Rowlandson the Caricaturist; a Selection from His Works. Vol. 2 by Joseph Grego
1800. _Remarks on a Tour to North and South Wales in the year 1797_,
3112 words | Chapter 14
by Henry Wigstead, with plates from Rowlandson, Pugh, Howitt, &c.
(Aquatinted by J. Hill.) London: Published by W. Wigstead, 40 Charing
Cross. 8vo.--The particulars of the tour undertaken under these
auspices are thus briefly set forth by one of the travellers:--
'The romantic and picturesque scenery of North and South Wales,
having within these few years been considered highly noticeable and
attractive, I was induced to visit this Principality with my friend Mr.
Rowlandson, whose abilities as an artist need no eulogium from me. We
left London in August 1797, highly expectant of gratification: nor were
our highest hopes in the least frustrated.
'At the time of our excursion I had no idea of submitting to the public
any of our minutes or sketches; but, as several of the subjects amongst
our scenery have become topics of admiration, as well to the artist
as cursory traveller, I have in the following sheets endeavoured to
give a faint idea of their beauties; accompanied by some short remarks
on the road, merely intended as a sort of _vade mecum_ to stimulate
the readers to further and more important enquiries; and in order, if
possible, that they may, by being apprised of many inconveniences we
experienced, be enabled to avoid them.'
_Plates._
Coventry, with a view of the effigy of Peeping Tom, and the King's
Head. By T. Rowlandson.
Wolverhampton. The Market, Bevan's Toy Shop, and the Church. By T.
Rowlandson.
Langollen.
The King's Apartments, Conway Castle.
Penmanmawr. H. Wigstead, _del._
Caernarvon.
Snowdon, from Llanberris Lake. H. Wigstead, _del._
Speaking of the natives of Llanberris, Wigstead describes them in such
picturesque terms that we are tempted to quote the paragraph:--
'The people here are really almost in a state of simple nature. The
value of money is scarcely known; they pay the rent of their premises
in cattle generally, which they breed on their land. Flesh is scarce
ever tasted by them; and, except when visitors leave behind remnants of
wine, ale, &c., milk is the principal beverage that passes their lips.
They are remarkably observant of any decorations worn by ladies, such
as beads, laces, and feathers, which strengthened my opinion of their
similitude with the Otaheiteans, &c. These they admire, and handle with
a sort of rudeness bordering on savage manners, likely to raise alarm
in the breast of the fair wearer.'
Nantz Mill and Bethgellert. By T. Rowlandson.
Pont Aberglasslyn. By H. Wigstead.
Festiniog. By T. Rowlandson.
A Welsh Landlady (fac-similed from the original drawing). By H.
Wigstead.
Waterfall near Dolghelly.
Aberystwith.
Cardigan. T. Rowlandson, _del._
Inside of a Kitchen at Newcastle (near Carmarthen). By T.
Rowlandson.
The latter subject pictures forth a capital interior, in Rowlandson's
own graphic manner. A turnspit is represented in his wheel, with the
chain attached to the spit, for roasting the joint before the fire. It
is reasonable that these poor creatures, tired of the squirrel-like
performance, should have welcomed the mechanical contrivance of the
roasting-jack.[3] The tourist describes one difficulty the epicure
encountered under the ancient state of things:--'_Newcastle_ is a
pleasant village; a decent inn here; a dog is employed as turnspit.
Great care is taken that the animal does not observe the cook approach
the larder; if he does he immediately hides himself for the remainder
of the day, and the guest must be satisfied with more humble fare than
intended.'
Swansea. By T. Rowlandson.
Cardiff Castle. By T. Rowlandson.
Caerphilly Castle. By T. Rowlandson.
The Hanging Tower at Caerphilly. By H. Wigstead.
The Union of the Wye with the Severn, from Chepstow.
Tintern Abbey.
Raglan Castle. By T. Rowlandson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Life of Nollekens_, vol. i. p. 79.
[2] _Venus Chiding Cupid_, executed for Lord Yarborough. 'Nollekens was
so provoked by an accident which happened to one of his figures during
the Exhibition at Somerset House, that he threatened F. M. Newton, the
Secretary, who made light of the affair, should this Venus be in any
way injured, to break every bone in his skin.'--_Nollekens and his
Times_, by John Thomas Smith.
