ,mr4 

,cruikshank was indirectly instrumental 
in creating1  rewarded him by           
unceremoniously transferring his        
drawings to its  columns1 and thus      
inaugurating the pictorial journalism of
 ,england4    ,the ,phrenological       
,illustrations which ,mr4 ,bell treated 
so  unceremoniously had enjoyed more    
than a year's extraordinary popularity1 
and had even been a topic in            
,christopher ,north's 8,noctes40 99     
99 ,november #ahbf4    8,tickler4       
,james1 a few minutes ago you mentioned 
the name of that  prince of             
caricaturists1 ,george ,cruikshank2     
pray1 have you seen his  ,phrenological 
,illustrations8    8,shepherd4 ,that ,i 
hae1--he sent me the present as' copy to
 ,mount  ,benger2 and ,i thocht me and  
the haill hoose wud hae fain distracted 
wi'  lauchin4 ,o sirs1 what a plate is  
yon ,pheeloprogeniteeveness6 ,it's no   
possible to make out the preceese amount
 o' the family1 but there wad  seem to  
be somewhere about a dizzen and a       

half--the legitimate produce  o' the    
,eerish couple's ain fruitfu' lines4 ,a'
 noses alike in their  langness1 wi'    
sleight vareeities1 dear to ilka        
pawrent's heart6 ,then  what kissing1   
and hugging1 and rugging1 and ridin on  
backs and legs1  and rockin o' craddles1
 and speelin o' chairs1 and washing o'  
claes1 and  boilin o' pirtawties6 ,and  
ae wee bit spare rib o' flesh twurlin   
afore  the fire1 to be sent roun' lick  
and lick about1 to gie to the tongues of
  the contented crew a meat flavour1    
alang wi' the wershness o' vegetable    
maitter6 ,sma' wooden sodgers gaun      
through the manuel exercise on the      
floor--ae nine-pin stannin by himself   
amang prostrate comrades--a boat  shaped
 wi' a knife1 by him that's gaun to be a
 sailor1 and on the wa'1  emblematical  
o' human ,pheeloprogenitiveness 7,o bit 
that's a kittle  word67 a hen and       
chickens1 ane o' them perched atween her
 shouthers1  and a countless cleckin    
aneath her outspread wings6 ,what an    

observer o'  nature that chiel is6 ,only
 look at the back of the faither's neck1
 and  you'll no wonner at his family1   
for is't no like the back o' the neck   
o' a great bill80 ,tickler declares that
 ,language is almost as good1  and      
,north himself says3 8,not a whit       
inferior ,veneration40 ,then ,tickler   
observes3 8,george ,cruikshank's various
 and admirable works should be in  the  
possession of all lovers of the ,arts4  
,he is far more than the ,prince  of    
,caricaturists1--a man who regards the  
ongoings of life with the eye  of       
genius2 and he has a clear insight      
through the exterior of manners  into   
the passions of the heart4 ,he has wit  
as well as humour--feeling as  well as  
fancy--and his original vein appears to 
be inexhaustible4 ,here's  his health in
 a bumper40    ,the ,cruikshank of      
twenty years later would have been      
inexpressibly  shocked at the manner in 
which the ,shepherd responded3          
8,george ,cruikshank6 ,but stop a wee1  

my tumbler's dune4 ,here's to him  in a 
caulker1 and there's no mony folk whose 
health ,i wad drink1 during  toddy1 in  
pure speerit40    ,thackeray bears      
witness to the popularity of the        
,phrenological ,sketches  as quaintly as
 ,christopher ,north3--    8,he is the  
friend of the young especially4 ,have we
 not read all the  story-books that his 
wonderful pencil has illustrated8 ,did  
we not  forego tarts1 in order to buy   
his #8,breaking-up1' or his             
#8,fashionable  ,monstrosities' of the  
year eighteen hundred and something8    
,have we  not before us1 at this very   
moment1 a print--one of the admirable   
#8,illustrations of ,phrenology'--which 
entire work was purchased by  a         
joint-stock company of boys1 each       
drawing lots afterwards for the         
separate prints1 and taking his choice  
in rotation8 ,the writer of this1  too1 
had the honour of drawing the first lot1
 and seized immediately  upon           
#8,philoprogenitiveness--a marvellous   

print 7our copy is not at  all improved 
by being coloured1 which operation we   
performed on it  ourselves7--a          
marvellous print1 indeed1 full of       
ingenuity and fine  jovial humour4 ,a   
father1 possessor of an enormous nose   
and family1 is  surrounded by the       
latter1 who are1 some of them1 embracing
 the former4  ,the composition writhes  
and twists about like the ,kermes of    
,rubens4 ,no  less than seven little men
 and women in nightcaps1 in frocks1 in  
bibs1  in breeches1 are clambering about
 the head1 knees1 and arms of the man   
with the nose2 their noses1 too1 are    
preternaturally developed--the  twins in
 the cradle have noses of the most      
considerable kind2 the second  daughter1
 who is watching them2 the youngest but 
two1 who sits squalling  in a certain   
wicker chair2 the eldest son1 who is    
yawning2 the eldest  daughter1 who is   
preparing with the gravy of two         
mutton-chops a savoury  dish of         
,yorkshire pudding for eighteen persons2

 the youths who are  examining her      
operations 7one a literary gentleman1 in
 a remarkably neat  nightcap and        
pinafore1 who has just had his finger in
 the pudding72  the genius who is at    
work on the slate1 and the two honest   
lads who are  hugging the good-humoured 
washerwoman1 their mother1--all1 all1   
save  this worthy woman1 have noses of  
the largest size4 ,not handsome1        
certainly1 are they1 and yet everybody  
must be charmed with the picture4  ,it  
is full of grotesque beauty4 ,the artist
 has at the back of his own  skull1 we  
are certain1 a large bump of            
philoprogenitiveness4 ,he loves         
children in his heart3 every one of     
those he has drawn is perfectly  happy1 
and jovial1 and affectionate1 and as    
innocent as possible4 ,he  makes them   
with large noses1 but he loves them2 and
 you always find  something kind in the 
midst of his humour1 and the ugliness   
redeemed by  a sly touch of beauty40    
,pursuing this current of genial        

criticism1 ,thackeray has pointed out   
that in ,cruikshank's 8,sketch ,book0   
the observer may gather a good deal  of 
information regarding the character of  
the individual man4 8,what  strikes his 
eye as a painter2 what moves his anger  
or admiratiqn as a  moralist2 what      
classes he seems most especially        
disposed to observe1 and  what to       
ridicule4 ,there are quacks of all      
kinds1 to whom he has a mortal  hatred2 
quack dandies1 who assume under his     
pencil1 perhaps in his eye1  the most   
grotesque appearance possible--their    
hats grow larger1 their  legs infinitely
 more crooked and lean2 the tassels of  
their canes swell  out to a most        
preposterous size2 the tails of their   
coats dwindle away1  and finish where   
coat-tails generally begin4 ,let us lay 
a wager that  ,cruikshank1 a man of the 
people1 if ever there was one1 heartily 
hates  and despises these supercilious1 
swaggering1 young gentlemen2 and his    
contempt is not a whit the less laudable

 because there may be tout soit  peu of 
prejudice in it4 ,it is right and       
wholesome to scorn dandies1  as ,nelson 
says it was to hate ,frenchmen2 in which
 sentiment 7as we have  before said7    
,george ,cruikshank undoubtedly         
shares4444    8,against dandy footmen he
 is particularly severe4 ,he hates      
idlers1  pretenders1 boasters1 and      
punishes these fellows as best he may4  
,who  does not recollect the famous     
picture1 #8,what is ,taxes1 ,thomas8'   
,what is  taxes1 indeed6 ,well may that 
vast1 over-fed1 lounging flunkey ask the
  question of his associate ,thomas1 and
 yet not well1 for all that ,thomas     
says in reply is1 ,i don't know4 ,o     
beati plushicolo1 what a charming  state
 of ignorance is yours6 ,in the ,sketch 
,book many footmen make their           
appearance3 one is a huge1 fat ,hercules
 of a ,portman ,square porter1  who     
calmly surveys another poor fellow1--a  
porter likewise1 but out of             
livery1--who comes staggering forward   

with a box that ,hercules might  lift   
with his little finger4 ,will ,hercules 
do so8 ,not he4 ,the giant can  carry   
nothing heavier than a cocked-hat note  
on a silver tray1 and his  labours are  
to walk from his sentry-box to the door1
 and from the door  back to his         
sentry-box1 and to read the ,sunday     
paper1 and to poke the  hall fire twice 
or thrice1 and to make five meals a day4
 ,such a fellow  does ,cruikshank hate  
and scorn worse even than a ,frenchman4 
8,the man's master1 too1 comes in for no
 small share of our artist's  wrath4    
,see1 here is a company of them at      
church1 who humbly designate  themselves
 #8miserable sinners4' ,miserable       
sinners1 indeed6 ,o what floods  of     
turtle-soup1 what tons of turbot and    
lobster-sauce1 must have been           
sacrificed to make those sinners        
properly miserable6 ,my lady there1 with
  the ermine tippet and draggling       
feathers1 can we not see that she lives 
in ,portland ,place1 and is the wife of 

an ,east ,india ,director8 ,she has     
been to the opera over-night 7indeed1   
her husband1 on her right1 with  his fat
 hand dangling over the pew-door1 is at 
this minute thinking of  ,mademoiselle  
,lscadie1 whom he saw behind the        
scenes7--she has been to  the opera     
over-night1 which with a trifle of      
supper afterwards--a  white and brown   
soup1 a lobster salad1 some woodcocks1  
and a little  champagne--sent her to bed
 quite comfortable4 ,at half-past eight 
her  maid brings her chocolate to bed1  
at ten she has fresh eggs and muffins1  
with1 perhaps1 a half-hundred of prawns 
for breakfast1 and so can get  over the 
day and the sermon till lunch-time      
pretty well4 ,what an  odour of musk and
 bergamot exhales from the pew6 how it  
is wadded1 and  stuffed1 and spangled   
over with brass nails6 what hassocks are
 there for  those who are not too fat to
 kneel6 what a flustering and flapping  
of  gilt prayer-books6 and what a pious 
whirring of ,bible-leaves one hears  all

 over the church1 as the doctor blandly 
gives out the text6 ,to be  miserable at
 this rate1 you must1 at the very least1
 have four thousand  a year2 and many   
persons are there so enamoured of grief 
and sin1 that  they would willingly take
 the risk of the misery to have a       
life-interest  in the ,consols that     
accompany it1 quite careless about      
consequences1 and  sceptical as to the  
notion that a day is at hand when you   
must fulfil  your share of the bargain4 
8,our artist loves to joke at a soldier1
 in whose livery there appears  to him  
to be something almost as ridiculous as 
in the uniform of  the gentleman of the 
shoulder-knot4 ,tall life-guardsmen and 
fierce  grenadiers figure in many of his
 designs1 and almost always in a        
ridiculous way4 ,here1 again1 we have   
the honest1 popular ,english feeling    
which jeers at pomp or pretension of all
 kinds1 and is especially  jealous of   
all display of military authority4      
#8,raw recruit1' #8ditto  dressed1'     

ditto #8served up1' as we see them in   
the ,sketch ,book1 are so  many satires 
upon the army4 ,hodge with his ribbons  
flaunting in his hat1  or with red coat 
and musket1 drilled stiff and pompous1  
or that last1  minus leg and arm1       
tottering about on crutches1 do not fill
 our ,english  artist with the          
enthusiasm that follows the soldier in  
every other part  of ,europe4 ,jeanjean1
 the conscript in ,france1 is laughed   
at1 to be sure1  but then it is because 
he is a bad soldier2 when he comes to   
have a  huge pair of moustachios and the
 croix d'honneur to briller on his      
poitrine cicatris1 ,jeanjean becomes a  
member of a class that is  more         
respected than any other in the ,french 
nation4 ,the veteran soldier  inspires  
our people with no such awe3 we hold    
that democratic weapon the  fist in much
 more honour than the sabre and bayonet1
 and laugh at a man  tricked out in     
scarlet and pipeclay40    8,in the      
supernatural10 says ,thackeray1 8we find

 ,cruikshank reigning  supreme4 ,he has 
invented in his time a little comic     
pandemonium1 peopled  with the most     
droll1 good-natured fiends possible4 ,we
 have before us  ,chamisso's #8,peter   
,schlemil' 7#ahbd71 with ,cruikshank's  
designs translated  into ,german1 and   
gaining nothing by the change4444 ,he   
has also made  designs for ,victor      
,hugo's #8,hans of ,iceland4' ,strange1 
wild etchings were  those1 on a strange1
 mad subject2 not so good1 in our       
notion1 as the  designs for the ,german1
 books1 the peculiar humour of which    
latter  seemed to suit the artist       
exactly4 ,there is a mixture of the     
awful  and ridiculous in these1 which   
perpetually excites and keeps awake the 
reader's attention2 the ,german writer  
and the ,english artist seem to  have an
 entire faith in their subject4 ,the    
reader1 no doubt1 remembers  the awful  
passage in #8,peter ,schleusihl1' when  
the little1 gentleman  purchases the    
shadow of that hero3 #8,have the        

kindness1 noble sir1 to  examine and try
 this bag4' ,he put his hand into his   
pocket1 and drew  thence a tolerably    
large bag of ,cordovan leather1 to which
 a couple of  thongs were fixed4 ,i took
 it from him1 and immediately counted   
out ten  gold pieces1 and ten more1 and 
ten more1 and still other ten1 whereupon
  ,i held out my hand to him4 #8,done1' 
said ,i1 #8it is a bargain2 you shall   
have my shadow for your bag4' ,the      
bargain was concluded2 he knelt down    
before me1 and ,i saw him with a        
wonderful neatness take my shadow from  
head to foot1 lightly lift it up from   
the grass1 roll and fold it up  neatly1 
and at last pocket it4 ,he then rose up1
 bowed to me once more1  and walked away
 again1 disappearing behind the         
rose-bushes4 ,i don't  know1 but ,i     
thought ,i heard him laughing a little4 
,i1 however1 kept fast  hold of the bag4
 ,everything around me was bright in the
 sun1 and as yet  ,i gave no thought to 
what ,i had done4' ,this marvellous     

event1 narrated  by ,peter with such a  
faithful1 circumstantial detail1 is     
painted by  ,cruikshank in the most     
wonderful poetic way1 with that happy   
mixture of  the real and supernatural   
that makes the narrative so curious1 and
 like  truth40    ,the artist1 in short1
 in a wonderfully complete way1 embodies
 the  author's feeling1 as well as his  
idea4 ,he plays1 as it were1 with the   
supernatural4 ,professor ,wilson goes   
even farther4 8,nobody1 that has the    
least of an eye for art1 can doubt that 
,cruikshank1 if he chose1 might  design 
as many ,annunciations1 ,beatifications1
 ,apotheoses1 ,metamorphoses1  and so   
forth1 as would cover ,york ,cathedral  
from end to end4 ,it is still  more     
impossible to doubt that he might be a  
famous portrait painter4  ,now1 these   
are fine lines both of them1 and yet it 
is precisely the  chief merit of        
,cruikshank that he cuts them both1 that
 he will have  nothing to do with them1 
that he has chosen a walk of his own1   

and that  he has made his own walk      
popular4 ,here lies genius2 but let him 
do  himself justice1 let him persevere  
and rise in his own path1 and  then1    
ladies and gentlemen1 then the day will 
come when his name  will be a name      
indeed1 not a name puffed and paraded in
 the newspapers1  but a living1 a       
substantial1 perhaps even an            
illustrious1 ,english name4  ,let him1  
in one word1 proceed1 and1 as he        
proceeds1 let him think of  ,hogarth40  
,under such encouragement as this1      
,cruikshank braced himself for work     
worthy of his genius1 even in the       
hurly-burly of the daily life he  led in
 ,london1 and with the incessant demands
 upon him still1 as the  pictorial      
moralist and satirist of his            
time1--demands which he answered  richly
 out of the inexhaustible fund of his   
fancy and humour1--as we  shall see4    
,illustration3 #ahh          ,,chapter  
,,vi4 ,,hand-,,to-,,mouth ,,work4       
,shepherd4 8,what a subject for a       

picture by ,geordie ,cruik-shanks--,ha6 
ha6 ha6 ha6 ha6 ha60 99         99      
,noctes ,ambrosiano1 ,nov4 #ahbh4       
,exactly4 ,what a picture for the       
inimitable ,george6 ,humphreys in ,st4  
,james's ,street1 ,fores in ,piccadilly1
 ,fairburn of ,broadway1 ,ludgate ,hill1
  ,hodgson and ,co4 of ,newgate ,street1
 ,w4 ,hone of ,fleet ,street1 ,s4       
,knight of  ,sweeting's ,alley1 ,j4     
,dolby of the ,strand1 poor old ,limbird
 of the same  thoroughfare1 and many    
others1 all joined in the chorus4 8,what
 a subject  for a picture by ,geordie   
,cruikshanks0--let the new subject of   
the moment  be what it might--a scene in
 the condemned cell1 characters for     
,twelfth  ,night1 a frontispiece to a   
song1 ,his ,most ,gracious ,majesty     
,george the  ,fourth returning from     
,westminster ,hall in his ,coronation   
,robes1 or the  ,mermaid now exhibiting 
at the ,turf ,coffee ,house in ,st4     
,james's ,street1  or ,liston1 or the   
elder ,watkins in a new character1 or   

