YALF
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

"If ever you happen to meet with two volumes of Grimm's 'German Stories,'
which were illustrated by Cruikshank long ago, pounce upon them instantly ; the
etchings in them are the finest things, next to Rembrandt's, that, as far as I know,
have been done since etching was invented." — Risk in.
" All British people, even publicans and distillers, we should hope, hare a kindly
feeling for George Cruikshank.' — \V. M. Rosskttl
" Am I stilted or turgid when I paraphrase that ahjcb ]:Y.r.^:z said of Homer and
Milton, in re the Iliad and the Paradise Lost, and say of Hogarth ar:d Cruikshank
that George is not the greatest pictorial humourist our country has seen, only because
he is not the first f" — Sai-a's " Life of William Hogarth.."

]\MJLJ

. ..

THE LIFE

fOF

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

3Jn 'Etoo (Cpocfjg

BY
BLANCHARD JERROLD
AUTHOR OF "LIFE OF DOUGLAS JERROLD," "LIFE OF NAPOLEON III.," ETC.

A NEW EDITION
WITH EIGHTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

JLontron
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1883
[All rights reserved]

S\2

DeDicatton.
TO GUSTAVE DOR&.
My dear Dosti,
When some five-and-twenty years ago we
were waiting together, at Boulogne, for the arrival of
the Queen, who was on her way to Paris, we spent
an evening at the hotel with the late Herbert Ingram,
for whom we had undertaken — you to illustrate, and
I to describe — the pageant for the " Illustrated London
News." It was a pleasant evening, closed by a long
moonlight ramble on the sands. While we talked,
you filled a vast sheet of paper with a medley of
fancies, squibs, caricatures, and satires, in which public
events were jumbled with private jokes ; while the great
folk, of whose doings we were the chroniclers, were
marshalled in procession with our humble selves. I
remember the astonishment expressed on Ingram's face
when, as we were leaving for our walk and cigar, he
glanced over your shoulder at the hosts with which you

Vi DEDICATION.
had peopled the broad page before you. It mas a
prodigious tour de force, — so curious and complete an
emanation of the humorous and satirical part of your
genius, that I pardon Ingram for having decamped
with it on the morrow morning before ne were up.
It is the remembrance of all that sheet contained
which has led me to dedicate this record of our friend
George Cruikshank 's life and work to you. Poring
over his etchings and wood drawings, my mind has
constantly reverted to your work of the Rabelais,
Wandering Jew, and Contes Drolatiques period ; and
I have perceived a strong affinity between one aspect
of your genius and that of "the inimitable George."
It is to the illustrious illustrator of Rabelais and
qf Dante that I dedicate these disjecta membra of a
life of the illustrator of Grimm, of Oliver Twist, and
of Shakespeare's Falstaff.
Accept it, my dear Dore, as a tribute to your qenius,
but also as a public acknowledgment of your sterling
qualities as a friend and of your rare aifts as an
intellectua I companion.
B LAM HARD JERROLD.
Nnr Year's Day, 1882.

PKEFACE.
In the following pages I have endeavoured to present
George Cruikshank to the reader — not only as he lived
and moved and worked, but also in the light in which
he was held by his many friends and his distinguished
critics. The artist has been warned by the poet that
he should "rest in art." Cruikshank was not of
those who needed the warning. He remained heart
and soul in his creative work throughout a long
career, content to live modestly, and to rest his claim
to the respect of the world upon his labours. If his
indefatigable industry failed to bring him the fortune
which fashion now lavishes upon his inferiors, he was
consoled by the fervid admiration of such critics as
Thackeray and Buskin, and other distinguished con
temporaries, whose opinions on his genius I have

viii PREFACE.
freely given, as the best aids to a thorough estimate
of him as an artist.
These pages should be accepted as memoires pour
servir as material towards a just judgment of
the artist and the man. I am indebted to George
Cruikshank's friends for many personal anecdotes,
and to my own recollections of him, ranging from
my boyhood to his death, for the general outline
of the " dear old George," whose humour and eccen
tricity delighted Dickens, Douglas Jerrold, Thackeray,
and their friends for many years. I am indebted to
the late Charles Landseer, to Mr. Frederick Locker,
the late Mr. W. H. Wills (co-editor with Dickens
of Household Words and All the Year Round), Mr.
Percival Leigh, the only survivor of the original con
tributors to Punch, Mr. George Augustus Sala, Mr,
Austin Dobson, Dr. B. W. Richardson, Mr. Georsre
Frederick Pardon, the Into Mr. Gruneisen, Mr. Percy
Cruikshank, Cuthbert Beile, and many others, including
the gentlemen with whom Cruikshank's temperance

PREFACE. ix
campaign brought him in contact towards the close of
his life.
As a tribute to the genius of Cruikshank, the late
Gustave Dore contributed to the first edition of this
book a drawing, called by him The Gin-Fiend. This
drawing now forms the frontispiece to " Epoch II."
(page 237), and will remind the hosts of English
admirers of the illustrious French painter, sculptor,
and illustrator, of the time when he produced the
Contes Drolatiques and the Wandering Jew.

CONTENTS.
EPOCH I. 1792— 1847.
CHAPTER I. tage
TWO EPOCHS  1
CHAPTER II.
FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK  5
CHAPTER III.
CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS ... . . 25
CHAPTER IV.
CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. . . 43
CHAPTER V.
"LIFE IN LONDON," "LIFE IN PARIS," "POINTS OF
HUMOUR," ETC  74
CHAPTER VI.
HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK  103
CHAPTER VII.
"THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT" . . . • 1 23

xu CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII. PAGE
"SKETCHES BY B0Z," "OLIVER TWIST," AND "THE LIFE
OF GRIMALDI"  !37
CHAPTER IX.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO HARRISON AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES 1 59
CHAPTER X.
"THE OMNIBUS"  182

CHAPTER XI.
' THE COMIC ALMANACK " .

189

CHAPTER XII.
"LORD BATEMAN" AND "THE TABLE BOOK". . . 203
CHAPTER XIII.
CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS . .216

EPOCH II. 1848 — 1878.
CHAPTER I.
AT GILLRAV'S GRAVF . CHAPTER II.
"THE BOTTLE" . CHAPTER III.
GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER
CHAPTER IV.
'THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS".

24S

27S

CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER V. page
"FRAUDS ON THE FAIRIES" AND "WHOLE HOGS" . 302
CHAPTER VI.
"A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER". .... 319
CHAPTER VII.
CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS . . . .329
CHAPTER VIII.
THE END  344
APPENDIX I.
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS ILLUSTRATED BY
GEORGE CRUIKSHANK  347
APPENDIX II.
CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF "THE WORSHIP OF
BACCHUS"  377

INDEX.

386

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

George Cruikshank, by Daniel Maclise

Frontispiece

From " Our Own Times "

. Vignette

Flying Dustmen

5

ii
Three Months after Marriage
2-1
Dominie Sampson
2J
' ' Shillahoo ! Who durst tread upon that ? "
32
Going off by itself ....
36
Spirits of Wine 
+2
Emerald cut Emerald .
43
Mr. Cadwallader shouting " Murder
.
54
Illustration to " The Doctor "
.
S«
Bank Restriction Note
to fact page
60
" Faded appetite resign'd the victim" .
6c
The First Gentleman . ...
.
63
to fact page
67
Hone and Cruikshank . . . .
.
73
90
102
103
The Giant Bolster . . .
to face page
III
Giles Scroggins and Molly Brown
H7
The Three Thimbles ; and Michael in Search of
his Wife tofacef-.ifc
118
130
The Old Commodore .
121
122
Bat Boroo and the Bull
I23
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv
PAGE
A Dog that killed his own Mutton  125
The Counterpart Cousins ...  126
A Mushroom Aristocrat .... .... 128
Habbakuk Bulwrinkle  130
' ' I thought it was right "  131
" Here is the book I prayed for" ; "It would have made a stoic
smile "  to face page 131
From " Mirth and Morality "  132
From Anstey's " New Bath Guide " .... to face page 132
Under the Thumb  136
From " Angelo's Pic-Nic "  to face page 136
Grimaldi loses his Bet ... . . to face page 158
The Dustman's Cart ....  159
Turpin's Ride to York  to face page 163
" Never mind the weight of it "  181
Letter to Laman Blanchard  to face page 182
Shaking a Doctor  188
Fighting a Pint Pot . .... . 189
Judicium Astrologicum  . . 190
The Cold Water Cure  to face page 190
Greenwich Park  191
Guy Fawkes treated Classically 
Father Mathew . 
' ' My wife is a woman of mind " 
Bora a Genius and born a Dwarf 
Vox Multorum, Vox Stultorum  201
A Shirt Case  v  2°2
Lord B—  spurning the World  203
Copy of an Ancient Seal  204
The Outlaw's Burial  to face page 208
The Glass of Fashion  2°9
The Triumph of Cupid  to face page 210
Linked sweetness long drawn out  2I3
Washing-Houses for the Poor  2I4
The Witch's Switch  2IS
A Family and their Boots  to face page 215

194197 199
200

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

A small Music Party  2l6
A Watch that won't go  236
The Gin Fiend, from a Drawing by Gustave Dore . to face page 237
Mrs. Humphrey's Window  238
Sunday in London  2*1
Keeping the Peace  ... 247
The Cat watering the Gooseberry Trees  255
Total Abstainers' Meeting, Sadler's Wells Theatre . to face page srjj
Fairy Revenge ....  282
La Bagatelle  to face page 294
How to discharge a Waiter.  295
" Kim hep, ye varmint ! "  301
Saturday Night at Sea  to face page 303
The Four Mighty Servants  304
" Move on, there I" ....  318
A Bear Ward, rogue and vagabond  328
" I'll ride thee like a mare o' th' night " . .... 329
The Rose and the Lily  to face page 331
Antagonism of Interest  340

THE

Life of George Cruikshank.

EPOCH I. 1792—1847.
CHAPTER I.
TWO EPOCHS.
"As a boy," Thackeray said of his friend George
Cruikshank, "he began to fight for bread,* has been
hungry (twice a-day, we trust) ever since, and has
been obliged to sell his wit for his bread week by
week. And his wit, sterling gold as it is, will find no
such, purchasers as the fashionable painter's thin pinch
beck, who can live comfortably for six weeks when
paid for painting a portrait, and fancies his mind pro
digiously occupied all the while. There was an artist in
* George Cruikshank never felt the pinch of poverty. His
family, of which his careful mother was the head, were never in
want. It was a plain household, much disturbed, it mast be
said, by the intemperate habits of the father, as well as of the
two sons, boisterous and bibulous young men who fell into
scores of scrapes. But bed and board were always .easily at
command ; and George made money enough for his pleasures
even when he was drawing wood-blocks for Hone at ten
shillings and sixpence each. He could execute two or three
in the course of a day. 1

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

Paris— an artist hairdresser— who used to be fatigued
and take restoratives after inventing a new coiflure.
By no such gentle operation of head-dressing has
Cruikshank lived. Time was (we are told so in print)
when for a picture with thirty heads in it, he was paid
three guineas— a poor week's pittance truly, and a dire
week's labour. We make no doubt that the same
labour would at present* bring him twenty times the
sum ; but whether it be ill paid or well, what labour
has Mr. Cruikshank's been ! Week by week, for
thirty years, to produce something new — some smiling
offspring of painful labour, quite independent and dis
tinct from its ten thou-and jovial brethren ; in what
hours of sorrow and ill-health to be told by the world,
' Make us laugh, or you starve — give us fresh fun ; we
have eaten up the old, and are hungry ! ' And all this
has he been obliged to do— to wring laughter day by-
day, sometimes, perhaps, out of want; often, certainly,
from ill-health or depression — to keep the fire of his
brain perpetually alight, for the Lrreedy public will
give it no leisure to cool. This he has done, and done
well." More than forty j-ears ago Thackeray was asto
nished at the many years of labour already performed
by this "indefatigable man," and exclaimed, "What
amazing energetic fecundity do we find in him ! "
The author of "Vanity Fair" was not often carried
away by his emotion, hut in the presence of the fire
of his friend's genius he warmed to an unwonted heat

* This passage is extracted from an article on Cruikshank,
written by Thackeray, in the Wcstmmater RtX'ietp (1840) ; an
article to which he frequently referred as having given him
great pleasure in the writing.

TWO EPOCHS.

'' He has told a thousand truths in as many strange
and fascinating ways ; he has given a thousand new
and pleasant thoughts to millions of people ; he has
never used his wit dishonestly ; he has never, in all
the exuberance of his frolicsome humour, caused a single
painful or guilty blush."
And yet, in 1840, George Cruikshank was not quite
midway on his career ! Only the first great epoch
of his life was drawing to a close. For the life of
Cruikshank is broadly divisible into two epochs ; the
first, extending from his birth to 1847, when he
became a total abstainer ; the second, reaching from
the vear when he came to the conclusion (to use
his own words upon the title-page of the small
edition of "The Bottle'") that "it was of no
use preaching without setting an example," to his
death. In order to put the entire man before the world,
it is necessary to deal as thoroughly with the first
epoch of his life as with the second. Nay, it is only
on this condition that the writer can make the whole
deserts of this singular British worthy manifest. The
present generation are familiar merely with the George
Cruikshank of the last thirty years. But his course
stretched through three generations of his fellow-men.
The public who knew the Cruikshank of the Regency,
of the Reform Bill, and of the dawn of the VictoriaD
epoch, had ceased to laugh or weep, to take notes
and criticise, when the veteran artist summoned his
fellow-countrymen to inspect his " Triumph of Bacchus."
Cruikshank, the frolicsome, many-sided caricaturist,
who worked with Hone and others as a political and
sjcial reformer ; who gave the world an annual hearty

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

laugh for many years in his Comic Almanack ; and who
gaily drove his Omnibus with that refined and poetic
humourist, Laman Blanchard ; was a roysterer, fond of
the pleasures of the world, given to jovial parties, the
centre of a group of boon companions, and a man who
passed many painful morrow mornings. But, as his
friend Thackeray, who spent many a lively evening
with him, bears witness, Cruikshank, after his wild
youth was passed, seldom overstepped the bounds of
modesty, and never gave the influence of his genius to
a cause in which he was not a heart-and-soul believer.
From the earliest of his " years of discretion " he used
his rare gifts as a sacred trust, and never allowed
hopes of fortune to tempt him out of the simple ways
of plain living and high thinking.
The Cruikshank of our later day — of his second
epoch — will gain only in dignity by a knowledge of
him in his youth. We shall learn all he resisted;
how heroically he battled with himself; and with
what success, while he purged his life of its grossness,
he kept his heart free from asceticism ; how the boy
lived and laughed, in short, in the hale and hearty old
man, even when he had solemnly dedicated his genius
to a cause, the triumph of which he believed to be the
only foundation of a pure and prosperous society.

Flying dustmen.— From " More Mornings at Bow Street."

CHAPTER II.

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK.

The history of caricature in England travels very
little beyond George Cruikshank's lifetime. The
very word caricatura, used by Sir Thomas Browne
in his "Christian Morals," and transplanted to the
Spectator, 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 genius. It flourished in Germany, — nay,
may be said to have been born there, during the
Renaissance. The Reformation gave it its first
great impulse, under the hand of Lucas Cranach.
From Germany it travelled to France, thence to
Holland, and from Holland to England. The famous
caricaturists, however, are not many. Cranach
Peter Breughel, Jacques Callot — but particularly the
last — may be noted as caricaturists who made the
way for our Hogarth, for the Spaniard Goya (a

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

caricaturist of infinite humour), and so for Gillray,
Rowlandson, Daumier, the Cruikshanks, Leech, and
the elder Doyle. Our earliest caricaturists came over
to us from the French and Dutch schools ; and they
flourished (albeit their names are forgotten now) until
the genius of Hogarth rose, and founded a British
school of caricature, racy of the soil. The names of
John Collet, Paul Sandby, Bunbury, and Woodward,
were famous in their day ; but they were destined to
be eclipsed by the glory of James Gillray and the lesser
light of Rowlandson; and these two, with Goya in
Spain, and the renowned Daumier in France, represent
the power which caricature exercised in the political
world at the close of the last and in the early days
of the present century.
A writer in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica"* has
remarked of the rise of George Cruikshank, " The
satirical grotesque of the eighteenth century had been
characterised by a sort of grandiose brutality, by a
certain vigorous obscenity, by a violence of expression
and intention, that appear monstrous in these days of
reserve and restraint, but that doubtless sorted well
enough with the strong party feelings and fierce poli
tical passions of the age. After the downfall of
Napoleon (1815), however, when strife was over, and
men were weary and satisfied, a change in matter
and manner came over the caricature of the period
In connection with this change, the name of George
Cruikshank, an artist who stretches hands on the one
side towards Hogarth and Gillray, and on the other
towards Leech and Tenniel, deserves honourable men-

Ninth edition (vol v., 1870, p. 105).

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. J
. tion. Cruikshank's political caricatures, some of which
were designed for the squibs of William Hone, are,
compai'atively speaking, uninteresting ; his ambition
was akin to that of Hogarth — the production of
'moral comedies.'
In an admirable article on the work and career
of George Cruikshank, by Mr. John Paget, published
in Blackwood (August 1863), an interesting passage
occurs, showing how the link of historical caricature
passed unbroken from the hands of Gillray to those
of George Cruikshank.
"The political series of his (Gillray's) caricatures
commences in the year 1782, shortly before the coali
tion between Fox and Lord North, and continues until
1810. It comprises not less than four hundred plates,
giving an average of about fourteen for each year.
When it is remembered that this period commences
with the recognition of the independence of the United
States ; that it extends over the whole of the French
Revolution, and a considerable portion of the Empire ;
that it comprises the careers of Pitt, Fox, Burke,
Sheridan, Windham, Erskine, and Lord Thurlow,
and comes down to the times of Castlereagh, Canning,
Lord Grey, and Sir Francis Burdett, and that the
aspect of every actor who played any conspicuous
part during that period is faithfully preserved 'in
his habit, as he lived,' his gesture and demeanour,
his gait, his mode of sitting and walking, his action
in. speaking — all, except the tone of his voice, pre
sented 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 Gillray.
"Nor is this all. He has given to us with equal

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

fidelity the portraits of those actors who fill up the
scene, who sustain the underplot of the comedy of
life, but have only a secondary share, if any, in the
main action of the drama Nor was he simply a
caricaturist. That he possessed the higher qualities
of genius— imagination, fancy, and considerable tragic
power — is abundantly shown by many of his larger
and more important etchings, whilst a small figure
of the unhappy Duchess of York, published in 17'."»2,
under the feigned signature of Charlotte Zethin,
gives proof that he was not wanting in tenderness
or grace.
" Of those who appear in the etchings of Gillray,
the last has passed away from amongst us within
a year of the present time. The figure of an old
man, somewhat below the middle height, the most
remarkable feature in whose face consisted of his dark
overhanging eyebrows, habited in a loose blue coat
with metal buttons, grey trousers, white stockings,
and a thick pair of boots, walking leisurely along
Pall Mall or St. James's Street, was familiar to many
of our readers. The Marquess of Lansdowne (then
Lord Hemy Petty) appears for the first time in
Gillray 's prints in the year 180.5 ; and it is not
difiicult to trace a resemblance between the youthful
(Chancellor of the Exchequer of more than half a
century ago, and the Nestor of the Whigs, who
survived more than three generations of politicians.
The personal history of Gillray was a melancholy one.
In ISO!) his pencil showed no want of vigour, but
his intellect shortly afterwards gave way under the
effect of intemperate habits. The last of his works
was " A Barber's Shop in Assize-time," etched from

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK.

a drawing by Harry Bunbury in 1811. In four years
more — years of misery and madness — he slept in the
churchyard of St. James's, Piccadilly. A fiat stone
marks the resting-place, and records the genius, of
' Mr. James Gillray, the caricaturist, who departed
this life June 1st, 181 5, aged 58 years.'
"At the time of the death of Gillray, George Cruik
shank was a young man of about three-and-twenty
years of age. Sir Francis Burdett was a prominent
figure in many of Gillray's latest caricatures in the
year 1809. One of the earliest of George Cruikshank's
represents the arrest of the Baronet under the
warrant of the Speaker in 1810. The series is thus
taken up without the omission of even a single link."
The same writer distinguishes justly between the
two political caricaturists. In his early work Cruik
shank often so closely resembles Gillray, that it is
difficult to say in what minor points he is dissimilar ;
but a study of the political work of the two will
show that Gillray was the more vigorous of the pair,
also the more audacious and unscrupulous. 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 in which
no man before or since has ever approached the
great Master of Political Caricature. In another,
requiring more refined, more subtle, more intellec
tual qualities of mind, George Cruikshank stands
pre-eminent, not only above Gillray, but above all
other artists. He is the most perfect master of in
dividual expression that ever handled a pencil or an
etching-needle. This talent is equally shown in his
earliest as in his latest works. Of the former, one

IO THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

of the finest examples is the first cut of the ' Queen's
Matrimonial Ladder,' entitled 'Qualification.' The
attitude was probably suggested by Gillray 's plate of
the same illustrious personage, as 'A Voluptuary
suffering from the Horrors of Indigestion.' But here
the superiority of Cruikshank over Gillray in this
particular quality is at once apparent. Gillray 's is a
finished copper-plate engraving, Cruikshank's a shght
woodcut, but there is not a line that does not tell
its stoiy. Down to the very tips of his fingers the
unhappy debauchee is 'fuddled.' The exact stage
of drunkenness is marked and noted down in the
corners of the mouth and eyes, and the impotent
elevation of the eyebrow."
Cruikshank was a very young man when Gillray
gave way to drunkenness, and sank under it His
last work appeared in 1811.*
Mr. Ruskin, in his Appendix to his " Modern
Painters" on "Modern Grotesque,' insists that "all
the real masters of caricature deserve honour in this
respect, that their gift is peculiarly their own — innate
and incommunicable. No teaching, no hard study,
0 " Gillray 's character affords a sad example of the reckless
imprudence that too frequently accompanies talent and genius.
For many years he resided in the house of his publisher, Mrs.
Humphrey, by whom he was most hberally supplied with every
indulgence ; during this time he produeed nearly all his most
celebrated works, which were bought up with unparalleled
eagerness, and circulated not only over all England, but most
parts of Europe. Though under a positive engagement not to
work for any other publisher, yet so great was his insatiable
ilesiro for strong liquors, that he often etched plates for un
scrupulous persons, cleverly disguising his stylo and handling."
— liobirt Chambers' Book of Days, vol. i., p. 7 '24.

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK.

II

will ever enable other people to equal, in their several
ways, the works of Leech or Cruikshank ; whereas the
power of pure drawing is communicable, within cer
tain limits, to every one who has good sight and in
dustry. I do not, indeed, know how far, by devoting
the attention to points of character, caricaturist skill
may be laboriously attained ; but certainly the power

Moving off with the Mme.— From "More Mornings at Bow Street."

is, in the masters of the school, innate from their
childhood, "Further. It is evident that many subjects of
thought may be dealt with by this kind of art, which
are inapproachable by any other, and that its in
fluence over the popular mind must always be great ;
hence it may often happen that men of strong pur
pose may rather express themselves in this way (and
continue to make such expression a matter of earnest
study), than turn to any less influential, though more
dignified, or even more intrinsically meritorious, branch

12 THE- LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
of art. And when the powers of quaint fancy are
associated (as is frequently the case) with stern un
derstanding of the nature of evil, and tender human
sympathy, there results a bitter or pathetic spirit of
grotesque, to which mankind at the present day owe
more thorough moral teaching than to any branch of
art whatsoever.
" In poetry the temper is seen, in perfect manifes
tation, in the works of Thomas Hood; in art it is
found both in various works of the Germans — then-
finest and their least thought of; and more or less in
the works of George Cruikshank, and in many of the
illustrations of our popular journals."
In a note, Ruskin adds: "Taken all in all, the
works of Cruikshank have the most sterling value of
any belonging to this class produced in England."
Let us now turn once more to Thackeray's admir
able estimate of his old friend : —
" We have heard very profound persons talk philo
sophically of the marvellous and mysterious manner
in which he has suited himself to the time— fait vibrer
la fibre populaire (as Napoleon' boasted of himself),
supplied a pecuhar want felt at a pecuhar period, the
simple secret of which is, as we take it, that he, hving
amongst the public, has with them a general wide-
hearted sympathy ; that he laughs at what they laugh
at; that he has a kindly spirit of enjoyment, with not
a morsel of mysticism in his composition; that he
pities and loves the poor, and jokes at the follies of the
great; and that ho addresses all in a perfectly sincere
and manly way. To be greatly successful as a profes-
s.onal humourist, as in any other calling, a man must
bo qmto honest, and show that his heart is in his

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 13
work. A bad preacher will get admiration and a
hearing wifh this point in his favour, where a man
with three times his acquirements will only find indif
ference and coldness. Is any man more remarkable
than our artist for telling the truth after his own
manner ? Hogarth's honesty of purpose was as con
spicuous in an earlier time, and we fancy that Gillray
would have been far more successful and more
powerful, but for that unhappy bribe, which turned the
whole course of his humour into an unnatural channel.
Cruikshank would not for any bribe say what he did
not think, or lend his aid to sneer down anything
meritorious, or to praise any thing or person that
deserved censure. When he levelled his wit against
the Regent, and did his very prettiest for the Princess,
he most certainly beheved, along with the great body
of the people whom he represents, that, the Princess
was the most spotless, pure-mannered darling of a
Princess that ever married a heartless debauchee of a
Prince Royal. Did not miUions believe with him, and
noble and learned lords take their oaths to her Royal
Highness' s innocence ? Cruikshank would not stand
by and see a woman ill-used, and so struck in for her
rescue, he and the people belabouring with all their
might the party who were making the attack, and
determining, from pure sympathy and indignation,
that the woman must be innocent because her husband
treated her so foully.
"To be sure, we have never heard so much from Mr,
Cruikshank's own lips, but any man who will examine
these odd drawings, which first made him famous, will
see what an honest, hearty hatred the champion oi
woman has for all who abuse her, and will admire the

14 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

energy with which he flings his wood-blocks at all
who side against her."*
Thackeray dwells lovingly on Cruikshank's success
as a delineator of children and the humours of child
hood ; and particularly on his inimitable illustrations
to children's books. This is Cruikshank's own king
dom, by a right of genius which none can dispute.
" How," exclaims Thackeray, " shall we enough
praise the dehghtful German nursery tales, and Cruik
shank's illustrations of them ? We coupled his name
with pantomime awhile since, and sure never panto
mimes were more charming than these. Of all the
artists that ever drew, from Michael Angelo upwards
and downwards, Cruikshank was the man to illustrate
these tales, and give them just the proper admixture
of the grotesque, the wonderful, and the graceful."
And further on the author of " Vanity Fair " exclaims :
"Look at one of Mr. Cruikshank's works, and we
pronounce him an excellent humourist. Look at all,
his reputation is increased by a kind of geometri
cal progression, as a whole diamond is a hundred
times more valuable than the hundred splinters
into which it might be broken would be. A fine
rough English diamond is this about which we have
been writing."
And so Thackeray concludes a paper on his friend,
whom he had not forgotten many years after when
the artist exhibited the " Triumph of Bacchus."
Let us now glance at the childhood and early man
hood of this famous Englishman. We shall see that
he owed nothing- to Fortune. The coarse and danger-

Westmvuter Revieic 1840.

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 15
ous school of obscurity was his. The splendid powers
which he had received from nature, if they grew wild,
grew strong also. He was the son of Isaac Cruik
shank, a struggling Scotch artist, who never won high
fame nor commanded rich rewards; but who was a
fair painter in water-colours and a successful grotesque
etcher, when the satirical grotesque was a marketable
produce. Isaac Cruikshank * was the son of a Low-
lander, who held at one time an appointment in the
Customs at Leith. He married the daughter of a
naval officer — a Highlander from Inveraray, according
to Dr. Charles Mackay ; to whom George Cruikshank-
often declared that although he had the misfortune to
be born in London, his blood was a mixture of the
Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. He boasted
that his grandfather had fought at Culloden, and had
become thereby impoverished. The child of a Low
land father, and of a stern, resolute Highland mother ;
bred in London, with London streets for the fairyland
of his young imagination ; inured as a child to task
work in that busy house, or factory, in Dorset Street ;
and his boyhood cast in the days of great deeds and
momentous events calculated to stir his blood to fever
heat ; the genius of George Cruikshank budded and
blossomed betimes. His first pencilling is dated 1799 :
it was executed in his seventh year ! It may be said
that his baby fingers played with the graving tool.
While a boy, he illustrated children's penny books for
9 The Cruikshanks belonged to Aberdeenshire, where they are
still a numerous sept. Probably some branches of them may be
found in the " Poll-Book of Aberdeenshire." "William Cruik
shank, a celebrated anatomist, flourished in Edinburgh toward
the close of last century.

1 6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

the children's publisher, James Wallis, as well as comic
valentines, and Twelfth Night characters, for Chappell,
the then publisher of London Cries, and for Knight,
Baldwin, and others.
Isaac Cruikshank, his father, was, as I have said, a
fairly-known water-colour painter and etcher of popular
subjects. Lottery tickets were his " pot-boilers " —
for there was a steady demand for designs for these.
But with poorer skill than his gifted son, he fed the
popular appetite for pictures of the time. A grim
outline of the guillotine, a cramped representation of
the execution of Louis XVI. in 1793, were among
the sterner subjects to which his name is attached.
''Isaac Cruikshank," says Mr. Wright, "was among
the most active " and certainly he was the most success
ful, of the " caricaturists of the beginning of the present
century ; " and he adds, that Isaac's works were equal
to those of any of his contemporaries, after Gillray and
Rowlandson. " One of the earliest examples, bearing
the well-known initials I. C, was published on the
10th of March, 1794." Mr. Wright is mistaken in
saying that this was the year of George's birth; for
George was then two years old. Isaac published many
plates that made a noise in the world, as " The Royal
Extinguisher " (1795), in which Pitt is represented put
ting out the flame of Sedition; " Billy's Raree-Show;"
Fox as "The Watchman of the State";" aud " A Flight
across the Herring Pond," published in 1800* Mr.

England and Ireland ore separated by a rough sea, over
which a crowd of Irish " patriots " are flying, allured by the
prospect of honours and rewards. On the Irish shore a.
few wretched natives, with a baby and a dog, are in an
attitude of prayer, expostulating with the fugitives. . On

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 17

Wright says : " The latest caricature I possess, bearing
the initials of Isaac Cruikshank, was published by
Fores, on the 19th of April, 1810, and is entitled ' The
Last Grand Ministerial Expedition.' The subject is the
riot on the arrest of Sir Francis Burdett, and it shows
that Cruikshank was at that time caricaturing on the
Radical side in politics."
Isaac Cruikshank, after his establishment in London,
married Miss Mary MacNaughton, a young Scottish
lady from Perth, whose family owned a small property
there. Her parents dying young, she was brought
up by the Countess of Orkney, from whojn she con
cealed her marriage with an artist, as a misalliance
the Countess would not approve. Mrs. Cruikshank
was a lady of strong will and temper, while Isaac,
her husband, was of quiet, meditative temperament.
Robert, the eldest son of the marriage, was like his
father, while George showed the hot head and impe
rious temper of his mother.*
Isaac Cruikshank was living in Duke Street, Blooms-
bury, when his two sons Isaac Robert and George
were born,. the latter on the 27th of September, 1792,
the former on the same date in 1789. While the boys
were in their early infancy, the family removed to

the English shore, Pitt is holding open the " Imperial Pouch,''
and welcoming them. — Wright's History of Caricature and
Grotesque. c The daughter, Eliza, inherited the family skill in drawing.
She designed the well-known caricature of the Four Prues —
High Prue, Low Prue, Half Prue, and Full Prue, which was
etched by her brother George in his boldest style. She died
young of consumption. 2

1 8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

117, Dorset Street, Salisbury Square, a house commo
dious enough for the admission of lodgers, one of whom
was Mungo Park. Among the constant visitors were
Dr. Pettigrew, the family doctor (known afterwards as
Mummy Pettigrew), and George Dawe, R.A., to whom
Isaac Cruikshank had given lessons as a poor boy. It
was a busy establishment. Isaac Cruikshank worked at
his etchingson copper, while his wife coloured the plates,
pressing her two boys into the service at a very early
age. This Maiy Cruikshank, if a hot-tempered, was a
frugal and industrious wife, and an excellent mother.
She used to boast how she had managed to save a
thousand pounds, and at the same time to bring up
her children in God-fearing ways Haying her hand
on her Bible, she said she knew Jerusalem as well as
she knew Camden Town), sending them regularly to
the Scotch Church in Crown Court, Drury Lane. She
was a trifle too strict and serious, according to her
husband ; and often when the clergyman from Crown
Court was coming to spend the evening, he would
escape to the Ben Jonson Tavern in Shoe Lane, where
he is said to have spent more time than was good for
him. Her boys used to relate, as illustrative of their
mother's " Highland temper," that on one occasion,
when a tradesman had sent her two bad ee>Ts, she told
them to return with them and " throw them at the
rascal's head." This command was oboved to the
letter, to the great delight of the pugnacious young
sters. The two brothers were educated at an elementary
school at Edgeware, but they were very early cast
into the rude business of life. Robert went to sea as a
midshipman in the East India Company's service, his

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 19
head full of the wonderful stories he had heard from
his mother's lodger, Mungo Park.
He made only one voyage. On his way home
having gone on shore at St. Helena in command of a
boat's crew, and a storm having suddenly arisen, he
was left behind, and reported to be lost. He was
passed home in a whaler, after having endured severe
privations on the island; and would relate that the
only noteworthy incident of the homeward voyage
was the sneaking with a vessel which gave the news
of the battle of Trafalgar. When he presented- him
self in Dorset Street, Salisbury Square, he was aston
ished at the frantic excitement of his brother George
on opening the door. The family were in mourning
for him.
The elder brother found that George had made
wonderful progress in his art in the three years during
which he had been at sea. Robert had meantime
lost ground as an artist, and had contracted bad
habits. Isaac Cruikshank was at this time etching
theatrical portraits and scenes for a publisher named
Roach, who dwelt in Vinegar Yard, Drury Lane.
This connection drew the two sons into an acquaint
ance with Edmund Kean, then an obscure player,
and the three got up an amateur performance of
"Blue Beard" in Roach's kitchen, Kean taking the
principal part, Robert and George Cruikshank play
ing the two brothers, and Miss Roach appearing as
Fatima. The copper was the tyrant's castle.*
* In 1855, shortly before his death, Eobert Cruikshank made
a water-colour sketch of the scene, for a life of Edmund Kean,
projected, but never written, by Mr. Michael Nugent, a Times
parliamentary reporter.

20 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

The Cruikshanks— but particularly Robert— remained
on intimate terms with Kean after he had become
famous. The tragedian, on one occasion, to divert
them, threw somersaults on the stage of Drury Lane
after playing Richard. Robert drew portraits of
Kean in most of his characters*
On the death of their father the two brothers kept
on the house in Dorset Street, working together, with
their mother and sister. They had, after the death
of Gillray, the command of the whole field of cari
cature, supplying nearly all those coloured etchings
on copper, on the subjects of the day, which drew
crowds about the print-sellers' windows. They were
the rough forerunners of H. B.'s pencillings and of
Leech's cartoons in Punch. The prize-fighter in
those days was the popular idol ; and the most
notorious " bruisers " found their way to the Cruik
shank studio on the second floor in Dorset Street, to
stand for their portraits. The Cruikshank brothers
were not particular as to sitters, even to murderers.^
It was a strange workroom, decorated with the
most incongruous ornaments. An undergraduate's cap
(the spoil of a town-and-gown riot) upon a human
skull with a pipe between the teeth, a sou'wester from
Margate, boxing gloves, foils, masks, and weapons of
all kinds, proclaimed the wild tastes of the two artists,
who generally invited their guests to a bout with the
gloves. Both brothers were expert boxers, but George

* At the sale of Mr. Lacy's Theatrical Library, Robert
Cruikshank's theatrical portraits in water-colours fetched £'200.
t Tho portrait of Elizabeth Fenning, by I. R. Cruikshank,
takon in Newgate, is a very coarse work.

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 2I
had cultivated the science under a distinguished pro
fessor more assiduously than Robert. It was in one
of his bouts with this professor that George received
a blow on his nose, which, with other taps on the
same point, fixed that feature awry for the remainder
of his life.
To this strange studio rough old Ackermann, Fores
of Piccadilly, and Johnny Fairburn of the Broadway,
Ludgate Hill, came with plentiful commissions for
both brothers. When Robert was in want of money
and expected Johnny, he placed an empty purse upon
the mantelpiece, marked " unfurnished," and the good-
natured old printseller would take it up and replenish
it. When Robert married, the family removed to
King Street, Holborn ; and it was here that the elder
brother contrived to get sittings, through a keyhole,
of old Mrs. Garrick, in her ninetieth year, while she
was paying visits to her friend Miss Cotherly, one of
prudent Mrs. Cruikshank's lodgers. The result was a
finished, full-length etching upon copper, with the face
carefully stippled. It was in portraiture that Robert
excelled ; and to this branch of his art he devoted him
self. When at the height of his success he removed to
St. James's Place, St. James's Street, where he estab
lished himself as a fashionable artist, carrying on, at
the same time, his work as a caricaturist and illus
trator* George, on parting from his brother, went to
a He was, according to his son, " still the pink of fashion, even
to designing a hat, a block for which was made at a cost of three
guineas, while all other details of costume were treated regard
less of cost." George Hibbert commissioned Robert to execute
a set of etchings for the Roxburghe Club, at his own price, from
one of Boccaccio's tales in the ' Decameron.' ' Sixty copies were

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

live with his mother and sister in Claremont Square,
Pentonville. On his marriage he removed only a few
doors from his old residence, and at 22 and 23, Am well
Street, he remained during the thirty most brilliaut
years of his life,* as the addresses on some of his
best work attest.
When he had, in part, emancipated himself from
the bibulous boon companions of his youth, George
fell into a regular system of hard work. He break
fasted punctually at eight o'clock, after which he
smoked a pipe, and went to work at nine. When
biting in plates, he would smoke more in the course
of the morning to drive away the fumes of the acid.
At twelve he lunched, and then resumed work until
three o'clock, when he dined. After dinner he sat,
with a jug of porter before him, enjoying his pipe,
and talking with any friend who dropped in. His
visitors were many. At five he drank tea, and then
worked again from six o'clock till nine, when supper
concluded the labour of the day, and was tlie pre
liminary to pipes and grog.
The establishment in Amwell Street was strength-
ened, soon after its establishment, by the addition of
one Joseph Sleap, the son of the Finchley carrier.
Joe was as eccentric as his master. Originally em
ployed as a help in the kitchen and a page in the
printed, and the plates were destroyed. The English £j»i. illus
trated by Robert at this time, was edited by Charles Molloy
Wostmacot, said to bo the son of a sweep in Newcastle Court,
Strand, named Molloy. Westuuu-ot ultimately became the owner
of the Age newspaper.
0 His mother went to live at Finchley, and died at the age
of ninety.

FROM CRANACH TO CRUIKSHANK. 23

parlour, he at once began to devour any book that
came within his reach. He became a ravenous student
of literature. Then he took to water-colour drawing,
and in the end made sketches from nature in the
neighbourhood (Pentonville was almost in the country
in those days), for which he found a brisk sale. His
abilities soon caused his promotion from the kitchen
to the studio, where he helped to bite in the plates.
His devotion, his artistic skill, and the extraordinary
capacity for storing up knowledge which Joe dis
covered, won his way to George Cruikshank's heart,
and he became his confidential friend. The only
drawback to Joe was his somnolent habits. He was
patient, quiet, undemonstrative — qualities which galled
Cruikshank, whose energy was vehement and sleep
less. "What would I not give for some of your uncle's
devil?" said the carrier's eccentric son to George
Cruikshank's young nephew. But Joe went the
wrong way to work. He became an opium-eater. He
lived and worked, and still read on in a dream. On
Cruikshank's recommendation Joe was employed by
Thackeray, when he etched his own designs, to bite
in. " George/' cried the novelist one day, " Joe
knows a great deal more than you or I."*
* Another of Cruikshank's journeymen, — Sands, the engraver,
who bit in his steel plates for him, — was recommended to
Thackeray. But Sands was a difficult man to deal with, and he
saw dismissed. He rushed to Amwell Street for comfort. He
complained bitterly of the treatment he had received, adding
that Thackeray owed him for a "glass," a "pint," and a "quart."
Cruikshank thought they had been drinking. But the "glass "
was a magnifying one, the " pint " an etching point, and the
" quart " a quarto plate !

24 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Poor Joe's end was a dismal one. He was found
one night dead upon a doorstep, poisoned with an
overdose of his drug !
The exploits of the wild brothers, while the family
lived in Dorset Street, were severely condemned by
their strict mother.* Occasionally she even went the
length of castigating George, when he returned home
in the small hours from fairs or horse-races, or the
prize-ring, far from sober; or when he had been
emulating the exploits of Tom and Jerry with wild
companions. He is described at this early time as
gifted with extraordinary animal spirits, and filled
with a reckless love of adventure, in the dangerous
byways of London. What he saw in these days he
carefully observed and set down. His field of obser
vation stretched from the foot of the gallows to
Greenwich fair; through coal-holes, cider-cellars, cribs,
and prize-fighters' taverns, Petticoat Lane, and Smith->
field. Its centre was Covent Garden market, where
the young bloods drank and sang and fought under
the piazzas, something more than sixty years ago.

* " Take the pencil out of my sons' hands," she used to say,
" and they are a couple of boobies.''

Thrco months nfter mnrrinpc — Thp *r,l,e,»g ring : n symbol of the rinfr
pagilutie.— l''roui '• Moro Mornings at Bow Street."

" Dominie Sampson." Title-page "Vignette to a Chap-book,
" Guy Mannering, or the Astrologer." 1816.

CHAPTER III.

CRUIKSHANK S EARLY DAYS.
Directly Isaac Cruikshank's boys could hold a tool
they appear to have been apprenticed to the father's
art-trade. Robert, the elder, was a spirited worker —
perhaps on a level with his father ; but the handsome
bright-eyed younger son, George, soon gave signs of a
deeper original power of observation, and of surprising
humour and fancy, that drew him away from sire
and brother, and gave him a strong and distinct
individuality. " George " (says Mr. Sala) " had both the Geist and
the Natur-qabe. Long before he was out of jackets
he had learned to draw with facility, symmetry, and

26 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
precision ; and if we recollect right, the collected exhi
bition of his original drawings, shown at Exeter Hall
some years since (1863), comprised some sketches in
pencil of 'Coalies' at the old 'Fox under the Hill,'
executed in 1799. His manner of handling was, at
the first, mainly founded on that of the renowned
Gillray, to whose position as a caricaturist, pohtical
and social, he ultimately succeeded, although he never
exhibited any traces of Gillray 's vices — revolting gross-
ness, and at last a downright madness in delineation,
rivalling that of the pictor ignotus, Wilham Blake."
Without unreservedly endorsing Mr. Sala's opinion
on Gillray and Blake, I hasten to admit that
Cruikshank was, from his manhood onwards, free,
with a few exceptions, from their coarseness and
wildness. Some of his coloured plates in "The
Scourge," dated 1811, forbid the assertion that he
never, even in youth, transgressed the bounds of
modesty. He always had, however, a tenderness and
grace, an earnestness and a lively sympathy, which
were entirely his own. In a few prefatory words to
" A Catalogue of a Selection from the Works of George
Cruikshank, extending over a period of upwards of
sixty years, from 1709 to l.Vio," he said, in his
own whimsical way, " ' The George Cruikshank
Gallery,' as it is called, originated in consequence
of many persons having expressed their belief that
G. C, the caricaturist of former days, was the grand
father of the person who produced the Worship of
Bacchus.' The committee, therefore, who are exhi
biting the 'Worship of Bacchus,' requested to have
some of my early works, in order to show that they
were the production of one and the same person, or

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 27
to prove, in fact, that I am not my own grand
father."* It may be that George Cruikshank was in doubt
sometimes, in the course of his boyhood, as to the
calling or profession he would adopt. We know that
he was inclined towards the stage, and delighted in
acting to the end of his days ; and he was full of
military ardour, as we shall presently see. But he
had little or no time for dreams. He had his daily
bread to win, in his teens, as a designer of " Twelfth
Night Characters'' and "Lottery Tickets," as a rough
illustrator of songs, or pictorial delineator of any
event or exhibition which excited public attention.
He made a drawing of Nelson's funeral car in 1805 ;
in 1809 the O. P. riots at Covent Garden engaged
his pencil. In 1822 he was the popular pictorial
commentator, and his needle touched an extraordinary
variety of subjects, even to the mermaid which
drew crowds in St. James's Street in 1822. His
etching of this " disgusting sort of a compound animal,
which contains in itself everything that is odious

0 One day, while Dr. B. W. Eichardson was engaged at his
house in Hinde Street, with an old patient who had been away
many years in India, George Cruikshank's card was handed to
the doctor. " It must be the grandson, or the son, at any rate,
of the great artist I remember as a boy," said the patient. " It
is impossible the George Cruikshank of Queen Caroline's trial-
time can be alive!" The doctor asked the vivacious George
to come in. He tripped in, in his eighty-fourth year; and
when the old officer expressed his astonishment, George
exclaimed, "I'll show you whether he's alive!" With this
he took the poker and tongs from the grate, laid them upon
the carpet, and executed the sword-dance before Dr. Eichard
son's astonished patient.

28 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

and disagreeable," is to be found reproduced in " The
Book of Days." He even tried his hand at scene-
painting, in the days when his friends Clarkson
Stanfield and David Roberts were at Drury Lane.
" His art in its better developments being essentially
dramatic," Miss Alice Thompson* has truly remarked,
"the love of the actual drama was not wanting. In his
circumstances, however, to become an actor meant to
become a strolling player ; while he was hesitating
about the possibihty of embarking upon such a career,
he obtained a commission to paint a drop-scene for
Drury Lane Theatre, on the stage of which he was
ambitious of appearing. The bit of scene- painting in
question was a caricature of Sir Wilham Curtis, and
the young artist depicted him looking over a bridge,
and did it with so much humour that the picture
' brought down the house.' George Cruikshank's success
in scene-painting led to more employment of the same
kind; he shared, as an artist, the theatrical beginnings
of Stanfield and David Roberts."
George Cruikshank was "soldier-struck" as well
as " stage-struck." He was a pugnacious man. The
Rev. Charles Rogers, who knew him in his old age,
tells me that he used to regret to him that he had
not entered the army. Describing his recollections of
England at the time of the threatened French invasion,
he yives us some of bis military reminiscences and
aspirations as a child, f

* " A Bundle of Rue." George Cruikshank. The Magazine
of Art, March 18S0.
t " A Popgun tired oil by George Cruikshank, in defence of
tho British Volunteers of 1S03, against tho uncivil attack upon
that body by liouoral W. Napier, etc." Illustrated with cuts.

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 2Q

"Great Britain at this time might well be com
pared to the state of a beehive when its inmates
have been disturbed by accident or an intruder ; and
we might quote Dibdin's song of ' The Tight Little
Island,' and say, —
' Buzz was the word of the island.'
Every town was, in fact, a sort of garrison; in one
place you might hear the ' tattoo ' of some youth
learning to beat the drum; at another place some
march or national air being practised upon the fife,
and every morning at five o'clock the bugle-horn
was sounded through the streets, to call the volunteers
to a two hours' drill from six to eight, and the same
again in the evening; and then you heard the pop,
pop, pop, of the single musket, or the heavy sound
of the voUey, or distant thunder of the artillery ; and
then sometimes you heard the ' Park ' and the ' Tower '
guns firing to celebrate some advantage gained over
the enemy. As soon as these volunteers were taught
(by the regulars) how to load and fire, they were set
to practise ' ball firing ;' and when these regiments were
thought to be pretty well instructed in all points, they
were "inspected by general officers ; and if the inspect
ing officer thought them sufficiently advanced, a day
was appointed, and they were marched off to a ' grand
review.' " I was but a boy — a little boy at that time — but I
had a sharp critical eye for all those military move
ments, and used to be much amused at the occasional
blunders of the ' awkward squads ' ; and as I often had
the opportunity of witnessing the regulars ' exercise,'
I judged of and compared the evolutions of 'my

30 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
father's regiment ' by this standard ; and I remember
feeling considerable pride and pleasure when I saw
the ' Loyal St. Giles's and St. George's Bloomsbury
Volunteers' wheel out of the old gate of 'Montague
House ' (then the British Museum, and the site of
the present building), to march to Hyde Park to
be reviewed, where they acquitted themselves in so
soldier-like a manner as to gain the approbation of
the reviewers, and, of course, of themselves.
" When Napoleon I. was once speaking of the people
of Great Britain, he contemptuously called them "a
nation of shopkeepers.' This was told to George HI.,
and when he reviewed the Metropolitan Volunteers in
Hyde Park, and saw one fine sturdy body of infantry
after another march past, and then the splendid regi
ments of cavalry — the City of Westminster Light
Horse, commanded by the Prince of Wales, the City
Light Horse, and other equally fine corps, mounted
upon as fine horses as England could produce, and
that is saying something — he was indeed much pleased
by their martial appearance and general bearing,
and, turning to the general officers around him, he
exclaimed, in the pride of his good-natured heart,
' Shopkeepers ! shopkeepers ! shopkeepers ! ' "
In the warmth of his military ardour, Cruikshank
says : " As my father served as a private in the
' St. Giles's and St. George's Bloomsbury Volunteers,'
and as my late brother Robert, at a later period, served
in the rifle company of the 'Loyal North Britons'
(in which corps he rose to tho rank of sergeant), and
further, as I (at a still later date) carried a rifle in the
same company, I think that I have a right, aud that
1 ought to stand forth for the defence of the mihtary

CRUIKSHANK'S EARL Y DA YS. 3 1
character of my relations, my friends, and my brethren-
in-arms, and myself." * He was even ready to take
the command of the army. Having severely criticised
the military authorities of the day, he says : " This is
a very different style of thing to what / should adopt,
if I had the command of our forces; but as that is
not hkely to be the case (although I flatter myself
that I am quite capable of doing so), I must leave all
these matters to our Royal Commander-in-Chief and
his staff of general officers. People will here, perhaps,
smile at what they would term my vanity, and wish
to know upon what grounds I would dare to take so
responsible a position; to which I reply, that I had,
as before stated, acquired as a child almost all the
discipline necessary for an infantry soldier, completing
when a youth this part of my military education by
serving as a volunteer. This early acquaintance with
soldiering led me to study the sword exercise; and
understanding the small-sword, and the broadsword
as well, and the use of firearms, I consider myself able
(with a properly trained horse) to mount at a moment's
notice, to act as an irregular cavalry man ; and having
paid some attention to gunnery on land, and attended
the gunnery practice on board Her Majesty's ship
The Excellent, in Portsmouth Harbour, I could lend
a hand to work a gun afloat, or, of course, as Horse-
Marine, — or, if ashore, 'as an artilleryman; and besides
* General Sir W. Napier had aroused Cruikshank's wrath by
writing a letter to the Times, in which he described the volun
teers as " mere mimics, without solidity to support the regular
army ;" as " offering points of weakness to the enemy," and as
irregulars who, should they come in contact with an enemy,
" would have to trust to their legs."

32

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

all this, I have — although it is not generally known,
nor do I lay too much stress upon il; — yet I have served
in the Militia — by substitute ; but as this was in a time
of peace, and as my representative was such a queer,
uncommon, mild-looking fellow — one who, I am sure,
would not hurt anybody — I don't think any harm was
done in any way except the picking of my pocket for
the 'bounty.' But as they ' drew' me for the Militia,
I in return drew them—' Drawing for the Militia '—as
may be seen in ' My Sketch Book.' "

" Shillahoo I Who durst tread upon that ? Is it yerself durst set ye r
ugly foot upon it ?"-From ¦¦ Mora Mornings at Bow Street"
The humourist peeps through the military reformer
and the military boaster, as he peeped always through
Cruikshank's many eccentric masqueradings. Even
his earnestness took grotesque forms. He -was ex
travagant in all his expressions, a caricaturist even
when most impressive. His soldiering forcibly re
minds the spectator and the reader of Bobadil ; albeit
George Cruikshank was brave as a lion, and in down-

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 33
right earnest. He had the simplicity, also the faith,
of Don Quixote.
He tells the story of his military career as a boy
and a young man, and how it was brought to a close,
in his own pecuhar fashion : —
" Not only did the men in 1803 form themselves
into regiments of volunteers, but the boys of that day
did so likewise, and my brother (of whom I have
already spoken, and who was my elder by three years),
formed one of these juvenile regiments, and appointed
himself the colonel. We had our drum and fife, our
'colours,' presented by our mammas and sisters, who
also assisted in making our accoutrements. We also
procured small ' gun-stocks/ into which we fixed mop-
sticks for barrels, kindly polished by ' Betty ' with a
tinge of blacklead, to make 'em look like real barrels.
" The boys watched their fathers ' drill ' ; and ' as
the old cock crows the young one learns,' so we
children foUowed in the steps of our papas, and we
were ready for inspection quite as soon as our elders,
and could march in good order, to have our 'Field-
day/ from Bloomsbury Church to the fields, where
Russell and Tavistock Squares now stand. This
account of my ' playing at soldiers ' may appear to
be rather trifling and nonsensical, but just see what
it has done for me. Why, by my learning the manual
exercise with this mop-stick gun, when a boy, and
at the same time learning how to ' march,' ' counter
march/ and to ' mark time/ to " wheel' and to ' face,'
etc., IT HAS MADE ME— AY, ME, G. C, FIT AND ABLE
TO HANDLE A MUSKET OE A RIFLE, AND FALL INTO
THE RANKS OF AN INFANTRY REGIMENT AT A MOMENT'S
NOTICE. I make this assertion with confidence; for
3

34 THE LIIE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

when as a young man I joined a rifle company, I
found that I required no drilling; the only additional
knowledge necessary was to understand the 'calls'
of the bugle and the whistle, which, with the rifles,
are used instead of the ' word of command ' when skir
mishing ; and I can say, having precisely learnt to
prime, and load, and fire, and hit a mark, that I was a
tolerable rifleman one week after I had entered. The
fact is, that learning the mihtary exercise when young is
like learning to dance, or to ride, or to row, or to swim.
or to fence, or to box, at an early age ; and when these
very important parts of male education or training
are acquired in boyhood, they are never forgotten. . .
We all know that early pleasurable impressions, as
well as very disagreeable ones, are never effaced ; and
as ' playing at soldiers ' does strongly engage the
youthful mind, it is quite clear, as in my case, that
if ercry boy in these realms was taught the military
exercise as I was, they would, as they grew up to
manhood, require little or no training to make them
sufficiently effective for defence; and if the whole
male population of this country capable of bearing
arms were to be in such a condition, in such ' lighting
order,' there never would be any fighting at ALL,
for no nation, or all the nations combined together,
would ever even so much as dream of invading a
country where they would have a difficult)- of landing
hundreds of thousands of their men, who would have
to meet millions and millions of well-trained and well-
organized men to oppose them, to say nothing of the
tossing, and bumping, and scraping they would be
likely to get in getting over
Old 'England.' "

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS.

35

Cruikshank describes in his own quaint way how
his early military experiences were brought to a
close. "Our regiment, the Loyal North Britons, being
commanded by a Royal Duke (H.R.H. the late
Duke of Sussex), had the post of honour, next to
the Royal troops ; and as I had the honour of being
present upon that occasion " (the Grand Review in
Hyde Park, given in honour of the Emperor Alexander
and Bliicher, after the Allies had entered Paris), " I can
assure my friends that we made a very respectable
mihtary appearance, and that the pop, pop, pop of
our feu de joie ' was as regular as the pop, pop, pop
of the regulars. But when we marched in review past
the Prince Regent, his imperial visitor, and the crowd
of general officers, I remember feeling a considerable
degree of chagrin at the paltry appearance we made
in point of numbers, and wished most heartily that
these foreigners could have seen the ' mobs ' of volun
teers as they had mustered in that park in 1803 and
1804. "After this review, our men retired from the service,
or rather, went about their business, little imagining that
they would ever have been called out again ; but they
did raUy round their colours once more when Napo
leon I., or ' Corporal Violet/ as he was then designated,
returned from Elba. But after the battle of Waterloo,
and the apparent re-establishment of the Bourbons,
the British people and the Government seemed to
think that there never could be any more risk of
invasion; that fighting was quite done with every
where, and that, at any rate, we were safe to the end
of time ; that they had been assisting in the comple-

36

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

tion of some great work, which, being now finished,
the volunteers gave back their tools — firearms — to the
Government, conceiving that the swords were to be
turned into ploughshares, and the spears into pruning-
hooks. I was not exempt from this national behef;
and, as the war was over, I exchanged my ritle for a
fowling-piece, and this I unfortunately lent, with the

Going off liv itself.
powder-flask and shot -belt, to a friend of mine who
was going into the country a-shootino-. I do not
know whether my friend 'let off' the gun, but this I
do know, that my fowling-piece 'nent off; and that it,
never came back again ! There is nothing remarkable
perhaps, in 'firearms' going off; but, strange as it may
appear, I believe sometimes that books, prints, coin?,

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 37
bank-notes, hats, and even umbrellas, have been
known to go off in the same sort of way."
And so, with a joke, and a drawing of the fowling-
piece running away and firing away at the same
moment, Cruikshank took leave of his first bout at
soldiering. We shall find him no less ardent some
forty years later.
One day, in his early volunteer days, when passing
down Ludgate Hill in his striking uniform, of which
a tall feather and tight green trousers were the con
spicuous features, he was laughed at, and foUowed by
some men and boys. He turned upon them and
singled out the chief aggressor. A ring was formed in
the street, and Private Cruikshank gave his assailant
a sound thrashing, treating his second to a pot of beer
afterwards by way of acknowledgment.* Robert
Cruikshank was even more smitten with soldiering
than George, and the weakness remained with him
to the end of his life. George jocularly dubbed
Robert " the majar !" Among the " majar's " military
exploits was that of exchanging his frock-coat with a
Grenadier, in the course of a tipsy frolic, and finding
himself ultimately before the magistrates at Bow
Street, charged with being in possession of His
Majesty's property, and under the necessity of paying
a fine of £5.
The mihtary ardour of the brothers had extravagant

* Robert Cruikshank, who was sergeant in the same corps with
his brother, could not withstand the gratification of paying
a visit in uniform to the ladies' boarding school at Bromley,
where he gave lessons, and on the following day his further
services were dispensed with.

38 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
outbursts occasionally, even when they were middle-
aged men. George was a Tory, and Robert was a
RepubUcan. In 1848, after the fah of Louis Philippe,
Robert called on his brother to tell him the glorious
news that a republic had been estabhshed in France,
and that the Repubhcan legions would assuredly put
an end to Russian tyranny. A very hot discussion
ensued, in which Robert declared that he was ready
to lead the French army to St. Petersburg.
George started in a fury from his seat, and with
what a friend used to call his Balfour of Burleigh expres
sion, roared at Robert, " Then, by G— d, I'll head the
Russians, and meet you."
Robert retreated in disgust.
How George Cruikshank was led to study the lower
strata of society, and to become the most masterly
delineator of the poverty, vice, and vulgarity of
London streets, he has himself described in a cate
gorical series of reproofs which he administered by
way of introduction to his " Omnibus," to a writer
who had misrepresented him. Having related how
he had as a boy been saluted with " There goes a
copperplate engraver," by a little ragged urchin, when
he was carrying a plate home, he rephed to the charge
that he had studied low life by frequenting the tap
room of a miserable public-house in a lane by the
Thames, where Irish coal-heavers, hodmen, dustmen,
scavengers, and so forth, were admitted, "to the
exclusion of everybody else."
"I shall mention en passant, that there are no
Irish coal-heavers : I may mention, too, that the state
ment of the author adverted to * is not to be depended
" Tho author of " Throe Courses and a Dessert."

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 39
on ; were he living, I should show why. And now to
the scene of my so-called ' first studies.' There was,
in the neighbourhood in which I resided, a low public-
house ; it has since degenerated into a gin-palace. It
was frequented by coal-heavers only ; and it stood in
Wilderness Lane (I like to be particular), between
Primrose Hill and Dorset Street, Sahsbury Square,
Fleet Street. To this house of inelegant resort (the
sign was starthng, the ' Lion in the Wood '), which
I regularly passed in my way to and from the
Temple, my attention was one night especially
attracted by the sounds of a fiddle, together with
other indications of festivity ; when, glancing towards
the tap-room window, I could plainly discern a small
bust of Shakspeare placed over the chimney-piece,
with a short pipe stuck in its mouth. This was
not clothing the palpable and the familiar with
golden exhalations from the dawn, but it was re
ducing the glorious and immortal beauty of Apollo
himself to a level with the commonplace and the vulgar
Yet there was something not to be quarrelled with
in the association of ideas to which that object led.
It struck me to be the perfection of the human
picturesque. It was a palpable meeting of the
Sublime and the Ridiculous ; the world of Intellect
and Poetry seemed thrown open to the meanest
capacity; extremes had met; the highest and the
lowest had united in harmonious fellowship. I
thought of what the great poet had himself been, of
the parts that. he had played, and the wonders he had
wrought within a stone's throw of that very spot;
and feeling that even he might have well wished to
be there, the pleased spectator of that lower world, it

40 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

was impossible not to recognise the fitness of the pipe.
It was only the pipe that would have become the
mouth of a poet in that extraordinary scene, and
without it, he himself would have wanted majesty
and the right to be present. I fancied that Sir Walter
Raleigh might have filled it for him. And what a
scene was that to preside over and contemplate !
What a picture of life was there ! It was all hfe !
In simpler words, I saw, on approaching the window,
and peeping between the short red curtains, a swarm
of jolly coal-heavers ! Coal-heavers all, 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 disputed, and in a manner singularly character
istic of the tastes and propensities of aristocratic and
fashionable society ; that is to say, they were ' dancing
and taking refreshments.' They only did what their
' betters ' were doing elsewhere. The hving Shaks
peare, had he been, indeed, in the presence would but
have seen a common humanity working out its objects,
and have felt that the omega, though the last in the
alphabet, has an astonishing sympathy with the alpha
that stands first.
" This incident, may I be permitted to say, led me
to study the characters of that particular class of
society, and laid the foundation of scenes afterwards
published. The locality and the characters were
different, the spirit was the same. Was I, therefore,
what the statement I have quoted would lead any
body to infer I was, the companion of dustmen, hod
men, coal-heavers, ami scavengers ? I leave out the
' and £0 forth ' as superfluous. It would be just as
fair to assume that Morland was the companion of

CRUIKSHANK'S EARLY DAYS. 41
pigs, that Listen was the associate of louts and
footmen, or that Fielding lived in fraternal intimacy
with Jonathan Wild."
Further on he protests that he was not in the habit,
as charged, of sitting at his window on Sundays, to
observe the patrons of the " Vite Condick Ouse " on
the way to that popular place of entertainment.
In 1870 he wrote the following account of himself
and his family to Mr. Reid, while that gentleman was
preparing the great Catalogue of his Works, afterwards
published in three volumes by Messrs. Bell and Daldy :
" In the compihng of such a list as this, it is not at
all surprising that there should be errors, particularly
when we look at the fact of there being three in one
family (a father and two sons), all working in similar
styles, and upon the same sort of subjects. My father,
Isaac Cruikshank, was a designer and etcher and
engraver, and a first-rate water-colour draughtsman.
My brother, Isaac Robert, was a very clever miniature
and portrait painter, and was also a designer and
etcher, and your humble servant likewise a designer
and etcher.
" When I was a mere boy, my dear father kindly
allowed me to play at etching on some of his copper
plates, httle bits of shadows, or httle figures in the
background, and to assist him a little as I grew older,
and he used to assist me in putting in hands and faces.
And when my dear brother Robert (who in his latter
days omitted the Isaac) left off portrait painting, and
took almost entirely to designing and etching, I
assisted him at first to a great extent in some of his
drawings on wood and his etchings; and all this
mixture of head and hand work has led to a consider-

42

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

able amount of confusion, so that dealers or printsellers
and collectors have been puzzled to decide which were
the productions of the 'I. Ck./ the 'I. R. Ck.' (or
'R. Ck.') and the 'G. Ck'; and this will not create
much surprise when I tell you that I have myself, in
some cases, had a difficulty in deciding in respect to
early handwork, done some sixty odd years back,
particularly when my drawings, made on wood-blocks
for common purposes, were hastily executed (according
to price) by the engraver. Many of my first produc
tions, such as halfpenny lottery pictures and books for
little children, can never be known or seen, having, of
course, been destroyed long, long ago bv the dear little
ones who had them to play with."

Spirits of wine.— From " More Mornings at Bow Street."

Emeraid cut Emerald :— " Are you a watch-man p "—From ' ' More
Mornings at Bow Street."

CHAPTER IV.
CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST.
It is recorded that when it was proposed to cast a
statue of Sir Robert Peel, the portrait selected as most
striking in its resemblance, most faithful to his natural
expression, was found in a cartoon by John Leech,
published in Punch; and that from this drawing the
head was modelled. The caricaturist is something
more than the mere portrait-painter, who produces
his work after a few sittings, and with his model in a
set position. Gillray, for example, spent his life in
studying his subjects. He had never finished observing
Pitt, and Fox, and Burke, and Sheridan. From his
vantage-ground over Mrs. Humphrey's shop in St.
James's Street, he caught his victims unawares. He
was familiar with every angle and every shade of ex
pression of the pubhc men who were his unconscious
sitters.* In the same way, Leech snatched a sitting
* Pitt, however, paid the great pictorial satirist the compli
ment of giving him sittings for a serious portrait.

44

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

from Peel and Palmerston, Lord John and Wellington,
and thrust the sketch safely into his waistcoat pocket,
in that small note-book which he always carried. And
thus the public figures which Sandby and Gillray,
Sayer, Bunbury, Rowlandson, the Cruikshanks, the
elder Doyle, Leech, Doyle, and Tenniel have fixed
with their needle3 or pencils upon their cartoons, present
to us men and manners hving as they rose, with a
vividness and truth and force the value of which can
hardly be exaggerated. Estimate, if you can, the
treasure a Gillray of the time of Henry VIII., a Leech
of the Commonwealth, a Cruikshank contemporaneous
with Shakspeare, would be !
As I have already noted, the art of the caricaturist does
not date beyond the time of Hogarth in this country, and
he did little in the way of political caricature. What we
understand by caricature — that is. pictorial satirical com
mentary on public events — arose while Gillray was a
boy, and when Paul Sandby and Saver were at the height
of their fame. Sayer's caricatures of the early time of
George the Third were the models on which the infant
genius of Gillray was nursed ; as that of George
Cruikshank's was fed fivc-and-twenty years later at the
print-shop windows of St. James's Street and Piccadilly,
where the crowd stretched even into the roadway,
laughing at, and discoursing over, Gillray's last. Cruik
shank, although he never had Gillray's academical train
ing, enjoyed the benefit of his master's matchless skill
and infinite variety. Gillray unconsciously provided him
with a rich inheritance. It has been justly observed
that the works of Gillray preserve au entire social
revolution ; " they form the link uniting the habits,
fashions, and mannors of the past, with the later gene-

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 45
ration which inaugurated our present ways of life."
This later generation it fell to the lot of George
Cruikshank to preserve for the edification of posterity.
As the etching-needle was trembling and wandering in
the hands of the poor demented Gillray, when
" Drooped the spent fingers from the nerveless wrist,"
the keen, flashing eyes of old Isaac Cruikshank's
second son were making perpetual rounds of observa
tion in London streets, and his hand was learning
that cunning which would enable him to point with
his etching-needle the morals that lay thick about him,
in strange guises and combinations of never-ending
variety, in the great world of London.
Gillray "lived among the subjects of his satire,
almost within sight of the palace, whose inmate was
aware of the proximity of this Georgian Juvenal ; he
mixed with the men who possessed the power of sus
pending his freedom, and was himself as easy of recog
nition as he had made the faces and figures of those
whose caricatures he drew. . . . His eye was quick to
detect the weakest point of the best-armed champion :
but the stab was more often playful than cruel. The
same quiver furnished shafts for friend and foe alike.
Gillray stood alone, and lent his aid to the side which
had the greatest need of his weapon. Strengthening
and satirizing both factions in turn, to neither side
was he a servile champion ; his own misfortunes, his
gratitude, his necessities, and his weaknesses, were all
powerless to confine his satire to the object of mere
party advancement. No curb could control his irony.
His works are, however, stamped with one attribute —
popularity — which is indispensable to lasting success

46 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

amidst the fluctuations of opinion. His intuitive know
ledge of human nature had convinced him of the
expediency of securing this advantage ; and by recog
nizing the force of public opinion, he, it may be
unconsciously, assumed to a large degree, as Lis works
abundantly prove, the responsibility of shaping and
directing it; so far, that is, as the popular voice is
subject to individual expression. Gillray and his cari
catures enjoyed in their day — allowing for a httle
excess of colouring to suit the age — the position that
the Times and Punch now fill. His satire has a
speciality : it is often heroic, elevating its object far
above the heads of his fellow-men in the semblance
of a demi-god, dignified and commanding, even when
associated with the attributes of burlesque." *
We find a quality akin to this in the burlesque work
of George Cruikshank. He is inclined always to
moralize with his etching-needle. He dignifies some
of his most fantastic and even repulsive scenes with
a lofty purpose. Of gentler disposition, and a less
ardent politician than Gillray, Cruikshank's pohtical
caricatures are tame when compared with those of the
" Georgian Juvenal " ; but he had walks and powers
which Gillray never approached. Gillray is the rougher,
sterner, more audacious genius, reflecting in these
qualities the spirit of his times. The son of one of
Cumberland's swearing drinking troopers, who had left
an arm at Fontenoy, and was an out-pensioner of
Chelsea Hospital at twenty-five, Gillray was brought
up in a hardy school. His father, hke a true Scot,
albeit himself reduced to the position of a sexton,
0 Wright.

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 47
managed to give his boy the rudiments of a sound
education. Then seeing that he was for ever poring
over the popular plates of Hogarth and the caricaturists
of the day, and was nimble with his pencil, he
humoured the lad's bent by placing him under a letter
engraver ; and so the foundation of his future skill as
an etcher was laid* But he was a Bohemian, and
went forth gipsying with strolling players. In this wild
school he saw many picturesque and striking aspects
and contrasts of life which were of vast consequence to
him afterwards. When, tired of the barn stage, and
impelled irresistibly by his genius, he threw up the
hare's foot, and obtained admission to the Royal
Academy as a student ; he entered with a stout heart
upon the career in which he was to find, but never
to enjoy, lasting fame. The life of Gillray with Mrs.
Humphrey and her maid Betsy, is one of the saddest
records of a man of genius I remember. His habits
were dissipated, and he kept low company. He resorted
to dishonest shifts, it is said, to obtain money for strong
drink. But he remained independent in spirit.
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 adorn,
Gillray had, so far as we know, the better education,
and the help of academical training. The knowledge
after which Cruikshank longed, with affecting earnest
ness and sadness, after he had passed the prime of life,
and which he even attempted to master in his decline,
was Gillray's in his youth. Cruikshank saw his master
a It has heen surmised that he afterwards studied under
Bartolozzi and Ryland.

48 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
sink and die a dreadful death, a pensioner on the bounty
of his publisher, while he himself advanced to take his
master's place, and indeed those of Bunbury and
Rowlandson, and his own father.
" I was cradled in caricature," said Cruikshank to
Cuthbert Bede, who adds, " He told me that it was not
because he despised academical instruction that he had
never availed himself of its salutary disciphne, 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 student."*
Thrown early into the midst of the hard life of
London, as we have seen, and made to feel in early
boyhood " the bewildering care " of bread-earning,
George Cruikshank, with his brother Isaac Robert, had
little time for school culture. He rose from his cradle,

0 I think he told me that he had submitted to Fuseli some
drawings from " the round," with a view to secure his entrance
into the schools of the Academy ; but, any way, I remember
that he mimicked Fuseli's voice and manner — which Cruik
shank's histrionic talent enabled him to do very cleverly — when
the Professor of Painting told him that "if he wished to attend
his lectures he would have to fight for a place." As Fuseli's
" Lectures on Painting " were delivered and published in 1804,
this anecdote would probably refer to that period, when the
young artist was twelve years of age, and was already an illus
trator of children's books, before he had got into his " teens.'
This was the preparation for his early work in the Scourge and
the Meteor, and the prelude to those famous political hits in
Hone's pamphlets, that brought the artist great fame, but little
money ; for the publishers only gave him half a guinea for a
drawing that produced upwards of fifty pounds for Hone's
pocket. — Cuthbert Bcdt's " Personal Recollections of George
Cruikslmnk."