[3] 'The mode of teaching turnspits their business was more summary
than humane. The dog was put in a wheel, and a burning coal with him;
he could not stop without burning his legs, and so was kept on the full
gallop. These dogs were by no means fond of their profession; it was
indeed hard work to them in a wheel for two or three hours, turning
a piece of meat which was twice their own weight. It is recorded of
the turnspit-dogs of Bath that one Sunday, when they had, as usual,
followed their mistresses to church, the lesson of the day happened
to be that chapter of Ezekiel wherein the self-moving chariots are
described. When the first word "wheel" was pronounced all the curs
pricked up their ears in alarm; at the second "wheel" they set up a
doleful howl; and when the dreaded word was uttered a third time every
one of them scampered out of church as fast as he could, with his tail
between his legs.'--John Foster, in Hone's _Everyday Book_, December
17, 1826.
1801.
_January 1, 1801._ _The Epicure._ Published by S. W. Fores. (_See_
1788.)
_January 1, 1801._ _A Money Scrivener._ (Companion to _A Counsellor_.)
S. W. Fores, 50 Piccadilly.--The scrivener inhabits a poor, squalid
office; his clerk is perched on a high stool by the window. The worthy
wears a nightcap, and has a quill behind his ear; he is poring over a
ledger at a tumbledown desk; one finger on his nose illustrates his
absorption in some weighty deliberation. Files of accounts and boxes of
deeds and papers form the rest of the scrivener's surroundings.
_January 1, 1801._ _A Counsellor._ Published by S. W. Fores, 50
Piccadilly.
[Illustration: A COUNSELLOR.]
_January 1801._ _The Union._ Published by Ackermann.--Pitt, a burlesque
St. George, clad in armour, is seated on the British bull, who is
horn-locked, nose to nose, snorting forth challenges in the face of the
furious Irish bull, on which is mounted St. Patrick, with mitre and
crozier. The national Irish saint, whose beard gives him the expression
of a Jew, is crying, ''Pon my conscience I don't know what you call it,
but the deuce of anything like a Union do I see, except their horns
being fastened together.' Pitt replies, 'Never fear, St. Patrick; all
will be yet very well; they are a little restive at first, but they
will take to it kindly enough by and by, I'll warrant you.'
_January 1, 1801._ _A Jew Broker._ Published by S. W. Fores, 50
Piccadilly.--Shylock, with his bond in the pocket of his gaberdine and
his crutch-stick under his arm, is abstractedly polishing his glasses,
although his watchful eyes are sharp enough without any artificial
assistance, as he stands at the corner of Duke's Place, then the
accepted rallying-point of his tribe. His face expresses a profoundly
baffled emotion, which is portrayed with a masterly hand. He is musing,
in abject despair, over a chance lost, a bargain missed, a gain which
has slipped through his prehensile fingers. Some Antonio of our modern
Venice founded on the shores of the Thames has escaped his toils; some
point of law, a flaw in the indentures, mayhap, has been turned to
account by a later 'Daniel come to judgment--a wise young judge,' to
whom the disconcerted Hebrew is finally loth to offer his gratitude. He
seemingly mumbles, with the pertinacity of Shylock:--
My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
[Illustration: A JEW BROKER.]
_January 15, 1801._ _The Brilliants_, (21-1/4 × 16.) Published by
R. Ackermann, 101 Strand.--We are not prepared with any special
particulars as to the foundation of this convivial club; but we
may record a solitary gratuitous observation, that in spite of the
melancholy and frequent carpings, on puritanical grounds, which are
now in fashion, over the growing degeneracy of the times in which we
live--the sanctimonious being given to assert that each succeeding
generation inveterately surpasses the excesses of its predecessors--in
the instances of drinking and gaming our ancestors went to extremes
beside which our modern dissipations, in their wildest excesses, fall
into paltry insignificance. The clubs of the past, in the item of
iniquity, although the institution was in its infancy, surpassed those
of the present day in such a degree that our 'fastest' haunts appear
prudish by comparison.
[Illustration: THE BRILLIANTS.]