,grimaldi in  motley1 pattering his last
 song6 ,i have glanced at the more      
important  work produced by ,george     
,cruikshank between #ahbj and #ahcj2 and
 the reader  has seen what kind of      
effect it made in its time1 and how it  
has been  judged by critics of high     
authority4 ,but the full strength of the
 artist  can be estimated only after an 
examination of the sum of minor work    
which he got through at the same time4  
,when his 8,life in ,london0 and        
,paris1 8,phrenological ,illustrations10
 8,humourist10 8,points of ,humour10    
and many series of book                 
illustrations--comprehending a notable  
quantity of his best creations--are     
estimated1 in conjunction with his      
hand-to-mouth work for the caricature   
shops1 and the whole has been  surveyed 
at once1 the connoisseur stands         
literally amazed at the  immeasurable   
fecundity of the artist4 ,within the    
range of this decade  of feverish       
activity is amassed such wealth of      

fancy1 of invention1 of  jocund spirit1 
of sympathy for suffering1 of rage over 
wrong1 of  minute observation of men and
 things1 and withal such conscientious1 
ever-improving execution with pencil and
 needle1 and lithographic ink  and      
tinting-brush1 upon wood and stone1 and 
steel and copper1 as not  all the       
caricaturists or comic artists who have 
swarmed in ,fleet ,street  since the    
,queen's coronation day could equal1 if 
they made a joint show  of their best4  
,cruikshank was lavish with his fancy1  
and his humour  lives upon the smallest 
subject4 ,he never made one poor little 
idea  stand alone1 as the practice is in
 the comic or satirical cartoons of  the
 present day4 ,it was his wont to       
support his dominant conception with  a 
score of helpful accessories4 ,he laid  
every detail under contribution  towards
 the elucidation of the story to be     
told4 ,his caricatures1 as  well as his 
serious pictures1 abound in admirable   
by-play4 ,his power of  concentrating   

interest is unmatched4 ,his chairs and  
tables speak4 ,there  is life in every  
accessory4 ,nature morte did not exist  
for him4 8,dead  as a door-nail0 he     
could not understand2 for under the     
magnetism of his  etching-needle the    
nail would laugh and speak4 ,he was so  
full of life  himself--a hornpipe dancer
 in his eighty-fourth year 99--that1 in 
spite  of him1 he infused it into       
anything he touched4 ,no artist ever    
threw  such movement and infused such   
vital breath into his pictures1 as this 
untaught man of genius spontaneously    
breathed into his etchings and          
woodcuts4 ,a scrimmage by him inclines  
the beholder to lift his arm  to protect
 himself4 ,when he leads off a dance    
upon copper1 you  involuntarily hum a   
jig4 ,when his characters are merry1 you
 laugh  outright with them4         99  
,meeting ,mr4 ,r4 ,h4 ,horne some two   
years before his death1       he danced 
the hornpipe before him1 to show how    
sound and       strong and active he    

still was4    ,on the other hand1 is his
 mood solemn1 he can make your heart    
beat quick1 and send you shuddering     
away1 with his images in your           
brain--presences you will find it hard  
to banish4 8,the awful ,jew  that       
,cruikshank drew0 lingered for years in 
,thackeray's mind2 and the  profound    
impression which it made on the public1 
when it appeared1 has  not faded even   
now4    ,more searching observation than
 that of ,cruikshank in his prime was   
never possessed by an artist4 ,his range
 did not stretch beyond the  suburbs of 
,london except perhaps to ,margate in   
the hoy1 but all that  came within it he
 made his own4 ,out of the suburban     
landscapes he  conjured fairy scenes2   
and ,highgate and ,hampstead supplied   
him with  distant horizons which his    
imagination widened at his will4        
,thackeray  declared that ,cruikshank   
had a fine eye for homely landscapes1   
and yet  his trees are as bad as his    
horses4 8,old villages1 farm-yards1     

groups  of stacks1 queer chimneys1      
churches1 gable-end cottages1           
,elizabethan  mansion-houses1 and other 
old ,english scenes1 he depicts with    
evident  enthusiasm40 ,his scenes to    
,brough's 8,life of ,falstaff0 are      
exquisitely  drawn4 ,where ,falstaff is 
arrested at the suit of ,mrs4 ,quickly1 
and again  when he persuades her to lend
 him more money1 the old houses are fine
  picturesque studies4    ,but ,london1 
and ,london streets and suburbs1        
constituted ,cruikshank's  world in his 
heyday2 and he caught all the phases of 
this his universe1  save and except its 
upper classes4 ,he lived in the midst of
 the people2  he was of them4 ,his      
humble fortunes cast his lot1 in his    
early time1  among the poorer classes of
 professional men4 ,he was passionately 
fond  of the stage1 and was familiar    
with the popular comedians of the minor 
theatres1 and the landlords of the      
houses which they and he frequented4    
,he lived at ,islington1 and belonged to

 a club called 8,the ,crib10 which  had 
a room at the ,sir ,hugh ,middleton     
public-house1 of which ,joseph          
,grimaldi199 the clown1 was president4  
,mr4 ,c4 ,l4 ,gruneisen1 who made       
,cruikshank's acquaintance at 8,the     
,crib10 related how on one occasion1    
when a member bantered ,george rather   
savagely1 and he--contrary to his       
custom--had borne the 8chaff0 without   
replying1 he presently turned  to him1  
and holding up his hand1 showed a       
caricature of his assailant  executed   
upon his thumb-nail1 and said1 8,look   
here6 ,see how ,i have  booked him60    
99 ,cruikshank illustrated songs        
,grimaldi sang2 for instance1           
8,all the ,world's in ,paris4 ,sung with
 great applause by ,m4       ,grimaldi1 
in the popular pantomime of ,harlequin  
,whittington40 ,published ,feb4 #ast1   
#ahae4         ,in #ahbd he drew 8the   
celebrated actor astride of a common    
washing-stool1 metamorphosed1 with the  
aid of the copper-       stick1 a broom1

 and an animal's skull1 into his        
8,neddy10        while singing his      
favourite song of the season--8,here we 
go1       me and my neddy1 gee woo60    
,in #ahbe he drew another portrait of   
,grimaldi in the       pantomime of     
,harlequin ,whittington4    ,it was in  
this and kindred scenes with which      
,cruikshank was familiar  in his prime1 
and out of the excesses which1 as we    
have seen1 ,professor  ,wilson--himself 
no fastidious liver--tried to tempt him 
by promises of  a higher and wider fame1
 that ,cruikshank drew the matchless    
gallery  of contemporary life1 in which 
the humours1 passions1 whims1 and       
absurdities of our fathers and          
grandfathers are snatched from oblivion1
  and left to inform and brighten the   
page of the future historian4    8,we   
can submit to public notice10 says ,mr4 
,thackeray1 8a complete  little gallery 
of dustmen4 ,here is1 in the first      
place1 the professional  dustman1 who1  
having in the enthusiastic exercise of  

his delightful  trade1 laid hands upon  
property not strictly his own1 is       
pursued1 as we  presume1 by the right   
owner1 from whom he flies as fast as his
 crooked  shanks will cany him4 ,what   
curious picture it is--the horrid       
rickety  houses in me dingy suburb of   
,london1 the grinning cobbler1 the      
smothered  butcher1 the very trees which
 are covered dust--it is fine to look at
  the different expressions of the two  
interesting fugitives4 ,the fiery       
charioteer who belabours yonder poor    
donkey has still a glance for  his      
brother on foot1 on whom punishment is  
about to descend4 ,and not a  little    
curious is it to think of the creative  
power of the man who  has arranged this 
tale of low life4 ,how logically it is  
conducted6 how  cleverly each one of the
 accessories is made to contribute to   
the effect  of the whole6 ,what a deal  
of thought and humour has the artist    
expended  on this little block of wood6 
a large picture might have been painted 

out of the very same materials which    
,mr4 ,cruikshank1 out of his wondrous   
fund of merriment and observation1 can  
afford to throw away upon a  drawing not
 twi inches long4 ,from the practical   
dustmen we pass to those  purely        
poetical4 ,here are three of them1 who  
rise on a cloud of their  own raising1  
the very genius of the sack and shovel4 
,is there no one to  write a sonnet to  
these8 and yet a whole poem was written 
about ,peter  ,bell the waggoner1 a     
character by no means so poetic499 ,and1
 lastly1 we  have the dustman in love4  
,the honest fellow is on the spectator's
 right  hand2 and having seen a young   
beauty stepping out of a gin-shop on a  
,sunday morning1 is pressing eagerly his
 suit4 ,his arms round the #8young      
beauty's' neck1 her face is hidden      
behind the dustman's fantail hat40      
,that society of dustmen1 which         
,cruikshank used to observe1 when he    
lived  in ,dorset ,street1 ,salisbury   
,square1 sank deep into his mind4 ,in   

the  ,triumph of ,cupid1 many years     
later1 we shall still find the dustman4 
,he is lying in the foreground1         
8compelled to bite the dust0--while the 
artist smokes his long pipe1 and ,cupid1
 astride his slippers1 toasts a  heart  
at the fire4 ,that long pipe 7only it   
was honest clay1 and not  the           
magnificent meerschaum to which ,george 
has treated himself in  his vision7 was 
his companion for many a year4 8,yes1 ,i
 remember ,mr4  ,cruikshank very well   
when ,i was a little girl10 writes an   
old friend of  his4 8,when he came1 a   
long clay pipe was sent for4 ,he would  
sit  smoking it after dinner1 and we    
were greatly amused by the energetic    
gesticulation with which he accompanied 
his conversation40 ,his was  a handsome 
face1 with steely blue eyes that struck 
through you4  ,they flashed as brightly 
as the eyes of ,mr4 ,dickens1 but they  
had no  merriment--only keenness1 and a 
certain fierceness in them4 ,those eyes 
penetrated all the mysteries of ,london 

life1 and peered through clouds  of     
tobacco-smoke1 and over foaming tankards
 in all kinds of strange and  queer     
places4         99 ,mr4 ,thackeray      
overlooked 8,the ,literary ,dustman40   
8,for ,jews1 sailors1 ,irishmen1        
,hessian boots1 little boys1 beadles1   
policemen1 tall life-guardsmen1 charity 
children1 pumps1 dustmen1 very  short   
pantaloons1 dandies in spectacles1 and  
ladies with aquiline noses1  remarkably 
taper waists1 and wonderfully long      
ringlets10 says ,thackeray1  8,mr4      
,cruikshank has a special predilection4 
,the tribe of ,israelites he  has       
studied with amazing gusto2 witness the 
,jew in ,mr4 ,ainsworth's #8,jack       
,shepherd1' and the immortal ,fagin of  
#8,oliver ,twist1' ,whereabouts lies    
the comic vis in these persons and      
things8 ,why should a beadle  be coinic1
 and his opposite a charity boy8 ,why   
should a tall  life-guards-man have     
something in him essentially absurd8    
,why are short  breeches more ridiculous

 than long8 ,what is there particularly 
jocose  about a pump8 and wherefore does
 a long nose always provoke the beholder
  to laughter8 ,these points may be     
metaphysically elucidated by those  who 
list4 ,it is probable that ,mr4         
,cruikshank could not give an accurate  
definition of that which is ridiculous  
in these objects1 but his  instinct has 
told him that fun lurks in them1 and    
cold must be the heart  that can pass by
 the pantaloons of his charity boys1 the
 ,hessian boots  of his dandies1 and the
 fantail hats of his dustmen1 without   
respectful  wonder40    ,george         
,cruikshank also created the ladies of  
the ,sairy ,gamp order4 ,we  find one in
 a set of his ,lottery ,puffs1 published
 in ,january #ahah--;a  midwife with a  
prodigious bonnet4 ,and does she not    
appear as ,mrs4  ,toddles1 the          
ancestress of ,mrs4 ,brown of our day1  
in the ,omnibus8  ,the debt of the      
humourists and public caricaturists who 
have lived and  flourished 7aye1        

flourished as poor ,george never did7 on
 the crumbs of  his ,rabalaisian banquet
 of humour1 is immeasurable4 ,many of   
the comic  ,london characters of to-day 
are only his figures redressed4 ,they   
are  seen through the spectacles which  
he invented4 ,only1 the fine fancy1 the 
rollicking gaiety1 the cumulation of fun
 in some four inches square  of         
box-wood1 are thinly spread over square 
feet4 ,think of ,cruikshank's           
,irishmen6 ,thackeray says of them1--   
8,we have said that our artist has a    
great love for the drolleries of  the   
,queen ,island4444 ,we know not if ,mr4 
,cruikshank has ever had any such  good 
luck as to see the ,irish in ,ireland   
itself1 but he certainly has  obtained a
 knowledge of their looks1 as if the    
country had been all his  life familiar 
to him4 ,could ,mr4 ,o',connell himself 
desire anything more  national than the 
following scene8 or would ,father       
,mathew have a better  text to preach   
upon8 ,there is not a broken nose in the

 room that is not  thoroughly ,irish40  
,the observer of all the humours of     
,london life1 the member of ,mr4        
,joseph ,grimaldi's club at the ,sir    
,hugh ,middleton1 and of many other     
very free-and-easy theatrical1 artistic1
 and literary clubs of the hour1  nursed
 very serious and ambitious designs1    
even while he threw out his  pictorial  
squibs for his daily bread4 ,it is sad  
to think that even the  mighty quantity 
of work which he got through1 and of    
work that filled  publishers' pockets1  
and set up laughing faces from the      
,highlands to  ,portsmouth1 was never   
well paid enough to give him ease to do 
justice to  his genius4    ,in a note to
 ,mr4 ,hotten99 7,april #ahfe7 he said1 
8,the first time that ,i  put a very    
large figure in perspective was about   
forty years back1 in  illustrating that 
part of #8,paradise ,lost' where ,milton
 describes ,satan  as         #8,prone  
on the flood1 extended long and large1  
,lay floating many a rood4'         99  

,explanatory of his drawing 7here       
reproduced7 of the giant    ,this ,i    
never published1 but possibly ,i may do 
so10 the intrepid old man  adds1 8one of
 these days40    ,illustration3 #bja    
,in a letter to ,mr4 ,j4 ,p4 ,briscoe he
 explained how1 in #ahbe1 ,bolster1     
which forms the frontispiece of ,mr4    
,robert ,hunt's 8,popular ,romances of  
the ,west of ,england40    when his     
caricatures were in all the             
shop-windows1 he was engaged to         
illustrate ,milton's 8,paradise ,lost40 
8,previous to the year of #ahbe1 ,i was 
engaged to illustrate ,milton's         
#8,paradise ,lost4' ,a friend of mine1  
,mr4 ,lewis1 was to be the editor1 and  
a bookseller in the ,strand1 near       
,holywell ,street1 named ,birch1 was1 ,i
  believe1 to be the publisher4    8,for
 this work ,i made two drawings on wood1
 one was #8,satan1 ,sin1 and  ,death1 at
 the ,gates of ,hell1' and the other1   
#8,satan calling up the  fallen         
,angels4'         #8,awake6 arise6 or be

 for ever fallen6       ,they heard1 and
 were abashed1 and up they sprang       
,upon the wing4'    ,this illustration  
was very crowded with figures1 and the  
best drawing  that ,i ever did in my    
life2 but when the wood engraver saw it1
 he  said he was afraid he could not    
engrave it3 however1 it was done and    
published1 but the block is missing2    
however1 there is an impression  of it  
7,no4 #aaf7 now exhibiting in the       
selection of my works at the  8,royal   
,aquarium10 ,westminster1 ,london4      
8,i expect there had been some kind of  
arrangement made as to a  partnership   
between the editor and the publisher2   
but some disagreement  followed1 which  
stopped the work1 and this is the reason
 why the subject  you mention of the    
large figure in perspective             
#8,lay floating many a rood'    was not 
published2 and since then ,i have had so
 many matters to attend  to1 that ,i    
don't think ,i shall ever publish it1   
nor be able to do an oil  painting of   

the subject1 as ,i always wished to do1 
being now too much  overwhelmed with    
various engagements40    ,the light     
heart and courage with which ,cruikshank
 bore up against many  a bitter         
disappointment like this1 hindering his 
flight to the higher  regions of his    
art1 are delightful characteristics of  
him4    ,while he was dreaming of       
,paradise ,lost1 and designing 8the very
 best  drawing he ever did in his life10
 and the dream and the labour were  cast
 by unkind ,fate to to the winds1 see   
how prodigally he was using his  genius 
as the popular pictorial chronicler1    
moralist1 and provider of  laughter of  
the day4    ,not only did he execute the
 caricatures ,i have already noted1 for 
and  against ,queen ,caroline2 he threw 
off series after series1 as 8,doll      
,tear-,sheet10 8,the ,green ,bay10 8,non
 mi ricordo10    8,political ,lectures  
on ,tails10 in which the ,prince        
,regent1 ,lord ,eldon1  the ,marquis of 
,conyngham1 ,lord ,castlereagh1 and ,mr4

 ,wilberforce figured2  the ,king led   
blindfolded by his evil advisers1 ,lords
 ,sidmouth and  ,castlereagh2 to say    
nothing of 8,the ,political ,apple      
,pie10 8,the  ,constitutional ,apple    
,pie10 8,the ,men in the ,moon10 8,the  
,man in the  ,moon10 and the 8,political
 ,quixote40 ,the satirical grotesque    
force and  plentifulness of point in    
these streams of running pictorial      
commentary  on current events1 show the 
acuteness of the artist's intellect1 as 
well  as the sleeplessness of his power 
of observation1 the tenderness of his   
sympathies1 and his alertness as a      
moralist4 ,moore1 dressed as a rough    
,irish peasant1 holding ,erin's harp in 
one hand1 and a shillelagh in the       
other1 to protect a basketful of poems  
on his arm--while ,old ,nick is  putting
 a rope round one of his legs1 and the  
other is fettered with the  twopenny    
post bag--is called 8,erin's ,pocket    
,apollo40 ,under the title  of 8,the    
,botley ,showman10 ,william ,cobbett is 

presented1 with a peepshow1  through    
which a crone looks1 while the devil is 
grinding a tune on an  organ4 ,the      
proprietor announces the ,hampshire ,hog
 and ,tom ,paine's bones1  a flag floats
 above1 inscribed #8,how to raise the   
,wind2' while a bumpkin  and his boy    
look on horror-struck by the idea of the
 bones being in  the box4 ,this drawing 
is supplemented by a tail-piece1 in     
which we see  ,cobbett going in a cart  
to a place of execution1 followed by the
 devil  carrying his coffin4 ,and now we
 light upon ,hone tied to a             
whipping-post1  with his companion ,old 
,nick4 ,lord ,castlereagh is holding up 
the ,radical  rascal's coat-tails1 and  
flogging him1 to the delight of ,lord   
,sidmouth  and ,vansittart1 who are     
looking on4 ,the moral to this          
caricature1 which  is entitled 8,a      
,printer and his ,devil ,restrained10 is
 given in an apt  quotation1 in         
,cruikshank's usual manner3--           
,lucio4 8,why1 how now1 ,claudio8 whence

 comes this       restraint80           
,claud4 8,from too much liberty1 my     
,lucio1--liberty4         ,a surfeit is 
the father of much fast2       ,so every
 scope1 by the immoderate use1          
,turns to restraint40    ,the 8,men in  
the ,moon0 series 7#ahbj71 forerunners  
of ,mr4 ,albert ,smith's  8,man in the  
,moon10 is all levelled at the          
,liberals1 or ,radicals3 ,cobbett  and  
,hunt1 as representatives of the ,weekly
 ,register and ,reform1  appear as the  
agents of ,satan4 ,a little devil 7his  
,satanic majesty  figured largely in all
 the caricatures of the time1 and most  
public men  in their turn were          
humorously given over to him7 perched on
 a gibbet  is waiting1 no doubt         
impatiently1 for the souls of the       
,radicals4 ,a big  devil clutches       
cloven-hoofed ,lord ,byron1 8,the ,lord 
of the ,faithless10   and points to the 
distant gibbet ,hunt1 8knocked out of   
time0 in a  pugilistic encounter with   
,lord ,castlereagh1 is being 8attended  

to0 by  his friends--the devil and      
,cobbett4 ,but so bad were the ,radical 
leaders1  that the friendship even of   
the devil is at last denied them4 ,they 
appear1 with other ,radicals1 as the    
political hydra1 and their faithless    
friend ,satan1 with his pitchfork1 is   
lending a hand to ,lords ,castlereagh   
and ,sidmouth1 for their destruction4   
,they have an awful end in the  hydra's 
skin1 being nailed by the tail to a     
gibbet1 and burned amidst  the rejoicing
 shouts of 8the first gentleman in      
,europe10 the ,iron ,duke1  and the     
,king's ministers4    ,but in 8,the ,man
 in the ,moon0 the impartial            
caricaturist has his fling  at the ,king
 and his ministers4 ,here the ,goddess  
of ,reason protects the  liberty of the 
press from the gag and dagger1 which are
 presented by  ,lords ,castlereagh and  
,sidmouth1 and ,canning4 ,the ,prince   
,regent1 mounted  upon ,lord ,sidmouth's
 back1 shoots at the cup of liberty4    
,and now his  ,royal ,highness is ,guy  