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 49
and went straight into the bitter fight. For a time
he worked by his father's side, and caught very early
from his practised hand the cunning tricks of his craft.
How the life into which he was thrown quickened
and forced the growth of his genius, without impairing
its vigour, the long list of his extraordinarily various
works bears witness — ranging as it does frcm his
sheet of children's pictures published by Mr. Belch,
Newington Butts, in 1803, to his exquisite etching,
dated 1868, of Fairy Connoisseurs inspecting Mr.
Frederick Locker's collection of drawings, which forms
the frontispiece to Mr. George William Reid's Descrip
tive Catalogue of his Works.
Referring to George Cruikshank's early work, Mr.
Reid observes : " It is to no recent period that the
greater part of Cruikshank's work recalls us. In times
which to the younger generation are now historic, before
the present century was ten years old, he had already
commenced the long career which has been spent so
industriously in amusing and instructing the public.
And that now (1871), after a life of almost eighty years,
there are many to whom the work which occupied the
earlier portion of it is practically unknown, is perhaps not
surprising ; nor can we wonder if many of those who
may more strictly be called Cruikshank's contempo
raries have become somewhat unmindful of his name,
and of the associations which it carries with it."
Somewhat unmindful! In 1875, when a committee
was raising money to buy the collection of Cruik
shank's works which is now in the London Aquarium,
he told one of the members of it that he had not made
a shilling by his art for the last ten years. He was
quite willing to receive commissions, and he had refused
4

50 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

none. None had reached him ! Other men, of lesser
genius, had arisen and taken his place. He had been
voted old-fashioned. His figures were of a time gone
by. His women were the grandmothers of the living
generation in their youth. He had passed from the
shop-windows, where laughing crowds used to greet
him, to the portfolios of collectors. How great Cruik
shank's popularity once was — that is, his popularity
with the masses of his countrymen — a few of our older
readers may recollect. His hits at the follies and vices
of the day struck home. He was constantly before the
public, and yet the laughing crowds never had too
much of him. While Gillray, Rowlandson, and later
poor Seymour, fell out of the ranks of his rivals, he
constantly advanced in the quality of his work and the
dignity of his conceptions. His father died and was
forgotten; his brother (albeit a stalwart worker, and
of excellent humour into the bargain, as the collection
of his works abundantly testifies) faded out of the
public mind ; while George Cruikshank, in hundreds of
original forms of fancy — now humorous, now moral,
and now wildly fantastic — presented himself with an
ever-deepening welcome to his contemporaries. When
the street folk were laughing before the print-shop
windows, thoughtful men were looking quietly over
their shoulders, perceiving in the artist much more than
the caricaturist of the follies of the hour. " The scene
may be coarse," says Mr. Reid, "the actors vulgar,
their features unnatural ; but beneath all this it will
require little attention to discern the real power of the
artist, the reality of conception, the firmness and cor
rectness of drawing, the truth and almost living force
of expression, especially in the representation of rapid

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 51
motion, the mastery with which the unexpressed is
suggested, the lively humour or the suppressed irony,
it may be, which pervades the whole."
Referring to the early times when the young George
Cruikshank kept crowds at the print-shop windows,
Thackeray exclaims, in 1840 : " Knight's, in Sweet
ing's Alley ; Fairburn's, in a court off Ludgate Hill ;
Hone's, in Fleet Street — bright, enchanted palaces,
which George Cruikshank used to people with grinning,
fantastical imps, and merry, harmless sprites — where are
they? Fairburn's shop knows him no more ; not only
has Knight disappeared from Sweeting's Alley, but, as
we are given to understand, Sweeting's Alley has disap
peared from the face of the globe. Slop, the atrocious
Castlereagh, the sainted Caroline (in a tight pelisse,
with feathers in her head), the ' Dandy of sixty,' who
used to glance at us from Hone's friendly windows, —
where are they? Mr. Cruikshank may have drawn
a thousand better things, since the days when these
were ; but they are to us a thousand times more
pleasing than anything else he has done. How we used
to beheve in them ! to stray miles out of the way on
holidays, in order to ponder for an hour before that
delightful window in Sweeting's Alley ! in walks
through Fleet Street, to vanish abruptly down Fair
burn's passage, and then make one at his 'charming
'gratis ' exhibition ! There used to be a crowd round
the window in those days of grinning, good-natured
mechanics, who spelt the songs, and spoke them out for
the benefit of the company, and who received the points
of humour with a general sympathising roar. Where
are these people now ? You never hear any laughing
at H. B. ; his pictures are a great deal too genteel for

52 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
that — polite points of wit, which strike one as exceed
ingly clever and pretty, and cause one to smile in a
quiet, gentlemanlike kind of way."
Thackeray insists that there is no mere smiling with
Cruikshank. " A man who does not laugh outright is
a dullard, and has no heart ; even the old dandy of sixty
must have laughed at his own wondrous grotesque
image, as they say Louis Philippe did, who saw all the
caricatures that were made of himself. And there are
some of Cruikshank's designs which have the blessed
faculty of creating laughter as often as you see them."
The reviewer takes an instance. '' There is a fellow in
the ' Points of Humour ' who is offering to eat up a
certain little general, that has made us happy any time
these sixteen years ; his huge mouth is a perpetual well
of laughter — buckets full of fun can be drawn from it.
We have formed no such friendships as that boyish one
of the man with the mouth. But though, in our eyes,
Mr. Cruikshank reached his apogee some eighteen years
since, it must not be imagined that such is really the
case. Eighteen sets of children have since then learned
to love and admire him, and may many more of their
successors be brought up in the same delightful faith."
Few will be disposed to endorse Mr, Thackeray's
opinion that George Cruikshank reached his apogee
about 1822, at the time when he had his Slap at Slop.
Few, I apprehend, will be inclined to admit that his
humour, albeit it is his master-quality, his mainspring,
his invariable motive-power which sets him working at
his best, is his highest gift. He had a perception of
tragedy of a very remarkable kind : aud he could
realize his solemn meaniugs with the hand of a master.
His early work, however, was nearlv all humorous

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 53
and satirical, even when he fell among the fairies ; and
with this we have to do just now.
A chronological catalogue raisonne" of the works of
George Cruikshank would present to the reader a pic
ture of his prodigious activity as an artist, that would
be absolutely astonishing. It comprises something over
five thousand subjects, ranging from childish drawings of
ships, illustrating halfpenny sheets for infants, to finished
historical scenes, and the ambitious conceptions of a fine
imagination. The first efforts of the boy show an un
tutored hand, but at the same time an observant eye.
The children's lottery pictures, drawn and etched about
his twelfth year (" the first," he says, " that George
Cruikshank was ever employed to do and paid for");
the etchings of horse-racing and donkey-racing, executed
about his thirteenth year, are the original work of a
sharp observer. Coal-heavers, Lord Nelson's funeral
car, Scavengers reposing, Salisbury Square, Fleet
Street (the boy-artist, as we have noted, lived about
this time in Dorset Street) ; the fashions about
the year 1804-5, rude illustrations to popular songs,
the tower at Kingsgate, Margate, and Templo
Gardens — all put forth before the year 1810 — are
interesting, not for any remarkable artistic merit in
them, but as indicating the active intelligence and
alert life of the boy. Directly afterwards we havo
distinct evidence of the latent whim, humour, and
fancy which were to carry young Cruikshank to a
place in the art history of his country, equal at
least to that of the poor demented genius who was
wearing out his remnant of life in old Mrs. Humphrey's
shop, and who was about to make his final appearance,
dishevelled and unclad, before his wondering customers,

54

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

on the eve of his death. Colonel Patty-pan and Sir John
Sugarstick (1808 or 1809), Metropolitan Grievances
(1811-12), Double Bass, Proposals for Practical Duets,
adapted to any instrument (1811); Mathews the Come
dian, singing a song in a piece called " The Beehive "
(1812); Sir Francis Burdett taken from his house;
Bonaparte, being an illustration to a song sung at the

Mr. Cadwallader shouting " murder " ont of the window at the studio of
Mr. Pimpernel, the portrait-painter ; the Pimpernels restraining him, and
the scandaliser of the artistic neighbourhood selling hold of the enrtains,
and the united strength of the family hanging on to his coat-tails ; the
curtains give way, and tho jxww of people arc sent sprawling.— From
" More Mornings at Bow Street "
Surrey Theatre by Mr. Elliston (1811), will reward
examination by the student of Cruikshank's genius, as
affording distinct germs of the various powers of his
mind at a later time. Colonel Pattypan and Sir John

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST.

55

Sugarstick are essentially Cruikshankian in their
humour. Between 1811 and 1816 we have to note rapid strides
in strength, in range of experience, and development
of sympathy with the progress of the world. Feeling
and sentiment underlie nearly all Cruikshank's creations.
Within this interval Cruikshank broke ground, and
made a stand as a political caricaturist. He began
to make his mark as a satirical illustrator in the
Meteor (1813). For this "Monthly Censor" George
Cruikshank drew the cover. The allegorical design
represents a meteor personified by a humorous little
fellow, bearing a lantern, and flying through space.
Beneath him Satire holds up a mirror to Folly ; and a
champion shielded by a " free press," armed with Truth
and Justice, protects himself against Licentiousness,
Fraud, and Hypocrisy. The projectors of the Meteor,
it will be seen, meant well. National Frenzy, or John
BuU and his Doctors ; preparing John Bull for General
Congress ; Tabitha Grunt or the Walking Hospital ;
Napoleon's Trip from Elba to Paris, and from Paris to
St. Helena, " A Swarm of Bees hiving in the Imperial
Carriage ! who would have thought it ? " and, finally,
the coloured etching of the Battle of Waterloo, — are
coarsely executed in the style of Isaac and Robert
Cruikshank, and of Rowlandson ; but they are remark
able for that power of telling a story, and of concen
trating every figure and detail of a picture upon the
effect or emotion to be produced, for which Cruikshank
in his prime was unrivalled. The progress is continu
ous to 1820; and the work thrown off becomes pro
digious. Besides illustrations of the 0. P. Riots at
Covent Garden Theatre (1819), fashionable portraits,

56

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

and other haphazard work, he produced " The Hu
mourist" (1820) — his first remarkable separate work —
in which the special and peculiar humorous powers of
the artist are developed in forty subjects, drawn from
"the living present" in London.
Very early in his career George Cruikshank came
in contact with Hone. Of this connection, Dr. R.

From Hone's tract, " The Man in the Moon." 1!=20. Illustration to Canning's
parody of " The Doctor."
Shelton Mackenzie has given an account which is
stamped with the authority of the artist, since, in
"The Artist and the Author," he cites the doctor cs
armed with information given by himself.
"In the year lSl'.l, while Cruikshank was a mere
youth, Mr. William Hone observed his peculiar ability,
and determined to exercise it At that time the politi-

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 57

cal condition of this country was about as unpleasant
and unsatisfactory as it could be. The people clamoured
for reform, which the Government steadily and sturdily
resisted. Then came the struggle between Right and
Might ; and, by means of what was called ' the strong
arm of the law,' the right was baffled for the time,
albeit not beaten. To add strength to ' the strong
arm ' in question, the Habeas Corpus Act was sus
pended, and six Acts were passed. These were enact
ments avowedly framed to prevent the expression of
public opinion, whether at public meetings or by the
medium of the press. The anti-press ordinances of
July 1830, which were the means of hurling the
Bourbons from the throne of France, were scarcely
more tyrannic than the gagging Acts in question.
They drove Cobbett to America. We believe that they
were especially levelled against him and his plain-
speaking ' Register.' They nearly drove the multitude
into insurrection. They did resist, but the resistance
was in vain; for the Government, believing that ' strong
measures ' were necessary, did not hesitate to take them.
The manner in which the expression of public opinion
was sternly and ruthlessly ' put down ' at Manchester
on the too famous 16th of August, 1819, showed that
the Government would have quiet at any cost.
" At this crisis the late Mr. William Hone, who felt
warmly in politics, and had a particular antipathy to
Castlereagh, Cunning, Sidmouth, and Wellington, de
termined to try what might be done by bringing the
Fine Arts against the Ministry. At that time Canning
was chiefly known as a flashy, clever speech-maker,
who, after having fought a duel with Castlereagh, had
finally returned to the Government, and held a place

5 8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
under him whose want of capacity he had formerly
denounced. Castlereagh himself, with an unhappy
notoriety as one who had used unscrupulous means to
effect the legislative union between Great Britain and
Ireland, was the most unpopular man in the kingdom,
not only on that account, but because, scorning the
people, he had never concealed his feelings towards
them, and had denounced their ' ignorant impatience of
taxation.' Lord Sidmouth, to whom Canning had given
the sobriquet of ' The Doctor ' (from his father, Dr.
Addington), was peculiarly hated, as Home Secretary,
and the ostensible person on whom devolved the un
gracious task of employing ' the strong arm of the law '
against the multitude ; and ' The Duke,' though only
Master-General of the Ordnance, and (if we remember
rightly) not in the Cabinet, was disliked at that time,
from a general belief that he had recommended that all
disaffection should be summarily dealt with, as he had
dealt with the French, by cannon-ball and bayonet.
The four thus named were the principal members of
Lord Liverpool's Cabinet The Premier himself was a
nobody. His fitness for the high and responsible office
may be judged from the fact that, some time before he
was seized with paralysis, which ended in utter prostra
tion of mind and body, he mentioned to a friend that
'for years he had not opened an official despatch without
apprehension and alarm.'
"At such a crisis, and against such a Ministry,
William Hone had the boldness to enter the lists. He
commenced the publication of cheap pamphlets, in which
the literature was below par, and the main reliance was
upon the telling points of the woodcuts. The first was
Tho Political House that Jack Built,' with thirteen

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 59
cuts after designs by George Cruikshank. This was a
parody upon the old nursery rhyme. It took amazingly.
Upwards of 100,000 copies sold. George Cruikshank
was too young at the time to have any very decided
politics, but there is no doubt that then, as now, his
sympathies were with the people. At any rate, he did
his work well. Every one laughed at what Hone had
issued ; and though it did the Ministry a thousand times
the actual damage which even Cobbett's ' Register""
could have done, they could not prosecute it. The
Attorney-General would have been laughed out of
Court, had he attempted anything of the kind. The
light arrows of ridicule went through the armour which
a heavier weapon could not enter. All the world
laughed ; Canning, Castlereagh, and Company enjoying
the joke, no doubt, as well as the rest of the people." *
But George Cruikshank was drawing for William
Hone, according to his own showing, in 1817 or 1818,
when he produced his " Bank Note not to be Imitated "
— a modest work to which he was wont to revert to
the end of his life with infinite satisfaction, because he
attributed to it the withdrawal of Bank of England
one-pound notes, and consequently the cessation of the
frequent hangings for the forgery of this small paper
money. In a letter to Mr. Whitaker, dated from the
Hampstead Road, in 1875, he said: —
"Dear Whitaker, — About the year 1817 or 1818
there were one-pound Bank of England notes in circu
lation, and, unfortunately, there were forged one-pound
* The London Journal, November 20th, 1847.

60 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
bank notes in circulation also ; and the punishment for
passing these forged notes was in some cases transporta
tion for life, and in others death.
" At that time I resided in Dorset Street, Salisbury
Square, Fleet Street, and had occasion to go early one
morning to a house near the Bank of England ; and in
returning home between eight and nine o'clock, down
Ludgate Hill, and seeing a number of persons looking
up the Old Bailey, I looked that way myself, and saw
several human beings hanging on the gibbet opposite
Newgate prison, and, to my horror, two of these were
women ; and, upon inquiring what these women had been
hung for, was informed that it was for passing forged
one-pound notes. 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 determined, if
possible, to put a stop to this shocking destruction of
life for merely obtaining a few shillings by fraud ; and
well knowing the habits of the low class of society
in London, 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 ' get some
thing to drink,' and thus pass the notes, and hand
them the chancre.
" My residence was a short distance from Ludgate
Hill (Dorset Street) : and alter witnessing this tragic
T O O
scene 1 went home, and in ten minutes designed and
made a sketch of this ' Bank-note not to be imitated;
About half-an-hour after this was done, William Hone
came into my room, and saw the sketch lying upon my
table ; he was much struck with it, and said, ' What are
you going to do with this, George?'
" ' To publish it,' I replied. Then he said, < Will you

BANK JRESTJRICTION NOTE
Specdmrn of a Bank Note  not to Be imitated.
Submittal > Itir -Consideration vfthtBank-Dirfttors am/ Hie inspection oftiielbblic.

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 6 1
let me have it?' To his request I consented, made
an etching of it, and it was published. Mr. Hone
then resided on Ludgate Hill, not many yards from
the spot where I had seen the people hanging on the
gibbet ; and when it appeared in his shop windows,
it created a great sensation, and the people gathered
round his house in such numbers that the Lord
Mayor had to send the City police (of that day) to dis
perse the CROWD. The Bank directors held a meet
ing immediately upon the subject, and. after that
they issued no more one-pound notes, and so there was
no more hanging for passing forged one-pound notes ;
not only that, but ultimately no hanging, even for
forgery. After this Sir Robert Peel got a Bill passed
in Parliament for the ' Resumption of cash payments.'
After this he revised the Penal Code, and after that
there was not any more hanging or punishment qf DEATH
for minor offences.
" In a work that I am preparing for publication I
intend to give a copy of ' The Bank Note,' as I con
sider it the most important design and etching that
I ever made in my life ; for it has saved the lives
of thousands of my fellow-creatures ; and for having
been able to do this Christian act I am indeed most
sincerely thankful, and am, dear friend, yours truly,
" George Cruikshank.
" 263, Hampstead Road,
" December 12th, 1875."
Here it will be seen Cruikshank assumed much. In
the catalogue of his collected works, printed by the
Executive Committee for securing the collection to the
nation, he went further, saying, " So the final effect of

62

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

my note was to stop hanging for all minor offences."
The labours of the famous writers and speakers who
advocated a milder code went, then, for nothing ! It
was in connection with William Hone that George
Cruikshank suddenly rose to supreme popularity — out-
rivalling his compeers, including Rowlandson, then

From " The Queen's Mntrimonial Ladder. " " Faded appetite resipm'd the victim np to shame."
poor and dissipated like Gillray, and near his end.
Cruikshank's own father's latest political caricature had
appeared in 1810.
The work which Cruikshank did for Hone, as " The
Political House that Jack Built," " The Political Show
man at Home," and, lastly, " A Slap at Slop," produced

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 63
at the time of Queen Caroline's trial, enjoyed an extra
ordinary popularity, and commanded an immense circu
lation. " The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder " * was a
great success. The drawings, " all by Mr. George

The First Gentleman.— From " The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder."
Cruikshank," as Mr. Hone advertised, were severely
satirical throughout, from the first, where the royal
husband drunk, with a broken wine-glass in his hand,

* The edition before me, dated 1820, is the thirteenth.

64 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

the garter falling from his leg, cards and dice and bottles
scattered at his feet, and the candles guttering in the
sockets, maunders alone, to where the fat Adonis is
being borne away in a barrow to the " English cry '
of " Cats' meat." " Non mi Ricordo " was anothei
squib of this year.
In the " Political Showman at Home," with twenty
four cuts by Cruikshank, the satire is biting, and the
ideas are plentiful. The showman, by way of intro
duction, addresses his readers : " Ladies and gentlemen,
walk vp ! walk up! and see the curiosities and crea
tures — all alive ! alive 0 ! Walk up! now's your time •
Only a shilling. Please to walk vp !
" Here is the strangest and most wonderful artificial
cabinet in Europe! — made of nothing — but lacker d
brass, turnery, and papier mache'—al\ fijet work and
varnish, held together by steel points ! Very crazy,
but very curious !
" Please to walk in, ladies and gentlemen — it's wf 11
worth seeing ! Here are the most wonderful of ail
wonderful living animals. Take care ! Don't go
within their reach — they mind nobody but me .' A short
time ago they got loose, and, with some other vermin
that came from their holes and corners, desperately
attacked a lady of quality : but, as luck would
have it, I and my \four-and-ticentg men1 happened
to come in at the very moment : we puWd awav,
and prevented 'em from doing her a serious mischief.
Though they look tame, their vicious dispositions
are unchanged. If anything was to happen to me,
they'd soon break out again, and show their natural
ferocity. Tin in continual dani/er feom 'em myself;
for if I didn't watch 'em closely, thev'd destroy

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICA TURIST. 6$
me. As the clown says, 'there never was such
times,' — so there's no telling what tricks they may
play yet.
" Ladies and gentlemen, — these animals have been
exhibited at Court, before the king and all the royal
family! Indeed, His Majesty is so fond of 'em, that he
often sees 'em in private, and feeds 'em ; and he is so
diverted by 'em, that he has been pleased to express his
gracious approbation of all their motions. But they're
as cunning as the old one himself ! Bless you, he does
not know a thousandth part of their tricks. You,
ladies and gentlemen, may see 'em just as they are! —
the Beasts and Reptiles — all alive ! alive 0 ! and the
Big Booby — all a-light ! a-light 0 !
" Walk in, ladies and gentlemen ! walk in ! just
a-going to begin. Stir 'em up ! stir 'em up there with
the long pole.
"Before I describe the animals, please to look at
che show-cloth opposite  "
The show-cloth is a drawing of the transparency
"exhibited by William Hone during the illumina
tion commencing on the 11th and ending on the
15th of November, 1820, in celebration of the victory
obtained by the press for the liberties of the
people, which had been assailed in the person of
the Queen ; the words, ' Triumph of the Press,'
being displayed in variegated lamps as a motto above
it. On the 29th, when the Queen went to St. Paul's,
it was again exhibited, with Lord Bacon's immortal
words, 'Knowledge is power/ displayed in like
manner. The transparency was painted by Mr. George
Cruikshank." The animals, the beasts and reptiles, are political
5

66 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
figures. The crocodile wears the Lord Chancellor's
wig, the black rats are lawyers, the scorpion has the
Duke's nose and cocked hat.
Cruikshank's illustrations to " A Slap at Slop " in
clude ideas enough to enrich half-a-dozen comic papers of
our day. The hitting is hard, but it is never indecent,
and it is always on the right side. The author of " The
Political House that Jack Built" describes Dr. Slop in
downright English : "A minion of ministers, a parasite
to despotism throughout the world ; public virtue is the
object of his unprincipled hate and unsparing abuse.
Hence there is not a ' public principle ' that his men
dacity has not 'perverted'; not a man of disinterested
public conduct that he has not vilified ; not a measure
of advantage to the country, emanating from such men.
that he has not derided ; not a measure of ministerial
profligacy that he has not promoted ; not a pubhc job
that he has not bolstered ; not a public knave that he
has not shielded ; not an inroad upon the Constitution
that he has not widened ; not a treason against the
people's liberties that he has not advocated ; not a sore
upon the people's hearts that he has not enlarged." *
Dr. Mackenzie, who saw all these' squibs when they
first appeared, and remembered the effect they imme-

° Dr. Stoddart (afterwards Sir John Stoddart), contributor
to, and editor of, the Times, from about 1810 to 1815 or early in
181G, was attacked as Dr. Slop by Moore. Stoddart was removed
in consequence of the unmeasured violence and coarseness of his
attacks on Napoleon. " The Oorsican scoundrel" was a common
phrase of his. He started the \,w Times, in opposition to Mr.
Walter's journal ; but although he conducted it with distin-
trmshed abihty, it failed, and died after a short life.

" >*on n.i riocitlo! '

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 6j
diately made, bears testimony to their popularity and
to their value as political agents : —
" During the excitement of the period, when the
sympathy of the multitude was unquestionably in favoui
of Queen Caroline, and even most of the non-political
portion of society thought that, under existing circum
stances, her husband should not have proceeded against
her as he did, Hone sent out several other brochures
with illustrations by George Cruikshank. That was
about six-and-twenty years ago — we saw them at the
time, and we have not seen them since — but we have a
vivid recollection of every one of them. There was the
' Queen's Matrimonial Ladder,' described as a National
Toy, with fourteen step-scenes, and illustrations in verse,
and eighteen other cuts. There was c Non Mi Ricordo,'
founded on the convenient forgetfulness of Theodore
Majocci, the principal witness against the Queen. There
was the ' Political Showman.' There were others which
also told well on the public mind, and there is no doubt
very greatly influenced it in favour of the Queen and
against the King and his ministers. It was impossible for
any one to avoid laughing heartily at these publications.
There was no mistaking any one character introduced.
There was Canning, recognized by his bald head and
his pecuhar attitude. There was Sidmouth, with an
enema-bag in his hand ; and this, if the likeness were
not striking, showed that he was indeed ' The Doctor.'
There was Wellington, spare in figure, with his Roman
nose and keen, cold eye. There was Castlereagh, duly
ticketed as ' Derry-down-tnangle,' in memory of the
tortures which he aUowed to be inflicted in Ireland
during the rebellion of 1798. But chief of all was the
Kino-. Never before nor since was royalty made so

68 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
ridiculous. The towering wig, the false whiskers, the
padded garments, the enormous bulk, the affectation of
juvenility by 'the dandy of sixty' were all inimitable,
and not to be mistaken. Lawrence himself might have
painted more powerful portraits of the Sovereign, but
none half so characteristic as these. We remember one
which gave us a back view of ' big George,' with the
proportions of his sitting part ludicrously exaggerated,
and a star or two stuck upon the narrow tails of the coat,
which did not cover the sitting part, as aforesaid. It
was impossible to avoid laughing at these — the likeness
so good, the figure so correct, the attitude so irresistibly
funny. Then the doggerel letter-press, to explain what
wanted no explanation. Fancy such a figure stuck in
the centre of the page, with such a running commen
tary beneath as the following : —
' The dandy of sixty
Who bows with a grace ;
The laughable figure
Who wears a crown,
With crosses and badges, and stars of renown,
Who honour and virtue has trampled down,
By insulting the Qneen that Jack found.'
"The present generation, examining these things, might
wonder at the effect they had upon the public mind ;
but we can tell them that thousands and ten thousands
recollect that the effect was extraordinary. There was
a rush and a crush to get them. Edition after edition
went off like wildfire. Of some, as many as a quarter
of a million copies were sold. Some ran into the
thirtieth edition. In 1822, Mr. Hone brought out
' A Slap at Slop and the Bridge Street Gang,' a very
cleverly written broadsheet, newspaper size, with ficti-

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 69

tious advertisements and intelligence, every line of
which had a direct political or personal aim. This had
also the advantage of George Cruikshank's illustrations ;
and with this concluded his essays in the political line.
The system of government improved hereafter, and the
artist thought, no doubt, that a wider and better field
was before him for the exercise of his talents. Hence
forth, then, no one could say of George Cruikshank
that he ' To party gave up what was meant for mankind.' "
Having said that he believed Cruikshank's attacks
upon the Prince Regent to have been his only effort as
a party politician,* and referred to his " regular John
Bull style of treating the Corsican officer, Boney, as he
was pleased always to call Napoleon I.," Thackeray
points out how soon the caricaturist's heart relented
when the Emperor had yielded to stern fortune. The
fine drawing of Louis XVIII. trying Napoleon's boots
on his gouty feet, is cited in evidence. t But Cruik
shank could never master his bull-dog contempt for
Frenchmen. This is clear in all his drawings where
they appear ; and particularly in " Life in Paris," as well
as the series of plates first issued between 1817 and
1820, and reissued by Mr. McLean, of the Haymarket,
in 1835. The Cruikshank Frenchmen are " almost in
variably thin, with ludicrous spindle-shanks, pig-tails,

s Which is a mistake. Cruikshank produced some notable
political pictures many years later, as the reader will see.
t He even went the length, in one of his temperance speeches,
of apologising for his attacks on the Prince Begent.

TO THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
outstretched hands, shrugging shoulders, and queer
hair and moustachios."
We have merely glanced at the early caricatures of
this indefatigable observer and worker.
" Long before he was out of jackets," says Mr. Sala,
who knew him well in his later years, and understood
every facet of his brilliant genius, "he had learned to
draw with facility, symmetry, and precision ....
"The earliest bread-winning engagement of young
George appears to have been in connection with a
satirical periodical called the Scourge, and another
light, the Meteor, which latter he published conjointly
with a man of letters named Earle. In the time of
the Russian campaign of 1812 he was very busy with
aquatint tableaux of the disaster and shameful flight
of Napoleon I., whom he always heartily hated ; and
in the Waterloo year he ' illustrated ' a comic song,
sung ' every night with tremendous applause ' at the
old Surrey Theatre, in which the final downfall of the
Corsican usurper and tyrant was narrated in a style
which would have delighted M. Lanfrey. But it was
in 1820 that George first made a decided hit" This,
as illustrator of the Hone publications, the hterary
portion of which was worthless. Of " that strange,
wayward man, AVilliam Hone," first bookseller and
writer of lampoons and parodies of the Litany and
Church catechism, and in the end antiquary and
mild collector of folk-lore, Cruikshank said, in the
fragment of his autobiography which opens his
" Omnibus," in reply to a remark, that he had once
been on terms, not only of intimacy, "but of warm
friendship," with "the most noted infidel of his day."
Tho proprietor, Earle, was an unprincipled man,

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 71
who persuaded George Cruikshank to put his name to
a bill When it fell due, the drawer was in the Fleet
prison. The acceptor's mother was not a lady to take
such a deception hghtly. She repaired to the Fleet,
but obtained no satisfaction from the debtor. The
editor of the Scourge, " Jack " or " Mad " Mitford, was
worthy of the proprietor. He had been an officer in
the navy, but fell, through infamous conduct, to be the
rhymester of running patterers. His principal work,
" Johnny Newcome in the Navy," was written in the
gravel-pits near Bayswater, where he had hidden, and
whither his publisher sent him a shilling daily, to
buy gin and cheese, in return for " copy." He died
in St. Giles's workhouse.
Of Hone, Cruikshank said : " What Mr. Hone's
religious creed may have been at that time, I am far
from being able to decide ; I was too young to know
more than that he seemed deeply read in theological
questions, and, although unsettled in his opinions,
always professed to be a Christian. I knew also
that his conduct was regulated by the strictest mor
ality. He had been brought up to detest the Church
of Rome, and to look upon the ' Church of England '
service as little better than popish ceremonies ; and
with this feeling he parodied some portions of the
Church service for purposes of political satire. But
with these publications / had nothing whatever to do ;
and the instant I heard of their appearance, I entreated
him to withdraw them. That I was his friend is true ;
and it is true, also, that among his friends were many
persons, not more admired for their literary genius,
than esteemed for their zeal in behalf of religion and
morals."

12 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
This manly vindication of his friend was characteristic
of George Cruikshank. " When Hone was arraigned
for blasphemy, Cruikshank," says a writer on him in
the london Review (December 28th, 1867), who knew
him, "was consulted, and he dictated a letter, begging
the Attorney-General not to take proceedings. This
letter, one of Hone's little children took to that Crown
officer's private house. But in vain. The action went
on, and the ill-paid artist stood nobly by his friend. It
is even said that the trial was rehearsed in Cruikshank's
studio, and that he and Hone concocted the defence
together." When Hone died, Cruikshank insisted upon going to
the funeral of his old employer. Dickens used to
describe a serio-comic scene with Mrs. Cruikshank at
the time, who implored him to intercede, not only
because she feared George might be indiscreet and
get into trouble, but because she could not bear " those
horrid Miss Hones." Hone, on his side, bore hand
some testimony to the genius of the artist.
Hone's " Ancient Mysteries Described," fcap. Svo,
1823, contains two illustrations by George Cruikshank;
viz., " The Giants in Guildhall," and " Fools' Morris
Dance." In an aUusion to the giants, Mr. Hone
observed : " In order to perpetuate their appearance
they are drawn and etched by Mr. George Cruikshank,
whose extraordinary talents have been happily exer
cised on my more original fancies. As this may be
the last time that I shall ever write Mr. Cruikshank's
name for the press, I cannot but express my astonish
ment that a pencil which commands the admiration
of any individual qualified to appreciate art, should
be disregarded by that class whose omission to secure

CRUIKSHANK AS A POLITICAL CARICATURIST. 73
it in their service is a remarkable instance of dis
regard to their own interests as the midwives of
literature."

Hone and Cruikshank, being the vignette to " Facetue and Miscellanies,"1828.

74

CHAPTER V.
"LIFE IN LONDON," "LIFE IN PARIS," "POINTS OF
HUMOUR," ETC.
" And yet it is no trifle to be a good caricaturist,"
exclaimed Professor Wilson, in an article on Cruik
shank, in Blackwood of July 1823. "Forbid the
thought, ye shades of Bunbury and Gillray ! forbid it,
even thou, if thou be still in the land of the living,
good Dighton ! forbid it, charming, laughter-moving
Rowlandson ! Bunbury was a great genius, and would
have been a great caricaturist, had he been possessed
of art at all in proportion to his imagination. But he
could not draw — not he. As far as faces went, he was
at home, and admirable ; and even as to the figure,
provided he was allowed the benefit of loose breeches
and capacious coats, and grizzly wigs, and tobacco
smoke, he could get on well enough. But this is not
the thing. The caricaturist should be able to represent
everything ; and then he can represent what he chooses
in a very different style from that of a man whose
ignorance, not his choice, limits the sphere of his repre
sentation. Rowlandson, again, is a considerable dab at
drawing; but, somehow or other, his vein is ultra, hib
field is not coined v, but farce — buffoonery — and this will

'LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 75

not do with the English temperament, except for merely
temporary purposes. The Rev. Brownlow North (wor
thy of bearing that illustrious name, 0 Christopher !)
is another capital caricaturist. . . . Gillray was in
himself a host. He is the first name on the list of
Political Caricaturists, strictly so called. George III.
(honest man !), and Boney, and Fox, and Sheridan, and
Pitt, and AVindham, and Melville, and Grenville, are
his peculiar property. His fame will repose for ever
on their broad bottoms. Cruikshank may, if he pleases,
be a second Gillray ; but, once more, this should not be
his ambition. He is fitted for a higher walk. Let him
play Gillray, if he will, at leisure hours — let him even
pick up his pocket-money by Gillrayizing ; but let him
give his days and his nights to labour that Gillray's,
shoulders were not meant for, and rear (for he may) a
reputation such as Gillray was too sensible a fellow to
dream of aspiring after."
This article was provoked by the success of " Life in
London," illustrated by the brothers Robert and George
Cruikshank, followed by that revelation of George's
genius, his "Points of Humour," and not by the
scores of political caricatures he was throwing off for
Humphrey, Fores, and others. He had not yet broken
away from the uncongenial political ground to the
social ; but he had opened that vast gallery of London
scenes which he had been accumulating during twenty
years of hard toil in the metropolis. Wilson gives us
a peep behind the curtain of Cruikshank's life at this
time, as he had heard it described over a glass with
Egan and other roystering friends. He even ventures
to lecture his protigd: —
" It is high time that the public should think more

76 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
than they have hitherto done of George Cruikshank ;
and it is also high time that George Cruikshank should
begin to think more than he seems to have done hitherto
of himself. Generally speaking, people consider him as
a clever, sharp caricaturist, and nothing more — a free
handed, comical young fellow, who will do anything
he is paid for, and who is quite contented to dine off
the proceeds of a ' George IV.' to-day, and those of
a ' Hone ' or a ' Cobbett ' to-morrow. He himself, in
deed, appears to be the most careless creature alive,
as touching his reputation. He seems to have no
plan — almost no ambition — and, I apprehend, not much
industry. He does just what is suggested or thrown in
his way, pockets the cash, orders his beef-steak and bowl,
.and chaunts, like one of his own heroes, —
' Life is all a variorum,
We regard not how it goes.'
Now, for a year or two, to begin with, this is just as it
should be. Cruikshank was resolved to see life ; and his
sketches show that he has seen it, in some of its walks,
to purpose. But life is short, and art is long ; and our
gay friend must pull up." Then the Professor remarks
that"perhaps he is not aware of the fact himself, but a
fact it undoubtedly is, that he possesses genius — genius
in its truest sense — strong, original, English genius."
" Look round the world of Art," says the Professor,
" and ask, how many are there of whom anything like
this can be said ? Why, there are not half-a-dozen
names that could bear being mentioned at all ; and cer
tainly there is not one, the pretensions of which will
endure sifting more securely and more triumphantly
than that of George Cruikshank."

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. TJ
He is described as " a total despiser of that venerable
humbug " which was "the prime god of the idolatry "
of his contemporaries. Professor Wilson adds : —
" I am of opinion that George Cruikshank is one of
the many young gentlemen whose education (like that
of the English opium-eater) has been neglected. But
there is no time lost ; he has, I hope, a long life and a
merry one before him yet ; and he may depend upon it,
his life will be neither the shorter nor the duller for
his making it something of a studious one. He should
read — read — read. He should be indefatigable in
reading. He should rise at six in the morning. If he
can't work till he has had something to settle his
stomach (my own case), he may have a httle coffee-pot
placed on the hob over-night, and take a cup of that
and a single crust of toast, and he will find himself
quite able for anything. What a breakfast he will be
able to devour about nine or half-past nine, after having
enriched his mind with several hours of conversation
with the greatest and the wisest of his species ! He
may rely upon it, this hint is worth taking. Then let
him draw, etch, and paint, until about two o'clock
p.m., then take a lounge through the streets, to see if
anything is stirring — step into Westminster Hall, the
Fives court, the Rev. Edward Irving's chapel (if it be
Sunday), or any other public place, jotting down a la
Hogarth all the absurd faces he falls in with upon his
finger-nails. A slight dinner and a single bottle will
carry him on till it is time to go to the play, or the
Castle Tavern, or the House of Commons, or the
evening preaching, or the Surrey Lecture, or the like.
At first sight, it may appear that I am cutting short
the hours of professional exertion too much, but this I

y8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
am convinced is mere humbug. Does the author of
Waverley eat, or drink, or ride, or talk, or laugh, a
whit the less because he write3 an octavo every month ?
No such thing. Does Jeffrey plead his causes a bit the
worse because he is the editor of the Edinburgh Review ?
Does Wordsworth write worse poems, for collecting the
taxes of Cumberland ; or Lamb, worse Elias, for being
clerk to the India House ? The artists are all of them
too diligent — that is the very fault I want to cure them
of. Their pallets are never off their thumbs — their
sticks are eternally in their fingers."
He goes on to say that "the advantage of a little proper
reading may be illustrated by the history of George
Cruikshank, as well as by that of any other individual
I have the pleasure of not being personally acquainted
with." He commends Cruikshank's earlv caricatures
as "in their several ways excellent things." "But,"
he exclaims, "what a start did he make when his
genius had received a truer and a diviner impulse from
the splendid imagination of an Egan ! How completely,
how toto cwlo did he out-Cruikshank himself, when he
was called upon to embody the conceptions of that
remarkable man in the designs of Tom aud Jerry!
The world felt this— and he himself felt it.
"Again, no disparagement to my friend Pierce Egan
(who is one of the pleasantest as well as one of the
greatest men now extant, and with whom, last time I
was in town, I did not hesitate to crack a bottle ot
Belcher's best), Cruikshank made another, and a still
more striking stride, when he stepped from Egan to
Burns, and sought his inspiration from the very best of
all Burns's glorious works, ' The Jollv Beggars.' It is
of this work (the ' Points of Humour ') that I am now

'LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 79

to speak. It was for the purpose of puffing it and its
riithor, and of calling upon all who have eyes to water
and sides to ache to buy it, that I began this leading
lecture. It is, without doubt, the first thing that has
appeared since the death of Hogarth. Yes, 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 People. Etc pede Herculem : the
man who drew these things is fit for anything. Let
him but do himself justice, and he must take his place
inter lumina Anglorum."
Of " Life in London," and " Life in Paris," which
followed it, Thackeray, writing seventeen years after
Wilson, utters the opinion which is likely to be the final
one on the literary and artistic merits of these works : —
"A curious book, called 'Life in Paris,' published in
1822, contains a number of the artist's plates in the
aquatint style ; and though we believe he had never
been in that capital, the designs have a great deal of
life in them, and pass muster very well. A villainous
race of shoulder-shrugging mortals are his Frenchmen
indeed. And the heroes of the tale, a certain Mr. Dick
Wildfire, Squire Jenkins, and Captain O'ShufHeton, are
made to show the true British superiority on every
occasion when Britons and French are brought together.
This book was one among the many that the designer's
genius has caused to be popular; the plates are not
carefully executed, but, being coloured, have a pleasant,
lively look. The same style was adopted in the once
famous book called ' Tom and Jerry, or Life in London,'
which must have a word of notice here ; for, although
by no means Mr. Cruikshank's best work, his repura.

80 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
tion was extraordinarily raised by it. Tom and Jeikf
were as popular twenty years since as Mr. Pickwick and
Sam Weller now are ; and often have we wished, while
reading the biographies of the latter celebrated person
ages, that they had been described as well by Mr.
Cruikshank's pencil as by Mr. Dickens's pen.
" As for Tom and Jerry, to show the mutability of
human affairs, and the evanescent nature of reputation,
we have been to the British Museum and no less than
five circulating libraries in quest of the book, and ' Life
in London,' alas ! is not to be found at any one of them.
We can only, therefore, speak of the work from recol
lection, but have still a very clear remembrance of the
leather gaiters of Jerry Hawthorn, the green spectacles
of Logic, and the hooked nose of Corinthian Tom.
They were the schoolboys' delight; and in the days
when the work appeared, we firmly believed the three
heroes above named to be types of the most elegant,
fashionable young fellows the town afforded, and thought
their occupations and amusements were those of all
high-bred English gentlemen. Tom knocking down
the watchman at Temple Bar ; Tom and Jerry dancing
at Almack's ; or flirting in the saloon at the theatre ;
at the night-houses, after the play ; at Tom Cribb's,
examining the silver cup then in the possession of that
champion ; at Bob Logic's chambers, where, if we mis
take not, ' Corinthian Kate ' was at a cabinet piano,
singing a song ; ambling gallantly in Rotten Row, or
examining the poor fellow at Newgate who was having
his chains knocked off before hanging ; all these scenes
remain indelibly engraved upon the mind, and so far
we are independent of all the circulating libraries in
London.

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 8 1
__^- 
M •' As to the literary contents of the book, they have
r passed sheer away. It was, most likely, not particularly
refined ; nay, the chances are that it was absolutely
vulgar. But it must have had some merit of its own,
that is clear ; it must have given striking descriptions
of life in some part or other of London, for all London
read it, and went to see it in its dramatic shape. The
artist, it is said, wished to close the career of the three
heroes by bringing them all to ruin ; but the writer, or
publishers, would not allow any such melancholy sub
jects to dash the merriment of the public, and we believe
Tom, Jerry, and Logic were married off at the end of
the tale, as if they had been the most moral personages
in the world. There is some goodness in this pity
which author and the public are disposed to show
towards certain agreeable, disreputable characters of
romance. Who would mar the prospects of honest
Roderick Random, or Charles Surface, or Tom Jones ?
Only a very stern moralist indeed. And in regard of
Jerry Hawthorn and that hero without a surname,
Corinthian Tom, Mr. Cruikshank, we make little doubt,
was glad in his heart that he was not allowed to have
his own way."
According to Mr. Sala, only a few of the pictures in
" Life in London " were the production of George
Cruikshank. " We are not even quite certain," he says,
"as to whether the irresistibly mirth-provoking group
of ' Dusty Bob and Black Sal ' can be claimed by him.
Robert Cruikshank was the chief illustrator of Pierce
Egan's questionable magnum opus ; and, oddly enough,
until attention was drawn to George's commanding
talents by Professor Wilson and Blackwood, it was
Robert or ' Bob ' Cruikshank who was imagined, by a
6

82 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
careless public, to be the genius of the family. His
more gifted brother, nevertheless, was the sole illus
trator in some forty admirable aquatint engravings
of a kind of pendant to ' Life in London,' called ' Life
in Paris.' The letterpress of this production was not
furnished by Pierce Egan ; nor could George at the
end of his life remember by whom it was written,
although the man's name, he was wont to say, 'was
always on the tip of his tongue.' "
George Cruikshank's sketches of the Boulevards and
the Palais Royal, elaborated from sketches furnished to
him, were wonderfully spirited and true ; albeit he had
never been across the Channel. Indeed, he never got
beyond a French seaport in the course of his long life.
A day at Boulogne comprehended all his continental
experiences. His contemporary, Bryan Waller Procter,
had never seen the ocean when he wrote " Tlie Sea " :
again, neither Schiller nor Rossini had seen Switzer
land when they wrote their '• William Teh" Cuthbert
Bede asserts that Cruikshank originated " Life in
London," and "was greatly displeased and distressed
at the way in which the author wrote up to his de
signs." In those days the Cruikshanks were not in a
position to command Pierce Egan. It is clear that the
designs illustrate the written work. It is quite true that
George lamented the coarseness and the plan of it ; but
the plates have, throughout, his signature in conjunction
with his brother's.
Mr. Percy R. Cruikshank, the son of Robert, had
tho following account of the origin of Tom and Jerry
from his father : " The wonderfully successful Tom
and Jerry, or Life in London, although ostensibly
Pierce Egan's idea, was universally given to George

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. S3
Cruikshank, whereas the original notion and very de
signs were mostly Robert's. He conceived the notion,
and planned the designs, while showing a brother-in-
law, just returned from China, some of the 'life' which
was going on in London at the time, He designed the
characters of Tom, Jerry, and Logic from himself, his
brother-in-law, and Pierce Egan, keeping to the like
nesses of each model. Robert offered the work to
Messrs. Sherwood, Neely and Jones, of Paternoster
Row, who saw nothing in it, but at length accepted the
offer, and by doing so realized a large sum of money,
the etchings taking immensely. . . . George Cruik
shank, shortly before his death, said to his nephew
Percy, ' When your father proposed Tom and Jerry
to me, I suggested that it should be carried out in a
series of oil paintings, after the manner of Hogarth, but
1 he objected, considering etching was safer, and more
rapidly convertible into ready money.'"*
To the Tom and Jerry plates Thackeray returned in
* In the introduction to the 1870 edition of the work, Mr. John
Camden Hotten supposes the following origin : " One day it
occurred to the editor of Boxiana that if Londoners were so
anxious for books about country and out-of-door sports, why
should not provincials and even the cockneys themselves be
equally anxious to know something of ' Life in London ' V The
editor of Boxiana was Mr. Pierce Egan, who, as the literary repre
sentative of sport and high life, had already been introduced to
George IV. The character of the proposed work was mentioned
to the King, and His Gracious Majesty seems to have heartily
approved of it, for he at once gave permission for it to be dedi
cated to himself. The services of Messrs. I. K. and George
Cruikshank were secured as illustrators, and on the 15th of
July, 1821,^:6 first number, price one shilling, was published by
Messrs. Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, of Paternoster Row."

84 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
a Roundabout Paper in the Cornhill Magazine, after a
visit to the British Museum to renew his acquaintance
with the lively pair, or Thomas and Jeremiah — his
"witty way," he says, of calling them. He found the
reading so-so — "even a little vulgar, will, well."
" But the pictures ! " he exclaims. " Oh ! the pictures
are noble still ! " That George Cruikshank did not
withdraw his name or his etching-needle from the ad
ventures of Tom and Jerry, at any time of their career
of extraordinary success, is proved by one or two
fiicts. When, after all the theatres had been filled
with dramatic versions of Egan's "Life in London."
the author himself prepared an extravaganza on his
book for Astley's in ISl-2. the songs and parodies intro
duced into it appeared " with a highly finished picture
of the pony races, by George Cruikshank."
" It is not generally known," says Mr. Hotten, •• that
George Cruikshank painted a public-house si<m to cele
brate the success of Dusty Bob in ' Tom and Jerrv.'
Walbourn, the comedian, who personated this character
with extraordinary sueeess. kept the • Maidenhead '
public-house at Battle Bridge, and the artist painted a
whole-length portrait of him in character, which was
hung out as bis signboard. Moncrieff" (who dramatized
' Tom and Jerry ') "used to say that the three characters,
Tom, Jerry, and Logic, stood for George Cruikshank,
Robert Cruikshank, and Pierce Egan; that many of
the adventures in the book were in part autobiographi
cal, and that the portraits of the heroes in the pictures
bore a striking resemblance to the portraits of the
three artists in actual life." If the artist did not paint
a public-house sign, like Hogarth, he carefully etched
a large portrait of Mr. Walbourn as Dustv Bob, wth

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 85
his fantail under his arm, which was published in St.
James's Street ; and he prepared another copy of this
same portrait, with a thin additional line round the
print, inscribed above, "Messrs. Reid and Co.'s Entire,"
and below, "W. Walbourn, Wine and Spirit Merchant,
Maidenhead, Battle Bridge." * Nor is this all ; George
was " in at the death," to use a phrase appropriate to
Egan's work. On the 1st February, 1823, a broad
side was issued " for Pierce Egan," from his " Tiny
Crib," 71, Chancery Lane, price one shilling, bearing
an affecting title, " The Tears of Pierce Egan for the
Death of Life in London ; or, The Funeral of Tom and
Jerry. By T. Greenwood, Esq. Dedicated to I. R.
and George Cruikshank." The broadside which repre
sents the joy of the Charlies at Tom and Jerry being
"floored " by death, and the funeral procession of Tom
and Jerry, is marked " G. Cruikshank fecit." The
frontispiece to Greenwood's burlesque is a grotesque
picture of this funeral. t
s In 1835, George Cruikshank etched " A Back and Front
View of the Statue (formerly) at Battle Bridge, New Road."
" The back resembles a sack of flour upon a post, and the front
view suggests the idea of ' Dusty Bob in a Blanket.' ' Lumber-
Troopers,' two very stout men, seated at a table, smoking and
drinking ; other designs around."
f " Two rows of figures form the procession, which is led by
two crossing-sweepers, who clear the way ; then boys with
links, mutes, jockeys, flower and match girls ; Logic, with his
broken umbrella up ; Kate and Sue, servants, pugilists, and a
man bearing the ropes of the prize -ring ; Dusty Bob and Sal,
Billy Waters, Little Jemmy in his sledge, fish-women, men
with banners, ' Charlies ' bringing up the rear, dancing and
shouting." — Mr. G. W. Reid's Descriptive Catalogue of the Works
of George Cruikshank.

86 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Dusty Bob was always a favourite character with
George. The two brothers, who enjoyed their frolics
together very much in their early days, having resolved
to go to a masquerade at Covent Garden, Robert, who
was fond of dress, selected a gorgeous cavalier costume,
while George decided to appear as a dustman. The
dustman of those days, in his Sunday clothes, was a
picturesque object, with his well-blacked fan-tailed
hat, white flannel jacket, scarlet plush breeches, white
stockings, and neat gaiters. He had a hberal display
of linen, and about his neck a bright-tinted " Barce
lona " kerchief. But George Cruikshank resolved
to go as the workaday dustman, as he had studied
him in his low haunts. He obtained a dustman's
old patched suit, begrimed his face and hands
artistically, put a dirty clay pipe in his mouth, and
strobed on a summer's evening from Dorset Street
to Covent Garden Theatre, where, with all a dust
man's roughness, he presented his ticket. The col
lector hesitated, amazed that so low a fellow could
have obtained possession of the ticket.
" Haint it reg'lar ? " shouted the dustman.
The difficulty was cleared up hy the appearance of
the splendid cavalier Robert, who took the dustman's
arm into the theatre, where he executed the " double
shuffle," to the great diversion of the dissipated company.
That the adventures of Tom and Jerry and Logic
were in some degree the experiences of Egan and the
brothers Cruikshank can hardly be doubted.* It is

0 (i. Cruikshank had worked for Egan in 1814. He had
vtclu'il for him The Entrance of Louis XVIII. into Paris, as a
frontispiece to a chap-book, which was published by Egan, at
his establishment in Groat Marlborough Street, in this year.

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 87
quite clear that the artists " went the rounds " of dis
sipation, if only to make up their pictures. Egan was
at home in the scenes which he described; nor, as we
have seen, were the young Cruikshanks, in those days,
puritanical in their ways of life. George, we find,
was reputed to be so wild, that Professor Wilson, who
admired his genius, admonished him to bring him
self down to a bottle at dinner, and to moderate his
amusements. If we take " Life in London " in conjunction with
the daily hand-to-mouth work which George Cruik
shank had been executing for the popular publishers of
caricatures, and particularly from the day when Mrs.
Humphrey invited him into her shop to take up the
etching-needle of her helpless invalid upstairs, we shall
see that, although the young artist had what would
now be called strong moral proclivities and quick sym
pathies, he was ready to conform to the spirit of the
times, to hit hard, and to make bold steps on very
delicate ground.
The miscellaneous work which Cruikshank threw off,
in the midst of the labours of a higher class, and more
congenial to his genius, between 1820 and 1830, was
prodigious. He was, indeed, the pictorial chronicler
and satirist and moralist of the time. Before entering
upon this part of his labours, let us glance at the best
collection of them to which he gave a distinctive form.
His "Points of Humour" are among the best ex
pressions of his observation and skill, in his vivacious
mood. They enchanted his good friend and generous
admirer, Thackeray. The mood, the manner of the out
look upon passing events, often suggest Thackeray
himself. Cruikshank's flunkeys were the progenitors

88 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
of Jeames and Tummus of Thackeray and Leech, as
his beadles were the forefathers of Bumble.
Cruikshank's next important public appearance, after
' Life in London and Paris,' was with his ' Poiuts of
Humour'* (1822-24) — some twenty copper-plates
selected from various works. " The collector of
humorous designs," Mr. Thackeray remarks, " cannot
fail to have them in his portfolio, for they contain
some of the very best efforts of Mr. Cruikshank's
genius ; and though not quite so highly laboured
as some of his later productions, are none the
worse, in our opinion, for their comparative want of
finish. All the effects are perfectly given, and the
expression as good as it could be in the most deli
cate engraving upon steel. The artist's style, too,
was then completely formed ; and, for our parts, we
should say that we preferred his manner of 1825
to any other which he has adopted since. The first
picture, which is called ' The Point of Honour,' illus
trates the old story of the officer who, on being accused
of cowardice for refusing to fijrht a duel, came among
his brother officers, and flung a lighted grenade down
upon the floor, before which his comrades fled igno
miniously. This design is capital, and the outward
rush of heroes, walking, trampling, twisting, scuffling
at the door, is in the best style of the grotesque. You
0 In a note to his essay on George Cruikshank in Blachicood,
Professor Wilson says: — "The "Points of Humour' are to
appear in occasional numbers. Xo. I. contains about a dozen
etchings, aud fifty pages of very well written letterpress. The
work is published by C. Baldwyn, Newgate Street, London, and
tho price per number is only eight shillings, which is dog-cheap,
as things go."

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 89
see but the back of most of these gentlemen, into which,
nevertheless, the artist has managed to throw an ex
pression of ludicrous agony that one could scarcely
have expected to find in such a part of the human
figure. The next plate is not less good. It represents
a couple who, having been found one night tipsy, and
lying in the same gutter, were, by a charitable though
misguided gentleman, supposed to be man and wife,
and put comfortably to bed together. The morning
came : fancy the surprise of this interesting pair when
they awoke and discovered their situation. Fancy the
manner, too, in which Cruikshank has depicted them,
to which words cannot do justice. It is needless to
state that this fortuitous and temporary union was
followed by one more lasting and sentimental, and that
these two worthy persons were married, and lived
happily ever after.
" We should like to go through every one of these
prints. There is the jolly miller, who, returning home
at night, calls upon his wife to get him a supper, and
falls to upon rashers of bacon and ale. How he gor
mandises, that jolly miller ! rasher after rasher, — how
they pass away frizzling and smoking from the gridiron
down that immense grinning gulf of a mouth. Poor
wife ! how she pines and frets at that untimely hour of
midnight to be obliged to fry, fry, fry perpetually, and
minister to the monster's appetite. And yonder in the
clock, what agonised face is that we see ? By heavens,
it is the squire of the parish ! What business has he
there? Let us not ask. Suffice it to say, that he has,'
in the hurry of the moment, left upstairs his br  ;
his— psha ! a part of his dress, in short, with a number
of bank-notes in the pockets. Look in the next page,

90 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
and you will see the ferocious, bacon-devouring ruffian
of a miller is actually causing this garment to be carried
through the village, and cried by the town-crier. And
we blush to be obliged to say that the demoralised miller
never offered to return the bank-notes, although he was

The Jolly Bepgars,
so might v scrupulous in endeavouring to find an owner
for the corduroy portfolio in which he had found
them. " Passing from this painful subject, we come, we
regret to state, to a series representing personages not

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 91
a whit more moral. Burns's famous ' Jolly Beggars'
have all had their portraits drawn by Cruikshank."
George Cruikshank's " Phrenological Illustrations "
(1826), " Illustrations of Time " (1827), and " Scraps
and Sketches" (1828), in which the celebrated scene
"What is Taxes, Thomas?" will be found, were all
published by the artist himself, and they may be said
to have furnished the pictorial material for the first
attempt at illustrated journalism. Mr. J. C. Roger,
a friend of Cruikshank's, describes the transaction as
he had it from the wronged artist.*
" The ' Gallery of Comicalities ' originated in the
circumstance that some forty years ago he (George
Cruikshank) was applied to by Mr. Dowling, the editor
of Bell's 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 ' Phrenolo
gical Illustrations,' ' Illustrations of Time,' and ' Scraps
and Sketches,' in the pages of the journal named. Act
ing on the qualified permission so obtained, Mr. Clare
mont, the proprietor, to the utter astonishment of the
artist, appropriated for his newspaper the whole, or
nearly all, of George Cruikshank's designs, contained
in the works in question. When remonstrated with by
the artist, and required to stay the issue of the number
of the paper in which these appeared, on the ground
that it was seriously interfering with the sale of the
artist's own works, Mr. Claremont, through his editor,
peremptorily declined. Consulting a professional friend
holding a post in the Court of Chancery, to know
whether an injunction might not be obtained to restrain
* Notes and Queries, 4th series, vol. v., p. 301.

92 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Mr. Claremont in the course he had thought proper to
follow, the artist was advised to suffer the wrong rather
than enter into litigation, the result of which in any
event would entail pecuniary loss.
" These illustrations, I have said, first appeared in the
columns of BelVs Life in London, under the heading,
' Gallery of Comicalities.' They were afterwards pub
lished sepa rately by Mr. Claremont. A very large number
were sold, and large profits realized. George Cruik
shank neither received nor would have accepted a single
farthing. . . . George Cruikshank never contributed
directly to the ' Gallery of Comicalities.' His designs,
obtained in the manner described, were copied bv an
ordinary wood engraver from his etchings. The average
cost of these, he informs me, would not exceed thirty
shillings each. Mr. Claremont, finding the thing a pro
fitable venture, continued the publication, and employed
Kenny Meadows and others to furnish new designs."
It is added, that if there were anv designs by his
brother Isaac Robert, they must have been arrogated
in the same peculiar way.
" The Gallery of Comicalities " was a great success.
Mr. William Bates, of Birmingham, remarks, in Xotes
and Queries, " I am happily able to count myself among
those collectors who possess these wittv sheets — the de
light of my boyhood — in a perfect state." The eight
series into which the gallery is divided, introduce us
for the first time to Kennv Meadows and John Leech)
as well as to rich stolen fruit from Cruikshank's highly
productive orchard ; and, according to Mr. Bates, to a
plentiful gleaning from the works of Isaac Robert Cruik
shank. Here Meadow's sketches from Lavater appeared,
including "The Phisogs of the Traders of London,''

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 93

which give a foretaste of his " Heads of the People ; "
and in the gallery are some of poor Seymour's sketches
of the " Sporting Cockney," and drawings by Chatfield
— an artist now forgotten, but who was a light in the
early times of Douglas Jerrold, Dickens, Thackeray,
and Meadows. We must look here also for Leech's
early drawings. The great variety of subjects treated
with a vigorous, fresh, racy humour by these young
artists give a foretaste of Punch that was to start
in a few years. The popular appetite for caricature,
and for humorous and sarcastic commentaries on the
subjects of the day, was diffused among the people by
Cleave's coarser and cheaper pictorial gallery.
The taste for pictorial journalism was distinctly the
creation of our caricaturists. Founded by James Gill
ray and his humbler contemporaries, it was developed
by the genius of Rowlandson and George Cruikshank,
and so popularised by the latter, that his drawings were,
as we have seen, actually carried into the columns of a
newspaper. Even this paper he may be said to have
indirectly created. Bell's Life in London originally
appeared in 1824, as Pierce Egans Life in London, and
Sporting Gazette. Egan was, when Tom and Jerry
took the town by storm, the sporting contributor to the
Weekly Dispatch; and the success of this work so roused
the jealousy of the Dispatch conductors, that they gave
Egan his conge. His dismissal, and the popularity he
enjoyed at the moment, emboldened him to start a paper
on his own account. It flourished awhile, and in 1827
Mr. Egan sold it to a Mr. Bell, who placed his name
upon the title-page, where Egan's had stood. So that
the journal which Mr. Cruikshank was indirectly instru
mental in creating, rewarded him by unceremoniously

94 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
transferring his drawings to its columns, and thus inau
gurating the pictorial journalism of England.
The Phrenological Illustrations which Mr. Bell treated
so unceremoniously had enjoyed more than a year's ex
traordinary popularity, and had even been a topic in
Christopher North's " Noctes." *
'' Tickler. James, a few minutes ago you mentioned the
name of that prince of caricaturists, George Cruickshanks;
pray, have you seen his Phrenological Illustrations ?
"Shepherd. That I hae, — hi sent me the present o'a
copy to Mount Benger ; and I thocht me and the hail
lioose wud hae faen distracted wi' lauchin. 0 sirs, what
a plate is yon Pheeloprogeniteeveness ! It's no possible
to make out the preceese amount o' the faniilv, but
there wad seem to be somewhere about a dizzen and a
half — the legitimate produce o" the Eerish couple's ain
fruitfu' lines. A' noses alike in their langness, wi' sleight
vareeities, dear to ilka pawrent's heart ! Then what
kissing, and hugging, and rugging, and ridin' on backs
and legs, and rockin o' craddles, ;-.nd speelin o" chairs,
and washing o' claes, and boilin' o' pirtawties ! And ae
wee bit spare rib o' flesh twurlin' afore the fire, to be
sent roun' lick and lick about, to gie to the tongues of
the contented crew a meat flavour, alang wi' the wersli-
ness o' vegetable maitter ! Sma' wooden sod«Ters gaim
through the inanuel exercise on the floor — ae nine-pin
stannin by himseU amang prostrate comrai'e< — a boat
shaped wi' a knife, by him that's gaun to be a sailor,
and on the wa'. emblematical o' human Pheeloprogeni
teeveness (0 bit that's a kittle word !) a hen and chickens,
ane o' them perched atween her shouthers. and a count-

* November 18'JO.

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 95
less cleckin aneath her outspread wings! What an
observer 0' nature that chiel is ! Only look at the back
of the faither's neck, and you'll no wonner at his family,
for is't no like the back o' the neck o' a great bill ? "
Tickler declares that Language is almost as good, and
North himself says : " Not a whit inferior is Venera
tion." Then Tickler observes : " George Cruickshanks
various and admirable works should be in the posses
sion of all lovers of the Arts. He is far more than the
Prince of Caricaturists, — a man who regards the on-
goings of life with the eye of genius ; and he has a clear
insight through the exterior of manners into the passions
of the heart. He has wit as well as humour — feeling as
well as fancy — and his original vein appears to be inex
haustible. Here's his health in a bumper."
The Cruikshank of twenty years later would have
been inexpressibly shocked at the manner in which the
Shepherd responded :
" Geordy Cruickshanksd But stop awee, my tummler's
dune. Here's to him in a caulker, and there's no mony
folk whase health I wad drink, during toddy, in pure
speerit." Thackeray bears witness to the popularity of the
Phrenological Sketches as quaintly as Christopher
North :—
" He is the friend of the young especially. Have we
not -read all the story-books that his wonderful pencil
has illustrated ? Did we not forego tarts, in order to
buy his 'Breaking-up,' or his 'Fashionable Monstrosi
ties ' of the year eighteen hundred and something ? Have
we not before us, at this very moment, a print — one of
the admirable 'Illustrations of Phrenology '—which
entire work was purchased by a joint-stock company of

g6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
boys, each drawing lots afterwards for the separate
prints, and taking his choice in rotation? The writer
of this, too, had the honour of drawing the first lot,
and seized immediately upon ' Philoprogenitiveness' — a
marvellous print (our copy is not at all improved by
being coloured, which operation we performed on it
ourselves) — a marvellous print, indeed, full of ingenuity
and fine jovial humour. A father, possessor of an
enormous nose and family, is surrounded by the latter,
who are, some of them, embracing the former. The
composition writhes and twists about like the Kermes
of Rubens. No less than seven little men and women
in nightcaps, in frocks, in bibs, in breeches, are
clambering about the head, knees, and arms of the man
with the nose ; their noses, too, are pretematurally
developed — the twins in the cradle have noses of the
most considerable kind ; the second daughter, who is
watching them ; the youngest but two, who sits squalling
in a certain wicker chair ; the "eldest son, who is yawn
ing ; the eldest daughter, who is preparing with the
gravy of two mutton chops a savoury dish of Yorkshire
pudding for eighteen persons ; the youths who are
examining her operations (one a literarv gentleman,
in a remarkably neat nightcap and pinafore, who has
just had his finger in the pudding) ; the genius who is
at work on the slate, and tlie two honest lads who
are hugging the good-humoured washerwoman, their
mother, — all, all, save this worthy woman, have noses
of the largest size. Not handsome, certainly, are they,
and yet everybody must be charmed with the picture.
It is full of grotesque beauty. The artist has at the
back of his own skull, we are certain, a large bump of
philoprogenitiveness. He loves children in his heart :

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. 97
every one of those he has drawn is perfectly happy,
and jovial and affectionate, and innocent as possible.
He makes them with large noses, but he loves them ;
and you always find something kind in the midst of his
humour, and the ugliness redeemed by a sly touch of
beauty." Pursuing this current of genial criticism, Thackeray
remarks, that in Cruikshank's " Sketch Book " the
observer may gather a good deal of information regard
ing the character of the individual man ; " what points
strike his eye as a painter ; what move his anger or
admiration as a moralist ; what classes he seems most
especially disposed to observe, and what to ridicule.
There are quacks of all kinds, to whom he has a mortal
hatred ; quack dandies, who assume under his pencil,
perhaps in his eye, the most grotesque appearance
possible — their hats grow larger, their legs infinitely
more crooked and lean ; the tassels of their canes swell
out to a most preposterous size ; the tails of their coats
dwindle away, and finish where coat-tails generally
begin. Let us lay a wager that Cruikshank, a man of
the people, if ever there was one, heartily hates and
despises these supercilious, swaggering young gentle
men ; and his contempt is not a whit the less laudable
because there may be tant soit peu of prejudice in it.
It is right and wholesome to scorn dandies, as Nelson
said it was to hate Frenchmen ; in which sentiment (as
we have before said) George Cruikshank undoubtedly
shares. . . .
"Against dandy footmen he is particularly severe.
He hates idlers, pretenders, boasters, and punishes
these fellows as best he may. Who does not recollect
the famous picture. ' What is Taxes, Thomas ? ' What is
7

98 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
taxes indeed 1 Well may that vast, over-fed, lounging
flunkey ask the question of his associate Thomas, and
yet not well, for all that Thomas says in reply is, I don't
know. '0 beati plushicola?, what a charming state of
ignorance is yours ! In the Sketch Book many footmen
make their appearance : one is a huge, fat Hercules of
a Portman Square porter, who calmly surveys another
poor fellow, — a porter likewise, but out of livery, — who
comes staggering forward with a box that Hercules
might lift with his little finger. Will Hercules do so ?
Not he. The giant can carry nothing heavier than a
cocked-bat note on a silver tray, and his labours are
to walk from his sentry-box to the door, and from the
door back to his sentrv-box, and to read the Sundav
paper, and to poke the hall fire twice or thrice, and to
make five meals a day. Such a fellow does Cruikshank
hate and scorn worse even than a Frenchman.
" The man's master, too, comes in for no small share
of our artist's wrath. See, here is a company of them
at church, who humbly designate themselves ' miser
able sinners.' Miserable sinners, indeed! 0 what
floods of turtle-soup, what tons of turbot and lobster-
sauce, must have been sacrificed to make those sinners
properly miserable ! My lady there, with the ermine
tippet and draggling feather, can we not see that she
lives in Portland Place, and is the wife of an East India
Director ? She has been to the opera over-night (in
deed, her husband, on her right, with his fat hand dan
gling over the pew-door, is at this minute thinking of
Mademoiselle Leocadie, whom he saw behind the scenes)
— she has been at the opera over-night, which with a
trifle of supper afterwards — a white and brown soup, a
lobster salad, some woodcocks, and a little champagne

"LIFE IN LONDON!' ETC. 99
— sent her to bed quite comfortable. At half-past eight
her maid brings her chocolate in bed, at ten she has
fresh eggs and muffins, with, perhaps, a half-hundred of
prawns for breakfast, and so can get over the day and
the sermon till lunch-time pretty well. What an odour
of musk and bergamot exhales from the pew ! how it
is wadded, and stuffed, and spangled over with brass
nails ! what hassocks are there for those who are not
too fat to kneel ! what a flustering and flapping of gilt
prayer-books ! and what a pious whirring of Bible -leaves
one hears all over the church, as the Doctor blandly
gives out the text ! To be miserable at this rate, you
must, at the very least, have four thousand a year ; and
many persons are there so enamoured of grief and sin,
that they would willingly take the risk of the misery to
have a life-interest in the Consols that accompany it,
quite careless about consequences, and sceptical as to
the notion that a day is at hand when you must fulfil
your share of the bargain.
" Our artist loves to joke at a soldier, in whose livery
there appears to him to be something almost as ridic
ulous as in the uniform of the gentleman of the
shoulder-knot. Tall life-guardsmen and fierce grena
diers figure in many of his designs, and almost always
in a ridiculous way. Here, again, we have the honest,
popular English feeling which jeers at pomp or pre
tension of all kinds, and is especially jealous of all
display of military authority. ' Raw recruit,' ' ditto
dressed,' ditto ' served up,' as we see them in the
Sketch Book, are so many satires upon the army.
Hodge with his ribbons flaunting in his hat, or with
red coat and musket, drilled stiff and pompous, or that
last, minus leg and arm, tottering about on crutches,

100 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
do not fill our English artist with the enthusiasm that
follows the soldier in every other part of Europe.
Jeanjean, the conscript in France, is laughed at, to be
sure, but then it is because he is a bad soldier; when
he comes to have a huge pair of moustachios and the
croix d'honneur to briller on his poitrine cicatrisr'e, Jean
jean becomes a member of a class that is more respected
than any other in the French nation. The veteran
soldier inspires our people with no such awe : we hold
that democratic weapon the fist in much more honour
than the sabre and bayonet, and laugh at a man tricked
out in scarlet and pipeclay."
In the supernatural, says Thackeray, " we find
Cruikshank reigning supreme. He has invented in his
time a little comic pandemonium, peopled with the most
droll, good-natured fiends possible. We have before
us Chamisso's 'Peter Schlemihl ' (1824). with Cruik
shank's designs translated into German, and gaining
nothing by the change. . . . He has also made designs
for Victor Hugo's 'Hans of Iceland.' Strange, wild
etchings were those, on a strange, mad subject ; not so
good, in our notion, as the designs for the German
books, the peculiar humour of which latter seemed to
suit the artist exactly. There is a mixture of the awful
and the ridiculous in these, which perpetually excites and
keeps awake the reader's attention ; the German writer
and the Enghsh artist seem to have an entire faith in
their subject. The reader, no doubt, remembers the
awful passage in 'Peter Schlemihl,' where the little
gentleman purchases the shadow of that hero : ' Have
the kindness, noble sir, to examine and try this bag.'
lie put his hand into his pocket, and drew thence a
tolerably largo bag of Cordovan leather, to which a

"LIFE IN LONDON," ETC. iol
couple of thongs were fixed. I took it from him, and
immediately counted out ten gold pieces, and ten more,
and ten more, and still other ten, whereupon I held out
my hand to him. ' Done,' said I, ' it is a bargain; you
shall have my shadow for your bag.' The bargain was
concluded ; he knelt down before me, and I saw him
with a wonderful neatness take my shadow from head
to foot, lightly lift it up from the grass, roll and fold it
up neatly, and at last pocket it. He then rose up,
bowed to me once more, and walked away again, dis
appearing behind the rose-bushes. I don't know, but
I thought I heard him laughing a little. I, however,
kept fast hold of the bag. Everything around me was
bright in the sun, and as yet I gave no thought to what
I had done.' This marvellous event, narrated by Peter
with such a faithful, circumstantial detail, is painted by
Cruikshank in the most wonderful poetic way, with
that happy mixture of the real and supernatural that
makes the narrative so curious, and like truth."
The artist, in short, in a wonderfully complete way,
embodies the author's feeling, as well as his idea. He
plays, as it were, with the supernatural. Professor
Wilson goes even further. " Nobody, that has the
least of an eye for art, can doubt that Cruikshank, if he
chose, might design as many Annunciations, Beati
fications, Apotheoses, Metamorphoses, and so forth,
as would cover York Cathedral from end to end. It
is still more impossible to doubt that he might be a
famous portrait painter. Now, these are fine lines
both of them, and yet it is precisely the chief merit of
Cruikshank that he cuts them both, that he will have
nothing to do with them, that he has chosen a walk of
his own, and that he has made his own walk popular.

102

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

Here lies genius ; but let him do himself justice, let
him persevere and rise in his own path, and tlien, ladies
and gentlemen, then the day will come when his name
will be a name indeed, not a name puffed and paraded
in the newspapers, but a living, a substantial, perhaps
even an illustrious, English name. Let him, in one
word, proceed, and, as he proceeds, let him think of
Hogarth." Under such encouragement as this, Cruikshank

braced himself for work worthy of his genius, even in
the hurly-burly of the daily life he led in London, and
with the incessant demands upon him still, as the pic
torial moralist and satirist of his time. — demands which
he answered richly out of the inexhausrible fund of his
fancy and humour, — as we shall see.

Political Cnricntarc. 1812.

Diamond out Diamond. — From " More Mornings at Bow Street."
CHAPTER VI.
hand-to-mouth work.
Shepherd. "What a subject for a picture by Geordie Cruik-
shanks— Ha ! ha ! ha ! ha ! ha ! ha ! "
Nodes Ambrosiarwe, Nov. 1826.
Exactly. What a picture for the inimitable George !
Humphrey in St. James' Street, Fores in Picca
dilly, Fairburn of Broadway Ludgate Hill, Hodgson
and Co. of Newgate Street, W. Hone of Fleet Street,
S. Knight of Sweeting's Alley, J. Dolby of the Strand,
poor old Limbird of the same thoroughfare, and many
others, all joined in the chorus. " What a subject for a
picture by Geordie Cruikshanks " — let the new subject
of the moment be what it might — a scene in the con
demned cell, characters for Twelfth Night, a frontispiece
to a song, His Most Gracious Majesty George the
Fourth returning from Westminster Hall in his Corona
tion Robes, or the Mermaid now exhibiting at the Turf
Coffee House in St. James's Street, or Liston, or the
elder Watkins in a new character, or Grimaldi in motley,
pattering his last song! I have glanced at the more
important work produced by George Cruikshank be
tween 1820 and 1830 ; and the reader has seen what
kind of effect it made in its time, and how it has
been judged by critics of high authority. But the full

104 7HE LIFE 0F GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
strength of the artist can be estimated only after an
examination of the sum of minor work which he got
through at the same time. When his " Life in London "
and Paris, " Phrenological Blustrations," " Humourist,"
" Points of Humour," and many series of book illustra
tions — comprehending a notable quantity of his best
creations — are estimated, in conjunction with his hand-
to-mouth work for the caricature shops, and the whole
has been surveyed at once, the connoisseur stands literally
amazed at the fecundity of the artist. Within the
range of this decade of feverish activity is amassed
such wealth of fancy, of invention, of jocund spirit,
of sympathy for suffering, of rage over wrong, of
minute observation of men and things, and withal such
conscientious, ever-improving execution with pencil and
needle, and lithographic ink and tinting-brush, upon
wood and stone, and steel and copper; as not all the
caricaturists or comic artists who have swarmed in
Fleet Street since the Queen's coronation day could
equal, if they made a joint show of their best. Cruik
shank was lavish with his fancy, and his humour lives
upon the smallest subject. He never made one poor
little idea stand alone, as the practice is in the comic or
satirical cartoons of the present day. It was his wont
to support his dominant conception with a score of help
ful accessories. He laid every detail under contribution
towards the elucidation of the story to be told. His
caricatures, as well as his serious pictures, abound in
admirable by-play. His power of concentrating interest
is unmatched. His chairs and tables speak. There is
life in every accessory. jXature morte did not exist for
him. " Dead as a door-nail " he could notunderstand ;
ior under the magnetism of his etching-needle the nail

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. IOS
would laugh and speak. He was so full of life himself —
a hornpipe dancer in his eighty-fourth year * — that, in
spite of him, he infused it into anything he touched.
No artist ever threw such movement and infused such
vital breath into his pictures, as this untaught man of
genius spontaneously breathed into his etchings and
woodcuts. A scrimmage by him inclines the beholder
to lift his arm to protect himself. When he leads off
a dance upon copper, you involuntarily hum a jig.
When his characters are, merry, you laugh outright
with them.
On the other hand, is his mood solemn, he can make
your heart beat quick, and send you shuddering away,
with his images in your brain— presences you will find
it hard to banish. " The awful Jew that Cruikshank
drew " hngered for years in Thackeray's mind ; and the
profound impression which it made on the public, when
it appeared, has not faded even now.
More searching observation than that of Cruikshank
in his prime was never possessed by an artist. His
range did not stretch beyond the suburbs of London,
except perhaps to Margate in the hoy, but all that
came within it he made his own. Out of the suburban
landscapes he conjured fairy scenes ; and Highgate and
Hampstead supplied him with distant horizons which
his imagination widened at his will. Thackeray de
clared that Cruikshank had a fine eye for homely land
scapes, and yet his trees are as bad as his horses. " Old
villages, farm-yards, groups of stacks, queer chimneys,
0 Meeting Mr. R. H. Home some two years before his death,
he danced the hornpipe before him, to show how sound and
strong and active he still was.