As to _The Brilliants_, we do not accept the scene, in its literal
sense, as a faithful transcript of current amusements as practised at
the commencement of the century; but, allowing for the exaggeration
of burlesque, we are far from denying that it is founded on actual
observation, in an age notoriously given to conviviality, which was
carried, in all phases of society, beyond the bounds of discretion,
and, in some instances, to a decree incredible in our times. Their
Royal Highnesses the Princes of the Blood, their Graces the Dukes,
the proverbially drunken Lords, the Right Honourable Ministers of
State, Honourable Members of every political shade, and gallant and
learned gentlemen of the various services and professions, were, with
the rest of the community, without mentioning notorious and personal
instances, under no restraint of decorum in regard to inebriety; and,
if we may trust their own chroniclers, exhibited themselves without
reserve as frequently drunk as sober. If, in our charitable concessions
to the failings of our ancestors, we assume that our artist has
exercised undue licence in the representation of their failings, from
the president of _The Brilliants_ downwards, we must further take 'a
grain of salt' to qualify our belief in the fidelity with which he has
transmitted us the 'club rules.' It is impossible that any convivialist
could continue to be 'brilliant' after his senses were diluted by the
amount of fluid prescribed as a qualification for membership; the light
that was in him must be effectally extinguished by the vinous drenching
that was _de rigueur_:--
'RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THIS SOCIETY.
'1st. That each member shall fill a half-pint bumper to the first
toast.
'2nd. That after twenty-four bumper toasts are gone round every
member may fill as he pleases.
'3rd. That any member refusing to comply with the above regulations
to be fined, _i.e._ compelled to swallow a bumper of salt and
water.'
_January 15, 1801._ _Undertakers Regaling._ John Nixon, Esq., del.,
Rowlandson sculp. Published by R. Ackermann, 101 Strand.--This large
plate, which is designed with a due appreciation of grim humour and
tipsy jocularity, introduces the traditional relaxations of the funeral
furnishers, whose jollifications are supposed to offer the most ghastly
contrast to their sober professional duties. On a convenient plot of
grass mutes, wandsmen, hearse-drivers, and all the other melancholy
functionaries of the last rites of unconscious humanity, are picnicking
with a true zest and appreciation of rural freedom. A substantial
pie, and other suggestive 'funeral baked meats,' are being disposed
of to the best advantage; but, excellent trenchermen though the
undertakers may prove themselves, their main distinction must rest on
their bibulous qualities; the members of the fraternity are applying
themselves with hearty goodwill to the fluids, far on the road to
becoming 'glorious,' while some of the party have already reached their
congenial stage 'of half seas over.' These festivities, of course, take
place in the vicinity of a 'house of call for funerals,' at the sign
of 'The Owl,' in the neighbourhood of a burial-ground, the hospitable
hostelry being kept by 'Robert Death,' whose inn is a resting-place
for all returning hearses on that particular road. Groups of gentlemen
engaged in the 'black business' are seated at tables, enjoying their
long clay pipes, or otherwise diverting themselves with romping and
horse-play; the members of another party, preparing to resume their
route back to the metropolis, are on the roof of their hearse, their
legs hanging over the side with pastoral-like simplicity, smoking their
'church-wardens' and hobnobbing their pewter quart pots with true
bacchanalian appreciation of the enjoyments of the hour. The results
of too indiscriminate indulgence are noticeable in the dangerous
situation of those coaches which are attempting to 'homeward wend their
melancholy way,' and are being overturned in the process by their tipsy
drivers.
[Illustration: SYMPTOMS OF SANCTITY.]
_January 20, 1801._ _Symptoms of Sanctity._ Published by S. W. Fores,
50 Piccadilly.--This subject--which, to say the least of it, is
suggestively bold, though by no means, in our opinion, coming under the
enumeration of 'risky _equivoque_'--might be fittingly described as
Superstition and Sensuality; the pious belief, amounting to fanaticism,
of the conventual 'Sister' contrasting strongly with the licentious
impiety of the gross priest.
_January 30, 1801._ _Single Combat, in Moorfields, or Magnanimous Paul
O! Challenging All O!_ Published by R. Ackermann, 101 Strand.--The ring
is formed in Moorfields, crowds of spectators are gathered around,
the curious have climbed up every available point of sight, and
observers are scrambling over the roofs. 'Magnanimous Paul O!' the mad
Emperor, is represented as a Russian bear; his sword is tempered 'à la
Suwarrow,' and his shield is inscribed 'Swallow all O!' The British
champion, Pitt, encased in a demi-suit of mail, is jauntily meeting
his adversery; the Minister's sword is tempered 'à la Nelson,' and
the names of his redoubtable admirals, Howe, Duncan, Nelson, Jervis,
and Parker, are the safeguards of his buckler. A Russian general, who
is acting as his master's squire, is reading Paul's extraordinary
cartel: 'Be it known to all men, that my master, the most magnanimous,
most puissant, most powerful, and most wonderful Great Bear of the
North, being in his sound and sober senses, challenges the whole world
to single combat, and commences his first trial of skill here, in
Moorfields, after which it is his intention to pursue his travels, and
visit every Court in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.'