,fawkes carried by his favourites1      
,castlereagh  and ,sidmouth4 ,it was at 
this time1 when ,hone appeared tied to a
  whipping-post1 supplied by            
,cruikshank's needle1 that the artist   
illustrated 8,the ,bank ,restriction    
,barometers10 for the incorrigible      
,radical of ,fleet ,street1 who probably
 revenged himself upon ,cruikshank  in  
,st4 ,james's ,street1 by under-paying  
him in the city4    ,the 8,barometer0   
was ingeniously illustrated3 at top1    
,britannia in the  full tide of         
prosperity2 at bottom1 weeping and      
dejected1 with ships  wrecked and       
children hanged4 ,the gibbet played as  
conspicuous a part in  these daily      
squibs as the devil4    ,the ,cato      
,street conspirators gave ,cruikshank   
hand-to-mouth work4 ,he drew  the       
prisoners in the dock4 ,trifling        
incidents that hit the public mind      
brought work to his nimble needle4 ,mrs4
 ,geoffrey ,gubbins became famous1  in  
death1 by being buried in an iron coffin

 which the authorities of  ,st4         
,andrew's parish declined to deposit in 
their graveyard4 ,cruikshank  showed    
churchwarden and beadle astride the open
 grave4 ,in the midst  of all this he   
drew a frontispiece--to-day for the     
8,memoirs of ,captain  ,huddart0--on the
 morrow1 for the second volume of       
,thornton's 8,pastorals  of ,virgil02   
and the next day he designed one of     
those little domestic  scenes which he  
always loved4 ,a little girl is seated  
under a spreading  tree at a cottage    
door4 ,the village church is in the     
distance1 and a  feeble old woman is    
shambling along the road4 ,the scene of 
peace is  called 8,the ,adventures of a 
,bible40 ,from this bit of sentiment the
  artist could turn swiftly to          
illustrations called 8,the ,right       
,divine  of ,kings to ,govern ,wrong40  
,what a monster of despotism has the    
artist  conceived6 ,the figure has a    
huge bomb for a body1 cannon for legs4  
,it  is armed with fire and sword4      

,swinging to and fro in chains1 it      
tramples  upon and mutilates the mob    
upon the ground4 ,it wears a crown1 and 
a  glory of daggers is the nimbus about 
its head6    ,the same hand that drew   
this monster1 turned away to 8,the      
,white ,cat10 in  which ,caroline and   
her friends are outrageously treated4   
,the vignette is  enough4 ,the crown of 
,england is shown in a cage guarded by  
the sword of  ,justice against a black  
cat1 the cat being the ,queen4 ,in the  
series we  have the old stage properties
 of the political caricature--the block1
  the headsman's axe1 the gibbet1 the   
guillotine1 a coffin1 etc4 ,let  us pass
 on--without even glancing at 8,the     
,miraculous ,host10 and other  similar  
pencillings4 ,this was all very sad     
pot-boiling2 and we respect  the artist 
for the regret with which he looked back
 upon it4    ,it was redeemed and put in
 the shade by better work4 ,let us      
glance by  way of relief at 8,fairy     
,experience arriving to solemnize the   

,baptism of  ,bright ,star10 and        
8,prince ,iris entertained at a ,banquet
 by ,zephyrina  and her ,nymphs20 99 or 
8,the courageous young ,girl ,rosa      
plunging into the  ,water to save her   
young ,mistress1 ,pulchra1 from the     
,jaws of the ,shark10   or 8,the ,little
 ,deformed ,old ,man destroying the huge
 ,serpent which  has coiled its folds   
about his body40 ,here we discover      
indications of  ,cruikshank's fancy in  
its more gracious moods3 we come upon   
him at home  for the first time in      
fairy-land4         99 ,cruikshank's    
illustrations to ,gardener's 8,original 
,tales       of my ,landlord's ,school10
 #ahbb4 ,ditto to ,gardener s 8,royal   
,present10 #ahbb4    ,illustration3 #bab
    8,the ,folly of ,pride10 ,italian   
tales1 in which there is a ,jew1 as in  
8,the  ,merchant of ,venice10           
embarrassed on being told by ,gianetto  
to 8 take the  pound of flesh from      
,ansaldo10 and 8,tales of ,irish ,life0 
7#ahbd71 and his  illustrations to      

,clinton's 8,life of ,lord ,byron0      
7#ahbd-e71 mark  ,cruikshank's progress 
from political caricature to experience2
  four-and-twenty cuts to 8,the         
,universal ,songster1 or ,museum of     
,mirth10--coarse bits of street1        
pot-house1 and play-house wit2 sixteen  
illustrations of the humours of sailors'
 life--the sailors being perfect  salts2
 illustrations to ,hone's 8,every-,day  
,book0 7#aheb72 twenty-five more        
wood-cuts to the 8,log-,book0 7#ahbf-g71
 full of fun1 spirit1 and  character2   
some curious bits of mountainous and    
other scenery in 8,the  ,pocket         
,magazine20 twenty-one cuts to          
8,philosophy in ,sport0 7#ahbg7--to  say
 nothing of diagrams2 three quaint bits 
to ,walpole's 8,anecdotes of            
,painters20 twenty-four 8,more ,mornings
 at ,bow-,street20 a vignette1  8,bolton
 reclining in the ,fairies' ,bower20 a  
frontispiece to 8,harcourt's  ,jests20  
etchings of many of ,a4 ,crowquill's    
drawings2 and 8,punch and  ,judy0       

7#ahbg-h74 ,in these latter careful     
etchings the power of ,cruikshank  to   
inform a puppet with life1 and keep it  
wooden still1 is conspicuous4  ,he has  
related how he studied his subject3--   
,illustration3 #bae    8,having been    
engaged by ,mr4 ,prowett1 the publisher1
 to give the various  scenes represented
 in the cuts to the street performances 
of #8,punch and  ,judy1' ,i obtained the
 address of the proprietor and performer
 of that  popular exhibition4 ,he was an
 elderly ,italian1 of the name of       
,piccini1  whom ,i remembered from      
boyhood1 and he lived at a low          
public-house1 the  sign of ,the         
#8,king's 8,philosophy in ,sport40      
,illustration3 #bag    ,having made     
arrangements for a #8morning            
performance1' one of the window  frames 
on the first-floor of the public-house  
was taken out1 and the  stand1 or       
,punch's theatre1 was hauled into the   
#8club-room4' ,mr4 ,payne  ,collier 7who
 was to write the description71 the     

publisher1 and myself1  formed the      
audience2 and as the performance went   
on1 ,i stopped it at the  most          
interesting parts1 to sketch the        
figures1 whilst ,mr4 ,collier noted     
down the dialogue1 and thus the whole is
 a faithful copy and description  of the
 various scenes represented by this     
,italian1 whose performance of          
#8,punch' was far superior in every     
respect to anything of the sort to  be  
seen at the present day4 ,the figure    
whose neck he used to stretch  to such a
 great height was a sort of interlude4  
,piccini made the figure  take off his  
hat with one hand1 which he defied all  
other puppet-show  performers to do4    
,piccini announced the approach of      
,punch by sound of  trumpet40    ,even  
now ,i have but glanced at the more     
important subjects on the list4  ,how   
infinitely various is the humour6 how   
wide and searching1 ,i must  repeat1 is 
the observation6 ,could anything be     
better than these  8,four ,specimens of 

the ,reading ,public08 ,here is         
,romancing ,molly1 a  servant-girl1     
asking for 8rum-ances in five wollums20 
at her elbow is  ,sir ,harry ,luscious1 
a feeble old sinner1 inquiring for the  
first volume  of 8,harriette ,wilson0   
7to which1 by the way1 ,cruikshank      
furnished some  etchings after          
,dighton's caricatures72 next to ,sir   
,harry comes1 of  course1 ,cruikshank's 
favourite figure1 the ,dustman1 his     
dirty hand  thrust into his pocket for  
the price of a 8,cobbett02 and the      
fourth  reader is 8,frank  la ,mode1' a 
scented fop1 with his poodle1 who wants 
to know whether 8,waverley's new novel  
is out40 ,after ,punch1 in quick        
succession came illustrations to ,hood's
 8,epping ,hunt10 and to ,cowper's  ,mr4
 8,john ,gilpin10 wherein ,cruikshank1  
as a pure humourist1 is at his  best4   
,illustration3 #bai    8,famous books in
 their day were ,cruikshank's #8,john   
,gilpin' and #8,epping  ,hunt10 says    
,thackeray2 8for though our artist does 

not draw horses very                    
scientifically1--to use a phrase of the 
atelier1 he feels them very  keenly2 and
 his queer animals1 after one is used to
 them1 answer quite  as well as better4 
,illustration3 #bba    ,neither is he   
very happy in trees1 and such rustical  
produce2 or rather1  we should say1 he  
is very original1 his trees being       
decidedly of his  own make and          
composition1 not imitated from any      
master4444 ,the horses  of ,john ,gilpin
 are much more of the equestrian order2 
and1 as here1 the  artist has only his  
favourite suburban buildings to draw2   
not a word is  to be said against his   
design4444 ,the rush1 and shouting1 and 
clatter  are here excellently depicted  
by the artist2 and we1 who have been    
scoffing at his manner of designing     
animals1 must here make a special       
exception in favour of the hens and     
chickens2 each has a different  action1 
and is curiously natural4 ,happy are    
children of all ages who  have such a   

ballad and such pictures as this in     
store for them60    ,illustration3 #bbc 
,the miscellaneous activities of the    
decade over which while a curious  crowd
 gloats over the body of the murderer4  
,a lady1 who has obtained  a front      
place1 exclaims1 8,oh1 how delightfully 
horrible60 ,in another  corner the      
sheriff takes the murderer's pistols    
from the gaoler1 saying  he would not   
part with them for a hundred guineas4   
,we find ladies with opera-glasses in   
8front places0 still1 at  8sensational0 
trials for murder4    ,illustration3    
#bbd    ,illustration3 #bbe             
,,chapter ,,vii4  ,,three ,,courses     
,,and ,a ,,dessert    ,even ,mr4        
,clarke's 8,dessert10 albeit various1 is
 remembered chiefly by  the artist's    
immortal plate of the deaf postilion4   
,the ,ralph and ,harry  ,hickorys of our
 day are but poor wrestlers1 and are    
absolutely ignorant  of backsword4 ,the 
singlestick players of ,somerset are no 
longer doughty  yeomen of the old       

school2 and 8,hopping ,john made ,tom   
,nottle's fashion10   99 it is to be    
hoped1 has become an unknown tipple4    
,sir ,matthew ,ale1 the  west country   
squire1 with a face strongly resembling 
a frothing mug of  beer1 who gave up his
 time to his apotheosis of ,john        
,barleycorn1 has  gone to his fathers1  
and the record of his singlestick and   
drinking  bouts with him4 ,his          
descendant is sipping a light claret    
sparingly1  and possibly playing croquet
 or lawn tennis on very warm afternoons4
 ,he  gives not even one pig with a     
greasy tail to be caught as a prize at  
the  village fair2 nor does he entertain
 the cobblers of his neighbourhood  with
 a barrel of strong ale1 8in order to   
keep up the good old custom of          
,crispin's sons draining a horn of malt 
liquor1 in which a lighted candle  was  
placed1 without singeing their faces1 if
 they could40         99,a pint of      
brandy to a gallon of cider1 sugared1   
and warmed       by a dozen hissing     

roasted apples bobbing in the bowl4     
,illustration3 #bbg    ,how well he     
tells a story6 how he contrives to      
fasten a character in  your mind1 and in
 the course of a few pages to drag you  
heart and soul  into his company6 99 ,in
 his modest preface he says he hopes    
that even if  the dishes be disliked1   
the plates at least will please4 ,they  
have more  than pleased4 ,they are all  
that lives in the minds of most men of  
the  banquet1 having fallen into the    
hands of collectors4 ,and yet even ,mr4 
,clarke had a hand in this4 8,he feels  
bound to state10 he remarked1  in the   
handsome first edition of his work1     
8that whatever faults the  decorations  
may be chargeable with on the score of  
invention1 he  alone is to blame1 and   
not ,mr4 ,george ,cruikshank1 to whom he
 is deeply  indebted for having         
embellished his rude sketches in their  
transfer to  wood1 and translated them  
into a proper pictorial state1 to make  
their  appearance in public40 ,they have

 necessarily acquired a value1 which    
they did not intrinsically possess1 in  
passing through the hands of  that      
distinguished artist1 of whom it may    
truly1 and on this occasion  especially1
 be said1 8,quod tetigit1 ornavit10     
,little did the author  think that even 
his hand in the drawings would be       
forgotten1 and that  8,three ,courses   
and a ,dessert0 would be spoken of as a 
book in which  some of ,george          
,cruikshank's best bits of humorous     
illustration on wood1  exquisitely      
engraved1 9999 are to be found4 ,mr4    
,clarke's ,west ,country1  ,irish1 and  
,legal ,stories deserved a better fate2 
they are bright1  full of humour and    
observation of character1 and the style 
is easy and  graceful4         99 ,the  
book ran through two editions in the    
year of original       publication2 in  
#ahcf a third edition was issued2 it was
       republished in #ahdi1 and was    
added to ,bohn's ,illustrated           
,library in #aheb4 ,but so completely   

has the author       disappeared 7albeit
 he gave the artist the sketches for his
       pictures71 that in the ,london   
,library catalogue the book is          
called 8,george ,cruikshank's ,three    
,courses and a ,dessert40         99    
,messrs4 ,williams1 ,vizetelly1         
,thompson1 and ,e4 ,landells            
admirably caught the peculiar flow and  
effective confusion       and           
involvement of ,cruikshank's lines on   
wood4    ,illustration3 #bbi    ,in     
these illustrations are some of         
,cruikshank's most astonishing feats  in
 the way of making inanimate things     
laugh and speak4 ,take the three  lemons
 which serve for introduction to 8the   
,dessert40 ,most charming as  to        
pencilling and engraving1 they are      
exquisitely humorous4 ,remaining  lemons
 that you might squeeze1 they are three 
still convivial fellows in  close       
confabulation4    ,the portrait of an   
old ,irish boy1 the hoops of the keg    
serving for  nightcap1 which introduces 

the second course of ,irish dishes1 is a
 jewel  of a boy4    ,these             
illustrations delighted ,thackeray4 ,he 
has transferred some of them  to his    
essay in the ,westminster4    8,is      
there10 he asks of a battle of bottles  
on spider legs1 8any need of  having a  
face after this8 99 #8,come on1' says   
,claret-bottle1 a dashing1  genteel     
fellow1 with his hat on one ear1 #8come 
on2 has any man a mind to  tap me8      
#8,claret-bottle is a little screwed 7as
 one may see by his legs71  but full of 
gaiety and courage4 ,not so that stout1 
apoplectic ,bottle  of ,rum1 who has    
staggered against the wall1 and has his 
hand upon his  liver2 the fellow hurts  
himself with smoking1 that is clear1 and
 is as  sick as sick can be4 ,see1 ,port
 is making away from the storm1 and     
,double  ,x is as flat as ditch-water4  
,against these1 awful in their white    
robes1  the sober watchmen come40       
99 ,this illustration is not in 8,three 
,courses and a ,dessert40               

,illustration3 #bca    ,again the artist
 moulds an ,irish physiognomy upon a keg
 of whisky1 or  gives us a mushroom     
aristocrat1--or imparts a venerable     
human aspect to  a mug of ale4    ,the  
mushroom is a triumph4 8,you'd think10  
says the story1 8that  ,purcell's pride 
might be brought down a little by what  
had befallen him2  but no1--he strutted 
out of the cabin without condescending  
to say be  baw1 or a civil word to any  
one1 and rode off to ,the ,beg--mushroom
  as he was--with his nose in the air1  
as though the ground wasn't good  enough
 for him to look on40 ,only ,cruikshank 
could have turned this  veritable       
mushroom into so proud a man1 and left  
the mushroom obviously  the fungus of   
which catsup is made4 ,cruikshank was   
never tired of making  still life quick 
life4    ,the deaf postilion is a       
masterpiece of acute observation4 ,there
 is1  to begin with1 the suggestion of a
 pleasant landscape4 ,the story is      
complete4 ,the body of the chariot1 with

 the runaway couple in it1 broken  away 
from the shafts and fore-wheels2 the    
excited swain stretching out  of the    
window1 and bawling his hardest to the  
postilion1 who1 deaf as  a door-post    
7never was deafness more forcibly       
expressed in a human  countenance71 is  
jogging on with the fore-wheels1        
unconscious that any  contretemps has   
happened2 and the startled cow1 gazing  
wildly over  the hedge1 make up one of  
,cruikshank's completest triumphs as a  
humorous  illustrator4 ,how closely1 how
 searchingly had he read men and        
things6 ,how thoroughly had he become a 
master of expression6 ,in this          
illustration to ,clarke's whimsical     
poem1 in ,hood's style1 8,the           
,dos-a-,dos  ,tte--,tte10 you can almost
 hear the man snoring1 and yet it is a  
mere  outline of a face4    ,says the   
lady3--         8,when ,i had in some   
cordials so rich1       ,with letters   
all labelled quite handy1       ,says   
you1 #8,i'll inquire1 you old witch1    

,if ,o4,d4,v4 doesn't mean brandy6'     
,whenever ,i sink to repose1       ,you 
rouse me1 you wretch1 with a sneeze2    
,and lastly1 if ,i doze-a-doze1         
,to wex me1 you just wheeze-a-wheeze40  
,then we have an ,irish scene6 ,the     
drunken piper2 the pigs who have upset  
a basket of live crabs1 the excited     
group looking in through the door1  the 
dog barking at the man in bed1 the crab 
pinching the little porker's  tail4     
,what life is here6 and all true to the 
main incident of the scene4  ,you don't 
want the letterpress to read the story4 
,the pigs have got into  the room to    
attack the basket of crabs4 ,pompey1 who
 has been tied to his  master's toe to  
wake him in case of danger1 is tugging  
away in mortal  fear of the old sow1 who
 is scratching the good man's foot with 
her  bristles4 ,the noise has set       
,corney ,carolum1 only half sober and   
half  away1 droning upon his pipes4 ,the
 clatter has brought the children  from 
their beds to the door4 ,the fowls in   

the rafters are clucking and  crowing4  
8,all this noise10 says the author1     
8couldn't go for nothing2  the whole    
place was in arms4 ,mick ,maguire fired 
off his gun through a  hole in the      
thatch1 and ,bat ,boroo1 flourishing his
 big stick1 took ,mick  under his       
command1 for he thought the ,french was 
landed1 at the least2  and no blame to  
him40    ,cruikshank's illustrations to 
,william ,clarke's book1 and his twelve 
etchings to ,walter ,scott's            
8,demon-ology0 7there are no finer      
examples  of his imaginative and        
executive powers71 both issued in #ahcj1
 were the  starting-points of his career
 as an illustrator of books2 that is1 of
  his career at the maturity of his     
power4    ,illustration3 #bce    ,during
 this time1 albeit he was still         
compelled to do daily-bread work        
unworthy of his genius1 he buckled to   
labours1 by some of which his  name is  
destined to live4 ,in #ahca he undertook
 to illustrate ,roscoe's  ,novelists'   