106 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

churches, gable-end cottages, Elizabethan mansion-
houses, and other old English scenes, he depicts with
evident enthusiasm." His scenes to Brough's "Life
of Falstaff " are exquisitely drawn. Where Falstaff is
arrested at the suit of Mrs. Quickly, and again when
he persuades her to lend him more money, the old
houses are fine picturesque studies.
But London, and London streets and suburbs, consti
tuted Cruikshank's world in his heyday ; and he caught
all the phases of this his universe, save and except its
upper classes. He lived in the midst of the people ; he
was of them. His humble fortunes cast his lot, in his
early time, among the poorer clas-es of professional men.
He was passionately fond of the stage, and was familiar
with the popular comedians of the minor theatres, and
the landlords of the houses which they and he fre
quented. He lived at Islington, and belonged to a club
called "The Crib," which had a room at the Sir Hugh
Myddelton public-house, of which Joseph Grimaldi,* the
clown, was president. Mr. C. L. Gruneis^n, who made
Cruikshank's acquaintance at " The Crib," related how
on one occasion, when a member bantered George rather

c Cruikshank illustrated songs Grimaldi sang ; for instance,
" All the World's in Paris. Sung with great applause by Mr.
Grimaldi, in the popular pantomime of Harlequin Whittington.''
Published 1-VL 1st, 1815.
In 1S24 he drew the celebrated actor mounted on a common
washing-stool, metamorphosed, with the aid of the copper-stick,
a broom, and an animal's skull, into his " Neddy," while singing
his favourite song of the season — " Here we go, me and my
Noddy, gee wo ! "
In ls-jfi he drew another portrait of Grimaldi in the panto-
lvime of Harlequin Whittiugton.

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK.

107

savagely, and he — contrary to his custom — had borne
the " chaff " without replying, he presently turned to
him, and holding up his hand, showed a caricature of
his assailant executed upon his thumb-nail, and said,
" Look here ! See how I have booked him ! "
It was in this and kindred scenes with which Cruik
shank was familiar in his prime, and out of the ex
cesses which, as we have seen, Professor Wilson — him
self no fastidious liver — -tried to tempt him by promises
of a higher and wider fame, that Cruikshank drew the
matchless gallery of contemporary life, in which the
humours, passions, whims, and absurdities of our
fathers and grandfathers are snatched from oblivion,
and left to inform and brighten the page of the future
historian. " We can submit to public notice," says Mr. Thack
eray, " a complete little gallery of dustmen. Here is, in
the first place, the professional dustman, who, having
in the enthusiastic exercise of his delightful trade, laid
hands upon property not strictly his own, is pursued,
we presume, by the right owner, from whom he flies
as fast as his crooked shanks will carry him. What
a curious picture it is — the horrid rickety houses in
some dingy suburb of London, the grinning cobbler,
the smothered butcher, the very trees which are covered
with dust — it is fine to look at the different expressions
of the two interesting fugitives. The fiery charioteer
who belabours yonder poor donkey has still a glance
for his brother on foot, on whom punishment is about
to descend. And not a little curious is it to think of
the creative power of the man who has arranged this
little tale of low hfe. How logically it is conducted !
how cleverly each one of the accessories is made to

108 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
contribute to the effect of the whole ! What a deal of
thought and humour has the artist expended on this
little block of wood ! a large picture might have been
painted out of the very same materials which Mr.
Cruikshank, out of his wondrous fund of merriment and
observation, can afford to throw away upon a drawing
not two in ches long. From the practical dustmen we
pass to those purely poetical. Here are three of them,
who rise on clouds of their own raising, the very genii
of the sack and shovel. Is there no one to write a
sonnet to these ? and yet a whole poem was written
about Peter Bell the waggoner, a character by no
means so poetic* And, lastly, we have the dustman
in love. The honest fellow is on the spectator's right
hand ; and having seen a youn? beauty stepping out of
a gin-shop on a Sunday morning, is pressing eagerly
his suit." His arms are round the young beauty's neck,
her face is hidden behind the dustman's fantail hat.
That society of dustmen, which Cruikshank used to
observe, when he lived in Dorset Street, Sahsbury
Square, sank deep into his mind. In the " Triumph of
Cupid," many years later, we shall still find the dustman.
He is lying in the foreground, " compelled to bite the
dust " — while the artist smokes his long pipe, and Cupid,
astride his slippers, toasts a heart at the fire. That long
pipe (only it was honest clay, and not the magnificent
meerschaum to which George has treated himself in his
vision) was his companion for many a year. '' Yes, I
remember Mr. Cruikshank very well when I was a little
girl," writes an old friend of bis. " When he came, a long
clay pipe was sent for. He would sit smoking it after
0 Mr. Thaeki-i-ay overlooked " The Literary Dustman.''

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. 109
dinner, and we were greatly amused by the energetic
gesticulation with which he accompanied his conversa
tion." His was a handsome face, with steely blue eyes that
struck through you. They flashed as brightly as the
eyes of Mr. Dickens, but they had no merriment — only
keenness, and a certain fierceness in them. Those eyes
penetrated all the mysteries of London life, and peered
through clouds of tobacco-smoke, and over foaming
tankards in all kinds of strange and queer places.
" For Jews, sailors, Irishmen, Hessian boots, little
boys, beadles, policemen, tall life-guardsmen, charity
children, pumps, dustmen, very short pantaloons,
dandies in spectacles, and ladies with aquiline noses,
remarkably taper waists, and wonderfully long ringlets,"
says Thackeray, " Mr. Cruikshank has a special pre
dilection. The tribe of Israelites he has studied with
amazing gusto : witness the Jew in Mr. Ainsworth's
' Jack Sheppard,' and the immortal Fagin of ' Oliver
Twist.' Whereabouts lies the comic vis in these persons
and things ? Why shou ld a beadle be comic, and his
opposite a charity boy ? Why should a tall life-guards
man have something in him essentially absurd ? Why
are short breeches more ridiculous than long ? What
is there particularly jocose about a pump ? and where
fore does a long nose always provoke the beholder to
laughter ? These points may be metaphysically eluci
dated by those who list. It is probable that Mr.
Cruikshank could not give an accurate definition of that
which is ridiculous in these objects, but his instinct has
told him that fun lurks in them, and cold must be the
heart that can pass by the pantaloons of his charity boys,
the Hessian boots of his dandies, and the fantail hats of
his dustmen, without respectful wonder."

110 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
George Cruikshank also created the ladies of the
Sairy Gamp order. We find one in a set of his Lottery
Puffs, published in January 1818 — a midwife with a
prodigious bonnet. And does she not appear as Mrs.
Toddles, the ancestress of Mrs. Brown of our day, in
the Omnibus? The debt of the humorists and public
caricaturists who have hved and flourished (ay, flour
ished as poor George never did) on the crumbs of his
Rabelaisian banquet of humour, is immeasurable. Many
of the comic London characters of to-dav are only his
figures re-dressed. They are seen through the spec
tacles which he invented Onlv, the fine fancy, the
rollicking gaiety, the cumulation of fun in some four
inches square of box-wood, are thinly spread over square
feet. Think of Cruikshank's Irishmen ! Thackeray
says of them, —
" We have said that our artist has a great love for the
drolleries of the Green Island. ... We know not if
Mr. Cruikshank has ever had any such good luck as to
see the Irish in Ireland itself, but he certainly has ob
tained a knowledge of their looks, as if the country had
been all his life familiar to him. Could Mr. O'Connell
himself desire anything more national than the following
scene ? or would Father Mathew have a better text to
preach upon ? There is not a broken nose in the room
that is not thoroughly Irish."
The observer of all the humours of London life, the
member of Mr. Joseph Grimaldi's Club at the Sir
Hugh Myddelton, and of many other very free-and-easy
theatrical, artistic, and literary clubs of the hour, nursed
very serious and ambitious designs, even while he threw
out his pictorial squibs for his daily bread. It is sad
to think that even the mighty quantity of work which

Tlje. G»*.tvt Bolster. strUui^ fv<m bjtBeic<m toC*mBrW-.
~_A disUiuve, of .sixtaUts — •

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. m
he got through, and of work that filled publishers'
pockets, and set up laughing faces from the Highlands
to Portsmouth, was never well paid enough to give him
ease to do justice to his genius.
In a note to Mr. Hotten* (April 1865) he said, " The
first time that I put a very large figure in perspective
was about forty years back, in illustrating that part of;
' Paradise Lost ' where Milton describes Satan as
1 Prone on the flood, extended long and large,
Lay floating many a rood.'
This I never published, but possibly I may do so," the
intrepid old man adds, "one of these days." In a
letter to Mr. J. P. Briscoe he explained how, in 1825,
when his caricatures were in all the shop-windows, he
was engaged to illustrate Milton's " Paradise Lost."
" Previous to the year of 1825, I was engaged to
illustrate Milton's ' Paradise Lost.' A friend of mine,
Mr. Lewis, was to be the editor, and a bookseller in the
Strand, near Holywell Street, named Birch, was, I be
heve, to be the publisher.
'' For this work I made two drawings on wood; one
was ' Satan, Sin, and Death, at the Gates of Hell,' and
the other, ' Satan calling up the fallen Angels.'
' Awake ! arise ! or be for ever fallen !
They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprang
Upon the wing.'
This illustration was very crowded with figures, and the
best drawing that I ever did in my life ; but when the
0 Explanatory of his drawing (here reproduced) of The Giant
Bolster, which forms the frontispiece of Mr. Robert Hunt's
"Popular Romances of the West of England."

112 THE LIIE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
wood engaraver saw it, he said he was afraid he could
not engrave it : however, it was done and published, but
the block is missing : however, there is an impression
of it (No. 116) now exhibiting in the selection of my
works at the Royal Aquarium.
" I expect there had been some kind of arrangement
made as to a partnership between the editor and
the publisher ; but some disagreement followed,
which stopped the work, and this is the reason
why the subject you mention of the large figure in
perspective ' ' Lay floating many a rood,'
was not published ; and since then I have had so many
matters to attend to, that I don't think I shall ever
publish it, nor be able to do an oil painting of the sub
ject, as I always wished to do. being now tco much
overwhelmed with various engagement *."
The light heart and courage with which Cruikshank
bore up against many a bitter disappointment like this,
hindering his flight to the higher regions of his art,
are delightful characteristics of him.
While he was dreaming of Paradise Lost, aud design
ing " the very best drawing he ever did in his life," and
the dream and the labour were cast by unkind Fate to
the winds, see how prodigally he was usino his cenius
as the popular pictorial chronicler, moralist, and pro
vider of laughter of the day.
Not only did he execute the caricatures I have already
noted, for and against Queen Caroline; but he threw off
series after series, as " Doll Tear-Sheet," " The Green
Pav," " Non mi ricordo," " Political Lectures on Tails."

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. 115
in which the Prince Regent, Lord Eldon, the Marquis
of Conyngham, Lord Castlereagh, and Mr. Wilberforce
figured ; the King led blindfolded by his evil advisers,
Lords Sidmouth and Castlereagh ; to say nothing of
" The Political Apple Pie," " The Constitutional Apple
Pie," "The Men in the Moon," "The Man in the
Moon," and the " Political Quixote." The satirical
grotesque force and plentifulness of point in these
streams of running pictorial commentary on current
events, show the acuteness of the artist's intellect, as
well as the sleeplessness of his power of observation,
the tenderness of his sympathies, and his alertness as
a moralist. Moore, dressed as a rough Irish peasant,
holding Erin's harp in one hand, and a shillelagh in
the other, to protect a basketful of poems on his arm —
while Old Nick is putting a rope round one of his legs,
and the other is fettered with the twopenny post bag —
is called " Erin's Pocket Apollo." Under the title of
" The Botley Showman," William Cobbett is presented,
with a peepshow, through which a crone looks, while
the devil is grinding a tune on an organ. The pro
prietor announces the Hampshire Hog and Tom Paine's
bones ; a flag floats above, inscribed " How to raise the
Wind ;" while a bumpkin and his boy look on horror-
struck by the idea of the bones being in the box. This
drawing is supplemented by a tail-piece, in which we
see Cobbett going in a cart to a place of execution,
followed by the devil carrying his coffin. And now
we light upon Hone tied to a whipping-post, with his
companion Old Nick. Lord Castlereagh is holding
up the Radical rascal's coat-tails, and flogging him,
to the delight of Lord Sidmouth and Vansittart, who
are looking on. The moral to this caricature, which

I 14 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
is entitled '* A Printer and his Devil Restrained,"
is given in an apt quotation, in Cruikshank's usual
manner : —
Lucio. "Why, how now, Claudio? whence comes this re
straint ? "
Claud. " From too much liberty, my Lucio, — liberty.
A surfeit is the father of much fast ;
So every scope, by the immoderate use.
Turns to restraint."
The "Men in the Moon " series (1820). forerunners of
Mr. Albert Smith's " Man in the Moon," are all levelled
at the Liberals, or Radicals : Cobbett and Hunt, as repre
sentatives of the Weekly Register and Reform, appear as
the agents of Satan. A little devil (his Satanic majesty
figured largely in all the caricatures of the time, and
most public men in their turn were humorously given
over to him) perched on a gibbet is waiting, no doubt
impatiently, for the souls of the Radicals. A big devil
clutches cloven-hoofed Lord Byron, " The Lord of the
Faithless," and points to the distant gibbet. Hunt,
" knocked out of time " in a pugilistic encounter with
Lord Castlereagh, is being ''attended to" bvhis friends
— the devil and Cobbett. But so bad were the Radical
leaders, that the friendship even of the devil is at last
denied them. They appear, with oth t Radicals, as the
political hydra, and their faithless friend Satan, with his
pitchfork, is lending a hand to Lords Castlereagh and
Sidmouth, for their destruction. They have an awful
end in the hydra's skin, being nailed by the tail to a
gibbet, and burned amidst the rejoicing shouts of "the
First Gentleman in Europe," the Iron Duke, and the
King's ministers.
But in " The Man in the Moon " the impartial carica-

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. 1 15
turist has his fling at the King and his ministers. Here
the Goddess of Reason protects the liberty of the press
from the gag and dagger, which are presented by Lords
Castlereagh and Sidmouth, and Canning. The Prince
Regent, mounted upon Lord Sidmouth's back, shoots
at the cup of liberty. And now his Royal Highness is
Guy Fawkes carried by his favourites, Castlereagh and
Sidmouth. It was at this time, when Hone appeared
tied to a whipping-post, supplied by Cruikshank's needle,
that the artist illustrated " The Bank Restriction Baro
meters," for the incorrigible Radical of Fleet Street,
who probably revenged himself upon Cruikshank in
St. James's Street, by under-paying him in the city.
The " Barometer was ingeniously illustrated : at top,
Britannia in the full tide of prosperity; at bottom,
weeping and dejected, with ships wrecked and children
hanged. The gibbet played as conspicuous a part in
these daily squibs as the devil.
The Cato Street conspirators gave Cruikshank hand-
to-mouth work. He dre.w the prisoners in the dock.
Trifling incidents that hit the public mind brought work
to his nimble needle. Mrs. Geoffrey Gubbins became
famous, in death, by being buried in an iron coffin which
the authorities of St. Andrew's parish declined to de
posit in their graveyard. Cruikshank showed church
warden and beadle astride the open grave. In the
midst of all this he drew a frontispiece — to-day for the
"Memoirs of Captain Huddart" — on the morrow, for
the second volume of Thornton's " Pastorals of Virgil " ;
and the next day he designed one of those little domestic
scenes which he always loved. A little girl is seated
under a spreading tree at a cottage door. The village
church is in the distance, and a feeble old woman is

Il6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

shambling along the road. The scene of peace is called
"The Adventures of a Bible." From this bit of senti
ment the artist could turn swiftly to illustrations called
" The Right Divine of Kings to Govern Wrong." What
a monster of despotism has the artist conceived ! The
figure has a huge bomb for a body, cannon for legs. It
is armed with fire and sword. Swinging to and fro in
chains, it tramples upon and mutilates the mob upon the
ground. It wears a crown, and a glory of daggers is
the nimbus about its head !
The same hand that drew thi- monster, 'turned away
to " The White Cat," in which Caroline and her friends
are outrageously treated. The vignette is enough.
The crown of England is shown in a cage guarded
by the sword of Justice against a black cat, the cat
being the Queen. In the series we have the old
stage properties of the political caricature — the block,
the headsman's axe, the gibbet, the guillotine, a coffin,
etc. Let us pass on — without even glancing at *• The
Miraculous Host,"' and other similar pencilling?. This
was all very sad pot-boiling : and we respect the artist
for the regret with which he looked back upon it.
It was redeemed and put in the shade by better work.
Let us glance by way of relief at " Fairy Experience
arriving to solemnize the Baptism of Bright Star," and
" Prince Iris entertained at a Banquet by Zephvrina and
her Nymphs ;" * or " The courageous young Girl Rosa
plunging into the Water to save her young Mistress,
Pulchra, from the Jaws of the Shark,'' or " The Little

0 Cruikshank's illustrations to Gardiner's "Original Tales
of my Landlord's School," 18'J'J. Ditto to Gardiner's "Royal
Present," 1822.

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK.

117

Deformed Old Man destroying the huge Serpent which
has coiled its folds about his body." Here we discover
indications of Cruikshank's fancy in its more gracious
moods : we come upon him at home for the first time
in fairy-land.

Giles Scroggins and Molly Brown.— From " The Universal Songster."
" The Folly of Pride," Italian tales, in which there is a
Jew, as in " The Merchant of Venice," embarrassed on
being told by Gianetto to " take the pound of flesh from
Ansaldo," and "Tales of Irish Life" (1824), and his
illustrations to Clinton's " Life of Lord Byron" (1824-5),
mark Cruikshank's progress from political caricature to
his higher position as an illustrator of books of observa-

1 1 8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

tion or imagination. Still he had not done with lottery
tickets for Swift and Co., and others. Even in 1825 he
executed a series in which " The Way to Wealth" and
"The Chances of Fortune" are shown, with many
points of humour, to lie in a lottery office. Then
came "Mornings at Bow Street," in which we have
already noted some capital bits of Cruikshank's London
experience ; four-and-twenty cuts to " The Universal
Songster, or Museum of Mirth," — coarse bits of street,
pot-house, and play-house wit ; sixteen illustrations of
the humours of sailors' life — the sailors being perfect
salts ; illustrations to Hone's " Everv-Day Book "
(1826-27); twenty-five more woodcuts to the "Log-
Book " (1826), full of fun, spirit, and character ;
some curious bits of mountainous and other scenery
in " The Pocket Magazine ; " twenty-two cuts to
"Philosophy in Sport" (1827)— to say nothing of
diagrams ; three quaint bits to Walpole's " Anecdotes
of Painters ; " twenty-five to " More Mornings at Bow-
Street ; " a vignette, " Bolton reclining in the Fairies'
Bower;" a frontispiece to " Harcourt's Jests:" etchings
of many of A. Crowquill's drawings; and " Punch and
Judy " (182S). In these latter careful etchings the
power of Cruikshank to inform a puppet with life, and
keep it wooden still, is conspicuous. He has related
how he studied his subject : —
" Having been engaged by Mr. Prowett, the pub
lisher, to give the various scenes represented in the
street performances of ' Punch and Judy,' I obtained tho
address of the proprietor and performer of that popular
exhibition. He was an elderly Italian, of the name of
Piccini, whom I remembered from boyhood, and he
lived at a low public-house, the sign of 'The King's

The Three Thimbles.

Michael in search of his Wife. " Love is the soul of a nate Irishman.1
From " More Mornings at Bow Streei."

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK. 119
Arms,' in the ' Coal Yard,' Drury Lane. Having made
arrangements for a ' morning performance,' one of the
window frames on the first-floor of the public-house was
taken out, and the stand, or Punch's theatre, was hauled
into the ' club-room.' Mr. Payne Collier (who was to
write the description), the publisher, and myself, formed
the audience ; and as the performance went on, I stopped
it at the most interesting parts, to sketch the figures,
whilst Mr. Collier noted down the dialogue, and thus the
whole is a faithful copy and description of the various
scenes represented by this Italian, whose performance of
1 Punch ' was far superior in every respect to anything
of the sort to be seen at the present day. The figure
whose neck he used to stretch to such a great height
was a sort of interlude. Piccini made the figure take
off his hat with one hand, which he defied all other
puppet-show performers to do. Piccini announced the
approach of Punch by sound of trumpet."
Even now I have but glanced at the more important
subjects on the list. How infinitely various is the
humour! how wide and searching, I must repeat, is
the observation ! Could anything be better than these
" Four Specimens of the Reading Public " ? Here is
Romancing Molly, a servant-girl, asking for " rum-ances
in five wollums ;" at her elbow is Sir Harry Luscious,
a feeble old sinner, inquiring for the first volume of
" Harriette Wilson " (to which, by the way, Cruikshank
furnished some etchings after Dighton's caricatures) ; next
to Sir Harry comes, of course, Cruikshank's favourite
figure, the Dustman, his dirty hand thrust into his pocket
for the price of a " Cobbett" ; and the fourth reader is
"Frank a la Mode," a scented fop, with his poodle, who
wants to know whether "Waverley's new novel is out."

120

THE LIFE. OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

After Punch, in qtiick succession, came illustrations
to Hood's " Epping Hunt," and to Cowper's "John
Gilpin," wherein Cruikshank, as a pure humorist, is
at his best.
" Famous books in their day were Cruikshank's 'John
Gilpin' and 'Epping Hunt,'" says Thackeray; "for

John Oilpin.
though our artist does not draw horses very scientific
ally,— to use a phrase of the atelier, he feels them very
keenly ; and his queer animals, after one is used to
them, answer quite as well as better. Neither is he very
happy in trees, and such rustical produce ; or rather, we
should say, he is very original, his trees being decidedly
of his own make and composition, not imitated from an'v
raaster. . . . The horses of John Gilpin are much more

HAND-TO-MOUTH WORK.

121

of the equestrian order ; and, as here, the artist has only
his favourite suburban buildings to draw ; not a word
is to be said against his design. . . . The rush, and
shouting, and clatter are here excellently depicted by the
artist ; and we, who have been scoffing at his manner of

The Old Commodore.— From " The Universal Songster."
designing animals, must here make a special exception
in favour of the hens and chickens ; each has a different
action, and is curiously natural. Happy are children
of all ages who have such a ballad and such pictures as
this in store for them ! "
The miscellaneous activities of the decade over which
we have been rapidly passing were brought to a close
by a series of woodcuts on " The Murder of Maria

I22 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Martin." The gibbet never had a mere unrelenting foe
than George Cruikshank. His satire would, in the
main, apply with equal force, unhappily, to a murder of
the present day. "The Halter Selling by Auction" is
the first cut. Jack Ketch offers the rope at a guinea
an inch, while a curious crowd gloats over the body of
the murderer. A lady, who has obtained a front place,
exclaims, " Oh, how delightfully horrible ! " In another
corner the sheriff takes the murderer's pistols from the
gaoler, saying he would not part with them for a hundred
guineas. We find ladies with opera-glasses in '• front places "
still, at " sensational " trials for murder.

The bacon-pig that stole an old gentleman.— From " llore
Mornings at Bow Street."

123

CHAPTER VII.
" THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT."
The " Three Courses and a Dessert," which Mr. William
Clarke spread before the public some fifty years

Bat Boroo and the Bull. — From " Three Courses 'and a Dessert."
ago, are not to the taste of this present generation.
These pleasant papers on life in the " down-a-long "
shires, in Ireland, and in London, ended by a medley
by way of dessert, are as obsolete as the ways of life
they chronicled. The Ralph and Harry Hickorys
of our day are but poor wrestlers, and are absolutely
ignorant of backsword. The singlestick players of

124 TnE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Somerset are no longer doughty yeomen of the old
school; and "Hopping John,"* it is to be hoped,
has become an unknown tipple. Sir Matthew Ale,
the west country squire, with a face strongly re
sembling a frothing mug of beer, who gave up his
time to his apotheosis of John Barleycorn, has gone
to his fathers, and the record of his singlestick and
drinking bouts with him. His descendant is sipping
a light claret sparingly, and possibly playing croquet or
lawn tennis on very warm afternoons. He gives not
even one pig with a greasy tail to be caught as a prize
at the village fair ; nor does he entertain the cobblers of
his neighbourhood with a barrel of strong ale. -'in order
to keep up the good old custom of Crispin's son- drain
ing a horn of malt liquor, in which a lighted candle w;i>
placed, without singeing tljeir faces, if thev could."
Even Mr. Clarke's " Dessert," albeit various, is re
membered chiefly by the artist's immortal plate of the
deaf postilion. Yet how excellent are Mr. Clarke's
dishes ! How well he tells a story ! how he con
trives to fasten a character in your mind, and in the
course of a few pages to drag you heart and soul into
his company ! f In his modest preface he says he hopes
that even if the dishes be dishked, the plates at least

* A pint of brand}- to a gallon of cider, sugared, and warmed
liy a dozen hissing roasted apples bobbing iu tlie bowl.
•f The book ran through two editions in the year of original
publication; in 1836 a third edition was issued; it was re
published in 1849, and was added to Bohn's Illustrated Library
in 1 85'-'. But so completely has the author disappeared (albeit
he gave I ho artist the sketches for his pictures), that in the
London Library catalogue the book is called "George Cruik
shank's Three Courses and a Dessert.'

'THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT."

125

will please. They have more than pleased. They are
all that lives in the minds of most men of the banquet,
having fallen into the hands of collectors. And yet
even Mr. Clarke had a hand in this. " He feels bound
to state," he remarked, in the handsome first edition of
his work, " that whatever faults the decorations may be
chargeable with on the score of invention, he alone is to
blame, and not Mr. George Cruikshank, to whom he is

A Dog that had a fancy for killing his own Mutton. — From '
Courses and a Dessert."

Three

deeply indebted for having embellished his rude sketches
in their transfer to wood, and translated them into
a proper pictorial state, to make their appearance in
public. They have necessarily acquired a value, which
they did not intrinsically possess, in passing through the
hands of that distinguished artist, of whom it may truly,
and on this occasion especially, be said, ' Quod tetigit,
ornavit.'" Little did the author think that even his
hand in the drawings would be forgotten, and that
" Three Courses and a Dessert " would be spoken of as

1 26

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

a book in which some of George Cruikshank's best
bits of humorous illustration on wood, exquisitely en
graved,* are to be found. Mr. Clarke's West Country,
Irish, and Legal Stories deserved a better fate ; they
are bright, full of humour and observation of character,
and the style is easy and graceful.
In these illustrations are some of Cruikshank's most
astonishing feats in the way of making inanimate things
laugh and speak. Take the three lemons which serve
for introduction to " the Dessert." Most charming

The Counterpart Cousins.— From "Three Courses and a Dessert."
as to pencilling and engraving, they are exquisitely
humorous. Remaining lemons that you might squeeze,
they are still three convivial fellows in close confabu
lation. Tho portrait of an old Irish boy, the hoops of the
keg serving for nightcap, which introduces the second
course of Irish dishes, is a jewel of a bov.

* Messrs. Williams, Vizetolly, Thompson, and E. Landells
admirably caught the peculiar flow and effective confusion and
involvement of Cruikshank's lines on wood.

"THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT." 127
These illustrations delighted Thackeray. He has
transferred some of them to his essay in the West
minster. " Is there," he asks of a battle of bottles on spider
legs, " any need of having a face after this ? * ' Come
on,' says Claret-bottle, a dashing, genteel fellow, with
his hat on one ear, ' come on ; has any man a mind
to tap me ? ' Claret-bottle is a little screwed (as one
may see by his legs), but full of gaiety and courage.
Not so that stout, apoplectic Bottle of Rum, who has
staggered against the wall, and has his hand upon his
liver ; the fellow hurts himself with smoking, that is
clear, and is as sick as sick can be. See, Port is making
away from the storm, and Double X is as flat as ditch-
water. Against these, awful in their white robes, the
sober watchmen come."
Again the artist moulds an Irish physiognomy upon
a keg of whisky, or gives us a mushroom aristocrat, —
or imparts a venerable human aspect to a mug of ale.
The mushroom is a triumph. " You'd think," says
the story, " that Purcell's pride might be brought down
a little by what had befallen him ; but no, — he strutted
out of the cabin without condescending to say be baw, or
a civil word to any one, and rode off to The Beg — mush
room as he was — with his nose in the air, as though the
ground wasn't good enough for him to look on." Only
Cruikshank could have turned this veritable mushroom
into so proud a man, and left the mushroom obviously
the fungus of which catsup is made. Cruikshank was
never tired of making still life quick life.
* This illustration is to be found in " More Mornings at Bow
Street ;" we reproduce it on p. 42.

128 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
The deaf postilion is a masterpiece of acute observa
tion. There is, to begin with, the suggestion of a
pleasant landscape. The story is complete. The body
of the chariot, with the runaway couple in it, broken
away from the shafts and fore-wheels : the excited swain
stretching out of the window, and bawling his hardest
to the postilion, who, deaf as a door-post (never was
deafness more forcibly expressed in a human coun
tenance), is jogging on with the fore-wheels, un
conscious that any contretemps has happened ; and
the startled cow, gazing wildly over the hedge, make
up one of Cruikshank's completest triumphs as a

A Mushroom Aristocrat.— From "Three Courses and a De-firt."
humorous illustrator. How closely, how searchinrdv
had he read men and things ! How thoroughlv had he
become a master of expression! In this illustration to
Clarke's whimsical poem, in Hood's style, " The Dos-
a-Dos Tete-a-Tete," ynu can alnio-t hear the man
snoring, and yet it is a mere outline of a face.
Says the lady :—
" When I had in some cordials so rich,
With letters all labelled .iuite handy,

'\THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT." 129
Says you, ' I'll inquire, you old witch,
If O.D.Y. doesn't mean brandy !'
Whenever I sink to repose,
You rouse me, you wretch, with a sneeze ;
And lastly, if I doze-a-doze,
To wex me, you just wheeze-a-wheeze."
Then we have an Irish scene ! The drunken piper ; the
pigs who have upset a basket of live crabs, the excited
group looking in through the door, the dog barking at
the man in bed, the crab pinching the little porker's
tail. What hfe is here ! and all true to the main in
cident of the scene ! You don't want the letterpress to
read the story. The pigs have got into the room to
attack the basket of crabs. Pompey, who has been tied
to his master's toe to wake him in case of danger, is
tugging away in mortal fear of the old sow, who is
scratching the good man's foot with her bristles. The
noise has set Corney Carolum, only half sober and half
awake, droning upon his pipes. The clatter has brought
the children from their beds to the door. The fowls in
the rafters are clucking and crowing. " All this noise,"
says the author, " couldn't go for nothing ; the whole
place was in arms. Mick Maguire fired off his gun
through a hole in the thatch, and Bat Boroo, flourishing
his big stick, took Mick under his command, for he
thought the French was landed, at the least ; and no
blame to him."
Cruikshank's illustrations to William Clarke's book,
and his twelve etchings to Walter Scott's. "Demon-
ology" (there are no finer examples of his imaginative
and executive powers), both issued in 1830, were the
starting-points of his career as an illustrator of books ;
9

I3Q

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

that is, of his career at the maturity of his power.
The lustrum between the date of the appearance of
"Three Courses and a Dessert" and Cruikshank's
appearance as the illustrator of " Boz " was a puri-

Habbakuk Bulwrinkle .— From " Three Courses and a Dessert.'

fication to his genius. During this time, albeit ho
was still compelled to do daily-bread work unworthy
of his genius, he buckled to labours, by some of which
his name is destined to live. In 1831 he undertook to
illustrate Roscoe's Novelists' Library; and his genius

¦ Here is the book I prayed

"It wmilil lmve iiiiule a sUiic smile."
From " Knliiii^jn Crus'K'' tMujxi's Eilitimo.

" THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT."

131

brightens some seventeen volumes of the series.* But
his fertility — and in his best vein between 1830 and
the year when he and Dickens came in contact — was

prodigious.

1 £.*¦ CrwWwA,

'And I thought it was right, as the music was come,
To foot it a little in Tabitha's room." '
From Anstey's " New Bath Guide."
In addition to his forty-nine etchings to
* The complete set is in nineteen volumes — the rirst two volumes
containing " Robinson Crusoe," were illustrated \>y Jacob George Strutt.
Cruikshank, however, illustrated a "Robinson Crusoe" with two steel
plates and thirty-seven small woodcuts in 1831. The publisher of this
edition, Mr. John Major, said, in a Preface : — " Those who are personally
acquainted with him " (George Cruikshank), " will be not a little pleased
to recognise his own portrait in the earlier scenes of their old favourite,
Robinson Crusoe."

13-

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

" Tom .Jones," " Amelia," " Roderick Random,"
" Joseph Andrews," " Tristram Shandy," " The Vicar ,
of Wakefield," " Don Quixote," " Gil Bias," etc., in
Roscoe's Library, "Beauties of Washington Irving," and
" Baron Munchausen," he illustrated " The Gentleman
in Black," " The New Bath Guide " (one of the original
plates to which is here reproduced), " Hood's Comic
Annual," " Sunday in London " (curious as studies of
the fashions of the day) (1833), Defoe's " Journal of the

From " Mirth and Morality."
Plague," " Bombastes Furioso," in which he revelled,
Ainsworth's " Rookwood," " Tough Yarns," " Odds and
Ends," " Mirth and Morality" (a collection of original
tales by Carlton Bruce, published by Tegg), and '" Minor
Morals for Young People," by his friend John Bowring.

Within this

moreover, he began his Comic

Almanacks, and his tine series of illustrations to the
Waverlev Novels; and he superintended tlie collection
of his more important scattered works, as his large
French caricatures, retouching them for Mr. M'Lean,

From Anstey's "New Bath Guide'.'

"THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT." 1 33
the eminent print-seller of the Haymarket. I pass
over such minor work as his drawings or etchings
from the sketches of others, as Auldjo's " Constanti
nople." The third and fourth parts of his " Scraps and
Sketches," and his " Sketch-Book " — in which are some
of his most famous bits — are also of this most fruitful
epoch. In these we find some of his hardest hits
against intemperance, as in the Gin Shop, where
Death is setting a trap for a party of drinkers,
who, with their young children, are tippling at the
bar of a public-house ; and the Alehouse and the
Home, and the Pillars of the Gin Shop. In the first
composition we have the parlour of a tavern, where,
in the midst of the uproarious conviviality, a boy is
trying to wake his drunken father ; in the second
is the wretched home, with the poor wife nursing
a sick child. So far back as 1832 this chord had
been struck in Cruikshank's heart. In the Pillars
of the Gin Shop (also of this time), a drunkard
and his ^wife, with their poor children, are watched
by the arch-fiend, who is perched near a stile in the
distance. Mr. Charles Wylie notes * that — " of the nineteen
volumes of which that admirable set of books, Roscoe's
Novelists' Library, consists, seventeen were illustrated
by George Cruikshank. The two in which he was
not concerned have illustrations on India-paper by
Strutt and others. . . . There can be no doubt that
Defoe's story was the first published, as an advertise
ment in the duplicated No. I. volume refers to it as
already out. ' Humphrey Clinker ' (the second No. I.
*> Notes and Queries, 4th series, vol. vi., Nov. 12, 1870.

134 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
volume) was illustrated by George Cruikshank, as were
all the subsequent issues. As a matter of fact, there
fore, George Cruikshank never discontinued his con
nection with the work, but two volumes were published
before he commenced it. It would appear that the
publishers made a change in their original plan, for
the advertisement prefixed to 'Robinson Crusoe' states
that the Novelists' Library, edited by Thomas Roscoe,
will be illustrated ' from designs, original or selected,'
by ' Jacob George Strutt,' who, as I have already said,
was concerned in the first two volumes. The adver
tisement to 'Humphrey Clinker' is identically the same
as that to ' Robinson Crusoe,' except that the name of
George Cruikshank appears in place of J. G. Strutt;
and a paragraph is added stating that he, G. Cruik
shank, ' is engaged to illustrate the whole series of the
Novelists' Library,' which, with the exception men
tioned, he did. . . . The volumes appeared monthly, the
first issue being in May 1831."
The fact was that Mr. Roscoe began with Strutt,
found him a failure, and then started de novo with
George Cruikshank, whose genius carried him triumph
antly through seventeen volumes.
How strangely various were Cruikshank's creations!
The eminent surgeon, the late Mr. Pettigrew,* was, it
will be remembered, his intimate friend ; and for him
* Doctor Pettigrew, the family doctor of Cruikshank's family,
was among (he few who exercised a little authority over the
turbulent aud self-willed George. AVheu his fortunes grew, and
he became ussistaiit surgeon to the Duchess of Kent, then
librarian to tho Duke of Sussex, and afterwards Mummy
IVltigrow and a personage of his time, Cruikshank was a con
stant guest at his table, as well as an artist at his service.

THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT." 135

he executed a series of carefully drawn plates for his
" History of Egyptian Mummies " (1833).* Even now
he was not quite quit of political caricatures and head
ings to popular songs. He satirized quack pill vendors.
In 1831, he lent a hand to the Reform movement —
albeit he was a very moderate Liberal, even in his
youth, if we are to judge by the way in which his
pencil was employed against Cobbett. The Reform
BiU drew from him " Sweeping Measures ; or, Making
a Clean House " — an etching in which Lord John
Russell appears with an immense " Reform " broom,
sweeping the Opposition out of the House of Commons
— the Opposition consisting of owls, spiders, and vermin.
The Chancellor, almost buried under petitions, cries,
" Ay, I thought this rotten rubbish would make a fine
dust." Then he put upon stone (1832) a squib called

* "Reading lately a very appreciative lecture just republished
in pamphlet form by Mr. Walter Hamilton on the genius and
art-work of George Cruikshank, I found mention made of a fact
hitherto unknown to me ; to wit, that George executed, many
years ago, a series of very careful anatomical drawings for a
work on Egyptian mummies, written by the late eminent
surgeon, Mr. Pettigrew. G-. C. an anatomist ! Por the moment
I was puzzled. Yet how strangely do things come together ! I
happened to be turning over a ragged little old folio, of the date
of 1825, entitfled 'Anatomy of the Bones and Muscles, for the
use of Artists and Members of the Artists' Anatomical Society,'
by George Simpson, surgeon ; and in the list of subscribers
attached to the work I found the name of 'George Cruick-
shank, Esq.' (they would spell his surname with two c's),
Myddelton Terrace, Pentonville. 'Eureka!' I cried. It was
at the feet of George Simpson, surgeon, then, that George
studied osteology and myology." — "Echoes of the Week," by
G. A. Sala: Illustrated London News.

136

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

" Cholera Consultation," in which " the Central Board
of Health" are represented at a sumptuous dinner,
drinking toasts to their own prosperity. In 1834 he
designed a telling frontispiece for " Angelo's Pic-nic,
or Table Talk," which is here reproduced.
On looking over all this scattering of the sparks of
great genius through wide fields ; at the woful waste
of much of the light and heat ; at the hard and stern
necessity which compelled the most thoughtful, sug
gestive, observant, and imaginative artist of his day
to illustrate doggerel, furnish frontispieces to poor
dramas, and to put the sketches of others upon wood,
in the interval of such congenial labour of a noble kind
as we find scattered through Roscoe's series, in the
" Demonology," and in his own separate albums of
wit, humour, and human wisdom; it is impossible not to
lament, with Mr. Ruskin, that the Fates were so unkind
to one so gifted, or that his wildly convivial tempera
ment and wasteful ways of life in the earlier half of his
career, made him so sad a husbandman of his powers.

Undor the Thumb.— From " TUroo Courses and a Dessert."

JJtcvgt- Cnu.luKjtnK -f cc'-3)
From "Angelo's Pic-Nic'.'

137

CHAPTER VIII.
" SKETCHES BT BOZ," " OLIVER TWIST," AND " THE
LIFE OF GRIMALDI."
That the author of "Three Courses and a Dessert"
made a fair mark with his book, apart and dis
tinct from Cruikshank, is proved in a curious way.
In November 1835, Messrs. Chapman and Hall pub
lished a little volume called the " Squib Annual," with
plates by Seymour. This led to a suggestion from
the artist, of a series of cockney sporting plates. The
publishers assented, — adding that they should be accom
panied by letterpress, and published monthly. But
who should be the author ? So popular had Mr.
Clarke's book been, that the publishers first sent to
him ; and it was only after they had found that his
yearly engagement with Messrs. Vizetelly and Co.
prevented him from accepting their commission, and
the affair had lain dormant a month or two in con
sequence, that they turned to the author of Sketches
signed " Boz," which had been lately appearing in
the Monthly Magazine, and were about to be issued
(1836) in two duodecimo volumes. Mr. 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 public, and of his delight
in getting the help of Cruikshank, who had frequently

138 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
contributed to the success, though his welj-earned
reputation rendered it impossible for him ever to have
shared the hazard, of similar undertakings. It has
been said that Cruikshank knew more of London than
the author of the Sketches which he illustrated. He
may have had a longer experience of London streets
and mysteries ; but Dickens, in his London Sketches,
written before he came in contact with the artist, had
proved how deeply his young eyes had penetrated the
mysteries of the great city, and how thoroughly his
fresh heart had been stirred.
The first paper is on " Our Parish" In this hes
the germ of Oliver Twist. Simmons is the father
of Bumble. But scattered through the Sketches may
be found ah the experience of which Oliver Twist was
the riper and more artistic and dramatic expression.
The career of the Parish Boy was exactly the romance
the author of these wonderful pictures of London would
write. Had Cruikshank suggested these, and led the
young author from scene to scene, we might have under
stood part of his claim to the conception of the romance :
but he was called in by the publisher, Macrone, to
illustrate the magazine papers which he had bought for
republication from the young author for a trifle.
It is a strange coincidence that the representatives
of Seymour, after his death, claimed for him some share
in the invention of Piekwiek. But Dickens was alive
to set this pretension at rest for ever, and others were
at hand to bear witness to the fidelity of his memory.
Seymour nover originated nor suggested " an incident,
a phrase, or a word," and died when only twenty-four
pages had been published. The very name originally
belonged to a celebrated coach proprietor of Bath ; and

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 1 39
even the immortal figure of Mr. Pickwick is but a
faithful portrait of Dickens's model, a Mr. Foster, who
lived at the time at Richmond.
Pleased as Dickens was to see Cruikshank illustrating
his pages, it was not to him that he (or his publishers)
turned when poor Seymour suddenly disappeared from
the scene, but to Hablot K. Browne, who, as Phiz,
became afterwards associated with Boz's greatest
triumphs. But while Pickwick was running its triumphant career,
Dickens made arrangements that were destined to bring
him into relations with Cruikshank a second time.
In August 1836, when the sixth number of Pickwick
was about to be issued, Dickens signed an agreement
with the late Mr. Bentley, to undertake the editorship
of a monthly magazine, to be started in the following
January.* In this magazine Dickens was to " run " a
serial story ; and on this story his mind was bent, and
he even worked hard at it, before he had finished Pick
wick. I will now set before the reader impartially the story
of Cruikshank's contention as to his share in " Oliver
Twist." In his letter to the Times, Cruikshank said : —
" When Bentley 's Miscellany was first started, it was
arranged that Mr. Charles Dickens should write a serial
in it, and which was to be illustrated by me ; and in a
* When the Miscellany, with Dickens for editor, was resolved
upon, the late Mr. Bentley observed at a dinner given to com
plete preliminaries, "that the first title suggested was the Wits'
Magazine.- But now," he added, "we have settled to call it
simply Benttey's Miscellany." " Why have gone to the opposite
extreme 1 " cried Douglas Jerrold. So the work was entered
upon with a hearty laugh.

140 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
conversation with him as to what the subject should be
for the first serial, I suggested to Mr. Dickens that he
should write the life of a London boy, and strongly ad
vised him to do this, assuring him that I would furnish
him with the subject, and supply him with all the
characters, which my large experience of London life
would enable me to do.
"My idea was to raise a boy from a most humble
position up to a high and respectable one — in fact, to
illustrate one of those cases of common occurrence
where men of humble origin, by natural ability, in
dustry, honest and honourable conduct, raise themselves
to first-class positions in society. As I wished par
ticularly to bring the habits and manners of the thieves
of London before the public (and this for a most im
portant purpose, which I shah explain one of these
days), I suggested that the poor boy should fill among
thieves, but that his honesty and natural good dis
position should enable him to pass through this ordeal
without contamination ; and after I had fully described
the full-grown thieves (the Bill Syhses) and their
female companions, also the young thieves (the Artful
Dodgers) and the receivers of stolen ^oods. Mr. Dickens
agreed to act on my suggestion, and the work was com
meneed, but we differed as to what sort of boy the hero
should be. Mr. Dickens wanted rather a queer kind of
chap ; and, although this was contrary to my original
idea, I complied with his request, feeling that it would
not be right to dictate too much to the writer of the
story, and then appeared 'Oliver Asking for More';
but il so happened just about this time that an inquiry
was being made in the parish of St. James's, Westmin
ster, as to (lie cause of the death of some of the work-

" SKETCHES B Y BOZ," ETC. 141
house children who had been 'farmed out.' I called
the attention of Mr. Dickens to this inquiry, and said
that if he took up this matter, his doing so might help
to save many a poor child from injury and death ; and
I earnestly begged of him to let me make Oliver a nice
pretty little boy; and if we so represented him, the
public — and particularly the ladies — would be sure to
take a greater interest in him, and the work would then
be a certain success. Mr. Dickens agreed to that re
quest, and I need not add here that my prophecy was
fulfilled ; and if any one will take the trouble to look at
my representations of ' Oliver,' they will see that the
appearance of the boy is altered after the two first
illustrations, and, by a reference to the records of St.
James's parish, and to the date of the publication of the
Miscellany, they will see that both the dates tally, and
therefore support my statement.
" I had, a long time previously to this, directed
Mr. Dickens's attention to Field Lane, Holborn Hill,
wherein resided many thieves and receivers of stolen
goods, and it was suggested that one of these receivers,
a Jew, should be introduced into the story; and upon
one occasion Mr. Dickens and Mr. Harrison Ainsworth
called upon me, and in course of conversation I
described and performed the character of one of
these Jew receivers, — and this was the origin of
Fagin." Cruikshank maintained that his' designs were all the
result of consultations with Dickens — in which he was
as much the creator as the author ; and that he never
saw any of the MS. of the novel until it was nearly
finished. No ; he saw the proofs of the early sheets.
The family tradition was to the effect that Dickens,

:42 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

calling one day in Amwell Street, saw a series of illus
trations which Cruikshank had prepared for a story he
had in his mind of the life of a thief. Dickens was so
stiuck with them, and with the artist's account of his
plan, that he determined to make London the scene
of Oliver Twist's adventures. Cruikshank's intimate
knowledge of low life in every part of London made
him the most efficient and penetrating illustrator of
Dickens's book : this, and nothing more.
And now let me quote Mr. Forster's summary dis
missal of the charge — for it is nothing less — that
Dickens was indebted to Cruikshank for the idea, and
for many of the incidents and characters, of " Oliver
Twist." " The publication had been announced for October,
but the third volume illustrations interrupted it a httle.
This part of the story, as we have seen, had been written
in anticipation of the magazine, and the designs for it
having to be executed ' in a lump,' were necessarily
done somewhat hastily. The matter supplied in advance
of the monthly portions in the magazine forined the
bulk of the last volume as published in the book; and for
this the plates had to be prepared by Cruikshank, also
in advance of the Magazine, to furnish them in time for
the separate publications ; Sykes and his Dog. Fagin in
the Coll, and Rose Maylie and Oliver, being the three
last None of these Dickens had seen until he saw
them in the book on the eve of pubhcation, when he so
strongly objected to one of them, that it had to be can
celled. 'I returned suddenly to town yesterday after
noon,' ho wrote to the artist at the end of October, ' to
look at the latter pages of " Oliver Twist" before it was

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 143
delivered to the booksellers, when I saw the majority of
the plates in the last volume for the first time. With
reference to the last one — Rose Maylie and Oliver —
without entering into the question of great haste, or any
other cause, which may have led to its being what it is,
1 am quite sure there can be little difference of opinion
between us with respect to the result. May I ask you
whether you will object to designing this plate afresh,
and doing so at once, in order that as few impressions
as possible of the present one may go forth ? I feel
confident you know me too well to feel hurt by this
inquiry, and with equal confidence in you I have lost
no time in preferring it.' This letter, printed from a
copy in Dickens's handwriting, fortunately committed
to my keeping,* entirely disposes of a wonderful story,
originally promulgated in America, with a minute con
scientiousness and particularity of detail that might have
raised the reputation of Sir Benjamin Backbite himself.
Whether all Sir Benjamin's laurels, however, should
fall to the original teller of the tale, or whether any
part of them is the property of the alleged authority
from which he says he received it, is unfortunately not
quite clear. There would hardly have been a doubt, if
the fable had been confined to the other side of the
Atlantic, but it has been reproduced and widely circu
lated on this side also, and the distinguished artist
whom it calumniates by fathering its invention upon
him, either not conscious of it, or not caring to defend
himself, has been left undefended from the slander. By
my ability to produce Dickens's letter, I am spared the
* Mr. Forster printed a facsimile of the letter in his second
volume.

144 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
necessity of characterizing the tale, myself, by the one
unpolite word (in three letters) which alone would have
been applicable to it."
Cruikshank was alive, and living within half an hour's
drive of Mr. Forster's library, when he put the case in
this roundabout, and, I must say, unwarrantably uncivil
way. But let us see what this story was that came from
across the Atlantic in the columns of the Round Table.
It is Dr. Shelton Mackenzie who speaks. " In London
I was intimate with the brothers Cruikshank. Robert
and George, but more particularly the latter. Having
called upon him one day at his house (it was then in
Myddelton Terrace, Pentonville), I had to wait while
he was finishing an etching, for which a printer's boy
was waiting. To while away the time. I gladly complied
with his suggestion that I should look over a portfolio
crowded with etchings, proofs, and drawings, which lay
upon the sofa. Among these, carelessly tied together
in a wTap of brown paper, was a series of some twenty-
five or thirtv drawings, verv carefully finished, through
most of which were carried the well-known portraits
of Fagin, Bill Sykes and his Dog, Nancy, the Artful
Dodger, and Master Charles Bates — ah well known to
the readers of " Oliver Twist."' There was no mistake
about it : and when Cruikshank turned round, his work
finished, I said as much. 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 bv himself, in which,
without a single line of letterpress, the story would be
strikingly and clearly told. ' Dickens,' he continued,
' dropped in here one day, just as you have done, and,
whilst waiting until I conld speak with him, took up
that identical portfolio, and ferreted out that bundle of

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 145
drawings. When he came to that one which represents
Fagin in the condemned cell, he studied it for half an
hour, and told me that he was tempted to change the
whole plot of his story ; not to carry Oliver Twist
through adventures in the country, but to take him up
into the thieves' den in London, show what their life
was, and bring Oliver through it without sin or shame.
I consented to let him write up to as many of the de
signs as he thought would suit his purpose, and that was
the way in which Fagin, Sykes, and Nancy were created.
My drawings suggested them, rather than individuality
suggesting (sic) my drawings.' " Mr. Forster adds,
" Since this was in type I have seen the Life of Dickens
published in America (Philadelphia : Peterson Brothers)
by Dr. Shelton Mackenzie, in which I regret to find
this story literally repeated. The only differences from
it as here quoted are that 1847 is given as the date of
the visit ; that besides the ' portraits ' named, there are
said to have been ' many others who were not intro
duced ; ' and that the final words run thus : ' My
drawings suggested them, rather than his strong indi
viduality my drawings.' "
In 1872, George Cruikshank published his " State
ment of Facts " on this subject, and on his subsequent
controversy with Mr. Harrison Ainsworth. This is his
final reply to Mr. Forster. I give it that the reader
may draw his own conclusions.
" A question has been asked publicly," says the artist,
" and which, I grant, is rather an important one in this
case, and that is, Why have I not until lately claimed to
be the originator of ' Oliver Twist ' ? To this I reply,
that ever since these works were published, and even
when they were in progress, I have in private society,
10

146 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
when conversing upon such matters, always explained
that the original ideas and characters of these works
emanated from me; and the reason why I publicly
claimed to be the originator of ' Oliver Twist ' was to
defend Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie, who was charged by
Mr. John Forster, in his ' Life of Mr. Charles Dickens,'
with publishing a falsehood * (or a word of ' three
letters,' as he describes it), whereas the Doctor was
only repeating what I had told him at the time ' Oliver
Twist' was in progress. Mr. Forster designates Dr.
Mackenzie's statement as ' a wonderful story,' or ' a
marvellous fable ;' and in a letter from the Doctor in the
Philadelphia Press, December 19th, 1871, he says. ' My
wonderful story was printed in an American periodical
years before Mr. Dickens died;1 and then asks, ' Why
did not Mr. Forster inquire into this matter at the time ?
for surely he must have known it.' And I presume
Mr. Dickens must have heard of this ' wonderful story,'
the truth of which he did not deny — for th is reason, be
cause he could not. And with respect to Mr. Ainsworth's
insinuation as to my ' labouring under a delusion ' upon
this point, as all my literary friends at that time knew
that I was the originator of ' Oliver Twist,' and as Mr.
Ainsworth and I were at that time upon such intimate
terms, and both working together on Bentley's Mis
cellany, is it at all likely that I should have concealed
such a fact from him ? No, no ! he knew this as well as
I did, and therefore, in this matter at any rate, it is he
who is ' labouring under a delusion.' And I will here
refer to a part of my letter, which was published in the
* Mr. Forster, in a side-note, puts it thus : " Falsehood
ascribed to a distinguished artist."

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 147
Times, December 30th, 1871, upon the origin of ' Oliver
Twist,' wherein I state that Mr. Ainsworth and Mr.
Dickens came together one day to my house, upon
which occasion it so happened that I then and there
described and performed the character of ' Fagin,' for
Mr. Dickens to introduce into the work as a ' receiver
of stolen goods,' and that some time after this, upon
seeing Mr. Ainsworth again, he said to me, ' I was so
much struck with your description of that Jew to
Mr. Dickens, that I think you and I could do some
thing together.' Now I do not know whether Mr.
Ainsworth has ever made any allusion to this, — perhaps
he disdains to do so, — but perhaps he may give this
also a ' positive contradiction,' and if he does, then all I
have to say is, that his memory is gone.''
This controversy, and a subsequent one, arose from
Cruikshank's habit of exaggeration in all things.
One day, at an engraver's, seeing a drawing of
animated pumps (probably one of the series by his
brother Robert) upon the table, he shouted, "My
pumps ! " seized the drawing, made for the door, and
was with difficulty persuaded to give it up.
In his eagerness he had a habit of over-estimating the
effect of his work, as well as his share in any enterprise
in which he had a part. Thus he put down hanging for
minor offences ; he suppressed fairs, because he exposed
the coarseness and vice of Bartholomew Fair;* and so

* In the Catalogue of his works exhibited in the Aquarium,
London, Cruikshank put this note : "Bartholomew Fair, held
formerly in Smithfield, used to be opened by the Lord Mayor
of London, in his coach and six. In ancient times this fair
might have been a very decent affair ; but as the metropolis

148 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
in his later day he was ready, and with thorough con
scientiousness, to attribute nearly all the advance of
the temperance cause in society to his " Bottle,"
"Drunkard's Children," and "Triumph of Bacchus."
It was this belief in himself that carried him forward,
and kept him alert and vigorous in the cause long after
he had completed his threescore years and ten. But it
led him into injudicious statements, or over-statements,
of which those in regard to his share in " Oliver Twist "
were certainly the most unfortunate. His pretensions
that he supplied not only subjects for his own plates, but
skeletons of chapters to Dickens and Ainsworth, might
be disposed of by fifty collateral testimonies to the con
trary. Writing to Forster (January 1838), Dickens says,
alluding to the severity of his labours, '• I have not done
the ' Young Gentlemen,' nor written the preface to
' Grimaldi,' nor thought of ' Oliver Twist," or even sup
plied a subject for the plate ."
According to Mr. Ainsworth, Dickens was even so
worried by Cruikshank putting forward suggestions

increased in size, the number of thieves and low characters
increased also, so that at length this fair, in the evening part,
became a scene of ruffianism. I had a peep at it on one or two
occasions, and then published this ' Fiend's Frying Pan,' dedi
cating it to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, etc. , who after a few
years began to look at the fair in the same light as myself, and
at last put an end to that which was a disgrace to the city."
Yet in his illustrations to the " Sketches by Boz," he drew all
the humours of a dancing booth at Greenwich Fair, with riotous
men in dancing bonnets, and women equally dissipated, " foot
ing it " in mon's hats. Neither in the article nor the drawing is
there any moralising.

" SKETCHES B Y BOZ," ETC. 1 49
that he resolved to send him only printed proofs for
illustration. Cuthbert Bede says, having been informed, of course,
by the artist, " It is well known that Cruikshank
originated the ' Life in London.' " But this, as the
reader will perceive, is a gross error. To the concep
tion of this work, at any rate, the artist made no claim
in Egan's time, nor, it should be remembered, was he
even the sole illustrator. He shared the honours with his
brother. Besides, the three heroes bear unmistakable
marks of the Egan parentage throughout.
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 soldiers. Having
described his own model, he adds : " The Russian
soldiers, I find, wear a hat something of this shape
now ; and no doubt they saw my pattern, and stole my
idea."* In " the corrections made in the later editions of the
first volume " of his " Life of Dickens," and published
in the second volume (October 1872), Mr. Forster
notices Cruikshank's assumption of the responsibility of
Dr. Mackenzie's statement, and remarks, "The worse
part of the foregoing fable, therefore, has not Dr.
Mackenzie for its author ; and Mr. Cruikshank is to
be congratulated on the prudence of his rigid silence
respecting it as long as Mr. Dickens lived."
Suppose Cruikshank suggested to Dickens that his
subject should be a poor boy thrown upon the streets
of London. It is but the motive, the theme. In all
* "A Popgun fired off by George Cruikshank." W. Kent
and Co.

150 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
the range of Dickens's work, there is nothing more
essentially his own than " Oliver Twist," from the name
of the hero to the last line of the final chapter. Some
thing like the following scene, which Cuthbert Bede
describes, may have taken place between Dickens and
Cruikshank. From the bare suggestion that there should
be an " awful Jew " — receiver of stolen goods, a Hebrew
Blueskin — in the story, to the conception and embodi
ment of Fagin, there is an immeasurable distance.*
" I was speaking of my first interview with him at
his house, Mornington Crescent, Regent's Park," says
Cuthbert Bede. " He wished me to write a humorous
story of modern life, to be illustrated by himself, with a
series of designs, something after the style of his
' Adventures of Mr. Lambkin ; or, The Bachelor's own
Book,' and he jotted down some rough memoranda and
sketches (in pencil) embodying his own ideas on the
subject. One of these slight drawings was singularly
skilful. It represented the shoulders and the tops of the
heads of people in the pit of a theatre, as they would
appear to a spectator in the gallery — the foreshortening
being both curious and difficult. As a matter of course,
I gave my best consideration to Mr. Cruikshank's sug
gestions and ideas, but submitted to him that I could not
see my way to carry them out to our mutual satisfac
tion ; and I also raised objections to the somewhat hack-
* As well might Sir David Wilkie have claimed the author
ship of Douglas Jen-old's drama, '' The Rent Day," because the
idea was suggested to tho dramatist by the great Scotch painter's
pictui'es. But Sir Da\id only thanked Douglas Jerrold, and
sent him proofs of his " Distraining for Rent '' and "The Rent
D,-iy," with expressions of his acknowledgments inscribed upon
thorn.

" SKETCHES B Y BOZ," ETC. 151
neyed nature of the themes that he suggested, and stated
my preference for writing a story that should be wholly
and entirely my own original composition. After much
discussion pro and con, Mr. Cruikshank yielded to my
wishes, and said, ' Then the tale shall be entirely out of
your own head ! ' While he spoke, he rapidly drew a
fancy sketch of my head, to the back portion of which
was affixed a pig-tail, as large as that worn by an old-
fashioned Jack Tar. He held this sketch up to his wife,
who had just then re-entered the room, and said, in his
cheery way, ' We have settled the point. He does not
like my whiskers,' — the hero of the tale, I may add, was
to have been readily distinguished in the illustrations by
the peculiarity of his whiskers, — ' so he is going to get a
tail out of his own head.' It reminded me of his sketch
of the grenadier, whose pig-tail was tied so tightly that
he was unable to shut his eyes ; also of another pig-tail
sketch in the Omnibus, where the gentleman who has
gone to bed ' half-seas over ' wakes up to sobriety, and,
springing out of bed, discovers that his pig-tail has
been tied to the bell-rope, and that the house has been
aroused through his vain struggles to get free."
" The Adventures of Mr. Lambkin " were entirely
Cruikshank's own, and they were the least successful,
and deservedly so, of his works.
Never has a single figure enacted by mortal artist
been so talked and written about as Fagin. How and
when he was conceived, where the artist found his
model, what share Dickens had, and what part belonged
to Cruikshank of "the awful Jew," are points of con
troversy which have been kept alive in society as much
by Cruikshank's own acting of his idea, and his many
accounts of his conception, as by the deep impression

152 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
made by that dreadful wretch glaring in the condemned
cell. 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 Hill ; " and,
he added, " I watched him for weeks, studying him."
Fagin possessed Cruikshank's mind to the end of his
life. He was always ready to talk about him, and to
act him.
"Sitting down," says Cuthbert Bede. describing
one of his visits to the artist in the Hampstead Road,
" and crouching in the huddled posture of ' the Jew —
the dreadful Jew — that Cruikshank drew' — to quote
Thackeray's words — fiercely gnawing at his finger-nails,
tossing his hair loosely about his head, and calling up a
look of wild horror into his eyes, the artist, with the
great histrionic powers that he possessed, seemed to have
really transformed himself into the character of the Jew
whom he so forcibly depicted. His features somewhat
helped him in this impersonation, though those of Sir
Charles Napier required no distortion of art. but were
so exceedingly like to those of Cruikshank's Jew, that he
was popularly called in the army by the name of ' Old
Fagin.' "
Cruikshank told Horace Mayhew how he hit upon the
figure of Fagin in the condemned cell. He had been
thinking it over many days, and could not satisfy
himself. "At length, beginning to think the task was
almost hopeless, he was sitting up in bed one morning,
with his hand covering bis ehin, and the tips of his
fingers between his lips, the whole attitude expressive of
disappointment and despair, when he saw his face in a
cheval glass, which stood on the floor opposite to him.

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 153
' That's it,' he involuntarily exclaimed, 'that's just the
expression I want ! ' and by this accidental process the
picture was formed in his mind."* He was never
tired of talking on the subject. Fagin possessed him,
just as Dickens lived in his characters, and made them
talk in his letters and speeches. Mr. Austin Dobson, who
met Cruikshank at breakfast at Mr. Frederick Locker's
house on the 14th of December (1877), writes to me,
" He told us many particulars respecting his work,
and especially his visits to prisons and criminals in
connection with ' Oliver Twist.' Finally, I asked him
if the popular story of the conception of Fagin's won
derful attitude in the condemned cell was correct. He
replied rather energetically, ' False ! ' You will re
member that in that version the drawing was the result
of accident. The artist was biting his nails in despera
tion, when suddenly he caught the reflection of his
perplexed face in a cheval glass — hence Fagin. Cruik
shank's account was different. He had never been per
plexed in the matter, or had any doubt as to his design.
He attributed the story to the fact that not being satis
fied whether the knuckles should be raised or depressed,
he had made studies of his own hand in a glass, to the
astonishment of a child-relative looking on, who could
not conceive what he was doing. He illustrated his
account by putting his hand to his mouth, looking, with
his hooked nose, wonderfully like the character he was
speaking of, — so much so, that for a few minutes after
wards Mr. Locker playfully addressed him as 'Mr.
Fagin.' I did not see at the time why he was so

* " Memories of my Time." By George Hodder, author of
"Sketches of Life and Character." Tinsley Brothers. 1870.

154 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
tenacious. But, of course, what he wished to impress
upon us was that the drawing of Fagin in the cell,
which shares with Sikes attempting to destroy his dog
the post of honour in ' Oliver Twist,' was the result,
not of a happy accident, but his own persistent and
minute habit of realization ; and though there appears
to be a modern disposition to doubt that a man can know
anything about his own past, I for one shah always
prefer Mr. Cruikshank's story to the others." *
There is, no doubt, truth in all these stories. Cruik
shank studied often in Petticoat Lane, to begin with,
and probably fixed his model of Fagin there. That he
himself told Horace Mayhew, many years ago, how he
caught sight of his own image as he sat up in bed,
and adopted it for Fagin in the condemned cell, I
know. And finally, that he studied his hands in his
glass, with that careful observation of details by which
he reached such intensity in the expression of an
emotion, or a dramatic incident, will be accepted, by all
who knew him, as an ordinary illustration of his " habit
of realization."
On Cruikshank's illustrations to " Oliver Twist," how
many critics have dwelt ; and by them, how many
writers have pointed their moral ! Ruskin, in his chapter
on Vulgarity,! turns for his illustration to Landseer
and Cruikshank.
" Cunning," he remarks, " signifies especially a habit
or gift of over-reaching, accompanied with enjoyment
and a sense of superiority. It is associated with small
and dull conceit, and with an absolute want of sympathy

* Letter to B. J., April -J, 1S78.
t " Modern Painters."

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 155
or affection. Its essential connection with vulgarity
may be at once exemplified by the expression of the
butcher's dog in Landseer's ' Low Life.' Cruikshank's
'Noah Claypole,' in the illustrations to ' Oliver Twist,'
in the interview with the Jew, is, however, still more
characteristic. It is the intensest rendering of vulgarity
absolute and utter with which I am acquainted."
Mr. Paget, in his admirable article on ( Cruikshank's
genius, already quoted, becomes eloquent on the pro
digious effect on his time which the pictorial moralist
achieved, especially by his illustrations to "Oliver
Twist":— " More than forty years have passed since the appear
ance of these works ;* and if we were asked who, through
that period, has been the most faithful chronicler of the
ways, customs, and habits of the middle and lower classes
of England, we should answer, George Cruikshank. In
his pictures of society there is no depth which he has
not sounded. 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 moral. But his sym
pathies are never- perverted, or his sense of right and
wrong dimmed by the atmosphere in which he moves.
He is a stern though kindly moralist. In his hands
vice is vice — a foe with whom no terms are to be kept.
Yet, with what true feeling, what consummate skill,
does he discriminate the shades of character, the ranks
and degrees of crime, the extent and limits of moral
corruption ! In none of his works is this so apparent as
in what we are inclined to rank as the most refined and
complete of all, namely, the illustrations to " Oliver
* " The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder," etc.

I $6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Twist." Charles Dickens and George Cruikshank
worked cordially hand in hand in the production of
this admirable work, and neither will grudge to the
other his share in the fame which has justly attended
their joint labours. The characters are not more skil
fully developed, as the story unfolds itself, by the pen
of Dickens, than by the pencil of his colleague. Every
time we turn over this wonderful series, we are more
and more impressed with the genius that created, and the
close observation of human nature which developed, the
characteristics of Oliver through every varying phase of
his career, from the memorable day when he ' asked for
more'; — of Sikes, the housebreaker (compare his face
in the frontispiece of the first volume, where he has just
brought Oliver back to the Jew, with that at page 216
of the third volume, where he is attempting to destroy
his dog) ; of Fagin — from the ' merry old gentleman '
frying sausages, to the ghastly picture of abject terror
which he presents in the condemned cell; of Noah
Claypole, — mark him as he hes cowering under the
dresser in Mrs. Sowerberry's kitchen, with little Oliver
standing triumphant over him with flashing eye and
dilated nostril, and again behold him lolling in the arm
chair, whilst Charlotte feeds his gluttonous appetite
with oysters ; of Charlotte herself ; of Mrs. Corney ; of
the workhouse master: the paupers; the boy-thieves;
Messrs. Blathers and Duff, the police officers ; and the
immortal Mr. Bumble — a character which has furnished
new terms to our vocabulary, and the glory of producing
which may be fairly divided between the author and the
artist Nor is the portraiture of Mrs. Bedwin, the
housekeeper, who only appears once — but by that single
appearance makes us familiar with her whole history

"SKETCHES BY BOZ," ETC. 157
and character — less admirably conceived and executed.
The same may be said of Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Los-
borne. Nor is this perfection the result of a lucky hit
or happy accident, by which a far inferior artist may
sometimes succeed in producing what is acknowledged
by the eye as the impersonation of the impression pro
duced on the mind by the art of the novelist or the
poet. It is the result of deep study, and profound sym
pathy with all the varied action of the human heart.
It is genius, the twin-brother of that which inspired
Garrick and Kean, and which, in its rarest and most
refined developments, brings before our eyes even now-
new beauties latent in the characters of Hamlet and of
Rosalind. We say this in no spirit of exaggeration, but
with a profound conviction that no hand could have
produced such works as those of George Cruikshank,
which was not the index and the organ of a heart deeply
imbued with the finest sympathies of humanity, and an
intellect highly endowed with power of the keenest per
ception and the subtlest analysis."
Mr. Sala has described the " rough but superb "
etchings to the "Sketches by Boz," which prepared
the world for the finer and profounder work in " Oliver
Twist," and he instances " The Streets — Morning " —
an exquisite bit of observation. But can anything
surpass, as a picture of close and various study of life,
the " Parish Engine " — from the superb beadle at the
door, to the urchins rejoicing over the excitement? As
pictures of manners, dress, and the habits of the people
some forty years ago, they have the value of historical
records. Those times live again, under our wonder
ing eyes, by the help of the artist's genius ; and none
can deny the immense value they are in helping the

4 I58 TIIE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
younger generation to understand the fresh and racy
humour of the text.
Mr. Sala very properly questions whether Cruik
shank would have succeeded even with " Pickwick."
" While," he adds, " to illustrate such works as
'Martin Chuzzlewit,' and the later novels of Dickens,
he would have been manifestly out of place," he
might have " been in his element " with " Nicholas
Nickleby." Thackeray, however, once pointed out that
Cruikshank would never have managed to draw Sir
Mulberry Hawk's cabriolet horse. But he was never
more at home than in his illustrations to the life of his
old Islington friend and boon companion, Joe Grimaldi,
which Dickens unwillingly consented to edit for Sir.
Bentley. Dickens put the manuscript in order, and
strung it together — dictating connecting bits to his
father, whom Mr. Forster describes as revelling in the
work. John Dickens revelled in work as well as play ;
in a bowl of gin punch, which it was his delight to mix
at the Rainbow, in Fleet Street, and over which I have
heard him tell many a capital story, not more than in
his work as first manager of the Parliamentary staff
of the Daily News.
Dickens described the manuscript of the life of the
celebrated clown as twaddle, and was astonished at
its success. " Seventeen hundred Grimaldis have been
already sold," he wrote to Forster, "and the demand
increases daily ! " Perhaps he did not rate at their
full value George Cruikshank's etchings, which had a
habit, in those days, of making " twaddle " palatable
to tho public very often. Over Crimaldi, Dickens and
Cruikshank parted as author and artist ; but they con
tinued fast friends for many years after.

Grimaldi loses his Bet.— From "The Life of Grimaldi.'

•' The dustman's cart offends thy clothes and eyes,
"When through the street a cloud of ashes flieB."
Trcm " Mere Mornings at Bow Street."