The Emperor Paul, who had acquired almost universal popularity at the
commencement of his reign by putting himself at the head of the allied
armies which were opposing the victorious career of Napoleon, now
astonished his admirers in England by a complete change of policy. He
proclaimed himself Grand Master of Malta, which had been conquered by
us in 1800. The British Government refused to recognise his authority;
the Emperor in revenge laid an embargo upon all British ships in
Russian ports, and succeeded in inducing the Danish, Swedish, and
Prussian Courts to enter into a convention to protect their commerce
against the encroachments of the English. Gillray has drawn the
ill-favoured and mad sovereign, under the title '_Mens turpe, corpore
turpi_,' trampling on the treaty of alliance into which he had entered
in concert with Austria and England.
Some two months after the issue of this caricature the wayward tyranny
of the Emperor, who gave unmistakable evidence of mental aberration,
became insupportable, and he was requested to abdicate. Paul
obstinately clung to absolute power, but in spite of his precautions
a conspiracy was organised by his disgusted nobles, his palace was
entered, and he was strangled with his own military scarf, which, by
the way, the satirists always drew of extravagant dimencions well
suited for such a purpose.
It will be remembered that Paul's career was an unfortunate one, and
the vicissitudes of his youth may have disordered his faculties. On
his birth his father, Peter the Third, issued a ukase denying the
legitimacy of his son's paternity: on the publication of this statement
the Empress put her husband to death. Paul's earlier years were
harassed by trouble, and the last act of his mother was a fruitless
effort to exclude him from the succession. His reign commenced
auspiciously; acts of clemency and munificence distinguished his
government; as the head of the alliance against France he was looked
upon as the legitimate champion of monarchy. After sharing the defeats
sustained by the allied armies his views underwent a remarkable change.
Buonaparte, with his matchless discrimination, contrived to flatter the
Emperor's vanity, and, among other strokes of policy, returned all the
Russian prisoners, well-armed and newly-clad. Paul now entered into
a defensive alliance with France to drive the English out of India;
and, to destroy our maritime supremacy, he established the Northern
Confederation for the suppression of British commerce.
The caricature _Single Combat in Moorfields_ is founded on an
extraordinary proceeding, which filled Europe with astonishment at
its unequalled eccentricity. The Emperor published an advertisement
in the _Court Gazette_ of St. Petersburg, stating, to the amazement
of the world, that, as 'the Powers could not agree among themselves,
he intended to point out a spot, to which all the other sovereigns
were invited to repair, TO FIGHT IN SINGLE COMBAT, bringing with
them, as seconds and esquires, their most enlightened ministers and
ablest generals.' His subjects were continually annoyed by acts of
minor and fantastic oppression--such as an edict against 'round hats
and pantaloons,' which he forbade any person to wear in his empire.
He enforced the revival of hair-powder and pigtails, and issued a
proclamation to compel all persons whom he encountered in the street to
leave their carriages and prostrate themselves before him. No one was
safe from his paroxysms. The carriage of the British Ambassador passed
the Imperial Palace at a pace which the Emperor chose to consider
disrespectful; he immediately ordered the coachman to be beaten, the
horses to be beaten, and the carriage to be beaten. The Ambassador in
return resented these indignities by discharging his servants, ordering
his horses to be shot, and his carriage to be thrown into the Neva. An
insane autocrat was found to be a formidable calamity.
The favourable reception accorded to _Country Characters_, _Matrimonial
Comforts_, &c., induced Woodward to design further successions of
subjects, enlisting the assistance of Rowlandson to carry out his
ideas. In 1801, the year following, appeared a series of broadsides,
_Prayers_ and _Journals_; each sheet contained a coloured illustration,
designed by Woodward and etched by Rowlandson; the space below the
design was filled up with descriptive matter from Woodward's pen, that
worthy being given to the cultivation of the various Muses in turn.
The letterpress, which occupied the larger half of these broadsides,
was printed by E. Spragg, 27 Bow Street, Covent Garden; and the series
was published by R. Ackermann, 101 Strand. Our readers will be able to
form an impression of these compositions from the occasional extracts
we offer; these _Prayers_, _Journals_, &c., are not of sufficient
consequence to warrant us in offering repetitions at length.
_February 10, 1801._ _The Old Maid's Prayer._ (Addressed to Diana.)
Designed by Woodward. Published by T. Rowlandson.
_February 10, 1801._ _The Epicure's Prayer._ Designed by Woodward.
Published by T. Rowlandson.
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