,library2 and his genius brightens some 
seventeen volumes of  the series499 ,but
 his fertility--and in his best vein    
between #ahcj  and the year when he and 
,dickens came in contact--was           
prodigious4 ,in  addition to his        
forty-nine etchings to 8,tom ,jones10   
8,amelia10 8,roderick  ,random10        
8,joseph ,andrews10 8,tristram ,shandy10
 8,the ,vicar of ,wakefield10   8,don   
,quixote10 8,gil ,bias10 etc41 in       
,roscoe's ,library1 8,beauties of       
,washington ,irving10 8,baron           
,munchausen10 he illustrated 8,the      
,gentleman in  ,black10 8,the ,new ,bath
 ,guide10 8,hood's ,comic ,annual10     
8,sunday in ,london0   7curious as      
studies of the fashions of the day7     
7#ahcc71 ,defoe's 8,journal  of the     
,plague10 8,bombastes ,furioso10 in     
which he revelled4 ,ainsworth's         
8,rookwood10 8,tough ,yarns10 8,odds and
 ,ends40         99 ,the complete set is
 in nineteen volumes--the first two     
volumes1 containing ,robinson ,crusoe1  

were illustrated by       ,jacob ,george
 ,strutt4 ,cruikshank1 however1         
illustrated a       ,robinson ,crusoe   
with two steel plates and some thirty   
small       woodcuts in #ahca4 ,it was  
reprinted in #ahcf4    8,mirth and      
,morality0 7a collection of original    
tales by ,carlton ,bruce1  published by 
,tegg71 and 8,minor ,morals for ,young  
,people10 by his friend  ,john ,bowring4
 ,within this period1 moreover1 he began
 his ,comic ,almanacs1  and his fine    
series of illustrations to the ,waverley
 ,novels2 and he  superintended the     
collection of his more important        
scattered works1  as his large ,french  
caricatures1 retouching them1 for ,mr4  
,m',lean1 the  eminent print-seller of  
the ,haymarket4 ,i pass over much minor 
work  as his drawings or etchings from  
the sketches of others1 as ,auldjo's    
8,constantinople40 ,the third and fourth
 parts of his 8,scraps and  ,sketches10 
and his 8,sketch-,book0--in which are   
some of his most famous  bits--are also 

of this most fruitful epoch4 ,in these  
we find some of his  hardest hits       
against intemperance1 as in1 the ,gin   
,shop1 where ,death is  setting a trap  
for a party of drinkers1 who1 with their
 young children1  are tippling at the   
bar of a public-house2 and the ,alehouse
 and the  ,home1 and the ,pillars of the
 ,gin ,shop4 ,in the first composition  
we  have the parlour of a tavern1 where1
 in the midst of the uproarious         
conviviality1 a boy is trying to wake   
his drunken father2 in the second  is   
the wretched home1 with the poor wife   
nursing a sick child4 ,so far  back as  
#ahcb this chord had been struck in     
,cruikshank's heart4 ,in the  ,pillars  
of the ,gin ,shop 7also of this time71 a
 drunkard and his wife1  with their poor
 children1 are watched by the           
arch-fiend1 who is perched  near a stile
 in the distance4    ,mr4 ,charles      
,wylie notes 99 that--8,of the nineteen 
volumes of which  that admirable series 
of books1 ,roscoe's ,novelists'         

,library1 consists1  seventeen were     
illustrated by ,george ,cruikshank4 ,the
 two in which he was  not concerned have
 illustrations on ,india-paper by       
,strutt and others4444  ,there can be no
 doubt that ,defoe's story was the first
 published1 as an  advertisement in the 
duplicated ,no4 ,i4 volume refers to it 
as already  out4 #8,humphrey ,clinker'  
7the second ,no4 ,i4 volume7 was        
illustrated by  ,george ,cruikshank1 as 
were all the subsequent issues4 ,as a   
matter of  fact1 therefore1 ,george     
,cruikshank never discontinued his      
connection  with the work1 but two      
volumes were published before he        
commenced it4 ,it  would appear that the
 publishers made a change in their      
original plan1  for the advertisement   
prefixed to #8,robinson ,crusoe' states 
that the  ,novelists' ,library1 edited  
by ,thomas ,roscoe1 will be illustrated 
#8from  designs1 original or selected1' 
by #8,jacob ,george ,strutt1' who1 as ,i
 have  already said1 was concerned in   

the first two volumes4 ,the             
advertisement  to #8,humphrey ,clinker' 
is identically the same as that to      
#8,robinson  ,crusoe1' except that the  
name of ,george ,cruikshank appears in  
place of  ,j4 ,g4 ,strutt2 and a        
paragraph is added stating that he1 ,g4 
,cruikshank1  #8is engaged to illustrate
 the whole series of the ,novelists'    
,library1  which1 with the exception    
mentioned1 he did4444 ,the volumes      
appeared  monthly1 the first issue being
 in ,may #ahca40         99 ,notes and  
,queries1 #dth series1 vol4 vi41 ,nov4  
#ab1ahgj4    ,the fact was that ,mr4    
,roscoe began with ,strutt1 found him a 
failure1 and  then started de novo with 
,george ,cruikshank1 whose genius       
carried him  triumphantly through       
seventeen volumes4    ,how strangely    
various were ,cruikshank's creations6   
,the eminent surgeon1  the late ,mr4    
,pettigrew1 99 was1 it will be          
remembered1 his intimate  friend2 and   
for him he executed a series of         

carefully drawn plates for  his         
8,history of ,egyptian ,mummies0        
7#ahcc74 9999 ,even now he was not      
quite quit of political caricatures and 
headings to popular songs4 ,he          
satirized quack qill vendors4 ,in #ahca1
 he lent a hand to the ,reform          
movement--albeit he was a very moderate 
,liberal1 even in his youth1  if we are 
to judge by the way in which his pencil 
was employed against  ,cobbett4 ,the    
,reform ,bill drew from him 8,sweeping  
,measures2 or1 ,making  a ,clean        
,house0--an etching in which ,lord ,john
 ,russell appears with an  immense      
8,reform0 broom1 sweeping the           
,opposition out of the ,house of        
,commons--the ,opposition consisting of 
owls1 spiders1 and vermin4 ,the         
,chancellor1 almost buried under        
petitions1 cries1 8,aye1 ,i thought this
  rotten rubbish would make a fine      
dust40 ,then he put upon stone 7#ahcb7  
a squib called 8,cholera ,consultation10
 in which 8the ,central ,board of       

,health0 are represented at a sumptuous 
dinner1 drinking toasts to their  own   
prosperity4         99 ,doctor          
,pettigrew1 the family doctor of        
,cruikshank's       family1 was among   
the few who exercised a little authority
       over the turbulent and           
self-willed ,george4 ,when his fortunes 
grew1 and he became assistant surgeon to
 the ,duchess of       ,kent1 then      
librarian to the ,duke of ,sussex1 and  
afterwards       ,mummy ,pettigrew and a
 personage of his time1 ,cruikshank was 
a constant guest at his table1 as well  
as an artist at his       service4      
9999 8,reading lately a very            
appreciative lecture just               
republished in pamphlet form by ,mr4    
,walter ,hamilton on the       genius   
and art-work of ,george ,cruikshank1 ,i 
found mention       made of a fact      
hitherto unknown to me2 to wit1 that    
,george       executed1 many years ago1 
a series of very careful                
anatomical drawings for a work on       

,egyptian mummies1 written       by the 
late eminent surgeon1 ,mr4 ,pettigrew4  
,g4 ,c4 an       anatomist6 ,for the    
moment ,i was puzzled4 ,yet how         
strangely       do things come together6
 ,i happened to be turning over a       
ragged little old folio1 of the date of 
#ahbe1 entitled       #8,anatomy of the 
,bones and ,muscles1 for the use of     
,artists       and ,members of the      
,artists' ,anatomical ,society1' by     
,george       ,simpson1 surgeon2 and in 
the list of subscribers attached to     
the work ,i found the name of #8,george 
,cruickshank1 ,esq4'       7they would  
spell his surname with two c's71        
,myddelton       ,terrace1 ,pentonville4
 #8,eureka6' ,i cried4 ,it was at the   
feet       of ,george ,simpson1 surgeon1
 then1 that ,george studied             
osteology and myology40--8,echoes of the
 ,week10 by ,g4 ,a4       ,sala3        
,illustrated ,london ,news4             
,illustration3 #bdb    ,on looking over 
all this scattering of the sparks of    

great genius  through wide fields2 at   
the woful waste of much of the light and
 heat2  at the hard and stern necessity 
which compelled the most thoughtful1    
suggestive1 observant1 and imaginative  
artist of his day to illustrate         
doggerel1 furnish frontispieces to poor 
dramas1 and to put the sketches  of     
others upon wood1 in the interval of    
such congenial labour of a noble  kind  
as we find scattered through ,roscoe s  
series1 in the 8,demonology10   and in  
his own separate albums of wit1 humour1 
and human wisdom1 it is  impossible not 
to marvel4    ,illustration3 #bdc       
,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,sketches ,,by ,,boz1
 ,,oliver ,,twist1 ,,and ,,the ,,life   
,,of ,,grimaldi4    ,that the author of 
8,three ,courses and a ,dessert0 made a 
fair mark with  his book1 apart and     
distinct from ,cruikshank1 is proved in 
a curious  way4 ,in ,november #ahch1    
,messrs4 ,chapman and ,hall published a 
little  volume called the 8,squib       
,annual10 with plates by ,seymour4 ,this

 led to a  suggestion from the artist1  
of a series of cockney sporting plates4 
,the publishers assented1--adding that  
they should be accompanied by           
letterpress1 and published monthly4 ,but
 who should be the author8 ,so  popular 
had ,mr4 ,clarkes book been1 that the   
publishers first sent to  him2 and it   
was only after they had found that his  
yearly engagement  with ,messrs4        
,vizetelly and ,co4 prevented him from  
accepting their  commission1 and the    
affair had lain dormant a month or two  
in  consequence1 that they turned to the
 author of ,sketches signed 8,boz10     
which had been lately appearing in the  
,monthly ,magazine1 and were  about to  
be issued 7#ahcf7 in two duodecimo      
volumes4 ,mr4 ,forster tells  us that   
they came forth with a preface in which 
the author spoke of the  nervousness he 
should have had in venturing alone      
before the public1  and of his delight  
in getting the help of ,cruikshank1 who 
had frequently  contributed to the      

success1 though his well-earned         
reputation rendered  it impossible for  
him ever to have shared the hazard1 of  
similar  undertakings4 ,it has been said
 that ,cruikshank knew more of ,london  
than the author of the ,sketches which  
he illustrated4 ,he may have had a      
longer experience of ,london streets and
 mysteries2 but ,dickens1 in his        
,london ,sketches1 written before he    
came in contact with the artist1 had    
proved how deeply his young eyes had    
penetrated the mysteries of the  great  
city1 and how thoroughly his fresh heart
 had been stirred4    ,the first paper  
is on 8,our ,parish40 ,in this lies the 
germ of ,oliver  ,twist4 ,simmons is the
 father of ,bumble4 ,but scattered      
through the  ,sketches may be found all 
the experience of which ,oliver ,twist  
was  the riper and more artistic and    
dramatic expression4 ,the career of  the
 ,parish ,boy was exactly the romance   
the author of these wonderful  pictures 
of ,london would write4 ,had ,cruikshank

 suggested these1 and led  the young    
author from scene to scene1 we might    
have understood part of  his claim to   
the conception of the romance2 but he   
was called in by  the publisher1        
,macrone1 to illustrate the magazine    
papers which he had  bought for         
republication from the young author for 
a trifle4    ,it is a strange           
coincidence that the representatives of 
,seymour1 after  his death1 claimed for 
him some share in the invention of      
,pickwick4  ,but ,dickens was alive to  
set this pretension at rest for ever1   
and  others were at hand to bear witness
 to the fidelity of his memory4         
,seymour never originated nor suggested 
8an incident1 a phrase1 or a  word10 and
 died when only twenty-four pages had   
been published4 ,the very  name         
originally belonged to a celebrated     
coach proprietor of ,bath2 and  even the
 immortal figure of ,mr4 ,pickwick is   
but a faithful portrait of  ,dickens's  
model1 a ,mr4 ,foster1 who lived at the 

time at ,richmond4    ,pleased as       
,dickens was to see ,cruikshank         
illustrating his pages1 it  was not to  
him he 7or his publishers7 turned when  
poor ,seymour suddenly  disappeared from
 the scene1 but to ,hablot ,k4 ,browne1 
who1 as ,phiz1  became afterwards       
associated with ,boz's greatest         
triumphs4    ,but while ,pickwick was   
running its triumphant career1 ,dickens 
made  arrangements that were destined to
 bring him into relations with          
,cruikshank a second time4 ,in ,august  
#ahcf1 when the sixth number of         
,pickwick was about to be issued1       
,dickens signed an agreement with the   
late ,mr4 ,bentley1 to undertake the    
editorship of a monthly magazine1 to  be
 started in the following ,january1 99  
,in this magazine ,dickens was  to 8run0
 a ,magazine4 8,but now10 he added1 8we 
have settled to call it  simply         
,bentley's ,miscellany40         99     
,when the ,miscellany1 with ,dickens for
 editor1 was       resolved upon1 the   

late ,mr4 ,bentley observed at a dinner 
given to complete preliminaries1 8that  
the first title       suggested was the 
,wits4'    8,we have gone to the        
opposite extreme80 cried ,jerdan4 ,so   
the work was  entered upon with a hearty
 laugh4    ,i will now set before the   
reader impartially the story of         
,cruikshank's  contention as to his     
share in 8,oliver ,twist40 ,in his      
letter to the  ,times1 ,cruikshank      
said3--    8,when ,bentley's ,miscellany
 was first started1 it was arranged that
  ,mr4 ,charles ,dickens should write a 
serial in it1 and which was to be       
illustrated by me2 and in a conversation
 with him as to what the subject  should
 be for the first serial1 ,i suggested  
to ,mr4 ,dickens that he  should write  
the life of a ,london boy1 and strongly 
advised him to do  this1 assuring him   
that ,i would furnish him with the      
subject1 and supply  him with all the   
characters1 which my large experience of
 ,london life  would enable me to do4   

8,my idea was to raise a boy from a most
 humble position up to a high  and      
respectable one--in fact1 to illustrate 
one of those cases of common  occurrence
 where men of humble origin1 by natural 
ability1 industry1  honest and          
honourable conduct1 raise themselves to 
first-class positions  in society4 ,as  
,i wished particularly to bring the     
habits and manners of  the thieves of   
,london before the public 7and this for 
a most important  purpose1 which ,i     
shall explain one of these days71 ,i    
suggested that the  poor boy should fall
 among thieves1 but that his honesty and
 natural  good disposition should enable
 him to pass through this ordeal without
  contamination2 and after ,i had fully 
described the full-grown thieves  7the  
,bill ,sykeses7 and their female        
companions1 also the young thieves  7the
 ,artful ,dodgers7 and the receivers of 
stolen goods1 ,mr4 ,dickens  agreed to  
act on my suggestion1 and the work was  
commenced1 but we  differed as to what  

sort of boy the hero should be4 ,mr4    
,dickens wanted  rather a queer kind of 
chap2 and1 although this was contrary to
 my  original idea1 ,i complied with his
 request1 feeling that it would not be  
right to dictate too much to the writer 
of the story1 and then appeared         
#8,oliver ,asking for ,more'2 but it so 
happened just about this time that  an  
inquiry was being made in the parish of 
,st4 ,james's1 ,westminster1 as  to the 
cause of the death of some of the       
workhouse children who had been         
#8farmed out4' ,i called the attention  
of ,mr4 ,dickens to this inquiry1  and  
said that if he took up this matter1 his
 doing so might help to save  many a    
poor child from injury and death2 and ,i
 earnestly begged of him  to let me make
 ,oliver a nice pretty little boy2 and  
if we so represented  him1 the          
public--and particularly the            
ladies--would be sure to take a  greater
 interest in him1 and the work would    
then be a certain success4  ,mr4        

,dickens agreed to that request1 and ,i 
need not add here that my  prophecy was 
fulfilled2 and if any one will take the 
trouble to look at  my representations  
of #8,oliver1' they w ill see that the  
appearance  of the boy is altered after 
the two first illustrations1 and1 by a  
reference to the records of ,st4        
,james's parish1 and to the date of  the
 publication of the ,miscellany1 they   
will see that both the dates  tally1 and
 therefore support my statement4    8,i 
had1 a long time previously to this1    
directed ,mr4 ,dickens's attention  to  
,field ,lane1 ,holborn ,hill1 wherein   
resided many thieves and receivers  of  
stolen goods1 and it was suggested that 
one of these receivers1 a  ,jew1 should 
be introduced into the story2 and upon  
one occasion ,mr4  ,dickens and ,mr4    
,harrison ,ainsworth called upon me1 and
 in course of  conversation ,i described
 and performed the character of one of  
these ,jew  receivers1--and this was the
 origin of ,fagin40    ,cruikshank      

maintained that his designs were all the
 result of  consultations with          
,dickens--in which he was as much the   
creator as the  author2 and that he     
never saw any of the ,,ms4 of the novel 
until it was  nearly finished4 ,no2 he  
saw the proofs of the early sheets4 ,the
 family  tradition was to the effect    
that ,dickens1 calling one day in       
,amwell  ,street1 saw a series of       
illustrations which ,cruikshank had     
prepared for  a story he had in his mind
 of the life of a thief4 ,dickens was so
 struck  with them1 and with the        
artist's account of his plan1 that he   
determined  to make ,london the scene of
 ,oliver ,twist's adventures4           
,cruikshank's  intimate knowledge of low
 life in every part of ,london made him 
the  most efficient and penetrating     
illustrator of ,dickens's book3 this1   
and  nothing more4    ,and now let me   
quote ,mr4 ,forster's summary dismissal 
of the charge--for  it is nothing       
less--that ,dickens was indebted to     

,cruikshank for the  idea1 and for many 
of the incidents and characters1 of     
8,oliver ,twist40    8,the publication  
had been announced for ,october1 but the
 third volume  illustrations interrupted
 it a little4 ,this part of the story1  
as we  have seen1 had been written in   
anticipation of the magazine1 and the   
designs for it having to be executed    
#8in a lump1' were necessarily done     
somewhat hastily4 ,the matter supplied  
in advance of the monthly portions  in  
the magazine formed the bulk of the last
 volume as published in the  book2 and  
for this the plates had to be prepared  
by ,cruikshank1 also  in advance of the 
,magazine1 to furnish them in time for  
the separate  publications2 ,sykes and  
his ,dog1 ,fagin in the ,cell1 and ,rose
 ,maylie and  ,oliver1 being the three  
last4 ,none of these ,dickens had seen  
until he  saw them in the book on the   
eve of publication1 when he so strongly 
objected to one of them1 that it had to 
be cancelled4    8#8,i returned suddenly

 to town yesterday afternoon1' he wrote 
to the  artist at the end of ,october1  
#8to look at the latter pages of        
8,oliver  ,twist' before it was         
delivered to the booksellers1 when ,i   
saw the  majority of the plates in the  
last volume for the first time4 ,with   
reference to the last one--,rose ,maylie
 and ,oliver--without entering into  the
 question of great haste1 or any other  
cause1 which may have led to  its being 
what it is1 ,i am quite sure there can  
be little difference of  opinion between
 us with respect to the result4 ,may ,i 
ask you whether you  will object to     
designing this plate afresh1 and doing  
so at once1  in order that as few       
impressions as possible of the present  
one may  go forth8 ,i feel confident you
 know me too well to feel hurt by this  
inquiry1 and with equal confidence in   
you ,i have lost no time  in preferring 
it4' ,this letter1 printed from a copy  
in ,dickens's  handwriting1 fortunately 
committed to my keeping1 99 entirely    

disposes  of a wonderful story1         
originally promulgated in ,america1 with
 a minute  conscientiousness and        
particularity of detail that might have 
raised the  reputation of ,sir ,benjamin
 ,backbite himself4 ,whether all ,sir   
,benjamin's  laurels1 however1 should   
fall to the original teller of the tale1
 or  whether any part of them is the    
property of the alleged authority from  
which he says he received it1 is        
unfortunately not quite clear4 ,there   
would hardly have been a doubt1 if the  
fable had been confined to  the other   
side of the ,atlantic1 but it has been  
reproduced and widely  circulated on    
this side also1 and the distinguished   
artist whom it  calumniates by fathering
 its invention upon him1 either not     
conscious of  it1 or not caring to      
defend himself1 has been left undefended
 from the  slander4 ,by my ability to   
produce ,dickens's letter1 ,i am spared 
the  necessity of characterizing the    
tale1 myself1 by the one unpolite word  