CHAPTER IX.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO HARRISON AINSWORTH S ROMANCES.
Early in 1839, on the conclusion of " Oliver Twist,'
Charles Dickens handed over the editorship of Bent-
ley's Miscellany to Harrison Ainsworth : and with this
transfer, George Cruikshank's etching-needle passed
from the pages of the old to those of the new editor.
Cruikshank by no means stood alone as illustrator'
at the outset of Bentley's Miscellany. Samuel Lover
illustrated his own " Handy Andy," and Buss and Phiz
appeared as etchers. Dickens, in announcing vol. ii,
in a theatrical address, said : " The scenery will con
tinue to be supplied by the creative pencil of Mr.
George Cruikshank." In the second volume, by way
of illustration to "The Autobiography of a Joke" — Dr.
Charles Mackay's first appearance, he tells me, as a
magazine writer — Cruikshank drew one of his wonderful

160 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

jovial bottles dancing upon the table. It was in the third
volume, beginning with the year 1838, that Cruikshank
stood alone as illustrator. Early in 1839, Dickens
transferred the editorship of the Miscellany to one of
his "most intimate and valued friends," Mr. Ains
worth. In the first volume of 1840 we find illustrations by
Alfred Crowquill in the Miscellany ; in the second
volume of the same year Leech appeared, both on wood
and steel. The woodcuts — especially one of " a highly
respectable man " — are full of humour and fresh obser
vation. Extraordinary as the advance had been which Cruik
shank had made by his powerful dramatic illustrations
to " Oliver Twist," his illustrations to Mr. Ainsworth's
romances, and particularly to " The Tower of London,"
and "Windsor Castle," and "The Miser's Daughter"
— proved that he had yet higher laurels to win. His
etchings on steel show a greatly superior technical
handling to his earlier work with the needle. He
obtained effects which Rembrandt would not have dis
dained. He showed for the first time that he could
realize a middle distance, as well as a foreground and
a background. And then he had in perfect subjection,
and ready to his hand and mind, all the vast store
of observation of men and things, he had been inde-
fatigably accumulating from his boyhood. His plates
to these three works are absolutely astonishing, when
they are analysed, for the amount of original thought,
— for the technical skill in rendering infinite varieties
of light and shade, of emotion, of scenery, — which they
comprehend. It is deeply to be lamented that Cruikshank's con-

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. \6\
nection with Harrison Ainsworth * — a connection in
which the artist found some of his finest inspirations
— was marred by quarrels, and was sundered finally
with a controversy, which is the counterpart of that
he engaged in with the biographer and the friends
of Charles Dickens. I suspect that Thackeray invo
luntarily led Cruikshank to claim more than his proper
share in the successes he and Harrison Ainsworth had
together. " With regard to the modern romance of ' Jack
Sheppard,' " Thackeray remarks, "in which Jonathan
Wild makes a second appearance,t it seems to us
that Mr. Cruikshank really created the tale, and that
Mr. Ainsworth, as it were, only put words to it.
Let any reader of the novel think over it for a
while, now that it is some months since he has perused
and laid it down — let him think, and tell us what he
remembers of the tale ? George Cruikshank's pictures
— always George Cruikshank's pictures. The storm
in the Thames, for instance; all the author's laboured
description of that event has passed clean away — we
have only before the mind's eye the fine plates of
Cruikshank. The poor wretch cowering under the bridge
arch, as the waves come rushing in, and the boats are
whirling away in the drift of the great swollen black
waters ; and let any man look at that second plate
of the murder on the Thames, and he must acknowledge
how much more brilliant the artist's description is than
the writer's, and what a real genius for the terrible
as well as for the ridiculous the former has ; how awful
* Mr. Ainsworth died while this work was passing through
the press (January 1882).
f Cruikshank also illustrated Fielding's Jonathan Wild. 11

1 62 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
is the gloom of the old bridge, a few lights glimmering
from the houses here and there, but not so as to be
reflected on the water at all, which is too turbid and
raging ; a great heavy rack of clouds goes sweeping
over the bridge, and men with flaring torches — the
murderers — are borne away with the stream.
" The author requires many pages to describe the
fury of the storm, which Mr. Cruikshank has repre
sented in one. First, he has to prepare you with the
something inexpressibly melancholy in sailing on a
dark night upon the Thames ; ' the ripple of the water,'
' the darkling current,' ' the indistinctly seen craft,' • the
solemn shadows,' and other phenomena visible on rivers
at night, are detailed (with not unskilful rhetoric) in
order to bring the reader into a proper frame of mind
for the deeper gloom and horror which is to ensue.
Then follow pages of description. . . . See with what a
tremendous war of words (and good loud words too; Mr.
Ainsworth's description is a good and spirited one) the
author is obliged to pour in upon the reader before he
can effect his purpose upon the latter, and inspire him
with a proper terror. The painter does it at a glance,
and old Wood's dilemma in the midst of that tre
mendous storm, with the little infant at his bosom, is
remembered afterwards, not from the words, but from
the visible image of them that the artist lias left us."
Thackeray rates these " Jack Sheppard " plates among
the most finished and the most successful of Cruik
shank's performances : dwelling lovingly on the con
scientiousness of the artist, and that shrewd pervading
idea of form which is one of his principal characteristics.
They bear witness to the minuteness as well as to the
fidelity of the artist's observation. Not the smallest

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 163
object, nor its proper place in his design, escapes his
eye. He has stored up in the camera of his brain the
many ways in which a chair may fall, 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 life.
Thackeray, let it be said, was always unjust to
Harrison Ainsworth. He caricatured him unmerci
fully in Punch, and never lost an opportunity of being
amusing at his expense. His reasoning in regard to
" Jack Sheppard " is manifestly unfair and unsound.
" Jack Sheppard " was the natural sequence to " Rook-
wood," which, in popular parlance, had taken the town
by storm, and had suddenly made the young author
famous. "Dick Turpin's Ride to York" became the
talk of all England. Colnaghi published a separate
set of illustrations, by Hall, of the principal scenes de
scribed by Mr. Ainsworth. Cruikshank was called in
only to furnish some illustrations to the second edition.
The success of " Rookwood " directed the mind of
Bulwer to " Paul Clifford," and probably suggested to
Dickens his " Oliver Twist." Even Cruikshank him
self admits that " Jack Sheppard " was " originated " by
the author. A fashion for highwaymen and burglars
as heroes of romance had been set by Ainsworth ; and
Bulwer and Dickens dived into the haunts of thieves to
get at their argot, or " patter flash," * and their ways of
* " I got my slang in a much easier way," said Mr. Ains
worth ; " I picked up the memoirs of one Vaux — James Hardy
Vaux — a returned transport. The book was full of adventures,
and had at the end a kind of slang dictionary. Out of this I got
all my ' patter.' Having read it thoroughly, and mastered it, I
could use it with perfect facility."

164 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
thinking and acting. Both made great hits. " Paul
Clifford " and " Oliver Twist " were the two books of the
day. Mr. Ainsworth, irritated at the unceremonious
manner in which his ground had been invaded, put forth
"Jack Sheppard" (1839), on assuming the editorship
of Bentley 's Miscellany. It was as natural a step from
"Rookwood," especially after "Paul Clifford" and
" Oliver Twist," as chapter two is from chapter one-
Mr. Ainsworth had his revenue upon the trespassers, for
" Jack " threw " Oliver," for the moment, into the back
ground. This gave umbrage to Mr. John Forster. Mr.
Ainsworth says : —
" I am sorry to think that the success of ' Jack
Sheppard ' should have led him (Forster) to regard me
as a momentary rival to his idol, but he assuredlv treated
me as one. My little burglar was certainly the lion of
the day. The story was dramatised and played simul
taneously at half-a-dozen theatres. Every street-boy
yelled 'Nix my Dolly' and 'Jolly Nose.' and large profits
were made by managers. Mv own share of theatrical
plunder was only twenty pounds, sent me by Davidge,
of the Coburg Theatre. From the Adelphi version, made
by Buckstone, I never made a single sixpence, although
it filled the house to overflow ing. and people said that
every errand-boy looked forward to the day when he
should develop into a full-blown burglar."
It would be doing Cruikshank injustice to denv the
attraction of his marvellous etchings, full of life, keen
observation, and that happy dramatic power he had,
which led him to feel and to embody the conception of
of an author whom he illustrated; but, at the same
time, it would be folly to accept at his own estimate
his share in tho "Jack Sheppard" success. Mrs.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 16$

Keeley has quite as strong a right to some of the
common glory as George. It is surprising that he
never laid claim to Paul Bedford's " Jolly Nose." *
While the excitement lasted, Cruikshank made no
claim to any share in the story, and he enjoyed to the
full the immense success of his etchings.
On the completion of " Jack Sheppard " and the
" Tower of London," Cruikshank quarrelled with Mr.
Bentley. f He had a tendency, as one of his best friends
* G. Cruikshank lithographed an illustration to the " Jack
Sheppard " quadrilles, " from Rodwell's celebrated romance," in
which he represented Paul Bedford as Blueskin, Mrs. Keeley as
Jack Sheppard, etc., dancing and singing in chorus, " Nix my
dolly, pals." Mrs. Keeley remembers Cruikshank going behind
the scenes to sketch her and Paul Bedford " in character," and
she remarks that this was the only time she ever saw him.
f " The mention of his illustrations to 'Oliver Twist' led to
some other talk concerning his connection with Bentley's Mis
cellany, and he expressed his interest when I told him that my
first appearances in print were in the pages of that magazine,
when I was yet in my 'teens,' my various contributions being
in verse. But this was after he had ceased to illustrate it, and
when the chief etchings for its pages were supplied by John
Leech. He told me of his misunderstandings with Mr. Bentley,
and he has referred to them, in a paper in his Omnibus, as
foUows : 'To "Oliver Twist" and "Jack Sheppard" I devoted
my best exertions ; but, so far from effecting a monopoly of my
labours, the publisher in question (Mr. Bentley) has not, for a
twelvemonth past, had from me more than a single plate for
his monthly Miscellany, nor will he ever have more than that
single plate per month, nor shall I ever illustrate any other
work that he may publish.' These single plates that he here
mentions are the poorest that ever proceeded from his etching-
needle, and would appear to have been wilfully and defiantly
badly drawn, under the compulsion of an agreement that the
artist was bound to carry out. He lived, however, to execute
other and better work for Mr. Bentley, notably some additional

166 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

has remarked, to quarrel with all persons with whom he
had business relations ; and when he did quarrel, his
words knew no bounds. In his " Popgun " he has
drawn himself holding a publisher by the nose with a
pair of tongs.* His temporary separation from Mr.
Bentley led him to start a magazine of his own, the
Omnibus, and to turn from Mr. Ainsworth to Laman
Blanchard as literary co-operator. Of this presently.
On the retirement of Ainsworth from Bentley s
Miscellany, business relations were resumed between
himself and the artist ; and Cruikshank was advertised
as illustrator of Ainsworth's Magazine. And at this
point Cruikshank passed from his humorous to his
more ambitious and higher phase.
" The Tower of London " appears to have made a
strong effect on Cruikshank's mind. In the Omnibus
he drew some curious bits of observation of the wreck
of that part of the Tower which the fire had attacked, and
in his illustrations to Ainsworth's story he manifested a
desire to express the historical power as an artist that was
in him. He composed pictures free from exaggeration,
and grand and impressive both in conception and treat
ment. Having substituted steel plates for copper, he felt
illustrations to the evergreen ' Ingoldsby Legends.' Cruikshank
used to place his watch upon the table and run his etching point
over his design at tlie utmost speed. The outline made, he
turned the plate over to his brother Robert, who finished it.
Sands bit it up, and then it was forwarded to Bentley. The
results fell so far short of George Cruikshank working con
anion, that at last Mr. Bent ley was content to set the un
manageable artist free. The secession of Cruikshank from the
Miscellany made room for John Leech." — Cuthbert Bede.
* The publisher threatened the artist with an action, and
compelled him to withdraw the pamphlet from circulation.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 167
that he was upon more lasting work, and he laboured
hard to produce pictures of the highest finish. He was
right : some of the finest work he has left hes between
Ainsworth's pages, and indicates a range of power in the
artist which he was never destined to prove fully. The
fates had been against him in early life ; and he was,
although even much later he could not bring his eager
and intrepid mind to admit it, too old to take his seat in
an academy, and get through the drudgery, without
which not even the most bountifully gifted artist can do
himself justice. In these Rembrandt-like scenes in the
Tower, he taught the world that his idea that he was
a great historical painter who had lost his way, was
no wild and vain fancy.
The new arrangement was one of the most lucra
tive Cruikshank ever enjoyed; he received forty pounds
monthly for his plates. It opened a connection, during
which Cruikshank executed, as he rightly believed,
" a hundred and forty-four of the very best designs and
etchings " he ever produced. It is a pity that such a
connection should have ended in an unworthy quarrel
in which Cruikshank, with his usual vehemence and
wildness in statement, made changes against his author
which it was utterly impossible for him to justify. He
has described their relations in this way : —
" I must here first state that, as large sums of money
had been realized from my ideas and suggestions for the
work of ' Oliver Twist,' it occurred to me one day that
I would try and get a little of the same material from
the same source ; and as Mr. Ainsworth and I were at
that time upon the most friendly — I may say brotherly —
terms, I suggested to him that we should jointly produce
a work on our own account, and publish it in monthly

1 68 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
numbers, and get Mr. Bentley to join us as the
publisher. Mr. Ainsworth was delighted with the idea
of such a partnership, and at once acceded to the pro
position ; and when I told him I had a capital subject
for the first work, he inquired what it was ; and upon
my telling him it was the Tower of London, with some
incidents in the life of Lady Jane Grey, he was still
more delighted ; and I then told him that I had long
since seen the room in the Tower where that beautiful
and accomplished dear lady was imprisoned, and other
parts of that fortress, to which the public were not
admitted ; and if he would then go with me to the
Tower, I would show these places to him. He at once
accepted my offer, and off we went to Hungerford
Stairs, now the site of the Charing Cross Railway
Station ; and whilst waiting on the beach for a boat to
go to London Bridge, we there met my dear friend, the
late W. Jerdan, the well-known editor and part pro
prietor of the Literary Gazette, who inquired where we
were going to. My reply was, that I was taking Mr.
Ainsworth a prisoner to the Tower. With this joke we
parted. I then togk Mr. Ainsworth to the royal prison,
and when we arrived there, I introduced him to my
friend Mr. Stacey, the storekeeper, in whose department
were these ' Chambers of Horrors '; and then and there
did Mr. Ainsworth, for the first time, see the apartment
in which the dear Lady Jane was placed until the day
she was beheaded, or, in other words, the day on which
she was murdered ! and which place I had long before
made sketches of, for the purpose of introducing them in
a ' Life of Lady Jane Grey,' and which for many years
I had intended to place before the public. I have now
most distinctly to state that Mr. Ainsworth wrote up

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 169
to most of my suggestions and designs, although some
of the subjects we jointly arranged, to introduce into
the work ; 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
work, in order that he might write up to them, and
that they should be accurately described." Cruikshank
goes on to assert that the plates were printed before
the letterpress was printed, and sometimes before the
letterpress was written.
The " Tower of London " was a great success. Cruik
shank states that, while it was running, one book
seller told him that if he and Ainsworth brought out
" another work similar in style and interest," he would
take 20,000 a month to begin with, while another
offered to take 25,000, or even 30,000. On the com
pletion of " The Tower," according to Cruikshank, he
suggested to Ainsworth "The Plague and the Fire
of London." " Oh ! " exclaimed the author, " that is
first-rate." It was understood, Cruikshank states, that both author
and artist should set to work on the new subject ;
but the author unceremoniously seized the artist's
idea, and sold his story to the Sunday Times. After a
time, on the intercession of their mutual friend Mr.
Pettigrew, Cruikshank says that he consented to work
again with the author who had stolen his idea. He
even went further ; he suggested another story to
him, viz., "The Miser's Daughter," which he had
intended to have worked out by another author in his
Omnibus. " The next romance by Mr. Ainsworth," says Cruik
shank, " which appeared in his magazine, was ' Windsor

170 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Castle,' and the illustrations to the first part of that
work were done by Tony Johannot — the remainder
by me ; and I will now explain how it came to pass that
we two brother artists came to be employed upon the
same work. After Mr. Ainsworth had finished ' Old
St. Paul's,' he, of course, wanted to produce another
work, and to have it illustrated ; and, as under the then
existing circumstances he could not apply to me, he
had to engage another artist. And why he did not
employ Mr. Franklin on this occasion I know not, but
I believe he went over to Paris, and engaged Tony
Johannot to make the drawings and etchings for his
'Windsor Castle;' and these illustrations were done
whilst I was working on my Omnibus. But whether
he found this plan to be too inconvenient or otherwise,
I cannot tell : * but, as he induced my friend Pettigrew
to come to me and negotiate for a ' treat}- of peace,' it
is, I think, pretty evident that he wanted the assistance
of my head and hand work again. After ' Windsor
Castle' came the ' Romance of St. James's : or, The
Court of Queen Anne : ' and after that. Mr. Harrison
Ainsworth sold his magazine to his publishers ! So it
really appeared as if all this gentleman's promises, hke
pie-crust, were made to be broken ; and, as in this
instance, also, there was not any written agreement, the
arrangements which he had made, and the engagements
he had entered into with me when I agreed to work
with him in his magazine, all broke down, and I, as it
were, was again ' thrown overboard,' or ' left in the
lurch.' And thus ended the second edition of this
author's extraordinary conduct towards the artist."
Cruikshank lays equal stress, in support of his pro
fessions, on the appearance (March lc>-l-) of a draw-

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. ij\
ing made by him, at Ainsworth's suggestion, "of the
' author ' and the ' artist ' seated in council, or con
versing together in his library." It is a charming
sketch, and both portraits are excellent ; but how it
proves that the ' artist ' did the author's work, or any
part of it, as well as his own, it is difficult to conceive.
Cruikshank asserted that " after the second edition of
Mr. Ainsworth's extraordinary conduct," the penitent
author again sent Mr. Pettigrew to entreat him to be
friends once more, that they might resume work to
gether. " When I heard this," says Cruikshank, " my
friend the doctor found it was not at all necessary to
feel my pulse ; for he could plainly see that it beat rather
fiercely when, in reply, I said, ' No, Pettigrew. Mr.
Ainsworth has acted towards me in what I consider a
most dishonourable manner upon two occasions, and I
will take care that he shall not do so a third time."
To all this Mr. Harrison Ainsworth made answer : —
"A FEW WORDS ABOUT GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.*
"On the production at the Adelphi Theatre of the
late Mr. Andrew Halliday's drama, founded on the
' Miser's Daughter,' George Cruikshank sent a letter
to the Times, loudly complaining of the omission of
his name from the playbill, and asserting that he had
suggested the title and general plan of the story.
"A more preposterpus assertion was never made.
Had there been any truth whatever in the claim thus
impudently advanced, why was it not made long
before? The story was written thirty years previ-
s This was Mr. Ainsworth's final explanation, addressed to
B. J. for publication.

172 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
ously — namely, in 1842 — and after that long interval
the old artist sets up this absurd pretension.
" I believed him to be in his dotage, and was con
firmed in the opinion when I found he laboured
under a similar delusion in regard to ' Oliver Twist.'
"For myself, I desire to state emphatically, that
not a single line — not a word — in any of my novels
was written by their illustrator, Cruikshank. In no
instance did he even see a proof. The subjects were
arranged with him early in the month, and about the
fifteenth he used to send me tracings of the plates.
That was ah.
"As explanatory of the original design of the
'Miser's Daughter,' as well as to dispose of Cruik
shank's unwarrantable assertion that he had furnished
the original scheme of the story, I will now cite the
preface to the cheap edition of the work, published in
1850, by Chapman and Hall. If Cruikshank had any
claim to the authorship of the tale, why did he not
make it then ?
" ' To expose the folly and wickedness of accumu
lating wealth for no other purpose than to hoard it up,
and to exhibit the utter misery of a being who should
thus voluntarily surrender himself to the dominion of
Mammon, is the chief object of these pages. And I
beheve they will be found to convey a useful lesson,
and one not wholly inapplicable to the times; for
though the Miser may now be' a rarer character than
heretofore, the greed of gain was never more generally
indulged in, nor the worship of the golden calf more
widely spread and less reproved than at present.
I have shown that all high and generous feelings,
all good principles, and even natural affection itself,

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 173
will become blunted, and in the end completely
destroyed, by the inordinate and all-engrossing pas
sion for gain : and I have shown the truth, — a truth
borne out by the history of every such wretched
votary of wealth. The sin carries its own punish
ment with it; and is made the means of chastising
the sinner. Dea.d to every feeling except that of
adding to his store, the miser becomes incapable of
enjoyment except such as is afforded by the con
templation of his useless treasure, and at last he is
deprived even of this selfish and unhallowed gratifica
tion, for dread of losing his gold far outweighs delight
in its possession. Distrust of all around him darkens
his declining days; those who should be dearest to
him appear his worst enemies ; he becomes a prey to
the designer, until at length, while haunted by vague
terrors, and despairingly clinging to his hoards, they
are snatched from his grasp by the ruthless hand of
death. 'So is he that layeth up treasure for himself,
and is not rich towards God.'
" ' Other and lighter portions of the tale refer to the
adventures of a young man on his first introduction
to town-hfe about the middle of the last century,
when Ranelagh was in its zenith, and Vauxhall and
Marylebone Gardens in vogue; when the Thames
boasted its Folly, and when coffee-houses filled the
places of clubs. The descriptions I believe to be
tolerably accurate, and they are at all events carefully
done, with the view of giving a correct idea of the
manners, habits, and pursuits of our great-grandfathers
and great-grandmothers. Temptations to pleasurable
excess were no doubt sufficiently abundant then, but
not more abundant than nowadays, when casinos

174 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
and other places of licentious resort are tolerated
and our modern youth have as much to fear frort
the allurement of vice as their predecessors. Apart
indeed, from a certain grossness in conversation, our
forefathers were to the full as decorous as ourselves,
and quite as moral, though they did not cloak their
faults so carefully. Consequently, vice in those days
was less dangerous, because less specious and more
easily shunned than at a* time when its ugliness is
better concealed.
" ' It was part of my original scheme to describe the
secret proceedings of the Jacobites in Lancashire and
Cheshire, prior to the Rebelhon of Forty-five, with
Prince Charles's entrance into Manchester in that
memorable year, and the subsequent march to Derby*
But I found these details incompatible with my main
plan, and was therefore obliged to relinquish them;
contenting myself with a slight sketch of a con
spiracy in London, hatched by certain adherents of the
young Chevalier. Cord well Firebras is no fictitious
personage. '"The incident of the payment of the mortgage-
money is founded on fact. A similar occurrence took
place about the period in question, and the pay
master was a proud Welsh baronet, as described, with
a pedigree as old as the hills. The particulars were
related te me by my excellent friend Mrs. Hughes, to
whom I am indebted for many valuable suggestions.
It is, perhaps, needless to say, that in consequence of
tho alteration of the law respecting the foreclosure of
0 This has since been done in the " Manchester Rebels,''
published in 1S73.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 175
mortgages, such a circumstance could not take place
now.' " Ne sutor ultra crepidam. Had Cruikshank been
capable of constructing a story, why did he not
exercise his talent when he had no connection with
Mr. Dickens or myself? But I never heard of such
a tale being published.
" I have1 been connected with many distinguished
artists — with Sir John Gilbert, with Tony Johannot,
with Hablot K. Browne, John Franklin, and others,
and never heard that any one of them claimed a
share in the authorship of the works he illustrated.
"But overweening vanity formed a strong part of
Cruikshank's character. He boasted so much of the
assistance he had rendered authors, that at last he
believed he had written their works. Had he been
connected with Fielding, he would no doubt have
asserted that he wrote a great portion of ' Tom Jones.'
Moreover, he was excessively troublesome and obtru
sive in his suggestions. Mr. Dickens declared to me
that he could not stand it, and should send him
printed matter in future.
"It would be unjust, however, to deny that there
was wonderful cleverness and quickness about Cruik
shank, and I am indebted to him for many valuable
hints and suggestions.
"While writing the ' Tower of London,' which first
appeared in monthly numbers, I used always to spend
a day with the artist at the beginning of each month
in the Tower itself; and since every facility was
afforded us by the authorities, we left no part of the
old fortress unexplored. To these visits I look back
with the greatest pleasure, and feel that I could not

176 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
have had a more agreeable companion than the then
genial George Cruikshank.
" As an ihucLiaoion of another part of the artist's
character, I may relate this little incident. On the
completion of the 'Tower,' I gave a dinner at the
Sussex Hotel, Bouverie Street, (where a good deal of
the work had been written, the hotel being near the
printing offices of Messrs. Bradbury and Evans,) to
about sixty of my friends, including the Fort Major
and Acting Governor of the Tower, the Keeper of the
Regalia, Mr. Justice Talfourd, Dickens, Maelise, Bar-
ham, Forster, Laman Blanchard, James Crossley of
Manchester, Grainger, John Hughes, and many others.
George Cruikshank occupied the vice-chair. As the
guests were dispersing, several of them adjourned to
the coffee-room, and of these Cruikshank took charge,
saying to me as I was about to drive home to the
Harrow Road, —
" 'Now understand — this part of the entertainment
is to be mine ! '
'"Very well,' I rephed. * So be it.'
"But he must have forgotten the proposition, since, if
I recollect aright, I had a considerable sum to pay next
morning for ' coffee and cigars.'
"On the completion of the ' Tower,' I did not go on
with Cruikshank, but contributed 'Old Saint Paul's'
to a weekly paper. This story — one of the most
popular I have ever written — was repubhshed in
three volumes, with some admirable illustrations by
John Franklin.
" Cruikshank's illustrations to ' Guy Fawkes,' which
appeared in the Miscellany, simultaneously with the
Tower,' were very interior to those furnished by him

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 177
for the latter story, and excited the ire of Mr. Bentley,
with whom the artist had quarrelled. But the pub
lisher's complaints were unheeded, as were my own
remonstrances. " On my retirement from the Miscellany, at the
close of the year 1841, I resolved to bring out a maga
zine of my own, and with that view went to Paris
to secure the famous Tony Johannot as illustrator
of 'Windsor Castle,' a romance which I intended
should form the principal feature of the proposed
magazine. " I found M. Tony Johannot a most charming person,
as he had been described to me, and passed several
pleasant days in his society. He agreed to send me
four plates, the subjects of which I gave him, together
with designs for the cover of the magazine, and the
title-page of story, and performed his promise to my
entire satisfaction.
" On my return I was induced by my friend Mr.
Pettigrew to engage George Cruikshank as the illus
trator of the magazine, on terms infinitely more advan
tageous to the artist than those he had received from
Mr. Bentley for his illustrations to 'Jack Sheppard'
and ' Guy Fawkes.'
"Now commenced 'The Miser's Daughter,' to which
I have already adverted. This was succeeded by
'Windsor Castle,' —four of the illustrations being
furnished, as already mentioned, by Tony Johannot,
and the remainder by Cruikshank. The numerous
woodcuts were executed by Alfred Delamotte.
" The last story of mine, illustrated by Cruikshank,
was 'Saint James's, or the Court of Queen Anne,'
12

178 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
pubhshed in 1844. Since that date I saw very httle
of the artist.
"My first acquaintance with George Cruikshank
occurred in 1835, when he made some capital illus
trations to an edition of ' Rookwood ' brought out by
Mr. John Macrone, of St. James's Square — a young
and spirited publisher, whose premature death was
much to be lamented.
"Next came 'Jack Sheppard,' which succeeded
' Oliver Twist ' in Bentley's Miscellany, and obtained
an extraordinary success.
" From their Hogarth ian character, and careful atten
tion to detail, I consider these by far the best of
Cruikshank's designs. They raised him to a point he
had never before attained.
"I think it proper to mention that more than a third
of the work was written before Cruikshank began to
illustrate it.
"Of Cruikshank as a teetotaler I can say nothing,
because I saw nothing of him. When I knew him,
he was extremely convivial, and used to sing a
capital comic song, and dance the sailor's hornpipe,
almost as well as the great T. P. Cooke. Perhaps he
may have rather exceeded the bounds of discretion,
but if he took a little too much, he was hearty and
good-humoured, and would never have boasted as he
afterwards did of writing portions of 'Oliver Twist'
and 'The Miser's Daughter.'
"W. H. A."

Before parting finally with this most unpleasant part
of my task, I must quote Cruikshank's summing-up of

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. 179
his pretensions in regard to Dickens and Ainsworth, to
say nothing of " other men " : —
" I now feel it necessary to inform the public that the
usual or ordinary way of producing illustrated novels
or romances is, for an author either to write out, from
his own ideas, the whole of the tale, or in parts ; the
manuscript or letterpress of which is then handed to an
artist, to read and select subjects from for his illustra
tions, or sometimes for the author to suggest to the artist
such subjects, scenes, or parts, as he might wish to be
illustrated. And I, being known generally only as an
artist, or illustrator, it would therefore very, naturally
be supposed that, in all cases, I have merely worked out
other men's ideas. But, if I have the opportunity, I
shall be able to show that other men have sometimes
worked out my ideas — but this will be for another occa
sion. And I will now explain that ' Oliver Twist,'
'The Tower of London," The Miser's Daughter,' etc.,
were produced in an entirely different manner from
what would be considered as the usual course ; for /,
the artist, suggested to the authors of these works the ori
ginal idea, or subject, for them to write out — furnishing,
at the same time, the principal characters and the scenes.
And then, as the tale had to be produced in monthly
parts, the writer, or author, and the artist, had every
month to arrange and settle what scenes, or subjects,
and characters were to be introduced ; and the author
had to weave in such scenes as I wished to represent,
and sometimes I had to work out his suggestions.
"And as to Mr. W. Harrison Ainsworth's 'singular
delusion ' of an artist claiming to be the originator of
works which he had merely illustrated, no more absurd
or contemptible and rubbishing nonsense could ever be

180 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
conceived ; for no artist could possibly be in his right
mind who would make such a claim, and it becomes
a serious question as to whether any one who brings
forth such nonsense can be in his right mind ; and if this
author has really lost his memory, and as an invalid
is suffering under ' singular delusions,' he has my pity
and commiseration.
" I lay no claim to anything that has originated from
the mind of Mr. Ainsworth, or any other man ; but where
the original idea has emanated from my own mind,
that I feel I have a right to claim, and by that right I
will stand firm : and I trust that at no distant date I
may be able to publish what I have already stated, to
show the world how these ideas originated in my mind,
and why I wished to place them before the public."
Cruikshank added that many friends, aheady passed
away, would have vouched for the accuracy of the fore
going. He cited two, however, on whose testimony ia
his favour I know he would not have relied ; namely,
Douglas Jerrold and Laman Blanchard. These had
never heard of Cruikshank's claim as originator of
" Oliver Twist," or any of Ainsworth's novels, for the
good reason that they had died before he put it forth.
Blanchard, indeed, had experience akin to that of Ains
worth. An old friend of his and mine returned lately
from a twenty years' sojourn at the antipodes. I asked
him if he remembered any incidents of the time when
Laman Blanchard was editing the Omnibus. At first he
could recall nothing, but after a long pause he said:
" All I remember is something very like a quarrel,
one night, when Cruikshank was spending the evening
at Blanchard's house. A friend praised a little poem
that had appeared in the last number. Whereupon

ILLUSTRATIONS TO AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES. l8l
Cruikshank remarked that it was his idea as well as his
illustration. " I don't call to mind another occasion," said the
traveller, " when I saw Blanchard give way to a violent
fit of passion ; but on this he did. The idea and the poem
were one of his bright and graceful fancies; and he
rose and denied that Cruikshank had had the least
share in it, with a fierceness that confounded poor
George."

'Och! faix! never mind the weight of it, yer honour; I'll step along under
it beautiful." — From '* More Mornings at Bow Street."

182

CHAPTER X.

It was in 1841 that George Cruikshank, when at
variance with Mr. Bentley, started a periodical on his
own account. His friend Laman Blanchard, who was
then one of the most popular essayists and political
writers of the day, undertook the editorship.
The magazine opened in a thoroughly Cruikshankian
style. There was a wondrously etched microcosm of
the globe, which is accepted not only as one of the
artist's technical triumphs, but as one of his happiest
conceptions. The human race is epitomised within this
circle, not much wider than a billiard ball. The sphere
teems with many-sided life, etched with the "simple
frankness " which Mr. P. G. Hamerton has described as
the perfection of the art.* Let me here note that the
Omnibus etchings are the last by the artist upon copper.
Then follows Cruikshank's portrait by Frank Stone,
with his own very whimsical reply to Mr. Grant's sketch
of him in "Portraits of Public Characters." To the story,
" Frank Hcartwell ; or, Fifty Years Ago," that ran

0 " Iu etchings of this class Cruikshank carries one great virtue
of tho art to perfection — its simple frankness. He is so direct
and imalTcctod, that only those who know the difficulties of
itching can appreciate the power that lies behind his unpretend
ing skill ; thore is never, in his most admirable plates, the trace
of a vniu oltort." — Etching and Etchers.

c^r y^hpifu/t.

4 '7?i>syr?t<<~

THE OMNIBUS." 1 83

through the twelve numbers of which the Omnibus con
sists, Cruikshank contributed some of his finest etched
dramatic scenes : for example, " Frank and Sambo
attacked by Ruffians in the Hold of the Tender,"
"Richard Brothers, the Prophet, at Mrs. Heartwell's,"*
and " Heartwell seizing Brady." Here too, is his
famous "Jack O'Lantern." His light and humorous
'wood drawings scattered through the volume are full
of fancy and wit. He drew dainty bits to Blanchard's
graceful lyrics — " Love Seeking a Lodging," " Love has
Legs" (a girl clipping Cupid's wings while he dozes by
the fire), and " Love's Masquerade," for instance. Like
Kenny Meadows, Cruikshank could draw the prettiest
Cupids in the world.
Not even his " What is Taxes, Thomas ? " is sur
passed as a study by his " Two of a Trade " — the
butcher boy and his dog, which is in the Omnibus.
" Oh ! marvellous boy, what marvel when
I met thy dog and thee,
I marvelled if to dogs or men
You traced your ancestry !
* " And in the talk about the Omnibus, at our first interview,
he claimed, as his own suggestion and planning, its serial story,
' Frank Heartwell ; or, Fifty Years Ago,' by Bowman Tiller,
which he illustrated with powerful etchings. He said that the
introduction, in that story, of Richard Brothers, the Prophet,
was. entirely due to him." This is open to doubt. Bowman
Tiller was the famous old naval writer, Matthew Henry
Barker, ' The Old Sailor ' ; whose name is by no means lost in
obscurity, as Cuthbert Bede supposes. His ' Greenwich Hos
pital — a series of Naval Sketches,' illustrated by G. O, fetch
a high price, whenever a copy gets into the market. That
' The Old Sailor's ' name is not in Olphar Hamst's ' Handbook
of Fictitious Names,' is proof of carelessness in the compiler, and
not of the d'sappearance of the brave old salt's literary woik.

184 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
" If changed from what you once were known,
As sorrow turns to joy,
The boy more Uke the dog had grown,
The dog more like the boy.
" It would a prophet's eyesight baulk,
To see through time's dark fog,
If on four legs the boy will walk,
Or if on two the dog." °
Thackeray and Captain Marryat (who drew some small
cuts which Cruikshank copied), and Edward Howard,
the author of " Rattlin the Reefer," were among the
contributors. Michael Angelo Titmarsh sent one of his
most famous ballads — viz., "The King of Brentford's
Testament." But the most sprightly and noteworthy
feature of this first of the illustrated magazines was
Mrs. Toddles, who is introduced with her feet in hot
water, and with a glass of warm rum and water,
with a bit of butter in it. She surely might have
sat for Sairy Gamp, in Punch's personification of the
Morning Herald.
And here she is again, at Margate. She gets her feet
wet ; " but," says her chronicler, " we dare sav she
would find a little drop of comfort, in the shape of
smuggled Hollands at the lodgings." Mrs. Toddles was
no better, in her drinking, we fear, than Mrs. Gamp
and her friend Betsy.
In the " Monument to Napoleon," a famous Cruik
shank idea, also in his Omnibus, we find the artist in
his serious moralizing vein.
"On the removal of Napoleon's remains," he re
marks, " I prepared this design for a monument; but
0 Laman Blanchard.

"THE OMNIBUS." 185

o

it was not sent, because it was not wanted. There is
this disadvantage about a design for Ms monument —
it will suit nobody else. This could not, therefore, be
converted into a tribute to the memory of the late dis
tinguished philosopher, Muggeridge, head master of the
Grammar-school at Birchley; nor into an embellish
ment for the mausoleum of the departed hero, Fitz Hogg
of the Pipeclays. It very often happens, however, that
when a monument to a great man turns out to be a
misfit, it will, after a while, be found to suit some other
great man as well as if his measure had been taken for
it. Just add a few grains to the intellectual qualities,
subtract a scruple or so from the moral attributes — let
out the philanthropy a little, and take in the learning a
bit — clip the public devotion, and throw an additional
handful of virtues into the domestic scale — qualify the
squint, in short, or turn the aquiline into a snub — these
slight modifications observed, and any hero or philoso
pher may be fitted to a hair with a second-hand monu
mental design. The standing tribute, ' We ne'er shall
look upon his like again,' is of course applicable in every
case of greatness."
With this monument Cruikshank took his leave of
" Boney." " As for me," he said in a note to his
design, " who have skeletonised him prematurely, paring
down the prodigy even to his hat and boots, I have but
' carried out ' a principle adopted almost in my boyhood,
for I can scarcely remember the time when I did not
take some patriotic pleasure in persecuting the great
enemy of England. Had he been less than that, I
should have felt compunction for my cruelties; having
tracked him through snow and through fire, by flood
and by field, insulting, degrading, and deriding him

1 86 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
everywhere, and putting him to several humiliating
deaths. All that time, however, he went on 'overing'
the Pyramids and the Alps, as boys ' over ' posts, and
playing at leapfrog with the sovereigns of Europe, so
as to kick a crown off at every spring he made —
together with many crowus and sovereigns, into my
coffers. Deep, most deep, in a personal view of matters,
are my obligations to the agitator — but what a debt the
country ones to him ! "
But the Omnibus did not pay — even with all the wit
and humour, and pleasant story, and sport with folly
as it flew, to be found in it Moreover, by the close of
the year, Cruikshank had renewed his connection with
Mr. Ainsworth. Cruikshank has put on record that
his Omnibus was begun in his disgust at {he treatment
he had received from Mr. Ainsworth, who had adopted
his idea of a story on the Plague of London, and sold it
to the proprietors of the Sunday Times for a thousand
pounds. Then as to the stopping of the Omnibus, this
is Cruikshank's own story : —
" It will now be necessary to state that the late
Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, who was surgeon to their
Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, was a
dear and intimate friend of mine, and that I had intro
duced Mr. Ainsworth to him, and that after I had been
going on with my Omnibus for something less than
twelve months, to my utter astonishment, my friend
Pettigrew called upon me one day with a message from
Mr. W. Harrison Ainsworth, to this effect, that he
(Mr. Ainsworth) was extremely sorry that there had
been any unpleasantness between us, and that if I would
forgive him, and be friends, nothing of the kind should
ever happen again ; that he was about to start a monthly

"THE OMNIBUS." 1 87

magazine, and that if I would join him, . and drive my
' Omnibus ' into his magazine, he would take all the risk
and responsibility upon himself, and make such arrange
ments as would compensate me liberally. To this most
unexpected proposition at first I would not listen; but as
my friend Pettigrew kept on for some time urging me
to be friends again with Mr. Ainsworth, and as I am
(as my friends say) in some cases rather too good-
natured and forgiving, I did forgive Mr. Ainsworth,
and ' shake hands,' and agree to work with him again.
My Omnibus, in some respects, did merge into Ainsworth's
Magazine ; but upon again joining with Mr. Ainsworth,
I announced that the Omnibus would henceforth appear
as an annual."
In the last number of the Omnibus, Cruikshank
announced that, having " resumed " an arrangement
entered into " a twelvemonth ago with Mr. Harrison
Ainsworth," he could not continue his Fireside Mis
cellany — monthly. He ended with a pictorial joke. " If
he and his literary associates," he added, " should meet
the reader as agreeably in an annual as in a monthly
form, he trusted it would be as long as it was short."
The remark was illustrated by the square figure of a man.
The long and short of it, however, was, that the
Omnibus never appeared again.
The following note will give the reader an idea of
the activity of Cruikshank's faculty of suggestion,
which led him so often to advance unwarrantable
claims as an originator. It is addressed to Laman
Blanchard : —
"My dear Blanchaed, —
"Barker does not mean anything by 'Unity.'

1 88 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
' Unity Peacham ' is a real name somewhere in
Westminster. "That do-not- wish-to-be-known young gentleman has
sent me a paper entitled ' The Alamode Beef Shop.' I
have sent for him to suggest a series of papers upon
' Eating Houses,' or something of that sort, and will
get him to make two or three alterations in this first
paper, and will then send it to you. I think it would
be desirable to have it in the neighbourhood ; that is,
if you think as favourably of it as does
"Yours truly,
"G. Ceuikshakk.
" P.S. — Some one sent us a paper entitled ' The
Alamode Beef Shop.' I think he ought to have a
note stating that he has been anticipated, and that we
do not allude to politics. I would' keep that ' Traveller's
Story'* back. We can find some other trick to finish
it with. You may use the ' Hot Water ' in the ' Chat '
if you like. I think also we had better omit those
T-total cuts ; they would come in well with the Con
fessions of a T-totaler ? "
* " Travellers' Stories, or Travellers' Tales, would make a
good heading — a good Ptg." Where Cruikshank put up a peg
he was inclined to claim any hat that was hung upon it.

Shaking a Doctor— From "More Mornings at Bow Street."

Fighting a Pint Pot
CHAPTER XL
"the comic almanack."
In 1835 the late Mr. Tilt, publisher, of Fleet Street,
started the Comic Almanack, and engaged George Cruik
shank to illustrate it. It was a happy idea, exactly
suited to the more popular side of the mood and genius
of the artist ; and Cruikshank entered upon his task
with zest. For nineteen years this annual comic and
satirical commentary on passing and probable events,
not only furnished him with a regular income, giving
him work on which he might reckon with certainty in
estimating his very fluctuating resources ; but it afforded
him the opportunity, in which he always delighted, of
recording in his own quaint, original manner, his
opinions on the questions of the day. In the nineteen
volumes to which the Almanack ran, there are nearly
two hundred and fifty etchings by him ; and among
these there are some of his happiest bits of observation,
of his shrewdest exposures of folly and vice and cant,
and of his original fancy. After looking over these
nineteen volumes, and noticing that the wit and
earnestness of purpose are as fresh and strong in that
of 1853 as in the first volume, the reader cannot
refuse to endorse what Thackeray said of Cruikshank's

iyo

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

humour — viz., that it is so good and benevolent, any
man must love it. While in his illustrations of books
the many-sided artist continued to express his serious
or tragic power, which Mr. Ruskin has asserted to be as
great as his grotesque power, though warped by " habits
of caricature " ; in these pleasant annual volumes, in the
letterpress of which he had the assistance of his friends
Thackeray, Gilbert a Beckett, Albert Smith, Robert

Judicium Astrologicnm.— From " The Comic Almanack " for 1850

Prougb, Horace and Henry Mayhew, he maintained his
original popularity with the laughter-loving section of
the British public.
In 1835, when the first Almanack appeared, the water
cure was amusing the public. Cruikshank's first plate
shows one enthusiast under the water-butt, another
under a burst water-pipe, and a third in an elegant
attitude, being pumped upon by his servant, and re
marking, " Well, I could not have supposed that being

"' .tiT . tfu. mdu way h gun a wot U*kui. J\ .,

— lis TnjjloXine

1/ 7lwt <,<*. >l- Yin TriiUnA
™ lull p<rp o. Int -mmt-lLt! LrJf>
fnu. nutlet cob a-*vL. !***¦ fskaU-

/ fe? it™ "ecim.fi.uL uftmi-- —- \
¦ Wis suzUl ta.ruju, ,'- k so ihv^cr, -aUne. ,
| Ajtafe tot Ss» fc«*m «*'K f* *« Urn !

Ik' A- T- s?
al- die fexr&sh Ij£'
*oUls de da-rnfta
foot heatsu

The Cold Water Cure

APRIL..  Greenwich Park.

"THE COMIC ALMANACK." 191
' pumped upon ' was such a luxury ! and so invigo
rating ! And to think that so good a thing should
hitherto have been thrown away upon qui lam attorneys,
sprained ankles, and pickpockets ! " Then Mr. Rigdum
Funnidos (originated by the late Mr. Vizetelly, I am
informed by his son Henry) enters upon the scene, and
continues year after year to be the nom de plume of a
succession of wits and humourists; and Cruikshank un
folds his series of plates of the months, each season being
indicated by some humorous incident or some happy
notes of observation of our London streets. The ice-carts
and slides of January ; the muddy streets and bustling
postmen of St. Valentine's day, — how unlike* (with their
great leather bags) the postmen of our day ! the winds
of March outside Mr. Tilt's shop, blowing even a dog's
tail over his back; showery April, with a wonderful
group of Cockneys standing up ; the sweeps of May
day; June, at the Royal Academy — a bit of Cruikshank
at his brightest ; July, in Vauxhall Gardens, with the
band in cocked hats, and the famous master of the
ceremonies in pumps ; Cruiksjiank's old friend, the
dustman, eating his first oyster in August ; Greenwich
Fair in September; going into the country by the stage
coaches in October ; Guy Fawkes in November ; and
the Christmas pudding, with a laughing company
welcoming it, in December. As pictures of the
humorous side of London life upwards of forty years
ago, these spirited etchings, which teem with life, are
invaluable. The fun of Mr. Rigdum Funnidos was of a kind
that has found many imitators. In the "proceedings
of learned societies" we find that the fossil remains of
an antediluvian pawnbroker had been dug up within

192 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
a mile of Hog's Norton ; that a successful method of
converting stones into bread has been transmitted to
the New Poor Law Commissioners, and a three-and-
sixpenny medal presented to the ingenious discoverer
thereof; then that a laborious investigator has reckoned
that there are exactly nine milhon one hundred and
sixty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-three hairs
on a tom-cat's tail, which he defies all the zoologists
of Europe to disprove. Later on (1839-40) Thackeray
contributed "Stubbs's Diary" and "Barber Cox, and the
Cutting of his Comb," to the pages of Funnidos. From
the first, Cruikshank hit hard at quacks and shams.
The first almanack has an " advertisement extraor
dinary " of the " British Humbug College of Health,"
and some amusing testimonials from Gudgeon and
Gosling, who have been cured by " Morising Pills."
The moral at the close of the almanack is, " While we
venerate what is deserving of veneration, let us not
forget that quackery, knavery, bigotry, and superstition
always merit exposure and castigation."
The versatility and idle perennial vigour and vivacity
of Cruikshank's genius is nowhere more strikinglv dis-
played than in the variety with which he has treated of
the seasons in the Comic Almanack. One year March
is illustrated by a meeting of workmen going to work,
and roysterers returning home, dav and night being
nearly equal. Next March the cook is tossing pan
cakes. April is now shown upon the famous hill in
Greenwich Park, and now in a wet return from the
races. One November we have Lord Mayor's Day,
with one of Cruikshank's dense crowds, and the next
year we are treated to a delicious bit of humour — the
Guys in council over the gunpowder plot. May now

" THE COMIC almanack:' 193
furnishes the artist with one of his happiest bits of
suburban scenery, " all a-growing," — a housewife ex
changing old garments for spring flowers ; and now
such a crowd of lean-shanked charity boys, with such
a beadle as only the "inimitable George" could draw
before Leech's time, are beating the bounds. July fur
nishes a whimsical scene of the dog-days — with London
dogs fighting, drawing carts, playing Toby in a Punch
and Judy show, running under a truck, and an aris
tocratic doo- looking haughtily down from a first-floor
window. (Landseer took more than one hint from
Cruikshank's animals.) June " down at Beulah," a
December dance; May "settling for the Derby" — a
wonderful assemblage of broad and long faces ; July at
the seaside, with cockneys donkey-riding — " long days
and long ears ; " a November fog ; December — " a
swallow at Christmas," a procession of the many sub
stantial items of Christmas cheer, making a procession
into the prodigious maw of John Bull. The fountain of
humour is inexhaustible. The satirical contrasts, also,
are capital. Premium, a smart gentleman, wdth the
ladies smiling upon him ; Discount, in the dumps, and
shabby, with the ladies' backs resolutely turned towards
him. The Parlour and the Cellar, each getting drunk
after its fashion. The " Shop and the Shay," two
delightful bits of London life. Then there is the
British Museum in 2043, with a gibbet, the pillory, a
stage coachman, a Whig, a Tory, and a tax-gatherer's
book among the curiosities.
In 1844, Cruikshank began a series of large folding
drawings, with a most humorous etching of the probable
effects of over-female emigration. An importation of
the fair sex from the savage islands has been effected,
13

194 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
"in consequence of exporting all our owrn to Australia;"
and the dark ladies are making eyes at a crowd of
anxious men, who are advancing towards them, while
in the distance would-be husbands are runnino- to the
scene. The faces of the imported squaws on shore, as
well as those in the boats, being landed from the big
ship, are the creations of a most searching humorous
observer. Cruikshank's cartoon of Guy Fawkes treated
classically is wonderfully funny. The artist explained
it himself in his own rough fantastic wav.
" Having been advised," he said, " by my friends
to publish a sketch of my cartoon " (the great cartoon
competition for the Houses of Parliament was goino-
on in 1844) "intended for exhibition at Westminster
Hall, I think the public, upon seeing it, will require
some explanation of it. The subject has often been
treated, and sometimes rather ill-treated, by preceding
artists. Being forcibly struck by the grand classical
style, I have aimed at it, and I trust I have succeeded
in hitting it At all events, if I have not quite come up
to the mark, I have had a good bold fling at it. The
first thing I thought it necessary to think of (though,
by-the-bye, it is generally the last thing thought of in
historical painting) was to get a faithful portrait of
the principal character. For that purpose I determined
to study nature, and strolled about London and the
suburbs on the 5th of November, in search of a likeness
of Fawkes, caring little under what Guys it might
be presented to me. Unfortunately, some had long
noses and some had short ; so, putting this and that
together, the long and the short of it is, that I deter
mined on adopting a hving prototype, who has been
blowing up both Houses of Parliament for several

o

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"THE COMIC almanack:' 195
years, and if not a Guy Fawkes in other respects, is at
least famous for encouraging forking out on the part
of others. Having got over the preliminary difficulty,
I set to work upon my cartoon; and being resolved
to make it a greater work than had ever before been
known, I forgot the prescribed size, for my head was far
above the consideration of mere fact, and I did not
reflect, that where Parliament had given an inch, I was
taking an ell as the very lowest estimate. Having
strolled towards Westminster Hall to survey the scene
of my future triumphs, it struck me that I had carried
the grand classical to such a height as to preclude
all chance of my cartoon being got in through the
doorway; and I therefore, with the promptitude of a
Richard the Third, determined to ' off with his head '
by taking a slice off the top of the canvas. This
necessary piece of execution rather spoiled the design,
but it enabled me to throw a heaviness into the brows
of my principal figure, which, if it marred the re
semblance to Fawkes, gave him an additional look of the
Guy at all events. It then occurred to me that I might
further diminish the dimensions by taking a couple of
feet off the legs ; and this happy idea enabled me to
carry out the historical notion that Fawkes .was the
mere tool of others, in which case, to cramp him in the
understanding must be considered a nice blending of
the false in the art with the true in nature. The Guy's
feet were accordingly foreshortened, till I left him as
he appeared when trying to defend himself at his trial,
with hardly a leg to stand upon. Besides,. I knew I
could frescoe out his calves in fine style, when I once
got permission to turn the fruit of my labours into wall
fruit on the inside of the Houses of Parliament.

196 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
" It will now be naturally asked why my cartoon was
not exhibited with others, some of which were equally
monstrous, in the Hall of Westminster. The fact is, if
the truth must out, the cartoon would not go in.
Though I had cramped my genius already to suit the
views of the Commissioners and the size of the door, I
found I must have stooped much lower if I had resolved
on finding admittance for my work. I wrote at once to
the Woods and Forests, calling upon them to widen the
door for genius, by taking down aportion of the wall; but
it will hardly be believed, that though there were, at the
time, plenty of workmen about the building, no answer
was returned to my request. Alas ! it is all very well to
sing, as they do in Der Freischiitz, ' Through the Woods
and through the Forests,' but towards me the Woods
and Forests proved themselves utterly impenetrable.
" It will be seen that the arch-conspirator — for so I
must continue to call him, though he could not be got
into the archway — has placed his hat upon tlie ground,
a little point in which I have blended imagination with
history, and both with convenience. The imagination
suggests that such a villain ought not to wear his hat ;
history does not say that he did, which is as much
a< to hint that he didn't ; while convenience, coming to
the aid of both, renders it necessary for his hat to lie
upon the ground ; for if I had tried to place it on his
head, there would have been no room for it. There was
one gratifying circumstance connected with this cartoon,
which, in spite of my being charged with vanity, I must
repeat. As it was carried through the streets, it seemed
to be generally understood and appreciated ; every one,
even children, exclaiming as it passed, ' Oh ! there's a
Guy!' "Gforof. Cruikshank."

"  2>osl tiuruj tiUnX,, Ii-uojim, thou, ark
yt,rtiurus, thorn- ikaJl In no irurt, CM&J iSJ

W Ike. Cj-
% -JuJlL. ' I f friu UU «. CW Or «.ruL Utk, niT^m
\3iu*.Uiwfff-lt^w's ' \ immLOUL r  — „   k \

, Ultb- Itwr,
>V tjjg-rtuu, dui aU-iajkt.l \

FATH E R MATH E W- An-iee man for a small party

" THE COMIC ALMANACK" 197
There was some bitterness in this jesting; for Cruik
shank felt conscious of the latent power to execute a car
toon about which there should have been no buffoonery.
Alas ! his lines had been cast in humble places. He had
lived to earn his bread from day to day in the grotesque
market ; and the solemn and poetic side of his genius
had been left unworked, or had been only partially and
fitfully developed as he became an illustrator of books.
In the Almanack which included the Guy Fawkes
cartoon appeared Cruikshank's Father Mathew, an ice
man for a small party. Father Mathew appears in the
shape of a pump or filter to a convivial domestic circle,
and holds parley with them. The animated pump, with
the extended handle for a warning arm, and the spout
for a nose, is an old Cruikshankian figure. "Touch
not — taste not," says the preacher-pump : " if you must
take anything, take the Pledge."
Paterfamilias, with a severe frowrn and aggressive
attitude, has turned upon the intruder. " Dost thou
think," he says, " because thou art virtuous, there shall
be no more cakes and ale?" Pater's friend is more
insinuating, and has an excuse. " Why, you see, old
gent," he remarks, " the case is this — the ladies insist
upon my singing a comic song, and I should like to know
how I am to manage that over a glass of pump-water."
The grandfather pleads : " Won't you allow an old
gentleman a little warm elder wine this cold night?"
And the buxom lady of the house is coaxing : " Pray
take a chair, sir, and taste my home-made wine, or a
glass of our home-brewed ale." These suggested com
promises expressed very faithfully the mood of the artist's
mind at the time. His sympathies inclined him towards
the Apostle of Temperance ; but he was not yet pre-

198 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
pared to go over, body and soul, to the cause. The
picture is accompanied by au " Ode to Father Mathew,"
conceived in a spirit of hearty opposition, that only goes
towards proving that Cruikshank was at the half-way
house of elder and home-made wines and home-brewed
beer, between the punch bowl and the pump. The ode
is in the fine old style : —
" Oh, Father Mathew ! why dost thou incline
Against all spirits thus to whine '?
To preach against good liquor is a scandal.
Why to such rash conclusions jump —
To airy, dull, unsocial pump,
Why give a handle ?
Water is very well — but then 'tis known
That well is always better let alone.
Washing is water's only function,
Save when a httle drop poured in
To brandy, whisky, rum, or gin,
Makes glorious grand junction."
The kindly humorist's etching-needle was inspired
by every good cause. These Almanacks have all morals
underlying the fun. Cruikshank liked to have an object
in view. No class, no creature was too humble for
his sympathy. Landseer never drew anything better
than the plate of the Dog- Days— suggested by "the
Dogs Bill " of 1843. Two hard-working, very radical
dogs who are drawing a truckful of hardware, scowl
at a pair of genteel dogs, extravagantly arrayed, and
smoking cigars, who cross their path. First radical dog
says he believes they don't know the side " their tails
hang on," they are so proud — adding, "Why, a cousin of
mine, as lives at Barking, tells me us how the celebrated
dog Billy has grown so proud that he has declined to

QZ

Z
oin

" THE COMIC almanack:' 199
kill any more rats. And as to cigars ! why bless you,
there ain't a Puppy about Town but wot has got a cigar
stuck in his mouth." In a corner a watch-dog and a
dancing dog are talking over their grievances ; while in
the distance a lady tells her footman to take care her
spaniel, Duchess, does not get her feet wet. The dogs
are inimitable. Bloomers, crinoline, over-population
(a Cruikshankian plate showing the housetops covered
with the superabundant humanity), the " steamed-out "
stage-coachman, the " fast man," female parliaments,
baby-jumpers, cheap excursion trains, taking the census,
the effect of the Peace Society (a regiment hay-making),
Jullien as the President of the French Republic, " with
entire new politics and polkas," a pack of knaves, being
a meeting of the betting interest, — these are but a few
notable pictures of the crowded gallery. Cruikshank
revelled in the fun, and sought to extract wisdom
from it. He had an old-fashioned idea of woman and
her rights, and was sharp with his needle over female
suffrage, ladies in pantalettes, and women of mind.
Henry Mayhew wrote some verses on a woman of
mind, during one of the years of his editorship (1847),
oeginning, —
" My wife is a woman of mind,
And Deville, who examined her bumps,
Vow'd that never were found in a woman
Such large intellectual lumps.
' Ideality ' big as an egg,
With 'Causality' — great — was combined ;
He charg'd me ten shillings, and said,
' Sir, your wife is a woman of mind.'"
Cruikshank's picture of her is one of his stereotyped,
ill-favoured, stuck-up, figureless ladies, of whom a

200 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
friend said one day, when looking over some sketches
in Amwell Street, "Why, George, your females are
all shaped like hour-glasses."
For pure fun nothing could be better than the
" Banquet of the Black Dolls," in commemoration of
the reduction of the Duty on Rags. The doll who
occupies the chair has before her a Grand Potage de
Dripping, and the menu includes Pate" de Horseshoes,
Omelette de Old Iron, Bones Boil-e, Log-out de Superior
White Linen Rag, Fricassee de Broken Glass, and Poudin
Kitchen Stuff.
The arrival of Tom Thumb, and his reception by the
ilite of society, as the bills said, and the brilliant court
he held under a shower of John Bull's gold in Piccadilly,
suggested two scenes to bard-working and most mode
rately-paid Cruikshank. The first is called " Born a
Genius." In a garret a poor artist sits in despair and
poverty — his empty plate upon the table, his tattered
boots upon the floor. The second is called " Born a
Dwarf." The little man reclines upon a sofa, with a
jewel-case and full money-bags beside him. He toys
with a trinket, having finished his foie-gras and cham
pagne. His splendid top-boots are at hand ; and
against the wall are pictures of Thumb Castle, and the
general in his chariot. Cruikshank thought this over,
possibly, with some sadness, remembering all he had
already done to amuse this same public, which was
casting to the dwarf of Piccadilly daily more than the
genius of Islington could command by a month's patient
labour over his plates and blocks.
Punch's Almanack, in the end, superseded the Comic
Almanack. Cruikshank was pressed by Mark Lemon to draw

• THE COMIC ALMANACK."

20 1

for Punch on his own terms. But he peremptorily
declined. He had seen inexcusable personalities in the
paper, he remarked; and when Lemon said to him,
" We shall have you yet," George shouted in reply,
striking one of his theatrical attitudes, " Never ! "
He had repented of his early days of unscrupulous

Vox Multorum, Vox Stultorum.— From " The Comic Almanack " for 1836.

<5aricature. It must be remembered, always to Cruik
shank's lasting honour, that, his wild youth past, he
refused scores of tempting offers of work that did not
quite commend itself to his conscience. He used to
say he would illustrate nothing which he did not
feel.

202

THE LIFE CF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

Later, when Punch good-naturedly rallied him on
his temperance eccentricities, he declared that he had
a great mind to go down to Fleet Street " and knock
the old rascal's wooden head about."

A Shirt Case.— From " More Mornings at Bow Street.'

Lord B-

spurning the ¦world. — From "Kejected Addresses.'

CHAPTER XII.

" LORD BATEMAN " AND " THE TABLE BOOK."
Between 1837 and 1847, in addition to his work with
Dickens and Ainsworth, and in his Omnibus and
" Comic Almanack," Cruikshank threw off some of his
most popular minor drawings and etchings. Within
this decade he etched many of his plates for the
" Waverley Novels," he illustrated " Peter Parley's
Tales about Christmas," "Rambles in the Footsteps
of Don Quixote " (1837), " More Hints on Etiquette "
(1838), "Lympsfield and its Environs" (1838), "The
Life of Mansie Wauch (1838) for Blackwood, " Land-
Sharks and Sea-Gulls" (1838), " Rejected Addresses "
(1838), " Out and About," a boy's adventures, by
Hain Friswell (1840), John O'Neill's poem of "The
Drunkard" (1842), Dibdin's Songs (1841-2), "Picnic
Papers " (1841), edited by Dickens ; Douglas Jerrold's
" Cakes and Ale " (1842), " Modern Chivalry, or a
new Orlando Furioso " (1843) ; Martin's "Vagaries," a

204 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

sequel to "A Tale of a Tub " (1843) ; " The Bachelor's
own Book, or the Life of Mr. Lambkin, gent" (1844) ;
Harry Lorrequer's "Arthur O'Leary " (1844) ; Max
well's "Irish Rebellion" (1845), "The Old Sailor's
Jolly Boat" (1845), " The Comic Blackstone" (1846),
Mrs. Gore's "Snow-Storm" and "New Year's Day"
(1845), "Our Own Times" (1845), The Brothers
Mayhew's " Greatest Plague of Life " (1847), " The
Emigrant," by Sir Francis Head, Captain Chamier's
" Ben Brace " (1847), " Nights at Mess,"' and Laman

Triumph of Cnpid. Copy of an ancient seal in the possession of the
Bateman Family.— From " The Table Book."
Blanchard's " Sketches from Life." He also began
his capital illustrations to " The Ingoldsby Legends,"
in Bentleii's Miseelhviy. To this period, also, his well-
known " John Gilpin " and " Lord Bateman " (1839)
belong. According to Mr. Walter Hamilton, the history of
the " Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman "' is, that
Ceorge Cruikshank "sang the old English ballad,"
in (be manner of a street-ballad singer, at a dinner
of the Antiquarian Society, at which Dickens and

"LORD BATEMAN" AND " THE TABLE BOOK." 205
Thackeray were present. The latter is reported to have
remarked, " I should like to print that ballad, with
illustrations." But Cruikshank warned him off, saying
that this was exactly what be himself had resolved to
do. The original ballad was much longer than that
which Cruikshank illustrated, and to which Charles
Dickens furnished humorous notes ; and was not comic
in any respect. Mr. Sala's version is the more vrai-
semblant : —
" The authorship of the ballad itself, which has
furnished the basis for no less than three theatrical
burlesques — one by a forgotten dramatist at the Strand,
another by Robert Brough at the Adelphi, and a third
by Henry J. Byron at the Globe — is involved in
mystery. George Cruikshank's assertion, and one to
which he doggedly adhered, was that he heard the
song sung one night by an itinerant minstrel outside
a public-house near Battle Bridge ; and that he sub
sequently chanted and ' performed ' (George was as
good as any play, or as a story-teller in a Moorish
coffee-house, at ' performing ') the ditty to Charles
Dickens, who was so delighted with it that he persuaded
George to publish it, adorned with copper-plates. But
internal evidence would seem to be against the entire
authenticity of the artist's version. That he had heard
some doggerel sung outside a tavern, and relating to
Lord Bateman, is likely enough. ' Vilikins and his
Dinah' was a popular street chanson years before it
was immortalised by Robson in Jem Baggs. George
Cruikshank's error, it strikes us, was more one of
omission than of commission. He may have lyrically
narrated the adventures of the 'Noble Lord of High
Degree ' to Dickens ; but he assuredly warbled and

206 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
' performed ' them too in the presence of Thackeray,
who in all probability ' revised and settled ' the words,
and made them fit for publication. Nobody but
Thackeray could have written those lines about 'The
young bride's mother, who never before was heard
to speak so free,' and in the ' Proud Young Porter '
all Titmarshian students must recognise the embryo
type of James de la Pluche."
" Lord Bateman " was Cruikshank's delight. The
exquisite foolery expressed in his plates of this eccentric
nobleman he would act, at any moment, in any place,
to the end of his life. Mr. Percival Leigh remembers
a characteristic scene at the Cheshire Cheese tavern, in
Fleet Street, about 1842 or 1843. "This,"'* he savs,
" was in G. C.'s pre-teetotal period. After dinner came
drink and smoke, of course; and G. C. was induced
to sing ' Billy Taylor,' which he did with grotesque
expression and action, varied to suit the words. He
likewise sang ' Lord Bateman,' in his skirt- sleeves,
with his coat flung cloak-wise over his left arm, whilst
he paced up and down, disporting himself with a
walking-stick, after the manner of the noble lord, as
represented in his illustration to the ballad."
Six-and-twentv years afterwards we find the brisht-
hearted old man still with spirits enough for his
favourite part.
"One day," says Mr. Frederick Locker, "he asked
us to tea, and to hear him sing ' Lord Bateman ' in
character, which he did to our infinite delight. He
posed in the costume of that deeply interesting
but somewhat mysterious nobleman. I am often re-

Letter to B. J., Feb. 18, 1878.

"LORD BATEMAN" AND "THE TABLE BOOK." 207
minded of the circumstance ; for I have a copy of
Lord Bateman ' (1851), and on the false title is
written — ' This Evening, July 13, 1868,
I sang
LOKD BATEMAN to
My dear little friend Eleanor Locker.
George Cruikshank.'" *
This in his seventy-sixth year !
Within the busy decade, 1837—1847, Cruikshank
executed many separate etchings for Bentley's Mis
cellany and Ainsworth's Magazine. His work is to be
found scattered far and wide. One month he appears
as the illustrator of a humorous song or scene by
J. Blewitt — "The Matrimonial Ladder" (the ladder was
a favourite form with him for conveying the various
aspects of a subject) — or Keeley in the new comic
song of " Wery Ridiculous " ; the next he is the
whimsical illustrator of Beaufoy's Advertisement of
his Cure for the Toothache — wood drawings engraved
by Orrin Smith. Nor had he quite put aside his habit
of expressing himself pictorially on political events.
In 1843 he published, from Mr. David Bogue's shop
in Fleet Street, a separate design entitled " The Queen
and the Union. No Repeal! No O'Connell!" It
was a woodcut enclosing text in type, the text being
Cruikshank's own declamation against the Irish Agi
tator. Britannia and Erin are represented in the
drawing seated, with joined hands, on the shores of
* Letter from Mr. Frederick Locker to B. J., March 26, 1878.

208 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
the Channel; while the " blustering, foul-mouthed bully,
with one foot on Britannia's shoulder, and the other on
Erin's harp, has raised an axe to sunder the friends."
Frontispieces and covers he designed by the score, —
now to " A Tale of a Comical Stick," and now to The
Yorkshireman, a religious and literary journal ; and
now again a headpiece to one of Mrs. S. C. Hall's
"Sketches, of Irish Character," or a frontispiece to a
book on "Prisons and Prisoners." To every item of this
extraordinary quantity and variety of pictorial labour
Cruikshank gave his utmost energy. He was a most
faithful worker, who never stinted himself, even when
the humblest or least important subject was in hand.
Let me note, however, some exceptions.
In 1843 he had quarrelled with Mr. Bentley, and
being bound still to supply him with six more plates, he
purposely put bad work in them. This was his revenge
— and to the end of his life he never perceived the fault
he committed in this act. " One day," says Mr. Locker,*
" at my house, he explained how these (the bad etchings)
had been etched. It appears that he had quarrelled
with Mr. Richard Bentley (he was a singularly kind-
hearted man, but, I fancy, had a somewhat remarkable
faculty for quarrelling with almost every one with whom
he was connected in business), and was obliged to
fulfil his contract to supply an etching for each monthly
number of Bentley1 8 Miscellany, and he did them as
badly as he possibly could, and etched his name under
them so illegibly as to be quite indecipherable : 'And,'
said he, ' I used to take out my watch, and put it beside

0 Letter to B J.

The OufaWs Burial. Fro* ¦¦ Sketches of Irish Character

"LORD BATEMAN' AND "THE TABLE BOOK:' 209
me on the table, and give myself just — ' (mentioning the
number of minutes) 'for each plate.' "
It was after another and a final parting from Mr.
Ainsworth, on the sale of his magazine, that Cruikshank,
" left in the lurch," to use his own phrase, started his
" Table-Book," with Gilbert a Beckett as editor, and
Bradbury and Evans as printers and publishers. The
artist has put on record the manner in which he and
the eminent Whitefriars firm came together : —
" I will not go into the details of how I assisted this

From " The Table Book."

author (Ainsworth) with head and hand work in these
novels, but I did my best to design and suggest ; and
my time was so much occupied in performing this duty,
and also with some other matters, that I was not able to
bring out my Omnibus as an annual, as I had in
tended to have done ; but I now determined to bring it
out again in monthly numbers ; and as Bradbury and
Evans (the fathers of the present firm) had printed that
work for me, I went to their office to see what stock
there was of the Omnibus on hand, and to make
arrangements for the republishing of it ; and when I
14

2IO THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

mentioned this to my friend Bradbury, he said, 'Ah, it
is a pity that work was ever stopped ; we should have
been glad to have bought it of you, and will buy it now,
if you would like to sell it.' I replied that I did not
wish to dispose of it, but if they would like to join me,
1 should be glad to have them as partners. ' Agreed,'
said both Mr. Bradbury and Mr. Evans ; and as these
friends of mine were men of business, as well as gentle
men -and men of honour, in this case there was a written
agreement clearly and legally drawn out, and duly
signed by both parties. But their engagements at that
time were so many, that a considerable time elapsed
before arrangements could be made for the republishing
of the Omnibus; so they then suggested, as it was
such a long time since my Omnibus had been on the
road, that it would, perhaps, be better to start another.
vehicle of the same build, but under another name. To
this I agreed ; and thus originated ' The Table Book,'
which was edited by my friends the late Gilbert a Beckett
and Mark Lemon."
The " Table Book " includes two of Cruikshank's
most powerful and perfect etchings — viz.. "The
Triumph of Cupid " and " The Folly of Crime." The
fertility of imagination manifest in " The Triumph of
Cupid " is amazing. The execution is that of an original
master. No man who ever held an etehino-.needle
has surpassed the truth and beauty and boldness of
the touches by which hundreds of figures hve, a happy
tumultuous throng, in this octavo plate. The central
figure is the artist, in slippers and embroidered dress
ing-gown, before his fire, smoking a handsome meer
schaum pipe, gazing abstractedly into the fire ; and
upon the cloud of smoke from his lips, his dreams of

"LORD BATEMAN" AND "THE TABLE BOOK." 211
the triumphs of Cupid rise till they fill the room.
Cupid perches himself upon his foot, and toasts a heart
at the fire ; jumps upon the back of Old Time who
bears the clock upon the mantelpiece ; is enthroned in
a triumphal car, with kings and princes, bishops and
generals, lawyers and stock-jobbers, drummer-boys and
jack-tars and sweeps, clown and harlequin, and even
slippered pantaloon, and Chelsea pensioners upon wooden
stumps, for his court. The car is drawn by subdued
lions and leopards.
The blind beggar is waylaid by the little god, and
brought to the ground. He has floored a dustman on
his rounds. He makes the Great Mogul sue for mercy.
He drags a little black page from under the armchair,
and puts gyves upon his wrists. All is clearly and
beautifully grouped, and frankly and boldly, and at
the same time delicately, drawn. It is as precise and
luminous as Diirer. It is perfect etching, by one who
knew the limits as well as all the capabilities of his
exquisite art.
" The Folly of Crime " has been not extravagantly
described by a writer in the London Quarterly Review
(1873) as a very great work indeed. He says it is per
haps the artist's highest effort : I should rather say it
suggests an undeveloped power of the highest order —
albeit the management of the direct and reflected lights
is most admirable, and the skill throughout is consum
mate. " Without lingering over the framework of lesser
groups, though these are sufficiently impressive," says
the reviewer, " let us go straight to the central picture.
A murdered man lies stark in the shadow. The mur
derer springs forward to catch at a bowl of pearls,
snake-like and seemingly incandescent, that are borne

212 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
swayingly before him on the head of a grinning fiend.
The ground smiles at his feet. He falls, and, as he
falls, the light from the pit leaps up, catching his bloody
hand, and the fatal knife, and the long ears of his fool's-
cap, and gleaming in his despairing eyes ; while aU the
air is filled with chattering and mowing demons, whose
eyes and teeth also glitter white and cruel. And the
horror of the man's face is terrible." The litde morals
framed around the central picture complete the awful
story. The murderer hes — always wearing the fool's-
cap — in his bed, with a heavy weight upon his chest,
snakes hissing in his ears, and the scales of justice held
steady before his eyes. He is upon the treadmill. He
crouches in a corner of the condemned celL A convict,
he carries a weighty burden upon his shoulders, marked
"for life."
The many light, playful, and fanciful sketches that
are included in the one thin volume to which " The
Table Book " ran, are trifles light as air. when compared
with those two great efforts of Cruikshank's genius, at
its ripest and brightest. They mark the highest point
of his ascent. In the sequel we shall find him executing
much noteworthy, honourable work, with the zeal of a
great moral preacher ; but be will not surpass these two
noble etchings.
George Cruikshank worked, as the reader knows, with
great care and deliberation. He thought out his sub
ject well before beginning to realize his conception.
He made, to begin with, a careful design upon paper,
trying doubtful points on the margin of the paper. The
design was heightened by vigorous touches of colour.
Then a careful tracing was made, and laid, pencil-side
down, upon the steel plate. This was carried to the

"LORD BATEMAN' AND "THE TABLE BOOK." 213

printer, who having placed it between damp paper, and
passed it through the press, returned it, the blacklead
outline distinctly appearing upon
the etching ground. And then
the work was straightforward to
the artist's firm hand. The firm
ness and fineness of his touch are
as conspicuous in his wood draw
ings as in his etchings.
" It was the custom of the
artist," according to his nephew,
Percy Cruikshank, " before part
ing with his plates, to have India-
paper proofs of the etchings, and
this being 'before letters' — that
is, before the title was engraved on
the plate — made them the more
valuable. He also insisted on the
engraver's supplying him with a
proof of his drawings on wood
when completed. This, in time,
formed a scarce and choice col
lection, of which he knew the value
full well. The centralizing all
that was Cruikshankian within
himself was the end which crown
ed the work. The late Prince
Consort being desirous of possess
ing a collection of George's proofs,
offered a considerable sum for
them; hut the artist, although
pressed for money, not considering it sufficient, re
spectfully declined the proposal."