7in three letters7 which alone would    
have been applicable to it40         99 
,mr4 ,forster printed a facsimile of the
 letter in his second volume4           
,cruikshank was alive1 and living within
 half an hour's drive of ,mr4           
,forster's library1 when he put the case
 in this roundabout1 and1 ,i must  say1 
unwarrantably uncivil way4 ,but let us  
see what this story was that  came from 
across the ,atlantic in the columns of  
the ,round ,table4 ,it  is ,dr4 ,shelton
 ,mackenzie who speaks4' 8,in ,london ,i
 was intimate with  the brothers        
,cruikshank1 ,robert and ,george1 but   
more particularly the  latter4 ,having  
called upon him one day at his house 7it
 was then in  ,myddelton ,terrace1      
,pentonville71 ,i had to wait while he  
was finishing an  etching1 for which a  
printer's boy was waiting4 ,to while    
away the time1  ,i glady complied with  
his suggestion that ,i should look over 
a portfolio  crowded with etchings1     
proofs1 and drawings1 which lay upon the

 sofa4  ,among these1 carelessly tied   
together in a wrap of brown paper1 was a
  series of some twenty-five or thirty  
drawings1 very carefully finished1      
through most of which were carried the  
well-known portraits of ,fagin1  ,bill  
,sykes and his ,dog1 ,nancy1 the ,artful
 ,dodger1 and ,master ,charles          
,bates--all well known to the readers of
 8,oliver ,twist40 ,there was no        
mistake about it2 and when ,cruikshank  
turned round1 his work finished1  ,i    
said as much4 ,he told me that it had   
long been in his mind to show the  life 
of a ,london thief by a series of       
drawings engraved by himself1  in which1
 without a single line of letterpress1  
the story would be  strikingly and      
clearly told4 #8,dickens1' he continued1
 #8dropped in here  one day1 just as you
 have done1 and1 whilst waiting until ,i
 could speak  with him1 took up that    
identical portfolio1 and ferreted out   
that bundle  of drawings4 ,when he came 
to that one which represents ,fagin in  

the  condemned cell1 he studied it for  
half an hour1 and told me that he was   
tempted to change the whole plot of his 
story1 not to carry ,oliver ,twist      
through adventures in the country1 but  
to take him up into the thieves'  den in
 ,london1 show what their life was1 and 
bring ,oliver through it  without sin or
 shame4 ,i consented to let him write up
 to as many of the  designs as he       
thought would suit his purpose1 and that
 was the way in  which ,fagin1 ,sikes1  
and ,nancy were created4 ,my drawings   
suggested them1  rather than            
individuality suggesting 7sic7 my       
drawings4'0    ,mr4 ,forster            
adds1--8,since this was in type ,i have 
seen the ,life of  ,dickens published in
 ,america 7,philadelphia3 ,peterson     
,brothers7 by  ,dr4 ,shelton ,mackenzie1
 in which ,i regret to find this story  
literally  repeated4 ,the only          
differences from it as here quoted are  
that #ahdg  is given as the date of the 
visit2 that besides the #8portraits'    

named1  there are said to have been     
#8many others who were not introduced2' 
and  that the final words run thus3     
#8,my drawings suggested them1 rather   
than  his strong individuality my       
drawings4'0    ,in #ahgb1 ,george       
,cruikshank published his 8,statement of
 ,facts0 on this  subject1 and on his   
subsequent controversy with ,mr4        
,harrison ,ainsworth4  ,this is his     
final reply to ,mr4 ,forster4 ,i give it
 that the reader may  draw his own      
conclusions4    8,a question has been   
asked publicly0 says the artist1 8and   
which1 ,i  grant1 is rather an important
 one in this case1 and that is1 ,why    
have  ,i not until lately claimed to be 
the originator of ,oliver ,twist'8 ,to  
this ,i reply1 that ever since these    
works were published1 and even when     
they were in progress1 ,i have in       
private society1 when conversing upon   
such matters1 always explain that the   
original ideas and characters  of these 
emanated from me2 and the reason why ,i 

publicly claimed to be  the originator  
of #8,oliver ,twist' was to defend ,dr4 
,r4 ,shelton ,mackenzie1  who was       
charged ,mr4 ,john ,forster1 in his     
#8,life of ,mr4 ,charles ,dickens  with 
publishing a falsehood 99 7or a word of 
#8the letters1' as he  describes it71   
whereas the ,doctor was only repeating  
what ,i had told  him at the time       
#8,oliver ,twist' was in progress4 ,mr4 
,forster designates  ,mackenzie's       
statement as #8a wonderful story1' or   
marvellous fable and  in a letter from  
the ,doctor in the ,philadelphia ,press1
 ,december  #aith1 #ahga1 he says1 the  
wonderful story was printed in an       
,american  periodical years before ,mr4 
,dickens died2' and then asks1 did not  
,mr4  ,forster inquire into this matter 
at the time for surely he must have     
known it4' ,and ,i presume ,mr4 ,dickens
 must have heard of this #8wonderful    
story the truth of which he did not     
deny--for this reason because he  could 
not4 ,and with respect to ,mr4          

,ainsworth's insinuation as to my       
#8labouring under a delusion' upon this 
point1 as all my literary friends  at   
that time knew that ,i was the          
originator of #8,oliver ,twist1' and as 
,mr4 ,ainsworth and ,i were at that time
 upon such intimate terms1 and both     
working together on ,bentleys           
,miscellany1 is it at all likely that ,i
  should have concealed such a fact from
 him8 ,no1 no6 he knew this as well  as 
,i did1 and therefore1 in this matter at
 any rate1 it is he who  is #8labouring 
under a delusion4' ,and ,i will here    
refer to a part of my  letter1 which was
 published in the ,times1 ,december     
#cjth1 #ahga1 upon  the origin of       
#8,oliver ,twist1' wherein ,i state that
 ,mr4 ,ainsworth and  ,mr4 ,dickens came
 together one day to my house1 upon     
which occasion it so  happened that ,i  
then and there described and performed  
the character  of #8,fagin1' for ,mr4   
,dickens to introduce into the work as a
 #8receiver of  stolen goods1' and that 

some time after this1 upon seeing ,mr4  
,ainsworth  again1 he said to me1 #8,i  
was so much struck with your description
 of  that ,jew to ,mr4 ,dickens1 that ,i
 think you and ,i could do something    
together4' ,now ,i do not know whether  
,mr4 ,ainsworth has ever made any       
allusion to this1--perhaps he disdains  
to do so1--but perhaps he may  give this
 also a #8positive contradiction1' and  
if he does1 then all ,i  have to say is1
 that his memory is gone40         99   
,mr4 ,forster1 in a side-note1 puts it  
thus3 8,falsity       ascribed to a     
distinguished artist40    ,this         
controversy1 and a subsequent one1 arose
 from ,cruikshank's habit of            
exaggeration in all things4    ,one day1
 at an engraver's1 seeing a drawing of  
animated pumps 7probably  one of the    
series by his brother ,robert7 upon the 
table1 he shouted1 8,my  pumps60 seized 
the drawing1 made for the door1 and was 
with difficulty  persuaded to give it   
up4    ,in his eagerness he had a habit 

of over-estimating the effect of his    
work1 as well as his share in any       
enterprise in which he had a part4      
,thus he put down hanging for minor     
offences2 he suppressed fairs1  because 
he exposed the coarseness and vice of   
,bartholomew ,fair299 and so  in his    
later day he was ready1 and with        
thorough conscientiousness1 to          
attribute nearly all the advance of the 
temperance cause in society to  his     
8,bottle10 8,drunkard's ,children10 and 
8,triumph of ,bacchus40 ,it was  this   
belief in himself that carried him      
forward1 and kept him alert and         
vigorous in the cause long after he had 
completed his threescore years  and ten4
 ,but it led him into injudicious       
statements1 or over-statements1  of     
which those in regard to his share in   
8,oliver ,twist0 was certainly  the most
 unfortunate4 ,his pretensions that he  
supplied not only subjects  for his own 
plates1 but skeletons of chapters to    
,dickens and ,ainsworth1  might be      

disposed of by fifty collateral         
testimonies to the contrary4         99 
,in a note to the catalogue of his      
works1 exhibited in the       ,aquarium1
 ,london1 ,cruikshank put this note3    
8,bartholomew       ,fair1 held formerly
 in ,smithfield1 used to be opened by   
the       ,lord ,mayor of ,london1 in   
his coach and six4 ,in ancient times    
this fair might have been a very decent 
affair2 but as the       metropolis     
increased in size1 the number of thieves
 and low       characters increased     
also1 so that at length this fair1 in   
the evening part1 became a scene of     
ruffianism4 ,i had a peep       at it on
 one or two occasions1 and then         
published this       #8,fiend's ,frying 
,pan1' dedicating it to the ,lord       
,mayor1       aldermen1 etc41 who1 after
 a few years began to look at the       
fair in the same light as myself1 and at
 last put an end to       that which was
 a disgrace to the city40 ,yet in his   
illustrations to the #8,sketches by     

,boz1' he drew all the       humours of 
a dancing booth at ,greenwich ,fair1    
with riotous       men in dancing       
bonnets1 and women equally dissipated1  
8footing it0 in men's hats4 ,neither in 
the article nor the       drawing is    
there any moralising4    ,writing to    
,forster 7,january #ahch71 ,dickens     
says1 alluding to the  severity of his  
labours1 8,i have not done the #8,young 
,gentlemen1' nor  written the preface to
 #8,grimaldi1' nor thought of #8,oliver 
,twist1' or  even supplied a subject for
 the plate40    ,according to ,mr4      
,ainsworth1 ,dickens was even so worried
 by ,cruikshank  putting forward        
suggestions that he resolved to send him
 only printed  proofs for illustration4 
,cuthbert ,bede says1 having been       
informed1 of course1 by the artist1     
8,it is well known that ,cruikshank     
originated the #8,life in ,london4'0    
,but  this1 as the reader will perceive1
 is a gross error4 ,to the conception   
of this work1 at any rate1 the artist   

made no claim in ,egan's time1 nor1  it 
should be remembered1 was he even the   
sole illustrator4 ,he shared the        
honours with his brother4 ,besides1 the 
three heroes bear unmistakable  marks of
 the ,egan parentage throughout4        
,perhaps the wildest claim ,cruikshank  
ever entered to an idea was that  of    
having originated the pattern of a      
military hat worn by the ,russian       
soldiers4 ,having described his own     
model1 he adds3 8,the ,russian          
soldiers1 ,i find1 wear a hat something 
of this shape now2 and no doubt  they   
saw my pattern1 and stole my idea40 99  
99 8,a ,popgun fired off by ,george     
,cruikshank40 ,w4 ,kent and ,co4    ,in 
8the corrections made in the later      
editions of the first volume0   of his  
8,life of ,dickens10 and published in   
the second volume 7,october  #ahgb71    
,mr4 ,forster notices ,cruikshank's     
assumption of the responsibility  of    
,dr4 ,mackenzie's statement1 and        
remarks1 8,the worst part of the        

foregoing fable1 therefore1 has not ,dr4
 ,mackenzie for its author2 and  ,mr4   
,cruikshank is to be congratulated on   
the prudence of his rigid  silence      
respecting it as long as ,mr4 ,dickens  
lived40    ,suppose ,cruikshank         
suggested to ,dickens that his subject  
should be a  poor boy thrown upon the   
skirts of ,london4 ,it is but the       
motive1  the theme4 ,in all the range of
 ,dickens's work1 there is nothing more 
essentially his own than 8,oliver       
,twist10 from the name of the hero to   
the last line of the final chapter4     
,something like the following scene1    
which ,cuthbert ,bede describes1 may    
have taken place between ,dickens  and  
,cruikshank4 ,from the bare suggestion  
that there should be an 8awful          
,jew0--receiver of stolen goods1 a      
,hebrew ,blueskin--in the story1 to the 
conception and embodiment of ,fagin1    
there is an immeasurable distance4 99   
99 ,as well might ,sir ,david ,wilkie   
have claimed the authorship       of    

,douglas ,jerrold's drama1 8,the ,rent  
,day10 because the idea       was       
suggested to the dramatist by the great 
,scotch painter's       pictures4 ,but  
,sir ,david only thanked ,douglas       
,jerrold1 and       sent him proofs of  
his 8,distraining for ,rent0 and 8,the  
,rent       ,day10 with expressions of  
his acknowledgments inscribed upon      
them4    8,i was speaking of my first   
interview with him at his house1        
,mornington  ,crescent1 ,regent's       
,park10 says ,cuthbert ,bede4 8,he      
wished me to write  a humorous story of 
modern life1 to be illustrated by       
himself1 with a  series of designs1     
something after the style of his        
#8,adventures of ,mr4  ,lambkin2 or1    
,the ,bachelor's own ,book1' and he     
jotted down some rough  memoranda and   
sketches 7in pencil7 embodying his own  
ideas on the  subject4 ,one of these    
slight drawings was singularly skilful4 
,it  represented the shoulders and the  
tops of the heads of people in the pit  

of a theatre1 as they would appear to a 
spectator in the gallery--the           
foreshortening being both curious and   
difficult4 ,as a matter of course1  ,i  
gave my best consideration to ,mr4      
,cruikshank's suggestions and ideas1    
but submitted to him that ,i could not  
see my way to carry them out to  our    
mutual satisfaction2 and ,i also raised 
objections to the somewhat  hackneyed   
nature of the themes that he suggested1 
and stated my  preference for writing a 
story that should be wholly and entirely
 my own  original composition4 ,after   
much discussion pro and con1 ,mr4       
,cruikshank  yielded to my wishes1 and  
said1 #8,then the tale shall be entirely
 out  of your own head6' ,while he      
spoke1 he rapidly drew a fancy sketch of
 my  head1 to the back portion of which 
was affixed a pig-tail1 as large as     
that worn by an old-fashioned ,jack     
,tar4 ,he held this sketch up to his    
wife1 who had just then re-entered the  
room1 and said1 in his cheery  way1     

#8,we have settled the point4 ,he does  
not like my whiskers1'--the  hero of the
 tale1 ,i may add1 was to have been     
readily distinguished in  the           
illustrations by the peculiarity of his 
whiskers1--#8so he is going  to get a   
tail out of his own head4' ,it reminded 
me of his sketch of  the grenadier1     
whose pig-tail was tied so tightly that 
he was unable to  shut his eyes2 also of
 another pig-tail sketch in the         
,omnibus1 where the  gentleman who1 has 
gone to bed #8half-seas over' wakes up  
to sobriety1  and1 springing out of bed1
 discovers that his pig-tail has been   
tied  to the bell-rope1 and that the    
house has been aroused through his vain 
struggles to get free40    8,the        
,adventures of ,mr4 ,lambkin0 were      
entirely ,cruikshank's own1 and they    
were the least successful1 and          
deservedly so1 of his works4    ,never  
has a single figure enacted by mortal   
artist been so talked and  written about
 as ,fagin4 99 ,how and when he was     

conceived1 where the  artist found his  
model1 what share ,dickens had1 and what
 part belonged  to ,cruikshank of 8the  
awful ,jew10 are points of controversy  
which have  been kept alive in society  
as much by ,cruikshank's own acting of  
his  idea1 and his many accounts of his 
conception1 as by the deep impression   
made by that dreadful wretch glaring in 
the condemned cell4 ,the writer  of the 
obituary notice of ,cruikshank in the   
,daily ,news himself heard  ,cruikshank 
relate that ,fagin was sketched from a  
rascally old ,jew whom  he observed in  
the neighbourhood of ,saffron ,hill20   
and1 he added1 8,i  watched him for     
weeks1 studying him40 ,fagin possessed  
,cruikshank's mind  to the end of his   
life4 ,he was always ready to talk about
 him1 and to  act him4    8,sitting     
down10 says ,cuthbert ,bede1 describing 
one of his visits to the  artist in the 
,hampstead ,road1 8and crouching in the 
huddled posture of  #8the ,jew--the     
dreadful ,jew--that ,cruikshank         

drew'--to quote ,thackeray's            
words--fiercely gnawing at his          
finger-nails1 tossing his hair loosely  
about his head1 and calling up a look of
 wild horror into his eyes1 the  artist1
 with the great histrionic powers that  
he possessed1 seemed to  have really    
transformed himself into the character  
of the ,jew whom he  so forcibly        
depicted4 ,his features somewhat helped 
him in this  impersonation1 though those
 of ,sir ,charles ,napier required no   
distortion  of art1 but were so         
exceedingly like to those of            
,cruikshank's ,jew1 that  he was        
popularly called in the army by the name
 of #8,old ,fagin4'0    ,cruikshank told
 ,horace ,mayhew how he hit upon the    
figure of ,fagin in the  condemned cell4
 ,he had been thinking it over many     
days1 and could not  satisfy himself4   
8,at length1 beginning to think the task
 was almost  hopeless1 he was sitting up
 in bed one morning1 with his hand      
covering  his chin1 and the tips of his 

fingers between his lips1 the whole     
attitude expressive of disappointment   
and despair1 when he saw his face  in a 
cheval glass1 which stood on the floor  
opposite to him4 #8,that's  it1' he     
involuntarily exclaimed1 #8that's just  
the expression ,i want6'  and by this   
accidental process the picture was      
formed in his mind40         99         
,memories of my ,time40 ,by ,george     
,hodder1 author of       8,sketches of  
,life and ,character40 ,tinsley         
,brothers4 #ahgj4    ,he was never tired
 of talking on the subject4 ,fagin      
possessed him1 just  as ,dickens lived  
in his characters1 and made them talk in
 his letters  and speeches4 ,mr4 ,austin
 ,dobson1 who met ,cruikshank at        
breakfast at ,mr4  ,frederick ,lockers  
house on the #adth of ,december 7#ahgg71
 writes to me1  8,he told us many       
particulars respecting his work1 and    
especially his  visits to prisons and   
criminals in connection with #8,oliver  
,twist4'  ,finally1 ,i asked him if the 

popular story of the conception of      
,fagin's  wonderful attitude in the     
condemned cell was correct4 ,he replied 
rather  energetically1 #8,false6' ,you  
will remember that in that version the  
drawing was the result of accident4 ,the
 artist was biting his nails in         
desperation1 when suddenly he caught the
 reflection of his perplexed  face in a 
cheval glass--hence ,fagin4             
,cruikshank's account was different4    
,he had never been perplexed in the     
matter1 or had any doubt as to his      
design4 ,he attributed the story to the 
fact that not being satisfied  whether  
the knuckles should be raised or        
depressed1 he had made studies  of his  
own hand in a glass1 to the astonishment
 of a child-relative  looking on1 who   
could not conceive what he was doing4   
,he illustrated his  account by putting 
his hand to his mouth1 looking1 with his
 hooked nose1  wonderfully like the     
character he was speaking of1--so much  
so1 that  for a few minutes afterwards  

,mr4 ,locker playfully addressed him as 
#8,mr4 ,fagin4' ,i did not see at the   
time why he was so tenacious4 ,but1 of  
course1 what he wished to impress upon  
us was that the drawing of ,fagin  in   
the cell1 which shares with ,sikes      
attempting to destroy his dog  the post 
of honour in #8,oliver ,twist1' was the 
result1 not of a happy  accident1 but   
his own persistent and minute habit of  
realization2 and  though there appears  
to be a modern disposition to doubt that
 a man  can know anything about his own 
past1 ,i for one shall always prefer    
,mr4  ,cruikshank's story to the        
others40    ,there is1 no doubt1 truth  
in all these stories4 ,cruikshank       
studied often  in ,petticoat ,lane1 to  
begin with1 and probably fixed his model
 of ,fagin  there4 ,that he himself told
 ,horace ,mayhew1 many years ago1 how he
 caught  sight of his own image as he   
sat up in bed1 and adopted it for ,fagin
 in  the condemned cell1 ,i know4 ,and  
finally1 that he studied his hands in   

his glass1 with that careful observation
 of details by which he reached  such   
intensity in the expression of an       
emotion1 or a dramatic incident1  by all
 who knew him will be accepted as an    
ordinary illustration of his  8habit of 
realization40    ,on ,cruikshank's      
illustrations to 8,oliver ,twist10 how  
many critics have  dwelt2 and by them1  
how many writers have pointed their     
moral4 ,ruskin1  in his chapter on      
,vulgarity1 99 turns for his            
illustration to ,landseer  and          
,cruikshank4         99 8,modern        
,painters40    8,cunning10 he remarks1  
8signifies especially a habit or gift of
  over-reaching1 accompanied with       
enjoyment and a sense of superiority4   
,it  is associated with small and dull  
conceit1 and with an absolute want of   
sympathy or affection4 ,its essential   
connection with vulgarity may be  at    
once exemplified by the expression of   
the butcher's dog in ,landseer's  #8,low
 ,life4' ,cruikshank's #8,noah          