2I4

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

To return to the " Table Book." The miscellaneous
etchings and drawings in this book are mostly arrows
aimed at folly as it was flying at that time. The
railway mania, clairvoyance, emigration, the fashions,
furnished Cruikshank with inexhaustible humorous or
grave material. His etching of Mr. John Bull in a
Quandary, or the Anticipated Effects of the Railway
Calls, is one of those wondrously filled drawings, in
the composition of which he stands alone. John Bull
is in his armchair, with a great railway bell clanging

Washing houses for the poor.— From " The Table Book."

over his head. Hosts of pestilent demons cover him,
and are stripping him. Some are hoisting his hat,
some are bearing away his wig, others have perched
ladders against his capacious paunch, and are drag
ging his money and his watch from his waistcoat
pockets. The greedy imps are tugging his gloves from
his hands, unfastening his neckcloth, and pullin o- his
boots off. Lilliputian lawyers, at hand, are demolish
ing a barrel of oysters, and leaving a plentiful supply
of shells for their clients. Imps, driving a little loco-

"LORD BATEMAN" AND "THE TABLE BOOK." 215
motive, have attached it to Bull's cash-box, and are
making off with it ; and in the distance the pictures
are marked for sale. Then we have a few bits of
Cruikshankian humour called " Heads of the Table,"
— the final head being a capital study of an old gentle
man who is entre deux vins, saying, " Well, we'll just
take another glass — and then — we'll J ~;n the — the
ladies." Opposite this page is a drawing of a family,
and also of their shoes, from the same book.

The Witch's Switch. — From "Three Courses and a Dessert.'3

A small Music Party— From "The Comic Almanack" tor 1839.

CHAPTER XIII.
CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS.
I will now endeavour to afford the reader an idea of
the man who created the extraordinary variety of
artistic work of high excellence briefly described in the
foregoing chapters. George Cruikshank was eminently
a convivial man. He was born in a boisterous and
coarse convivial time ; when Lords and Commons
boxed at Jackson's ; went to see monkeys set to fight
terriers at Cribb's ; fought " Charleys :; and turnpike-
men ; and drank hard and played high at Crockford's.
Their humble imitators were the associates of Robert and
Georo-e Cruikshank. George's associates were tavern
frequenters for the most part: in those days taverns were
used by many of the men who now frequent clubs. The
portrait of him drawn by Maclise was Cruikshank in
his earlier and humbler time, when he was in the hands
of the caricature vendors. The writer in Fraser says :
"Here we have the sketcher sketched; and, as is fit,
he is sketched sketching. Here is George Cruikshank
(see Frontispiece) — the George Cruikshank — seated
upon the head of a barrel, catehing inspiration from
the scenes presented to him in a potdiouse, and
consigning the ideas of the moment to immortality
on the crown of bis hat. ... Of George Cruikshank

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 2 17

the history is short. He stands too often and too
well before the eyes of the public to render it
necessary that we should say much about him; and
we confess that of his earlier annals we know little
or nothing:. . . . The first of Cruikshank's works
known to us are his caricatures of George IV. and
his friends. Tories as we were and are, and as
we trust we still shall be, these comic picturings
haunt our imagination. The poor old king in every
attitude of ludicrous distress (the ' Fat in the Fire '
was perfection) ; Copley (sketched, as we have been
assured, merely from description, and yet a great like
ness) ; Castlereagh (but even the professed caricaturist
could not destroy the gentlemanly grace of that noble
face and figure); the 'Waterloo man,'. with his sword
dropping into the scale against the pen; the various
persons, jailors, jockeys, lawyers, and the rest, were
first-rate. As Cruikshank himself says of Gillray, ' He
that did these things was a great man, sir, — a very
great man, sir.' To Cruikshank, however, they were
productive of nothing but the fame of their cleverness
and the odium of their politics ; as Hone, for whom and
his blockhead authors George's talents floated the dire
rubbish of the ' House that Jack Built,' and other
witless productions, never paid him for what he had
done. In all these stupid productions there were loud
puffs at the power of the press. George never knew
anything of it when in their hands but as a screw.*
However, what he did, gave him fame and name. . . .
* According to a Reviewer of "Three Courses and a Dessert,"
in Fraser (June 1830), the whole sum received by Cruikshank
from Hone was £18 ; but this was not so.

2l8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

Of course, George is, like all other men of undoubted
genius, a most ill-used gentleman. As Mathews
laments that the general obtuseness of the public will
not recognise his talents for tragedy, — as Liston mourns
over the delusion which applauds him in Sam Swipes
and Paul Pry, and does not permit him to appear as the
Damon or Strephon of a sighing opera, — so Cruikshank
is shocked at the evil fate which consigns him to
drawing sketches and caricatures, instead of letting him
loose in his natural domain of epic or historical picture.
Let him content himself; he can draw what will be held
in honoured remembrance when ninety-nine out of every
hundred of the great ' masters ' of our ' schools,' and a
still larger proportion of ah the R.A/s and A.R.A.'s that
ever existed, or ever are doomed to exist, will be forgotten.
The" historical which he should cultivate is such as that
which appears in his recently published ' Sketch-Book,'
where, for example, the life of Bonaparte, whether as
eagle soaring over the Alps, or eagle chained to a perch,
is depicted in all its stages, from artillery lad on watch,
through triumph, splendour, and flight, to the little
cocked-hatted and round-paunched exile of St. Helena."
Many years later Cruikshank had not quite given up
his dream of the epic or historical picture ; for the
dream had been encouraged by the criticisms of some
of the most thoughtful of his contemporaries, who set
him on a level with Hogarth and Diirer, and said that
posterity would delight in him as one of our most
venerated old masters.
But our present concern is with George Cruikshank
;is he lived, and moved, and impressed his friends.
They all speak cordially of him. Poor Samuel Phillips,
who was heart}- in spirit, albeit he lived for many years

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 219
at death's door, says of him : " George is popular
among his associates. His face is an index of his mind.
There is nothing anomalous about him and his doings.
His appearance, his illustrations, his speeches, are all
alike — all picturesque, artistic, full of fun, feeling,
geniality, and quaintness. His seriousness is grotesque,
and his drollery is profound. He is the prince of cari
caturists, and one of the best of men."
In a whimsical account of an amateur strolling
excursion, in which Cruikshank was one of the com
pany (1847), supposed to be written by Mrs. Gamp,
Dickens has vividly described the illustrator of " Oliver
Twist":— " I do assure you, Mrs. Harris, when I stood in the
railways office that morning, with my bundle on my arm,
and one patten in my hand, you might have knocked
rne down with a feather, far less porkmangers which
was a lumping against me, continual and sewere all
round. I was drove about like a brute animal and
almost worritted into fits, when a gentleman with a
large shirt-collar, and a hook nose, and a eye like one
of Mr. Sweedlepipes's hawks, and long locks of hair,
and wiskers that I wouldn't have no lady as I was
engaged to meet suddenly a turning round a corner,
for any sum of money you could offer me, says,
laughing, ' Halloa, Mrs. Gamp, what are you up to ? '
I didn't know him from a man (except by his clothes) ;
but I says faintly, ' If you're a christian man, show me
where to get a second-cladge' ticket for Manjester, and
have me put in a carriage, or I shall drop.' Which he
kindly did, in a cheerful kind of a way, skipping about in
the strangest manner as ever I see, making all kinds of
actions, and looking and vinking at me from under the

220 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

brim of his hat (which was a good deal turned up)
to that extent, that I should have thought he meant
something, but for being so flurried as not to have no
thoughts at all until I was put in a carriage along
with an individgle — the politest as ever I see — in a
shepherd's plaid suit with a long gold watch-guard
hanging round his neck, and his hand a trembling
through nervousness worse than a aspian leaf." Pre
sently they fell into conversation.
" ' P'raps,' he says, ' if you're not of the party, you
don't know who it was that assisted you into this
carriage ! '
"'No, sir,' I says, ' I don't indeed.'
" ' Why, ma'am,' he says, a-wisperin, ' that was
George, ma'am.'
" ' What George, sir ? I don't know no George,'
says I.
'"The great George, ma'am,' says he. 'The Crook-
shanks.' " ' If you'll believe me, Mrs. Harris, I turns my head,
and see the wery man a-making picturs of me on his
thumb nail, at the winder ! While another of 'em — a
tall, slim, melancolly gent, with dark hair, and a bage
vice — looks over his shoulder, with his head o' one
side as if he understood the subject, and cooly says,
' I've draw'd her several times — in Punch,' he says
too ! The owdacious wretch ! ' '
The melancholy gent with the " bage vice" was Leech.
In those days, and down to those days, Cruikshank was
convivial — sometimes to excess. It was not for nothing
that Maclise had drawn him seated upon a beer barrel.*
* His brother Robert drew his portrait as a young man, his

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 221
His fortunes threw him early among humble boon com
panions, at Grimaldi's club and elsewhere, as we have
seen ; and his wild exuberant spirits and lively sense
of humour made him king among them. Later, when
Dickens knew him, he would fall away occasionally
from his new and more dignified friends (who were
not ascetics), and run a wild career for a night in his
old haunts. Dickens used to describe one wonderful
day — among others — he had passed with "the inimi
table George."
Dickens was living in Devonshire Place, and was just
setting to work one morning in his library, when Cruik
shank, unwashed and " smelling of tobacco, beer, and saw
dust," as Dickens described him, burst into the room. He
said he had been up all night ; was afraid to go home,
and begged for some breakfast. While he was break
fasting, Dickens did his utmost to persuade him to go
to bed. But George resolutely set his face against it.
He said he dared not even think of Islington. Seeing
the state of affairs, Dickens closed his desk, and pro-
hair and whiskers uncombed, cross-legged, in a contemplative
mood, his dress in disorder, and called it " George in a Brown
study." It was a picture of him in his days of dissipation,
when his sister-in-law would occasionally seize and wash and
comb him, while he laughed at the absurdity of his position.
He was very sensitive in later hfe about any allusion to his
appearance. When Mrs. Stowe, in her book of London impres
sions, roughly described him as " an old man, with a keen
eye and grey hair," he was deeply mortified, and he addressed an
expostulation to the papers. His portraits, by himself, in oil,
abounded in his studio. They were marked with touches of
chalk, giving a fresh curl to the whisker, a fiercer flash to the
eye, a more effective arrangement of the hair ; but not one was
finished.

222 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
posed to accompany his friend to face the domestic
storm with him. But Cruikshank would only consent
to a walk — the farther from Islington the better.
Dickens, under such circumstances, was an admirable
friend. His cheery talk and wise counsel had great
weight with Cruikshank ; but each time he artfully
turned the truant's face east, he drew back with a —
" No, no, Charley — not that way."
And so they walked about the streets for hours,
strolling in the course of the day into the famous aviary
of the Pantheon in Oxford Street.* Here Cruikshank
came suddenly face to face with one of Mrs. Cruik
shank's intimate friends. The scene which ensued,
Dickens used to say, was one exquisitely farcical. And
the manner in which he set forth the episodes of the
long day in the streets, with Cruikshank's droppings
into various hostelries, and his final dejected departure
homewards, utterly worn out, and having exhausted his
faithful friend, was in his happiest vein.
" I remember him about 1846," said Mr. W. H.
Wills, another old friend. " He was then flirting with
Temperance. I wanted him to dine at my house ; hut
he excused himself, saving he should be led into
temptation, and he had resolved to be a water-drinker
thenceforth." He did not go to dinner, but dropped
in later — much excited ; and when his host pushed
the water-bottle towards him, he gently added brandy.
The guests departed, leaving the hilarious George, with
two others, to finish the evening ; and when the trio

0 Dickens used to tell, with humorous details, how " George,"
on another occasion, was refused admittance because he was
splashed to the shoulders with mud.

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS.

223

got into the street, they found the old difficulty in
restraining Cruikshank's boisterous spirits. After
trying in vain for something more than an hour to lead
him home, they left him — climbing up a lamp-post !
The same friend hastens to tell me how generous
this wild bon-vivant was, even in his more convivial
moods : —
" The force of George Cruikshank's character lay in
the single-minded earnestness with which he carried out
his objects. These throughout his life were numerous
and always good. Zeal and energy glowed out of him
upon whatever he undertook, whether saving a family
from starvation (and there are instances in which he
cuuld only have done this at the risk of stinting him
self), or rehearsing the character assigned to him in a
private play, or commanding a regiment of volunteers,
or advocating and advancing the temperance cause at
every conceivable sacrifice of time and money. It was
not until after his second marriage that he took to
temperance. In his first wife's lifetime he sacrificed
to the jolly god rather oftener than occasionally;
and surely no man drank with more fervour and
enjoyment, nor carried his liquor so kindly, so merrily.
Then was the time to hear him sing ' Lord Bateman' in
character, and costume improvised from table-covers,
table-napkins, and antimacassars — anything he could
lay hands on — with the laughing help of his host. He
was what Albert Smith called ' great fun ' in this song
at any time.
" Even when dependent upon his pencil and etching-
needle for means of existence, if any good was to be
done for a decayed brother artist or literary friend,
George was only too ready (for his own prosperity) to

224 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
throw down his tools, and stroll about the country with
a theatrical company, or go anywhere to sohcit sub
scriptions and make speeches, or to settle to his work-
table again to make gratuitous sketches for bazaars
and charities. When acting in Edinburgh, for Leigh
Hunt's benefit, with Charles Dickens and his brilliant
dramatis persona, news came to him that a country
editor, with a large family, whom he had often pre
viously helped, was on the edge of ruin for the want of
fifty pounds. ' I must send it to the poor fellow,' he
said to Dickens, ' immediately.' ' That would be very
kind to him,' answered Dickens, 'but very unkind
to yourself. By-the-bye, have you got fifty pounds
in your pocket ? ' 'Oh dear, no,' was Cruikshank's
reply, ' but I want you to lend me the money to send
to him — now — at once.' Dickens's rejoinder was not
resort to his cheque book, but the remark that he
knew George's incapable friend would be as badly off as
ever after the execution had been paid out of his house,
even if the money was sent. ' Then,' he added, ' you
would deny yourself ah sorts of things and be miserable
till you paid me back. That I can't stand, so I must
decline.' "
On the day of his death, his old friend and fervent
admirer repaid his kindness by sketching this loving
portrait of him : —
" Only a few days ago there was extant — nay, it
may be said, flourishing, in the midst of the life and
bustle of the Great City, and to all seeming as lively
and bustling as any citizen there — a hale, bright, active,
elderly gentleman, whose age might, by the majority
of cursory age-judges, have been set down as 'a good
sixty-five,' but who was in reality closely verging upon

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 225
ninety. A quarter of a century before his death he
had looked — so those who knew him well loved to
declare — much older than when he was past fourscore.
Like the American lady mentioned by Dickens, he
seemed to have grown old, ' got over it,' and become
young again. He was slightly below the middle height,
spare but solid of frame, somewhat long-armed and
short-legged, as powerful and long-lived men are apt
to be, and very broad in the chest. His head, scarcely
bowed or blanched to the very last, was massive and
well-shapen. He had a high forehead, blue-grey eyes
full of a cheerful, sparkling light, penthouse brows,
somewhat high cheek-bones, a prominent aquiline nose
that Caesar would have liked to look upon, and a mouth
cut in firm, sharp lines, and from whose corners grew
an ambiguous pair of hirsute ornaments which were
neither moustaches, nor whiskers, nor beard, but partook
vaguely of the characteristics of all three. But, beyond
these, there was curious and original individuality in
his hair, which, after its fashion, marked him as typi
cally as the well-known mkche marks the portraits of
Napoleon L and M. Emile de Girardin. The elderly
gentleman's chevelure had dwindled down to a few thin
locks, indigenous, it is to be feared, to his occiput, but
which, by careful combing, and an artful contrivance- —
so rumour ran — of wire and ' elastic,' had been seduced
over his temples and his parietal bone. Thus to the
end he repudiated the imputation of baldness, and with
greater justice could point triumphantly to the fact
that his sparse wisps of hair were still mellow brown
in hue, and soft as silk in texture. His face was full
of wrinkles ; but the furrows seemed to have been
ploughed more by hard work, sedulously and unweary-
15

226 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
ingly performed, than by the mere plodding footsteps
of the dragging years. In his port and mien, indeed,
until almost the very moment when the hand of the
Grim Sergeant was laid upon his shoulder, there was
but little of the feebleness and less of the caducity of
age. Its garrulity he had ; but his friends rejoiced
in the good old man's loquacity, recognizing, as they
did, the undimmed clearness of his understanding and
tenacity of his memory. Nor, with one singular ex
ception, to which wre shah subsequently allude, did that
memory play him the woful tricks to which the very
aged are so often subject. He could remember per
fectly well trifling occurrences which happened in 1800,
but he did not forget events of moment which had
happened in 1877. He was, to sum up, a light-hearted,
merry, and, albeit a teetotaler, an essentially "jolly'
old gentleman, full physically of humorous action and
impulsive gesticulation, imitatively illustrating the anec
dotes he related ; somewhat dogged in assertion and
combative in argument ; strong-rooted as the oldest
of old oaks in old true British prejudices ; decidedly
eccentric, obstinate, and whimsical ; but in every word
and deed a God-fearing, Queen-honouring, truth-loving,
honest man.
" This was the famous George Cruikshank, carica
turist, social satirist and moralist, illustrator of books,
engraver on steel and copper, draughtsman on wood,
painter in oils and water-colours, the doughtiest cham
pion, in his degree, of the temperance cause ; and,
albeit his : foaming bowd ' was for many years re
plenished only from the pump, the Prince of Good
Fellows." The Prince of Good Fellows looked very much as

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED B\ HIS FRIENDS. 227
his later friends remembered him, some five-and-
thirty years ago, as I can testify. The ingeniously
arranged chevelure was within artful elastic bands
drawn over the skull, when I was a boy. I was one
of many youngsters who would creep round his chair
and endeavour to unravel the mysteries of the extra
ordinary coiffure, while the owner of it sat with a long
clay pipe in his mouth (he always smoked a long clay
pipe while he smoked at all) and his brandy-and-water
before him, talking loudly and eagerly, gesticulating
hke a Frenchman, and turning now one ear and now
the other, to catch the conversation of the company.
A man incapable of rest, with a swift, glancing, steely
eye, a mobile mouth, and a grotesquely fierce general
aspect, aggravated by the hook-nose, which was awry ;
prodigal in the matters of whisker, shirt-collar, and
.wristband ; old-fashioned enough, even in the year
1845, to strike boys.* George Cruikshank left a strong,
indelible impression, even in the nurseries of the houses
wliich he visited. These visits were always associated,
in my mind, with late hours and uproarious laughter
in the dining-room. Cruikshank was always "the last
to go."
In his social habits and relations, Cruikshank was a
0 George Cruikshank was very careful about any portrait of
him that was drawn or painted. One in coloured chalks by his
friend Mill, that hung in his Am well Street studio, satisfied
him entirely. The eyes were at their fiercest, and the whiskers
were superb. One day, when Cruikshank was illustrating Scott,
Mr. Lockhart called, and, remarking the portrait, said drily,
" I saw a man, very like that, in Italy, executed for murder. "
Some people would have been offended, but Cruikshank was
delighted. He affected the brigand look.

228 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
most modest, self-respecting man. He never courted
great folk, he submitted to no form of patronage, and
he never pretended to ape the manners and habits of
the fashionable world. He lived the first half of his life
in Pentonville,* and the second in Camden Town. He
confined his acquaintance to congenial friends ; aud
when these happened to be persons of rank and wealth,
he was not ashamed to receive them in his plain home,
in its unfashionable neighbourhood. In this he set an
example which many of his brother artists — his inferiors
in genius — might have followed with advantage to
their fame. He stood, at the end of his life, in strong
contrast with the petits maitres in the arts, who give
themselves fashionable airs, decorate their houses ex
travagantly, and spend their too easily acquired gains
in slavish imitations of Mayfair life. Cruikshank, in
 c
* Among the visitors to Amwell Street was the Baron de
Berenger, a remarkable adventurer and spectator. George
Cruikshank, when a young volunteer, had been intimate with
Charles Ransom of his corps, who was a print-colourer at
Ackermann's. and who, as a volunteer, was remarked as a good
shot. Being a well-mannered young fellow, he was patronized
by Mr. Hammerley the banker ; and at this gentleman's house
he met the Baroness de Berenger, a German widow. He
married her, and assumed the title of Baron de Berenger.
Being a man fond of athletics, he conceived the idea of turning
Cremorne Farm, Lord Cremorne's place at Chelsea, into a sub
urban gymnasium and place for field sports. Cremorne Farm
became the Stadium, and flourished under the Baron's manage
ment. He rode out always attended by his four sons on
horseback, dressed in grey mihtary tunics, and with swords at
their sidos. This cavalcade occasionally clattered along Amwell
Street, Pentonville, to pay a business visit to Cruikshank, who,
with his brother, was illustrating with sporting etchings the
guide-book to the Stadium.

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 229
his Omnibus, reproved, in his own quaint way, a writer
who had said that he was a collector of curiosities.
"No single symp  I was about to say that no
single symptom of a curiosity, however insignificant,
is visible in my dwelling, when by audible tokens I
was (or rather am) rendered sensible of the existence
of a pair of bellows. Well, in these it must be admitted
that we do possess a curiosity. We call them ' bellows,'
because, on a close inspection, they appear to bear a
much stronger resemblance to ' bellows ' than to any
other species of domestic implement ; but what in
reality they are, the next annual meeting of the great
Scientific Association must determine ; or the public
may decide for themselves, when admitted hereafter to
view the precious deposit in the British Museum."
Then follows an amusing account of the old bellows,
with a sketch of them. " The origin of the bellows I
know not," says their owner ; " but a suspicion has
seized me that they might have been employed in the
Ark, had there been a kitchen fire there ; and they
may have assisted in raising a flame under the first
tea-kettle put on to celebrate the laying of the first
stone of the great wall of China."
Cruikshank, moreover, took exception to the description
of his person by the same writer. If careless about his
house, he was vain of his person. The writer said : " In
person, G. C. is about the middie height, and proportion-
ably made. His complexion is something between pale
and clear ; and his hair, which is tolerably ample, par
takes of a lightish hue. His face is of the angular form,
and bis forehead has a prominently receding shape."
Cruikshank closed with his antagonist : —
" As Hamlet said to the ghost, I'll go no further !

230 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

The indefinite complexion, and the hair ' partaking ' of
an opposite hue to the real one, may be borne ; but I
stand, not upon my head, but on my forehead ! To a
man who has once passed the Rubicon in having dared
to publish his portrait, the exhibition of his mere profile
can do no more injury than a petty larceny would after
the perpetration of a highway robbery. But why be
tempted to show, by an outline, that my forehead is in
nocent of a shape (the ' prominently receding ' one)
that never yet was visible in nature or in art ? Let it
pass, till it can be explained.
'' 'He delights in a handsome pair of whiskers.' Nero
had one flower flung upon his tomb. ' He has some
what of a dandified appearance.' Flowers soon fade,
and are cut down ; and this is the 'unkindest cut of all.'
I, who, humbly co-operating with the press, have helped
to give permanence to the name of dandy — I, who have
all my life been breaking butterflies upon wheels in
warring against dandyism and dandies — am at last dis
covered to be ' somewhat ' of a dandy myself.
' Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come !
Revenge yourselves '
as you may ; but, dandies all, I have not done with
you yet."
The " inimitable George," however, was a dandy — in
his way. Old-fashioned, tumbled, eccentric, his dress
had still a studied look. The strong individuality of the
vivacious and active little man (for he was under the
middle height) appeared to be preserved by attention
to the elaboration of a costume unlike that of any of his
neighbours. It was foppishness hke that of the late

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 231
Marquis of Lansdowne, whose buff and blue had become
a fancy dress at the end of his life.
I cannot do better than conclude this description
of the George Cruikshank of the first epoch, by an
account of him, in 1840-42, written by his old friend
W. L. Sammons, who is now a Temperance light at the
Cape, but who has a vivid recollection of his friend in
days when they met over a mug of ale. It comes to
me from Cape Town. The scene opens in Amwell
Street, Pentonville : — " The same evening a friend or
two dropped in — Douglas Jerrold and, I think, Laman
Blanchard, the editor of Cruikshank's Omnibus, — and
the former Mrs. Cruikshank was present and presided,
and threw a charm over the tea and supper tables ;
and I saw and revelled, as it were, through all the
gems, both ancient and modern, signed ' G. Ck.,' in
the Royal workshop, and lingered over that famous
notorious Screen in it, covered by him with texts of
thought for present and future use, in the shape of
'Odd People and Things' — queer 'head and tail
pieces' — strange 'monstrosities of Fashions' for the
day — noses, dresses, and phizes of all dimensions and
shades, ready for adaptation according to the age and
epoch required. George Cruikshank was particularly
busy on this day, because of ' The Miser's Daughter,'
by Ainsworth, that he was illustrating for Bentley 's
Miscellany, and he assured me if not finished by such
an hour and such a day he should forfeit fifty pounds ;
and yet he risked the uncertainty to show hospitality to
his friends.
" During this visit to London, dear George took me
the round of several of the theatres and gardens— Old
Vauxhall, that we had seen as boys, when unknown

232 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
to each other, being closed, and the great ' M. C
Simpson dead ; and I could not fail to perceive how
he was petted and respected by all, lessees, managers,
and actors, and readily ushered into any quarter that
caprice, pleasure, or professional duties required,
whether pit, boxes, or gallery ; but the ' dress circle,'
was less to his taste than others, because there life
was fossilised, artificial, and restrained, and dress mere
tinsel ; and no dialogue suitable for his reports , or
action worthy of his crayons. This may account,
perhaps, for that ' absence of beauty ' that is said to
pervade his works ; because beauty per se is apt to give
itself airs and become unseemly and ungraceful ; and
George Cruikshank's high and stern mission was in
' the highways and hedges,' and to reclaim by a moral
and pictorial force the repehing, the vicious, and the
vile. " But I confess to feeling a little disturbed, when at
his side, at seeing so many long necks and bright eyes
and glasses turned upon him from all directions, and
to perceive the whispering and commotion in con
sequence. Here G. C.'s thumb-nails often served as
ample space for a photo.
"As a thing of beauty is said to be a joy for ever,
so at the period above stated we had our glorious days
together, and may be figuratively described as ' beino-
in clover and sleeping in lavender ' ; for kind George
devoted many hours in taking me to some of his
favourite, and it may be added, requisite haunts, where
he gathered his Fame for his simple wants, without
hoarding. One morning he led me to the burial-
ground of St. James's Chapel, Pentonville, near his
house, and pointed out the graves of Thomas Dibdin

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 233
son of the great sea-songster, and of his old and
' mutual friend,' Joey Grimaldi, whose mortal coils are
laid near each other; and I wish I could remember
so as to record the tender and sympathetic little oration
he then delivered.
"At night Sadler's Wells was the scene of action,
but poor Joey being absent,
' Greece was hving Greece no more,'
and all things were changed since our boyhood. Friend
Cruikshank reminded me of that passage (in Dickens's
'Life of the King of Clowns' that he illustrated in
two vols.), where Joey and his much better-half, one
evening, disputing about precedency, resolved upon
taking poison to end all contention, and to settle their
differences of opinion for ever. But not taking enough,
and forgetting the oft-quoted maxim, now travestied,
' Drink deep, or taste not any poisonous thing,'
the feeble dose merely kept them awake and talkative,
and lying in the same room, with a slight partition
between them, sensations became unpleasant, and so
they held a colloquy in their fears as follows : ' Joey,
are you dead ? ' ' No, Mary, — are you ? ' ' No.' And
then they altered their minds, and felt disposed to live
a little longer, arose, had a good supper and something
warm and comfortable as a sedative and antidote, and
then jogged on a little more in unison.
" On passing through the Queen's Bench with him,
I called his attention to the prison window, behind the
bars of which stood a miserable inmate with a black
box before him, on which was written, ' Remember the
poor debtors.' George smiled, and said, ' Yes, but

234 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
think of the poor creditors.' And this scene I find
recorded by him, and his own remarks, on a small
placard at the top of the picture ' Remember the poor
creditors.' But what numbers of similar Hogarthian
hints he has left behind him ! "
Shortly afterwards Cruikshank paid his friend a visit
at Bath : —
" ' The Bottle Conjurer ' and smasher of it, and part
destroyer of his contents — I mean George Cruikshank
— arrived safely at the city of King Bladud and the
throne of Beau Nash ; and he commanded me with a
willing assent to become a second 'Anstey,' or little
' Bath Guide,' to ferret all quarters with him — West
to East and High to Low — having a monthly serial
still on hand that required certain characters for
illustration (perhaps ' Jack Sheppard ' or the ' Tower
of London,' after the Omnibus had ceased running).
Friend George began with the upper crust, as nearest
' home ' and Lansdown ; and leaving his card the day
before at William Beckford's mansion in the Crescent,
went with me where I had been several times before.
Possibly at the foot of Table Mountain it may not be
known that this William Beckford was an esquire and
a somebody in England, the owner and builder of
Fonthill Abbey, inheritor but not enjoyer of immense
wealth, and the celebrated author of ' Vathek ' and the
' Halls of Eblis,' before which, in point of imagination,
Byron, or somebody else, said ' Rasselas ' must bow.
Mr. Beckford, notwithstanding original gifts, and the
accident of riches, was a shy and eccentric bird that flew
from every one, and nobody must approach ; and so,
when we got there, and were passing along a corridor,
a black dwarf — or rather a nutmeg shade — banged a

CRUIKSHANK DESCRIBED BY HIS FRIENDS. 235
door suddenly in our faces, the apology being, ' he
saw Mr. Beckford coming, and it was more than he
dare hazard for any one to notice him.' And yet he
left a gracious message in the hands of his house-
steward, Mr. F  , who himself kept a stylish esta
blishment and carriage, 'to show Mr. Cruikshank all
he desired ; ' and even added, ' that if Mr. Cruikshank
knew how much he (Mr. B.) valued his earlier sketches,
he would not have refused some of them when once
solicited.' I asked ' G. C the cause of this, and he
remarked, ' at that time he parted with few of his
originals;' and when we left Lansdown Crescent, he
commented warmly on the treat and pleasure he had
derived, and as a red-letter day in his biography.
' From the subhme to the ridiculous is but a step,'
and so we soon threaded the externals of Royal
Crescents and Circuses, Pulteney and Milsom Streets,
and Queen Squares, and odd holes, lanes, and corners,
until reaching Avon Street, where ' the power of
sinking could no further go,' nor the Pig and Whistle
meet with a more picturesque if degraded aspect.
In this latter neighbourhood it was requisite for
professional purposes and home orders that George
Cruikshank should have a nightly sojourn, if not revel;
and so a suitable tavern was chosen that had a skittle-
alley attached, that except in name or position might
form a capital match for that Lion in the Wood in
Wilderness Lane, that he mentions in 'My Portrait,'
at the commencement of his Omnibus. Whilst we
were there as lookers-on only, and sipping 'half-and-
half' out of the same pewter 'between the acts,' if
they may be so called, or during the ' intervals,' at
this Beggars' Opera, friend Cruikshank amused him-

236 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
self by chalking one scene on the wall, and all eyes
were soon upon it, for it was lifelike and spirited. Oh
that I could have removed that wonderful cartoon from
its surface, or preserved a copy ! it would now realize
the value of many ordinary frescoes and presumed
originals — and more than drunken Morland's ' Goat-
in-Boots ' signboard. But leaving Bath for Cape Town
three months afterwards, the mind was absorbed in
other matters, and both places and scenes forgotten
at the time, but now stand out in bold relief and
vividly." This was George Cruikshank only a few years before
he gave himself wholly up to the cause of Temperance.

A watch what won't gt is good for nothing;.— Prom " More Mornings
at Bow Street."

Thl Gin Fiend.

EPOCH II. 1848—1878.
CHAPTER I.
AT GILLRAY'S GRAVE.
No great stretch of the imagination is needed to con
jure up an interesting picture in the corner of the
graveyard of St. James's, Piccadilly, in that momentous
June when the forces of France and the Allies were
gathering hastily for the field of Waterloo. It was on
the first of the month. From the famous print-shop
of Mistress Humphrey in St. James's Street, before
which hosts of laughing men and women had been
wont to linger, a coffin was borne, containing the
mortal part of the " Juvenal of caricature " as he
had been called — of the hapless man of genius, who
had lain, with short flashes of sanity, full six
years with mind unstrung — a dreadful shadow
over the mirthful shop. Behind followed the good
Mistress Humphrey and the faithful Betty, her
maid ; probably stout Mortimer the picture dealer,
possibly Mr. Gifford. Let us think of Landseer and
James Stanley and others to whom poor Gillray
had been known in his bright days, standing by

238

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

the open grave near the Rectory House, within
full sound of the hum of Piccadilly. And at hand
we shall note a slim young man, with eager,
piercing eyes, a hook nose, with full whiskers

Mrs. Humphrey's Window. From Grego's " Life of Gillray."

trimmed to the corners of his mouth ; a young
man with incessant spasmodic action. His eyes
start and his mouth works, as, the service ended, he
gazes into the yawning grave. To his neighbour he

AT GILLRAY'S GRAFF. 239
says, under his breath, "A great man, sir — a very
great man."
With a bow to weeping Mistress Humphrey be
retires. The good soul, who has now done her last
duty to the poor madman with whom she has borne
patiently and gratefully so long, is pleased to note
that Mr. Cruikshank had not forgotten to pay his
last tribute of respect and gratitude to his master.
Mrs. Humphrey, no doubt, regarded the young
man whom she had employed to finish Gillray's
work when he first fell ill, and who had since
managed to keep the crowds laughing before her
windows, as a. very poor substitute for the dead
genius. And in those days Cruikshank himself was
still very modest, and was proud to be accounted
strong enough to hold the pencil and the needle of
the stricken Gillray.
Upon a sensitive, imaginative, observant man like
George Cruikshank, the life of him whom he owned
in his early days as his master, with its awful
close, must have made a deep impression. Men
said that Gillray had wrecked his career through
frequenting low company, and by intemperate
habits. Cruikshank knew something of this, had
seen much of such company, and was in close
companionship with tipplers. Gillray was not the
first man of mark whom he had watched from
tavern to tavern, and so on to poverty and death.
Almost his earliest recollections were of drinking
bouts, and their debasing consequences. His boyish
sight had been offended at his father's house with
the spectacle of drunken men rolled up in carpets,
upon whose blank and besotted faces the morning

240 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
sun was shining.* He had been saddened as a
son by his father's example, and inexpressibly
shocked by the manner of his death. It appears
that Isaac Cruikshank, who was a heavy whisky
drinker, laid a bet with a boon companion that
he would drink more tumblers than his friend
without falling under the table. He won his wager,
but his excess brought upon him the illness of
which he died, about his fifty-fifth year.t Such
experiences, albeit they led Cruikshank to reflect
seriously on the evils of excessive drinking, did not,
as we have seen, at once turn him from the bottle.
Mr. Paget remarked in Blackwood that Cruikshank
was a severe anatomist of the vice long before any
idea of his celebrated " Bottle " could have crossed
his mind. In his " Sunday in London," published in
1833, he depicted the drunkard paying his week's
score. In one of his Temperance speeches he said :
" I am ashamed to say that for many years I went

* "At a meeting held at Manchester, this great artist gave
an address on Temperance ; in the course of which, referring
to the early days of his life, and to the drinking habits
which existed at that period, he said he recollected gentlemen
coming to dine occasionally at his father's house, and he was
often surprised on coming downstairs of a morning to find
some of them rolled up in the carpet in an extraordinary
manner. His own father took too much drink, and shortened
his life by it. He shortened his life by the fashion of the day,
and left him (the speaker) uneducated. . . . He had watched
the effects of drink ever since he had begun to reflect, both
among the higher and lower orders." — Poor Richard's Almanac,
1S7G. f This story was told to the Rev. Dr. Rogers by George
Cruikshank.

AT GILLRAY'S GRAVE.

24I

on following the ordinary custom of drinking, till I
fell into pecuniary difficulties. I had some money at
a banker's ; he fell into difficulties, took to drinking
brandy-and-water, and ended by blowing out his brains.
I lost my money, and in my distress applied to friends
who aided me for a time, but they themselves fell into
difficulties, and I was forced to extricate myself by
the most extraordinaiy exertions. In this strait I

Sunday in London.
thought, The best thing I can do is to take to water :
but still I went on for some time before I quite weaned
myself from my own drinking habits. I went to take
luncheon with my friend Dickens (who, I am sorry to
say, is not a teetotaler); he asked me to take wine,
but I told him I had taken to water, for, in my opinion,
a man had better take a glass of prussic acid than fall
into the other habit of taking brandy-and-water ; and
16

242 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
I am happy to say that Charles Dickens quite agreed
with me, that a man had better wipe himself out at
once, than extinguish himself by degrees by the soul-
degrading and body-destroying enemy."
Immediately after the death of Gillray, we find evi
dence of the twinges of conscience which Cruikshank
felt, even while he continued to fall, at inter n f» into
wild excesses. These were followed by dark pass...
of remorse, and by resolutions which were again and
again broken. The fate of the men — and that of Gillray
especially — whom he had seen fall victims to what he
was pleased to call the fashionable vice, would rise
before him. But, in an impulsive, convivial moment,
his own sad experiences of time wasted and oppor
tunities gone, and of the friends he had lost, were
often forgotten ; and he found himself, as of old,
wending his way home, in the small hours, covered
with a sense of disgrace. Cruikshank was no better,
and no worse, than his contemporaries. A letter in
Procter's * neat hand lies before me. It is dated from
Gray's Inn Square, March 13th, 1839 ; and he says :
" I shall be very happy to be one of the number to
dine -with Macready. But, remember, I cannot be one
of those who will doubtless be found under the table
at four a.m. (as I understand was the case upon a late
occasion)." If, however, Cruikshank was not early a convert to
the practice of temperance, he was, as I have remarked,
a preacher betimes.
His "Introduction to the Gout" (1818) is in his
best vein. A toper is seated over his pot, and holding

0 Barry Cornwall.

AT GILLRAY'S GRAVE. 243
a peach upon his fork, with which he is about to coo!
his mouth. An imp — one Gout — approaches from the
fireplace, and with the tongs is about to drop a red
coal on the great-toe of Toper. Another drawing (a
lithograph) of this date is suggestive. It is called
"Deadly Lively." Death has stepped in, surprising a
man and two women, who are drinking in a kitchen,
before a blazing fire. Death is filling the man's glass ;
the old woman is falling from her seat, and the young
woman is tumbling drunk under the table. Presently
(in the same year) the artist is in a gayer mood as a
satirist. The picture is called " Tit-Bits." An Irish
woman, overcome by beer, has fallen into a deep sleep
under a tree. Her slumbers give a yokel an oppor
tunity of stealing one of her chickens, while a cur licks
the tarts in her basket.* Then we have " The Three-
Bottle Divine," no rara avis in those days. It is the
head of a heavy, coarse-featured man, in sporting guise,
his face garnished with carbuncles and large spectacles.
So far back as 1836, Cruikshank gave the public
a foretaste of " The Bottle " in a vignette to a music
title. Two individuals are represented — one old and
spectacled, the other young and with an eyeglass, —
examining with horror the contents of a spirit bottle,
which is filled with malignant imps emblematical of
alcohol as " doctored by publicans," and sold for " Old
Tom," etc. The cork has turned devil, and throws up
his arms in dehght at the work of his imps.
" Gin," remarks Mr. Thackeray, years before Cruik
shank had become a Temperance advocate, or in the
* The foregoing were drawn by Cruikshank from Captain
Hchl's designs.

244 TIIE L,IE 0F GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
least degree an abstainer ; " gin has furnished many
subjects to Mr. Cruikshank, who labours in his own
sound and hearty way to teach his countrymen the
dangers of that drink. In the 'Sketch-book' is a
plate upon the subject, remarkable for fancy and beauty
of design ; it is called the ' Gin Juggernaut,' and re
presents a hideous moving palace, with a reeking still
as the roof, and vast gin-barrels for wheels, under which
unhappy millions are crushed to death. An immense
black cloud of desolation covers over the country
through which the gin monster had passed, dimly
looming through the darkness whereof you see an
agreeable prospect of gibbets with men dangling, burnt
houses, etc. The vast cloud comes sweeping on in the
wake of this horrible body-crusher : and you see, by
way of contrast, a distant, smiling, sunshiny tract of
old English country, where gin as yet is not known.
The allegory is as good, as earnest, and as fanciful as
one of John Bunyan's. and we have often fancied there
was a similarity between the men."'
The similarity, if you look deeply into the two imagi
nations, is strong and striking, as it is between the genius
of Dore* in its grotesque and moral moods, and that of
Cruikshank. Compare Dore's •• Wandering Jew," his
"Rabelais," his -'Contes Drolatiques, with Cruikshank's
work about 1826, and eveu later, and you cannot fail
to discover the strong affinity between the two great
artists. Dore" knew nothing of Cruikshank's work in
his early time, aud Cruikshank had never heard Dore's
name when, iu 1854, I brought over to England the
blocks of his " Wandering Jew." *
* I introduced George Cruikshank to Gustave DoriS, in the

AT GILLRAY'S GRAVE. 245
In his illustrations to " Sketches by Boz," Cruik
shank first approached intemperance from that point of
view in which he treated it afterwards in " The Bottle."
His view of the gin-shop comprehends a complete story.
"We have sketched this subject," says Dickens,
" very slightly, not only because our limits compel us
to do so, but because, if it were pursued further, it
would be painful and repulsive. Well-disposed gentle
men and charitable ladies would alike turn with coldness
and disgust from a description of the drunken besotted
men and wretched, broken-down, miserable women,
who form no inconsiderable portion of the frequenters of
these haunts ; forgetting, in the pleasant consciousness
of their own high rectitude, the poverty of the one and
the temptation of the other. Gin-drinking is a great
vice in England, but poverty is a greater ; and until
you can cure it, or persuade a half-famished wretch not
to seek relief in the temporary oblivion of his own
misery with the pittance which, divided among his
family, would just furnish a morsel of bread for each,
gin-shops will increase in number and splendour. If
Temperance Societies could suggest an antidote against
hunger and distress, or establish dispensaries for the
gratuitous distribution of bottles of Lethe-water, gin
palaces would be numbered among the things that
were. Until then, their decrease may be despaired of."
Dickens here glanced, and only carelessly, at the
surface of the great question. This poverty which he

Dore Gallery in Bond Street. Dore' looked wonderingly at the
vivacious, wild old man as he went through a pantomime, in
default of French, to express his admiration of the pictures in
the gallery.

246 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK
deplored was the result of the drink. The Lethe-
water would be unnecessary if the gin-and-water were
stopped. Poverty, dirt, hunger, promote the publican's
trade ; but this trade breeds the misery on which it
thrives. The quartern which the father drinks, helps
to raise a customer in his son, for the trade of
the publican's son. More than ten years elapsed
before this view of the Temperance question was
destined to have complete sway and mastery over the
genius of Dickens's illustrator ; but already he saw
deeper into it, because he looked more earnestly into
it than the writer, who had not yet done with the
comedy element of drunkenness.
In 1841, Cruikshank drew for Bentley 's Miscellany an
"allegorical representation of the infatuation of the
mob for ardent spirits, and the drunkenness occasioned
by an election, from a design by T. L. F." * In 1816.
he illustrated Our Own Times, and in the London
Penetralia we find him moralizing with his etchino--
needle, in the ragged school of Chick Lane, Smithfield,
and satirising, under the head of " A Tremendous
Sacrifice," the slop-sellers who live in luxury on the
work of poor seamstresses. Cruikshank was now in
clining strongly to the work to which he was destined
to give the last thirty years of his life. And in 1 847
he gave himself up heart and soul to the preaching,
*" In the centre of the composition is the pedestal of an altar,
ornamented with a bas-relief of Britannia, on which is resting a
barrel of liquor, inscribed, ' Ruin Members and Co.— Poverty-
Treadmill— Botany Bay,' the tap running for the gratification
of an assemblage of drunken wretches, who eagerly endeavour
to get their favourite beverage, excepting those who are help
lessly drunk or fighting."— R, id's Descrijyth-c Catalogue.

AT GILLRAY'S GRAVE.

247

by example as well as by tongue and etching-needle,
the moral which had haunted him so long, that had
left him no rest till he grappled with and conquered
it, since he had watched the eclipse of Gillray's genius,
and seen his own father hurried, by a boastful toper's
bet, to his premature grave.

24S

CHAPTER II.
. • "the bottle."
We have seen that many years before the Temperance
question fastened itself upon Cruikshank's mind, never
to be blotted out again for a single day, be had marked
and satirized the effects of drunkenness in the desolate
home, the workhouse, and the gaol. His " Gin Shop,"
where Death sets a trap for a party of topers, the
" Ale-house," and the " Pillars of the Gin Shop," were
drawn some fifteen years before he added to the
preaching of his needle and his pencil, the force of his
personal example.
In 1836, as the reader has already learned, the germ
of " The Bottle " appeared in a lithographed vignette
to a music title, " The Dream of the Bottle," and
was pubhshed by poor old A. Schloss, proprietor
of "The Bijou Almanac."* Schloss was a well-
0 Two copies lie before me of this microscopic periodical —
" planned
By elfin touch in elfin hand,"
as L, E. L., who edited it, says in her dedication of the number
for 18J7 to Queen Adelaide. It was bound in vellum and gold;
illu"trated with tiny portraits of Pastor, Malibran, and others,
enriched by fairy pages of music, and enclosed in a blue velvet
or morocco case, with a magnifying glass for the reader's use. In
that tor 1839, poor L. E. L. bade her farewell to England.

THE BOTTLE." 249

known figure in London years afterwards, first as
Staudigl's secretary, and afterwards as an employ i at
the office of Dickens's " Household Words." Then
again, in " Sunday in London," Cruikshank drew a
Temperance moral from " The Pay Table." A publican
is pointing out a workman's score for the foreman to
deduct from his week's wages — with the lean and
hungry wife and children at hand. In the same series
we find " The Sunday Market " — a butcher's shop
between two public-houses, where the food money is
spent. But "The Bottle" was Cruikshank's diploma work,
as an avowed Temperance advocate, directly addressing
those —

" Than whom none oftener pulled the pendent bell,
None oftener cried, 'Another bottle bring.'"
It was a pictorial Temperance drama — so essentially
dramatic indeed, that on its first appearance it imme
diately found its way to the stage.*
The story of The Bottle is unfolded in eight designs
executed in glyphography — a process by which it was
possible to execute the immense number of copies which
the publisher anticipated, and with good reason, would
be required by the public, but which is ungrateful and
unfaithful to the touch of the artist.
In the first plate we have a cosy family party. The
open cupboard is well supplied. The children are
playing by the hearth ; a kitten is toying with the cat's
tail upon the rug ; the mantelpiece is loaded with
pretty ornaments ; there is a picture of a village church
0 It was published by the late David Bogue, of Fleet Street.

250 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

against the wall ; at the table the husband and wife are
seated at dinner, and he is handing her a glass, which
she coyly refuses. Under the plate we read : " Tlie
bottle is brought out for the first time: ike husband
induces his wife 'just to take a drop.' " The interest
deepens apace. The effect of the first drop is seen in
Plate 2. The sottish husband, with a pipe hanging
from his mouth, his kerchief awry, his clothes in
disorder, sits drowsy with drink, his children looking
fearingly at him, while the wife is giving a bundle of
clothes to the servant girl, to pawn, "to supply the
bottle." The starved cat is licking an empty platter
upon the table ; the cupboard door ajar discloses empty
shelves. In the next plate " an execution sweeps off
the greater part of the furniture," but the drunken man
and wife huddle themselves before the fire, and " com
fort themselves with the bottle." There are Hogarthian
touches, developing the story throughout the series. In
this plate the china cottage upon the mantelpiece is
broken, and the husband's battered hat upon a peg is
the only ornament to the bare walls. From the empty
house the family repair to the streets to beg, " and by
this means they still supply the bottle." In the fifth
plate, "cold, want, and misery" have destroyed their
youngest child, and still " they console themselves with
the bottle." A little open coffin is in the room, and
while the eldest girl weeps over it, the father and
mother drink, and weep also. A broken toy dog is
upon the mantelpiece near a candle, with a bottle for a
candlestick. An old shawl is fastened before the win
dow with a fork. There are only a few sticks in the
fire. In the next scene the husband has his wife by
the throat ; and his children and neighbours intervene.

"THE BOTTLE!' 251

" Fearful quarrels and brutal violence," says the artist-
preacher, " are the natural consequences of the frequent
use of the bottle." Murder is the next scene. The wife
lies dead, with the doctor leaning over her, and all the
horrible commeres who gather round death in the dark
byways of great cities are staring and talking. The
murderer is in the clutches of the police ; the boy looks
on aghast, holding his chin, and trembling in his rags ;
the bottle, which has done the deed, is shivered upon
the floor, and the fragments lie near a broken pipe, a
ragged slipper, and a battered hat. The final scene is
a mad-house. " The bottle has done its work ; it has
destroyed the infant and the mother, the boy and the
girl left destitute and thrown on the streets, and has left
the father a hopeless maniac." The figure of the mad
man before the caged fire is a very powerful bit of
realism. The moral of " The Bottle " was enforced by the poetic
genius of Charles Mackay. His " Gin- Fiend " sang to
the scratching of Cruikshank's needle —

'&

" There watch'd another by the hearth,
With sullen face and thin ;
She utter'd words of scorn and hate
To one that stagger'd in.
" Long had she watch'd ; and when he came
His thoughts were bent on blood ;
He could not brook her taunting look,
And he slew her where she stood.
" ' And it's hip ! ' said the Gin-Fiend, ' hip, hurra !
My right good friend is he ;
He hath slain his wife, he hath given his life,
And all for the love of me ! ' "

252 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Regarded as a sample of Cruikshank's art power,
these plates are far below the level of his best. We
do not perceive here the master-craftsman. His
dramatic force is evident in every plate. He tells his
story with the fulness and intensity which are in all
his pictorial narratives ; but the drawing is without
grace, and the types, with the exception of the
husband, are wanting in that strong individuality he
generally realized.
In a letter to Mr. Forster (September 3rd, 1847,
Dickens describes the impression " The Bottle " made
on him : —
"At Canterbury yesterday, I bought George Cruik
shank's 'Bottle.' I think it very powerful indeed : the
two last plates most admirable, except that the boy and
girl in the very last are too young, and the girl more
like a circus-phenomenon than that no-phenomenon
she is intended to represent. I question, however,
whether anybody else living could have done it so well.
There is a woman in the last plate but one, garrulous
about the murder, with a child in her arms, that is as
good as Hogarth. Also the man who is stooping down,
looking at the body. The philosophy of the thing, as a
great lesson, I think all wrong ; because, to be striking,
and original too, the drinking should have begun in
sorrow, or poverty, or ignorance — the three things in
which, in its awful aspect, it does begin. The design
would thus have been a double-handed sword — but too
' radical ' for good old George, I suppose."
And yet such calamities as that, which " old George "
has drawn happen every day ; beginning not in sorrow, or
poverty, or ignorance, but in little yield ings to temptation,
in apparently trivial and accidental excesses. What

1 THE BOTTLE." 253

constitutes intemperance? According to Dr. Alfred
Carpenter, any coasumption of alcohol sufficient to
furnish the blood with one part of alcohol in five
hundred of blood, is dangerous to health, and therefore
is an act of intemperance. A more moderate indulg
ence, he says, is not yet proved to be deleterious.
The late Dr. Anstie put temperance in a different way.
An average man or woman cannot, according to him,
take more than a couple of glasses of sherry daily
without injury. Dr. Carpenter has denounced the
habitual use of stimulants, even in a very diluted form,
to enable the drinker to do more work than he could
get through without them, as unquestionably injurious —
and therefore an act of intemperance. There is not
a middle-aged man of education who has not come
across the wrecks of lives, where the ruin was a
gradual giving way to the temptation of stimulants.
The police courts unfold daily stories of clerks and
others, holding positions of honour and of trust, who
have first staggered out of the straight path under
the influence of drink. Cruikshank's beginning of his
drama is only too true to life ; and I think he would
have made a mistake, he would have weakened the
tremendous force of his moral, if he had put the
excuse of sorrow, or poverty, or ignorance into his
opening scene. As his story stands, it teaches humble
and happy households, in a rough text which all who
run may read, to have a care whenever the bottle
appears on the scene ; and to lose no opportunity of
impressing upon the children the danger of putting
the enemy near their mouths, who may steal away,
not their brains only, but their heart and soul.
"Coarsely designed and coarsely executed, yet very

2 54 TIIE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
suggestive, very full of that story-teller's power which
was so much Hogarth's and his own," as Mr. Frederick
Wedmore remarks, "Cruikshank's 'Bottle,' and the
'Drunkard's Children,' which immediately followed it,
albeit executed when the finer qualities of his genius were
suffering decay, must always be welcomed as admirable
contributions to the materiel of Temperance advocacy."
Cruikshank used to relate how, when his " Bottle " was
finished, and he was anxious to secure for this first
Temperance sermon the widest possible publicity, he
carried the plates to Mr. William Cash, then chairman
of the National Temperance Society, for his approval,
and the support of his powerful Association. Mr. Cash,
although a Quaker, was a gentleman with a very sharp,
humorous manner. Having attentively examined the
series, he turned upon the artist, and asked him how he
himself could ever have anj-fhing to do with using " The
Bottle," M-hich, by his own showing, was the means
of such dreadful evil? Cruikshank, in his own forcible
way, described how he was "completely staggered"
by this point-blank question. He said, when he had left
Mr. Cash, he could not rid himself of the impression
that had been made upon him. After a struggle, he did
not get rid of it, but acted upon it, by resolving to give
his example as well as his art to the total abstainers.
He was immediately rewarded by the extraordinary
success which "The Bottle" achieved. It was sold by
tens of thousands, and was the talk of the day. If it
has not directly led to a tangible result, as Hogarth's
" Harlot's Progress" is said to have led to the founda
tion of the Magdalen Hospital, it and the "Drunkard's
Children," a poor sequel (but then, sequels are always
poor), have had the effect of powerful, popular, and per-

the bottle:'

255

manent sermons against the monster evil of our
time. Not the least of the artist's rewards was the tribute
to his genius it inspired in Mr. Matthew Arnold, who
wrote : — "TO GEORGE CRUIKSHANK, ESQ.,
" ON SEEING FOR THE FIRST TIME HIS PICTURE OF ' THE BOTTLE,'
IN THE COUNTRY.
" Artist, whose hand, with horror wing'd, hath torn
From the rank life of towns this leaf : and flung
The prodigy of full-blown crime among
Valleys and men to middle fortune borne,
" Not innocent, indeed, yet not forlorn :
Say, what shall calm us when such guests intrude,
Like comets on the heavenly solitude 1
Shall breathless glades, cheered by shy Dian's horn,
" Cold-bubbling springs, or caves ? — Not so ! The Soul
Breasts her own griefs, and, urged too fiercely, says :
' Why tremble 1 True, the nobleness of man
" ' May be by man effaced ; man can control
To pain, to death, the bent of his own days.
Know thou the worst. So much, not more, he can.' "

The Cat that wonld assist in Watering the Gooseberry Trees.-From " Mora
Mornings at Bow Street."

25G

CHAPTER III.
GEOEGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER.
George Cruikshank was an enthusiast in all things to
which he cave his mind. He did nothing in a half-
hearted way. Whether preparing to address a great
Exeter Hall audience on the evils of drunkenness, or
marching at the head of his riflemen, or arraying him
self in a table-cover to enact the part of Lord Bateman ;
in small things as in great, he was ever at fever- heat.
He would have made a good actor, had he not been in
capable of a moment's repose ; he would have been an
admirable Temperance advocate, had it been in him to
give himself pause in order to think over the heads of
his discourse ; he would have been a good volunteer
officer, had it been possible for him to sit quiet in his
saddle. But he seemed to be troubled with an excess of
life. Life at fever-heat is the dominant characteristic
of all his work. The " quiet spaces " in his etchings
are rare.
Having been converted by his own "Bottle"' to total
abstinence from fermented liquors, he could be nothing
less than an earnest and a vehement worker in the cause.
He threw himself heart and soul into it ; and during
the thirty remaining years of his life his zeal never
slackened, and he had never made sacrifices enough in
it. His impulsive advocacy often took ludicrous forms.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 257
He sometimes offended people by his denunciations of
even the most moderate drinkers, but he never made an
enemy by his gaucherie or his downright phrases im
ported into quiet circles, because the purity of his motive
and the well-known impetuosity of his nature excused
him. I can remember, in the first year of his total ab
stinence, meeting him at a ball given in Fitzroy Square,
by Mr. Joshua Mayhew, the father of Horace and the
Brothers Mayhew. He danced and was light-hearted
with the youngest; but when at supper the wine began
to circulate, he stole round to the head of the table, and,
laying his hand upon the shoulder of the venerable host
(who was a very haughty and quick-tempered old gentle
man), said, in a deep, warning voice, " Sir, you are a
dangerous man." Mr. Mayhew had a glass of wine in
his hand, and was about to drink a toast to the health
of one of his sons, when Cruikshank's hand fell upon his
shoulder. " I look upon every wine-drinker," Cruik
shank added firmly, "as a dangerous man, sir." The
company, knowing the hot temper of their host, expected
an explosion of rage ; but it was staunched by Horace
Mayhew, who burst into a hearty laugh, and told his
father to go on, for " it was only dear old George."
In the same way, when dining at the Mansion House,
Cruikshank, at the passing of the loving-cup, would go
through an extraordinary pantominje before all the com
pany, expressive of his horror of strong drinks. He
would shake his hand angrily at the Lord Mayor, and
raise his arms with horror while his neighbour quaffed
of the cup. The company humoured the eccentric old
gentleman ; for, in their hearts, they could not but
respect his downright earnestness. He lost no oppor
tunity. Returning home at the head of his volunteer
17

258 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
corps, he showed his jaded officers, who had freely taken
beer, how fresh he was — on two oranges.
" Ah ! you may laugh," he would say, when his
friends bantered him about his aggressive protests in
society ; " you may laugh, but I can tell you this — the
presence of the old jackdaw checked the drinking, if it
didn't stop it, and I am very grateful to feel sure of that."*
As Mr. Sala has observed, " the veteran sticks bravely
to his text." And well he might, for his temperance
renewed his youth. " He neither smoked tobacco nor
drank fermented liquors in his old age ; but he was a
hearty eater, an early riser, and a vigorous walker, and
his reward was that which, according to Gray, is only
felt by boys at school — a perpetual ' sunshine of the
breast.'" He was fond of showing this vigour renewed
by temperance, at every possible opportunity ; for he
very wisely regarded it as his most forcible argument.
It enabled him, in his old age, to capture a burglar on
his own premises. The story runs that when he was
following the burglar to the station, with the police, he
drew him under a lamp, and told him that he could see
drink had brought him to this — adding that he himself
drank nothing but water. " I wish I'd ha' known
that," said the ruffian, " I'd ha' broken your head for
you." Cruikshank delighted to show an audience how
he could hold a tumbler full of water steady upon the
palm of his outstretched hand. At eighty, he was seen
in costume at a fancy dress ball at Willis's Rooms,
joining heartily in the dance, and letting everybody
know that it was " water that did it."
It was very difficult to obtain from him the toleration

• Grace Stebbing's article on Cruikshank, in the Graphic.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 259
of tobacco smoke in his company; for, after he had
given up alcoholic stimulants, he threw away his pipe.
He would say to a man of letters whom he favoured, lay
ing his hand upon his arm, and turning those fierce eyes
of his full upon him, " I want you to give up drinking
and smoking, and you tell me that if you don't smoke
you can't write. Now, I'll meet you half-way. Give
up the drink, and you may smoke— just a little." But,
is a rule, he was as stern in the matter of tobacco as in
that of beer or gin. One evening M. Legros, the dis
tinguished French artist, lighted a cigarette in his hall
as he was leaving Mornington Place. " To that vice,"
said " the inimitable George," in his deepest tone, " I
was a slave for many years, but now I am a free man."
His earnestness was extravagantly expressed in all
things. As a furious anti-Papist, he would draw aside
and shake his coat when Sisters of Charity or a Catholic
priest passed him. " Do you see that fellow in front ? "
he suddenly asked a friend with whom he was walking.
It was a workman quietly enjoying his pipe. " Do you
know what I would do to him if I were a man of
fortune ? I'd kick him ! To think that any man
should be fool enough to place a tube between his lips,
and go puff, puff, puff!" This was his "counter
blast." And he glared at the workman as he passed
on. He had himself been an inveterate smoker for
more than forty years !
On another occasion he drew sharply up before the
windows of his old wine merchant, and called out,
" Give me back my thousand pounds ! "
When the Crystal Palace was opened at Sydenham
Cruikshank, in his rage that it had not been made a
Temperance palace, made some extravagant drawings

260 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

of the opening ceremony for Messrs. Cassell, one of
which represented the Archbishop of Canterbury
bestowing his blessing upon a public-house.
Dining one day at Grampian Lodge, Forest Hill,
with his friend Dr. Rogers, he suddenly began to tell
the company that he had had a vision the night before.
Then he related it with much gesticulation, and with
dramatic effect.
He had seen two devils in council. One had said,
" England is moral, prosperous, happy — this will never
do. How can we put an end to it ? Her crops are
splendid; look, for instance, at her barley, her  " The
second devil interrupted: " I have an idea. Her barley,
which makes such splendid food — let us teach them to
soak it, to sour it, to make it ferment ; in short, to turn
it into a tempting poison."
"Agreed !" cried the first devil.
" Why," the second devil continued, " we will actually
make them drink it of their own accord ; they shall lift
the poison to their own lips with their own hands."
"Ha! ha!" shouted the first devil; "and then, of
course, there will be murder, robbery, violence, and
misery all over the land."
"The devils have had their way," the old man added,
his keen eyes glancing round the table to mark the effect
of his vision.
He was indeed, as a writer called him, a " muscular
teetotaler." " In his time," a Temperance writer* records to his
honour, " he must have attended thousands of temper
ance meetings, and at these few men were more wel-
* The Temperance Record, February 7th, 1878.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 26l
come. The style of his advocacy was peculiar. He
passed from grave to gay with facility, but he never lost
sight of the great object he had in view. He seemed,
for years, to be deeply impressed at the numerous mur
ders that were taking place, all of them, or nearly so,
being in the last instance, if not in the first, attributable
to drink. He used to exclaim, with deep fervour, ' Can
nothing be done to stop these dreadful murders ? ' The
clear remedy of total abstinence from that drink which
was their inciting cause then came naturaUy from his
lips ; but though individuals responded to his appeal,
the general mass of the public remained unmoved.
Sometimes he would suggest a deputation to the House
of Lords. But though this idea was not acted upon,
yet he lived to see that august assembly collect evidence
well fitted to be of service to them, and also to the
public at large. Mr. Cruikshank's powers of mimicry
were also very great, and often has he convulsed his
audience with his inimitable acting; but, at the same
time, there was no mistaking his deep earnestness, and
the sincerity with which he expressed the convictions of
his heart."
He did his utmost, when the teetotalers had failed
at the Crystal Palace, to establish a teetotal palace in
the old Surrey Zoological Gardens-; and he was drawn
in state from the Hampstead Road to Walworth, in a
carriage and four, to open a bazaar in aid of the
scheme. He even prepared a design for the building.
But although many went to cheer the honest, earnest
old man, few remained to invest, and the design fell to
the ground. It may have been some consolation to
him and to his Temperance friends to mark, afterwards,
the services which the Crystal Palace was destined to

262 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
render to the cause of Temperance, for a drunkard has
hardly ever been seen under its shining roof.
Cruikshank could never convert his mother to his
views. She lived with him during the latter years
of her life, and died under his roof, in the care of a
most reverent and attentive son. She had always
been a careful, sober body, and would not be coerced
because her son could not take his beer or toddy with
out committing excesses. She had been a handsome
woman in her days, her grandson records, and it was
picturesque to see the lame old lady, leaning upon her
crutch, and wrapped in a plaid,- — with her shrivelled
features and wild grey hair, — raise her withered arm,
and with the old fire declare that she would not sur
render her principles. A glass of beer with dinner,
and a little toddy at bedtime, she had always taken,
and she took them to the end, and George had to
submit. Addressing, on one occasion, a Temperance oration to
a Bristol audience, he appealed to his female hearers
not to believe that "nourishing stout" was necessary
to nursing-mothers ; and he pointed to himself as a
melancholy example, saying, " My mother first lifted
the poisoned chalice to my lips." His aged mother
read this in the morning paper. Her wrath was
violent. "What!" she cried, "ami to be told pub
licly, at eighty years of age, that I, who always begged
and prayed him to be sober, taught him to drink?"
Her son did not return home for several davs ; but he
heard of his speech in no uncertain tones when he pre
sented himself to tlie old lady, who had, in his youth,
often physically chastised him for his excesses.
Perhaps the best specimen of his manner of laying

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 263
his subject before an audience is the speech which he
delivered at the Grand Demonstration of the National
Temperance League, in the Guildhall, on the 19th of
November, 1864. It wants his by-play, his dramatic
delivery, his grotesque movement's, and then the solemn
sounds of his voice, to be completely understood ; but
it is sufficiently original and suggestive as reported.
" My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, — My
worthy friend the doctor has given you a very excellent
discourse upon his own profession. It so happens that
as I was coming to this meeting I met with a gentle
man who had just been to consult his medical man ; and
finding I was coming to this meeting, he laughed at all
idea of abstaining from intoxicating drinks. He told
me he had been to see a very eminent member of the
medical profession. I asked him what was the result.
He said the physician told him he wanted a stimulant,
and prescribed one. I said, 'What did you give him?'
He rephed, ' Of course, I gave him the usual fee — a
guinea.' I said, 'I can show you how to save that
guinea in future. If you will give me half of it, I will
give it to some good charity, and the other half you may
keep in your pocket.' He said, ' How is that ? ' I said,
' Instead of going to the physician, go to the publican,
and tell him what is the matter with you, and he will
prescribe the same thing ; and if the landlord is not
in, say the same to the potboy, and he will do as well.
Rely upon it, they will prescribe exactly the same thing
as the doctor, and the effects will be the same.' Now,
I must say one word, if you please, to defend a very
eminent prince who has been mentioned here to-night.
I am sorry to say it happened to be my fate to hold up
to ridicule the Prince Regent— very often indeed ; but

264 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

he was not such a bad man as he is represented to be.
It must be recollected that if he committed excess in
the way of drinking, it was then the fashion for all the
eminent persons to get drunk. No man was considered
a liberal man — no man was considered a gentleman, in
fact, unless he made his companions drunk ; and there
fore, with all due respect to my friend Mr. Scott, who
mentioned the circumstance, it must be recollected that
about half a century back it was the fashion — it is a
fearful thing, but it was the fashion — of gentry to get
drunk ; therefore we ought to make allowances. But
now, my Lord Mayor, to come to this very serious
question. This hall is the place where the great City
feasts are held, and the question is, Is it possible that
there can be any grand entertainment given without
mixing up with it the intoxicating cup ? What will be
said ? It is very well for you, my lord, who are almost
an abstainer yourself — very well for you — but what will
be said of another Lord Mayor who comes here and
gives a dinner without wine and beer ? What will be
said of him ? He will be called a shabby fellow ; and the
question is, whether the guests will not all be melancholy.
It will, perhaps, be somewhat in this style : ' Have a
little more soup ? ' ' Xo, thank you.' ' More fish ? '
' No, thank you.' ' Bit of fowl ? ' ' ' No.' ' Venison ? '
' No.' ' AVhat. can't you -eat any more ? ' ' No, I don't
like it : I want something to drink.' There is the
serious thing : what is to be done ? There is one way
of settling that question. It is supposed that there can
be no sociality, no comfort, no enjoyment, without
intoxicating drinks. Now, I recommend the next Lord
Mayor who may succeed our honoured chairman, if he
be in favour of tho moderate use of these delio-htful

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 265
drinks, to be so good as to ask the present company to
come to dinner. Wouldn't you enjoy yourselves? And
then, when we have had enough to eat, and want some
thing to drink, here you are (holding up a glass of
water) — Mr. Chairman, your very good health ! Ladies
and gentlemen, your good health ! (drinking the "toast.)
We should have a jolly time of it. (Loud and long-con -
tinued cheering.) Mr. Morley says we will take the
sherbet without the punch. That is the way in which
these things are looked at ; but supposing that it is
impossible that any social enjoyment can be had with
out the use of these stimulants, let us take another view
of the question. I have had the honour of dining here,
and I have enjoyed myself very much, not only in the
time when I used to take wine myself — because I re
collect there was such a time as that — but when I have
been a teetotaler I have been bere, and enjoyed my
dinner very much indeed, without any of these drinks.
But supposing we had this hall upon the occasion of the
Lord Mayor's feast with the most elegant people in the
world (for I believe of all the people in the world the
British people are the best looking and the best dressed) :
imagine the scene ! The tables are set out in the most
splendid manner ; everything looks grand and happy ;
but what is going on outside ? Ay ! my friends, the
most splendid monument in the world where this drink
is used in moderation as it is in this country, may in
the inside be a splendid monument of good order, taste,
and sobriety, but at the outside there is filth and dirt
and crime through drink. I say, suppose these social
meetings cannot be enjoyed without these drinks, let us
look at the outside. Now, there are a certain number
of circumstances or acts committed in society, which

266 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
are always injurious, not only to the individual himself,
but also to society at large. Now, I do not mean to
say that every teetotaler is an honest man. There
may be some dishonest fellows amongst them. I have
heard of two in the last thirty years. This reminds
me, by-the-bye, of a teetotal turnkey at Coldbath Fields.
There were two youths brought into the prison, who
were teetotalers, and the other turnkeys jeered the
teetotal turnkey upon it. He said, 'It is true that
there are two teetotalers here, but the}- are here only
for begging, whereas you have about fifteen hundred
brought in who drink, and they are most of them com
mitted for stealing.' There are a number of besetting
sins connected with drinking, such as robberies, brutal
assaults, garotting, house-breaking, suicide, and murder.
By-the-bye, speaking of murder, there has been a very
strong feeling existing for many years, and still in
creasing, against the punishment of death. I think
it is a very horrible thing indeed to hang anybody ;
but, my friends, do not forget that it is a still more
horrible thing for one to be murdered. Do not let us
forget that. There was a young man in the country
a little while ago hanged for murder — quite a young
man. It was a sad thing indeed, no doubt, to see this
poor fellow gibbeted ; but what was he hanged for ?
He had been drinking on the Saturday night, and he
murdered a young woman as she was going to church
on the Sunday morning. Do not forget that these
horrible, detestable, damnable crimes are committed
under the influence of drink. We will talk about
doing away with the punishment of death after we
have stopped murders. I had the honour of speaking
in the Mansion House when Mr. Charles Pearson, the

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 267
City solicitor, brought on the question about the con
victs ; and I told the Lord Mayor then, that if we could
do away with intoxicating liquors altogether, we might
wheel out that dreadful instrument the gibbet into the
Old Bailey, and make a bonfire of it. I believe you
will find, if you go into the question, that there is hardly
a murder committed in this country out of a hundred —
I may say out of a thousand — not ten out of ten
thousand — but drink has something to do with it.
Remove the drink, and you will stop murder. But
there is a gentleman who ought to have been speaking
instead of myself, and therefore I will not detain you
much longer ; but I will say this, my friends, and call
your attention to it especiaUy, that the teetotal question
has now been before the world for about thirty years,
and during that short time I challenge any one to point
out any teetotaler who has been committed for a brutal
assault upon his wife, or for garotting, or picking
pockets, or house robbery, or murder. I challenge the
world to produce one single case wherein any real
teetotaler has been convicted of one of those crimes.
Then, if this be so, what have we to do but to spread
this Temperance movement throughout the length and
breadth of the land ? And then we should stop, if not
ah crimes, if not all offences, still the great majority of
them ; and that is what we are aiming at. And recollect
this, my friends, that we are not a society formed
merely for the purpose of reclaiming the drunkard. It
is a very good thing to do so, and I am sorry to say
that my time is so occupied that I am almost in despair.
I have six most dreadful cases in hand at the present
moment. There is nobody to assist them. I could not
go to the brewer or distiller, and ask them to give me

268 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
funds for the support of these people whom they have
ruined ; and why not ? Because there is blood upon
the money. I would not have it. But I had to-day
a letter imploring me for help from the nephew of an
old friend of my father. What am I to do ? I have a
lady in the country at this moment, the wife of a
barrister, who is starving for want of help, and whose
husband has been ruined by drinking. My time is
occupied, and my friends are gone, and I am caUed
upon for ah I can afford But, my friends, if you do
away with these drinks, you do away with these cases.
But it is utterly impossible to go into the evils arising
out of these drinks in the time I have to speak — they
are so extensive ; ah I have to say is, ' Go on and
prosper ! ' and prosper we shall. I cannot sit down
without saying that I look upon this meeting to-night
to be one of the grandest movements that this cause
has ever had. I say it from my heart, and think that
those gentlemen who have assisted in getting up this
meeting deserve our best thanks."
The idea of a temperance Lord Mayor's Banquet
suggests, no doubt, many vastly amusing incidents and
episodes to the mind of the comic writer, but honest-
hearted George Cruikshank could not, and would not,
in his latter day, see any element of fun in drunken
ness, and he was quite in earnest in recommending
the next Lord Mayor to fill his loving-cup with pump
water.* The account he gave, moreover, of his trouble about
the many people who were seeking his assistance, was
° Since Cruikshank delivered the above speech, a Temperance
Banquet has been hold at the Mansion House.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 269
true of his experience year after year. His doors were
besieged. He was waylaid by petitioners for his known
bounty (the recklessness of which, as we have seen,
Dickens reproved) whenever he went abroad. A poor
man himself, for ever in money troubles, even to the end
of his laborious life, his heart lay always open to a tale
of distress. He was never without " cases " on hand.
It has been remarked of his Temperance days, by one
of his friendliest critics, that his style suffered from the
contraction of his ideas and sympathies, " and it cannot
be questioned that with the general public his reputation
declined in proportion to the increase of his popularity
among the teetotalers." He lost heavily, in a pecuniary
sense, by his Temperance advocacy. Publishers ceased
to employ him. He remarked that, for the last ten
years of his life, he was without commissions. He
had refused none, he would say. He was wiUing to
work, and he held that his powers were unimpaired.
But the public had come to regard him simply as a
Temperance preacher ; to them the inimitable George,
the Ulustrator of Boz, the kindly satirist, the creator
of " Points of Humour," the illustrator of Grimm, was
dead. And, firmly believing this, the brave old man held on
in the rigid course of duty he had laid down for himself.
He had seen ah the horrors which lie behind drunken
ness ; in his early time he had himself been a tavern
hero ; and he had dedicated the remainder of his life to
the work of warning the rising generation out of the
path in which he himself had stumbled.
" I come forth," he said, in one of his earliest temper
ance harangues, "to set by my humble example the
opinion of this unthinking world at defiance. Now mark,