,claypole1' in the illustrations to     
#8,oliver ,twist1' in the interview with
 the ,jew1 is1 however1 still more      
characteristic4 ,it is the intensest    
rendering of vulgarity absolute and     
utter with which ,i am acquainted40     
,mr4 ,paget1 in his admirable article on
 ,cruikshank's genius1 already  quoted1 
becomes eloquent on the prodigious      
effect upon his time which  the         
pictorial moralist achieved1 and        
especially by his illustrations to      
8,oliver ,twist03--    8,more than forty
 years have passed since the appear-of  
these works2  99 and if we were asked   
who1 through that period1 has been the  
most  faithful chronicler of the ways1  
customs1 and habits of the middle and   
lower classes of ,england1 we should    
answer1 ,george ,cruikshank4 ,in his    
pictures of society there is no depth   
which he has not sounded4 ,from the     
murderer's cell to the pauper's deathbed
 there is no phase of crime and  misery 
which has not served him to point a     

moral4 ,but his sympathies  are never   
perverted1 or his sense of right and    
wrong dimmed by the  atmosphere in which
 he moves4 ,he is a stern though kindly 
moralist4 ,in  his hands vice is vice--a
 foe with whom no terms are to be kept4 
,yet1  with what true feeling1 what     
consummate skill1 does he discriminate  
the shades of character1 the ranks and  
degrees of crime1 the extent and  limits
 of moral corruption6 ,in none of his   
works is this so apparent as  in what we
 are inclined to rank as the most       
refined and complete of all1  namely1   
the illustrations to 8,oliver ,twist40  
,charles ,dickens and ,george           
,cruikshank worked cordially hand in    
hand in the production of this          
admirable work1 and neither will grudge 
to the other his share in the  fame     
which has justly attended their joint   
labours4 ,the characters are  not more  
skilfully developed1 as the story       
unfolds itself1 by the pen  of ,dickens1
 than by the pencil of his colleague4   

,every time we turn over  this wonderful
 series1 we are more and more impressed 
with the genius  that created1 and the  
close observation of human nature which 
developed1  the characteristics of      
,oliver through every varying phase of  
his  career1 from the memorable day when
 he #8asked for more'2--of ,sikes1 the  
housebreaker 7compare his face in the   
frontispiece of the first column1  where
 he has just brought ,oliver back to the
 ,jew1 with that at page  #baf of the   
third volume1 where he is attempting to 
destroy his dog72 of  ,fagin--from the  
#8merry old gentleman' frying sausages1 
to the ghastly  picture of abject terror
 which he presents in the condemned     
cell2 of  ,noah ,claypole1--mark him as 
he lies cowering under the dresser in   
,mrs4  ,sowerberry's kitchen1 with      
little ,oliver standing triumphant over 
him  with flashing eye and dilated      
nostril1 and again behold him lolling   
in the armchair1 whilst ,charlotte feeds
 his gluttonous appetite with  oysters2 

of ,charlotte herself2 of ,mrs4 ,corney2
 of the workhouse master2  the paupers2 
the boy-thieves2 of ,messrs4 ,blathers  
and ,duff1 the police  officers2 and the
 immortal ,mrs4 ,bumble--a character    
which has furnished  new terms to our   
vocabulary1 and the glory of producing  
which may be  fairly divided between the
 author and the artist ,nor is the      
portraiture  of ,mrs4 ,bedwin1 the      
housekeeper1 who only appears once--but 
by  that single appearance makes us     
familiar with her whole history and     
character--less admirably conceived and 
executed4 ,the same may be said  of ,mr4
 ,brownlow and ,mr4 ,los-borne4 ,nor is 
this perfection the result  of a lucky  
hit or happy accident1 by which a far   
inferior artist may  sometimes succeed  
in producing what is acknowledged by the
 eye as the  impersonation of the       
impression produced on the mind by the  
art of  the novelist or the poet4 ,it is
 the result of deep study and profound  
sympathy1 with all the varied action of 

the human heart4 ,it is genius1  the    
twin-brother of that which inspired     
,garrick and ,kean1 and which1 in  its  
rarest and most refined developments1   
brings before our eyes even  now new    
beauties latent in the characters of    
,hamlet and of ,rosalind4 ,we  say this 
in no spirit of exaggeration1 but with a
 profound conviction  that no hand could
 have produced such works as those of   
,george  ,cruikshank1 which was now the 
index of the organ of a heart deeply    
imbued with the finest sympathies of    
humanity1 and an intellect highly       
endowed with power of the keenest       
perception and the subtlest analysis40  
99 8,the ,queen's ,matrimonial ,ladder10
 etc4    ,mr4 ,sala has described the   
8rough but superb0 etchings to the      
8,sketches  by ,boz10 which prepared the
 world for the finer and profounder work
 in  8,oliver ,twist10 and he instances 
8,the ,streets--,morning0---an exquisite
  bit of observation4 ,but can anything 
surpass1 as a picture of close and      

various study of life1 the 8,parish     
,engine0--from the superb beadle at  the
 door1 to the urchins rejoicing over the
 excitement8 ,as pictures of  manners1  
dress1 and the habits of the people some
 forty years ago1 they  have the value  
of historical records4 ,those times live
 again1 under our  wondering eyes1 by   
the help of the artist's genius2 and    
none can  deny the immense value they   
are in helping the younger generation to
  understand the fresh and racy humour  
of the text4    ,mr4 ,sala very properly
 questions whether ,cruikshank would    
have succeeded  even with 8,pickwick40  
8,while10 he adds1 8to illustrate such  
works as  #8,martin ,chuzzlewit1' and   
the later novels of ,dickens1 he would  
have  been manifestly out of place10 he 
might have 8been in his element0   with 
8,nicholas ,nickleby40 ,thackeray1      
however1 once pointed out that          
,cruikshank would never have managed to 
draw ,sir ,mulberry ,hawk's  cabriolet  
horse4 ,but he was never more at home   

than in his illustrations  to the life  
of his old ,islington friend and boon   
companion1 ,joe  ,grimaldi1 which       
,dickens unwillingly consented to edit  
for ,mr4 ,bentley4    ,illustration3    
#bgi    ,dickens put the manuscript in  
order1 and strung it together--dictating
  connecting bits to his father1 whom   
,mr4 ,forster describes as revelling  in
 the work4 ,john ,dickens revelled in   
work as well as play2 in a bowl  of gin 
punch1 which it was his delight to mix  
at the ,rainbow1 in ,fleet  ,street1 and
 over which ,i have heard him tell many 
a capital story1 not  more than in his  
work as first manager of the            
,parliamentary staff of the  ,daily     
,news4    ,dickens described the        
manuscript of the life of the celebrated
 clown as  twaddle1 and was astonished  
at its success4 8,seventeen hundred     
,grimaldis  have been already sold10 he 
wrote to ,forster1 8and the demand      
increases  daily60 ,perhaps he did not  
rate at their full value ,george        

,cruikshank's  etchings1 which had a    
habit1 in those days1 of making         
8twaddle0   palatable to the public very
 often4 ,over ,grimaldi1 ,dickens and   
,cruikshank parted as author and artist2
 but they continued fast friends  for   
many years after4    ,illustration3 #bha
    ,illustration3 #bhb         8,the   
dustman's cart offends thy clothes and  
eyes1       ,when through the street a  
cloud of ashes flies40         ,from    
8,more ,mornings at ,bow ,street40      
,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,illustrations ,,to    
,,harrison ,,ainsworth',s ,,romances4   
,early in #ahci1 on the conclusion of   
8,oliver ,twist10 ,charles ,dickens     
handed over the editorship of ,bentley's
 ,miscellany to ,harrison  ,ainsworth2  
and with this transfer1 ,george         
,cruikshank's etching-needle  passed    
from the pages of the old to those of   
the new editor4    ,cruikshank by no    
means stood alone as illustrator at the 
outset of  ,bentley's ,miscellany4      
,samuel ,lover illustrated his own      

8,handy ,andy10   and ,buss and ,phiz   
appeared as etchers4 ,dickens1 in       
announcing vol4 ii4  in a theatrical    
address1 said3 8,the scenery will       
continue to be supplied  by the creative
 pencil of ,mr4 ,george ,cruikshank40   
,in the second volume1  by way of       
illustration to 8,the ,autobiography of 
a ,joke0--,dr ,charles  ,mackay's first 
appearance1 he tells me1 as a magazine  
writer--,cruikshank  drew one of his    
wonderful jovial bottles dancing upon   
the table4 ,it was  in the third volume1
 beginning with the year #ahch1 that    
,cruikshank stood  alone as illustrator4
 ,early in #ahci1 ,dickens transferred  
the editorship  of the ,miscellany to   
one of his 8most intimate and valued    
friends10   ,mr4 ,ainsworth4    ,in the 
first volume of #ahdj we find           
illustrations by ,alfred ,crowquill  in 
the ,miscellany2 in the second volume of
 the same year ,leech appeared1  both on
 wood and steel4 ,the                   
woodcuts--especially one of 8a highly   

respectable man0--are full of humour and
 fresh observation4    ,extraordinary as
 the advance had been which ,cruikshank 
had made by his  powerful dramatic      
illustrations to 8,oliver ,twist10 his  
illustrations to  ,mr4 ,ainsworth's     
romances1 and particularly to 8,the     
,tower of ,london10   and 8,windsor     
,castle10 and 8,the ,miser's            
,daughter0--proved that he had  yet     
higher laurels to win4 ,his etchings on 
steel show a greatly superior  technical
 handling to his earlier work with the  
needle4 ,he obtained  effects which     
,rembrandt would not have disdained4 ,he
 showed for the  first time that he     
could realize a middle distance1 as well
 as a  foreground and a background4 ,and
 then he had in perfect subjection1 and 
ready to his hand and mind1 all the vast
 store of observation of men  and       
things1 he had been inde-fatigably      
accumulating from his boyhood ,his      
plates to these three works are         
absolutely astonishing1 when they are   

analysed1 for the amount of original    
thought1--for the technical skill  in   
rendering infinite varieties of light   
and shade1 of emotion1 of               
scenery1--which they comprehend4    ,it 
is deeply to be lamented that           
,cruikshank's connection with ,harrison 
,ainsworth 99--a connection in which the
 artist found some of his finer         
inspirations--was marred by quarrels1   
and was sundered finally with a         
controversy1 which is the counterpart of
 that he engaged in with the  biographer
 and the friends of ,charles ,dickens4  
,i suspect that ,thackeray              
involuntarily led ,cruikshank to claim  
more than his proper share in the       
successes he and ,harrison ,ainsworth   
had together4         99 ,mr4 ,ainsworth
 died while these volumes were passing  
through the press1 ,january #ahhb4      
8,with regard to the modern romance of  
#8,jack ,sheppard1'0 ,thackeray         
remarks1 8in which the latter personage 
7,jonathan ,wild7 makes a second        

appearance1 it seems to us that ,mr4    
,cruikshank really created the tale1    
and that ,mr4 ,ainsworth1 as it were1   
only put words to it4 ,let any reader   
of the novel think over it for a while1 
now that it is some months since  he has
 perused and laid it down--let him      
think1 and tell us what he  remembers of
 the tale4 ,george ,cruikshank's        
pictures--always ,george  ,cruikshank's 
pictures4 ,the storm in the ,thames1 for
 instance2 all the  author's laboured   
description of that event has passed    
clean away--we  have before our mind's  
eye the fine plates of ,cruikshank4 ,the
 poor  wretch cowering under the bridge 
arch1 as the waves come rushing in1  and
 the boats are whirling away in the     
drift of the great swollen black        
waters2 and let any man look at that    
second plate of the murder on the       
,thames1 and he must acknowledge how    
much more brilliant the artist's        
description is than the writer's1 and   
what a real genius for the  terrible as 

well as for the ridiculous the former   
has2 how awful is the  gloom of the old 
bridge1 a few lights glimmering from the
 houses here  and there1 but not so as  
to be reflected on the water at all1    
which is  too turbid and raging2 a great
 heavy rack of clouds goes sweeping over
  the bridge1 and men with flaring      
torches--the murderers--are borne away  
with the stream4    8,the author        
requires many pages to describe the fury
 of the storm1 which  ,mr4 ,cruikshank  
has represented in one4 ,first1 he has  
to prepare you with  the something      
inexpressibly melancholy in sailing on a
 dark night upon  the ,thames2 #8the    
ripple of the water1' #8the darkling    
current1' #8the  indistinctly seen      
craft1' the solemn shadows1' and other  
phenomena  visible on rivers at night1  
are detailed 7with not unskilful        
rhetoric7  in order to bring the reader 
into a proper state of mind for the     
deeper  gloom and horror which is to    
ensue4 ,then follow pages of            

description4444  ,see what a tremendous 
war of words 7and good loud words too2  
,mr4  ,ainsworth's description is a good
 and spirited one7 the author is        
obliged to pour in upon the reader      
before he can effect his purpose upon   
the latter1 and inspire him with a      
proper terror4 ,the painter does it at  
a glance1 and old ,wood's dilemma in the
 midst of that tremendous storm1  with  
the little infant at his bosom1 is      
remembered afterwards1 not from  the    
words1 but from the visible image of    
them that the artist has  left us40     
,thackeray rates these 8,jack ,sheppard0
 plates among the most  finished and the
 most successful of ,cruikshank's       
performances2 dwelling  lovingly on the 
conscientiousness of the artist1 and    
that shrewd  pervading idea of form     
which is one of his principal           
characteristics4  ,they bear witness to 
the minuteness as well as to the        
fidelity of the  artist's observation4  
,not the smallest object1 nor its proper

 place in  his design1 escapes his eye4 
,he has stored up in the camera of his  
brain  the many ways in which a chair   
may fall1 as well as the thousand and   
one lights and shadows of expression    
which play upon a man's face as he      
progresses through the chapters of his  
life4    ,thackeray1 let it be said1 was
 always unjust to ,harrison ,ainsworth4 
,he  caricatured him unmercifully in    
,punch1 and never lost an opportunity   
of being amusing at his expense4 ,his   
reasoning in regard to 8,jack           
,sheppard0 is manifestly unjust and     
unsound4 8,jack ,sheppard0 was the      
natural sequence to 8,rook-wood10 which1
 in popular parlance1 had taken  the    
town by storm1 and had suddenly made the
 young author famous4  8,dick ,turpin's 
,ride to ,york0 became the talk of all  
,england4 ,colnaghi  published a        
separate set of illustrations1 by ,hall1
 of the principal  scenes described by  
,mr4 ,ainsworth4 ,cruikshank was called 
in only to  furnish some illustrations  

to the second edition4    ,the success  
of 8,rookwood0 directed the mind of     
,bulwer to 8,paul  ,clifford10 and      
probably suggested to ,dickens his      
8,oliver ,twist40 ,even  ,cruikshank    
himself admits that 8,jack ,sheppard0   
was 8originated0 by the  author4 ,a     
fashion for highwaymen and burglars as  
heroes of romance had  been set by      
,ainsworth2 and ,bulwer and ,dickens    
dived into the haunts of  thieves to get
 at their argot1 or 8patter flash10 99  
and their ways of  thinking and acting4 
,both made great hits4 8,paul ,clifford0
 and 8,oliver  ,twist0 were the two     
books of the day4 ,mr4 ,ainsworth1      
irritated at the  unceremonious manner  
in which his ground had been invaded1   
put forth  8,jack ,sheppard0 7#ahci71 on
 assuming the editorship of ,bentley's  
,miscellany4 ,it was as natural a step  
from 8,rookwood10 especially after      
8,paul ,clifford0 and 8,oliver ,twist10 
as chapter two is from chapter one1     
,mr4 ,ainsworth had his revenge upon the

 trespassers1 for 8,jack0 threw         
8,oliver10 for the moment1 into the     
background4 ,this gave umbrage to ,mr4  
,john ,forster4 ,mr4 ,ainsworth         
says3--8,i am sorry to think that the   
success  of #8,jack ,sheppard' should   
have led him 7,forster7 to regard me as 
a  momentary rival to his idol1 but he  
assuredly treated me as one4  ,my little
 burglar was certainly the lion of the  
day4 ,the story was  dramatised and     
played simultaneously at half a dozen   
theatres4 ,every  street-boy yelled     
#8,nix my dolly' and #8,jolly nose4' and
 large profits  were made by managers4  
,my own share of theatrical plunder was 
only  twenty pounds1 sent me by         
,davidge1 of the ,coburg ,theatre4 ,for 
the  ,adelphi version1 made by          
,buckstone1 ,i never made a single      
sixpence1  although it filled the house 
to overflowing1 and people said that    
every  errand-boy looked forward to the 
day when he should develop into a       
full-blown burglar40         99 8,i got 

my slang in a much easier way10 said    
,mr4 ,ainsworth2       8,i picked up the
 memoirs of one ,vaux--,james ,hardy    
,vaux--a       returned transport4 ,the 
book was full of adventures1 and had    
at the end a kind of slang dictionary4  
,out of this ,i got all       my        
#8patter4' ,having read it thoroughly1  
and mastered it1 ,i       could use it  
with perfect facility40    ,it would be 
doing ,cruikshank shameful injustice to 
deny the attraction  of his marvellous  
etchings1 full of life1 keen            
observation1 and that  happy dramatic   
power he had1 which led him to feel and 
to embody the  conception an author whom
 he illustrated2 but1 at the same time1 
it  would be folly to accept him at his 
own estimate of his share in the  8,jack
 ,sheppard0 success4 ,mrs4 ,keeley has  
quite as strong a right to some  of the 
common glory as ,george4 ,it is         
surprising that he never laid  claim to 
,paul ,bedford's 8,jolly ,nose40 99     
,while the excitement lasted1           

,cruikshank made no claim to any share  
in the story1 and he enjoyed to  the    
full the immense success of his         
etchings4    ,on the completion of      
8,jack ,sheppard0 and the 8,tower of    
,london10   ,cruikshank quarrelled with 
,mr4 ,bentley1 9999 ,he had a tendency1 
as one of  his best friends has         
remarked1 to quarrel with all persons   
with whom  he had business relations2   
and when he did quarrel1 his words knew 
no  bounds4 ,in his 8,popgun0 he has    
drawn himself holding a publisher by the
  nose with a pair of tongs4 999999 ,his
 temporary separation from ,mr4 ,bentley
  led him to start a magazine of his    
own1 the ,omnibus1 and to turn  from    
,mr4 ,ainsworth to ,laman ,blanchard as 
literary co-operator4 ,of this          
presently4         99 ,g4 ,cruikshank   
lithographed an illustration to the     
8,jack       ,sheppard0 quadrilles1     
8from ,rodwel's celebrated romance10 in 
which he represented ,paul ,bedford as  
,blueskin1 ,mrs4 ,keeley       as ,jack 

,sheppard1 etc41 dancing and singing in 
chorus1 8,nix       my dolly1 pals40    
,mrs4 ,keeley remembers ,cruikshank     
going       behind the scenes to sketch 
her and ,paul ,bedford 8in              
character10 and she remarks that this   
was the only time she       ever saw    
him4         9999 8,the mention of his  
illustrations to #8,oliver ,twist' led  
to some other talk concerning his       
connection with ,bentley's              
,miscellany1 and he expressed his       
interest when ,i told him       that my 
first appearances in print were in the  
pages of that       magazine1 when ,i   
was yet in my #8teens1' my various      
contributions being in verse4 ,but this 
was after he had       ceased to        
illustrate it1 and when the chief       
etchings for its       pages were       
supplied by ,john ,leech4 ,he told me of
 his       misunderstandings with ,mr4  
,bentley1 and he has referred to        
them1 in a paper in his ,omnibus1 as    
follows3 #8,to 8,oliver       ,twist0   

and 8,jack ,sheppard0 ,i devoted my best
 exertions2 but1       so far from      
effecting a monopoly of my labours1 the 
publisher in question 7,mr4 ,bentley7   
has not1 for a       twelvemonth past1  
had from me more than a single plate for
       his monthly ,miscellany1 nor will
 he ever have more than       that      
single plate per month1 nor shall ,i    
ever illustrate any       other work    
that he may publish4' ,these single     
plates that he       here mentions are  
the poorest that ever proceeded from his
       etching-needle1 and would appear 
to have been wilfully and               
defiantly badly drawn1 under the        
compulsion of an agreement       that   
the artist was bound to carry out4 ,he  
lived1 however1       to execute other  
and better work for ,mr4 ,bentley1      
notably       some additional           
illustrations to the evergreen          
#8,ingoldsby       ,legends4'           
,cruikshank used to place his watch upon
 the table       and run his etching    

point over his design at the utmost     
speed4 ,the outline made1 he turned the 
plate over to his       brother ,robert1
 who finished it4 ,sands bit it up1 and 
then       it was forwarded to ,bentley4
 ,the results fell so far short       of
 ,george ,cruikshank working con amore1 
that at last ,mr4       ,bentley was    
content to set the unmanageable artist  
free4 ,the       secession of           
,cruikshank from the ,miscellany made   
room for       ,john ,leech40--,cuthbert
 ,bede4         999999 ,the publisher   
threatened the artist with an action1   
and       compelled him to withdraw the 
pamphlet from circulation4    ,on the   
retirement of ,ainsworth from ,bentley's
 ,miscellany1 business  relations were  
resumed between himself and the artist2 
and ,cruikshank  was advertised as      
illustrator of ,ainsworth's ,magazine4  
,and at this  point ,cruikshank passed  
from his humorous to his more ambitious 
and  higher phase4    8,the ,tower of   
,london0 appears to have made a strong  

effect on  ,cruikshank's mind4 ,in the  
,omnibus he drew some curious bits of   
observation of the wreck of that part of
 the ,tower which the fire had          
attacked1 and in his illustrations to   
,ainsworth's story he manifested a      
desire to express the historical power  
as an artist that was in him4 ,he       
composed pictures free from             
exaggeration1 and grand and impressive  
both  in conception and treatment4      
,having substituted steel plates for    
copper1  he felt that he was upon more  
lasting work1 and he laboured hard to   
produce pictures of the highest finish4 
,he was right3 some of the finest  work 
he has left lies between ,ainsworth's   
pages1 and indicates a range  of power  
in the artist which he was never        
destined to prove fully4 ,the  fates had
 been against him in early life2 and he 
was1 although even much  later he could 
not bring his eager and intrepid mind to
 admit it1  too old to take his seat in 
an academy1 and get through the         

drudgery1  without which not even the   
most bountifully gifted artist can do   
himself  justice4 ,in these             
,rembrandt-like scenes in the ,tower1 he
 taught the  world that his idea that he
 was a great historical painter who had 
lost  his way1 was no wild and vain     
fancy4    ,the new arrangement was one  
of the most lucrative ,cruikshank ever  
enjoyed1 receiving forty pounds monthly 
for his plates4 ,it opened a            
connection1 during which ,cruikshank    
executed1 as he rightly believed1  8a   
hundred and forty-four of the very best 
designs and etchings0 he ever  produced4
 ,it is a pity that such a connection   
should have ended in  an unworthy       
quarrel in which ,cruikshank1 with his  
usual vehemence and  wildness in        
statement1 made charges against his     
author which it was  utterly impossible 
for him to justify4 ,he has described   
their relations  in this way3--    8,i  
must here first state that1 as large    
sums of money had been realized  from my

 ideas and suggestions for the work of  
#8,oliver ,twist1' it  occurred to me   
one day that ,i would try and get a     
little of the same  material from the   
same source2 and as ,mr4 ,ainsworth and 
,i were at the  time upon the most      
friendly--,i may say brotherly--terms1  
,i suggested  to him that we should     
jointly produce a work on our own       
account1 and  publish it in monthly     
numbers1 and get ,mr4 ,bentley to join  
us as  the publisher4 ,mr4 ,ainsworth   
was delighted with the idea of such a   
partnership1 and at once acceded to the 
proposition2 and when ,i told him  ,i   
had a capital subject for the first     
work1 he inquired what it was2 and  upon
 my telling him it was the ,tower of    
,london1 with some incidents in  the    
life of ,lady ,jane ,grey1 he was still 
more delighted1 and then ,i  told him   
that ,i had long since seen the room in 
the ,tower where that  beautiful and    
accomplished dear lady was imprisoned1  
and other parts of  that fortress1 to   

which the public were not admitted2 and 
if he would  then go with me to the     
,tower1 ,i would show these places to   
him4 ,he at  once accepted my offer1 and
 off we went to ,hungerford ,stairs1 now
 the  site of the ,charing ,cross       
,railway ,station2 and whilst waiting on
 the  beach for a boat to go to ,london 
,bridge1 we there met my dear friend1   
the late ,w4 ,jerdan1 the well-known    
editor and part proprietor of the       
,literary ,gazette1 who inquired where  
we were going to4 ,my reply was1  that  
,i was taking ,mr4 ,ainsworth a prisoner
 to the ,tower4 ,with this joke  we     
parted4 ,i then took ,mr4 ,ainsworth to 
the royal prison1 and when  we arrived  
there1 ,i introduced him to my friend   
,mr4 ,stacey1 the  storekeeper1 in whose
 department were these #8,chambers of   
,horrors'2 and  then and there did ,mr4 
,ainsworth1 for the first time1 see the 
apartment  in which the dear ,lady ,jane
 was placed until the day she was       
beheaded1  or1 in other words1 the day  

on which she was murdered6 and which    
place ,i  had long before made sketches 
of1 for the purpose of introducing them 
in  a #8,life of ,lady ,jane ,grey1' and
 which for many years ,i had intended to
  place before the public4 ,i have now  
most distinctly to state that ,mr4      
,ainsworth wrote up to most of my       
suggestions and designs1 although  some 
of the subjects we jointly arranged1 to 
introduce into the work2  and ,i used   
every month to send him the tracings or 
outlines of the  sketches or drawings   
from which ,i was making the etchings to
 illustrate  the work1 in order that he 
might write up to them1 and that they   
should  be accurately described40       
,cruikshank goes on to assert that the  
plates  were printed before the         
manuscript was printed1 and sometimes   
before the  manuscript was written4     
,the 8,tower of ,london0 was a great    
success4 ,cruikshank states that1 while 
it was running1 one bookseller told him 
that if he and ,ainsworth brought  out  

8another work similar in style and      
interest10 he would take #bj1jjj  a     
month to begin with1 while another      
offered to take #be1jjj1 or even        
#cj1jjj4 ,on the completion of 8,the    
,tower10 according to ,cruikshank1 he   
suggested to ,ainsworth 8,the ,plague   
and the ,fire of ,london40    8,oh60    
exclaimed the author1 8that is          
first-rate40    ,it was understood1     
according to ,cruikshank1 that both     
author and artist  should set to work on
 the new subject2 but the author        
unceremoniously  seized the artist's    
idea1 and sold his story to the ,sunday 
,times4  ,after a time1 on the          
intercession of their mutual friend ,mr4
 ,pettigrew1  ,cruikshank says that he  
consented to work again with the author 
who had  stolen his idea4 ,he even went 
further2 he suggested another story to  
him1 viz41 8,the ,miser's ,daughter10   
which he had intended to have worked    
out by another author in his ,omnibus4  
8,the next romance by ,mr4 ,ainsworth10 

says ,cruikshank1 8which appeared  in   
his magazine1 was #8,windsor ,castle1'  
and the illustrations to the  first part
 of that work were done by ,tony        
,johannot--the remainder by me2  and ,i 
will now explain how it came to pass    
that we two brother artists  came to be 
employed upon the same work4 ,after ,mr4
 ,ainsworth had finished  #8,old ,st4   
,paul's1' he1 of course1 wanted to      
produce another work1 and to  have it   
illustrated2 and1 as under the then     
existing circumstances he  could not    
apply to me1 he had to engage another   
artist4 ,and why he did  not employ ,mr4
 ,franklin on this occasion ,i know not1
 but ,i believe he  went over to ,paris1
 and engaged ,tony ,johannot to make the
 drawings and  etchings for #8,windsor  
,castle2' and these illustrations were  
done whilst  ,i was working on my       
,omnibus4 ,but whether he found this    
plan to be too  inconvenient or         
otherwise1 ,i cannot tell2 but1 as he   
induced my friend  ,pettigrew to come to

 me and negotiate for a #8treaty of     
peace1' it is1 ,i  think1 pretty evident
 that he wanted the assistance of my    
head and hand  work again4 ,after       
#8,windsor ,castle' came the #8,romance 
of ,st4 ,james's2 or1  ,the ,court of   
,queen ,anne2' and after that1 ,mr4     
,harrison ,ainsworth sold  his magazine 
to his publishers6 ,so it really        
appeared as if all this  gentleman's    
promises1 like pie-crust1 were made to  
be broken2 and1 as  in this instance1   
also1 there was not any written         
agreement1 the  arrangements which he   
had made1 and the engagements he had    
entered into  with me when ,i agreed to 
work with him in his magazine1 all broke
 down1  and ,i1 as it were1 again       
#8thrown overboard1' or #8left in the   
lurch4'  ,and thus ended the second     
edition of this authors extraordinary   
conduct  towards the artist40           
,cruikshank lays equal stress1 in       
support of his pretensions1 on the      
appearance 7,march #ahdb7 of a drawing  

made by him1 at ,ainsworth's            
suggestion1 8of the #8author' and the   
#8artist' seated1 in council1 or        
conversing together in his library40 ,it
 is a charming sketch1 and both         
portraits are excellent2 but how it     
proves that the #8artist' did the       
author's work1 or any part of it1 as    
well as his own1 it is difficult  to    
conceive4 ,cruikshank asserted that     
8after the second edition of ,mr4       
,ainsworth's extraordinary conduct1 the 
penitent author again sent  ,mr4        
,pettigrew to entreat him to be friends 
once more1 and resume work  together40  
8,when ,i heard this10 says ,cruikshank1
 8my friend the doctor  found it was not
 at all necessary to feel my pulse2 for 
he could plainly  see that it beat      
rather fiercely when1 in reply1 ,i said1
 #8,no1  ,pettigrew4 ,mr4 ,ainsworth has
 acted towards me in what ,i consider a 
most  dishonourable manner upon two     
occasions1 and ,i will take care that he
  shall not do so a third time40    ,to 

all this ,mr4 ,harrison ,ainsworth made 
answer3--      ,a ,,few ,,words ,,about 
,,george ,,cruikshank499           99   
,this was ,mr4 ,ainsworth's final       
explanation1 addressed to       ,p4 ,j4 
for publication4      8,on the          
production at the ,adelphi ,theatre of  
the late ,mr4 ,andrew  ,halliday's      
drama1 founded on the #8,miser's        
,daughter1' ,george4 ,cruikshank  sent a
 letter to the ,times1 loudly           
complaining of the omission of his  name
 from the playbill1 and asserting that  
he had suggested the title  and general 
plan of the story4    8,a more          
preposterous assertion was never made4  
,had there been any truth  whatever in  
the claim thus impudently advanced1 why 
was it not made  long before8 ,the story
 was written thirty years               
previously--namely1 in  #ahdb--;and     
after that long interval the old artist 
sets up this absurd  pretension4    8,i 
believed him to be in his dotage1 and   
was confirmed in the opinion  when ,i   

found he laboured under a similar       
delusion in regard to #8,oliver         
,twist4'    8,for myself1 ,i desire to  
state emphatically1 that not a single   
line--not a word--in any of my novels   
was written by their illustrator1       
,cruikshank4 ,in no instance did he even
 see a proof4 ,the subjects were        
arranged with him early in the month1   
and about the fifteenth he used  to send
 me tracings of the plates4 ,that was   
all4    8,as explanatory of the original
 design of the #8,miser's ,daughter1' as
  well as to dispose of ,cruikshank's   
unwarrantable assertion that he had     
furnished the original scheme of the    
story1 ,i will now cite the preface  to 
the cheap edition of the work1 published
 in #ahej1 by ,chapman and  ,hall4 ,if  
,cruikshank had any claim to the        
authorship of the tale1 why did  he not 
make it then8    8,to expose the folly  
and wickedness of accumulating wealth   
for no other  purpose than to hoard it  
up1 and to exhibit the utter misery of a

 being  who should thus voluntarily     
surrender himself to the dominion of    
,mammon1  is the chief object of these  
pages4 ,and ,i believe they will be     
found to  convey a useful lesson1 and   
one not wholly inapplicable to the      
times2  for though the ,miser may now be
 a rarer character than heretofore1 the 
greed of gain was never more generally  
indulged in1 nor the worship of  the    
golden calf more widely spread and less 
reproved than at present4 ,i  have shown
 that all high and generous feelings1   
all good principles1  and even natural  
affection itself1 will become blunted1  
and in the end  completely destroyed1 by
 the inordinate and all-engrossing      
passion for  gain3 and ,i have shown the
 truth1--a truth borne out by the       
history of  every such wretched votary  
of wealth4 ,the sin carries its own     
punishment  with it2 and is made the    
means of chastising the sinner4 ,dead to
 every  feeling except that of adding to
 his store1 the miser becomes incapable 

of enjoyment except such as is afforded 
by the contemplation of his  useless    
treasure1 and at last he is deprived    
even of this selfish and  unhallowed    
gratification1 for dread of losing his  
gold far outweighs  delight in its      
possession4 ,distrust of all around him 
darkens his  declining days2 those who  
should be dearest to him appear his     
worst  enemies2 he becomes a prey to the
 designer1 until at length1 while       
haunted by vague terrors1 and           
despairingly clinging to his hoards1    
they  are snatched from his grasp by the
 ruthless hand of death4 #8,so is he    
that layeth up treasure for himself1 and
 is not rich towards ,god4'    8,other  
and lighter portions of the tale refer  
to the adventures of a  young man on his
 first introduction to town-life about  
the middle of  the last century1 when   
,ranelagh was in its zenith1 and        
,vauxhall and  ,marylebone4 ,gardens in 
vogue2 when the ,thames boasted its     
,folly1 and  when coffee-houses filled  

the places of clubs4 ,the descriptions  
,i  believe to be tolerably accurate1   
and they are at all events carefully    
done1 with the view of giving a correct 
idea of the manners1 habits1 and        
pursuits of our great-grandfathers and  
great-grandmothers4 ,temptations  to    
pleasurable excess were no doubt        
sufficiently abundant then1 but not     
more abundant than nowadays1 when       
casinos and other places of licentious  
resort are tolerated2 and our modern    
youth have as much to fear from the     
allurement of vice as their             
predecessors4 ,apart1 indeed1 from a    
certain  grossness in conversation1 our 
forefathers were to the full as decorous
  as ourselves1 and quite as moral1     
though they did not cloak their faults  
so carefully4 ,consequently1 vice in    
those days was less dangerous1  because 
less specious and more easily shunned   
than at a time when its  ugliness is    
better concealed4    8,it was part of my
 original scheme to describe the secret 

proceedings  of the ,jacobites in       
,lancashire and ,cheshire1 prior to the 
,rebellion  of ,forty-five1 with ,prince
 ,charles's entrance into ,manchester in
 that  memorable year1 and the          
subsequent march to ,derby4 99 ,but ,i  
found these  details incompatible with  
my main plan1 and was therefore obliged 
to  relinquish them2 contenting myself  
with a slight sketch of a conspiracy  in
 ,london1 hatched by certain adherents  
of the young ,chevalier4 ,cord  well    
,firebras is no fictitious personage4   
99 ,this has since been done in the     
#8,manchester ,rebels1'       published 
in #ahgc4    8,the incident of the      
payment of the mortgage-money is founded
 on fact4  ,a similar occurrence took   
place about the period in question1 and 
the  paymaster was a proud ,welsh       
baronet1 as described1 with a pedigree  
as  old as the hills4 ,the particulars  
were related to me by my excellent      
friend ,mrs4 ,hughes1 to whom ,i am     
indebted for many valuable suggestions4 

,it is1 perhaps1 needless to say1 that  
in consequence of the alteration  of the
 law respecting the foreclosure of      
mortgages1 such a circumstance  could   
not take place now4    8,ne sutor ultra 
crepidam4 ,had ,cruikshank been capable 
of constructing  a story1 why did he not
 exercise his talent when he had no     
connection  with ,mr4 ,dickens or       
myself8 ,but ,i never heard of such a   
tale being  published4    8,i have been 
connected with many distinguished       
artists--with ,sir ,john  ,gilbert1 with
 ,tony ,johannot1 with ,hablot ,k4      
,browne1 ,john ,franklin1 and  others1  
and never heard that any one of them    
claimed a share in the  authorship of   
the works he illustrated4    8,but      
overweening vanity formed a strong part 
of ,cruikshank's character4  ,he boasted
 so much of the assistance he had       
rendered authors1 that at  last he      
believed he had written their works4    
,had he been connected with  ,fielding1 
he would no doubt have asserted that he 

wrote a great portion  of #8,tom        
,jones4' ,moreover1 he was excessively  
troublesome and obtrusive  in his       
suggestions4 ,mr4 ,dickens declared to  
me that he could not stand  it1 and     
should send him printed matter in       
future4    8,it would be unjust1        
however1 to deny that there was not     
wonderful  cleverness and quickness     
about ,cruikshank1 and ,i am indebted to
 him for  many valuable hints and       
suggestions4    8,while writing the     
#8,tower of ,london1' which first       
appeared in monthly  numbers1 ,i used   
always to spend a day with the artist at
 the beginning  of each month in the    
,tower itself2 and since every facility 
was afforded  us by the authorities1 we 
left no part of the old fortress        
unexplored4  ,to these visits ,i look   
back with the greatest pleasure1 and    
feel that  ,i could not have had a more 
agreeable companion than the then genial
  ,george ,cruikshank4    8,as an       
illustration of another part of the     

artist's character1 ,i may  relate this 
little incident4 ,on the completion of  
the #8,tower1' ,i gave a  dinner at the 
,sussex ,hotel1 ,bouverie ,street1      
7where a good deal of the  work had been
 written1 the hotel being near the      
printing offices of  ,messrs4 ,bradbury 
and ,evans71 to about sixty of my       
friends1 including the  ,fort ,major and
 ,acting ,governor of the ,tower1 the   
,keeper of the  ,regalia1 ,mr4 ,justice 
,talfourd1 ,dickens1 ,maclise1 ,barham1 
,forster1 ,laman  ,blanchard1 ,james    
,crossley of ,manchester1 ,grainger1    
,john ,hughes1 and many  others4 ,george
 ,cruikshank occupied the vice-chair4   
,as the guests were  dispersing1 several
 of them adjourned to the coffee-room1  
and of these  ,cruikshank took charge1  
saying to me as ,i was about to drive   
home to the  ,harrow ,road1--    8#8,now
 understand--this part of the           
entertainment is to be mine6'           
8#8,very well1' ,i replied4 #8,so be    
it4'    8,but he must have forgotten the