270 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
I believe that by nature, and from the profession that I
formerly belonged to, that of a caricaturist, I have as
keen a sense of the ridiculous as most men. I can see
clearly what is ridiculous in others. I am so sensitive
myself, that I am quite alive to every situation, and
would not willingly place myself in a ridiculous one ;
and, I must confess, that if to be a teetotaler was to be
a milksop, if it was to be a namby-pamby fellow, or a
man making a fool of himself or of others, then indeed
I would not be one — certainly not ; but if, on the con
trary, to be a teetotaler is to be a man that values him
self, and tries by every means in his power to benefit
others ; if to be a teetotaler is to be a man who tries to
save the thoughtless from destruction ; if to be a tee
totaler is to be a man who does battle with false theories
and bad customs, then I am one. I have been a convert
but a short time, not much over twelve months. I only
wish that I could say, with Dr. Gourley, that I had
never taken a glass of spirits in my life ; I wish that I
had acted upon the principles of total abstinence only
thirty years ago ; for if I had, I am convinced that at this
time I should have been much better, both in body and
mind. I have experienced much benefit already, both
physically and mentally. I never did sneer at or scorn
the question of Temperance, yet I never thought that I
should stand up as a teetotal advocate ; but I am proud
that I have been put into the position in which I am
now placed."
Later on, still conscious of the disadvantage at which
he was placing himself as an artist, he said to another
audience —
" When I left off drinking wine altogether, and be
came a total abstainer, I became a healthier and stronger

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 2/1
man, more capable of meeting the heavy responsibilities
that were upon me, and for the foUowing two years I
had my life renewed, and all the elasticity of my school
boy days came back to me. Domestic afflictions then
came upon me, ending in death, and my spirits and
health were crushed down. In this extremity I applied
to my medical adviser. He said, ' Medicine is of no
use to you ; you must drink wine again.' I refused, and
my medical friend called in some others of his profession;
he told me they had had a consultation, the result being
that all of them agreed it was necessary I should drink
wine to restore my sinking constitution. I replied,
' Doctor, I'll take your physic, but not your wine. Let
me try everything else first, and only when there is no
other chance give me wine, because I feel there is a
great principle at stake in this matter.' I have said,
and I believe, wine is unnecessaiy, even as a medicine,
and I do not wish to do a single act which would tend
to weaken or destroy the weight and force of that con
viction. And here I stand. I have not tasted the vile
and destroying enemy, and I am almost restored to
health, without having risked the violation of my prin
ciples. I call this a triumph ; and I stand here as an
evidence that wine is totally unnecessary, even as a
medicine." Much later, we find the preacher an octogenarian —
albeit rudely buffeted by the world, and well-nigh for
gotten as a living artist — still true to his noble text.
" Alcoholic liquors," he exclaimed to an audience, little
more than two years before his death, " were recom
mended to keep up strength ! But what kept up his
strength ? He had not taken a drop of wine, beer, or
spirits, or of any alcoholic drink, for twenty-seven years,

272 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

and he would be eighty-three next September, if he
lived till then. What was it, then, that kept up his
strength ? Since he had given up drinking beer and
smoking, he had had a higher enjoyment of hfe, because
all his nervous system was in proper tone."
Cuthbert Bede, who knew Cruikshank intimately in
his teetotal days, has drawn this graphic picture of the
Temperance advocate at home : —
" Though I had interchanged letters with Mr. George
Cruikshank for several years, it was not until early in
the autumn of 1853 that I made his personal acquaint
ance. He had asked me to write a serial story for a
projected publication to be illustrated by himself; and,
as it would simplify matters if we could talk over the
subject together, I went up from the country to London
to call upon him. He was then hving in Mornington
Crescent, near to Regent's Park. Numerous portraits
had made me familiar with his personal appearance, so
that I needed not to be told who was the gentleman who
so courteously received me downstairs, and then took me
upstairs to his comfortable studio, where he introduced
me to his wife. Some of our first conversation, indeed,
was on the subject of his portrait ; for, among the
pictures on his walls, I had noticed the original of the
portrait by Frank Stone, which was engraved on steel
for the Omnibus, and was certainly a far more flattering
representation of George Cruikshank than the carica
turist's sketches of himself. I told him that I considered
the best portrait of himself was to be found in his own
etching, ' The Reverie,' published in his Table-Book,
and in every respect a wonderfuUy fine specimen of his
art and genius. I also referred to his own account of
' My Portrait,' in the Omnibus, in which, with his own

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 273
pen and pench,*he portrayed himself, and made com
ments on a curious description of himself that had been
given in a publication called ' Portraits of Public Cha
racters' ; how he was said to be of the medium height,
with a forehead of a prominently receding shape, with a
handsome pair of whiskers, and hair partaking of a
lightish hue ; and, moreover, how the ludicrous and ex
traordinary fancies with which his mind was constantly
teeming often imparted a sort of wildness to his look
and peculiarity to his manner, which would suffice to
frighten from his presence those unacquainted with
him. " He read these and similar passages to me, and was
immensely tickled at their egregious absurdity. In
truth, his manner at once impressed me as being pecu
liarly gentle, and kind, and genial. Instead of assuming
any airs of superiority, I found him possessed of all
the humble modesty and chivalrous courtesy of the truly
great artist and thorough gentleman; and although I was
quite young, and he was in his sixty-first year, he treated
me as though I had been his equal, if not superior, in
ability. We had so much to talk about, and he had so
much to show me, that my first interview with George
Cruikshank had been prolonged to nearly four hours
before I became aware how quickly the time had flown.
The time had then arrived for their luncheon, or early
dinner ; and as both Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank pressed
me to stay, and I had by this time overlapped the hour
at which I had made another engagement, I readily
consented to remain, and we went downstairs to dinner.
' There wiU be nothing else than a leg of mutton,' said
Cruikshank. ' I happen to know that, for I came in
with it,' I replied ; ' for as I knocked at the hall door
18

274 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
the butcher's boy was down in the area, delivering the
leg of mutton to the cook.' Cruikshank seemed to be
greatly amused at this, for he laughed heartily, and
said to his wife, ' My dear, Mr.  came in with the
mutton.' Something in the occurrence seemed to
mightily tickle his fancy, for more than once he re
peated the words to his wife, ' My dear, Mr.  came
in with the mutton ! ' It was while I was eating it that
I terribly forgot myself. The day was very sultry; it
was five hours since I had breakfasted \. we had been
busy talking, and I felt thirsty. So, whfie the parlour
maid was handing something to me, I asked her to give
me a glass of beer. She replied, ' We have no beer,
sir.' ' Then,' I said, ' please to bring me the sherry.'
' There is no sherry, sir.' Whereupon my host inter
posed, and laughingly explained that he could not
aUow the introduction of any alcoholic liquor into his
house ; and that, while I was his guest, I must content
myself with drinking water. Then I suddenly remem
bered that which I ought not to have forgotten, even for
a moment, that my host had devoted himself to teetotal-
ism, and that I was sitting at the table of the artist
who, six years before, had drawn the eio-ht scenes of
' The Bottle,' and had thereby struck a powerful blow
at one of the greatest vices of the age.
" I duly apologized for niv forgetfulness ; and the
incident naturally led Cruikshank to dilate on that im
portant theme, in furtherance of which he so steadily
devoted his great powers to the very end of his career,
with a persistent courage and devoted zeal that won for
him tho genuine respect and admiration of those even
who could not wholly agree with him in details. I was
one of those. I could travel with him, very willingly,

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 275
up to a certain point, after which our paths parted,
and we ' agreed to differ.' I could accompany him to
temperance, but not to total abstinence. During the
remainder of the time that we occupied over dinner, we
scarce spoke on any other subject than that which gave
rise to the scenes of ' The Bottle,' ' The Drunkard's
Children,' 'The Gin Trap,' 'The Gin Juggernaut '—
and, at a later period, his large oil-painting, 'The
Worship of Bacchus.'
" Our discussion on the subject was preserved with
perfect good humour ; so much so, that I ventured to
remind him that only a year or two before he had been
converted to teetotalism he had caricatured Father
Mathew, in an etching for the Comic Almanack for 1844,
representing him as an old pump. I reminded my host
that these were his sentiments for more than fifty years
of his life, and that he had never during that period
objected to the moderate use of alcoholic liquors,
although he had always vigorously lashed their gross
abuse ; and I pleaded that I had not lived for half
those years that I had named, and that I might be par
doned for my forgetfulness in asking his servant for
beer and wine.
" Then he told me how the crying sin of the age had
sunk deep down into his heart, especially when he had
seen it flourishing, like an upas tree, in all its foul de
formity, in those courts and alleys into which he was so
often led in search of subjects for his pencil ; and how
the design for ' The Bottle ' had gradually grown upon
him, and the necessity for practising what he preached,
which he found he could do only by cutting himself
adrift from all alcoholic drinks. He also explained how
his plans to disseminate the scenes of his ' Drunkard's

276 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

Progress,' in such a form and at such a low price thajt
they should reach those masses for whom he specially
designed them, were hampered and well-nigh frustrated,
chiefly by the cost of engraving such large drawings
on wood ; and how the new art of glyphography had
come to his assistance, and enabled him to draw the
eight designs, and to sell them (with Dr. Charles
Mackay's explanatory poem) for a shilling — which
in the year 1847 was an extraordinarily low price for
such a production. ' You will remember,' he said,
'how Maclise represented me seated on a beer-barrel,
getting my inspiration from pothouse scenes, and
pencilling them on the crown of my hat ? ' ' Yes,
I remember : it was in the Fraser gallery of portraits.
And you have amply proved to the world since then
that you can turn to the best account, and for the
public good, the people and incidents that you saw in
those places.' I told him that of ' The Bottle ' and
' Drunkard's ChUdren ' series I preferred the one
where the poor girl commits suicide from Waterloo
Bridge — the idea of the body falling from a height
being so vividly conveyed to the eye, as to impress one
with the conviction that we can really see the swift
descent of that ' one more unfortunate.' "'
An instance of Cruikshank's earnestness in the
Temperance cause happened in May 1854. He had
been invited to preside over a meeting of total abstain
ers, to be held in Sadler's Wells Theatre, a place
associated in his mind with the glories of his friend
Joe Grimaldi, the clown, and the days when he was
a frequenter of the clown's club, " The Crib," hard by.
The great Temperance advocate, J. B. Gough, was to
address the audience. Cruikshank introduced him in

\^WY^l c*>V 4

'I'oUil AbsLainorrt' Meeting in auUlor'a Wollts Thoiitro, Muy InoA.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK AS A TEETOTALER. 277
his own original way, delivering, as the papers re
marked, a speech full of piquant and incontrovertible
truth. But it was at the close of the orator's speech
that the chairman proved himself equal to the occasion.
Seeing that the audience were under the spell of Mr.
Gough's eloquence, he rose and exhorted them at once
to come forward and sign the pledge. With this he
advanced to the footlights, bridged the orchestra with
a few planks, and stood by to receive the ladies who
came forward in crowds, many of them leading their
children. So delighted was the artist with the number
of converts he led to the table to sign the pledge, that
he drew the scene for the Rlustrated London News,
with himself for central figure.
I remember attending another meeting in George
Cruikshank's company. It was a gathering of London
pickpockets, called by Mr. Henry Mayhew, when he
was engaged upon his London Labour' and London
Poor inquiry. The solemn, but still somewhat grotesque
impressiveness of the Temperence preacher, as he rose,
while that dreadful company of keen-eyed vicious lads
were eating the plain Temperance supper which had
been provided for them, to bid them renounce the evils
of their way, and as a beginning, to shun the bottle
and the beer-pot, dwelt long in my memory. " Man,"
said Lord Lytton, "has no majesty like earnestness."
That night, honest, whole-hearted Cruikshank, as with
wild gesticulation he talked to " the dear lads " — for the
forlornest and wickedest waif was dear to him — was
clothed in majesty ; and it cowed a man at hand,
who acknowledged, within his hearing, that he had
smuggled something stronger than water into the room.

278

CHAPTER IV.
"THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS.'
Mr. Wedmore, in his critical sketch of Cruikshank, has
described, how in his later days the public fell away
from the great humourist and subtle observer : —
" As time went on apace, neither the passage of time
itself, nor the hard work which crowded the days of his
maturity in art, nor the comparative neglect of the later
years, when Cruikshank, no longer quite in the move
ment of the day, was solaced by visits in the Hampstead
Road, chiefly of a very few who were collectors of his
work, or of some stray humourist still faithful and con
fident in the achievement of so many years ago : as
time went on, Cruikshank wore well and slowly, so that
it was truly said of him that he looked as if he bad once
been very old and then had forgotten it. Employed no
longer in sketching and satirising the society of which
he was hardly any more a part, he betook himself, a
good deal by choice, to work more distinctly ambitious
than any he had attempted when his hand was really
the strongest and his brain the most fertile. He furnished
the design for a monument to King Robert the Bruce.
He painted in oils, not only this or that moral lesson,
but a tale of heroism in humble life. No doubt the
absence of the knowledge of academical draughtsman
ship told against him not less in 1871 than it would

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 279
have done half a century before, and no doubt the
absence of any capacity for the subtle modulations of
colour — nay, the absence even of sensitiveness to
these — made his painting in oil a failure when judged
by the side even of quite every-day work by every-day
artists. Thus it was that no fresh honours came to him
when he was still eager for them. The popularity of
the great days was a little forgotten by the public in the
presence of the failure of the most recent. And then,
again, advertised poverty is never a helpful thing. We
worship merit a little, but success more, and success
must have its stamp. The public of Cruikshank
narrowed. Of course critics and journalists — the men
whose business it is to keep in memory some work that
the chance pubhc praises one day and forgets the next —
knew that Cruikshank was great, and how he had been
great, and having in more than one notable instance
said so faithfully during his old age, said so again last
month, when he died. And of course, again, so much
of his work having; become rare, collectors of it had
arisen — curious and anxious seekers, to whose interest
we shall owe the preservation of many of his early and
many even of his riper things. For them, when Cruik
shank's work was pretty well accomplished, and ' finis '
seemed about to be written to that immense volume of
production, Mr. G. W. Reid engaged on a task of care
— the great catalogue raisonne in which, with here and
there errors not easily avoided, he has chronicled well
nigh five thousand designs : ' the smiling offspring,' as
Thackeray so admirably said of them, ' the smiling off
spring of painful labour.' But in the main Cruikshank
was forgotten, and the weekly smiles — faint though now
and again they needs must be, and of indulgence rather

280 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

than commendation — which are given by the English
public to the efforts of our youngest English humour, a
little trivial and shght, had ceased to be bestowed on
that larger and more massive humourist who lingered
from the past he was part of."
This is very true, and is a very sad story skilfully
told. Think what would have become of the neglected
or forgotten humourist, if, when the mere laughing
public had turned away from him to Leech and Doyle,
and Tenniel and Du Maurier, he had not been fired
with the ardour of an apostle in the cause he had taken up.
His Almanack had failed for lack of readers ; and David
Bogue had thrown up Cruikshank's Magazine, after the
second number — convinced that the artist had outlived
his public. His ambition to become a painter was
mercifully renewed, with the renewal of his health and
mind, through temperance. FuU of vigour, he used to
say, — "A painter should paint from his shoulder, sir." He
became almost wholly a serious man in his work, and
appealed to the public in a new capacity. He resolved,
stimulated by the success of " The Bottle," to execute a
great picture that should remain behind him, a monu
ment of his genius, and an immortal Temperance lesson.
In the early ardour of his second youth be had braced
himself to supply, so far as he might, albeit he had reached
his sixtieth year, the deficiency in his art education, by
working as a student at the Royal Academy. He
had, he believed, all his powers unimpaired ; why then
should he not yet obtain the academical knowledge, of
which he had been deprived, as he had said bitterly,
through the imjirovident habits of his whiskey-drinking
father? Mr. Charles Landseer says : "He entered as
student at tho Royal Academy, during my keepership,

"THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 28 1
April 22nd, 1853 ; but made very few drawings in the
Antique, and never got into the Life. He was placed
upon the Turner Fund in 1866 — £50 per annum. I
have heard that he made an application to Fuseli for ad
mission to the R.A., and was informed that the school
was too full, but that he might go and draw there if he
could find a place."*
This is the brief record of George Cruikshank's rela
tions with the Academy. He was past the years when
men learn. Time pressed too heavily upon the elderly
man to leave him patience for the slow progress from
the " Antique " to the " Life." He had been at the
" Life " in his own keen way since he was a boy ; and
he must be content to paint with the imperfect but
original knowledge which had sufficed for his etchings.
And so he turned to his easel, and painted in oils, with
something of his own inimitable power of concentration
and dramatic story- telling, such subjects as he had treated
in earlier days with his etching-needle. His " Tam
O'Shanter," " Grimaldi the Clown Shaved by a Girl,"
" The Runaway Knock," " The Fairy Ring," " Titania
and Bottom the Weaver," " Dressing for the Day," " A
New Situation," and "Disturbing the Congregation,"
were exhibited at the Royal Academy or at the British
Institution ; and were welcomed, for the fancy, the life,
the humour that were in them — although they were one
and all crude or violent in tone, and betrayed in every
part a hand unpractised with the brush, and an eye
dead to the delicacies of colour. They were, in truth,
such bits of humour or fancy as the master humourist
was wont in the old time to throw off at the rate of
* Letter from Charles Landseer to B. J., Feb. 18, 1878.

282

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

two or three in a week — only laboriously rendered
in oils. The Runaway Knock, for instance, might

be a plate in the " Sketch- Book," or in " Points of
Humour " — and the remark applies to Grimaldi being
Shaved by a Girl, and the Disturbing the Congre-

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 283
gation — which latter, to the artist's great delight,
the Prince Consort, who was one of Cruikshank's
cordial admirers, bought. Some of these fetched high
prices. The Fairy Ring, the most imaginative, and as
a composition the best of Cruikshank's oil-paintings,
painted in 1855, was a commission given to the artist
by Mr. Henry Miller, of Preston — the price being £800.*
The fairy revel is full of exquisitely suggestive bits.
The canvas swarms with fairy life, and abounds with
fanciful episodes.
The grace and spirit with which the artist could treat
fairy or elfin life may be seen in scores of his earlier
works. Look at this " Fairy Revenge," from " Scott's
Demonology," drawn in 1833.
" The Runaway Knock " is simply such a bit of
Cruikshankian humour as he had been wont to treat
with his etching-needle. It is full of life and excite
ment. The entire household, to the pug puppy-dog,
has been aroused ; nor could the painter refrain from
throwing life into the carved stone head over the street-
door. Again, "Disturbing the Congregation" is an
etching subject, elaborated. A little boy, in church,
has dropped his pegtop, and the awful eye of the beadle
(Cruikshank created the British beadle as a humorous
figure) is upon him. The Prince Consort, whom a
genuine bit of humour delighted, was glad to add this
most characteristic Cruikshank to his collection.
Cruikshank's old friend, Clarkson Stanfield, first
persuaded him to trust himself to oils. In his tinted
designs, he showed that sense of colour which was

s It is now in the possession of Captain Douglass Kennedy, of
Summerfield, Kirkby-Lonsdale, Mr. Miller's son-in-law.

284 7 HE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
everywhere manifest in the etchings of his best time —
in his designs to Ainsworth, for instance. The water-
colour drawings for his Walter Scott plates, again, are
admirable.* But in oil, it must be repeated, he failed
utterly. The touch of the etcher remained. He was hard
and crude. The first painting he exhibited was " Bruce
attacked by Assassins" — the Bruce upon a burlesque
horse smothered in drapery ! It was exhibited at the
Royal Academy. His next picture was " Moses dressing
for the Fair " — a subject more within his power ; but it
was coarse, inharmonious, and sketchy. The wonder
was that Cruikshank could not perceive that he was
on the wrong road. So far, however, was he from
suspecting this, that he was constantly meditating
great historical subjects ; and actually " got in " upon
a spacious canvas the Battle of Agincourt. He even
began a scriptural subject, " Christ riding into Jeru
salem." But the genius that could reahze a street or
fairy mob| upon a surface no broader than the palm
of the hand, could not paint a battle-piece. Without his
outline he was all abroad. The sacred subject remained
in the studio, with many other canvases, to the end. It
* They were for a long time the property of Mr. Lumley, of
Her Majesty's Theatre, and on the sale of his effects passed,
fortunately, into the hands of Mr. Ellison, who bequeathed his
collection to the South Kensington Museum.
t "Cruikshank's crowds give one exactly the impression of
reahty. They show «. certain monotony, from the common
impulse of the mob, yet they are full of characteristic figures,
no two exactly alike. There is also all the due sense of air,
and motion, and fluctuation about them. They are penetrable
crowds, especially the Irish, which he delights to draw, — true
mobile*, — ready to break out into now mischief, or disperse
btfore the onslaught of the Saxon." — Francis Turner Palgrave.

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 28 5
was his " Battle of a Gin Court," in his " Sunday in
London," that showed the master. He admitted, when it
was suggested to him, that the "etching-point feeling"
was always in his fingers, giving a " living " sensation
to the brush, and that he never could get rid of it. His
Falstaff tormented by the Fairies, was, on the whole,
the painting he completed with most thorough satis
faction to himself.
Mr. Wedmore, dwelling on the shortcomings of
biographers, complains that where an artist is the
subject they teU " not much of the work he had planned
but never executed ; work, nevertheless, on which
perhaps he had set great store, and looked forward to
completing, and ' purposes unsure,'
' That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's amount.' "
"You should see the comedies Ihave not written,"
said a pensive playwright. Cruikshank was, throughout
his life, disturbed by unfulfilled dreams of great sub
jects, with which he felt his genius could cope. He
would have grappled with Milton, as we have seen, but
hard fate kept him tied to bread-and-cheese work, and
to minor themes. His " Pilgrim's Progress " remains
unfinished, and, even so far as he executed it, un
published.* " Ah ! who shall lift that wand of magic power,
And the lost clue regain ?
The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower,
Unfinished must remain."
It would have gone sadly then, when the publishers
could no longer find profit in his work, when the public

The plates are in the possession of Mr. Truman.

286 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
' had turned from his old-fashioned humour and fancy,
to the fresher and more peaceful, albeit more circum
scribed and less earnest, genius of Leech, had he not
been buoyed up and comforted with the self-imposed
mission, for which he had buckled on new armour, re
solved to die fighting in the good cause. And so while
his rival rode prosperously on the fashion of the hour,
catching, in the words of Herrick,
" A winning wave, deserving note,
In the tempestuous petticoat " —
he ordered a broad canvas to be carried to his modest
studio in the Hampstead Road, and sat himself patiently
down — his morrow's bread secured by the sympathetic
admiration of a few real friends — to build up that monu
ment of his many-sided genius, his cartoon, composed
in the manner of his master Gillray's " Democracy, or
a Sketch of the Life of Bonaparte" — in a series of com
partments. The story of the Triumph of Bacchus is honourable
to all parties concerned. On the one hand we find the
veteran artist eager to perform an enduring work in
support of the Temperance cause; and on the other a
knot of friends, also good servants of the cause, anxious
to put him in a position to labour in comfort. It has
been said the National Temperance League was the
means of giving the great painting and engraving to the
world ; but the truth is, that no temperance association
— as an association — took action in the matter. The
many earnest men who have this good cause at heart
co-operated in several ways in furtherance of the
artist's plans ; but these plans were actually directed by
a small independent committee, who held on to their

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 28 J
task through many troubles and some disagreements,
until the plate was completed, and the picture was
finally made over to the nation.
When Cruikshank had drawn a rough sketch in oils
of his design, he invited a few friends to his house to
consult with him as to ways and means. The gentlemen
who met as a committee were Sir Francis Crossley,
John Stewart — the art critic, Mr. Hugh Owen of the
Poor Law Board, Mr. John Taylor, and Mr. W. Tweedie,
the publisher. The result of their consultation was the
adoption of a proposal submitted by Mr. Stewart, who
was a fervent admirer and devoted friend of the artist.
George Cruikshank undertook to produce his complete
design in water-colours, from which a steel etching was
to be executed. The artist assumed the entire pecu
niary responsibility of the undertaking, on the condition
that his friends would supply him with what he called
" spending money," or money for his daily wants, while
the engraving was in progress. The advances of his
supporters were to be refunded out of the proceeds of
the sale of the plate. On this arrangement Cruikshank
went to work with his usual vigour. The water-colour
design was soon completed, and placed in the hands of
Mr. Mottram, the engraver — the understanding being
that the outline of every figure was to be etched by
Cruikshank himself. This laborious work be finally
performed, but not before serious and harmful delays
had occurred.
It had been distinctly understood that the great oil
painting — the ultimate form which the design was to
take — was not to be begun until the engraving had been
completed ; but Cruikshank's impatience to be at his
magnum opus led him to break through his agreement.

288 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

A member of the committee, on calling at his house
one morning, found him before the broad canvas, with
the upper row of figures already sketehed in. In reply
to remonstrances, he gave the reasonable explanation
that no man could etch all day long. The committee
then agreed that he should work as fast as was prudent
at the engraving, and " for rest " take a turn at the big
picture. In order further to encourage him, an honorarj'
committee of about seventy gentlemen was formed, to
promote the subscription to the engraving. But so
engrossed did Cruikshank become in his oil-painting,
that, although he knew that the delay in the print was
destroying the chances of a great subscription list, he
never touched an etching tool until the painting was
finally lifted from the easel.
This work was to bring him, not only glory, but
fortune. He was confident that crowds would flock to
see it. He had visions of policemen at the door of
his gallery to keep off the tumultuous throng. The
advances of his friendly committee exceeded a thou
sand pounds ; but in a few weeks, he believed, the
public, for whom he had been labouring since the begin
ning of the century, would fiU his coffers, and he would
be able to release himself from his obligations. Flushed
with hope, he wreathed some choice specimens of his
early work about the magnum opus, in a little gallery
next to the Lyceum Theatre, in Wellington Street,
Strand ; and threw open the doors, and summoned the
world to enter. But the world passed his door.*

* It was a bitter pecuniary disappointment also. Cruikshank
believed that he would have excelled as an actor, but his power
amounted to nothing more than the realization of a burlesque

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS!' 289
On the 28th of April, 1863, he earned his painting,
by command, to Windsor Castle, for the inspection
of the Queen; and he never tired of talking grate-
fuUy and excitedly about the interview, acting with
great solemnity the sweeping bow he made to Her
Majesty. But the Queen's kindness failed to draw
her subjects in the crowds the artist had expected.
Then his trusty friends organised a httle sohYe in the
exhibition room on the 28th of August, and invited
him to dehver a lecture on his picture, which he
did in his own original manner, giving a reason for
every group, almost every figure, upon his crowded
canvas* Still the laggard public disappointed the
expectant veteran, who had cherished visions of a
peaceful close for his life, won by this extraordinary
labour. Kind Thackeray came, with his grave face,
and looked through the httle gaUery, and went off to
write one of bis charming essays, which appeared in
the Times (May 15, 1863). He said : —
brigand. He was violent, fierce in ridiculous excess, and extra
vagant in all his movements. He had always a yearning for
the stage, and thought, as we have seen, of adopting it as a
profession in his youth. He played with the Charles Dickens
troupe in 1848 (Oliver Cob in " Every Man in his Humour,"
Doctor Camphor in "Love and Physic," and Pistol in "The
Merry Wives of Windsor "), but he could not compare with
such accomplished amateurs as Dickens and Mark Lemon. He
never lost faith, however, in his power ; and even late in hfe,
when he contemplated — to compensate for his pecuniary dis
appointment with his Triumph of Bacchus — a benefit at Drury
Lane Theatre, he proposed to play Macbeth himself, saying
to a friend, " I will show them how the dagger-scene should be
done." * See Appendix 1« 19

290 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
" In a quiet httle room in Exeter HaU a veteran
lecturer is holding forth all day upon a subject which
moves his heart very strongly. His text, on which he
has preached before in many places, is stUl 'The
Bottle.' He divides his sermon into many hundreds
of heads, and preaches with the most prodigious
emphasis and grotesque variety. He is for no half
measures. He will have no compromise with the odious
god Bacchus ; the wicked idol is smashed like Bel and
Dagon. He will empty into the gutter all Master
Bacchus's pipes, his barrels, quarter-casks, demijohns,
gallons, quarts, pints, gills, down to your very smallest
liqueur glasses of sphits 01 wine. He wiU show you
bow the church, the bar, tho army, the universities,
the genteel world, the country gentleman in his polite
circle, the humble artisan in his, the rustic ploughman
in the fields, the misguided washerwoman over her
suds and tubs — how all ranks and conditions of men
are deteriorated and corrupted by the use of that
abominable strong liquor : he will have patience with
it no longer. For upwards of half a century, he says,
he has employed pencil and pen against the vice of
drunkenness, and in the vain attempt to shut up
drinking shops and to estabhsh moderate drinking as
a universal rule; but for seventeen years he has dis
covered that teetotalism, or the total abstaining from aU
intoxicating liquors, was the only real remedy for the
entire abolition of intemperance. His thoughts working
in this direction, one day this subject of ' the Worship
of Bacchus' flashed across his mind, and hence the
origin of a work of art measuring 13 ft. 4 in. by
7 ft. 8 in., which has occupied the author no less than
a year and a hah.

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 29 1
"This sermon has the advantage over others, that
you can take a chapter at a time, as it were, and
return and resume the good homilist's discourse at
your leisure. What is your calling in life ? In some
part of this vast tableau you wUl find it is de te
fabula. In this compartment the soldiers are drinking
and fighting; in the next the parsons are drinking
' Healths to the young Christian.' Here are the pub
licans, filthUy intoxicated with their own horrible
liquors; yonder is a masquerade supper, 'where
drunken masquerade fiends drag down columbines to
drunkenness and ruin.' Near them are 'the public
singers chanting forth the praises of the " God of
Wine."' 'Is it not marvehous to think,' says Mr.
Cruikshank in a little pamphlet, containing a speech
by him which is quite as original as the picture on
which it comments, — 'Is it not marvellous what highly
talented poetry and what harmonious musical com
positions have been produced, from time to time, in
praise of this imaginative, slippery, deceitful, dangerous
myth ? '
"This 'myth,' the spectator may follow all through
this most wonderful and labyrinthine picture. In the
nursery the doctor is handing a pot of beer to mamma ;
the nurse is drinking beer ; the little boy is crying for
beer; and the papa is drawing a cork, so that 'he and
the doctor may have a drop.' Here you have a group
of women, victims of intemperance, 'tearing, biting,
and mutilating one another.' Yonder are two of the
police carrying away a drunken policeman. Does
not the mind reel and stagger at the idea of this
cumulated horror? And what is the wine which
yonder clergyman holds in his hand but the same kind

292 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
of stuff which has made the mother in the christening
scene above ' so tipsy that she has let her child fall
out of her lap, while her idiotic husband points to his
helpless wife, and exclaims, "Ha, ha; she's dr-unk!'"
And then Thackeray appealed to the public to come
and be grateful to the painter : —
" With what vigour, courage, good-humour, honesty,
cheerfulness, have this busy hand and needle phed for
more than fifty years ! From 1799, 'when about eight
or nine years of age,' until yesterday, the artist has
never taken rest. When you would think he might
desire quiet, behold he starts up hvely as ever, and
arms himself to do battle with the demon drunken
ness. With voice and paint-brush, with steel-plate
and wood-block, he assads 'that deceitful, shppery,
dangerous myth ! ' To wage war against some wrong
has been his chief calling ; and in hghter moments to
waken laughter, wonder, or sympathy. To elderly
lovers of fun, who can remember this century in its
teens end its twenties, the benefactions of this great
humourist are as pleasant and weU remembered as
pajaa's or uncle's ' tips ' when they came to see the
boys at school. The sovereign then administered
bought delights not to be jrarchased by sovereigns of
later coinage, tarts of incomparable sweetness which
are never to be equalled in these times, sausages
whose savour is still fragrant in the memory, books
containing beautiful prints (sometimes ravishingly
coloured) signed with the magic initials of the incom
parable ' G. Ck.' No doubt the young people of the
present day have younger artists to charm them ; and
many hundred thousand boys and girls are admiring
Mr. Leech, and will be grateful to him forty jears

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS.'

293

hence, when their heads are grey. These will not
jare for the Cruikshank drawings and etchings as men
do whose boyhood was delighted by them ; but the
moderns can study the manners of the early century
in the Cruikshank etchings, as of the French Revolu
tion period in GiUray, Woodward, Bunbury."
StiU the public, the paying public, held back.
Mr. Francis Turner Palgrave took up the Exhibition
in the Saturday Review, and thought it necessary to
reintroduce Cruikshank to the British public : " Old
George Cruikshank has been old George Cruikshank,"
he said, "any time during the last thirty years to
those whose nursery days date so far back. Indeed,
we have heard his Ulustrations to Grimm's Fairy
Stories spoken of as the delight of their youth by
some whose childhood dates forty years ago, whilst
the simUar labour of love which he has devoted to
Jack and the Beanstalk is the thumbed and tattered
darling of many who do not yet aspire to rank in the
rising generation. He must, in fact, be old George
Cruikshank, we are afraid, in the number of his years;
yet our century has seen no better example of that
ever-youthfulness which is one of the most frequent
and least doubtful signs of genuine genius. That the
name of Cruikshank deserves to be coupled with this
epithet has never been dubious to those who, looking
beyond certain mannerisms and limitations in his
power as an artist, can appreciate high gifts to move
both tears and laughter, exhibited on however small
and unpretending a scale ; or who can value downright
originality, expressing itself in its own manner, irre
spective of popular fashion; or who are aware what
peculiar skill he has reached as an etcher."

294 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
But the opus Oeorgii had been scattered through
modest ways, in children's books, title-pages to for
gotten music, ephemeral pamphlets, mediocre works,
or romances of passing popularity, as weU as in
the pages of Fielding, Smollett, Grimm, Scott, and
Dickens. Nearly thirty jrears had passed over his
head since he illustrated "Oliver Twist"; and so the
crowd passed by his sterling excellence, and, in the
old fashion, turned "to some loud trumpet-blowing
hero of the hour."
I remember seeing him standing in his exhibition
room. It was empty. There was a wild, anxious look
in his face, when he greeted me. WhUe we talked, he
glanced once or twice at the door, when he heard any
sound in that direction. Were they coming at last, the
tardy, laggard public for whom he had been bravely
toiling so many years ? Here was his last mighty labour
against the wall, and all the world had been told that it
was there. His trusty friend Thackeray had hailed it in
the Times. A great committee of creditable men had
combined to usher it with pomp into the world. AU
who loved and honoured and admired him had spoken
words of encouragement. Yet it was near noon, and
only a solitary visitor had wandered into the room.
Thackeray might well say, " How little do we think of
the extraordinary powers of this man, and how un
grateful we are to him ! "
I was reminded of a visit I had paid years before to
a room in the Egyptian Hall, where Haydon, wild and
lowering, lingered by his pictures, a solitary, almost
heart-broken man. In a letter he said that Douo-las
Jerrold was one of tho two or three who answered his
summons to Piccadilly. But it was I, then a young

The figures are,— the Composer with his instrument, and the Artist saluting the public.

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS."

295

art-student, who had begged my father's ticket, and
stood for him, in the empty Haydon gallery. It was
thus, with a sinking at the heart, that I went away
from Wellington Street.
In order to make the exhibition more attractive, Mr.
John Taylor suggested to Cruikshank that he should
group around him a complete collection of his art work
of sixty years ; his original water-colour sketches of the
Miser's Daughter, the Tower of London, the Irish

How to Discharge a Waiter.— From " More Mornings at Bow Street."
Rebellion, and indeed a selection from the rich store he
had garnered in his home, in the hope that he should
be able to leave a complete record of his long art-life
as a legacy to his country. This was the origin of the
collection which was ultimately bought by the Aquarium
Company, and is now, unfortunately, huddled in a
corner of a gallery of their building.
From Wellington Street the Cruikshank exhibition
was transported late in 1863 to Exeter Hall. All who
knew the worth of Cruikshnnk's genius went, and were

296 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
delighted; but Cruikshank was made to see that the new
generation had turned irrevocably to other and less
gifted favourites, and that he had outlived his popu
larity with the multitude* As one of the committee
remarks, " The public neither spake nor moved."
And yet Cruikshank, although burdened with the
pecuniary liability which he had incurred, and which
had continuously increased whUe the exhibition was
in progress, set himself down with heroic fortitude to
complete the etching. "Following the big picture
painfully, wearUy," one of the committee writes, " the
etching was at last completed ; but the long delay
had damped the ardour of subscribers. The engraving
is a noble work, unique as a steel etching in its great
size and multiphcity of figures. Each one is complete ;
nothing is scamped. Its power as a teacher has yet to
be fully felt."
Yet etching and picture brought only heart-aches tc
the artist. Both were got through under the pressure
of grave money complications. Now the water-colour
drawing had to be made over to Mr. iSamuel Gurney,
as an equivalent for the £400 which he had contributed
towards the " spending money " fund ; now the coUec
tion was pledged to another friend ; now the artist found
himself deeper in the books of Mr. W. Tweedie, his pub
lisher ; and now the plate and engravings were made
over to the " spending money " committee, to recoup

* " The Triumph of Bacchus " was taken afterwards through
the provinces ; and although the provincials in many places
gave it a heartier welcome than it had obtained in London, the
upshot of tho speculation was that the expenses of exliibition
were barely covered.

" THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 297
them for their advances. There were bickerings — nay,
there were absolute quarrels, in the course of these
entanglements ; for Cruikshank was an unmanageable
business man, and prone, as we have seen, to fall out
even with his most devoted friends. Still there was so
much that was good and lovable in him, that they bore
with his foibles and his outbursts, and remained
wiUing to help the brave old man again. His admirer,
Mr. Ruskin, and his secretary or representative, Mr. -
HoweU, with others, got up a testimonial which cast
something approaching a thousand pounds into Cruik
shank's lap, and at the same time they offered him five
guineas apiece for such little thumb-nail water-colour
drawings of fairies as he could throw off at least
by the half-dozen in the week. But Cruikshank was
fevered with mighty ideas, harassed by complicated
monetary transactions, and at the same time elated by
dreams of a great national transaction which was to put
him clear of the world, and at ease in a serene light of
steady popularity. An art union of his works was talked
about ; but it fell through. But no good end could be
served by a minute account of the projects and counter-
projects which arose around the "Triumph of Bacchus."
The painting and the etching consumed nearly three
busy years of the artist's life ; and his pecuniary reward
was exactly £2,053 7s. Qd., as Mr. Tweedie's ledger
shows. Of the art merits, of this great cartoon the critics have
pronounced many clashing opinions. " I think, on the
whole," Mr. Sala says, "looking at the amount of
sheer labour in the picture, the well-nigh incredible
multiplicity of figures, and the extreme care with which
the minutest details have been delineated , by a hand

298 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
following the eye of a man past threescore years and
ten, the ' Triumph of Bacchus ; must be regarded as a
phenomenon. Its pictorial merit is slight ; but it pos
sesses and commands interest of a very different nature
from that excited by a mere picture, when we remember
the painter's purpose, and the tremendous moral lesson
he sought to teach. It is an eloquent protest against
the drinking customs of society, and a no less eloquent
— and terribly ghastly — exposition of the evUs wrought
on that same society by the vice of drunkenness."
If for no other reason than to do honour to George
Cruikshank, it is well that this monument of work by an
earnest old man has found its way to South Kensincton.
having been presented to the nation by a committee of
subscribers, one of whom contributed a cheque for £800.
Here, according to many Temperance authorities, it has
made converts. A member of the Cruikshank com
mittee writes : " An actor one day stood before the
painting at South Kensington, gazing at it, and taking
in its sad history, till, bursting into tears, he left the
museum, took a cab direct for Mr. Cruikshank's house,
and signed the pledge for three years. Dr. Richardson
told the other day of a clergyman who was pulled
up by the vestry scene. Though the public did not
patronise the exhibition, yet the warmest commenda
tions of the picture have come from non-abstainers,
and for this cause I suspect that the argument of
the picture was to them a new idea never before
fully considered."
Mr. John Stewart's estimate of his friend's work is
technically tho most satisfactory verdict which has been
written. " As a whole the ' Bacchus ' is easily described,
although 'none but itself can be its parallel.' It is

•' THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS." 299
the province of genius to make rules where there are
none, but as truth is a consistent whole, true genius
bends the rule it makes into harmony with those
already in existence ; and in nothing has the artist
been more successful than in combining his novel
creation with the recognised canons of art. This was
a daring effort ; and, however hyper-criticism might
carp or ignorance may sneer at details, nothing but
the feeling of a poet, which enables him to compose
with a poet's facility, could have sustained the effort
so successfully. The general composition contains all
the elemental types of pictorial grouping, generalised
on the two axioms of balance and variety. So fully
has the artist carried out this subtle truth of art —
because an essential truth of nature — that it would not
be difficult to point out every principle Haydon could
extract from the combined works of Raphael success
fully modified by Cruikshank to build up and support
this picture. The horizontal is represented by the
groups in the immediate foreground ; the pyramidal
by the Bacchus, Silenus, and Bacchante ; the circular
by the publicans, and repeated by the widows and
orphan children ; the perpendicular by the saloons of
high life introduced on either side : and these are
repeated out and still out, till the art which produced
them is lost in the higher art necessary to hide the
method of production.
" What is true of the picture as a whole is still more
visible in the individual groups. These, however, must
be seen to be appreciated, for they cannot be described
in words, not even by George Cruikshank. But this
may be affirmed without hesitation, that no other artist
in Britain or in Europe could have produced the sama

300 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK
variety of incident, action, and expression — that is, the
same amount and quality of thought, in the same
period of time — as Cruikshank has displayed in this
'Triumph of Bacchus.' The number that could have
done it at all is easily counted, and they — artists like
Frith — knowing most fuUy the difficulties, are most
enthusiastic in their admiration of the genius and
devotion by which Cruikshank has worked and con
quered. True, the work wants finish, but this want is
most felt by those ignorant enough to confound smooth
ness and prettiness with finish; but a lifetime would
be too short to finish such pictures up to their standard,
and they should understand that the artist never in
tended to finish after their fashion His objects were
entirely different : first, to produce his thoughts in a
style that could be seen by an audience at a distance;
and second, using the work in oU as a basis and a guide
for the etching and engraving — the more permanent
work which is now in preparation. In the first the
success is greater than the greatest smoothness could
have given, and it would be as reasonable to blame
Rembrandt for not finishing those studies in oU he
painted to etch from, as to blame Cruikshank for
following Rembrandt's example. With this ' Triumph
of Bacchus,' as with Van Ryn's 'Hundred Guilders,'
the etching — the print — is the true completion of the
work ; while the picture is only a portion of tlie pre
paratory means to the nobler and more enduring end
and aim. It is different with artists whose works, if
engraved, must be translated from paintings into prints
by others — often by those with little sympathy for the
subject or the style in which it has been treated by the
painter. Such pictures, however highly finished, lose

THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS.'

301

much that is valuable in process of translation. With
etchers like Rembrandt or Cruikshank, however
diverse their styles, they have this in common, that
their prints are more perfect than the pictures from
which they are produced, because the artist is perfect
ing his idea while elaborating his plate. The shrewd
old Dutch burgomasters, alive to this fact, secured
Rembrandt's most matured works by subscribing for
impressions of his plates, and the wisest admirers of
Cruikshank's genius are following the same course, not
doubting that his finished etching of this great work
wiU be the most finished embodiment of his grand

idea."

'Kim hep, ye varmint ! d'ye think I stole ye? "—From " More Mornin,f?a at
Bow Street."

302

CHAPTER V.
" FRAUDS ON THE FAIRIES " AND " WHOLE HOGS."
The works which George Cruikshank illustrated, and
the enterprises on which he entered during the thirty
years of his teetotal career, would be enough to fill the
life of an ordinary worker. After he had contributed
"'The Bottle " and " The Drunkard's Children " to the
Temperance cause, he engaged with renewed ardour, if
with faUing fortunes, in his old work of book illustra
tion. For the Brothers Mayhew he illustrated " The
Greatest Plague in Life," " Whom to Marry and How
to get Married," " The Magic of Kindness," and " The
Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys during ' the
World's Show' of 1851." In the first two are some
etchings full of the old spirit and the old quickness
of observation. In the " Magic of Kindness " are some
charming fairy scenes, notably the " Genius of Industry
Turning the Forest into a Fleet," and in the " Adven
tures of the Sandboys " is Cruikshank's famous plate of
all the world going to Hyde Park — a new rendering
of his pictorial preface to the Omnibus. In this we
find that the hand had lost none of its cunning, and
that the fancy and the power of observation were
undimmed. About this time — that is, between 1849 and 1853 —
Cruikshank illustrated two Christmas stories by Mrs.
Gore, " The Snowstorm " and " Tlie Inundation," in

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS." 303
Angus B. Reach's " Clement Lorimer," * the " Songs
of the late Charles Dibdin," Frank Smedley's " Frank
Fairlegh," and " Uncle Tom's Cabin " — representing
some seventy etchings, and as many wood-blocks.
The " Frank Fairlegh " etchings introduced Cruik
shank to Frank Smedley, and led to a final venture
in the magazine form, with which David Bogue, the
publisher, had resolved to test finally the hold the artist
still had on the public.
Bogue had long been Cruikshank's fast friend and
admirer, and was loth to believe that his name had
ceased to be an attraction to the British public upon
a title-page. Moreover, he had had some recent suc
cesses with the " inimitable " George. In two years the
" Sandboys," in which was his amazingly minute " All
the World going to see the Exhibition " and his drawing
of the transept, packed with myriads of people at the
opening ceremony (I remember standing by him while
he sketched it from the south-western gallery), had
gone through four editions. But his recent Fairy
Library had been a failure. Dickens (in Household
Words), among others, had protested against teeto-
talism being introduced into fairyland ; and had,
two years previously, even ridiculed what was called
Cruikshank's temperance fanaticism, in a paper called
" Whole Hogs." These attacks, no doubt, helped to
put an end to George Cruikshank's Fairy Library, after
he had Ulustrated with some exquisitely dainty scenes
" Puss in Boots," " Hop o' my Thumb," " Jack and the
* Mr. Wedmore, in his article on Cruikshank, says of one of
the etchings in this book, "Miss Eske carried away during her
Trance," that it is among the things that show him to have had
" the imagination of tragedy."

304 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Beanstalk," and " Cinderella." * Cuthbert Bede, in a
"Reminiscence of Cruikshank" in Notes and Queries,
remarks : " It was very evident from that article,
' Frauds on the Fairies,' and also from a previous one
from the same pen, called ' Whole Hogs,' that Dickens
considered Cruikshank to be occasionaUy given over
to the culture of crotchets, and to the furious riding
of favourite hobbies. But in all these things it is in
disputable that the great moral artist was firmly per
suaded that he was acting in the cause of suffering
humanity, and engaged upon some work for the ame
lioration of his fellow-creatures. And whatever was
the act, and however smaU and trivial it might appear
in the sight of the majority, Cruikshank threw himself
into it heart and soul, and, like everything else he put
his hand to, he did it with all his might."
To be driven from fairyland, which was the realm
of his happiest dreams, was a bitter disappointment
and he felt deeply the blow of the friend who drove him
forth from it.
Dickens had said of him and his fairies, —
" He is the only designer fairyland has had. Callot's
imps, for all their strangeness, are only of the earth,
earthy. Fuseli's fairies belong to the infernal re
gions ; they are monstrous, lurid, and hideously melan
choly. Mr. Cruikshank alone has a true insight into
the 'little people.' They are something like men and
women, and yet not flesh and blood ; they are laughino-
and mischievous, but why we know not. Mr. Cruik
shank, however, has had some dream or the other, or

* These have been since published in a volume by Bell and
Daldy, and by Routledge and Sons.

The Four Mighty Servants

From the " Pentamerone.

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS. 305
else a natural mysterious instinct, or else some pre
ternatural fairy revelation, which has made him ac
quainted with the looks and ways of the fantastical
subjects of Oberon and Titania."
When this wizard of the etching-needle, some fifteen
years after he had drawn " the awful Jew," pretended
to put forth a whole Fairy Library of his own, the
author of the Jew sat himself down and wrote : —
" We have lately observed, with pain, the intrusion
of a Whole Hog of unwieldy dimensions into the
fairy flower-garden. The rooting of the animal among
the roses would in itself have awakened in us nothing
but indignation ; our pain arises from his being violently
driven in by a man of genius, our own beloved friend,
Mr. George Cruikshank. That incomparable artist is,
of all men, the last who should lay his exquisite hand
on fairy text. In his own art he understands it so
perfectly, and illustrates it so beautifully, so humor
ously, so wisely, that he should never lay down his
etching-needle to ' edit ' the Ogre, to whom with that
little instrument he can render such extraordinary
justice. But, to 'editing' Ogres, and Hop-o'-my-
Thumbs, and their families, our dear moralist has in
a rash moment taken, as a means of propagating the
doctrines of Total Abstinence, Prohibition of the Sale
of Spirituous Liquors, Free Trade, and Popular
Education. For the introduction of these topics, he
has altered the text of a fairy story ; and against his
right to do any such thing we protest with all our
might and main. Of his likewise altering it to ad
vertise that excellent series of plates, 'The Bottle,'
we say nothing more than that we foresee a new and
improved edition of ' Goody Two Shoes,' edited by
20

306 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
E. Moses and Son; of the 'Dervish' with the box
of ointment, edited by Professor Holloway ; and of
'Jack and the Beanstalk,' edited by Mary Wedlake,
the popular authoress of ' Do you Bruise your Oats
yet?'" Dickens goes on to point out what would become
of our great books if such a precedent were to be
followed. " Imagine a total abstinence edition of
' Robinson Crusoe,' with the rum left out. Imagine
a peace edition, with the gunpowder left out. and the
rum left in. Imagine a vegetarian edition, with the
goat's flesh left out. Imagine a Kentucky edition, to
introduce a flogging of that 'tarnal old nigger Friday,
twice a week. Imagine an Aborigines Protection
Society edition, to deny the cannibalism and make
Robinson embrace the amiable savages whenever they
landed. Robinson Crusoe would oe 'edited 'out of his
island in a hundred years, and the island would be
swallowed up in the editorial ocean." Then follows
a most humorous story of " Cinderella," edited by a
stump orator on Temperance, Ocean Penny Postage,
Sanitary Seience ; ending with this pleasant moral :
" Frauds on the Fairies once permitted, we see little
reason why they may not come to this, and great
reason why they may. The Vicar of Wakefield was
wisest when he was tired' of being always wise. The
world is too much with us, early and late."
Poor George Cruikshank dropped his pencil, and
Cuthbert Bede has told us how he found the artist, on
an October day in 1853, still smarting from the effects
of Dickens's article. Cruikshank, however, was not
the man to feel a blow and sit down under it.
Bogue had resolved, as I have already stated, to test

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES," AND "WHOLE HOGS." 307
finally the extent of Cruikshank's remaining popularity
with a magazine that was to bear his name, and that
was to be edited by Mr. Frank Smedley, then a populai
writer of fiction. Cruikshank had no sooner an organ
of his own, than he buckled on his armour, and prepared
for a lively assault upon the author of the two House-
Iwld Words articles. In the second (and last) number
of " George Cruikshank's Magazine " * (to which I
have already referred) is a letter from Hop-o'-my-
Thumb to Charles Dickens, Esq., upon " Frauds on
the Fairies," "Whole Hogs," etc. It is in Cruik
shank's homely style, but the reader will see that
it is not without several good home-thrusts. He
begins : —
" Right trusty, well-beloved, much-read, and ad
mired Sir, — My attention has lately been called to
an article in Household Words, entitled ' Frauds
on the Fairies,' in which I fancy I recognise your
master hand as the author — and in which article, as it
appears to me, you have gone a leetle out of your way
to find fault with our mutual friend George Cruik
shank, for the way in which he has edited ' Hop-o'-my-
Thumb and the Seven League Boots.' You may,
perhaps, be surprised at receiving a letter from so small
an individual as myself; but, independently of the deep
debt of gratitude which I feel that I owe to that gentle
man, for the way in which he has edited my history,
my anxiety to maintain the honour and credit of tho
noble family to which I belong impels me to take up
my pen (made from the quill of a humming-bird), to
endeavour to justify the course adopted by my editor,
* February 1854.

308 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
and also to take the liberty of setting you right upon
one or two points in which you are entirely mis
taken. " These may seem bold words, from such a mite as I
am, to such a literary giant as you are ; but I have had
to deal with giants in my time, and I am not afraid of
them, and I shall therefore take leave to tell you, that
although you may have held in your memory some of
the remarkable facts in my interesting history, yet that
you were ignorant of the general character of the whole;
and the only wray in which I can account for a man of
your remarkable acuteness having made such a great
mistake is, that you have suffered that extraordinary
seven-league boot imagination of yours to run away
with you into your own Fairy Land, — and thus have
given your own colour to this history ; and. conse
quently, a credit and a character to the old editions
which do not belong to them."
Cruikshank then quotes passages from Dickens's
article, and continues : " Now this, which you call
' Frauds on the Fairies,' in my humble opinion, might
as weU have been called ' Much Ado about Nothing ' ;
for, had my editor been altering the text of any
standard literary work, the writing of any man of mark
— one of your own glorious books, for example — then
indeed, you might have raised a hue and cry ; but to
insist upon preserving the entire integrity of a fairy
tale, which has been and is constantly altering in tlie
recitals, and in the printing of various editions in different
countries, and even counties, appears to my little mind
like shearing one of your own 'whole hogs," where there
is 'great cry and little wool.' "
Then Cruikshank asks where is tenderness or mercy

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS." 309
in Tom Thumb's father, when he induces his wife to
take their seven children into the forest to perish
miserably of hunger, or to be devoured by wild beasts ?
" My editor," Hop-o'-my-Thumb proceeds, " seeing that
such a statement was not only disgusting, but against
nature, and consequently unfit for the pure and parent-
loving minds of children, felt certain that any father
acting in such a manner must either be mad or under
tlie influence of intoxicating liquor, which is much the
same thing, and therefore, wishing to avoid any allusion
to such an awful affliction as insanity, has accounted
for my father's unnatural conduct by attributing it to
that cause which marks its progress, daily and hourly,
by acts of unnatural brutality." Farther on, Hop-o'-my-
Thumb, referring to the little peculiarity of the young
ogres " biting little children on purpose to suck their
blood," asks if that be one of the good things to
be nourished in a child's heart. " And I should also
like to know," he adds, " what there is so enchanting
and captivating to ' young fancies ' in this description of
a father (ogre though he be) cutting the throats of his
own seven children ? Is this the sort of stuff that
helps to ' keep us ever young, , or give us that innocent
delight which we may share with children ? " Having
thanked Mr. Cruikshank for rescuing his moral
character from the gross imputations former biogra
phers had cast upon it, representing him to be, in the
transaction of the seven-league boots and the mother
of the slaughtered children, "an unfeeling, artful liar,
and a thief," and his parents " receivers of stolen goods,',
he turns upon Mr. Dickens for his attempt to throw
ridicule upon the Temperance question, and also his
" evident contempt, and even hatred, against that cause,'

310 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
as shown in his "Whole Hogs." Hop-o'my-Thumb
hereupon valiantly and defiantly remarks : " This is not
the place, nor is it my purpose, now to discuss the Tem
perance question, but I take the liberty of telling you
that it is a question which you evidently do not under
stand, for if you did, your good heart and sanguine
disposition would make you, if possible, a more enthu
siastic advocate than my editor."
About the good intentions of both artist and critic
there cannot be any doubt in any honest mind.
Cruikshank had his parting thrust at his assaUant ;
he could not help that : —
" You are generally," he says to bis friend Dickens,
"most happy in your titles; but, in this instance, the
application seems singularly inappropriate. The ' whole
hog ' should, by rights, belong to those parties who
patronise pork butchers ; and the term as applied to
the peace people would be better used in regard to the
Great Bear, or any other war party ; and surely, as to
any allusion to the ' unclean animal,' iu connection with
total abstinence, the term would mure properly attach
to those who wallow in the mire, and destroy their
inteUects by the use of intoxicating liquors, until they
debase themselves to the level of the porcine quadruped !
And, as far as my editor is concerned, I consider it a
great act of injustice te mix him up with other questions,
and with which, you know, he has nothing whatever to
do. I have therefore to beg that in future you will not
drive your 'whole hogs' against us, but take them to
some other market, or keep them to yourself, if you
like ; but we'll none of 'em, and therefore 1 take this
opportunity of driving them back."
The controversy is closed with a capital cut of Hop-

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS." 3 1 1
o'-my-Thumb driving some prodigious porkers back to
Household Words.
The first number of the magazine had warned the
public that hobbies were to be ridden regularly. One
of the folded etchings was the first of a series of
" Tobacco Leaves," in which the habit of smoking was
to be attacked. The plate was a series of grotesque
absurdities, in which a moral was torn to tatters. Boys
with hoops are smoking pipes ; an adult son is offering
a " long clay " and a spittoon in a drawing-room to his
venerable mother ; a young gentleman is passing ladies
in the street with a cigar in his mouth, and under the
picture is written, " No one but a very unthinking
gentleman or a most contemptible snob or puppy would
smoke in the streets or public places, regardless whom
he may annoy with his offensive tobacco smoke." In
one corner of the plate a gentleman is offering a cigar
to his sister, saying, " Come, sister dear, soothe your
distressed feelings with a mild Havanuah ! " in the
opposite corner a lover on his knees is making a
declaration in these words : " Dearest (puff) Virginia
(puff), I (puff) love you (puff) dearer (puff) than my
pipe (puff)." Virginia is listening, with a cigar in her
hand. Other hobbies were in preparation. Cuthbert Bede,
who was then in constant communication with Cruik
shank, was invited to co-operate in them with his pen.
" At one of our interviews at his own house," he says,
" relative to his projected magazine, he showed me some
wood-blocks, on which were his own designs, and which
he had already gone to the expense of having carefully
engraved by (if I remember rightly) Mr. T. Williams.
He then explained to me the nature of the designs and

3 12 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

the special object for which he had prepared them. I
must continually have noticed (he said) an evU that
was patent to every one, both indoors and out of doors,
in the streets, and railway carriages, and omnibuses,
and all public vehicles. It was an evil not confined to
the young or the old ; it was most injurious in its
effects, and it only required the public attention to be
pointedly directed to it to have it stopped and put down.
This was what he desired to do with his pencil, and
it was for this that he sought the co-operation of my
pen. " Now, what does the reader imagine was this evil
that had obtained such a hold upon the nation ? — It was
nothing more or less than the habit of ladies and gentle
men, and boys and girls, placing the handles of their
sticks, canes, parasols, or umbrellas to their mouths, and
either sucking them or tapping their teeth with them !
Suiting the action to the word, and acting the characters,
Cruikshank showed me how the gent of the period tried
to make himself look excessively knowing by sucking
the ivory or bone handle of his cane ; how the young
lady, and even the very little girl, made their morning
caUs, and sucked their parasol handles — a sure sign of
great gauclierie ; how other ladies, even elderly ones,
who ought to know better, did the ssame in carriages
and omnibuses, thereby running the risk of having their
teeth broken if the vehicle gave a sudden lurch ; and
how even grave physicians carried their gold or ivory-
headed canes up to their lips. (I here reminded Mr.
Cruikshank that if they did so it was in traditionary
keeping with an old custom dating from the days of the
Great Plague of London, when every doctor who carried
' fate and physic in his eye ' had a cunningly devised

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS." 3J3
box for aromatic scents fixed on the top of his cane, so
that he might hold it under his nose whenever he visited
an infectious case.)
"Cruikshank spoke most gravely on this 'hideous,
abominable, and most dangerous custom,' an evil that
he was determined to try to put down, and for this end
he had prepared the designs that he showed to me, and
which had been already engraved. These illustrations
he wished me to work into letterpress, which should first
appear in the projected magazine, and should then be
reprinted in the form of a small pamphlet. He did not
desire to make money by the publication of this pam
phlet ; on the contrary, he intended to have many
thousand copies printed at bis own expense, and to
employ men to distribute them gratuitously to the public.
There were to be men posted outside every railway
station in London, and as each cab or carriage rolled
from under the gateway, one of the pamphlets was to
be tossed into the vehicle. The omnibus travellers were
to be liberally dealt with in the same way, and by these
means Cruikshank was quite sanguine that the reform
which he so much desired would be effected in a few
months, and that he should once more feel the satis
faction of having conferred a public benefit upon his
generation. " I could not see in this a very promising subject for
my pen ; but, as the article was to make its first ap
pearance in the new magazine, I agreed to write some
thing in furtherance of the object that he had in view,
and to incorporate the illustrations that be had prepared.
After a while I took Mr. Cruikshank the article that I
had written. He was more than disappointed with it —
he was horrified. I had treated that grave and earnest

3'4

THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

question in a light and jocular spirit ! It would only
amuse instead of warn the reader ! it would never do !
and so on, with a great deal of action of hands and
head. I argued that it was more likely to make the
desired impression upon their minds, if they read what
I had written, than if they were presented with a grave
sermon-like treatise on the theme. But my arguments
failed to move him, and he asked me to write another,
and far more serious, paper on the subject. This I
declined to do, and requested him to get some other
author to carry out his ideas.
"Whether he ever did so or not, I do not know. The
collapse of the new magazine in its early infancy pre
vented the appearance in that quarter of George Cruik
shank's tilt against stick and parasol sucking, and I am
not aware if the engraved blocks of which I have spoken
were ever made pubhc. If any one is sufficiently
curious to know the nature of the manuscript that I
submitted to Cruikshank, he may do so by referring to
Motley, by Cuthbert Bede, published by James Black
wood in 1855. There he wUl find eight pages taken up
by an article, illustrated by myself, called ' Dental
Dangers,' which is, verbatim, printed from the manu
script that I had written for Mr. Cruikshank — which,
however, I called ' Take Care of your Teeth ! '
" In that paper I spoke of a lady in an omnibus, whose
set of false teeth were projected into her opposite neigh
bour's lap through a sudden jolt of the vehicle while
she was sucking her parasol handle. This led me to
tell Cruikshank an anecdote that I had then recently
heard. Cruikshank laughed very heartily at it, and
said that he should like to make an illustration to it,
and asked mo if I could not write a paper on country

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS.' 315

rectors and their adventures, in which it might be intro
duced, and which he would further illustrate. Very
hkely this suggestion might have been carried into effect
if Mr. Bogue had carried on the magazine. As it was,
it was lost to the world."
Cuthbert Bede has also given us an account of
Cruikshank's first introduction to the editor of his
unfortunate final magazine: —
" He told me that, as in my own case, he had not
known Cruikshank personally until this projected maga
zine brought them together, although Cruikshank had
Ulustrated 'Frank Fairlegh.' The great artist's first
call upon Smedley was made only a few days previous
to my own; and Smedley gave me the following account
of it : ' He was shown into this room, while I was
sitting at that writing-desk by the window. I wheeled
my chair round (poor Smedley had to use a self-acting
wheeled chair), and advanced to meet him. Thus I had
my back to the light, and he was facing the window.
He appeared so amazed at seeing me such a cripple as
I am, that he could not overcome his wonder, but kept
exclaiming, " Good God ! I thought you could gallop
about on horses ! " and the like expressions. I ex
plained how it was ; and we then proceeded to discuss
business details. It was a very hot, sultry day, and
Cruikshank had walked fast; he was very heated, and
his face and forehead were very red. His hair was blown
about, and instead of sitting quietly on a chair, he was
standing up and gesticulating wildly. I have a sense of
the ludicrous, and I had the greatest difficulty to keep
from laughing, or to look him in the face. For all this
time, in the very centre of his capacious and very red
forehead, there was a round something of ivory, not

316 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
plain, but carved in circles, and as big as a large button.
I wondered what it could be. Was it some Temperance
badge ? Was it some emblem of office in some secret
society, in which he held rank as a Great Panjandrum
with the little button atop ? For the life of me I could
not divine what it was. And all the time he was holding
me with his glittering eye, and going through a whole
pantomime of gesticulations. Suddenly, and to my
intense relief— for I was beginning to feel that I could
not bear the mystery much longer — the ivory badge fell
from his forehead, and dropped on the hearthrug at his
feet. Cruikshank looked at it with bewilderment, and
said, "Wherever did that come from?" "From off
your forehead," I replied. "From off my forehead! "
he echoed, as he rubbed it fiercely. "Yes," I said,
" it has been there ever since you entered the room."
Cruikshank seized his hat, and looked into its crown,
when it appeared that the ivory circlet had dropped from
the ventilating hole in the crown of the hat as Cruik
shank had walked to my house, and that it had found its
way down to his forehead, where, what with the heat of
his head and the fragments of glue on the ivory, it had
become firmly fixed, and would perhaps have remained
there for some hours longer if he had not accompanied
his conversation with so much action. When he found
out the truth, and fully realized the absurdity of the
situation, he burst into such a hearty roar of laughter
as I have not beard for many a day. This was mv first
personal introduction to George Cruikshank.' "
Cuthbert Bede had also the advantage of seeino-
Cruikshank at work on that plate of his magazine which
will mako its two numbers live longer than many a
serial which has lasted twenty years.

"FRAUDS ON FAIRIES" AND " WHOLE HOGS." 317
" When I first went into his studio," says Cuthbert
Bede, " there were many specimens of his work around
him, oil paintings, etchings, and wood-block drawings
in various stages of execution. He seemed to take
a particular pleasure in showing me these, and in ex
plaining their designs. The chief work on which ho
was thus engaged was his wondrous etching of ' The
Comet of 1853,' which was to form the frontispiece for
the projected magazine. On account of its dimensions
— the actual plate, without the title, 'Passing Events,
or the Tail of the Comet of 1853,' being 15£ by 7
inches — it had to appear as a folding plate. It was
crammed with hundreds of figures, giving, at one view,
an epitome of the leading events of the year — the
Peace Conference, the war between Russia and Turkey,
the war in China, the Queen's review of the troops
at Chobham, the naval review at Portsmouth, Spirit
Rapping, Table Turning, the Derby Day, Betting, the
City Corporation Commission, John Gough and the
Temperance Demonstration, the Nineveh Bulls, the
Zulu Kaffirs and Earthmen, the Anteater, Albert
Smith's ' Mont Blanc,' Charles Kean's ' Sardanapalus,'
Bribery and Corruption, the Australian Gold Discovery,
Mrs. Stowe and ' Uncle Tom,' the New York and
Dublin Exhibitions, the Vivarium, Guy Fawkes, Lord
Mayor's Day, Wyld's Great Globe, Captain McClure
, and the North-west Passage, Miss Cunningham's Seizure
by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Ceiling-walker,
Smithfield Cattle Show, Chiswick Flower Show,
Christmas Merry-making, and the Pantomimes — these
are among the subjects that appear in the Comet's
Tail, and the gradual progress of which to its ultimate
perfection I was so fortunate as to see. . . .

318 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
"The hundreds of tiny figures in this etching are
shown with a distinctness and power of characterisation
unrivalled by any other artist. I think that he sur
passed Callot in this respect ; and that no one could
approach George Cruikshank in his vigorous, life-like,
and picturesque delineation of surging crowds and
packed masses of human beings "
It was his wont to open a serial with a tour-de-force
of this description

"Move on, there • "—From " More MomiDgs at Bow Street,

3*9

CHAPTER VI.
" A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER."
George Cruikshank's habit of putting himself forward
as the originator of any work with which he was con
nected was never more amusingly displayed than when,
in March 1870, he made one* of a deputation of the
National Education League to Mr. Gladstone. "I must
say," he remarked on this event, in his introduction to
the second edition of his "Slice of Bread and Butter,"
" that it afforded me much gratification to hear all the
suggestions which I had placed before the public so
many years ago, so eloquently and forcibly advocated
upon this occasion."
It was a harmless assumption in this instance, to be
freely forgiven in the earnest old man who was still
exerting himself to the utmost of his ability for what
he conceived to be the right way, in the cause of popular
education. He had thrown his ideas into one of those whimsical
forms peculiar to him. He was fond of illustrated
pamphleteering, and the reclamation of ragged children
left out in the cruel streets hungry and half naked had
always been a subject near to his heart. His last effort
in their behalf he called " A Slice of Bread and Butter."
On the title-page we find one of his bright little pictorial
stories in wood. An outcast child lies upon the pave-

320 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
ment surrounded by a crowd of men, who are in eager
consultation as to the restorative which shall be admi
nistered. In the distance is the parish church, but
overhead swings the sign of the Britannia, and the
landlord, with a pipe in his mouth, is contemplating the
scene from the bar parlour. The story is told with all
the old completeness.
The crowd consists of " some worthy gentlemen,
magistrates, and others," who, on their way " to
the Town Hall on county business," have found this
forlorn boy upon the pavement leaning against the
wall. As he was neither begging nor stealing, and
did not obstruct the pathway, he could not be taken
into custody. When asked what was the matter, he
replied, " I wants summut to eat." Then follows the
learned consultation around the starring boy : —
"Now the worthy magistrates and the other gentlemen
— some of whom were clergymen, and ministers, and
lawyers — were all kind-hearted and benevolent men as
well as the doctor ; and they all exclaimed, as with one •
voice, upon hearing what the doctor said. ' Oh, dear me,
how very shocking ! — let him have some food instantly ! '
' Yes, yes ! ' cried one : ' here, officer ! go into the
Britannia, and get him something to eat instantly.'
' I suppose,' said he, turning to the doctor, " a bit of
plain bread and butter will be best for him in his present
condition ? ' ' The very thing,' he replied ; and as the
officer was about to run into the house to get a bit of
bread and butter, another gentleman of the partv cried
out, ' Stop ! see that you bring brown bread.' ' Pooh !
pooh ! ' said another ; ' it does not matter what sort of
bread it is, but it must be toasted.' ' White or brown
or plain or toasted, it matters not much,' exclaimed a

'A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER.

321

fourth, 'provided there is plenty of butter on it.' 'I
object most decidedly to the butter,' observed a very
sedate gentleman. 'As to that,' shouted out another,
'I consider the butter as most essential: it is full of
nourishment ; and, besides, the poor boy might be
choked by cramming dry bread down his throat without
butter ; but then we must be careful that it be salt
butter.' ' No ! no ! ' cried another ; 'fresh butter, if
you please, and as much as you please ; but no salt.'
' You are all wrong, my friends ! — quite wrong ! ' voci
ferated another of the party ; ' depend upon it, that dry
toast is the best thing he can have.' 'Oh! oh! oh!'
exclaimed all the other gentlemen ; ' who ever heard of
such a thing as giving dry toast to a starving child ? '
' Who ever, indeed ! ' chimed in another ; ' it is quite
ridiculous to toast the bread at all ; the poor child
might die before it was ready ! No ! no ! plain bread and
butter is best for him ; but mind, if I have to pay my
part towards it, the bread must be new — yes, new bread.'
' New bread ! ' exclaimed some of the party — ' why,
that's wors6 than all ; for if it does not stick in his
throat, it wiU in his stomach, and perhaps kill him.
New bread is indigestible and most unwholesome stuff.'
' WeU, well ; let it be plain stale bread and butter, but
only the crumb of the loaf, and I will pay my part will
ingly,' observed another. ' Crumb without crust ! ' said
one of the former speakers ; ' why, the crust of the loaf
contains ten times more nourishment than the crumb,
and I, for one, will have nothing to do with it, nor pay
a farthing towards it, unless he has a good lump of crust.'
" Now during this contention, or
* all this splutter
About the toast and bread and butter,' 21

322 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
the poor boy seemed to be getting worse and worse, and
at the same time all these worthy gentlemen becoming
more and more excited ; some calling out for ' Fancy
bread,' some for ' French roUs,' others for ' German
black bread,' and aU refusing to pay any part towards
the bread and butter, unless cut after their own fashion,
when they were reminded by one of the party that there
was not the least necessity to trouble themselves about
paying for what the boy might have, as it could be
charged to the county. To which they aU replied
rather sharply, that, as to that, if they did not think it
right to pay out of their own individual pockets, neither
did they think it right that the public money should be
used for purposes which they could not individually
approve of. ' Gentlemen, gentlemen,' cried the doctor,
' pray let the child have something. Is it not dreadful
to let this poor boy perish before our eyes, when there
are the means of relief within reach? For mercy's sake,
let him have something to keep him alive ! ' ' WeU,'
replied one of the magistrates (who was chairman of
the Sessions), ' as you see he cannot have the bread and
butter, you must prescribe something else for him.'
' Dear, dear me ! ' said the doctor, ' I am really shocked
at such inconsistency. WUl you let him have a little
brandy, then ! ' 'Oh yes ! ' they all cried out together,
' let him have some brandy — by all means give him
some brandy ! ' "
The brandy made Ragged Jack drunk ; and presently,
being still hungry, he is tempted to steal a roll from a
baker's shop, and is dragged to the Town Hall, where the
magistrates, who had left him upon the pavement taking
brandy, give him a month's imprisonment, and deten
tion in a reformatory school. The chaplain was kind to

"A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER." 323
him, and said, " Yes, now that Jack was a convicted
thief, he had plenty of good wholesome bread and
butter." In the reformatory he was educated, and
taught a trade, aud sent to a distant town where
his antecedents would not be against him. On his
way he met his cousin, Tom Rag — " a boy as ragged
and wretched as he used to be himself." Tom wants
to know how Jack has managed to get such nice
clothes and a basket of tools, that he may go and do
likewise. " Cousin Jack, who had been taught, and indeed now
knew, that thieving was a wicked thing to do, was sorely
puzzled how to advise his friend in this matter ; for,
having a great regard for Tommy, he wished to save
him from the miserable state in which he himself had
once been — skulking and wandering about the streets
all day, picking up bits and scraps of food, even out of
the gutters like the dogs, and at night sleeping in the
corner, perhaps, of an open sheep-pen in the cattle-
market, or crouching from the drenching rain by the
side of a doorway; and when he contrasted that state
of his existence with the comfort he had felt, and
the attention he had received whilst in the jail and
the reformatory, he knew not how to advise his poor
cousin, knowing that poor Tom was, as he himself had
been, almost perishing for want of a little good whole
some bread and butter, clean clothes, and a comfortable
bed to lie in, which he well knew poor Tom would have
if he could be sent to jail, as he had been. When he
thought of all this he was sorely puzzled what to recom
mend ; but at last he said : ' Tom, you must not steal ;
so you had better go a-begging, and perhaps you may
be lucky enough to be sent to jail for that, and then you

324 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
will have everything done for you, as I have had, and
come out better than me ; for nobody will be able te say
that you have been a thief. Yes ; go and beg, Tom !
But if this don't answer, why, then, I suppose you must
go a-THiEViNG, as I did.'
" It may be asked, Where were the parents of these
poor boys all this time ? WeU, they could tell you at
the Britannia public-house, only they don't like to
talk about such disagreeable matters there. But the
fact is, Jack's father used to use that house, and was
once a decent sort of man, and was at one time
a 'moderate drinker'; but upon one occasion he got
mad drunk, and in that state of drunken insanity
went home and killed his wife, was sent to jaU, and
died there. Tom's father was transported for com
mitting some crime after he had 'been drinking' at
the Britannia ; and Tom's mother took a little drop at
first to comfort her, and then drank herself to death."
The foregoing will remind many readers of the
scheme of Mr. Jenkins's " Ginx's Baby."
Cruikshank gives his views on popular education in
his homely simple way : —
" One of the great social questions of the day is the
necessity and importance of a general or national system
of education for the humble classes, upon such a compre
hensive plan as shall give every child born in the United
Kingdom a certain amount of book knowdedge, and also
of moral and religious training, as they are, or ought
to be, entitled to as juvenile members of a civilized
community — such training as may prepare them to
fill useful and honest positions in life, or, perhaps, be
the first step to those high stations so often filled
by honest, hardworking, mercantile men, or ingenious

"A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER." 325
mechanics. Now, every thinking and right-minded
person will agree that this object is a most desirable one,
and that no innocent child should be so neglected as to
be allowed to grow up in a state of savage ignorance ;
and at the first blush nothing seems more easily to be
accomplished, in a wealthy and intelligent country like
ours, than to arrange such a general system as is here
alluded to, and to provide the ways and means. Well 1
all this ivould be simple and easily accomphshed, but for
one obstacle — namely, the differences in the religious
opinions of a portion of the adult population. Yes,
strange as it may appear, — nay, monstrous as it is, —
nevertheless these religious differences have been, and
are now, the only bar to the adoption of any wide and
general system of secular education."
" It is of course impossible to please all parties ; but
few persons, I imagine, could surely object to a national
system of education upon the following plan : — In the
first place, an Act of Parliament should be passed,
making it imperative that every child should receive
some education, and where the parents are destitute or
depraved, then that the State shall take the position of
the parents, and educate and train up all the neglected
and helpless children. In the second place : — In the
schools, let reading, writing, and arithmetic be taught
(with other branches of education, if possible, or re
quired), and such moral training as will teach a child
the difference between Right and Wrong— and here
let the schoolmaster's duty cease, and that of the minis
ters of religion begin. And in the third place:—
Let it be tho duty of the clergyman, and ministers of all
denominations, to instruct all those children who belong
to their particular church, chapel, or sect, in the religious

326 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
belief of their parents ; but when the parents do not
attend any place of worship, or profess any particular
creed — then, that the clergy of the Established Church
be allowed to instruct all such children in the religion
of the State. By such an arrangement as this, it appears
to me that if all the poor helpless children of the land
were schooled in the common elements of reading,
writing, etc., for five days in the week, and the clergy
and ministers of all denominations were to instruct these
children one day in the six in the religion of the class
to which they belong (independent of the Sunday), that
then all parties might be satisfied, and a great objection
done away with as to the great general system which I
here propose for secular instruction and moral and reli
gious training."
He goes on to remark that a reformatory may be
wanted in any country, under any circumstances, "but
why should we have Ragged Schools in rich England ? "
He proceeds to argue that there would be no need for
either Ragged Schools or Reformatories if the use of
" strong drink " were abolished ; and he calls upon
" the grown-up people not to allow innocent chUdren to
starve and fall into evil ways, because they cannot agree
upon the mode of cutting a Slice of Bread and
Butter." He adds : " But as prevention is better than
cure, I call upon all those who delight in good works to
aid the Temperance cause, which is, in truth, the only
radical cure for the evils complained of."
The tail-piece to this characteristic pamphlet — as
charming as it is characteristic — is a brightly-executed
drawing on wood of Britannia seated upon the British
lion, couchant, with her arms about " her ragged and
reformatory pets."