 proposition1 since if ,i recollect     
aright1 ,i had a considerable sum to pay
 next morning for #8coffee and  cigars4'
    8,on the completion of the          
#8,tower1' ,i did not go on with        
,cruikshank1 but  contributed #8,old    
,saint ,paul's' to a weekly paper4 ,this
 story--one of the  most popular ,i have
 ever written--was republished in three 
volumes1 with  some admirable           
illustrations by ,john ,franklin4       
8,cruikshank's illustrations to #8,guy  
,fawkes1' which appeared in the         
,miscellany1 simultaneously with the    
#8,tower1' were very inferior to  those 
furnished by him for the latter story1  
and excited the ire of  ,mr4 ,bentley1  
with whom the artist had quarrelled4    
,but the publisher's  complaints were   
unheeded1 as were my own remonstrances4 
8,on my retirement from the ,miscellany1
 at the close of the year #ahda1  ,i    
resolved to bring out a magazine of my  
own1 and with that view went  to ,paris 
to secure the famous ,tony ,johannot as 

illustrator of #8,windsor  ,castle1' a  
romance which ,i intended should form   
the principal feature of  the proposed  
magazine4    8,i found ,m4 ,tony        
,johannot a most charming person1 as he 
had been  described to me1 and passed   
several pleasant days in his society4   
,he agreed to send me four plates1 the  
subjects of which ,i gave him1  together
 with designs for the cover of the      
magazine1 and the title-page  of story1 
and performed his promise to my entire  
satisfaction4    8,on my return ,i was  
induced by my friend ,mr4 ,pettigrew to 
engage ,george  ,cruikshank as the      
illustrator of the magazine1 on terms   
infinitely more  advantageous to the    
artist than those he had received from  
,mr4 ,bentley  for his illustrations to 
#8,jack ,sheppard' and #8,guy ,fawkes4' 
8,now commenced the #8,miser's          
,daughter1' to which ,i have already    
adverted4  ,this was succeeded by       
#8,windsor ,castle1'--four of the       
illustrations being  furnished1 as      

already mentioned1 by ,tony ,johannot1  
and the remainder by  ,cruikshank4 ,the 
numerous woodcuts were executed by      
,alfred ,delamotte4    8,the last story 
of mine1 illustrated by ,cruikshank1 was
 #8,saint ,james's1  or the ,court of   
,queen ,anne1' published in #ahdd4      
,since that date ,i saw  very little of 
the artist4    8,my first acquaintance  
with ,george ,cruikshank occurred in    
#ahce1 when he  made some capital       
illustrations to an edition of          
#8,rookwood' brought  out by ,mr4 ,john 
,macrone1 of ,st4 ,james's ,square--a   
young and spirited  publisher1 whose    
premature death was much to be lamented4
    8,next came #8,jack ,sheppard1'     
which succeeded #8,oliver ,twist' in    
,bentley's  ,miscellany1 and obtained an
 extraordinary success4    8,from their 
,hogarthian character1 and careful      
attention to detail1 ,i  consider these 
by far the best of ,cruikshank's        
designs4 ,they raised him  to a point he
 had never before attained4    8,i think

 it proper to mention that more than a  
third of the work was  written before   
,cruikshank began to illustrate it4     
8,of ,cruikshank as a teetotaler ,i can 
say nothing1 because ,i saw nothing  of 
him4 ,when ,i knew him1 he was extremely
 convivial1 and used to sing a  capital 
comic song1 and dance the sailor's      
hornpipe1 almost as well as  the great  
,t4 ,p4 ,cooke4 ,perhaps he may have    
rather exceeded the bounds  of          
discretion1 but if he took a little too 
much1 he was hearty and  good-humoured1 
and would never have boasted as he      
afterwards did of  writing portions of  
#8,oliver ,twist' and the #8,miser's    
,daughter4'    8,w4 ,h4 ,a40            
,before parting finally with this most  
unpleasant part of my task1 ,i must     
quote ,cruikshank's summing-up of his   
pretensions in regard to ,dickens  and  
,ainsworth1 to say nothing of 8other    
men03--    8,i now feel it necessary to 
inform the public that the usual or     
ordinary  way of producing illustrated  

novels or romances is1 for an author    
either  to write out1 from his own      
ideas1 the whole of the tale1 or in     
parts2  the manuscript or letterpress of
 which is then handed to an artist to   
read and select subjects from for his   
illustrations1 or sometimes for  the    
author to suggest to the artist such    
subjects1 scenes1 or parts1 as  he might
 wish to be illustrated4 ,and ,i1 being 
known generally only as  an artist1 or  
illustrator1 it would therefore very    
naturally be supposed  that1 in all     
cases1 ,i have merely worked out other  
men's ideas4 ,but1  if ,i have the      
opportunity1 ,i shall be able to show   
that other men have  sometimes worked   
out my ideas--but this will be for      
another occasion4  ,and ,i will now     
explain that #8,oliver ,twist1' #8,the  
,tower of ,london1' #8,the  ,miser's    
,daughter1' etc41 were produced in an   
entirely different manner  from what    
would be considered as the usual course2
 for ,i1 the artist1  suggested to the  

authors of these works the original     
idea1 or subject1  for them to write    
out--furnishing1 at the same time1 the  
principal  characters and the scenes4   
,and then1 as the tale had to be        
produced in  monthly parts1 the writer1 
or author1 and the artist1 had every    
month  to arrange and settle what       
scenes1 or subjects1 and characters were
 to  be introduced2 and the author had  
to weave in such scenes as ,i wished  to
 represent1 and sometimes ,i had to work
 out his suggestions4    8,and as to    
,mr4 ,w4 ,harrison ,ainsworth's         
#8singular delusion' of an artist       
claiming to be the originator of works  
which he had merely illustrated1  no    
more absurd or contemptible and         
rubbishing nonsense could ever be       
conceived2 for no artist could possibly 
be in his right mind who would  make    
such a claim1 and it becomes a serious  
question as to whether any  one who     
brings forth such nonsense can be in his
 right mind2 and if  this author has    

really lost his memory1 and as an       
invalid is suffering  under #8singular  
delusions1' he has my pity and          
commiseration4    8,i lay no claim to   
anything that has originated from the   
mind of ,mr4  ,ainsworth1 or any other  
man2 but where the original idea has    
emanated  from my own mind1 that ,i feel
 ,i have a right to claim1 and by that  
right  ,i will stand firm2 and ,i trust 
that at no distant date ,i may be able  
to  publish what ,i have already stated1
 to show the world how these ideas      
originated in my mind1 and why ,i wished
 to place them before the  public40     
,cruikshank added that many friends1    
already passed #8away1' would  have     
vouched for the accuracy of the         
foregoing4 ,he cited two1 however1  on  
whose testimony in his favour ,i know he
 would not have relied2  namely1        
,douglas ,jerrold and ,laman ,blanchard4
 ,these had never heard  of             
,cruikhsank's claim as originator of    
8,oliver ,twist10 or any of             

,ainsworth's novels1 for the good reason
 that they had died before he put  it   
forth4 ,blanchard1 indeed1 had          
experience akin to that of ,ainsworth4  
,an old friend of his and mine1 returned
 lately from a twenty years'  sojourn at
 the antipodes4 ,i asked him if he      
remembered any incidents  of the time   
when ,laman ,blanchard was editing the  
,omnibus4 ,at first he  could recall    
nothing1 but after a long pause he said3
    8,all ,i remember is something very 
like a quarrel1 one night1 when         
,cruikshank was spending the evening at 
,blanchard's house4 ,a friend  praised a
 little poem that had appeared in the   
last number4 ,whereupon  ,cruikshank    
remarked that it was his idea as well as
 his illustration4    8,i don't call to 
mind another occasion10 said the        
traveller1 8when ,i saw  ,blanchard give
 way to a violent passion2 but on this  
he did4 ,the idea  and the poem were one
 of his bright and graceful fancies2 and
 he  rose and denied that ,cruikshank   

had had the least share in it with a    
fierceness that confounded him40        
,illustration3 #caf          ,,chapter  
,x4 ,,the ,,omnibus4    ,it was in #ahda
 that ,george ,cruikshank1 when at      
variance with ,mr4  ,bentley1 started a 
periodical on his own account ,his      
friend ,laman  ,blanchard1 who was then 
one of the most popular essayists and   
political  writers of the day1 undertook
 the editorship4    ,the magazine opened
 in a thoroughly ,cruikshankian style4  
,there was a  wondrously etched         
microcosm of the globe1 which is        
accepted not only  as one of the        
artist's technical triumphs1 but as one 
of his happiest  conceptions4 ,the human
 race is epitomised within this circle1 
not much  wider than a billiard ball4   
,the sphere teems with many-sided life1 
etched with the 8simple frankness0 which
 ,mr4 ,p4 ,g4 ,hamerton has  described  
as the perfection of the art 99 ,let me 
here note that the  famous ,jack        
,o',lantern4 ,his light and humorous    

wood drawings scattered  through the    
volume are full of fancy and wit4 ,he   
drew dainty bits to  ,blanchard's       
graceful lyrics--8,love ,seeking a      
,lodging10           99 8,in etchings of
 this class ,cruikshank carries one     
great       virtue of the art to        
perfection--its simple frankness4 ,he is
       so direct and unaffected1 that   
only those who know the                 
difficulties of etching can appreciate  
the power that lies       behind his    
unpretending skill2 there is never1 in  
his most       admirable plates1 the    
trace of a vain effort40--,etching and  
,etchers4    ,illustration3 #cah        
,omnibus etchings are the last by the   
artist upon copper4 ,then follows       
,cruikshank's portrait by ,frank ,stone1
 with his own very whimsical reply  to  
,maginns sketch of him in 8,portraits of
 ,public ,characters40 ,to the  story1  
8,frank ,hartwell2 or1 ,fifty ,years    
,ago10 that ran through the  twelve     
numbers of which the ,omnibus consists1 

,cruikshank contributed  some of his    
finest etched dramatic scenes3 for      
example1 8,frank and ,sambo  attacked by
 ,ruffians in the ,hold of the ,tender10
 8,richard ,brothers1 the  ,prophet1 at 
,mrs4 ,hartwells10 99 and 8,hartwell    
seizing ,brady40 ,here too1  is his     
8,love has ,legs0 7a girl clipping      
,cupid's wings while he dozes by  the   
fire71 and 8,love's ,masquerade10 for   
instance4 ,like ,kenny ,meadows1        
,cruikshank could draw the prettiest    
,cupids in the world4         99 8,and  
in the talk about the ,omnibus1 at our  
first       interview1 he claimed1 as   
his own suggestion and planning1        
its serial story1 #8,frank ,hartwell2   
or1 ,fifty ,years ,ago'1 by             
,bowman ,tiller1 which he illustrated   
with powerful etchings4       ,he said  
that the introduction1 in that story1 of
 ,richard       ,brothers1 the ,prophet1
 was entirely due to him2 and he told   
me much concerning its eccentric author1
 and his custom of       roaming through

 the streets during the stillest hours  
of the       night1 as he thereby       
fancied that he could more quietly and  
effectually turn over in his brain the  
thoughts that he       afterwards       
committed to paper4 ,he told me many    
things       concerning #8,bowman       
,tiller1' which1 however1 had better not
       be repeated here2 especially as  
the author's name would       appear to 
have been lost in obscurity1 and is not 
even       mentioned among the literary 
pseudonyms in ,olphar ,hamst's          
#8,handbook of ,fictitious              
,names4'0--,cuthbert ,bede4      ,not   
even his 8,what is ,taxes1 ,thomas80 is 
surpassed as a study by his  8,two of a 
,trade0--the butcher boy and his dog1   
which is in the ,omnibus4         8,oh6 
marvellous boy1 what marvel when ,i met 
thy dog and thee1       ,i marvelled if 
to dogs or men ,you traced your         
ancestry6       ,if changed from what   
you once were known1       ,as sorrow   
turns to joy1       ,the boy more like  

the dog had grown1       ,the dog more  
like the boy4       ,it would a         
prophet's eyesight baulk1       ,to see 
through time's dark fog1       ,if on   
four legs the boy will walk1       ,or  
if on two the dog40    ,thackeray and   
,captain ,marryatt 7who drew some small 
cuts which  ,cruikshank copied71 and    
,edward ,howard1 the author of 8,rattlin
 the  ,reefer10 were among the          
contributors4 ,michael ,angelo ,titmarsh
 sent one  of his most famous           
ballads--viz41 8,the ,king of           
,brentford's ,testament0   ,but the most
 sprightly and noteworthy feature of    
this first of the  illustrated magazines
 was ,mrs4 ,toddles1 who is introduced  
with her feet  in hot water1 and with a 
glass of warm rum and water1 with a bit 
of  butter in it4 ,she surely might have
 sat for ,sairy ,gramp1 in ,punch's     
personification of the ,morning ,herald4
    ,and here she is again1 at ,margate4
 ,she gets her feet wet2 8but10 says    
her chronicler1 8we dare say she would  

find a little drop of comfort1 in  the  
shape of smuggled ,hollands at the      
lodgings40 ,mrs4 ,toddles was no        
better1 in her drinking1 we fear1 than  
,mrs4 ,gamp and her friend ,betsey4     
,in the 8,monument to ,napoleon10 a     
famous ,cruikshank idea1 also in his    
,omnibus1 we find the artist in his     
serious moralizing vein4    8,on the    
removal of ,napoleon's remains10 he     
remarks1 8,i prepared this  design for a
 monument2 but it was not sent1 because 
it was not wanted4  ,there is this      
disadvantage about a design for his     
monument--it will suit  nobody else4    
,this could not1 therefore1 be converted
 into a tribute  to the memory of the   
late distinguished philosopher1         
,muggeridge1 head  master of the        
,grammar-school at ,birchley2 nor into  
an embellishment for  the mausoleum of  
the departed hero1 ,fitz ,hogg of the   
,pipeclays4 ,it very  often happens1    
however1 that when a monument to a great
 man turns out to  be a misfit1 it will1

 after a while1 be found to suit some   
other great  man as well as if his      
measure had been taken for it4 ,just add
 a few  grains to the intellectual      
qualities1 subtract a scruple or so from
 the  moral attributes--let out the     
philanthropy a little1 and take in the  
learning a bit--clip the public         
devotion1 and throw an additional       
handful of virtues into the domestic    
scale--qualify the squint1 in  short1 or
 turn the aquiline into a snub--these   
slight modifications  observed1 and any 
hero or philosopher may be fitted to a  
hair with a  second-hand monumental     
design4 ,the standing tribute1 #8,we    
ne'er shall  look upon his like again1' 
is of course applicable in every case of
  greatness40    ,with this monument    
,cruikshank took his leave of 8,boney40 
8,as for me10 he said in a note to his  
design1 8who have skeletonised him      
prematurely1 paring down the prodigy    
even to his hat and boots1 ,i have  but 
#8carried out' a principle adopted      

almost in my boyhood1 for ,i can        
scarcely remember the time when ,i did  
not take some patriotic pleasure  in    
persecuting the great enemy of ,england4
 ,had he been less than that1  ,i should
 have felt compunction for my cruelties2
 having tracked him  through snow and   
through fire1 by flood and by field1    
insulting1  degrading1 and deriding him 
everywhere1 and putting him to several  
humiliating deaths4 ,all that time1     
however1 he went on #8overing' the      
,pyramids and the ,alps1 as boys #8over'
 posts1 and playing at leapfrog  with   
the sovereigns of ,europe1 so as to kick
 a crown off at every spring  he        
made--together with many crowns and     
sovereigns in my coffers4 ,deep1  most  
deep1 in a personal view of matters1 are
 my obligations to the  agitator--but   
what a debt the country owes to him60   
,but the ,omnibus did not pay--even with
 all the wit and humour1 and  pleasant  
story1 and sport with folly as it flew1 
to be found in  it ,moreover1 by the    

close of the year1 ,cruikshank had      
renewed his  connection with ,mr4       
,ainsworth2 and ,cruikshank has put on  
record that his  ,omnibus was begun in  
his disgust at the treatment he had     
received from  ,mr4 ,ainsworth1 who had 
adopted his idea of a story on the      
,plague  of ,london1 and sold it to the 
proprietors of the ,sunday ,times for  a
 thousand pounds4 ,then as to the       
stopping of the ,omnibus1 this is       
,cruikshank's own story3--    8,it will 
now be necessary to state that the late 
,thomas ,joseph  ,pettigrew1 who was    
surgeon to their ,royal ,highnesses the 
,dukes of ,kent  and ,sussex1 was a dear
 and intimate friend of mine1 and that  
,i had  introduced ,mr4 ,ainsworth to   
him1 and that after ,i had been going on
  with my ,omnibus for something less   
than twelve months1 to my utter         
astonishment1 my friend ,pettigrew      
called upon me one day with a message   
from ,mr4 ,w4 ,harrison ,ainsworth1 to  
this effect1 that he 7,mr4 ,ainsworth7  

was extremely sorry that there had been 
any unpleasantness between us1  and that
 if ,i would forgive him1 and be        
friends1 nothing of the kind  should    
ever happen again2 that he was about to 
start a monthly magazine1  and that if  
,i would join him1 and drive my         
#8,omnibus' into his magazine1  he would
 take all the risk and responsibility   
upon himself1 and make  such            
arrangements as would compensate me     
liberally4 ,to this most  unexpected    
proposition at first ,i would not       
listen2 but as my friend  ,pettigrew    
kept on for some time urging me to be   
friends again with ,mr4  ,ainsworth1 and
 as ,i am 7as my friends say7 in some   
cases rather too  goodnatured and       
forgiving1 ,i did forgive ,mr4          
,ainsworth1 and #8shake  hands1' and    
agree to work with him again4 ,my       
,omnibus1 in some respects1  did merge  
into ,ainsworth's ,magazine2 but upon   
again joining with ,mr4  ,ainsworth1 ,i 
announced that the ,omnibus would       

henceforth appear as an  annual40    ,in
 the last number of the ,omnibus1       
,cruikshank announced that1 having      
8resumed0 an arrangement entered into 8a
 twelvemonth ago with  ,mr4 ,harrison   
,ainsworth10 he could not continue his  
,fireside  ,miscellany--monthly4 ,he    
ended with a pictorial joke4 8,if he and
 his  literary associates10 he added1   
8should meet the reader as agreeably in 
an annual as in a monthly form10 he     
trusted it would be as long as it was   
short4 ,the remark was illustrated by   
the square figure of a man4    ,the long
 and short of it1 however1 was1 that the
 ,omnibus never appeared  again4    ,the
 following note will give the reader an 
idea of the activity of  ,cruikshank's  
faculty of suggestion1 which led him so 
often to advance  unwarrantable claims  
as an originator4 ,it is addressed to   
,laman  ,blanchard3--    8,my dear      
,blanchard1--    8,barker does not mean 
anything by #8,unity4' #8,unity         
,peacham' is a real  name somewhere in  

,westminster4    8,that do              
not-wish-to-be-known young gentleman has
 sent me a paper  entitled #8,the       
,alamode ,beef ,shop4' ,i have sent for 
him to suggest a  series of papers upon 
#8,eating ,houses1' or something of that
 sort1 and  will get him to make two or 
three alterations in this first paper1  
and  will then send it to you4 ,i think 
it would be desirable to have it in  the
 neighbourhood2 that is1 if you think as
 favourably of it as does    8,yours    
truly1    8,g4 ,cruikshank4             
8,p4,s4--,some one sent us a paper      
entitled #8,the ,alamode ,beef ,shop4'  
,i  think he ought to have a note       
stating that he has been anticipated1   
and  that we do not allude to politics4 
,i would keep that #8,traveller's       
,story'  99 back4 ,we can find some     
other trick to finish it with4 ,you may 
use the  #8,hot ,water' in the #8,chat' 
if you like4 ,i think also we had better
 omit  those ,t-total cuts2 they would  
come in well with the ,confessions of a 

,t-totaler80         99 8,travellers'   
,stories1 or ,travellers' ,tales1 would 
make a       good heading--a good ,peg40
 ,where ,cruikshank put up a peg        
he was inclined to claim any hat that   
was hung upon it4    ,illustration3 #ccj
      ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4