"A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER." 327
Cruikshank's zeal for the cause to which he had devoted
himself led him to take delight in the illustration even
of little Temperance pamphlets and fly-sheets.
Ruskin had said, in his " Time and Tide by Weare
and Tyne " (1867), " It is no more his business to etch
diagrams of drunkenness than it is mine at this moment
to be writing these letters against anarchy." Yet just as
Mr. Ruskin has gone on with bis letters, so Cruikshank
went on with his diagrams of drunkenness to the end.
Perhaps the best of Cruikshank's pamphlets, taking
the text and the drawings together, is " The Glass and
the New Crystal Palace," published by John CasseU. It
is thoroughly Cruikshankian, and in his most vivacious
mood : most striking are some of the iUustrations — as
the Spirit Level — a drunkard at fuU length upon the
pavement ; the Social VUlagers, with Death for the
host, and the villagers represented by their tombstones ;
and the whisky after the goose, and the goose after the
whisky, for instance.
He was ready, and eager, to give a helping hand in
aU directions to the last. In 1870, I asked him to join
my Committee, when I was a candidate for the Maryle-
bone division of the London School Board. I give his
prompt answer as an example of his clear head and of
his hearty readiness in his old age to serve a friend : —
" October 27th, 1870.
" Dear Blanchard Jerrold, — Your request would
have been complied with on the instant, but it so happens
that a gentleman called upon me a few days back with
a message from friend Hepworth Dixon, asking me to
allow my name to be placed on his Committee for this
' Educational Council/ to which, of course, I assented.

328 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
" Now if one man can have his name placed on two
Committees, then by all means place my name on your
Committee, but if not, then let me know if there is
any other way in which I can assist in this matter the
man who is a relative of, and who bears the name of,
two dear friends who were always held in the highest
esteem by, " Yours truly,
" Geo. Cruikshank."

A Bear Ward, Rogne and Vagabond. — From " More Mornings
at Bow Street.'

" I'll ride thee like a Mare o' th' Night." — From " More Mornings
at Bow Street."

CHAPTER VII.
cruikshank's last twenty tears.
The most notable of George Cruikshank's book-work,
after the failure of his magazine, was his " Life of Sir
John Falstaff," * illustrating a biography of the knight,
written in Robert Brough's happiest manner. Cruik
shank's twenty Falstaff etchings are admirable ex
amples of his peculiar excellences as an etcher, and
of his matured artistic faculty of composition and
observation. In these plates are some of the brightest bits of his
picturesqueness of outline, his happy, sprightly treat
ment of light and shade, and of his higher faculties as
an artist, of which fate permitted him to give the
world only scattered fragmentary evidences. Thacke
ray said of him, that he could draw an ancient gloomy
market-place as well as Mr. Prout or Mr. Nash.
What could be more picturesque, or daintier in the
* Published by Messrs. Longman and Co., 1857.

330 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
play of light, or happier in the variety of the archi
tecture, than the backgrounds of the scenes where
Sir John is arrested at the suit of Mrs. Quickly, or
where the knight not only persuades Mrs. Quickly
to withdraw her action, but also to lend him more
money? Mr. F. Wedmore has called attention, and
with ample reason, to the exquisite pathos of the death
of Falstaff, "in which the face of one who has died
' a-babbling of green fields,' hes very calm, with the
sign of gentle fancies but lately flown."
These plates were reissued in a " Library Shak-
1 speare " published in parts between 1871 and 1874,
together with Ulustrations by Sir John Gilbert (who,
by the way, in his youth delighted in copying Cruik-
; shank's etchings and drawings on wood) ; but it is
to be hoped that they may some day be rewedded
to Brough's biography, and reappear as the artist's
last important creation.
The twenty years which elapsed between the first
issue of "Falstaff" and the artist's death, albeit no
idle j'ears, have left not much completely worthy of the
best that had gone before. Cruikshank furnished
etchings to the "Life and Enterprises of Robert
William Elliston, Comedian" (1857), "Midnight
Scenes and Social Photographs — revelations of the
Wynds and Dens of Glasgow" (1858), Mr. Alfred
Cole's "Lorimer Littlegood" (1858), " Stenelaus and
Amylda, a Christmas Temperance Tale" (1858),
a frontispiece to Lowell's "Biglow Papers" (1859),
Dudley Costello's "Holidays with Hobgoblins " (1861),
" The Bee and the Wasp ; a Fable in Verse " (1861),
"A Discovery concerning Ghosts" (1863), Robert
Hunt's " Popular Romances of the West of England "

^Tr^e f^o&e And tye JlLu

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS. 331

(1865), the " Savage Club Papers " (1867), " The Oak,"
a magazine, edited by his friend the Rev. Charles
Rogers (1868), "Coila's Whispers," by the Knight
of Morar (1869), "The Brownies," and other tales,
by Juliana Horatia Ewing (1870), " The True Legend
of St. Dunstan and the Devil," by Edward G. Flight
(1871), " Lob-lie-by-the-Fire," and other tales, by
Juliana Horatia Ewing (1874). Then there are two
works, the Ulustrations to which proclaim the coming
end. " Peeps at Life," and " Studies in my Cell,"
by the London Hermit, published in 1875, are signed
" George Cruikshank, aged 83, 1875 ; " and in Mrs.
Octavian Blewitt's "The Rose and the Lily," is a
frontispiece — George Cruikshank's last design — signed,
"Designed and etched by George Cruikshank, age
83, 1875." This plate is here reproduced.
Not before 1869 did George Cruikshank publish his
last political plate.
In 1867 he put forth " The British Bee-Hive," which
was a rearrangement of a design made in 1840. The
artist drew a section of the hive, displaying fifty-four
cells, in which the various grades of society — from the
Queen to the costermonger — are shown, aU supported
by the army, the navy, and the volunteers, and sur
mounted by the crown, the royal standard, and the
union jack. This was a protest against further Parlia
mentary Reform ; for, as it has been observed, Cruik
shank was something of a Radical and something of a
Tory — but more of a Tory. He afterwards issued this
plate on a double sheet, inscribed " A Penny Political
Picture for the People, with a few words upon Parlia
mentary Reform, by their old friend, George Cruik
shank."

332 THE LIFE CF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

In the following year the old satirist drew a " Design
for a Ritualist High Church Tower and Steeple," which
he dedicated to Dr. Pusey and the Vicar of Bray. It was
etched on glass by Hancock's process. The tower of
the church was a fool's cap and bells, with the Pope for
weathercock. The porch was a bull's head, with a pro
cession of Ritualist fools entering by the nostrils.
The pohtical plate, dated July 1869, is a satire upon
Miss Rye's proposition to export "gutter children" to
America. " The little dears," as the artist always caUed
chUdren, are being scooped by a clergyman into a mud-
cart, from the gutter before the doors of the Angel gin-
palace. The satire was against those who had christened
the little waifs and strays of our streets "gutter children."
The name jarred upon Cruikshank's sensitive heart
Mr. Wedmore, referring to the closing years of the
great pictorial moralist, remarks : —
" He continued to labour ; some of his work being
even now but little known.* Early unpublished plates
for the ' Pilgrim's Progress ' remain, amongst others, in
the hands of Mr. Truman. Quite in recent years " (it
was in 1868) " he must have executed a private plate
for Mr. Frederick Locker, which shows that there
were moments at least iu which the store of his fancy
was not impoverished. No more ingenious design
could have been furnished to a collector than this of
' Fairy Connoisseurs examining Mr. Locker's trea
sures of Diirer, Rembrandt, etc' For Mr. Ruskin,
too, in 1866, there had been designed the ' Piper of

* His " Bachelor's own Book ; or, The Adventures of Mr.
Lambkin, Gent," the story as well as the etchings being by
Cruikshank, for instance.

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS. 333
Hamelin,' leading the children mountainwards with
the spell of his wonderful music. And in 1870 a
luxurious edition of ' Ingoldsby ' was supplied with
a frontispiece representing the fertile Mr. Barham,
surrounded by the creatures of his brain. And yet
more recent plates, the property of Mr. Bell, the pub
lisher — one of the 'Family Window,' and one in 'Lob-lie-
by-the-Fire ' — show that Cruikshank did not wholly
outlive his talent. What he outlived was the social
conditions he had best comprehended. Dying as it
were only yesterday, he belongs so much to the past,
because, though his period of production did not seem
long over, his time of receptiveness was gone by. As
a satirist, he belonged in spirit to another generation ;
we could not ask him to grapple, at fourscore years,
with the foibles of ours."
This is a true account of him, to all who knew
Cruikshank well in his latter days.
Earnest, healthy, vigorous, and ambitious to the
last ; he could not resign himself to live on the glory
of the past. He must be ever up and doing — especially
in the work that lay nearest his vahant heart. He
scattered his temperance work far and wide. "The
Fruits of Intemperance," published by John Cassell,
about 1855, is a minor design akin to that of the
Triumph of Bacchus. The tree is covered with
medallion-shaped fruit, and on each medallion is a
picture showing the effects of intoxicating liquors. The
roots of the tree are a bundle of serpents, and the sur
rounding ground is covered with tombstones, inscribed
"early fruit." But Cruikshank never lost an oppor
tunity of preaching his moral. He made a drawing of
" a drunken man knocking down a drunken woman, in

334 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
Oxford Street " on a Sunday afternoon ; and another of
" a drunken ruffian knocking down a woman who carries
a child," in Farringdon Street. He illustrated the
" Autobiography of a Thirsty Soul " in the Weekly
Record ; and for the same paper he drew a publican's
quart measure, with a death's head in lieu of ale froth, and
two drunkards babbling of the strengthening properties
of beer by a " Noted Stout House." In the Band of
Hope Review he illustrated a series, a parody on " The
House that Jack Built," called " The Gin Shop." He
threw off fly-leaves for Mr. Tweedie, as "A Man a Thing,"
" The House in Shadow," " The Loaf Lecture," " There
is Poison in the Pot,"- " The Red Dragon," and " The
Smokeless Chimney," — the last of which he designed as
a contribution to the Cotton Famine Fund, during the
American Civil War. But it didn't pay.
He was consoled, when publishers fell away from him
and his means of living became precarious, by the steady
friendship of many admirers. He received a pension
of £95 from the Crown, and one of £-50 from the
Royal Academy. In 1875, an endeavour was made by
Mr. Charles Rogers to raise a second testimonial ; but
this effort finally took the shape of a committee (of
which his good friend Dr. B. W. Richardson was chair
man) to purchase the Cruikshank collection of etchings
and drawings for the nation — the price put upon it being
£3,000— £500 more than the artist himself had fixed.
After much trouble and many disappointments, the col
lection passed into the possession of the Westminster
Aquarium Company; Cruikshank receiving in December
1 876, £2,500, and a survivorship life-annuity for himself
and wife of about £35.
The closing years of George Cruikshank's life were

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS. 335
harassed by a controversy about a design he made
and a statue he modelled of King Robert the Bruce,
to be erected by subscription at Bannockburn. The
consequence was a very lamentable quarrel, during
which Cruikshank claimed that he had been engaged
by the committee to make the design,* and that the
statue modelled by Mr. Currie was originated by him
— the contrary being, according to the committee, the
fact. Cruikshank, in co-operation -with Mr. Adams-
Acton, produced a model ; that is, Cruikshank made a
design, and then himself stood in the attitude of it as
Mr. Adams-Acton's model — the result being a statue,
and one which found favour wjth members of the com
mittee. But money disputes put an end to negotiations
with Cruikshank. He had drawn £85 for expenses ;
his plan involved in any case an outlay which the funds
would not cover ; and finally, after many difficulties,
the statue was committed to the care of Mr. Currie.
But Cruikshank's share in the transaction, as set forth
by himself, and as addressed to the Scottish people
in his eighty-fourth year, is too striking an example of
his vigour in old age to be omitted.

* In a letter to the Times (December 5th, 1877), he re
marked : " As I am the artist who was first engaged by the
Bruce Committee to make a design for a monumental statue
of King Eobert the Bruce, I was very much surprised, upon
reading in the Times of the 26th ult. the account of the un
veiling of the Bruce statue at Stirhng, to find that no state
ment was made as to my being the original designer," etc.

336 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

" An Address and Explanation to the Scottish
People, by George Cruikshank, with respect
to the proposed Statue in Honour of King
Robert the Bruce.
" In the month of May 1870, several Scottish noble
men and gentlemen formed themselves into a committee
with the object of raising a fund by subscription, for the
purpose of having a statue of King Robert the Bruce
placed on ' the field of Bannockburn,' in honour of that
hero, and in memory of the great victory achieved by him
and his army in that fiekl on the 24th of June, 1314.
" Some friends of mine, who were on this committee,
invited me to be a member thereof — which honour I was
obliged to decline, as I could not spare the time to
attend the meetings ; but, as ' The Bruce ' was one of
my great heroes, I promised to give them all the assist
ance I could, and suggested the attitude for the figure,
which they all approved of, and at their first meeting
they decided that I should be requested to make the
design for the statue.
" I must here explain that, although I am an artist
and designer, I am not what is termed a sculptor; but
it so happened that a friend of mine, a brother artist,
who is a sculptor, chanced to see my design, and was so
pleased with it, that he volunteered to make a model of
it, which he did, acting upon my suggestions, and from me
as I stood in the attitude and equipped in the armour.
" I also designed a pedestal ; and when the model was
completed, a cast in plaster of Paris was taken, and ex
hibited in my studio to the committee, and the noble
men, gentlemen, and friends who attended. All highly

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS. 337
approved of the design and the model, and the gentlemen
connected with the press, who had visited my studio,
gave most flattering reports, for which I most sincerely
thank them. After this I had the very great honour of
submitting the model for the inspection of Her Most
Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle.
" Several casts in plaster were taken from the model
for exhibition in London and Scotland, for the inspection
of any one who might feel disposed to subscribe ; and
the committee gave a commission to the sculptor, Mr.
John Adams-Acton, to execute a bronze statue of ' The
Bruce,' ten or twelve feet in height, to be placed on a
rocky grey granite pedestal twenty-two feet high ; and
all seemed to be going on well, and the work was about
to be commenced, when suddenly the subscriptions all
stopped at once ! and this, no doubt, was in consequence
of the breaking out of the late war between France and
Germany, which terrible contest so entirely absorbed
the public mind, that ' The Bruce ' was quite forgotten.
" This was, of course, a great disappointment to all
concerned in the movement, and the matter since that
time has been almost at a standstiU ; but I am happy
to say that a mUitary officer has joined our ranks, and
who now takes the lead, and seems determined, if possi
ble, to conquer and overcome all difficulties. This is
Major-General Sir James E. Alexander, C.B., of Wester-
ton, Bridge of Allan, and who is chairman of the 'Bruce
Local Committee of Stirling.'
" I have now to mention another disappointment to
myself and the committee, which was, that the Odd
Fellows of Stirling had erected a large flagstaff (by per
mission of the owner of the land) on the very spot where
we had intended to have applied for permission to place
22

338 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
the statue ; that being the site where the Scottish
standard was fixed on the day of the battle. This bit of
ground being occupied, it was then thought that the
best place to have the statue would be on the esplanade
of Stirling Castle. Sir James Alexander thereupon
applied to the Secretary of State for War for a space
on the esplanade for this purpose, which request has
most kindly been compUed with.
" I must now explain to those who have not seen the
original model that Bruce is there represented as if he
were looking down with pity on the slain, and as if he
were saying, ' The fight is der, the day is won: I sheathe
my sword.' But now that the site is quite different to
what was originally intended, it is necessary that tho
position of the figure should be altered ; and, as will be
seen by the accompanying rough sketch, the head is now
elevated, and Bruce is supposed to be looking across the
esplanade towards the field of Bannockburn, which is a
mile and a half from Stirling Castle, and, as in the first
model, Bruce has sheathed his sword.
"With respect to the pedestal. I may just explain
that on the front part are the words ' Kikg Robert the
Bruce' in large letters, and following this, in smaller
letters, is ' Bannockburn, June 24. 1314.' Under this
line are two branches — one of laurel and the other
id' willoic, emblems of victory and sorrow for the slain.
Then is stated, ' Erected by public subscription in the
reign of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland.' Between the words Victoria and
Queen is a circular wreath formed of the Rose; the
Thistle, and tlie Shamrock, in which circle are two hands
joined, a malo and female, as an emblem of the union by
marriage of the two royal families of England and Scot-

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS.

339

land, and on one side of these royal families were the
descendants of ' the Bruce.'
" Nearly fifty years back I painted a picture of an
incident in the life of Bruce, exhibited in the British
Institution, Pall Mall, London, and was then careful to
have the correct costume ; but when making the design
for the statue, ' to make assurance doubly sure,' I got
my friend Mr. Bond, keeper of the Ancient Manuscripts
at the British Museum, to let me look over the MSS. of
the time of Bruce, and then found that I had got the
correct costume. I think this is important ; for should
the statue be erected, all those who might look at it
would see just such a powerful man as Bruce was, in
the exact sort of armour and coat of mail that he wore
on the field of Bannockburn.
"The Bruce in his early progress met with many
difficulties, all of which, however, he overcame by his
perseverance, and the ' Bruce Committee ' and myself
are following his noble example in this respect ; and I
trust that all the descendants of those ' Scots whom
Bruce had often led ' will rally round the Major-General'
and his committee corps, and assist them to place the
statue of him who was the great commander of the
Scottish army at the battle of Bannockburn in this safe
and commanding position on the esplanade of Stirling
Castle. " With regard to myself, as my ancestors were all
natives of Scotland — some Lowlanders and some High
landers — I should indeed be pleased to have my name
associated with any national work of art that might be
placed in the land of my forefathers, and I should con
sider it one of the greatest honours that could be con
ferred upon me if it could be written on the pedestal

340 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

that this monument in honour of King Robert the Bruce
was designed by the artist, "George Cruikshank.
" Hampstead Road, London, August 1874.
"P.S.— I am authorized to state that subscriptions
may be remitted to W. Christie, Esq., secretary to the
Bruce Committee, Port Street, Stirling; or to the
treasurer, John A. Murrie, Esq., the manager of the

Antagonism of Interest yet Mutuality of Object.— From " Talpa;
or, Chronicles of a Clav Farm. "

branch of the National Bink of Scotland at Stirling ;
and at London. And I am given to understand that
about fourteen or fifteen hundred pounds are required,
in addition to what is already in hand, in order to carry
out the work in the first style of art."
At the ceremony of unveiling Mr. Cu'rrie's statue in
front of Stirling Castle (November 24, 1877), Major-
General Sir James Alexander, of Westerton, in handing
over the work to the Provost and Corporation of Stir
ling, said, that as they could not get a bronze statue

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS.

341

" under the direction of an eminent artist, Mr. George
Cruikshank, of London," they had resolved to have
one of durable stone.
This closing transaction of his life poor Cruikshank
felt most bitterly ; and he charged his old friend Dr.
Rogers, Sir James Alexander, and all concerned in it,
with having behaved in " a most dishonourable and
disgraceful manner." These were hot, ill-considered
words, uttered in the pain of a very trying disappoint
ment : words to be forgotten over the artist's grave.
Mr. Frederick Wedmore gives us a peep at him as
he went about of late, his heart still upon his sleeve
as when he was young, in the days of the Regency :
" Many of us who did not know him at home have at
least met him about ; for not only was he a familiar
figure of the dreary quarter which he inhabited — where
the dingy squalor of St. Pancras touches on the shabby
respectability of Camden Town — but he travelled much
in London, and may well have been beheld handing his
card to a stranger with whom he had talked casually in
a Metropolitan Railway carriage, or announcing his
personality to a privileged few who were invited to see
in him the convincing proof of the advantages of a
union of genius with water- drinking. He was an
entirely honest man ; and who is there that would not
forgive the httle pleasurable vanities that he chose to
allow himself at the fag end of a life not over-prosperous
— a career no one had carefully made smooth, a career
fiUed full of inventive work as rich as Hogarth's and
as genial as Dickens's ? "
" Occasionally," Mr. Frederick Locker writes,* " he

* March 26th, 1878.

342 THE LIFE OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
used to come to us and teU us his troubles, and what
was occupying him ; but, like many other interesting
people, he did not talk about what would have been
most worth hearing. The last time I saw him he
spoke of having known Tom Hood (the elder)* very
well, but he did not tell us anything about him worth
remembering. Poor man, it was a bitterly cold morn
ing last December, and he arrived before breakfast,
and stayed to breakfast. Mr. Austin Dobson was
there ; and he told us the story of how he invented
Old Fagin in the condemned cell." Mr. Dobson savs
of him at this breakfast : " On the morning in question
(I think it must have been the 14th of December last,
1877), Mr. Cruikshank came in ; and I, who had not
seen him more than once or twice in my life, was only
too eager to ask him all sorts of questions about himself.
Except that he was a httle bent, he had no appearance
of age — certainly not of the advanced age he had
reached. He was very bright and alert, and appeared
to have an excellent memory for the circumstances
of his career."
He celebrated his silver wedding on the Sth of March,
1875, when his house was crowded with his friends and
admirers, who took tea with him. Mr. S. C. Hall, his
old friend, addressed a few words to the company,

* When it was agreed that Cruikshank was to illustrate
Hood's "Epping Hunt," author and artist, with two or three
friends, spent a highly convivial day in tlie Forest. Hood and
Cruikshank were fast friends, and were wont to sit up together
very late of nights in Amwell-street — the wild humour and
prodigious animal spirits of the latter being a delight to the
quiet humourist, under whose fun, however, lay a serious poetic
mind, and a tender heart.

CRUIKSHANK'S LAST TWENTY YEARS. 343
which so affected Mrs. Cruikshank, that she fell weeping
upon her husband's neck. Mr. Walter Hamilton, who
was present, remarks : " To receive the congratulations
of so many friends was a task which would have
fatigued and excited many a younger man than Mr.
Cruikshank ; but he preserved his self-possession through
it well, having a ready jest and a smile for each and
all ; whilst Mrs. Cruikshank, who was fairly hedged in
on every side with bouquets, looked far too young to be
one of the principals in such a ceremony. A guard of
honour from his old corps attended to congratulate
their late colonel. It was late in the afternoon before
Mr. Cruikshank withdrew for a few moments from the
crowded rooms, and as he went he whispered, laugh
ingly, to the author, ' You are down on our list of
visitors for the Golden Wedding,' "
" On the morning of the 1st of February," writes
his young friend, Grace Stebbing,* "there was still
living a bright, brave-spirited old man, who had worked
on untiringly almost to the end, even to within three
weeks of his death, when I, one of those privileged
to claim his friendship even from my infancy upwards,
met him hurrying along the streets with cheerful,
eager aspect, to keep ' a business appointment.' '

* The Graphic, February 9th, 1878.

344

CHAPTER VIII.
THE END.
George Cruikshank fell ill in the first month of
1878, and was attended by his sympathetic and dis
tinguished friend, Dr. B. W. Richardson.
He died at his house in the Hampstead Road, on
the 1st of February. He was buried temporarUy — the
Crypt of St. Paul's being under repair- — at Kensal
Green. The only member of the Royal Academy who
attended his funeral was Charles Landseer, R.A., who
was almost as old as Cruikshank. But Messrs. Tenniel
and Du Maurier were there, with poor W. Brunton,
a clever caricaturist, who was to fall in his youth.
Cruikshank's friend, George Augustus Sala, and Lord
Houghton, were among his paU-bearers ; and in the
group about the coffin were Edmund Yates, S. C. Hall,
General M'Murdo, and John Sheehan, the " Irish
Whiskey-drinker." On the 29th of the following November, a hearse,
followed by a mourning-coach containing Mrs. George
Cruikshank, convoyed the mortal part of the illustrious
artist to St. Paul's, and four sergeants of the volunteer
corps which he had commanded brought up the pro-

THE END. 345

cession. The coffin was silently lowered to its final
resting-place immediately after the afternoon service.
The following is the inscription over the grave :
GEORGE CRUIKSHANK,
Artist,
Designee, Etcher, Painter.

Bom at No. — , Duke Street, St. George's, Bloomsbury, London,
on September 27th, 1792.
Died at 263, Hampstead Road, St. Pancras, London,
on February 1st, 1878,
Aged 86 Tears.

In memory of his Genius and his Art,
His matchless Industry and worthy Work
For all his fellow-men ; This monument
Is humbly placed within this sacred Fane,
J5y her who loved him best, his widowed wife.

Eliza Cruikshank. Feb. 9th, 1880.

APPENDIX I.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS
ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
1809
A Dictionary of the Slang and Cant Languages. By George
Andrewes. [Coloured folding frontispiece of " The Beggar's
Carnival," by George Cruikshank.] Pp. 16. 12mo. London :
George Smeeton, 1809. 1811-16
The Scourge ; A Monthly Expositor of Imposture and Folly.
London : J. Johnson, Cheapside, Goddard, Pall Mall, and
Jones and Co., 5, Newgate-street. 8vo. Cruikshank furnished
thirty-eight etchings to this work, signed "G." or "Geo. Cruik
shank fecit." Eleven volumes appear to have been published.
1812
Metropolitan Grievances; or, a Serio-comic Glance at Minor
Mischiefs in London and its Vicinity. London : Sherwood,
Neely, and Jones. 12mo. [Large folding coloured etching,
" G. Cruikshank, fecit."] 1813
The History of the Manners and Customs of the Cossachs,
describing their singular mode of Fighting, Religious Customs,
etc. [Coloured folding frontispiece by George Cruikshank.]
Pp. 20. 8vo. London : Smeeton, 1813.
The Modem Dunciad, a Satire ; with Notes, Biographical
and Critical. By George Daniel, of Islington. London : printed
for John Rodwell, 46, New Bond-street. [Etched frontispiece,
in brown ink, by George Cruikshank.] 1813.
1814
The Annals of Gallantry ; or, The Conjugal Monitor, being a
collection of the most curious and important Trials for Divorce
and Actions for Crim. Con. Three volumes. 8vo. [Three
coloured plates by George Cruikshank in the first volume.]
London : Jones, Newgate-street, 1814.

348 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1813-
1813-14
The Meteor, or Monthly Censor. Seven monthly num
bers, from November 1813 to May 1814, each containLag a
design by George Cruikshank, in addition to the pictorial cover.
1814
Frontispiece, representing the entrance of Louis XVIII. into
Paris, to a Chap-Book, published by P. Egan, 29, Great Marl-
borough-street, 1814. 1814-15
Life of Napoleon. A Hudibrastic Poem in fifteen Cantos,
by Dr. Syntax, embellished with thirty engravings. London :
T. Tegg, Cheapside. [Issued in weekly numbers, with two
engravings by Cruikshank in each number. Not republished,
but there are copies bearing the date of 1817 on the coloured
engraved title-page.] 1816
Hone's Interesting History qf the Memorable Blood Con
spiracy. London : Wilham Hone, 55, Fleet-street. With a
portrait of Stephen Macdaniel, etched by George Cruikshank
from a drawing from life made in Newgate, June 10th, 1756,
by Charles Leigh. 1817
Official Account of the Noble Lord's Bite! and his dangerous
condition, with who went to see him, and what was said, smut,
and done on the melancholy occasion. London : \\T. Hone.
8vo. 1817. [Wood-cut vignette on title-page by George Cruik
shank.] Another Ministerial Defeat ! The Trial of the Dog, for biting
the Noble Lord, with the whole of the evidence at length.
London : W. Hone. 8vo. 1817. [With wood-cut vignette on
title-page by George Cruikshank.]
The State Lottery. A Dream. By Samuel Roberts. Accom
panied by the Thoughts cm Wheel* of James Montgomery,
London : Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1S17. Svo. With
folding frontispiece by G. C.
The Pigeons. Dedicated to all the Flats, and showing the
Artifices, Success and Crimes of Gamins,', Gamesters, and
< > ambling Houses. By the author of " The Greeks." London :
•T. J. Stockdale, 1817. 12mo. [Six satirical coloured etchings
by (i.O.]
Fashion. Dedicated to all the Town. Illustrated with six
humorous prints. London : J. J. Stockdale, 1817. 12 mo.
Pp. 171. The six full-page etchings by G. C. are coloured.

1 820.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 349
1819
The Free-born Englishman deprived qf his Seven Senses by the.
Operation of the Six New Acts of the Boroughmongers. A Poem,
by Geoffry Gag-'em-all. London : Fairburn. 12mo. [Folding
coloured etched frontispiece by George Cruikshank. ] 1819.
The Englishman's Mentor. The Picture of the Palais Royal,
describing its Spectacles, Gaming Rooms, Coffee Houses,
Restaurateurs, etc., etc., and other remarkable objects in that
high change of the Fashionable Dissipation and Vice of Paris.
With characteristic sketches and anecdotes of its frequenters
and inhabitants. London : William Hone, 1819. 12mo. [Fold
ing coloured frontispiece, 15i- inches long, " G. Cruikshank
fecit."] The Age qf Intellect; or, Clerical Show- folk and Wonderful
Lay-folk. A series of Poetical Epistles between Bob Blazon,in
Town and Jack Jingle in the Country. By Francis Moore,
Physician. London : William Hone, 1819. 12mo. [Curious
coloured frontispiece, "G. Cruikshank, set."]
The Ton, Anecdotes, Chit-chat, Hints and On dits. Stock-
dale, 1819. 12mo. [Six coloured etchings by George Cruik
shank.] 1819-22
Facetle and Miscellanies. By William Hone. With one
hundred and twenty engravings, drawn by George Cruikshank.
London : pubhshed for William Hone, by Hunt and Clarke.
8vo. [A collection of these pamphlets, re-issued in 1827, having
on its title-page a vignette woodcut, showing the publisher and
' the artist sitting at table — Cruikshank in Hessian boots ; signed
W. Hone, invt. ; G. Cruikshank, del.]
The following publications are contained in the volume :
1819. The Political House that Jack Built. With thirteen
cuts. 1820. The Man in the Moon, etc., etc. With fifteen cuts.
Including the two following.
 . A Political Christmas Carol. Set to music. To be
chaunted or sung throughout the United Kingdom and the
Dominions beyond the Seas, by all persons thereunto especially
moved. [Two leaves, with two woodcuts after G. 0.]
 . The Doctor. [One leaf, with two woodcuts after
G. C] '
1820. The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder. A National Toy.
With fourteen step-scenes, and illustrations in Verse. With
eighteen other cuts.

3SO BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [i.'ao-
1820. "Non Mi Ricordo/'' etc., etc., etc. [Three woodcuts
after G. C]
1820. The Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving, etc. To be
used daily by all Devout People throughout the Realm, for
the happy deliverance of Her Majesty the Queen. [Woodcut
on title-page by G. C]
1821. The Political Showman  at Home! Exhibiting
his Cabinet of Curiosities and Creatures — All Ahve ! With
twenty-four cuts.
1821. The Right Divine of Kings to Govern Wrong ! Dedi
cated to the Holy Alliance. Pp. 60. [Two woodcuts by
G. Cruikshank.]
 . The Bonk Restriction Not: "With the Bank Re
striction Barometer."
1822. A Slap at Shp and the Bridge Street Gang. _ [With
three large folding woodcuts and twenty-three smaller illustra
tions on wood by George Cruikshank.]
Separate pagination to each.
1819-21
The Humourist. A collection of Entertaining Tales, etc.
Four volumes, 12mo. [Coloured etchings by George Cruikshank. ]
1820
Life in London; or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry
Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom, accom
panied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their Rambles and Sprees
through the Metropolis. By Pierce Egan. London : Sherwood,
Neely and Jones, Paternoster-row. Dedicated to His Most
Gracious Majesty George the Fourth. Embellished with
thirty-six (coloured) scenes from real life, designed and etched
by I. R. and G. Cruikshank, and numerous engravings on wood
by the same artists. [In 1870, Mr John Camden Hotten repro
duced this work, with the illustrations in lithography, coloured
after the originals.] 8vo.
The Man in the J/o.m ,- or, "The Devil to Pay.'' With
thirteen cuts. London : Dean and Munday, 1820. 8vo.
Doll Tair-sheet, alias the Countess " Je ne me rappelle pas,"
a Match for "Non Mi Rioordo." With cuts. London: John
Fairburn. Svo. 1820. [With six woodcuts by George Cruik
shank.] The Royal Wanderer Beguiled Abroad and Reclaimed at
Home. [Satirical plate by G. C] 8vo. London: W.Wright,
1820. '

1822.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 351
Memoirs of Queen Caroline. By J. Nightingale. Two volumes,
12mo. London : J. Robins and Co. , 1820. [Contains, among
others, two engravings on copper from designs by George Cruik
shank]. 1820. The Radicals Unmasked and Outwitted; or, The Thistle
uprooted in Cato Field. [Frontispiece by G. C.] 12mo.
A Frown from the Croum ; or, The Hydra destroyed. Lon
don : John Fairburn, Broadway, Ludgate Hill. 8vo. [Large
woodcut on title-page, "G. Cruikshank, del."] 1820.
1820-21
The Loyalist's Magazine. Complete. Presented to His
Majesty at the Leve"e, Feb. 22, 1821. Containing the Principal
Facts, Circumstances, Satyres, Jeux d'Esprits, Reviews, Biogra
phical Contrasts and Pohtical Retrospects published during the
Rise, Reign, and Fall of the Caroline Contest. With ten copper
plates and caricatures, coloured, by» Cruikshank. Published by
Turner, King's Stationer, Cheapside : and W. Wright, Fleet-
street. 8vo. Pp. viii. , 256. 1821
The Spirit of Despotism. Dedicated to Lord Castlereagh.
Edited by the Author of "The Political House that Jack Bnilt."
London : William Hone. 8vo. 1821. [Woodcut vignette on
title-page by G. C]
The Progress of a Midshipman exemplified in the Career of
MasUr Blockhead. Folio. [Seven plates and a frontispiece by
George Cruikshank.] London : Humphrey. Reissued in 1835
by McLean. 1822
Kilts and Philibegs ! ! The Northern Excursion of Geordie,
Emperor of Gotham, and Sir Willie Curt-his, the Court Buf
foon, etc., etc. London : John Fairburn. 8vo. [In two parts,
with humorous etched coloured frontispieces, signed ' ' G. Ck."]
The Miraculous Host Tortured by the Jew under the Reign of
Philip the Fair, in 1290. Illustrated by ten cuts. London :
William Hone. 8vo. 1822.
Life in Paris : comprising the Rambles, Sprees, and Amours
of Dick Wildfire, of Corinthian celebrity, and his bang-up
companions, Squire Jenkins and Captain O'Shuffleton ; with the
whimsical adventures of the Halibut Family. By David Carey.
Embellished with twenty-one coloured plates, representing scenes
from Real Life, designed and engraved by George Cruikshank.
Enriched also with twenty-two engravings on wood, drawn by

352 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1822-
the same artist, and executed by Mr. White. London : John
Fairburn. 1822.
The Magic Spell: The History and Adventures of Prince
Lucillo and Princess Rayonette. 12mo. [Eight woodcut illus
trations engraved by Branston after designs by George Cruik
shank]. 1822. 1823
Christmas Stories. Containing "John Wildgoose the Poacher,"
" The Smuggler," and " Good Nature ; or, Parish Matters."
Oxford : printed by W. Baxter for J. Parker, 1823. 12mo.
Pp. 210. [With three etchings by George Cruikshank, — two to
the first, and one to the second story.]
Ancient Mysteries Described, especially the English Miracle
Plays, founded on Apocryphal New Testament Story, extant
among the unpublished manuscripts in the British Museum,
etc. By William Hone. W^ith engravings on copper and wood.
London : William Hone. 8vo. 1823. [Contains two coloured
etchings of the " Giants in Guildhall," drawn and etched from
the Statues by George Cruikshank, and of "The Fools' Morris
Dance, faithfully etched from an original oil picture by George
Cruikshank."] Points of Humour. Illustrated by the designs of George
Cruikshank. 8vo. London : C. Baldwyn, 1823. Pp. vi., 47.
With ten full-page etchings, and eight woodcut tail-pieces.
1824
Points of Humour. Illustrated by the designs of George
, Cruikshank. Part II. London . C. Baldwyn, 1824. With ten
¦ full-page etchings, and twelve small etchings in text.
1823-8
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. By W. H. Ireland. Four volumes,
8vo. [With twenty-three folding coloured plates by G. C,
either from his own designs, or those of Isabey, Denon, Vernet,
Girard, Swebach, etc.] London : Fairburn.
1823-4-
Peter Schlemihl. From the German of Lamotte Fouque".
With plates by George Cruikshank. London : G. and W. B.
X Whittaker, ISL't. 12mo. Pp. xii., 105. With eight full-page
etchings by George Cruikshank. [An earlier issue, bearing date
1823, is rarely to be found, and is much esteemed by collectors.]
1824
Der Freischiitx Trarestie. By Septimus Globus, Esq. With
twelve etchings by George Cruikshank, from drawings by an

1827.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 353
amateur (Alfred Crowquill). London : C. Baldwyn, 1824. 8vo.
Pp.68. Tales qf Irish Life, Illustrative of the Manners, Customs, and
Condition of the People. With designs by George Cruikshank.
Two vols. 16mo. Pp. iv., 242 ; 249. London : J. Robins and
Co., 1824. [With six illustrations drawn on wood by George
Cruikshank, and engraved by G. W. Bonner, J. Thompson, and
W. Hughes.]
Tales of Humour, Gallantry, and Romance. Selected and
translated from the Italian. With sixteen illustrative drawings
by George Cruikshank. 8vo. London : Charles Baldwyn, 1824.
Pp. viii., 253.
The Collective Wisdom : or Sights and Sketches in the Chapel
of St. Stephen. Containing a bird's-eye view, with characters
and cuts, of John Cam Hobhouse, Peter Moore, and Richard
Martin, Esqrs., M.P.'s. The cuts by Cruikshank, the descrip
tions by a Member of the Upper Benches. London : Knight
and Lacey, 1824. 8vo. Pp. 54.
1824-5
Forty Illustrations of Lord Byron. (Coarsely executed wood
cuts.) London : James Robins and Co. 8vo, in wrapper.
1824-5. Thirty-six of these illustrations were designed by
George Cruikshank to accompany Clinton's " Memoirs of the
Life and Writings of Lord Byron."
The Spirit of the Public Journals. Three vols. 8vo. [Two cuts
by George and other cuts by Robert and George Cruikshank.]
1824-6
German Popular Stories. Translated from the Kinder und
Haus Marchen, coUected by M.M. Grimm, from Oral Tradi
tion. Two vols. 12mo. 1824-6. (Vol. I., pp. xu., 240, pub- ,
lished by C. Baldwyn, 1824; Vol. II. , pp. iv., 257, by James
Robins and Co., 1826). [The first series contains twelve etch
ings, including the vignette on the engraved title ; the second,
ten etchings, including vignette on title.]
1824-7
Mornings at Bow Street. A selection of the most humorous
and entertaining reports which have appeared in the Morning ^
Herald. By J. Wight. Illustrated with twenty-one woodcuts,
signed G. Ck. London : Charles Baldwyn, 1824. 8vo.
More Mornings at Bow Street. A New Collection of Humorous
and Entertaining Reports. By John Wight, of the Morning /
Herald With twenty-four illustrations by George Cruikshank
n.'f ^»atJ -iv <-^> ¦¦-•-'¦•'¦'-

354 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1825-
on wood, and etched frontispiece. London : James Robins and
Co., 1827. 8vo. 1825
Hans of Iceland. London: J. Robins and Co., 1825. 8vo.
With four etchings by George Cruikshank.
Smiles for all Seasons. 12mo. Frontispiece by George
Cruikshank. ] London : Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1825.
Catholic Miracles. Illustrated with seven designs by George
Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. 102. London : Knight and Lacey, 1825.
1825-6
The Universal Songster, or Museum of Mirth, forming the most
complete, extensive, and valuable collection of ancient and
modern songs in the Enghsh language. Three vols. 8vo.
[With three etched frontispieces, woodcut title, and twenty-
four song illustrations, by George Cruikshank.] 1825-6.
1826
Specimens of German Romance. Three vols. Whittaker,
1826. With three etched frontispieces by George Cruikshank.
[This is not, as Mr. Reid erroneously states, Carlyle's German
Romance. That work was pubhshed at Edinburgh, in four
volumes, in 1827, and the illustrations were not by Cruikshank.]
Phrenological Illustrations; or, An Artist's View of the Cranio-
logical System of Doctors Gall and Spurzheim. By George
Cruikshank. London . published by George Cruikshank, Myd-
delton-terrace, Pentonville, and sold by J. Robins and Co., etc.
Oblong 4to. 1820. [Woodcut on title, two pages of introductory
letter-press, and six etched plates, containing thirty-two subjects,
by George Cruikshank.]
Greenwich Hospital ; a series of Naval Sketches, descriptive
of the Life of a Man-of- War's Man. By an Old Sailor. With
illustrations by George Cruikshank. 4to. Pp. 200. London :
James Robins and Co., 1S26. [With twelve full-page coloured
etchings, and humorous woodcut tailpieces, by George Cruik
shank. The ' ' Old Sailor " was Captain Matthew Henry Barker ;
several later works of his were also illustrated by Cruikshank.]
1826-7
The Every -Ditij Book, or Everlasting Calendar of Popular
Amusements, etc. By William Hone. Two vols. 8vo. Con
tains eleven woodcuts by Cruikshank. 1827
Eccentric Tales from the German of W. F. von Kosewitz.

1828.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 355
With illustrations by George Cruikshank, from sketches by
Alfred Crowquill. London : James Robins and Co. 8vo. Pp.
181. 1827. There are twenty full-page coloured illustrations by
George Cruikshank, and one woodcut.
The Shilling Comic Annual. A Collection of Short Good
Things which Have, Might, Could, Would, Should, or Ought
to have been said by the Wise and Witty of all Ages. 16mo.
[Frontispiece by George Cruikshank.]
Every Night Book; or, Life after Dark. By the author of
"The Cigar." London: T. Richardson, 98, High Holborn.
Small 8vo. [Woodcut vignette on title-page by George Cruik
shank.] Illustrations of Time. By George Cruikshank. Published by
the Artist, etc. Seven oblong folio plates, in wrapper.
Bibliotheca Sussexiana. A Descriptive Catalogue by Thomas
Joseph Pettigrew, Librarian to the Duke of Sussex. Two vols.
8vo. London : Longman and Co. With seven etchings and four
woodcuts by George Cruikshank.
London Characters. Designed and etched by George Cruik
shank. 12mo. Robins. [Contains twenty-four coloured plates,
of which fifteen are by George, and nine by Robert Cruikshank. ]
A Fireside Book ; or, the Account of a Christmas spent at
Old Court. 8vo. J. A. Hessey ; Second edition, Smith, Elder,
and Co., 1830. [Frontispiece by George Cruikshank.]
Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest. Three vols.
12mo. London : Longmans, 1827. [Twenty-two woodcuts after
George» Cruikshank.] 1827-8
The Table Book. By Wilham Hone. 2 vols. 8vo. [With
woodcut from a drawing by G. Cruikshank, of "Botocudo
Indians."] 1828
Catalogue RaisonnS of the select Collection of Engravings of an
Amateur (Mr. Thomas Wilson). 4to. Contains five etchings by
George Cruikshank. Only twenty-five copies printed on large
paper ; it appears that a quantity of the sheets were destroyed
by damp.
Punch and Judy. With illustrations designed and engraved
by George Cruikshank, accompanied by the dialogue of the
puppet-show. London: S Prowett, 55, Pall Mall, 1828.
Pp. 111. [With twenty-four etchings and four woodcut
vignettes.]

356 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1828-
The Diverting History of John Gilpin. With six illustrations
._/ by George Cruikshank. Engraved on wood by Thompson,
Branston, Wright, Slader, and White. London : Charles Tilt,
1828. (Reissued in 1832 in a 16mo sheet, and in square 12mo.)
Original Jests. By John Harcourt. Comprising an unpub
lished Collection of Bon Mots, Jeux d'Esprit, Repartees, Bulls,
• etc. Illustrated (with a frontispiece only) by George Cruik
shank. London : John Fairburn, 1828. 12mo. Pp. 54.
Tim Bobbin's Lancashire Dialect and Poems. Plates by
G. Cruikshank. London : Hurst, Chance, and Co., 1828. 8vo.
Pp. viii., 184. [With four full-page etchings by George, and
two by Robert Cruikshank.] 1828-32
Scraps and Sketches. By George Cruikshank. Oblong foho,
\j in paper wrappers. In four parts. London : pubhshed by the
Artist, 22, Myddelton-terrace, Pentonville, and James Robins
and Co. 1829
The Epping Hunt. By Thomas Hood. Illustrated with six
, engravings on wood by Branston and Wright, Bonner, Slader,
and T. Williams, after the designs of George Cruikshank.
London : Charles Tilt, 1829. Pp. 29.
1830
Tales of other Days. By J. Y. A. With illustrations hy
George Cruikshank, engraved by J. Thompson, and S. and f.
Williams. 8vo. London : Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange,
1830. Pp. vii., 250. [Six full-page woodcuts, separate from
text, and vignette on title. The author was John Yonge
Akerman.] The Neiv Bath Guide. By Christopher Anstey. New edi
tion, with biographical and topographical preface by John
,\ Britton, F.S.A. Embellished with engravings by G. Cruik
shank, etc. 8vo. Pp. lxxvi., 170. London : Hurst, Chance
and Co., 1830. [Frontispiece and vignette designed and en
graved on wood by S. Williams ; five full-page" etchings by
George Cruikshank.]
Tom Thumb ; A Burletta, altered from Henry Fielding.
By Kane O'Hara. With designs by George Cruikshank.
London: Thomas Rodd, 1830. 12mo. Pp. 34. [With five
full-page woodcuts, vignette on title and tailpiece designed by
G. C, and engraved by WiUiams and Bonner.]
Jlo in hasten Furivso : A Burlesque Tragic Opera. By \Yilliam
Barnes Khodes. With designs by George Cruikshank. Lon-

1831.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 357
don : Thomas Rodd, 1830. 12mo. Pp. 34. In yellow wrap
per. [With seven fuU-page woodcuts and vignette on title
and wrapper, designed by G. Cruikshank, and engraved by
WiUiams and Bonner. A few copies were issued on India
paper.] The " Greatest Happiness.'' Principle in Morals and Govern
ment explained and defended. In answer to the Edinburgh
Review. Republished from the Westminster Review, Nos. 21-23.
London : R. Heward. 8vo. 1830. [Woodcut on title, "George
Cruikshank, del."]
IUustrations qf Popular Works. By George Cruikshank.
Part I. (ah published'). 4to. London : published for the Artist
by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-row,
1830. [These six etchings Ulustrate Smollett's Roderick Random,
Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, Knickerbocker's New York, by
Washington Irving, and Burns's Song, " The Deil cam fiddling
thro1 the toun." It was proposed to publish a part every three
or four months ; but the work was discontinued after the first
number, and no more appeared.]
Sir Walter Scott's Demonology and Witchcraft. Twelve plates
in illustration of. Designed, etched, and pubhshed by George
Cruikshank, November 1830.
Three Courses and a Dessert. (By William Clarke). The
Decorations by. George Cruikshank. London: Vizetelly, Bran
ston, and Co. 8vo. 1830. [Second edition in the same year.
Third edition, with fuUer title, in 1836. Contains fifty-one
woodcuts, after sketches by the author, signed G. Ck.]
The Cream of the Jest, a Fund of Wit and Humour. Derby :
Mozley. 12mo. [Humorous coloured plate in four divisions by
George Cruikshank.] 1831
The Gentleman in Black. With Illustrations by George Cruik
shank, engraved by J. Thompson and C. Landells. London :
William Kidd, 1831. 12mo. Pp. iv., 309. [With five full-
page woodcuts and tailpiece by G. C]
Odds and Ends. In Verse and Prose. By William Henry
Merle. Illustrated by George Cruikshank, from designs by the
Author. Pp. viii., 147. 8vo. London : Longmans, 1831.
[The iUustrations are thirteen in number, the two designs which
accompany the " Arab Grey " being entirely due to the invention
of Cruikshank. One subject by the author is etched by him,
the rest are joint drawings on wood by the author and the artist,
cut by T. Wilhams, White, Branston and Wright, and Thomp
son.]

358 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1831-
The Cats Tail; being the History of Childe Merlin. A
tale (in verse) by the Baroness de Katzleben. [With three fuU-
page etchings by G. Cruikshank. 12mo. Blackwood, Edin
burgh ; CadeU, London.]
Tlie Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Blus-
trated with numerous engravings from drawings by George
Cruikshank, expressly designed for this edition. London :
John Major, 1831. Two volumes, 8vo. [With thirty-seven
woodcuts by George Cruikshank, and two frontispieces after
his designs by Fox and Raddon.]
Hogarth Moralized. A complete edition of aU the most capital
and admired works of WUliam Hogarth, etc. -By the Rev.
Dr. Trusler. London : John Major. 8vo. Of the plates of
heads, " The Laughing Audience," " The Company of Under
takers," " The Oratorio," and " The Pubhc Lecture," in this
volume, the editor remarks that he "feels particularly happy
that Mr. G. Cruikshank has had the kindness to copy the whole
of the four groups for this work."]
Ferdinand Frank ; an Autobiographical Sketch of the youthful
days of a Musical Student. London: R. Ackermann. 12mo.
[Woodcuts after George Cruikshank.] 1831-3
The Novelist's Library. Edited by Thomas Roscoe. With
illustrations by George Cruikshank. London . Cochrane and
Co., 1831-2, and Effingham Wilson, 1833. Seventeen volumes,
8vo, viz. : — Smollett. 1.
The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker. By Tobias Smollett, M.D.
With Memoir by Thomas Roscoe, and illustrations by George
Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. xxxvi-., 403. London: Cochrane and
PickersgUl, 1831. [With portrait of the author, engraved by
Freeman, and four fuU-page etchings by Cruikshank.]
2.
The Adventures of Roderick Random. With iUustrations by
George Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. x., 490. London : James
Cochrane and Co., 1S31. [With five fuU-page etchings by
Cruikshank.] 3-4.
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, in which are included
Memoirs of a Lady of Quality. With Illustrations by George
Cruikshank. In two volumes, 8vo. Pp. 422, 448. London

1832.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 359
James Cochrane and Co., 1831. [With eight fuU-page etchings
by Cruikshank.] 5.
The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves. With illustrations
by George Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. 243. London : James Coch
rane and Co., 1832. [With two full-page etchings by Cruik
shank. The same volume contains The Vicar of Wakefield, but
with separate title and pagination.] Goldsmith. 5.
The Vicar qf Wakefield. A Tale. By Oliver Goldsmith.
With iUustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. viii., 168.
London : James Cochrane and Co., 1832. [With portrait of the
author engraved by Freeman, and two full-page etchings by
Cruikshank. The same volume contains Smollett's Launcelot
Greaves, but with separate title and pagination.]
Fielding. 6.
The Adventures of Joseph Andrews. By Henry Fielding.
With iUustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo. Pp. xi., 336.
London : James Cochrane and Co., 1832. [With four fuU-page
etchings by Cruikshank.] 7-8.
The History of Amelia. With IUustrations by George Cruik
shank. In two volumes, 8vo. Pp. ii., 307 ; 341. [With eight
full-page etchings by Cruikshank.] 9-10.
Tom Jones. In two volumes, 8vo, 1832. [With eight full-
page etchings by Cruikshank.] Sterne. 11-12.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. By
Laurence Sterne. To which is added the " Sentimental Jour
ney" With iUustrations by George Cruikshank. In two volumes,
8vo Pp xi., 372 ; 357. London : James Cochrane and Co.,
1832 TWith portrait of the author engraved by Freeman, and
.eight fuU-page etchings (Ulustrative of Tristram Shandy) by
Cruikshank.]

360 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1833-
Cervantes. 13-15.
The History and Adventures of Don Quixote. From the Spanish
of Cervantes. By T. SmoUett. In three volumes, 8vo. IUustrated
by George Cruikshank. London : Effingham WUson, 1833.
[With fifteen etchings by G. C]
Le Sage.
16-17.
The Adventures of Gil Bias of Santillane. Translated from
the French of Le Sage. By T. Smollett. Illustrated by George
Cruikshank. London : Effingham Wilson, 1833. Two volumes,
8vo. [With ten etchings by G. C]

1832
The Bee and the Wasp. A Fable in verse. With designs and
etchings by G. Cruikshank. London : Charles TUt, 1832. 12mo.
There are copies on India paper. [Reprinted in 1861 by B. M.
Pickering.] A Itrive Tales, collected among the Peasantry of Scotland. By
the Ettrick Shepherd. With iUustrations by George Cruik
shank (and portrait of the author). Vol. I. (aU published,
pp. viii., ch., 190), 8vo. London : James Cochrane and Co., 1832.
[The coUection was to have extended to twelve monthly volumes.
In the first and sole volume pubhshed there is only one illustra
tion by George Cruikshank, "Captain Lochy in the Barber's
Dress," at p. 88.] 1833
Answer to a Pamphlet entitled " Observations on the Rejected
Local Courts Jurisdiction Bill." 12mo. London : Richards.
[Plate of a Local Court by George Cruikshank.]
Sunday in London. Illustrated in fourteen cuts by George
Cruikshank, and a few words by a friend of his, with a copy of
Sir Andrew Agnew's Bill. Svo. London : Effingham WUson,
1833. Pp. 105.
Lueien Grcrille. By a Cornet in the East India Company's
Service. With etchings by George Cruikshank. In three volumes.
Pp. viii., 273; vii., 295; vii., 271. 12mo. London : Saunders
and Otley, 1833. [The iUustrations are six in number ; two in
each volume.]
Rejected Addresses ; or. The New Theatrum Poetarum. (By
James and Horace Smith.) Eighteenth edition, carefuUy revised,

1839.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 36 1
with an original preface and notes* by the authors. London :
John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1833. 12mo. [To this edition
were added six woodcuts after George Cruikshank.]
1833-6
Mt Sketch Book. Nine parts, containing thirty-seven plates,
designed, etched, and published by George Cruikshank, 23,
Myddelton-terrace, PentonvUle, and sold by Charles Tilt,
86, Fleet-street. 1834-9
Minor Morals for Young People. Illustrated by Tales and
Travels. By John Bowring. With engravings by George Cruik
shank and WiUiam Heath. 12mo. Pp. xii., 261. London :
Whittaker and Co., 1834. [With one full page etching by
Cruikshank.]  Part II. With iUustrations by George Cruikshank.
12mo. Pp. iv., 264. London : Whittaker and Co., 1835.
[With five fuU-page etchings by Cruikshank.]
Minor Morals for Young People. Illustrated by Tales and
Travels, particularly in the East. By John Bowring. With
IUustrations by George Cruikshank. Part III. Edinburgh :
WiUiam Tait, 1839. 12mo. Pp. viii., 249. [With six fuU-page
etchings by Cruikshank.] 1834
The Stadium; or, British National Arena for Manly and
Defensive Exercises. By Baron Berenger. 12mo. [Archery
scenes by George Cruikshank.] 1834.
Mirth and Morality: A collection of Original Tales. By
Carlton Bruce. EmbeUished with twenty beautiful cuts from
drawings by George Cruikshank. SmaU 8vo. London : T. Tegg
and Son, 1834. Pp. 226.
Tough Yarns. A Series of Naval Tales and Sketches to
please all hands. By the Old Sailor. Fcp. 8vo. London :
Effingham Wilson. [Eight etchings and nine woodcuts by
G. C] 1
A History of Egyptian Mummies. By Thomas Joseph Petti
grew. London : Longmans 1834. 4to. [With thirteen illustra
tions ; ten being etchings by G. C, and three aquatinted for
colouring.] 1835
Journal of the Plague Year. By Daniel de Foe. With four
iUustrations after Cruikshank, engraved on steel by Daven
port. London: E. Nutt, Royal Exchange. [Included in Tegg's

362 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1835-
Family Library ; and in 1£72, reissued, with Dr. Harvey's
Account of the Great Fire of London added. William Tegg,
Pancras-lane. 12mo.]
Gruikshankiana. An assemblage of the most Celebrated
Works of George Cruikshank. London : McLean. [A hand
some folio, containing sixty-six plates by George, and six by
Robert Cruikshank. The plates have been touched up, and aU
dated 1835.]
Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and some qf the Greek
Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833. By John Auldjo,
F.G.S. London : Longmans. 8vo. [Contains seven fuU-page
etchings by George Cruikshank from sketches by the author.]
1835-53
The Comic Almanack for 1835. An Ephemeris, in Jest and
Earnest. By Rigdum Funnidos, Gent. Adorned with a dozen
of " righte merrie " cuts pertaining to the months, sketched
and etched by George Cruikshank ; and divers humorous cuts
by other hands. London : imprinted for Charles TUt, BibUo-
polist, in Fleet- street. Pp. 56.
The Comic Almanack for 1836, etc. Adorned with a dozen
of " righte merrie " cuts, pertaining to the months, and an hiero
glyphic, by George Cruikshank. London : imprinted for Charles
TUt, etc. Pp. 60.
1837. Pp. 64. 1839. Pp. 64
1838. „ 04. 1840. „ 64.
Same title and publisher. The volume for 1839 contained
Thackeray's story of " The Fatal Boots," and the volume for
1840, "Barber Cox, and the Cutting of his Comb."
1841. Pp.64.
Same title. London : imprinted for TUt and Bogue, Biblio-
polists, in Fleet-street.
The Comic Almanack for 1842, etc. Adorned with numerous
humorous illustrations, and a dozen of "righte merrie" cuts,
pertaining to the months, by George Cruikshank. London :
imprinted for TUt aud Bogue, Bibliopolists, in Fleet-street.
Pp. 64. 1843. Pp. 64. Same title and publishers.
1844. „ 64. 1846. Pp.79.
1845. „ 64. 1847. ,, 63
Same title. London : imprinted for David Bogue, Biblionolist.
in Fleet-street. F '
[From 18:55 to 1847 inclusive, the Comic Almanack had been
uniform in size. In the two succeeding volumes it was reduced.]

I8S3-] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 363
The Comic Almanack for 1848. An Ephemeris, in Jest and
Earnest. Edited by Horace Mayhew. Adorned with numerous
humorous Ulustrations by George Cruikshank. London : im
printed for David Bogue, etc. Pp. 128.
The Comic Almanack, 1849. Edited by Horace Mayhew.
IUustrated by George CruUishank. London: David Bogue.
Pp. 96.
[From 1850 to its discontinuance the original size was reverted
to. The folding plates in this third series were coloured.]
The Comic Almanack and Diary, 1850. Edited by Henry
Mayhew, and ulustrated by George Cruikshank. Pp. 64.
1851. Edited by Henry Mayhew, and illustrated by George
Cruikshank and H. G. Hine. Pp. 64.
1852. (No editor's name.) Illustrated by George Cruikshank
and H. G. Hine. Pp. 64.
1853. The Comic Almanack. Edited by Robert B. Brough.
IUustrated by George Cruikshank and H. G. Hine. Pp. 64.
[The four volumes of the third series were all published by
" David Bogue, Fleet-street." After the volume for 1853, the
pubhcation was discontinued.] 1836
Rookwood. A Romance by W. Harrison Ainsworth. Twelve
etchings by G. C. London : John Macrone. 8vo. 1836.
The Adventures of Sir Frizzle Pumpkin; Nights at Mess;
and other Tales. With iUustrations by George Cruikshank.
Edinburgh : WiUiam Blackwood and Sons, 1 836. 8vo. Pp. 421.
[Seven full-page etchings.]
1836. A Summer in Spain, being a Narrative of a Tour made
in the summer of 1835. London : Smith, Elder, and Co. 8vo.
[With one etching, signed George Cruikshank.]
Land and Sea Tales. By the Old Sailor. Illustrated by
George Cruikshank. In two vols. 8vo. London : Effingham
WUson, 1836. Pp. viii., 408; 390. [FuU-page etched frontis
piece, and vignette on engraved title to each volume.]
The Elysium of Animals. A Dream. By Egerton Smith.
8vo Pp. 101. London: J. Nisbet, Berners-street, 1836.
[With fuU-page etching of " The Knacker's Yard," by George
Cruikshank, which originally appeared in the third volume of
" The Voice of Humanity," in 1831.]
A Comic Alphabet. Designed, etched, and published by
Georo-e Cruikshank, 23, Myddelton-terrace, Pentonville. 12mo,

364 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1836-
gilt. [Twenty-six humorous coloured etchings.] 1830. Re
issued 1837.
A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to
the End of the Dutch Dynasty. By Diedrich Knickerbocker
(Washington Irving). 12mo. London : Tegg and Son. [Illus
trations by George Cruikshank. ]
Sketches by "Boz." LUustrative of Every-Day Life, and
Every-Day People. In two volumes. Illustrations by George
Cruikshank. London : John Macrone, St. James's-square,
1836. 8vo. Pp. vui., 348 ; 342. [With sixteen fuU-page etch
ings by Cruikshank.]
Sketches by " Boz." Illustrative of Every-day Life, and
Every-day People. The Second Series. Complete in one volume.
London : John Macrone, St. James's-square, 1837. Pp. vui.,
377. [With twelve full-page etchings by Cruikshank.]
First Complete Edition of the Tiro Series, with forty iUustrations
by George Cruikshank. In twenty monthly parts, demy 8vo,
commencing November, 1837, and ending June, 1839. Twenty-
seven of the twenty-eight iUustrations to the former editions
were re-drawn and engraved to suit the larger-sized page of this
edition (one illustration, " The Free and Easy," in The Streets by
Night, being canceUed). To these were added thirteen new
etchings. There was also a design on the first page of the pink
wrapper by George Cruikshank. London : Chapman and HaU,
1839. Pp. 526.] 1836-9
The Waverley Novels. London : Fisher and Co. [Forty-
eight volumes, containing thirty- five etchings by Cruikshank.
These appeared in several subsequent editions, and were repub
lished, with plates by Turner, under the title of " Historical
IUustrations of the Waverley Novels."
1837
Rambles in the Footsteps of Dun Quixote. By the late H. D.
Inglis. With Ulustrations by George Cruikshank. London :
Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria-lane, 1837. 12mo. Pp. xii.,
203. [With six fuU-page etchings and two vignette woodcuts.]
Edmrrd Laseelles. Four illustrations by George Cruikshank.
Two volumes, 8vo. Dublin : Curry ; London : Simpkin, MarshaU,
and Oo. 1837-4-3
Bentley's Miscku.any. [The first fourteen volumes only
Ulustrated by Cruikshank, with etchings on steel. In these

1838.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 565
volumes appear a hundred and twenty-six of his plates : twenty-
four devoted to " Oliver Twist," twenty-seven to " Jack Shep
pard," twenty-two to " Guy Fawkes," eight to the " Ingoldsby
Legends," seven to " Nights at Sea," three to " Stanley Thorn,"
and thirty-five to misceUaneous articles by various writers,
including two etchings and a woodcut illustrative of Charles
Dickens's " Mudfog Papers" (1837-8), besides a vignette in
glyphography, two drawmgs on wood, and the well-known
design on the wrapper.] 1838
Oliver Tieist ; or, the Parish Boy's Progress. Commenced in
the second number of Bentley's Miscellany, in February, 1837,
and concluded in March, 1839. Published in three volumes,
post 8vo., in October 1838, six months in advance of its com
pletion in the Miscellany, with twenty-four iUustrations by
George Cruikshank. London : Richard Bentley, New Burling
ton-street, 1838. [The last of these illustrations, — Rose Maylie
and Oliver, — as it appeared in the early copies, was objected to
by the author, and was designed afresh at his request.]
Edition in One Volume. Issued with the same plates as the
former editions, in ten monthly parts, demy 8vo, uniform with
Pickwick, commencing January, 1846. The first page of the
green wrapper was from a design by George Cruikshank, and
depicted eleven scenes (mostly different from those represented
in the body of the work), illustrating incidents in the novel,
pp. 311. London : Bradbury and Evans, 1846.
Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by "Boz." With
Illustrations by George Cruikshank. In two volumes. London :
Richard Bentley, 1838. 12mo. Pp. xix., 288 ; ix., 263. [In
addition to the portrait of Grimaldi by another hand, these two
volumes contain twelve full-page etchings by Cruikshank.]
Lympsjield and its Environs: being a series of views, with
descriptions, of that viUage and objects of interest in its vicinity ;
and the "Old Oak Chair," a Ballad. With illustrations by
George Cruikshank. Westerham : Henry George, 1838. 8vo.
[With four woodcut iUustrations (to the ballad only) by Cruik
shank.] Land Sharks and Sea Gulls. By Captain Glascock. London :
Bentley. Three volumes, 8vo. [With six etchings by G. C]
Topsail-Sheet Blocks ; or, The Naval Foundling. By the " Old
SaUor." London : Bentley, 1838. Three volumes, 12ino. [Etch
ings by George Cruikshank.]
More Hints on Etiquette for the Use of Society at Large, and
Young Gentlemen in Particular. London : Charles Tilt, 1838.
12mo. [Woodcuts after George Cruikshank].

366 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1839-
1839
Chemistry no Mystery ; or, a Lecturer's Bequest : being the
subject-matter of a Course of Lectures delivered by an Old
Philosopher. Arranged and revised by John Scoffern. London :
Harvey and Darton, 1839. 8vo. [With two woodcuts, frontis
piece and vignette, seemingly original, by George Cruikshank.]
Life of Mansie Wauch, Tailor in Dalkeith. New edition,
revised and enlarged. With eight iUustrations on steel, signed
George Cruikshank. Edinburgh : WUliam Blackwood and Sons.
8vo. The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman. IUustrated by George
Cruikshank. London : Charles TUt, Fleet Street ; and Mus-
tapha Syried, Constantinople, 1839. Pp. 40.
[" The literary portion of the work by Mr. Charles Dickens."
— Reid's Descriptive Catahgiie of the Works of George Cruikshank
(London 1871), vol. i., p. 328]
Jack Sheppard : A Romance. By W. Harrison Ainsworth.
With iUustrations by George Cruikshank. In three volumes.
12mo. Pp. viii., 352; iv., 292; vi., 312. London: Richard
Bentley, 1839. [With portrait of the author by another hand,
and twenty-seven full-page etchings and woodcut taUpiece by
George Cruikshank.]
Illustration to a Set of Quadrilles from Rodwell's Celebrated
Romance Jack Sheppard. Arranged for the Pianoforte. London:
D'Almaine and Co., Soho- square. [Lithographed with portraits
of Paul Bedford as " Blueskin," Miss CampbeU as " PoU Mag
got," Mrs. Keeley as " Jack Sheppard," and Mrs. Naylor as
" Edge worth Bess," sketched by George Cruikshank behind the
scenes.] 1840
Tlie Tower of London. By W. Harrison Ainsworth. IUus
trated by George Cruikshank. London : Richard Bentley. Svo.
[Forty large etchings on steel, signed George Cruikshank,
and fifty-eight woodcuts, signed G. Ck. A second edition, pub
lished by Hugh Cunningham in 1842 ; a third in 1845 ; and
a fourth, by Routledge and Co., in 1854. Jn Cruikshank's copy
of the Routledge edition, sold at the sale of his library, he had
made a note ; " The etchings aU spoUt by being re-bit — by a
stranger, instead of being done, as they ought to have been, by
Geo. Cruikshank."] 1840-7
Tlie Ingoldsby Legends; or, Mirth and Marvels. By Thomas
Ingoldsby, Esq. London : Richard Bentley, 1840, pp. viiL,

1844.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 367
339. Second Series, 1842, pp. x., 288. Third Series, 1847,
pp. viii., 364. [With IUustrations by George Cruikshank and
John Leech, originaUy published in Bentley' s Miscellany.]
1841
Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason. An Historical
Romance. By William Harrison Ainsworth. With illustrations
by George Cruikshank. In three volumes. 12mo. Pp. xvi.,303;
iv., 307; iv., 358. London: Richard Bentley, 1841. [With
twenty-two full-page etchings by Cruikshank.]
1841. Songs of the^ late Charles Dibdin. With a Memoir.
[Twelve plates by George Cruikshank.] London : Murray. 8vo.
The Pic Nic Papers. By various hands. Edited by Charles
Dickens. With illustrations by George Cruikshank. London :
Henry Colburn, 1841. Three volumes. 8vo. [" The Philosopher's
Stone " — Cruikshank's illustration to The Lamplighter's Story,
by Charles Dickens — forms the frontispiece to the first volume.
There is one other etching by him ; the remaining iUustrations
are by " Phiz."] 1842
1841-2. George Cruikshank's Omnibus. Illustrated with one
hundred engravings on steel and wood. Edited by Laman
Blanchard. London : TUt and Bogue. [Published in monthly
parts, 8vo, with a characteristic woodcut wrapper. The etchings,
twenty-two in number, are signed in fuU; the seventy-eight
woodcuts, G. C.
Cakes and Ale. By Douglas Jerrold. Two volumes, 8vo, with
frontispieces and engraved titles. London : How and Parsons,
1842. 1842-4
Ainsworth's Magazine : A Miscellany of Romance, General
Literature, and Art. Edited by WUliam Harrison Ainsworth.
Illustrated by George Cruikshank. [Vol. I. pubhshed by Hugh
Cunningham, St. Martin's-place ; Vols. II. and III. by Cun
ningham and Mortimer ; Vols. IV. to VI. by John Mortimer,
Adelaide-street, Trafalgar-square. The first six volumes only
were Ulustrated by Cruikshank. In these the foUowing works
appeared : —

" The Miser's Daughter "

20 etchings, 3 woodcuts.

" Windsor Castle " .

14

))

" Elliston Papers :: .

3

>1

" John Manesty " .

6

71

" Modern Chivalry "

5

,, 1 woodcut.

" St. James's ; or, the Court of Queer

i

Anne " . . . .

14

n

368 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1842-
The first volume also contained over a dozen woodcuts from
designs by Cruikshank, two of them Ulustrative of Thackeray's
story of Sultan Sten-k, never since repubhshed. The woodcut to
"Our Library Table," representing the editor and the artist in
conference, and those illustrating "The Lady's Page," -'The
Gentleman's Tiger," and "Our StaU at the Opera," were repeated
several times.] 1842
The Miser's Daughter. A Tale. By W. Harrison Ains
worth. With illustrations by George Cruikshank London :
Cunningham and Mortimer. [Three volumes. Svu. With
twenty etcliings, signed George Cruikshank, from Ainsworth's
Magazine.'] Windsor Castle. By W. Harrison Ainsworth. New edition,
illustrated by George Cruikshank and Tony Johannot, with de
signs on wood by W. Alfred Delamotte. London : Parry, Blen-
karn, and Co., Leadenhall Street. Svo. 1847. [The etcliings
are selected from those which appeared in Ainsworth's Magazine
for 1842-3, with many woodcuts added.]
The Drunkard. A Poem. By John O'Neill With Ulustra-
tions by George Cruikshank. 8vo. London . Tilt and Bogue,
1842. Pp. viii., 54. [With portrait of the author, aged sixty-
four, and four fuU-page etchings by George Cruikshank.]
1843
Martin's Vagaries, being a sequel to " A Tale of a Tub,"
recently discovered at the University of Oxford. Edited,
with Notes, by Scriblerus Oxoniensis, and Ulustrated bv George
Cruikshank. London: A. H. Baily and Co., 1843. 8vo.
Pp. 48, in coloured wrapper. [With two fuU-page etchings and
one woodcut (repeated on the wrapper) by George Cruikshank,
the latter engraved by Percy Cruikshank, the artist's nephew.]
Modern Chivalry: or, A New Orlando Furioso. With illus
trations by George Cruikshank. In two volumes. 12mo. Pp.
viii., 294, 290. London: John Mortimer, 1843. [With four
full-page etchings and woodcut vignette on title (the same in
each volume) by George Cruikshank, reprinted from. HiuncoHh's
Magazine.] 1844
The Comic Blackstone. By Gilbert Abbott a Beckett. Pub
lished at the Punch office, 1844. [IUustrated with an etching
signed in full, and two woodcuts signed G. Ck.]
The Bachelor's Own Book; or, The Adventures of Mr. Lamb
kin (Gent.) in the pursuit of pleasure and amusement, and also

1846.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 369
in search of health and happiness. Oblong Svo. [Twenty-four
plates, " designed and etched by George Cruikshank."]
Anotlier Edition, the twenty-four subjects transferred to as
as many stones, with the inscriptions rewritten. London :
Routledge. 4to. 1865.
Memoirs of Robert William Elliston, Comedian. By George
Raymond. With illustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo.
Pp. xxxvi. , 438. London : John Mortimer, 1844. [With por
trait of EUiston engraved by Penstone, after a drawing by
Harlowe, and three full-oage etchings by George Cruikshank;
reprinted from Ainsworth's Magazine for 1843.]
Arthur CLeary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in many
lands. Edited by his friend, Harry Lorrequer (Ch^-les Lever),
and IUustrated by George Cruikshank. In three - ol imes. • 8vo.
Pp. 290, 320, 328. London: Henry Colburn, 1j44. [With
portrait and nine other full-page etchings iUustrative of the
story (three in each volume) by George Cruikshank.]
1845
George Cruikshank's Table-Book. Edited by GUbert
Abbott a Beckett. Published at the Punch Office, 92, Fleet-
street. [Issued in twelve monthly parts, with illustrated wrap
per. Contains twelve etchings signed George Cruikshank, six
glyphographs, and a hundred and twenty woodcuts, the latter
with " G. Ck." in the corner.]
History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. With Memoira of the
Union and Emmett's Insurrection in 1803. By W. H. Max-
weU. London : BaUy Brothers. 8vo. [Twenty spirited etch
ings by George Cruikshank, and a woodcut design.]
Ther Old Sailor's Jolly Boat, laden with Tales and Yarns to
please all hands ; puUed by Wit, Fun, Humour, and Pathos, and
steered by Matthew Henry Barker. London : Willoughby and
Co., 1845. 8vo. [Seven of the twenty-four etchings are en
tirely or partly by George, and the rest by Robert Cruikshank.]
Prisons and Prisoners. By Joseph Adshead. [Frontispiece
by George Cruikshank.] 8vo. London : Longmans.
1846
Sketches from Life. By Laman Blanchard. With a Memoir by
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Three volumes. 8vo. London :
Colburn. [In the second volume are two woodcuts by George
Cruikshank.] The Snow Storm. A Christmas Story. By Mrs. Gore. With
Illustrations by George Cruikshank. London : Fisher, Son,
24

370 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1846-
andCo., 1846. 8vo. Pp.253. [With four fuU- page etchings
by G. C] 1847
The Yule Log for the Christmas Hearth. Showing where it
grew ; how it was cut and brought home ; and how it was burnt.
By the author of " The Chronicles of the Bastile." Illustrated
by George Cruikshank. London : T. C. Newby. 12mo. [Four
fuU-page etchings, etched title and wood-cut.]
The Good Genius tliat turned Everything into Gold. A Christ
mas Fairy Tale. By the Brothers Mayhew. [IUustrated by
George Cruikshank.] London : Bogue. Svo.
The Greatest Plague of Life ; or, The Adventures of a Lady
in Search of a Good Servant. Edited by the Brothers Mayhew.
IUustrated by George Cruikshank. London : David Bogue,
1847. 8vo. Pp. 285. [With twelve fuU-page etchings and
vignette woodcut on title.]
Whom to Marry, and How to Get Married; or, The Ad
ventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Husband. Edited
by the Brothers Mayhew. Illustrated by George Cruikshank.
London : David Bogue 1847. Svo. Pp. 271. [With twelve
fuU-page etchings and woodcut vignette on title.]
1847-8
Tlie Bottle. In eight plates, designed and etched by George
Cruikshank. Foho. 1847.
The Drunkard's Children. A sequel to "The Bottle.' In
eight plates. By George Cruikshank. 1848. London : David
Bogue, etc. Folio.
V Both "The Bottle'' and "The Drunkard's ChUdren "
were accompanied by "illustrative poems" by Dr. Charles
Mackay. An edition of each was issued, " on fine paper," im
perial foho, with a tint. Price 6s."
1848
The Pentamerone ; or, the Stories of Stories. Bv Giambattista
Basile. Translated by John Edward Taylor. With four etch
ings by George Cruikshank. London : D. Bogue, 1848. Crown
8vo. [Another edition was issued by the same publisher in 1851,
with the plates transferred to stone.]
The Inundation; or, Pardon and Peace. A Christmas Story.
By Mrs. Gore. With iUustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo.
Pp. 222. London : Fisher, Son, and Co., 1848. [With four
fuU-page etcliings by G. C]

1852.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 371
1849
The Magic of Kindness; or, The Wondrous Story of the
Good Huan. By the Brothers Mayhew. Illustrated by George
Cruikshank and Kenny Meadows. London : Darton and Co.,
1849. 8vo. Pp. viii., 296. [The illustrations by G. C. consist
of four full-page etchings.]
Kit Barn's Adventures ; or, The Yarns of an Old Mariner.
By Mary Cowden Clarke. [IUustrated with four etchings signed
in fuU, and a woodcut signed G. Ck.] London : Grant and
Griffith. Clement Lorimcr ; or, The Book with the Iron Clasps. A
Romance. By Angus B. Reach. Illustrated by George Cruik
shank. 8vo. Pp. vii. , 280. [With twelve fuU-page illustrations.]
1850
Frank Fairlegh ; or, Scenes from the Life of a Private
PupU. With thirty Ulustrations on steel, by George Cruik
shank. London : A. Ball, Virtue, and Co., 1850. 8vo. Pp. xii.,
496. [The etchings are fuU-page and separate, with the excep-
sion of the vignette on the engraved title. The author, Frank
E. Smedley, afterwards edited Cruikshank's brief-lived Maga-
ziiie.] Fairy Mythology. Illustrative of the Romance and Super
stition of various Countries. By Thomas Keightley. A new
edition, revised and greatly enlarged. London : H. G. Bohn.
12mo. [Etched frontispiece by George Cruikshank.]
The Toothache. Imagined by Horace Mayhew and realized by
George Cruikshank. Bogue. [Twenty-three plates, and two
etched designs on wrapper.] 1851
1851 ; or, The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys and
FamUy, who came up to London to " enjoy themselves" and to
see the Great Exhibition. By Henry Mayhew and George
Cruikshank. London: David Bogue, 1851. 8vo. Pp. 242.
[With ten etchings, most of which are folded, and contain
several subjects, and engraved woodcut title.]
Stop Thief ! or, Hints to Housekeepers to prevent Housebreak
ing. By George Cruikshank. 8vo. London : Bradbury and
Evans, 1851. [With fourteen woodcuts.]
1852
The Temperance Offering. Edited by J. S. Buckingham.
Square 12mo. [Plate of " The Backslider " by George Cruik
shank.] 1852.

372 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1852
The Betting Book. By George Cruikshank. 'With cuts.
London : W. and F. G. Cash, 1852. 8vo. Pp. 31.
The True Legend of St. Dunstan and tlie Devil, showing how
the Horseshoe came to be a charm against Witchcraft. By
Edward G. Flight. London : D. Bogue, 1852. 8vo. Pp. 24, in
wrapper. [With seven iUustrations drawn by George Cruik
shank, and engraved by John Thompson.]
Talpa; or, The Chronicles of a Clay Farm. By C. W. H.
(Chandos Wren Hoskyns.) Reeve and Co. With twenty-four
woodcuts, drawn by George Cruikshank, and engraved by G.
Pearson. 12mo. [A second edition issued in 1853, in which the
woodcut entitled "Drop it!!" was canceUed and replaced by
another.] The Domestic Habits qf the People. By " Common Sense."
With six Ulustrations (on wood) by George Cruikshank. Lon
don : Charles GUpin. SmaU 8vo, pp. 96. 1852.
1853
The Glass and the New Crystal Palace. By George Cruik
shank. London : John Cassell, Svo. [With twelve woodcuts,
signed G. Ck.]
Uncle Tom's Cabin. By Harriet Beecher Stowe. London :
John Cassell. 8vo. [Twenty-seven iUustrations on wood, drawn
by Cruikshank, and signed G. Ck.] 1853.
George Cruikshank's Fairy Library. No. I. Hop 0' my
Thumb, and the Seven-League Boots. Edited and Ulustrated
with six etchings by George Cruikshank. London : David
Bogue, 1853. SmaU 4to. Pp. 30.
George Cruikshank's Fairy Library. No. H. The History
of Jack and the Bean-Stalk. Edited and Ulustrated with six
etchings by George Cruikshank. London : David Bogue, 1853
SmaU 4to. Pp. 32.
George Cruikshank's Fairy Library. No. III. Cinderella,
and The Glass Slipper. Edited and illustrated with ten subjects,
designed and etched on steel, by George Cruikshank. London :
David Bogue, 1853. SmaU 4to. Pp. 31.
1854
George Cruiksrank's Fairy Library. No. IV. Puss in
Boots. Edited and illustrated with etchings on steel by Georoe
Cruikshank. London : David Bogue, 1854. Small 4to. Pp. 40.
[With six full-page etchings by G. C, containing twelve subjects.
On the general title to the volume containing the four tales is a

1858.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 373
woodcut border and vignette designed by George Cruikshank
and engraved by T. WiUiams.]
George Cruikshank's Magazine. Edited by Frank E.
Smedley. London : D. Bogue. [Only two parts issued.] 8vo.
January and February, 1854. 1856
Lady Arabella; or, the Adventures of a Doll. By Miss
Pardoe. Square 8vo. [Four full-page Ulustrations by G. C]
London : Kirby and Son. 1857
London Lyrics. By Frederick Locker. With an Ulustration
(" Building Castles in the Air "), designed and etched by George
Cruikshank. London : Chapman and Hall, Piccadilly, 1867.
8vo. Pp. viii., 90. [For the author of " London Lyrics " Cruik
shank also designed and etched, in 1868, a private plate, " Fairy
Connoisseurs inspecting Mr. Locker's Collection of Drawings,"
intended to form the frontispiece to a proj ected Catalogue.]
1857-8
The Life of Sir John Falstaff. Illustrated by George
Cruikshank. With a Biography of the Knight, from authentic
sources. By Robert B. Brough. London : Longmans, 1857-8.
Large 8vo. Pp. xx., 196. [Issued in ten monthly parts, in
brownish-yellow wrapper. The work contains twenty full-page
etchings by George Cruikshank, in addition to a woodcut re
peated on each of the coloured wrappers, and separately on white
paper, between the title and dedication.] 1858
Stenelaus and Amylda : A Christmas Legend, for Children of
a Larger Growth. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London :
Griffith and Farran, 1858. 8vo. Pp.32. [With three woodcut
Ulustrations by G. C, printed with the text.]
Larimer Littlegood, Esq., a Young Gentleman who wished
to see Society and saw it accordingly. By Alfred W.
Cole, Barrister-at-Law. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and
WiUiam M'Connell. London : James Blackwood, 1858. 8vo.
Pp. iv., 330. [Twelve of the fuU-page etchings are by George
Cruikshank.] Midnight Scenes and Social Photographs; being Sketches of
Life in the Streets, Wynds, and Dens of the City of Glasgow.
By "Shadow." Glasgow: Thomas Murray and Son. [With
frontispiece "designed and etched by George Cruikshank—
1858." A second edition appeared in the same year.]

374 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS [1S59-
1859
The Biglow Papers. By James Russell Lowell, with addi
tional Notes and enlarged Glossary. London: John Camden
Hotten, 1859. 8vo. [With frontispiece expressly etched and
designed for this work.
Old Faces in New Masks. By Robert Blakey. London :
W. Kent and Co., 1859. 12mo. [Etched frontispiece and title-
page by George Cruikshank.] 1860
A Pop-gun Fired off by George Cruikshank in defence of the
British Volunteers of 1803, against the uncivil A Hack upon that
body by General W. Napier. With Observations upon our
National Defences, Self-Defence, etc. London : W. Kent and
Co., 1860. 8vo. [Contains eight woodcuts from designs by the
author, including two portraits of himseU. In the second edi
tion the seventh cut was cancelled.]
Out and About : A Boy's Adventures, written for Adven
turous Boys. By Hain FrisweU. With Ulustrations by George
Cruikshank. London : Groombridge and Sons, 1860. Pp. xvi,
326. [Six woodcuts.] 1861
Holidays with Hobgoblins, and Talk of Strange Things. By
Dudley CosteUo. With illustrations by George Cruikshank.
London : John Camden Hotten, 1801. Svo. Pp. 332. [The
frontispiece, " Shaving a Ghost," was designed and etched ex
pressly for this work. The other iUustrations were reproduced
from The Comic Almanack.]
Puck on Pegasus. By H. Cholmondeley Pennell. Illustrated
by Leech, Tenniel, Doyle, Millais, Sir Noel Paton, Phiz. Portch,
and M. Ellen Edwards. With a frontispiece by George Cruik
shank. London : John Camden Hotten, lSt',1. Small 4to.
The Oystcv ; Where, how, and when to find, breed, cook, and
eat it. London : Trilbner and Co., ISol. [Frontispiece on wood,
woodcut vignette on title-page, aud woodcut initial letter on
page 9.] 1863
A Discovery Concerning Ghosts; with a Rap at the Spirit-Rap
pers. By George Cruikshank. London : Frederick Arnold,
1863. Svo. [With nine engravings by George Cruikshank.]
Second edition 1804, Routledge, Warne, and Co., "to which is
added a few parting Raps at the 'Rappeis.' with questions,
suggestions, and advice to tlie Davenport Brothers. Dedicated
to the 'Ghost Club.' "

1869.] ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK. 375
1864
How Sam Adams' Pipe Became a Pig. By J. W. Kirton.
London : S. W. Partridge, 1864. 12mo. [With six woodcuts
after George Cruikshank, originaUy published in The British
Workman, 1857.] 1865
Popular Romances of the West qf England. Collected and
edited by Robert Hunt. London : John Camden Hotten, 1865.
8vo. [First and second series, with frontispiece to each, " de
signed and etched by George Cruikshank, 1865."]
1867
The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Illustrated with five woodcuts by George Craikshank, and twenty-
two full-page curious engravings. London : WUliam Tegg,
1867. Svo. [The five woodcuts originally appeared in Parley's
" Tales about Christmas," 1840. Cruikshank had executed as
early as 1817 a folding frontispiece for a sixpenny chap-book
edition of Munchausen, published by Dean and Munday.]
The British Bee Hive. A Penny Political Picture for the
People. With a few words upon Parliamentary Reform. By
their old friend George Cruikshank. 1867.
Coila's Whispers, by the Knight of Morar. London and Edin
burgh : WUliam Blackwood and Sons, 1867. 8vo. [Illustrated
by a photograph of an etching by George Cruikshank, and three
photographs of designs by Dore". Privately printed with etched
frontispiece, 1866.] 1867-8
The Savage Club Papers. Edited by Andrew Halliday. Two
series, 8vo. London : Tinsley Brothers, 1867-8. [With etchings,
signed in fuU.] 1869
The Gin Palace. Ulustrated by George Cruikshank. (" Illus
trated Penny Readings.") London : S. W. Partridge and Co. ,
1869. [Twelve woodcuts by George Cruikshank.] Small 8vo.
Pp. 14.
Buy your Own Goose. ("IUustrated Penny Readings.")
London : S. W. Partridge and Co., 1869. SmaU 8vo. Pp. 16.
[Woodcut with two subjects on title-page by G. C]
The Oak. A Magazine. Edited by the Rev. Charles Rogers.
London: C. Griffin and Co., 1869. 12mo. [One volume only
published, with frontispiece " designed and etched by George
Cruikshank. "

376 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CRUIKSHANK. [1870-7.
1870
The Brownies, and other Tales. By Juliana Horatia Ewing.
London : Bell and Daldy, 1870. Sq. 8vo. [With four iUustra
tions on wood, signed G. Ck.]
Remarks on Education. By George Cruikshank. With a
Shee of Bread and Butter on the same subject. London. 8vo.
Pp. 16. [Contains three woodcuts after G. C]
1872
The Artist and the Author. A Statement of Facts. By the
Artist, George Cruikshank. London : BeU and Daldy, 1872.
Pp. 16. 1873
The Trial of Sir Jasper. A Temperance Tale in verse. By
S. C. Hall. Virtue and Co , 1873. 8vo. [Twenty-three fuU-page
engravings on wood, including one after George Cruikshank.]
1874
Lob Lie-by-the-Fire>; or, the Luck of Lingborough, and other
Tales. By Juliana Horatia Ewing. London : George BeU and
Sons, 1874. 8vo. [With three Ulustrations, signed G. Cruik
shank, del. All the tales, except that which gives its title to the
volume, originaUy appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine and else
where.] 1875
An Old Story. A Temperance Tale in verse. By S. C. HaU.
[Twenty-five fuU-page woodcuts, including one after George
Cruikshank] 8vo. 1875.
Peeps at Life and Studies in my Cell. By the London Hermit.
London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Cc, 1875. [With two Ulus
trations, signed " George Cruikshank, age 83, 1875," engraved
by T. Bolton.] 1877
The Rose and the Lily: A Fairy Tale. By Mrs. Octavian
Blewitt. With a frontispiece by George Cruikshank. London :
Chatto and Windus, 1877. 8vo. Pp. 02. [This frontispiece
was designed and etched in 1875, in the artist's eighty-third
year, and was probably the last book-Ulustration executed by
him.]

APPENDIX II.
EXTRACTS FROM CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF THE
"WORSHIP OF BACCHUS."
This painting, which has not in reality had more than twelve
months' work upon the canvas, I had, nevertheless, in hand for
eighteen months. The title I give it is " The Worship of
Bacchus ; or, the Drinking Customs of Society " ; and it is
intended to show how universaUy the intoxicating drinks are
used upon every occasion in life, from the cradle to the grave.
It is, indeed, a very uncommon- thing for an artist to stand by
the side of his picture to explain its meaning or to give a printed
description of it, as every picture ought to speak for itself ; but
in this case such a course may, perhaps, be excused, because,
in the first place, there are many hundred figures and a great
variety of subjects ; an explanation, or key, may therefore
save the time of the observer in reading or making out the
design, and also serve the cause for which this work is brought
forward. I must just add that I have not the vanity to call
it a picture, it being merely the mapping out of certain ideas
for an especial purpose, and I painted it with a view that a
lecturer might use it as so many diagrams, so that the mind
might be operated upon, through the ear as well as the eye,
at the same time.
In the first place, therefore, I have to caU your attention
to the statue of Bacchus, of whose character the ancients have
given us a correct idea, namely, the pleasant, smiling, rosy
youth ; and we know that a little wine creates an agreeable
sensation in the system, and a pleasant smile upon the coun
tenance. At parties, where the wine is taken in moderation,
the host and the guests are all exceedingly affable and agree
able ; but although Bacchus is represented as a genteel, smiling
youth, he was always accompanied by the drunken brute,
SUenus, to show what a Uttle more drink or excess produced
in the' man, and in the accompanying Bacchante that the pure
and modest charm of beauty in the woman was destroyed and
degraded by anything hke indulgence in stimulating drink.

378 CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF
This part is intended as the "high altar" of the pagan deity,
and below the statues are the priests and priestesses officiating,
or, in other words, the publicans, their wives, potboys, and
barmaids handing the intoxicating liquors over the bar, and
taking the money from the worshippers. One of these publi
cans is worshipping so devoutly himseU, that he is falling a
sacrifice to his deity, as weU as many of his customers. This
is unfortunately too often the case, and there is a disease of
the viscera, called the "publicans' disease," and very many
of these persons also die from delirium tremens. I know of
many such cases ; indeed, not very far from my own residence
there are three public-houses very near each other : at one
the landlord was so mad with delirium tremens, that he was
obhged to have a keeper with him ; and at the same time,
within twenty yards from that house, the son of another
publican died from the same disease ; and about twenty yards
beyond that house the publican was so affected with delirium
tremens, that he hung himself ! He had gone upstairs to he
down, and his wife sent their Uttle boy to caU his father
down to tea. The child returned and said, " Mother ! father's
got my sash, and he won't give it me ." The woman rushed up
stairs, fearing something wrong, and f < >und that her poor wretched
husband had hung himseU with his child's sash ! Encircling
part of the altar-piece is a raised platform, on which, at the
left-hand corner, is a harlequin, pantaloon, scaramouch, and
a clown, all very jolly with their cups and "in their cups,"
at a " masquerade and supper," where there is always plenty of
wine, gin, beer, and brandy, and where drunken "masquerade"
fiends drag down columbines to drunkenness and ruin. Next
to these are opera dancers, holding up their glasses to Bacchus,
and by their side a lame old man jumping up with a crutch
in one hand and a glass in the other. Next to him are the
public singers, chanting forth the praises of " the god of wine.'
Is it not marvellous to think what highly talented poetry, and
what harmonious musical compositions, have been produced from
time to time in praise of this imaginary, this deceitful, slippery,
dangerous myth ! to please, to excite, to madden, and destroy,
in tho most filthy and awful manner, its tens of thousands of
his worshippers who have, and do now, willingly throw them
selves under the wheels of the w ine or spirit waggon, or the
brewer's dray, as the insane worshippers of "Juggernaut"
throw themselves under the wheels of tlie moving temple of
that moustrous humbug.
But pass to the other side of the butts, the altar-piece of wine,
brer, and spirit, barrels- and there are the "Freemasons," the
'- Foresters," the " Odd Fellows," the "Old Friends," and I may

" THE WORSHIP OF BACCHUS." 279
add the " Old Fools." I introduce these societies because so
many hold their meetings at gin shops, and by so doing, many,
many of their members are brought to ruin — yes, go to de
struction, dragging their wives and children after them. At the
extreme right of this platform are three figures intended to
represent Painting, Poetry, and Music, celebrating the praises
of the "Rosy God," and holding up their cups of alcohol, in
which form of worship — or rather, in which absurd and extra
ordinary stupid custom and extreme piece of foolery — they are
joined by a chemist, who ought, of all others, to know better
than to use a poison as a beverage. I say poison, because one
pint of alcohol at a draught kills a man dead, and half a pint
deprives him of the use of his faculties. Of what real use,
then, as a beverage, can a lesser quantity be ? Between the two
sides of this semicircle, and below the bar, is a mass of the
most ardent and extreme worshippers of Bacchus, who commenced
their worship by imitating the example of this Deity, by taking
"a little drop of drink," but who have, either from circumstances,
or from the excitable nature of their brains or nervous systems,
not been able to know when they ought to stop, and have there
fore gone on until they follow the example of the " Bacchante "
and the " SUenus." In the centre of this mass, and in the fore
part, is a madman in a " strait waistcoat " ; " Mad Tom " and his
"mad companions" of the bottle, worshipping in their insane
ecstacies. It may, indeed, be said that madness prevails over
the whole of this mass of worshippers ; for excitement from strong
drink and drunkenness is, in fact, temporary insanity. "Mad
Tom" is dancing on the tomb of his relations, having sacrificed
at the shrine of Bacchus father, mother, sister, brother, wife,
children, property, friends, body, and mind. Many famiUes are
destroyed by one of their members being a drunkard. In the
crowd, on the left and right of these raving maniacs, may be
seen various acts of violence, cruelty, and brutahty, at least as
far as propriety would allow me to show them ; for no artist,
nor author, dare attempt to represent or describe, to the fuUest
extent, the horrible crimes and disgusting deeds that are com
mitted under the influence of wine, beer, or spirits. No, it can
not, it dare not be done. On the left side of this mob are men
and women drinking and fighting— dreadful cruelty to children
by their parents ; a man sacrificing his wife and child ; a " jolly
Jack tar" under the influence of "grog," offering up the hard
earnings of a long voyage, is about to be robbed and perhaps,
murdered by a ruffian who is himself under the influence of
drink. Below this is a man beating a woman tUl her face is
one mass of blood and bruises ; this represents a scene that
I witnessed in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon— the man

3 So CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF
and the woman both under the influence of drink. . . . Next to this
are soldiers fighting the police with their belts. At one time the
common soldiers, when off duty in aU garrison towns, wore their
bayonets ; but as it was found that when they were under the in
fluence of drink, and got into quarrels, they drew their bayonets
upon their opponents, and that there was in consequence rather a
serious return of "killed and wounded" upon these occasions, they
were therefore, not aUowed to carry their side-arms ; but as the
soldier must fight if he gets into a row, he now uses his belt as a
weapon, and sometimes with fearful consequences ; no doubt,
therefore, but that his belt will be taken away also. . . . Above this
group, under the bar, is a soldier offering up his medal to Bacchus,
and a woman offering up her child ; a man stabbing his wife, a
feUow shooting a girl, a ruffian kicking a girl in the face, a
woman stabbing her husband, two thieves, primed with gin and
beer, garrotting and robbing a gentleman, who has been " dining
out " ; next to this, a poacher shooting a gamekeeper. If Par
hament, instead of passing an act to prevent poaching, were to
pass an act to do away with the use of strong drink — piyt an end
to that — they would for a certainty, at the same time, put an end
to poaching ; for there would be no poaching, or very little of that
sort of thing, were it not for strong drink. Above this are In
dians splitting each other's skulls with their tomahawks, fighting
for and under the influence of the " fire-water." Next to these
are the " prize-fighters," and below them is a man knocking his
wife down with a baby in her arms. I saw this at eleven o'clock
one day in the " city of London," and I heard the poor woman's
skull crack on the pavement ! . . . Above these figures, under
the bar, are thieves handing up handkerchiefs, pocket-books,
and stolen plate. ... To the right of these, amongst various
acts of frightful cruelty, are men committing suicide with
poison, pistol, razor, and dagger ; and women — "lovely women"
— tearing and biting and mutilating each other in a manner too
disgusting to describe, and which they never could do were it
not for the drink. And then comes the " whisky shebeen,"
where the " sons of harmony " are lulling a policeman ; and to
the left of these are the police carrying away a woman dead
drunk upon a stretcher. . . . And on the left of the madman
the police are carrying off a drunken, policeman; and between
these two groups, and below the tomb, are widows and orphans
and children without fathers and mothers, brought to misery,
starvation, and perhaps death, through the husbands or the
parents drinking the liquor sold by the publican, and manu
factured by the distiller and the brewer— the respectable publican
and the highly respectable and very wealthy brewers and dis
tillers.

"THE WORSHIP OF BACCHUS." 38 1
I must now call your attention to the lower part of the picture,
commencing from the cradle in the left-hand corner. This is
intended to represent a nursery, and the doctor is handing a pot
of beer to the mamma. Some persons object to the "pot of beer,"
but 1 believe the usual moderate prescription is two pints per
diem, and " two pints," you know, make one quart, and there
is no other- way, in the "language of art," to explain this
meaning ; and there is the nurse drinking beer, and she has
generally a bottle in her pocket (which, by-the-bye, the doctor
does not recommend) ; then there's the little boy crying for the
beer, and the papa drawing a cork, in order that he and the
doctor may ' ' have a drop," so that the intoxicating drink answers
the purpose of physic or friendship. Just above this is a mother
pouring gin down her baby's throat ; many children are killed
in this way. The next sub j ect on this line is a wedding in respect
able society, where the friends are drinking " Health to the Bride
and Bridegroom ; " and the postilions, of course, must have a
drop, and the servants must also have a drop. However, every
thing is well conducted here ; but in the scene just above — in low
hfe— they are getting drunk under the same circumstances. The
next in rotation, viz. , the centre scene, is a " christening. " The
clergyman who has baptized the infant is proposing the "health
of the young Christian." Everything is conducted here in strict
decorum ; but whilst he calls upon the Almighty God to bless
this chUd, he holds in his hand a glass of wine, which, although
of a different colour and different price, is the same sort of stuff
that has made the mother in the christening scene above so
drunk that she lets her child fall to the ground, whilst the idiotic
drunken husband points to his helpless wife, and laughingly ex
claims, " Ha ! ha ! she's dr-unk !" The next subject is the coming
of age. In the corner is a barrel of triple X ale, " to be tapped
when Tommy comes of age." Tommy is of age, so the relatives and
friends drink ' ' Many happy returns of the day. " The grandma
is teUing her granddaughter to drink her brother's health, and
the little boy must also drink his brother's health in a little drop.
It is aU weU conducted in this class of life ; but in low life they
very frequently make the children drunk upon their birthdays ;
and even in high life sometimes upon these occasions the strong
ale is given so generously, and with such bountiful hospitality,
that large numbers of persons are made drunk, and then picked
up about the grounds, and wheeled in barrows to the sheds and
stables, and littered down like swine ; and a friend of mine (a
physician) assures me that he knew a young gentleman of large
fortune who got so drunk upon his coming of age, that he died
the next day ! Above the ale barrel may be seen a small image
of Bacchus. This may be caUed the " cupboard Bacchus " ; this

382 CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF
is strictly private worship, and the lady, not liking to be seen at
her devotions, has got behind a screen. There is unfortunately
too much of this form of worship carried on. The next scene to
this — the last scene on this lower line — is a funeral, where the
son is consoling his mother with a glass of wine, the daughter
being also consoled with a glass of wine, and the grand
daughter likewise, and the friends crying and drinking, and
drinking and crying, and the mutes having a little drop at the
door as privately as circumstances wiU aUow. The old nurse
who hands it to the mutes, of course, takes care of herseU.
Above the funeral scene is "a sick-room." The doctor is feehng
his patient's pulse, and tells him that he has done all for him
that science and philosophy dictate, and now begs to introduce
him to the publican and the pot-boy, or, in other words, recom
mends him to "hve generously," that is, to take port wine and
beer. . . .
I must now call your attention to the left side of this map
or picture, where, over the wedding part}-, is a "juvenile
party," and a lady handing "cake and wine" to the chU
dren — " British wine," which, according to chemical analysis,
contains a larger percentage of alcohol than foreign wine, and
yet it is given to children ! On the left of these little dears
we have a nurse handing the "dinner beer" — " smaU beer" —
smaU beginnings, but who can tell where such beginnings may
end I Next to this is a papa handing " a little drop " of
wine to Iris boys ; he himseU is smoking, and the httle boys
have got tobacco pipes hid behind their backs, because if
their papa saw the pipes he would say, "Oh! my boys, you
must not smoke." . . . Taking a httle wine is at any rate
respectable ; for, see, the churchwarden is handing a little
wine to the vicar and the curate in the vestry ; but just
above, on one side of this may be seen the boys foUowing
their father's example, and going into society with their pipes
and their bottles ; above this is a glimpse of "college life,"
where many a fine youth is ruined for life at the " wine
parties,'' and by the strong ales sold at the colleges. The
ale brewed at Jesus College, Cambridge, commonly called
the "Jesus ole," used to be thought most excellent; but
the "Trinity ule," — "ay, that's the stuff!'' — is the strongest
ale, I believe, that is brewed in the whole country. From
the colleges the young men enter lffe, some into the army or
navy, some as merchants, some into the Church. And I non-
feel that I am approaching very tender ground, aud therefore.
before I proceed any further, I must express the high respect
in which I hold that Church, of which I am myself a member ;
many clergymen of the Church were, and those stiU hving are,

" THE WORSHIP OF BACCHUS." 383
amongst my most esteemed friends, and I wish it to be dis
tinctly understood that I only introduce them here to show
that even they, whUst taking their wine in moderation, are
nevertheless taking a stupefying beverage upon the edge of a
very slippery precipice, over which many a fine highly-educated
Christian minister has fallen, never to rise again in this world,
... I therefore hope they will excuse me when I represent a
curate offering a glass of wine to a Turk. The Mahometan
refuses, whilst another Turk, with his hand on the Koran, points
to the " horrible abyss of ruin and disgrace into which clergymen
fall who sacrifice themselves at the shrine of Bacchus." Above
this is a pubhc dinner, for charitable purposes, where, perhaps,
a worthy bishop is presiding. The " toastmaster," behind his
chair, caUs upon the company to fill their glasses "bumpers,"
the contents of which it is expected they are to swallow down
ait once, and then hold up their glasses at arms' length to show
that they are empty. Behind this scene are accidents on the
road, fires on land and fires at sea. On the seashore are
gibbets, on which hang pirates ; under these is a shipwreck,
and below that a suicide. Many, very many, of these terrible
accidents, as they are caUed, and horrible deeds, are occasioned
by the " worship of Bacchus." We come now to where the
"grog" is being served out to the saUors ; and next to that
where they are being flogged for drinking it. Below this are
the naval officers very jovial at their mess tables ; and next
to this are the officers trying a brother officer by court-martial
for getting drunk — for aUowing the grog to get the better of
his reason whilst worshipping this deity ! Below this is a
mayor's feast, at which he must give wine liberahy to the
guests, or he would be denounce- as a shabby fellow. Upon
these occasions there is always most respectable but enthu
siastic worship of the jolly god. Below this " dinner worship "
is the mayor seated on his seat of justice, who is quite horrified
at what the police are teUing him about the drunken woman
and her baby ; but he ought to reflect that she has been
brought to this condition by the very same stuff that he was
giving the night before to the ladies and gentlemen and the
sheriffs at his own table. . . . Beneath this part is a gentle
man treating a young woman to drink. This is a social evil,
one great cause of the "social evil." Next to this are the
fox-hunters elevating themselves and their glasses ; and here
I have to introduce you to a party of the aristocracy, the
highest class of society, to whom I wish to pay the highest
respect — that proper respect which is due to their station and
irreproachable conduct. There is not anything to be seen m
such parties but the most ladylike and gentlemanly behaviour ;

384 CRUIKSHANK'S DESCRIPTION OF
and I only want to show here that whUst perhaps a duchess is
taking a very little wine in the "dining room," the "Jack o'-
lantem " at the street door is taking his " pint of beer " ; and
whilst lords and ladies are taking a little refreshment in the
shape of wine, their servants are also taking their refreshments in
rather more vulgar materials, and not in such a genteel manner
as their masters and mistresses. Beside these servants, on a
Uttle lower level is a reduced public-house customer, whom the
publican has turned into a " sandwich," and upon whose back
board may be seen the advertisement of " The Fox and the Goose
Music HaU ; " and on the front of this sandwich I would suggest
that the sign might be denominated, with perfect truth, " The
Rogue and the Fool." I must now beg the observer to turn his
attention to the " Jolly Sailor " public-house just above where
the poor sailor is being flogged, and then to the " Jolly Brewer,"
under which, there is an election for a member of Parhament,
upon which occasion there is generaUy a large amount of drinking,
as well as a loud cry for parhamentary reform, but where you
never hear of the candidates calling upon the people to reform
their drinking customs. Above this gin and beer-drinking elec
tioneering mob is " The Angel," licensed to be drunk on the
premises, and adjoining that is a building containing a " poUce
station," the right wing of which is a '' reformatory," and the
left wing a " ragged school." Above and behind these buddings
are the numerous, too numerous, breweries and distiUeries,
throwing their smoke over, and, at the same time, poisoning the
length and breadth of the land ; and the drink they make is
taken to such an extent, and in such excess, that even moderate
drinkers designate drunkenness as the Grbat Ccrse of the
Country. Under this dim and dirty smoke may be seen ' ' the
House of Correction," " the General Hospital," " the Cemetery,"
" the Magdalen Hospital," ' ' the Union Workhouse," " the
Lunatic Asylum," "the Gaol," and "the Gibbet," and the
people getting drunk at an execution, wliich they do in large
numbers. Below this is a railway accident, many of wliich dis
astrous and terrible occurrences happen in consequence of the
railway servants sometimes taking a "drop too much." In a
line with this train, and to the left of it, is a, " canteen," or
mihtary public-house, where soldiers sometimes take too much
drink, and for which they are sometimes tied up to the halberds
and flogged. Below this are the mUitary officers very joUy at
their mess-table, and also trying a brother officer by "court-
martial " for taking a " little drop too much." Then we come
to the chief justice, his brother judges and barristers, taking
their wine — of course in a most respectable manner ; but when the
judge sits in court, " to try 1 man for his life," he is perfectly

1 THE WORSHIP OF BACCHUS." 385

horrified, as well as the barristers and the " gentlemen of the
jury," when he hears what a dreadful deed the prisoner has
committed with the bottle, and under the influence of "the
bottle," and when the poor wretch was mad through the drink,
and unconscious of what he was doing. Many men are hung for
the commission of deeds done when they were in a state of
intoxicatipn, and of which they had no recollection when they
were sober. Near the mihtary court-martial are some men
playing at skittles, and of course drinking. This is a sort of
companion to " the haymakers " on the other side, drinking
whilst at work, to show that people drink when at work and
drink when at play. By the side of the "skittle ground "is a
fete cliampetre, or entertainment, where the parties are drinking
themselves, but got up to aid those who have reduced them
selves to poverty by the drink. Here the gentlemen are handing
the contents of the bottle to the ladies, and just by is a fellow
knocking a woman on the head with a bottle ! As I have on
the other side of the picture introduced the clergy of the Esta
blished Church, I could not leave out the Dissenters ; but in
introducing into this picture ministers of religion, I again beg it
to be most clearly and distinctly understood that it is not for
any purpose of ridicule or censure, but merely for the purpose
of pointing out to them the danger they are in, as weU as others,
in having anything whatever to do with this deceitful, dangerous
false "god of wine." I therefore take the liberty of representing
one of these ministers offering a glass of wine to a Hindoo, who,
like the Mohammedan, points to the dark abyss of disgrace into
which unfortunately too many have fallen, and to the easy-to-go-
down flight of steps. Here may be seen, also, a missionary
tapping a Hindoo on the shoulder, whilst another Hindoo points
to the bottle in the missionary's pocket. . . . Below the Hindoos
are some clerical figures, we will suppose at a theological
coUege : a student offers a glass of wine to " the master,"
who, having a httle drop of "brandy-and-water," refuses the
wine, and at the same time cautions the youth not to take
" too much," a, very proper precaution, no doubt ; but al
though the head of the college may be able to teach this
youth Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and mathematics, he cannot teU
him how much strong drink is too much, for in some excitable
systems the very first drop of Btrong drink takes away the
power of self-control. Had all men been formed equally alike
to take as much as they ought to take, and no more, you never
would have heard of a teetotaler.

INDEX.

A'Begkett, Gilbert, edits Cruikshank's
Table Book, 2u9.
Ackermann, the printseller and pub
lisher, 21.
Adams-Acton, John, commissioned to
execute a bronze statue of '* The
Bruce," 337.
Ainsworth, William Harrison, his Jack
Sheppard, 10!) ; hi» HookfO"'/, 132,
141 ; Cruikshank's controversy with,
145-147, 14S ; succeeds Dkkem as
editor of Bentley's Miscellany, 159,
160 ; Cruikshank's illustrations to his
romances, 160-103 ; where he learnt
his 'patter,' 163; success and popu
larity of his Jack Slieppard, 164 ; his
retirement from the editorship of
Bentley's Miscellany, 166, 177 ; starts
a Magazine of his own, ib. ; his Toicer
of London, 166-169 ; Cruikshank's
quarrel with him, 107-171 ; his reply
to Cruikshank's statement, 171-178;
Cruikshank's retort, 179-1S0 ; recon
ciliation with Cruikshank, 186-187 ;
Cruikshank's final parting from, 209 ;
his Miser's Daughter, 231, 2S4.
Alexander, Emperor, 35.
Alexander, Sir James, Chairman of the
" Bruce Committee, 337, 33S, 340, 341.
Anstey, Christopher, his A'tw Bath
Guide, 234.
Anstie, Dr., on the average capacity of
wine-drinkers, 253.
Arnold, Matthew, Sonnet addressed to
George Cruikshank on his picture of
' Tho Bottle/ 2-'.5
Auhljo's "Constantinople," 133.
B uion, immortal words of, 65.
Balfour of Bur-ley, 3S.
"Bank-Note not to be Imitated," Cruik
shank's, 59-61.
Barb am, Richard Harris, and the In
goldsby Legends, 333.
Bannockburn, 33S.339.
Barker, Matthew Henry, his Frani
Harttcdl; or. Fifty Yuirs Ago, 1S3 ;
his Green inch Jlo.yttal, ib.
Bartholomew Fair, 147.
Bartolozzi, 47.

Beckford, William, his mansion at Bath,
234 ; visited by Cruikshank, 235.
Bede, Cuthbert, his " Personal Recollec
tions of George Cruikshank" quoted,
48, 82, 149, 150-151, 152, 165-166, 183 ;
hit- fii st appearances in print hiBentUy's
Miscellany, 165 ; his picture of Cruik
shank at home, 272-276 ; on Cruik
shank and Dickens, 304, 306; his
cooperation invited in George Cruik-
thank's Magazine, 311 ; account <<f a
curious craze of Cruikshank's, 311-
314 ; account of Frank Smedley's first
meeting with Cruikshank, 315-316 ;
his visit to Cruikshank a studio, 317-
318.
Bedford, Paul, as Blueskio in "Jack
Sheppard," 165.
Bell's Lift in London and Cruikshank's
etchings, 91-92.
Bentley'* Miscellany, edited by Charles
Dickens, 139-159 ; by Harrison Ains
worth, 159-177.
Bentley, Richard, publisher, Cruik
shank's quarrel with, 165-1''''', 177,
20$.
Berenger, Baron de, and Cruikshank,
22S.
Blake, William, 26.
Blanchard, Laman, 4 ; 166 ; quarrel
with Cruikshank, 1S0-1S1 ; edits
Cruikshank's Omnibus, 1S2 ; his grace
ful lyrics. 1S3 ; letter of Cruikshank
to, 1S7-1SS ; his Sketches from Life,
204, 231.
Blewitt, J., his Song of Thi Matrimonial
Ladder, illustrated by C ruikshank,
2e7 .
Blewitt, Mrs. CVtavian, her story of
The AVwf <>>fi the L'ty illustrated by
Cruikshank iu his eighty -third year,
331.
Bliicher, 35.
Bobadil, 32.
Boccaccio's Decameron, 21,
Bonaparte, see Napoleon.
Bond, E. A. , of the British Museum, 839.
" Bottle, The," 8. 24S-265, 274, 275.
Bowring, Sir John, his Minor Morals
illustrated by Cruikshank, 132.

INDEX'.

387

Boxiana, 83.
"Boz," 130; Sketches in The Monthly
Magazine, 187 ; Collected Sketches illus
trated by Cruikshauk, HS, 157, 245,
269. See Dickens, Charles.
Bradbury and Evans, Messrs. (printers
and publishers), their relations with
Cruikshank, 209.
Breughel, Peter, 5.
Brough, Robert B., his Life of Falstaff
illustrated by Cruikshank, 106 ; his
contributions to the Cohiic Almanack,
190 ; his Life of Sir John Falstaff,
329-330.
Browne, Hablot Knight, and Dickens,
139, 159, 175.
Browne, Sir Thomas, his use of the
word caricatura, 5.
Browning, Robert, quoted, 2S5.
Bruce, Carlton, his "Mirth and Moral
ity " illustrated by Cruikshank, 132.
Bruce, King Robert, Cruikshank's de
sign for a monument to, 278 ; attacked
by assassins, 2S4 ; Cruikshank's model
of a statue of, 335 ; statement respect
ing, 336-340.
Buckstone, J. B., his dramatic version
of Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard, 164.
Bulwer, his Paul Clifford, 163. See
Lytton, Lord.
Bunbury, Harry (" H. B."), his drawing
of a Barber's Shop in Assize-time,
etched by Gillray, 9, 20, 48 ; Thackeray
on, 51-52 ; Christopher North on, 74.
Bunyan, John, similarity between him
and Cruikshank as an allegorist, 244 ;
Cruikshank's unpublished plates to
his Pilgrim's Progress, 285, 332.
Burdett, Sir Francis, 7 ; caricatures of by
Gillray and Cruikshank, 9 ; riot on
his arrest, 17, 54.
Burns, Robert, his Jolly Beggars, 78,
90, 9L; quoted, 339.
Buss, R. W., 159.
Byron, Lord, 114 ; Clinton's Life of,
117 ; spurning the world, 203 ; on
Beckford's Vathek, 234.
Callot, Jacques, 5 ; his imps, 804.
Canning, George, 57, 67, 115.
Caricature, history of in England, 5.
Caroline, Queen, trial of, 27, 51, 63, 67,
112, 116.
Carpenter, Dr. Alfred, on the habitual
use of stimulants, 253.
Cash, Mr. Wilham (Chairman of the
National Temperance Society), his
expostulation with Cruikshank, 254.
Castlereagh, 51, 57, 58, 67, 113, 114, 115,
217.
Chambers, Robert, on Gillray, 10.
Chatfield, Mr., drawings by, 93.
Claremont, Mr., proprietor of Bell's Life
in London, 91-92,

Clarke, William, his Three Courses and
a Dessert, 123-126, 127-129, 137.
Clinton's Life of Lord Byron illustrated
by Cruikshank, 117.
Cobbett, William, driven to America,
57 ; his Register, 59 ; Cruikshank's
caricatures of, 113, 119.
Collier, John Payne, his letterpress to
the volume of Punch and Judy, 119.
Comic Almanack, 4, 189-200.
Cooke, T. P., 178.
Copley, Cruikshank's sketch of, 217.
Cowper, William, his "John Gilpin"
illustrated by Cruikshank, 120.
Cranach, Lucas, 5.
Crowquill, Alfred, drawings of, etched
by Cruikshank, 118 ; his illustrations
to Bentley's Miscellany, 160.
Cruikshank, Eliza, sister of George
Cruikshank, her design of The Four
Prues, 17 ; death of, ib. ; 22.
CRUIKSHANK, GEORGE, (Epoch I.,
1792-1847), birth and parentage, 17-
19 ; his early days, 25-42 ; as a poli
tical caricaturist, 43-73 ; his Life in
London, Life in Paris, Points of
Humour, <fcc., 74-102 ; hand-to-mouth
work, 103 ; as an anatomist, 135 ; his
illustrations to Charles Dickens's early
works, 137-158 ; to Harrison Ains
worth's romances, 159-180 ; his Omni
bus, 182-188 ; his Comic Almanack,
189-202 ; described bv his friends, 216-
236 ; (Epoch IL, 1848-1878), a convert
to teetotalism, 246 ; his Bottle, 248-
255 ; as a teetotaler, 257-277 ; his
Triumph of Bacchus, 278-301 ; as an
amateur actor, 289 ; his Frauds on
the Fairies, 303-310 ; his Magazine,
307-316 ; his studio, 317-318 ; his last
twenty years, 329-343 ; death of, 344 ;
his grave, 345.
Cruikshank, Isaac, father of George
Cruikshank, 15, 16 ; marriage, 17, 18,
19 ; death of, 20 ; service as a volun
teer, 30 ; his work as a designer and
etcher, 41, 48, 50 ; his latest political
caricature, 62 ; cause of his death,
240, 247 ; his improvident habits, 280.
Cruikshank, Mary, mother of George
Cruikshank. See MacNaughton,
Mary.
Cruikshank, Percy, son of Robert and
nephew of George Cruikshank, 21, 23 ;
on the origin of the ' ' Tom and Jerry "
illustrations by his father and uncle,
82,83 ; on his uncle's proofs, 213 ; on
his grandmother in old age, 262.
Cruikshank, Robert, brother of George
Cruikshank, 17; goes to sea, 18-19 ¦
death of, 19 ; his portraits of Kean
20 ; his excellence in portraiture, 21
his etchings to Boccaccio's Decameron
21-22 ; service as a volunteer, 30

3«8

INDEX.

visits a ladies' boarding-school in uni
form, 37 ; hi*B republicanism, 38 ; as
a designer and etcher, 41, 48, 50, 81,
82, 83, 84 ; in cavalier costume, 86 ;
copies of his designs, 92; drawing of
animated pumps, 147 ; assistance to
his brother, 166 ; portrait of " George
in a brown study," 220-221.
Cruikshank, William, a celebrated ana
tomist, 15.
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, the, 259,
261-262.
Currie, Mr., his statue of Bruce un
veiled, 340.
Curtis, Sir William, Cruikshank's cari-
cature of, 28.
Daumier, 6.
Dawe, George, a pupil of Isaac Cruik
shank, 18.
Decameron, The, 21.
Defoe, Daniel, his Robinson Crusoe, 131,
133, 134 ; hitiJovrnal of tlie Plague, 132.
Delamotte, Alfred, his woodcuts in
Ainsworth's Wnuhor Castle, 177.
De Quincey, Thomas, 77.
Dibdin, Charles, quoted, 29, 233.
Dibdin, Thomas, grave of, 232.
Dickens, Charles, Btory of Mrs. Cruik
shank and the Hones, 72 ; popularity
of his Picktrirk, 80, 93 ; his ejes, 109 ;
his Oliver Ttnst, ib., 130, 131 ; Sketchtx
by Boz, 137-13$; his Pickunck, 138-13y;
his editorship of Btntb </'.* Miscellany,
139 ; his Oliver Tie ust, 139-148 ; letter
to John Forster, quoted, 148, 149; edits
the Life of Gruiiatdi, 15S ; resigns the
editorship of Bent Ity' s Miscellany, Ii.'."',
160, 161, 163 ; his resentment at
Cruikshank's obtrusive su^e-tinns,
175, 176; and The Loving 'Ballad of
Lord Bateman, 204, 205; his descrip
tion, supposed to be written by Mrs.
Gamp, of Cruikshank as one of an
amateur Btrolling company, 219-2i'0;
his description of a day with Cruik
shank, 221-222 ; story of L'mikshank's
impulsive generosity, 224 ; description
of an Amencjui lady. 22,r> ; his Life of
Orimtddi, 238 ; on the drinking ques
tion, 241-242; his Sketch of""^m-
shops" u noted, 24.'' ; his Ho uphold
Words. 219, 303, 307, 311 ; on Cruik
shank's 'Uottki,' 2V2, 269; his ama
teur company of actors, 289. 294 ; his
protests against Cruikshank's Frauds
on the Fairies, 303, 301-300; Cruik
shank's rejoinder to, 307-310 ; 341.
DiekeuH.John, father of Chai les Dickens,
1 58.
I»i\on, Hepworth, supported by Cruik
shank as a candidate for the Loudon
School Hoaid, 327.
Dighton, 71.

Dobson, Austin, his account of Cruik
shank's version of the origin of Fagin,
153-154; 342.
Don Quixote, 33.
Dore, Gustave, his Juif Errant, Rabelais,
and Contes Drotatiques, 244 ; intro
duction to Cruikshank, 244-245.
Dowling, Mr., editor of Bell's Life in
London, 91.
Doyle, Richard, 280.
Du Manner, George, 280.
Diirer, Albrecht, 211, 218.
Earle, Mr., Cruikshank's connexion
with, 70 ; an unprincipled man, 71.
Egan, Pierce, 75, and Christopher North,
78; Ids Life <n London, 79-81, 82, 83,
84-87 ; his Sporting Gnzttte, the ori
ginal of Bell's L Y. in London, 93, 149.
Elliston, Robert William, 54 ; Cruik
shank's etchings illustrative of his
Life. 330.
Et" ¦>¦ i- padis? Britannica, on Cruikshank
a;, a i arieatun.-t, 6-7.
English .8. y, The, illustrated by Robert
Cruikshank, 22.
Fairburn1, John, publisher, 21.
"Fairy Ring, The," the best of Cnuk-
shank's oil paintings, 2sl
F:dstaff, Sir Johu, 106, 285, 329.
Fenning. Elizabeth, the murderess, por
trait ..f. 20.
Fielding, Henry, 41, 175.
Forster, John, on Sketches by Boz, 137;
ou Cruikshank's claim to the in
vention of the story of Oliver TV. -7
142-144. 145, 140, 149; on Griraaldi's
Life, l.'»8 ; and Harrison Ainsworth,
164 ; letter of Dickens to, quoted, 252.
Fox. Charles James, 7.
Frank Fairlegh. Cruikshank's illustra
tions to, 303, 310.
Franklin, John, and Harrison Ains
worth, 17o, 17.:-; his illustrations to
Old M, Paul**, 176.
Eraser Gallery of Portraits, 216, 276.
Frith, W. P., 300.
Fuseli, his Lectures on Painting, 4S ;
Cruikshank's application to, 2S1 ; his
fames, 304.
Gallery of Comical it it.^. The, 91-92.
Camp, Mrs., on George Cruikshank's
pergonal appearanee/210-220.
Gardiner. William, Cinikshank's illus
trations to lih Tales, 110.
G.innk. Mi\, etching of, in her nine
tieth year, lo KoKrt Cruikshank, 21.
Geoiye Ml., anecdote of, 30.
Geor-o IV., Cruikshank's caricatures of,
OS, 09, and Pierce Egan's Life ,n Lon
don, s3 ; in his coronation robes, 103,
217, 203-204.

INDEX.

3«9

Gilbert, Sir John, 175, 330.
Gillray, James, 6 ; his political carica
tures, 7-9 ; compared with Cruik
shank, 9 ; his sad end, 9, 10 ; accept
ance of a bribe, 13, 20, 26 ; study of
bis subjects, 43, 44-47, 53-54, 75, S7 ;
Cruikshank on, 217 ; at the grave of,
287-239, 242, 2S6.
Girardin, Emile de, 225.
Gladstone, W. E.,319.
Goldsmith, Oliver, his Vicar of Wake-
Jield, 306.
Gore, Mrs., Cruikshank's illustrations
to her Christmas stories, 302.
Gqugh, J. B., the Temperance lecturer,
276-277.
Goya, 5, 6.
Grant, James, his sketch of Cruikshank
in Portraits of Public Characters, 38,
182, 273.
Gray, quoted, 25S.
Grimaldi, Joseph, 103, 106, 110 ; his Life
edited by Dickens and illustrated by
Cruikshank, 15S, 233; at Sadler's
Wells, 276 ; shaved by a girl, 281, 282.
Grimm's German Stories, illustrated by
Cruikshank, 14, 293.
Gruneisen, C. L., recollection of Cruik
shank at " The Crib," 106-107.
Guy Fawkes, Cruikshank's illustrations
to, 176-177.
Hall, Mr. S. C, at Cruikshank's Silver
Wedding, 342, 344.
Hall, Mrs. S. C., her Sketches of Iribh
Character, 208.
Halliday, Andrew, his drama founded
on Ainsworth's novel of The Miser's
Daughter, 171.
Hamerton, P. G-, on the "simple frank
ness" of Cruikshank's etchings, 182.
Hamilton, Walter, his Lecture on
George Cruikshank, 135 ; on the
Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman, 204 ;
at Cruikshank's Silvtr Wedding, 343.
Hamst, Olphar, an omission in his
Handbook qf Fictitious Names, 1S3.
Hans of Iceland, Cruikshank's illustra
tions to, 100.
Harriette Wilson, Cruikshank's etchings
to, 119.
Haydon, R. B., 294, 299.
Herrick, Robert, quoted, 286.
Hibbert, George, 21.
Hodder, George, Memories of my Time,
quoted, 153.
Hogarth, William, 5, 6, 7 ; his honesty
of purpose, 13, 44, 47, 77, 79, 83, 84,
102, 218 ; his " Harlot's Progress," 254 ;
Hone, William, 1, 3, 7, 48, 51 ; Cruik
shank's connexion with, 56-59, 60-61,
62 63, 65, 67, 68, 70-71 ; his arraign
ment for blasphemy, 72; death of, ib.;

caricature of, 118, 116 ; his Every Day
Book, illustrated by CruikBhank, 118 ;
his meagre payments, 217.
Hood, Thomas, 12 ; his Epping Hunt
illustrated by Cruikshank, 120, 128,
342.
Home, R. H., 105.
Hotten, John Camden, his account of
the origin of Pierce Egan's Life in Lon
don, S3, S4 ; letter of Cruikshank to,
111.
Houghton, Lord, 344,
Howard, Edward (author of "Rattlin
the Reefer "), his contributions to
Cruikshank's Omnibus, 1S4.
Huddart, Captain, Memoirs of, Cruik
shank's frontispiece to, 115.
Hugo, Victor, his Hans of Iceland, 100.
Humourist, The, Cruikshank's first re
markable separate work, 56.
Humphrey, Mrs., her kindness to Gill
ray, 10, 43, 53, 237.
Hunt, Leigh, amateur performance at
Edinburgh for his benefit, 224.
Hunt, Robert, his Popular Romances of
the West of England, 111, 330.
Ingoldsby Legends, Cruikshank's iUus
trations to, 166, 204, 333.
Irving, Edward, 77.
Jeffrey, Lord, 78.
Jenkins, Mr., his Ginsc's Baby, 324.
Jerdan, William, 168.
Jerrold, Douglas, 93, bon mot of, 139 ;
and Sir David Wilkie, 150, 180, 231,
294.
Johannot, Tony, his illustrations to
Ainsworth's Windsor Castle, 170, 175,
177.
John Gilpin, illustrated by Cruikshank,
120.
Johnson's Dictionary, 5.
Jonathan Wild, 41.
Jullien, Monsieur, 199.
Kean, Edmund, 19, 20.
Keeley, Mis., in "Jack Sheppard," 165.
Keeley, Robert, in the' Song of "Wery
Ridiculous," 207.
Lamb, Charles, 78.
London, L. E., edits the "Bijou Alma
nack," 248 ; her farewell to England,
ib.
Landseer, Charles, on Cruikshank s en
tering as a student at the Royal Aca
demy, in his sixtieth year, 280 ; at
tends Cruikshank's funeral, 344.
Landseer, Sir Edwin, his '"Low Life,"
154 155; and Cruikshank's animals,
193'; his dogs, 198 ; at Gillray's grave,
237.
Lanfrey, M., 70.
Lansdowne, Marquis of, 8, 230-231.

390

INDEX.

Lavater, 92.
Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 68.
Leech, John, 6, 11, 20, 43, 88, 92, 93 ;
his iUustrations to Bentley's Miscellany,
160, 165, 166, 193, 220, 280, 286, 292.
Legros, M., and Cruikshank, 259.
Leigh, Percival, reminiscence of Cruik
shank at the Cheshire Cheese, 206.
Lemon, Mark, presses Cruikshank to
draw for Punch, 200, 201 ; edits Cruik
shank's Table-Book, 210 ; as an ama
teur actor, 289.
LtSocadie, Mademoiselle, 98.
Life in Paris, illustrated by Cruikshank,
79.
Liston, 41, 103, 218.
Liverpool, Lord, 58.
Locker, Eleanor (daughter of Mr. Frede
rick Locker), 207.
Locker, Frederick, and Cruikshank, 49,
153, 206-207, 208-209, 332, 341-342.
Lockhart, John Gibson, his remark on
seeing a portrait of Cruikshank, 227.
Louis Philippe, fall of, 38 ; caricatures
of, 52.
Louis XVI., execution of, a. print by
Isaac Cruikshank, 16.
Louis XVIII. trying on Napoleon's boots,
Cruikshank's drawing of, 69 ; his
Entrance into Paris, an etching by
Cruikshank, 86.
Lover, Samuel, his Sandy Andy, 159.
Lytton, Lord, on earnestness, 277.
Mackay, Charles, on the ancestry of
Cruikshank's mother, 15 ; his first
appearance as a magazine writer, 159 ;
his rhymed text to Cruikshank's Tem
perance designs, 251, 276.
Mackenzie, Dr. Shelton, his account of
Cruikshank's connexion with William
Hone, 56-59, 67-69 ; on Cruikshank's
share in Oliver Ticist, 144-145, 146,
149.
Maclise, Daniel, his portrait of Cruik
shank in Fraser, 210, 270.
MacNanghton, Mary (afterwards Mrs.
Isaac Cruikshank), 17, IS ; death of,
22 ; and her sons' juvenile exploits,
24 ; her latter years under her son's
roof, 202 ; her attitude on his conver
sion to teetotalism, ib.
Maeieady, W. C . 242.
Macrone, John, publisher, earlv death
of, 178.
Rlaginn, William, his sketch of Cruik
shank in Fvustr, 210.
Mujocei, Theodore, principal witness
agahint Queen Caroline, 07
Miuryat, Captain, his contributions to
Cruikshank's Onuulms, 1S4.
Muthow, l-'aihor, 111); caricature of in
Cruikshank's Comic Almanack 197,

Mathews, Charles, the elder, 54, 218.
Mayhew, Henry, 190 ; verses on a
' woman of mind,' 199 ; his gathering
of London pickpockets, 277, 302.
Mayhew, Horace, 152, 154, 190, 257, 302.
Mayhew, Joshua (father of the brothers
Mayhew), and Cruikshank, 257.
Meadows, Kenny, 92 ", his Heads of the
People, 93.
Metem; The, Cruikshank's early work
in, 48, 55, 70.
Michael Angelo, 14.
Mill, Mr., his portrait of Cruikshank in
coloured chalks, 227.
Milton's Paradise Lost, Cruikshank's
illustrations to, 111, 285.
Miser's Daughter, The, illustrated by
Cruikshank. 171-174,
Mitford, ' Jack,' author of Johnny New-
come in the Navy, 71.
Mmlern Painters, quoted, 10-12, 154-155.
Moncrieff , W. T . , dramatizes Pierce
Egan's Tom and J' try, 84.
Moore, Thomas, Cruikshank's caricature
of, 113.
Moi land, George, 40 ; his 'Goat-in-
Boots ' signboard, 236.
Napier, General Sir William, 23, 31.
Napier, Sir Charles, and Cruikshank's
Fagin, 152.
Napoleon, downfall of, 6 ; boast of, 12 ;
his taunt on the British People, 30 ;
his return from Elba, 35, 55 ; and
Louis X VI 1 1. , 69 ; Cruikshank's hatred
of, 70 ; his life depicted by Cruikshank
in all its stages, 218, 225, 2S6.
Nelson, Cruikshank's drawing of his
Funeral Car, 27, 53, 97.
Nvctt* Aitibrosianai. See Wilson, Pro
fessor.
Nod Mi Ricordo, 64, 67.
North, Christopher. See Wilson, Pro-
fe.-*sor.
North, Lord, 7.
North, Rev. Brownlow, 75.
Nnh'S amt 0 u fries, papers in, on Cruik
shank, quoted, 91, 92, 133-134, 304.
Nugent, Michael, his projected Life of
Edmund Kean, 19.
O'Covnell, Daniel, 110, 207.
Oliver Twist, Cruikshank's illustrations
to, 139-148, 154-157, 294.
Omnibus, Cruikshank's, 4, 38, 71, 110,
lal, 166, 109, 170. ISO, 182-188, 209
210, 234, 235, 272. 302.
Orkney, Countess of, and Cruikshank's
mother, 17.
Paoft, John, his article on Cruikshank
in Block /rood's Magazine, quoted, 7-
9; comparison of Cruikshank ami
Gillray, 9-10 ; ou tho illustrations to
Olirer Twist, 155-157, 240.

INDEX.

391

Palgrave, Francis Turner, on Cruik
shank's crowds, 284 ; his paper on the
Cruikshank Exhibition in the Satur
day Review, quoted, 293.
Paradise Lost, Cruikshank's designs for,
111.
Park, Mungo, alodger with Cruikshank's
mother, 18, 19.
Peel, Sir Robert, statue of, 43 ; his re
vision of the Penal Code, 61 .
Peter Schlemihl, Cruikshank's iUustra
tions of, 100-101.
Pettigrew, Dr. Thomas Joseph, IS ;
Cruikshank's illustrations to his
" History of Egyptian Mummies,"
134-135 ; friendly intervention be
tween Cruikshank and Ainsworth,
169, 170, 171, 177, 186-187.
Petty, Lord Henry (afterwards Marquess
of Lansdowne), Gillray's caricatures
of, 8.
Phillips, Samuel, on Cruikshank, 219.
¦' Phiz," See Browne, Hablot Knight.
Pickwick, poprdarity of, SO ; origin and
first appearance of, 13S-139.
Pilgrim's Progress, The. See Bunyan,
John.
Pitt, William, 7, 16, 17.
Points of Humour, by George Cruik
shank, 75 ; Christopher North on, 78-
79; Thackeray, on, 88-91, 269.
Prince Consort, the, his offer to pur
chase Cruikshank's proofs, 213 ; buys
Cruikshank's picture, "Disturbing
the Congregation," 283.
Procter, Bryan Waller ("Barry Corn
wall "), 82 ; acceptance of an invita
tion to dine with Macready, 242.
Prout, Samuel, 329.
Punch, 43, 46, 93, 163, 200-201, 202.
Punch and Judy, Cruikshank's etchings
for, 118-119.
Pusey, Dr., 332.
Queen's Matrimonial Ladder, Tlie, 63, 67.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 40.
Raphael, 299.
Reach, Angus, his Clement Lorimer illus
trated by Cruikshank, 303.
Reid, George William, his Descriptive
Catalogue of the Works of George Cruik
shank, 41, 49, 50-51, 85, 246, 279.
Rembrandt, 160, 300, 301.
Richardson, Dr. B. W., and Cruikshank,
27, 298, 334, 344.
Roberts, David, 28.
Robinson Crusoe, illustrated by Cruik
shank, 131 ; by Strutt, 131, 133, 134 ;
' edited out of his island/ 306.
Robson, in Jem Baggs, 205.
Roger, J. C, orl the reproduction of
Cruikshank's assigns in Bell's Life m
London, 91.

Rogers, Rev. Charles, his recollections
of Cruikshank in old age, 28, 240, 260 ;
his magazine of "The Oak" illus
trated by Cruikshank, 331, 834, 341.
Jtookwood, illustrated by Cruikshank,
17S.
Roscoe, Thomas, his Novelists* Library,
illustrated by Cruikshank, 130-134.
Rossini, his Guglielmo Tell, 82.
Rowlandson, Thomas, 6, 48, 62 ; Chris
topher North on, 74-75.
Rubens, his Kermes, 96.
Ruskin , John, on Modern Grotesque, in
the Works of Leech and Cruikshank,
10-12; on Thomas Hood, 12; lament
of, 136 ; on Vulgarity, 154-155 ; on
Cruikshank's tragic power, 190 ; his
aid to Cruikshank, 297 ; on Cruik
shank's crusade against drunkenness,
327 ; design executed by Cruikshank
for, 332-333.
Russell, Lord John, 135.
Rye, Miss, her proposal to export
" gutter children '' to America, 332.
Ryland, 47.
Sala, George Augustus, on Cruikshank,
25-26, 70 ; on Cruikshank's illustra
tions to Pierce Egan's Tom and Jerry;
or, Life in London, 81-82 ; on Cruik
shank as an anatomist, 135 ; on the
etchings to the Sketches by Boz, 157,
158 ; on the authorship of The Loving
Ballad of Lord Bateman, 205-206, 258 ;
on Cruikshank's Triumph of Bacchus,
297-298 ; a pall-bearer at Cruikshank's
funeral, 344.
Sammons, W. L., his account of Cruik
shank in middle age, 231.
Sands, Mr., engraver, assists Cruikshank
and Thackeray, 23, 24, 166.
Sayer, his caricatures, 44.
Schiller, his Wilhelm Tell, 82.
Schloss, A., his "Bijou Almanack," 248.
Scott, Sir Walter, 78, 120 ; Cruikshank's
twelve etchings to his Demonology and
Witchcraft, 129 ; his Waverley Novels
illustrated by Cruikshank, 132, 227
284.
Scourge, Tlie, illustrated by Cruikshank,
26, 48, 70.
Seymour, Robert, 50 ; sketches by, 93
his plates in The Squib Annual, 137
his illustrations to Pickicick, 138
death of, 139.
Shakespeare, bust of, 39 ; his universal
sympathy, 40 ; 330.
Sheehan, John, 344.
Sidmouth, Lord, 58, 67, 113, 114, 115.
Simpson, George, his Anatomy of the
Bones and Muscles, 135.
Sleap, Joseph, 22 ; assists Cruikshank
and Thackeray, 23 ; death from an
overdose of opium, 24,

39^

INDEX.

Smedley, F.. his Frank Fairlegh illus
trated by Cruikshank, 303, 315 ; edits
Geoiye Crnil,,-honL'n Magazine, 307 ;
his first meeting with Cruikshank,
315-316.
Smith, Albert, his *' Man in the Moon,"
114; contributes to the Comic Alma
nack, 190, 223.
Smith, Orrin, eugravei-, 207.
S/iectator, The, 5.
" Squib Annual," The, 137.
Stanfield, Claikson, 28 ; persuades
Cruikshank to paint in oils, 283.
Stebbing, Grace, her article on Cruik
shank in The Graphic quoted, 258, 343.
Stewart, Mr. John, on Cruikshank's
' Triumph of Bacchus/ 203-301.
Stilling Cattle, 338.
Stoddart, Dr. (aftei wards Sir John), 60.
Stone, Frank, his portrait of Ci uik-
shank, 1S2, 272.
Stowe, Hamet Beecher, her impertinent
description of Ciuikshank in Sunny
Memories of Foreign Lands, 221 ; her
story of Uncle Tom's Cabin illustrated
by Cruikshank, 303.
Strutt, Jacob George, his illustrations
to Robinson Crusoe, 131, 133, 134.
Sunday in London, illustrated by Cruik
shank, 240, 249.
Sussex, Duke of, and the " Loyal North
Britons," 35.
Table-5oo^, The, Cruikshank's, 209-215,
272.
Tenniel, John, 230, 344.
Thackeray, W. M., his article on Cruik-
Bhank in The W< >t mimter Review,
quoted, 1, 2, 4, 12-14, 51-52, 79-81 ;
employs two of Cruikshank's assistants
to bite in his etchings, 23 ; on Cruik
shank's treatment of Napoleon, 69 ;
his "Roundabout Paper" on Tom
and Jerry in the Cornhitl, quoted, 84 ;
his flunkeys and Cruikshank's, 87-83 ;
on Cruikshauk's Points of Humour,
88-91, 93 ; on his Illustrations <,j Phre
nology, 95-97; on his SUtch Book, 97-
100 ; on his supremacy m the super
natural, 100-101 ; impressed by Cruik
shank's Fagin, 105; ou his' homely
landscapes, 105 106; on Cruikshank's
dustmen, 107-108 ; his Jews, 109; Ins
Irishmen, 110: on his illustrations to
"John Gilpin," 120-121; on a battle
of b.tthw, 127, l.vj, 158; on Cruik-
shank's illustrations to Jack Slupj»ird,
101-162; his burlesque on Harrison
Ainsworth in Punch, 163 ; his contri
butions to Cruikshank's Omnibus, 184 ;
180, 100 ; his contributions to The
Comic Almanack, 192 ; and Tlie Loving
Ballad of Lord Bateman, 205, 206 ; on

Cruikshank's ' Gin Juggernaut,' 244;
his paper in the Times on the Cruik
shank Gallery, quoted, 289-2113, 294,
329.
Thompson, Miss Alice, on the dramatic
character of Cruikshank's art, 28.
Thornton's Pastorals of Virgil, Cruik
shank's frontispiece to, 115.
Three Court? a and a Divert, illustrated
by Cruik-hankf 123-130.
Tom and Jerry; or, Life in London,
Ulustrated by Cruikshank, 73, 79-81,
82-87.
" Triumph of Bacchus," 3, 14, 20, 286-
301.
Vathek, 234.
Vaux, James Hardy, Memoirs of, 163.
Victoria, Queen, summons Cruikshank
to WuuUor Castle, 239. 3:J7.
'Vilikins and his Dinah,' inimortalised
by Robson, 2uj.
Vizetelly, Henry, 191.
Walbourn, W., the comedian, his j>cr-
sonation of ' Dusty Bob' in Tom vnd
Jerry, 84 ; Cruikshank's etched por
trait of, 84-85.
Waterloo, battle of, 53, 217.
Watkins, the elder, H>3.
Wedmore, Frederick, on Cruikshank's
' Bottle,' 253-254 ; his critical sketch
of Cruikshank, quoted, 278-280, 2-5,
303, 330, 3-12-3.53, 341.
Wellington, Duke of, 5-S, 06, 67.
Westmacot, Charles Mulloy, editor of
The EnglisJi Sj>y, 22.
Westminster Reaic, Thackeray's article
on Cruikshank in, quoted, 1, 2, 12-14
51-52 79-81.
WUd, Jonathan, 41.
Wilkie, Sir David, and Douglas Jerrold,
150.
Wills, W. H., his recoUections of Cruik
shank, 222 220.
Wilson, Professor, his paper on Cnnk-
sh.mk in. Bt<<Ltcood ii noted, 74-79;
his admonition to Cruikshauk, 87 ;
on the Points <>/ Humour, 88 ; on the
Phimological Illustrations, 94-95, lol-
102. 103. 107.
Windham, 7.
Word-worth, William, 78, 10S.
Wright, Thomas, on Ikkic Cruikshank,
1$, 17 ; on Gillray's euieatures, 45-46.
Wylie, Charles, on Cruikshank's illus
trations to Roscoe's Novelists* library.
133-134.
Yates, Edmund, 844,
York, Duchess of, 8.
" Zethin, Charlotte," feigned Bignaturt
to a flguie of Gillray's, 8.